History Recap / StarTrekS1E0TheCage

* FantasticFlore: Talos IV's surface is home to turquoise plants that emit eerie, almost singing sounds, which give the planet a distinctly alien atmosphere. Pike and Spock touch them to discover what exact sound each leaf produces.

* FireAndBrimstoneHell: The Talosians can invoke that experience on Pike any time they want as punishment, and threaten to outdo that trauma if they have to.

* AlienBlood: Pike questions their blood color.

* AnatomicallyIgnorantHealing: Vina turns out to have been left disabled and disfigured by the Talosians' well-intentioned efforts to heal her.
* BabyFactory: The aliens present the women to Pike so he could "choose" the best specimen for [[SexualEuphemism intelligent offspring]].

-->'''Boyce''': Sometimes a man will tell things to his bartender that he'd never tell his doctor.

* BizarreAlienBiology:
** Plants are an unusual color (blue or turquoise), and emit eerie, almost singing sounds, which give the planet a distinctly alien atmosphere. Pike and Spock touch them to discover what exact sound each leaf produces.
** Inverted with the Talosians. They've never seen a human before Vina and have no idea how to properly heal her injuries beyond making her basically functional.
* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Vina, Number One, and Colt.

* BodyHorror: Downplayed, but real Vina is clearly a ''mess.''

* BridgeBunnies

* BrokenAesop: Although the episode's lesson taught that humans value their freedom, Captain Pike keeps [[StayInTheKitchen sending the women to the kitchen]] and [[IllPretendIDidntHearThat ignoring their feelings]] even after they were treated as [[BabyFactory Baby Factories]] and [[SexSlave sex slaves]].

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Spock's joyful reaction to hearing the singing plants on Talos IV, and also his panic when he realizes "THE WOMEN" have been kidnapped. Actually, Spock in general. According to Spock's actor Creator/LeonardNimoy, this was because he felt that Spock needed some warmth to balance out how Hunter played Pike. At this point, Spock was just supposed to be an alien, "probably half Martian". Vulcan heritage and stoicism weren't part of his character yet.

-->'''Boyce:''' Eve as in...Adam?\\

* EnemyScan: To properly get to know the capabilities of Humans, the Talosians scan through the ship's computer to learn all about them.

'''Boyce:''' Take your choice. We both get the same two kinds of customers-- the living and the dying.

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: The fact that humans would prefer death to any form of captivity is a sticking point on why they are unsuitable for the Talosians' plans. Pike tries to console the Keepers, suggesting some sort of mutual cooperation to solve their population problem. The Keeper, however is savvy enough to know [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves what will happen if humans eventually acquire the Talosian power of illusion.]] All of this at least explains why there is a General Order forbidding any contact with this planet.

* FoodPills: With a slight variation: All the nourishment Pike needs is in liquid form in a small slender glass.

* GlassyPrison: One wall is made of a crystal material, so the specimens can be put on exhibit and analyzed.
* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: The TropeCodifier. Although strictly speaking, Vina is only ''pretending'' to be a green-skinned space babe. But she's still the first one that we ever see in ''Star Trek''!

* IceQueen: Number One was designed to be this trope.

* LifeDeathJuxtaposition: Boyce while soothing Pike.
-->'''Pike:''' Now you're beginning to talk like a doctor, bartender.\\
'''Boyce:''' Take your choice. We both get the same two kinds of customers. The living and the dying.

* MyBrainIsBig: The aliens have very visible bigger brains (with pulsating veins!), which give them great mental power.
--> '''Spock:''' Look. Brains three times the size of ours. If we start buzzing about down there, we're liable to find their mental power is so great they could reach out and swat this ship as though it were a fly.

* NondescriptNastyNutritious: One of the "sustenances" given to Pike while in the holding cell is a glass of blue mystery liquid, which the Talosian Keeper claims contains a "nourishing protein complex".

* RaygunGothic: This episode is where the death of this trope began.

