1.11 The Menagerie: Part 1

Overview
Spock is put on trial after committing mutiny and smuggling a man named Christopher Pike aboard the ship.

Plot Summary
Stardate: 3012.4 - 3012.6 Starbase 11 Starbase 11

The Enterprise receives a message from a man named Christopher Pike with instructions to land on Starbase 11. Kirk and the crew land on the base and are escorted to Commodore Mendez's office to explain why they had diverted from their course. Kirk explains that Spock had reported that a message had been sent by Captain Pike. The commodore tells him that such a situation is impossible since Captain Pike is reduced to a state of vegetation after suffering injuries while rescuing children. They soon visit Pike and Spock stays behind to speak to him.

Later, Spock sneaks into the communications room and sends a phony message to the USS Enterprise instructions to leave orbit. He then stows Captain Pike aboard the ship and takes command of the ship. Meanwhile, Commodore Mendez brings to Kirk's attention the fact that Spock had once been an officer under Pike's command and that their ship had been to a forbidden planet called Talos IV. Kirk becomes suspicious that Spock may have lied about receiving a message from Starbase 11. Suddenly, Commodore Mendez is told that the USS Enterprise is leaving orbit. They discover that Pike is missing and realize that Spock is heading to Talos IV. Spock and Mendez then pursue the Enterprise with a shuttle craft. Kirk sends a message to the USS Enterprise Kirk sends a message to the USS Enterprise

Spock soon notices that he is being followed by Kirk. The ship, which was being flown by the computer, comes to a complete stop. Spock orders the crewmen to beam Kirk and the commodore to the ship. He hands his command to McCoy and reveals that he has committed mutiny. He then resigns himself to arrest.Mendez and Kirk beamed up to the ship, but even Kirk is unable to disable the computer flight plan for Talos IV.

Spock is brought to a hearing to determine his innocence. Spock asks for a general court martial. Kirk denies Spock the court martial on the grounds that three commanding officers must be present. However, Spock points out that Pike is on board and is still on active duty. The court convenes and Spock is asked why going to Talos IV is important. Spock shows the officers footage of a young Captain Pike and Spock. In the footage, Pike receives a distress call from a ship that had disappeared. He investigates the planet and finds a group of survivors. One of the survivors, named Vina, leads Pike to a stone wall away from the survivor's camp. The wall opens and aliens known as the Talosians appear. They knock out Pike and take him to their lair. Pike's crew realize witness Pike's kidnapping, but they are powerless when they try to open the door. Kirk thinks about looking at remainder of footage Kirk thinks about looking at remainder of footage

After watching the footage, Mendez receives a message that the footage is being sent from Talos IV. The message also reports that Mendez is to take command from Kirk. Mendez then orders Spock to turn the ship around, but Spock declines. The court is put into recess and the officers leave the room. As the officers leave. Spock insists that Kirk should see the rest of the footage.

Production Notes
Due to conflicts in the schedule, two episodes had to be produced in the time span it took to make one. To meet the deadline, Gene Roddenberry has spliced footage of the unaired pilot episode "The Cage" and combined it with new material. Originally the pilot episode was called the Menagerie, but it was rejected by NBC.

During the production of the episode, Sean Kenney was cast as the injured Christopher Pike instead of Jeffrey Hunter who played Christopher Pike in the unaired episode "The Cage." Hunter was deemed too expensive to be used by the producers and Kenney was selected because he bore a likeness to Hunter. Though Hunter was not hired for this episode, he did appear in the scenes where the episode references scenes from "The Cage."