Category Archives: Pilots

“Broken Bow”

brokenbow_051
“We don’t take too kindly to bumpy-headed Klingons in this century.”

A Klingon is running through a cornfield. He’s pursued by some weird aliens with apparent shape-shifting abilities. After the the KlingonĀ kills the aliens, a human farmer shoots him with some sort of gun. Turns out this all happened more than 200 years since last we saw Trek (when Voyager was last seen being illogical and goofy) and more than a century beforeĀ Kirk was knocking boots with hot alien females. There’s no Federation yet, but StarfleetĀ is close to launchingĀ its first deep-space mission on the starship Enterprise (NX-01), captained by Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). Archer is called to a meeting whereĀ Starfleet brass and their Vulcan advisers are discussing theĀ the injured Klingon. Archer uses the opportunity to return the Klingon, Klaang (Tommy Lister) to hisĀ homeworld to launch Enterprise ahead of schedule, despite the Vulcans’ objections. In exchange for some Vulcan star charts, Archer takes on Vulcan T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) as his science officer. En route, the ship is boarded byĀ more of the weird aliens (the Suliban, we learn) and Klaang is captured. Unwilling to give up, Archer takes some information passed on from Klaang (pre-capture) and heads toĀ Rigel X. There, he learns that the Suliban, Klaang and others are part of a “temporal cold war,” and that the Suliban are trying to destabilize the Klingon Empire. Eventually, using information from Rigel, the Enterprise finds where the Suliban are keeping Klaang, rescue him and — after a short battle — take him to Kronos. With itsĀ first mission accomplished, Starfleet tells Archer that the Enterprise should keep going and begin its historic mission.

Some men find baldness, and genetic enhancement, sexy.
“Some men find baldness, and genetic enhancement, sexy.”

Why it’s important

Well, as this is humanity’s first step toward what we would see in the previous series and movies, it’s a huge, huge part of the Tapestry. It largely explains how humanity got from its first use of warp technology and encounter with the Vulcans in “Star Trek: First Contact” to its first step toward a new frontier (to quote another Trek captain).

It’s interesting, too, that we see humanity’s first dealings with Klingons (which will have huge, huge consequences) and the introduction of the Suliban, the main bad guy for this series over its first two seasons (notablyĀ Silik and his weird shadowy overseer, too). Plus, we see the strained relationship between humans and Vulcans, which is one of the major underpinnings of this series.

What doesn’t hold up

Enterprise did a nice job of trying to appearĀ less technologically advanced than TOS while not forcing viewers to look at 1960s-era sets and effects. That said, there were obvious items where the creators were too lax — notably thatĀ Kirk and Spock were so puzzled by cloaking technology in “Balance of Terror” when Archer and Co. see it here and throughout theĀ series.

Beyond that, it’s a little surprising just how close Kronos apparently is to Earth. Archer says it’s a four-day journey at maximum warp, which, at this point in time, is warp 5. So, in other words, a Klingon ship traveling at high warp could get to Earth in LESS than four days, possibly much less? Somehow, that seems off.

And, of course, there’s the big-picture question as to why we’ve never heard of this Enterprise before, or Archer, or the Suliban, etc. I sort of hate head cannon, but I always thought the easiest explanation wasĀ that some time travel in previous Trek (the events of “Star Trek: First Contact”, perhaps?) changed what would have been the history as it stood in TOS and after — and a similar method was used in J.J. Abrams reboot. Of course, the real answer is a lot easier: The idea for the prequel wasn’t around before 2000-01, so writing a mention of Archer et. al into any Trek filmed BEFORE then was impossible.

Such prequel. Much continuity questions.
Such prequel. Much continuity questions.

Final thoughts

This is a pretty solid pilot with some nice nods toward continuity (despite the conceit mentioned above). It’s interesting to see humans who are less refined and not the galactic leaders that they would be in other series.

It’s worth noting that Enterprise, as a prequel could be arguably the most Tapestry-worthy series of them all. With respect to not reviewing every episode or every other episode, we’ll be extremely strict about our criteria and review episodes in bunches where appropriate (especially in the more serialized seasons three and four).

Coming next week …

Archer can’t get “My Blue Heaven” out of his head.

ā€œWhere No Man Has Gone Beforeā€

Star_Trek_Where_No
“Accuracy when it comes toĀ middle initials is for men, not gods.”