** Between Pike and J.M. Colt in particular. And according to the Talosians, possibly also Number One.

* Nondescript, Nasty, Nutritious: One of the "sustenances" given to Pike while in the holding cell is a glass of blue mystery liquid, which the Talosian Keeper claims contains a "nourishing protein complex".

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Although they keep sentient beings enslaved ForScience, the Talosians aren't exactly evil; they just don't understand why humans hate being held captive. When they do figure it out, they release the humans -- not out of respect for their desires, but because their hatred of captivity makes them unsuitable for the Talsoians' plans.

The ship receives an belated S.O.S from survivors of an Earth spaceship that crashed on the nearby planet Talos IV some time ago. Once they arrive on this barren and desolate planet, they find a ragtag bunch of survivors, but something doesn't feel quite right about them. While the landing party does a thorough examination of the group, a young woman named Vina lures Captain Pike to a secluded spot, where he gets zapped by humanoid aliens and taken deep underground.

The Talosians finally kidnap two further females from the ''Enterprise'' crew, giving Pike the choice of three potential mates. The ''Enterprise'''s female first officer sets her hand phaser to self-destruct, forcing the Talosians' hand and giving them no option but to let the three of them go. Pike watches sadly as the true extent of Vina's injuries are revealed, explaining why she can not come with them.

* AdamAndEvePlot: The Talosians kidnap Captain Pike, and then Number One and a female lieutenant to act as breeding stock.

** Spock is shown to be limping when the party first beams down to Talos IV. According to the script Spock was one of the crewmen mentioned as having been injured on Rigel VII.

* BeneathTheMask: The Talosians put Captain Pike in a [[LotusEaterMachine fantasy]] where he's a decadent Orion slave trader with a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe dancing erotically for him. Earlier Pike had been griping about TheChainsOfCommanding and let slip a thought about giving it all up to be an Orion captain.

** After beaming Number One and Colt down to Pike's cell as alternate mating choices, the Talosian Magistrate tells him that Number One's IceQueen demeanor is a facade and she's often had fantasies about him, while Yeoman Colt has assumed the captain was [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling out of her reach]], "but now is [[LockedInARoom realising this has changed]]".

* TheDulcineaEffect: Pike correctly deduces that the Talosians are trying to make him feel protective of Vina so that he'll fall in love. However, after he points to the illusions that cast her as a DamselInDistress he protests against their treatment of her in the real world, proving that their ploy is indeed working.

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: The fact that humans would prefer death to any form of captivity is a sticking point on why they are unsuitable for the Talosians plans. Pike tries to console the Keepers suggesting some sort of mutual cooperation to solve their population problem. The Keeper, however is savvy enough to know [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves what will happen if humans eventually acquire the Talosian power of illusion.]] All of this at least explains why there is a General Order forbidding any contact with this planet.

* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: The TropeCodifier. Although strictly speaking, Vina is only ''pretending'' to be a green skinned space babe. But she's still the first one that we ever see in ''Star Trek''!

* LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: Averted. It's rare where scientists are not potrayed in labcoats, and in this case they appeared in normal clothes, but ragged and tattered.

* MovingTheGoalposts: Pike agrees to pick an illusion to share with Vina if she answers his questions. After she does, he says that he made a "bargain with someone that didn't exist" and it doesn't count which forces her to admit that she was lying about being yet another illusion.

* RefusalOfTheCall: Pike refuses to answer a fifteen year-old DistressCall, because they have their own wounded to take care of (it's also implied that [[HeroicBSOD Pike is tired and his morale is low]] after recent events). Only when another message arrives confirming that there are survivors in need of help does he order the Enterprise there.
* RubberForeheadAliens: The Talosians have entire rubber heads. They are more elaborate than later makeups in the series, and they also cast female actors but dubbed over male voices in an attempt to make them more alien.

