‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘The Menagerie: Part II’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Cliffhangers have and will forever be, a tricky venture in when it comes to television, especially when it comes to their respective endings. Because if it wraps up in weak fashion, the audience is quickly disengaged from the story and those sour feelings can stay with a fan for quite some time. Plus, if a character has to do something off the wall that they would never do normally to resolve the story, well then it seems as though lazy writing is taking hold, further testing the fan base’s patience. But, while we’ve seen those horrible things happen on some shows from time to time, one particular franchise that always delivers amazing cliffhangers is Star Trek, and that’s likely due in large part to the fact that The Original Series set the gold standard for telling that kind of tale.
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Because ‘The Menagerie: Part I’ truly did a phenomenal job of setting up the finale to this fascinating story. For Kirk and Spock’s careers were on the line; and it would seem that Spock’s life might be hanging in the balance too, all over his mysterious decision to seemingly turn his back on his duties as a Starfleet officer. Which is a setup that definitely leaves the audience hungry for answers and positive resolution and well, that’s what makes ‘The Menagerie: Part II’ such a wonderful bookend since it accomplishes all those things, and oddly enough, sets up a great deal for the future of the franchise at the same time. Something that I was honestly unprepared for at first, but before we dive too deeply into that, let’s examine the resolution in question since it was so glorious.

For when we pick up with the captain in this particular story, we come to discover that Kirk is feeling differently about Spock’s court-martial. Because Jim knows his crew, and he knows Spock well at this point and it’s clear that somewhere in between Parts I and II, that Jim comes to wonder if there is a genuine rhyme and reason as to why Spock made his secretive decision, something compounded by the fact that the Talosians continue to broadcast their first encounter with Pike and the Enterprise. And it is just wonderful to see Kirk come to realize that Spock meant no ill will and did this for a greater purpose; to save Christopher Pike by giving him a second chance at life, one where he will forever feel like his old self, which brings us to how exactly this episode sets up all kinds of events for the future.

Because this sequence of events taught Captain James T. Kirk some fascinating lessons on loyalty and what it means to stand by the people who stand by you. For there is going to come a day when Kirk takes this moment to heart and risks everything he’s worked for in Starfleet, to provide a better life for his closest friend, and that revelation and the events of this tale speak greatly to what Starfleet and the Federation stand for. Clearly it’s all about providing people with a better quality of life and making sure that an individual feels as important as the whole and I love how this two-parter begins to set the tone for the foundation of this franchise and that it also answered the question I posed in the Part I recap in unique fashion.

But it doesn’t seem that way at first glance, since Spock in essence, never turned his back on the uniform or the insignia. Instead he upheld its virtues and went the extra mile in doing so and that’s the roundabout way it answers what makes an officer abandon what they stand for and clearly, that’s related to disillusionment. Because someone who no longer believes in the institution they were asked to defend, would never do the things Spock did and perhaps the solution to keeping officers dedicated to their duty and the oaths they swear to, is for the armed services to add a little bit of those Starfleet virtues into the mix, but that’s another discussion for another time. Because in the here and the now, we simply need to celebrate a truly magnificent episode of Star Trek, one that really did embody what we love about the series through and through and this one is going to stay with me for some time, thanks to its endearing and enduring message about going the extra mile to be good to one another. Until next time.

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