The Enterprise, under the command of James Kirk (William Shatner) attemptsĀ to cross the barrier between galaxies with disastrousĀ results. The ship is badly damaged and Kirkā€™s old friend and navigator Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) starts displaying weird powers (silver eyes, increased reading abilities, telekinesis, love of bad poetry) and a dangerous god complex. Kirk and Spock hatch a plan to cannibalize parts to repair the Enterprise from a nearby unmanned lithium-cracking station and to maroon Mitchell there. With the ship repaired, Mitchell escapes imprisonment on the planet and takes with him Dr. Elizabeth Dehner (Sally Kellerman), who was affected in a similar way to Mitchell but took longer to show symptoms. Kirk follows them and defeats and kills Mitchell, thanks to help from Dehner, who dies after the struggle. Kirk returns to the Enterprise and sets course for the shipā€™s next assignment.

Why itā€™s important

As the second pilot, this episode introduces Kirk, Scotty (James Doohan) and Sulu (George Takei), but itā€™s foundationalness (if thatā€™s a word) as far as events go is sort of borderline. Few concepts about Earth, the Federation, Starfleet, etc., are introduced here that arenā€™t in ā€œThe Cageā€. Most notable is probably talk of Starfleet Academy (where we learn Kirk was an instructor) which sort of underscores the idea of Starfleet as an exploratory/military-like service (along with the dialog about crossing the galactic barrier). Thereā€™s a general sense that humans explore the galaxy, but with few specifics — other than name dropping of some random planets and random stories re: alien ā€œrodent thingsā€ that attacked Kirk and Mitchell back in the day.

Everyone get in frame, someday some nerds are gonna need this photo for Internet!
Everyone get in frame, someday some nerds are gonna need this photo for Internet!

The episode does introduce Kirk, who is an important person in galactic history (Sulu and Scotty, as well, to a point). Itā€™s also an interesting sort of half-step between ā€œThe Cageā€ and ā€œThe Corbomite Maneuverā€ (the first episode filmed in regular production). We see the original uniforms but the ship looks more like what we see throughout the series (the colors are MUCH less muted).

As noted in ourĀ review of ā€œThe Cage,ā€ this episode is Trekā€™s adventure pilot, because it sets up Kirk as the dashing hero (much more than Pike was in ā€œThe Cageā€). Apparently, that was the goal of the second pilot — to be less cerebral, and this episode does a better job of balancing the cerebral with action. Still, Kirk’s dialog withĀ Dehner about what Mitchell hasn’t learned in his accelerated progression to godhood is interesting stuff.

What doesn’t hold up well

The biggest issue is that this episode appears to take place well into the Enterpriseā€™s five-year mission — which runs counter to established Trek history that says this episode was at the beginning of the five years (which sort of explains the lack of McCoy and less of a buddy-buddy relationship for Kirk and Spock).Ā Also odd is theĀ familiarity among the crew and lines about how some of them have served together for years.

There are also lines of dialog — Mitchell saying a poem written in 1996 is from the ā€œpast couple of centuriesā€ — which show the creators hadnā€™t quite figured out a timeline for Star Trek. This is a problem for a lot of TOS, which seems to take place in the late 22nd century at some points (Kirk telling Khan in ā€œSpace Seedā€ that heā€™s been asleep for two centuries) and in the late 23rd at others (Kirkā€™s scenes with Dr. Taylor in ā€œStar Trek IV: The Voyage Homeā€). Itā€™s always been my theory that this stemmed from a belief, in the 1960s, that space exploration would be a lot farther along by the late 1990s than actually happened in real life — and the creators had to push back events accordingly.

Case in point: As the Enterprise gets close to the barrier, it finds the shipā€™s recorder from the S.S. Valiant, a vessel that apparently tried to leave the galaxy two centuries earlier (and ran into problems the Enterprise faces when it goes through the barrier). Do the math — this episode takes place in 2264 — meaningĀ weā€™ll apparently have ships fast enough to get to the galactic barrier sometime in the next 86 years or so. Even if we accept the ā€œStar Trek: First Contactā€ backstory, that humans travel faster than light in the 2060s, itā€™s just absurd to think weā€™d be traveling this far in the subsequent decades (and it certainly runs counter to ā€œStar Trek: Enterprise,” in which humans don’t really leave the solar system until the 2150s).