* SpaceClothes: The Talosians (and Vina) use shiny, silvery clothes. Averted with the crew of Enterprise, whose uniforms are deliberately mundane.
* TheSpock: An UrExample. TheStoic, [[GoodWithNumbers computer-mind]] character was supposed to be Number One, a female. As Roddenberry said the network didn't want a woman in a position of power (the executives denied this), he passes the traits to Spock.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: An in-universe example. The consoles on the ''Enterprise'' bridge are here fitted with what look like personal computer printers (which print out messages on paper), and the Yeoman is seen using a clipboard with paper sheets on it. The beam weapons are called lasers instead of the later phasers. And the weapon used in the attempt to blast the Talosian entrance is a bulky device transported from the ship instead of ship mounted weapons. By the time of the series proper, both would be replaced by more futuristic devices. Medical science is presumably more primitive than it's portrayed in TOS, as Pike doesn't even speculate about the possibility that Vina's disfigurements might be repairable with ''Trek''-era medicine. But technology has also already marched on, as one crewman enthusiastically says to the "survivors": space travel is now incomparably faster than 18 years before.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Yeoman Colt is a suitable mate for her youth, strength and "[[AllWomenAreLustful unusually strong female drives]]."
** To avoid saying [[FireAndBrimstoneHell 'Hell']], the aliens say they can put the Captain in a [[UnusualEuphemism 'Fable you once heard in childhood']].
** Pike was expected to have sex, but of course they could not say so directly:
---> '''Vina''': Now, there's a fine choice for intelligent offspring.
---> '''Colt''': Offspring, as in children?
---> '''Number One''': Offspring as in he's Adam. Is that it?
---> '''Vina''': You're no better choice. They'd have more luck crossing him with a computer.

--> '''Colt''': Offspring, as in children?

-->"[[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Glistening green.]] Almost like secret dreams a bored ship captain might have..."

--> '''Vina''': Now, there's a fine choice for intelligent offspring.

--> '''Number One''': Offspring as in he's Adam. Is that it?
--> '''Vina''': You're no better choice. They'd have more luck crossing him with a computer.

* WagonTrainToTheStars: UrExample. This was the first pilot presented to the network to show this concept.

* SameLanguageDub: Clegg Hoyt played the transporter chief, Pitcairn, but his voice was dubbed in by Bob Johnson.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Although they keep sentient beings enslaved ForScience, the Talosians aren't exactly evil; they just don't understand why humans hate being held captive against their will so much.

* LuredIntoATrap: Pike is coaxed to walk right into a trap where the aliens capture him. Vina mentions that he's been feeling tired, and Pike is [[DistractedByTheSexy noticeably distracted by her]], so he's likely not as alert as he should be.

* DistressCall: One of these kickstarts the plot, with a radio wave keyed to trigger the sensors of a passing vessel (it initially appears to be an oncoming object) thereby drawing the attention of its crew. In a subversion, Pike's initial response is to ignore the signal, so the Talosians send another indicating that there are survivors in distress.

* TVTelephoneEtiquette: Mr. Spock calls on the ship's video intercom to deliver exposition and cuts the call immediately.
* YourHeartsDesire: The Orion women are presented as a dark male [[FanService fantasy come to life]]. They're [[{{Orientalism}} exotic]], [[AllWomenAreLustful animalistic]] {{Sex Slave}}s, from a culture [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe where they actually want to be taken advantage of]] so you don't have to feel guilty about doing so.

* DistressCall: One of these kickstarts the plot, with a radio wave keyed to trigger the sensors of a passing vessel (it initially appears to be an oncoming object) thereby drawing the attention of its crew. In a subversion, Pike's initial response is to ignore the signal, so the Talosians send another indicating that there are survivors in distress.

* YourHeartsDesire: The Orion women are presented as a dark male [[FanService fantasy come to life]]. They're [[{{Orientalism}} exotic]], [[AllWomenAreLustful animalistic]] {{Sex Slave}}s, from a culture [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe where they actually want to be taken advantage of]] so you don't have to feel guilty about doing so.
-->'''Orion slave trader:''' Suppose you had all of space to choose from, and this was only one small sample. Wouldn't you say it was worth a man's soul?

