TOS: Charlie X

Captain's log, stardate 1533.6. The Enterprise has rendezvoused with the Antares to pick up Charlie Evans, the lone surviver of a crashed transport ship. Charlie's ship crashed on the mysterious planet, Thasus, rumored to be the home of a powerful species psychokinetic abilities. As strange occurrences begin to follow the 17 year old, Captain Kirk and his crew must act quickly to save themselves from disaster. For a full episode synopsis, set course for Memory Alpha's episode page. I also enjoy using IMDb to help fill in some knowledge gaps about the various guest stars that show up on the Enterprise. This has become great fun for me, especially with the second generation of Star Trek series, because there are a goodly number of big name actors and actresses that make Trek appearances. It's especially gratifying when I recognize a Star Trek alum on other shows and movies, but less so for my wife.

Before we really get cooking here, I also want to mention I've been watching these episodes on Blu-Ray, which includes the option of watching the episodes as they originally aired or with enhanced visual effects and audio. Normally, I'd be a bit of a purest and watch them without the enhanced effects, but I did a slight experiment to see how much it altered one episode. So far, there has been no change to the story line whatsoever. That means we don't have to curse the ghost of Gene Roddenberry for changing the story to make the Romulans shoot first, when it was clearly Kirk (yes, Star Trek fans can and should love Star Wars, but only in unaltered autographs--now I'm drifting into theology...). For example, in this episode, we get a gorgeous shot of the Enterprise approaching the Antares in the opening sequence, something you don't see in the unaltered version.

This is borrowed from Memory Alpha; although this is a good still of the episode's opening sequence,
the visual on the Blu-Ray disc is just absolutely stunning.

A Holiday on the Enterprise
This particular mission of the Enterprise takes place in 2266, and apparently, they still celebrate Thanksgiving on Earth. This is intriguing for a few reasons. First, many religious conservatives celebrate Thanksgiving as a church holiday; this probably means having some sort of service either on Thanksgiving or on the day before. On the other hand, we can easily observe that Thanksgiving is not necessarily a religious Christian, because it is often celebrated large sections of American society that are perhaps not Christian or even religious at all. One feature of nearly every great civilization in history has been the existence of civic religion, which binds all the people together into one, unified group. It has its marks, too, just as the Church has her mark, among which are holidays. In Gene Roddenberry's vision of the 23rd century, this must have been difficult to maintain, especially since all of Earth is one, homogenized culture (more or less), that has spread to other planets and star systems. Off hand, I can't recall other holy days being celebrated in the Trek universe, but Thanksgiving has the distinction of being mentioned first. My initial thought was that the episode aired or was filmed around Thanksgiving, but instead, it aired in September of 1966.

Interestingly enough, Kirk's desire to have the crew eat something similar to turkey leads to a conversation with the ship's cook, where he reveals that the food is synthetic. There must have been some sort of replicator technology available to the Enterprise crew, but perhaps not to the same level of sophistication seen in later Trek series. In one of the early (and benevolent) uses of his power, Charlie turns the synthetic meal foods in the oven into real turkeys.

Peculiar, Captain
One last thing of note, we get a look at the leisure life of the crew in this episode, which involves card playing, Spock playing music, and Uhura singing patronizing songs about anyone she sees. Thank goodness for the advent of holodeck technology in The Next Generation.

That's not the only entertainment we witness, however. In one scene, Charlie forces Spock to recite some poetry from William Blake, Edgar Allen Poe, and some other poetic verse from the Star Trek universe. Admittedly, I had to look up the William Blake reference; however, Roddenberry was a student (or perhaps his writers were) of literature and mythology. We should expect to see more references like this to appear as we continue to make our way through the show.

With Great Power...
Charlie's great psychokinetic abilities caused me to consider what might be the limit of his abilities. Throughout the episode, he is able to melt chess pieces, alter the faces of crew members, alter the form of others, and even cause crew to completely disappear (although he seems unsure of where they have gone). In the end, Kirk notices that Charlie's power has limits related to how much of it he is using. However, distance seems to be less of a factor. At one point, the crew of the Antares tries to warn Kirk of the danger on his ship in Charlie Evans. Even though the ship is at the edge of her communications range, Charlie is still able to "reach" across space and destroy the Antares. Compare this to the Talosians we encountered in the original pilot. They were able to manipulate the Enterprise from orbit, and even able to create the illusion of messages being sent from another star system. What about the actual Thasians who gave Charlie his power? How much more powerful were they?