But, as I said, the creators in 1966 probably thought weā€™d be a lot farther along with space exploration by now than we are — and probably never figured that, nearly 50 years later, geeks like me would be dissecting stuff at this level.

Of course, the other part of this problem stems from the issue of distance, something TOS really shrugged off most of the time with a wink and a nod. Even if you figure the Valiant somehow got to the galactic barrier in the late 21st century (wormhole, maybe?) the whole idea of the Enterprise making it there doesnā€™t hold up to scrutiny. This is just bad science, and we see it throughout TOS and in the movies.

Can't get enough of that lithium, baby
I’m not gonna crack! Except on Delta Vega, that’s all anyone does with lithium there.

And letā€™s say the Enterprise can get to the galactic barrier using conventional warp. How is there an unmanned lithium-cracking station so close — within reach on impulse — to the galactic barrier, which is, put another way, the edge of the galaxy? Are the unmanned ore ships that go there ā€œevery 20 yearsā€ according to Kirk really fast enough to get there — and for it to be worth it? Earth must really dig that lithium.

The Milky Way sure seems larger (appropriately so) in second-generation Trek.

Now, some of you — if youā€™re not trying to find a way to retcon this stuff — are saying Iā€™m being too hard on a pilot. But the speed/distance problem is something that occurs throughout TOS and even in the movies (remember how absurdly easy it was to get to the center of the galaxy in ā€œStar Trek V: The Final Frontierā€?). Iā€™m simply pointing it out here to note where this issue started. Heck, it sort of started in dialog in “The Cage”, but it’s far more obvious and a lot more specific here.

Of course, a lot of the characterization is off in this episode. Kirk is pretty much the same guy we see throughout the series, but Spock isnā€™t Spock quite yet. Besides the smiling we see here and in ā€œThe Cageā€, he acts more like Worf in TNG than Spock in TOS. The cold, calculating belief that Mitchell should be killed to save the ship runs counter to the Spock we see later in the first season, when he believes killing the Horta in ā€œDevil in the Darkā€ would be a crime against science. Some of the dialog from Dehner could have come from Spock later in the series. Indeed and some of the dialog from Kirk could have come from McCoy (ā€œCan you take a moment to feel?ā€).

There are a few other stray items. It’s well-known that Kirk’s middle initial is “T” for “Tiberius.” But his initial appears asĀ ā€œRā€ onĀ the tombstone Mitchell makes for him (I’ve heard it suggested that Mitchell really wasn’t that infallible). Meanwhile, Sulu’s use of pennies in his analogy for Mitchellā€™s evolution was odd. I know there are disputes over whether money was still used in the 23rd century, but itā€™s pretty clear that hard currency was no longer used, Oh, and the medical reports Spock reviews for Mitchell and Dehner look extremely antiquated.

Iā€™d say ā€œWhere No Man Has Gone Beforeā€ is the adventure pilot, while ā€œThe Cageā€ is Star Trekā€™s aesthetic pilot, and ā€œThe Corbomite Maneuverā€ is the philosophical pilot.Ā Hence the decision to release the reviews of all three on the launch of this site.

ā€œThe Cageā€

Star_Trek_The_Cage
“I played Jesus one time, you know.”

The U.S.S. Enterprise, under the command of Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) responds to a distress call from an Earth survey vessel inĀ an unexploredĀ system. The initially friendly and grateful survivors turn out to be illusions created by an advanced race of aliens called the Talosians. Their goal is to get Pike to accept a new life and mate with a human female named Vina by way of a series of elaborate fantasies — one including Vina as a very saucy Orion slave girl, another a recreation of the Enterpriseā€™s previous mission, etc. After Pike repeatedly refuses to cooperate, attacks the Talosians and threatens to kill himself and others, the Talosians let him go — deciding humans are too violent and too against captivity to repopulate their battered planet (the inconsistently smart/dumb actions by the Talosians is one of the episode’s weaknesses). Vina, who actually was one of the original humans from the ship that crashed and not an illusion, was left deformed (her beauty throughout the episode was an illusion created by the Talosians) and decides to remain on the planet with a fantasy Pike. The real Pike returns to the ship and sets course for the crewā€™s next mission, never to return to Talos IV. Oh, wait …

Why itā€™s important

Our first look at the USS Enterprise
The first Enterprise! No bloody A, B, C or D… or E, or NX.