* BeneathTheMask: Pike's fantasy of being a decadent Orion slave trader.
-->"[[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Glistening green]], almost like secret dreams a bored ship captain might have..."

* DistressCall: One of these kickstarts the plot, with a radio wave keyed to trigger the sensors of a passing vessel (it initially appears to be an oncoming object) thereby drawing the attention of its crew. In a subversion, Pike's initial response is to ignore the signal, so the Talosians send another indicating that there are survivors in distress.

* DistressCall: One of these kickstarts the plot.

* AllThereInTheManual: Spock is shown to be limping when the party first beams down to Talos IV. According to the script Spock was one of the crewmen mentioned as having been injured on Rigel VII.
* AggressiveNegotiations: Pike tries to negotiate the life of the Magistrate for his crew's freedom and to [[TakeMeInstead Take Him Instead]] but Number One threatens [[HeroicSuicide mass suicide]] before they respond.

* AllThereInTheManual: A few novels have theorized as to the cause for the vast differences between Spock's highly emotional behavior in this episode and his reservedness in the regular series. Examples of this include Spock possibly not having complete control of his emotions at that point, as he was still quite young, and that he achieved full control of his emotions by observing Captain Pike. In fact, the novel ''Burning Dreams'' establishes that indeed, whether Pike liked it or not, Spock did consider him a mentor and so Pike tried his best to live up to that assignment. The novel ''The Fire and the Rose'' establishes that Spock was simply emulating Human behaviors such as smiles, and that there was truly no emotion behind his own smile. He eventually stopped though when his crew mates came to distrust him, believing him not to be truthful about himself to them.

* AlienGeometries: The alien prison has weird angles and perspectives (done purposefully with optical illusions), and also Bizarrchitecture: slanted walls and weird shapes. Notably, the form of their monitor display is in a really weird shape.

* PlotHole:
** Vina claims her misshapen but correctly functioning body is the result of the Talosians having put her back together without ever having seen a human before. But even ignoring the fact that the Talosians themselves are HumanoidAliens with perfect bilateral symmetry along their long axis, ''they could have read her thoughts'' to see what humans looked like.
** Earlier drafts of the episode describe the Talosians as [[StarfishAliens crustaceans]], and the change to humanoids in the final product was a budgetary concession. The telepathy point depends on whether a subject needs to be conscious to have their minds read. It's doubtful Vina was in anything resembling a lucid or communicative state after the crash, considering she herself describes her condition at that point as a "lump of flesh."
** We know the Talosians can't read the mind of someone who's caught up in primal hatred. Possibly the mental state of someone whose body has been mangled in a starship crash is even more primal than that, a frenzy of pain and terror they can't (or possibly don't ''dare'') connect with. Also, who's to say they aren't ''still'' crustaceans, but made themselves look humanoid for convenience during their interaction with Pike?
** Also the Talosians simply lacked the physical skill and experience to do surgery on a human. If they had that ability, they could certainly take up agriculture to save their lives.

* TheBridge: UrExample! Although movies and series with crews in space are known (See Film/ForbiddenPlanet and Series/LostInSpace), in TheBridge most action revolves around the Captain's Chair as the center of the bridge.

* PsychicStatic: The Talosians can't read "primitive" emotions like anger or violence, so Pike uses that as a PsychicBlockDefense.

* ThisIsThePartWhere: The Talosians note that, after hurling himself in frustration at the glass, Pike will now threaten them with the power of his starship. Hearing this, Pike chooses a more diplomatic (but equally futile) approach.

* BizarreAlienBiology: Plants are an unusual color (blue or turquoise), and emit eerie, almost singing sounds, which give the planet a distinctly alien atmosphere. Pike and Spock touch them to discover what exact sound each leaf produces.