Scan Complete
There are two primary issues in this episode that require some reflection. First, the Thasians were clearly a more superior species to humans in every way. Though non-corporeal, they have the ability to assume some semblance of physical form to communicate with the crew of the Enterprise. In the end, when they discover Charlie has gone, the Thasians come to retrieve him and bring him back to Thasus, noting that Charlie will eventually destroy humanity, or humanity will need to destroy him in self defense. No quarantine of the planet is enacted as we see in the case of Talos (and eventually, the Guardian's planet in "City on the Edge of Forever"). The Thasians' power is so great, that the crew of the Enterprise simply watches Charlie be taken away in the end with very little to say about the situation. What would the Federation do to prevent more Charlies from being created? In the end, we're never really told.

This does bring me to a criticism I have of the episode. In the final scene, when Charlie is taken, Kirk's only dialogue with the Thasian is to assert Charlie's right to be with his own people. However, he doesn't really press the matter very far. As I said, the crew is literally silent as Charlie, in great distress, is taken away. Now, either this was just poor scripting and acting (which I'll allow), or this shows the the crew's lack of compassion for another human being, regardless of what crimes he had committed. For those of you who have seen this episode, what do you think? Let me know in the comments.

The final issue on which I'd like to comment is the running theme of Charlie's need for a strong father figure (which is an interesting coincidence that this is brought up on a day that is generally considered a family holiday). Charlie's biggest problem is not that he is powerful, but its that he was never taught how to be a functional member of human society. Both Bones and Spock make mention of Kirk's "fatherly" connection to Charlie, and even go out of their way to get a reluctant Kirk to take on that role. Kirk tries to do so, which results in a few uncomfortable conversations about men and women, where Kirk sort of mumbles some incoherent phrases and finishes by saying, "Do you understand?" Maybe Captain Kirk isn't as smooth as we were led to believe! We also get a glimpse into the athletic life of the crew as Kirk attempts to teach Charlie how to fight in the ship's gym, which is an area with wrestling mats, women doing gymnastics in a hallway, and levers on a wall that can serve as a place to hang your clothing or as workout equipment (I'd ask for my money back--although, there are some crew members training for American Gladiator, using those giant cotton swab-looking dealies).

(Borrowed from Trekcore.com)

However, I watched this show on Father's Day, another civic holiday (will they still have this one in the 23rd century?), where we are to celebrate fathers (your mileage may vary). Kirk's inability to carry out his role for Charlie (though not entirely his fault) is a good reminder to us how important fathers really are. Roddenberry's world had not quite rejected gender roles (although he must have been on the very edge of so doing), but we are living in a time when the concepts of fatherhood and motherhood are being cast aside as inconsequential. You see, Charlie was raised without the benefit of having both a mother and a father, which caused him to be erratic emotionally and child-like in his interactions with others. By not having a mom or dad, Charlie lacked the social skills naturally fostered in a two parent home. As we continue to reap the harvest of the sexual revolution that began, in large part, during the time Star Trek was being filmed, we may begin to see more Charlie Evanses than James Kirks. Children need the diversity of a mom and a dad in order to balance out the extremes of both sexes, and Charlie Evans is a good example of why this is the case.

Next time, we will take a look at "Where No Man Has Gone Before," an episode which actually occurs earlier in the Star Trek timeline than both "The Man Trap" and "Charlie X." Again, please, like, comment on, and share this post!

TOS: The Man Trap

Captain's Log, stardate 1513.1. Enterprise is in orbit around M-113 on a routine medical checkup on an archaeologist and his wife. Apparently, in the 23rd century, doctors make house calls again. This would've been nice a few months ago when my children decided having strep throat was the best idea ever. Instead, my beautiful wife had to make the run to the pediatrician's office about 30 minute away on an all-too-regular basis for a several weeks. Next time that happens, I'm putting everyone in stasis until at least stardate 1510.2. Perhaps we can get Bones to stop by. On the other hand, it seems like having a starship making a house call would get rather expensive. I'm too stuck in my 21st century economic thinking, I suppose, since there is such a thing as a free lunch in the moneyless economy of Gene Roddenberry's vision of the 23rd century. Affordable Healthcare Act, eat your heart out!

