History Recap / StarTrekS1E0TheCage

* 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.

* CrossCastRole: Although male voices were dubbed in for the Talosians, three of the Talosian actors were actually women. Robert Butler and Creator/GeneRoddenberry struck upon using this casting method at about the same time as one another, Butler reckoning that it would lend the Talosian characterizations an alien-like androgynous quality. Roddenberry believed that the lighter builds of females might suggest that the Talosians had allowed their bodies to atrophy while instead choosing to concentrate on advanced brain development. Upon searching for suitable performers to play the parts, Roddenberry scoured Hollywood for short actresses with faces that he deemed to be interesting. Character actress Meg Wyllie was cast as the Talosian Keeper on Butler's recommendation, as they had previously worked together.

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

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: As Pike foiled their plans for breeding a SlaveRace, the aliens just give up and accept their [[DyingRace fate of their failed civilization]]. To be fair, they indicate they had already tried out several other species (possibly the ones Pike saw in the zoo) but none of them had shown the same adaptability as humans. Pike was their "last hope".

* NumberTwo: Number One, actually, who goes by no other name. Spock is present but is not the First Officer as he would become when the show went to series. (He ''appears'' to be third-in-command behind Pike and Number One, as he takes command after Number One is abducted, but this isn't definitely established in dialogue.)

''Film/StarTrek2009'' takes place in an AlternateTimeline and predominantly takes place at about the same time as this episode, reimagining Pike as played by Creator/BruceGreenwood and a mentor figure for Kirk before showing the change of command. In the main timeline Captain Pike is [[TheOtherDarrin recast]] with Creator/AnsonMount as he shows up in the second season of the {{prequel}} series 2017's ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', chronologically about two years after the events of this episode. In 2022 ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' debuted, set shortly after the events of ''Discovery'' and about seven years before the first season of TOS.

Footage from this unaired pilot was later re-edited as a [[Recap/StarTrekS1E11TheMenageriePartI two part]] [[Recap/StarTrekS1E12TheMenageriePartII regular episode]] called "The Menagerie", where the events were presented as something that had happened to a former crew of the ''Enterprise'', ten years prior to the start of the main series. The original version, however, eventually made its broadcast premiere in 1988, as part of the TV special ''The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next'', which previewed the writers' strike-delayed second season of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. "The Cage" was also the last of the digitally remastered TOS episodes to air, debuting the week before ''Film/StarTrek2009'' opened in theaters.

* FailedPilotEpisode: ZigZagged. On the one hand, the network rejected this as the pilot for ''ST:TOS'' and ordered another one which led to the show that started the franchise. On the other hand, this episode was repurposed as a two-parter in the series, making it canon. On the ''other'' other hand, season 2 of ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' would feature Pike, Spock, and Number One along with the ''Enterprise'', which would lead to them getting [[Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds their own show]] -- so in a sense, this pilot ''did'' get its own show, just a few decades later than anyone thought.

* HappyPlace: The aliens construct visions of Pike in "Happy Places": [[YouCantGoHomeAgain Back Home]] and as an [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Orion Slave Trader]] (actually a PsychologicalTormentZone, as he is perturbed and runs out of the harem), but Pike immediately knows it's AllJustADream.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: While talking with Doctor Boyce, Captain Pike talks about the battle on Rigel Seven and two activities he might partake in after retiring: going on a picnic on Earth or becoming an Orion trader. Each of these is used as the basis for one of the telepathic illusions the Talosians use on him later.