It goes without saying that ā€œThe Cageā€ is the most foundational episode of all of Trek. Weā€™re introduced to so much that explaining it all would take too long. But, the big items include the Enterprise itself and the general look and feel of starships, a (somewhat) multi-ethnic crew with women (or, at least, a woman) in positions of authority and a main character whoā€™s an alien (Leonard Nimoy, appearing for the first time as Spock). Most importantly might be the idea that Earth is fine and has developed to the point where it has ships exploring and colonizing the galaxy. One of my favorite moments of the episode is the way the creators slipped that idea in — “Same old Earth andĀ you’ll see it very soon” — when Pike and Co. meet the ā€œsurvivorsā€ who ask if Earth’s all right. Whether intentional or not, the moment sets up the ā€œpositive futureā€ idea thatā€™s so core to Star Trek.

Naturally, some of the concepts arenā€™t fleshed out yet (thereā€™s no mention of Starfleet or the Federation). But they, of course, will come.

What doesn’t hold up well

Iā€™ll treat this one with extreme kid gloves. Use of paper and printers, a television set in Pikeā€™s quarters, etc., can mostly be shrugged off. Talk of printoutsĀ 23 years later in ā€œEncounter at Farpointā€, OTOH ā€¦

Probably the biggest issue comes from the dialog surrounding the crashed survey vesselā€™s apparent lack of warp drive. One of Pikeā€™s crew tells the ā€œsurvivorsā€ on Talos IV that the ā€œtime barrierā€ has been broken — possibly, an allusion to warp. I suppose it could mean something else. Maybe in the previous 18 years, some other advancement happened that negated a ā€œtime barrierā€ that kept ships from going very, very fast at warp? Iā€™m sure thereā€™s some elaborate, expanded universe explanation, but it still doesnā€™t make much sense if you figure the survey vessel got to Talos IV in the first place. And thereā€™s no dialog to indicate it was a sleeper ship.

This is part of a larger issue that we see in a lot of TOS, where the galaxy seems extremely small and the creators donā€™t seem to understand (or care about) the difference between warp and impulse. Anyway, the survivors crashed 18 years prior to the events of this episode, and we know that humans had warp about 200 years before ā€œThe Cage,ā€ (based on events later in TOS and ā€œStar Trek: First Contactā€).

“Captain Pike, you shouldn’t have! They’re lovely. I’ve got a vase I’ll put them. It’s right next to my tenant of no emotion and dedication to pure logic.”

Lastly, Spock is, of course, way off in this episode. Heā€™s the only character we see again — and heā€™s not quite the Spock we know and love until about the 10th episode produced in the first season — but watching him smile when he and Pike find the blue floating leavesĀ is a really odd moment. Itā€™s sort of a classic moment, too. Sometimes, Star Trekā€™s mistakes are an interesting part of watching its evolution.

Final thoughts

Of course, many fans have only seen ā€œThe Cageā€ through the two-part ā€œThe Menagerie,ā€ where the pilotā€™s footage was reused in a flashback. Either way, what we see is sort of fascinating (to borrow a phrase).

Itā€™s quite odd that the pilot is so light on why humans are in space in the first place. Most of the character moments revolve around Pikeā€™s internal struggle about whether being a starship (or, spaceship, based on this episode’s dialog) captain is worth it to him after an incident that occurred prior to the episode, leaving some crew members dead and others injured. Once captured, thereā€™s a lot about humanityā€™s hatred for captivity. Itā€™s not bad stuff, but itā€™s not particularly introductory to Star Trek. We donā€™t get a lot of big picture info.

That said, a lot introduced here does become part of what we watched for the next 40 years (50 years, in reruns). The Enterprise design, transporters, weapons, uniforms, the way the ship works, etc., are all generally started here.

Iā€™d say ā€œThe Cageā€ is Star Trekā€™s aesthetic pilot, ā€œWhere No Man Has Gone Beforeā€ is the adventure pilot and ā€œThe Corbomite Maneuverā€ is the philosophical pilot.Ā Hence the decision to release the reviews of all three on the launch of this site.