In brief, as this episode unravels, we discover that Dr. McCoy (henceforth known as "Bones") had another nickname--Plumb--given to him by his old flame, Nancy Crater. We aren't told from whence the nickname came, but my personal theory is the eyeshadow that DeForrest Kelly seems to wear on the set of Star Trek. Tell me that doesn't look like eye shadow.

I'm a doctor, not a cosmetologist! (Borrowed from startrek.com)

Crewmen are mysteriously dying, and we are reassured frequently that it is definitely not poisoning from a borgia plant. These reminders are not unlike the first few seasons of House when it definitely wasn't lupus, but all crammed into one episode. It turns out, a shape shifting salt vampire (the last of its kind) is killing the crew by using a combination of its suction cup covered hands and hypnotism.

The M-113 Salt Vampire is still scarier and more vampire-y than Twilight "vampires."

For a more complete episode analysis, check out Memory Alpha. I'm also a big fan of IMDb's episode pages, too. IMDb helps me lovingly point out to my wife who has made appearance on Star Trek, which is one of the many things she finds endearing about me.

A 23rd Century Rand Paul

Dr. Robert Crater is featured in this episode as the bent on personal liberty (and secretive) archaeologist inhabiting M-113. Somehow, he makes archaeology seem less exciting than Indiana Jones, which is probably more realistic. Dr. Crater (played by Alfred Ryder) seems to possess a strong sense of personal liberty, often complaining about the presence of Kirk and his crew on the planet. At one point, he even claims Kirk is trespassing on his planet! It's possible this is due to his desire to keep the Salt Vampire's secret, but I'm intrigued that a character like this shows up in the Trek universe at all. If you spent any amount of time watching, Star Trek tends to portray the massive government of the Federation as the symbol of goodness in the universe (although, there are notable exceptions to this). Perhaps we can chock this one up to the wagon train to the stars Roddenberry envisioned early on. However, the family resemblance is undeniable:

Dr. Robert Crater and his 9th great grandfather, Rand Paul.
(Left image borrowed from en.Memory-Alpha.wikia.com)

Star Trek Meme on Viewer
Trek is known for a few running jokes (well, they probably became jokes later), and this, the first aired episode, is where one of them starts. Dr. McCoy is very good at identifying a dead person, usually with the line, "He's dead, Jim." To be fair, he gets a lot of practice in this episode, as the body count is high (being in Starfleet might be the most dangerous thing to do in the 23rd century). In fact, Bones utters these oft-repeated words at the first death in canonical Star Trek, the death of crewman Darnell. Interesting to note, none of the deaths included men wearing red shirts.

Although this isn't really a meme, we get an interesting look at what it's like to be hit by a phaser on stun in this episode, too. At one point, Kirk and Spock are trying to bring crater in and end up having to stun him. As they talk to him, Crater is slow to react, which includes a slowing down and deepening of his voice. To my knowledge, this occurs nowhere else in Star Trek.

Another funny moment occurs on the bridge, as Kirk receives an urgent message from Space Commander Dominguez on Corinth IV about an urgently needed shipment. It turns out Commander Dominguez is in urgent need of the prime Mexican red chile peppers Kirk himself picked by hand. You know, because he can do that from the Enterprise.

One last moment worth mentioning: Uhura, in an attempt to flirt with Spock, asks what the moon looks like on a lazy evening on Vulcan. Spock, clearly confused by the communication officer's illogical advances responds, "Vulcan has no moon." She replies, "Why am I not surprised?" And yet, JJ Abrams felt the need to make Spock a suave character, who has a romantic relationship with Uhura. #ugh #whatevs

Scan Complete
This episode presents two things worthy of deeper consideration. The first is the writers' use of evolution to advance the storyline. In a scene near the end, Dr. Crater and Bones (who, it turns out, is the Salt Vampire in disguise) defend the creature's actions of killing the crew (not by using a borgia plant, mind you). Dr. Crater opines that the creature's ability to shape shift is an evolutionary trait retained from the creature's primitive past, like a chameleon's ability to change colors and the human's incisors (which use to be fangs, Crater claims). Setting aside the creation and evolution debate this seems to indicate a slight misunderstanding of the modern conception of evolution. The chameleon currently retains the ability to change colors as a defense. Evolutionary theory would more likely indicate that this trait developed in chameleons over time, not something that was eventually going to be evolved out. It would be interesting to take a look at evolutionary theory from the middle 1960s to compare it to today. Maybe 23rd century chameleons work differently than today.

