1x0: the cage

Rating: 8/10

First things first, the opening music is pretty awesome. Very retro space opera which is fitting I have seen every episode of TOS (remastered) and TAS - once each. Maybe half the first season of TNG. The dated charm appealed to me my first time through, hopefully it's fun again.

It's cute to hear them talk about "these meteoroids" and such. Sounds so primitive. campy. I feel like the old special effects really show you you don't need a high budget (these days) to produce something good if the writing is up to par.

About 4:30 into the episode the doctor offers Pike (a pre Kirk kirk) a cold martini to calm his nerves. I like how they figured that'd still be a go to medicine back then. Or how there'd be a small town with 50 miles of surrounding parkland in the 32nd century (or whenever this takes place) a guy could retire to. Or how having women on the bridge world be strange.

I'm glad they changed the landing party uniforms for the actual show, these baggy grey ones look a bit off.

At 12 minutes in they find their first hint of alien life. A plant with leaves clearly painted blue. Apparently when you travel through strange worlds all over the galaxy this is still a sight worthy of note.

A couple minutes later we meet some humans who've been stranded on the alien planet since their ship crashed. The whole group is being monitored by aliens who actually look pretty decent for being all makeup. Much more attention is applied to lighting, angle, and sound to create a creepy mood instead of just their appearance. I especially like when their head veins pulse

The creepiness continues when we learn there is a secret to these survivors good health. Were treated to some old school lasers that seem like they probably used actual small explosions to create the disintegrating effect from. Soon after we see a gorilla and birdlike alien....proving not all effects aged well.

The hand painted backgrounds, like the castle/planet/space backdrop when they throw like into a fantasy to test him, are definitely another story. Gorgeous by every measure. Wouldn't mind seeing this make more of a comeback, but I imagine cgi must be cheaper or at least less hassle to work with.

The story itself in this episode is pretty interesting. Makes for a good introduction to the type of things you'll see in the series. Although some episodes to get goofy, there are a lot that really make you think about something a bit deeper than many shows do. And that's not even accounting for the cultural effect it had at the time (first on screen interracial crew/kiss/etc).

As a person who's been incarcerated before, this episode hits home a little extra. You see the mentality pike has about defying his captors, no matter how benevolent, play out behind bars (physical or otherwise) in every era of humanity.

"When dreams become more important than reality you give up travel, building, creating. You even forget how to repair the machines left behind by your ancestors. You just sit living and reliving other lives left behind in the thought wreck."

Wonderful quote from this episode, hope there's more throughout the series. I'm sure there will be.

"I hope you like these little white sandwiches, they're your mother's recipe for chicken tuna"

I am less enthused about this quote. I don't know what the fuck chicken tuna is supposed to be but it sounds like one of those horrible recipes from the past like spam jello or some shit.

About 43 minutes in we get treated to out first glimpse of a dancing green alien woman. Classic. I love how they bring down two more women from the ship (only the women) to further entice Kirk. Pure male fantasy. Never really changes, just the way it's presented. There's even 3 chicks fighting over him, putting Archie to shame.

I do like that they gave it a happy ish ending. I wonder if I would choose to live in such a beautiful fantasy if I could. Maybe I already am.