Another place the writers use evolution is to explain why the creature was unable to feed on Spock. In the final "chase" scene, Spock is found bleeding (our first glimpse at a Vulcan's green blood), having been jumped by Crater and the creature. However, the creature is unable to feed on Spock because, Spock's ancestors evolved in a different ocean than Kirk's. We're not really told what that means, however. Again, it would be interesting to know the state of the creation/evolution debate in science and education in the 60s, because it obviously influenced the writers of this episode in no small way.

The moral question presented by the issue is another timely one, too. As the episode winds down and more and more of the Enterprise crew are found dead, Dr. Crater defends the Salt Vampire's right to try to survive. Kirk remains unconvinced that the creature's life is worth saving at the cost of so many of his men. Every once in a while, I run into a person arguing that mankind is a plague on the earth, and how things will be much better for the world after humans die off. However, is the existence of one life form really of greater value than human life? In other words, should humans voluntarily give up their existence in order to facility a "better" world? I've had conversations with people who actually hold to this idea, and I usually ask (tongue firmly planted in cheek), "Why don't you volunteer?"

Wouldn't this, however, fight against the evolutionary principle of survival of the fittest? It seems that allowing humanity to dominate the earth (or a small slice of the galaxy in Star Trek's case) would open the door for stronger species to evolve and eventually displace mankind as the dominate form of life on earth. I think this betrays a bias against humanity that we continue to see in the world of 2015 that was brewing in 1966 that's wrapped up in the now-debunked overpopulation hypothesis. This question feeds into conversations now taking place in many European countries, whose birthrates have fallen below the rate of replacement, despite government's best efforts to encourage young couples to have children. This is even becoming an issue in the United States, where population growth estimates are bolstered by immigrants from the global south, whose family size far outpaces most other sectors of the population.

Ironically, Dr. Crater, advocated for the survival of the M-113 Salt Vampire, appealing to the extinction of the American buffalo (which are completely gone by the 23rd century). In the end, Crater is killed by the creature he grew to love, despite the fact he fought to save it. The episode closes on this thought, too, in a scene the occurs again in future Star Trek episodes. Kirk is on the bridge, deep in thought, and Spock asks him about his thoughts. Kirk replies, "I was thinking about the buffalo." Kirk exchanges glances with Spock and Bones before warping off to the next exciting mission--the delivery of hand-picked chili peppers to Space Commander Jose Dominguez on Corinth IV.

As for our next mission, we will be looking at Season 1, Episode 2, "Charlie X." This blog is still young, and I'm looking for your feedback. Please comment below and share this on whatever social media platforms you use--MyPage, FaceSpace, etc. Let me know what you think!

The Cage

O.K., Trek fans, set course for the original, unaired pilot of the original Star Trek series, time warp factor 7. Engage!

In the middle 1960s, Gene Roddenberry pitched a new show to CBS that was billed as a "wagon train to the stars." The show, Star Trek, originally featured a Captain Christopher Pike of the U.S.S. Enterprise and his crew. Though the show was eventually picked up, nearly everything about the show was changed (the only substantial things that remained were the ship itself and the Vulcan crewman, Mr. Spock). This pilot, written in 1964 and not airing until 1988, gives Trek fans a really unique look into the show's genesis and Roddenberry's original vision for the show. If you want more history, check Memory Alpha's episode page. It also includes a blow-by-blow of the episode itself. You can also see IMDb's page, too. If you're looking for episode synopsis, go to those links. This blog is not primarily to tell you what happened in a given episode, but to tell you what I saw and thought about it.

This episode is thick with memories for me. My dad had a handful of Star Trek episodes on VHS, and this was one of them. My brother and I would watch these over and over again, and they are foundational to my love for Star Trek. In fact, one of those episodes, "The City on the Edge of Forever," is still my favorite TOS episode to this day. We probably weren't concerned with how this unaired pilot fit in with the Trek universe, but simply saw it as another fun installment in the series. Watching it again a few decades later, I'm left wondering how much different Star Trek would've been had this pilot been picked up.

What Might Have Been
Well, for one, we'd have Jeffrey Hunter instead of William Shatner. Interesting note: Hunter died in May of 1969, which was before the final TOS episode aired (that June). Since I love "City on the Edge of Forever" so much, it would be an interesting thought experiment to see how that would've impacted the future of the franchise. Shatner is arguably the face of Star Trek still today.

Pike (from Startrek.com)

Kirk (from Startrek.com)

We'd have no Bones (No "I'm a doctor, not a..."), Chekov (No uncomfortable Cold War-era pro-Russia comments or searches for nuclear "wessels"), Sulu, Scotty (is there an engineer who can perform more miracles?) Uhura (another famed Trek ambassador), or the whole host of on again, off again actors and actresses (or would we). Either way, I still hope the Nazis are stopped (man, I love that episode).

I do, however, appreciate Jeffrey Hunter in this role. He played in a number of westerns, and I think that made him well-suited to the show's original vision. He's also very human, and not in the whiny way that is common in television today. In one scene with Dr. Boyce (the ship's chief medical officer), he expressed the struggles of a ship captain that are rarely visible behind Kirk's cocky visage or Picard's stoicism in The Next Generation. Don't get me wrong--these guys both cared deeply about their crews and took seriously their assignments, but Hunter really showed his chops in this scene (and the writers did, too).

I also really liked Dr. Boyce. He seemed to fill the role of ship's counselor (slash bartender) as well as doctor. In the above mentioned scene, Boyce carried a travel cocktail kit and mixed a martini for Pike and himself. Is it possible that there would've been more drinking on the Enterprise than on Madmen had CBS gone with this version of Star Trek? Boyce had some great lines in his role, too; gems like (to a retirement contemplating Pike), "A man either lives life as it happens to him—meets it head on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away." And (on being a doctor and a bartender), "We both get the same kinds of customers: the living and the dying." Boyce, played by John Hoyt, was himself an accomplished actor and writer. In this role, he was very reminiscent of an Old West-style doctor.

Another actress Trek fans would be familiar with from this episode is "Number One," played by Majel Barrett. Barrett eventually married Gene Roddenberry, and played several roles in the Trek universe (she was in all five television series), including Nurse Christine Chapel in TOS. She has no name, other than the designation "Number One." It is disappointing, however, that Pike considered "Number One" one of the "guys" in the episode. I'm guessing this early example of gender role confusion is a result of the then burgeoning sexual revolution. It would've been interesting to see how this dynamic would've developed.

Highly Illogical
This episode also contains a few oddities. The Enterprise's navigator brags at one point about the "time barrier" being broken. Earlier in the episode, Captain Pike sets the ship's speed at "time warp factor 7." It's likely impossible to know where this really falls on the modern Trek's warp scale, not mention the fact that TOS had a different warp scale than the rest of the canon. Second, the normally stoic Spock shows some signs of emotion early in the episode. Was it Roddenberry's intention for Spock to be more human than Vulcan? What was Roddenberry's original vision for the Vulcan?

(From spacemancentral.com)

Analysis Complete, Captain
A few things really caught my attention in this episode. First, I was fascinated by the Biblical imagery the writers used. The creation account was referenced several times, mentioning the historical Adam and Eve more than a few times. The Talosians, who captured Captain Pike on the planet's surface intended to use Pike as an Adam and Vina, a human woman who had long-ago crash landed on the planet, as Eve. Using these two, the Talosians hoped to build a society to resurrect the war-decimated Talosian society. The second reference, though subtle, showed Pike burning in hell as punishment for rebelling against his captors. The Talosian keeper calls it "a fable" Pike heard as youth. Coincidentally, I'm writing this entry on the 1st Sunday after Trinity according to the Church's calendar, which provides us with a depiction of suffering in hell in Luke 16:19-31. What is perhaps more interesting (from a theological perspective) is the possibility that Pike's suffering would be potentially endless, just as the rich man's suffering in the account in Luke. Without recognizing it, Roddenberry and the writers provided us with a great sermon illustration and a polemic against any theological system that denies the existence of hell.

Second, the Talosians reminded me of the telepathic humans who lived underground in the 1970 classic, Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Did the writers of that movie know about this plot line? Fast forward even farther, the Talosians bear a striking resemblance to the Taleons in Earth: Final Conflict, another Roddenberry creation.

Third, I was also intrigued by the idea of Pike's (and thus, humanity's) refusal to live in captivity, even though the the Talosians were able to use their mental powers to create a reality that met all of his desires. This caused Pike to finally understand the doctor's earlier advice that life needed to be lived, not avoided by choosing an easier path. In the end, however, the Talosians release Pike and create an illusion of Pike to keep Vina company as she lived out her life on Talos. It surprises me that Pike would be complicit in allowing them to use his image to further enslave Vina. Though Vina's existence off Talos would have been full of challenges (since her appearance relied on the Talosians' ability to manipulate reality), it seems to me Pike's don't-cage-me human spirit would have compelled him to convince her all the more to leave Talos behind. After all, Pike was willing to die and take some of his crew with him in order to avoid a lifetime of captivity.

Talosians (from memory-alpha.wikia.com)

This leaves us with another ethical dilemma: is suicide an ethical alternative to captivity? This question posed by Roddenberry and his writers surely has implications for today's debates over physician assisted suicide and other "end of life" decisions. This is an interesting juxtaposition with the other medical ethics question brought up toward the end of the show: was it right for the Talosians to recover the dying Vina from the wreckage of her vessel and reconstruct her, even though they lacked any knowledge of human anatomy? This question also has implications for us today, as we live in an age where life can be extended beyond what was possible just 50 years ago. What is the most humane and ethical way to care for those with the multitude of physical and mental ailments that often come with age? Unfortunately, the Church has failed to raise up competent ethicists in sufficient number to deal with these questions. As a result, we're constantly playing catch up in an ever-changing field.

Un-Talosianed Vina (from memory-beta.wikia.com)

Talosianed Vina (from memory-beta.wikia.com)

The ethical questions Star Trek raises are one of the many things, in my mind, make the franchise so intriguing and enduring. Star Trek is at its best when it explores these questions.

That's it for now. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please comment below. Feel free to share this post! Next time, we'll begin TOS proper, with the first aired episode, "The Man Trap."

About This Blog

The idea for this blog officially came about on August 11th, 2012; mark your calendars, it is a glorious day--maybe even a good day to die. I'd been watching through the three seasons of Star Trek. This is the original stuff, I'm talking here. Most know this as The Original Series or, simply, TOS. I received this idea from on high (that is, my really geeky mind) when I decided to compare "Trouble with Tribbles" (TOS season 2, episode 15) with "Trials and Tribble-ations" [Deep Space Nine (DS9) season 5, episode 6]. I decided, "Hey, it would be fun to write a little bit of an observation and analysis about each episode." Thus, this blog was born. Well, sort of. I shelved the idea (you could call it forgetting about it, I suppose) for a while until I decided to spend some time watching TOS on Blu-ray. So, this blog is now (for real) born.

To whet your appetite, I'll post some things I've noticed about the differences and similarities between the two episodes (which, if you didn't know, essentially combines the two episodes into one). The DS9 crew has made a ton of references to TOS material. The production crew did a great job of putting the actors into the old scenes through a combination of computer graphics and reconstructed (perhaps original?) sets. They were amazingly consistent, which shows the script writers did their homework--they knew the old episode really well. In the final scene, Sisko goes to see Kirk, but I'm not sure from where they pulled the original footage.

The top image is from the original episode,
and the bottom is from DS9.

Kirk and Sisko

My favorite moments included Bashir's quote, "I'm a doctor, not a historian." Worf artfully dodges the question on why Klingons went from dumpy-looking white guys to the full blown BAs (and I don't mean men holding bachelor of arts degrees) they are in every other series (including Enterprise, which occurs chronologically before TOS--don't even get me started). Worf also filled us in on the history of Tribbles. Apparently, they had been the mortal enemies of the Klingon Empire until they were wiped out and their home world was destroyed by the end of the 23 century.

Can you imagine this:

(Borrowed from StarTrek.com)

Locked in mortal combat with this:

I plan to spend time in each entry pointing out some things I think are interesting. This will probably include things like, "Hey, wasn't that guy or gal in another show I've watched," and "Did Spock just quote a William Blake poem?" Since I'm a husband, father, and Lutheran pastor, I may look at each episode and movie through those lenses, too.

I think that will do for now. Next week, we will take a look a the never aired Star Trek pilot, "The Cage."  Leave your comments below.

Qapla'!