TOS Season 1, Episode 11 + 12 The Menagerie

This episode is very intriguing and has good build up. It might get a little dull in the second half if you had just recently watched “The Cage”.

Part I

The disabled and badly disfigured Fleet Captain Christopher Pike. In 2267, the USS Enterprise arrives at Starbase 11 in response to a subspace call First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) reported receiving from the former captain of the Enterprise, Christopher Pike (Sean Kenney), under whom Spock had served. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock meet the starbase commander, Commodore Mendez (Malachi Throne). Mendez informs them that the permanently disabled Pike could not have sent any message, as he is unable to move or communicate other than answering yes/no questions with the aid of a device operated by his brainwaves. Pike refuses to communicate with anyone except Spock. After Kirk and Mendez leave to discuss the situation, Spock reveals, over Pike's repeated "no" signals, that he intends to carry out a plan that he has made.
Meanwhile, Mendez confirms that there is no record of any message sent to the Enterprise. Mendez provides Kirk with classified information on the planet Talos IV, which was visited by the Enterprise previously under Pike's command in 2254, and is now under a strict quarantine. Spock, meanwhile, commandeers the Enterprise by means of falsified recordings of Kirk's voice, places Pike under McCoy's care, and orders the ship to depart under the computer's control. Kirk and Mendez give chase in a Starbase shuttlecraft.[1] After several hours, upon learning from the computer that the shuttlecraft does not have enough fuel to return to the starbase, Spock has them brought aboard and then gives himself up, confessing to mutiny. The crew find they are unable to change the current course of the Enterprise, which Spock affirms is heading towards Talos IV. Mendez convenes a hearing, at which Spock requests immediate court-martial, which requires three command officers. Kirk objects that only he and Mendez are available, but Spock notes that Pike is still listed for active duty. The tribunal begins, and Spock offers as his testimony what seems to be video footage of the Enterprise's earlier visit to Talos IV in 2254.[note 1]
On the screen, the Enterprise arrives at Talos IV in 2254 in response to a distress call from the survey ship Columbia, lost in 2236. Pike (played in these flashback scenes by Jeffrey Hunter) beams down to the planet along with Spock and a landing party, where they encounter a group of survivors, including a young woman named Vina (Susan Oliver), who was born shortly after the crash of Columbia. Dr. Boyce (John Hoyt), Pike's chief medical officer, establishes that the survivors are all in perfect health, despite the circumstances. Vina promises to show Pike the secret of their health, and leads him to a rocky outcropping. Two aliens emerge from a hidden door, stun Pike, and carry him through the door. Vina, the other survivors, and their camp suddenly disappear. Pike has been abducted by the Talosians, humanoid aliens with the power to create illusions indistinguishable from reality (reality distortion fields).
Back in 2267, the scene is interrupted by a message from Starfleet Command, which reveals that the images they have been viewing are being transmitted from Talos IV. Mendez is placed in command of the Enterprise, but Spock begs Kirk to see the rest of the transmission.

Part II

Spock's trial continues, and the transmitted scene resumes with Pike in 2254 in a cell with a transparent wall. The Talosians begin their "experiment", which consists of a number of illusory situations involving Pike and Vina. The Talosians' hope is that Pike and Vina will mate and found a race of slaves who will reclaim the war-damaged surface of the planet. Meanwhile, the Enterprise crew fails to break into the underground complex with weapons enhanced by the ship's power. A landing party attempts to beam into the complex, but only the female members arrive, in order, as the Talosian "Keeper" explains, to give Pike more choices for a mate. An attempt to blast through the cell wall with the new captives' phasers fails as the weapons are apparently non-functional.
That night, Pike is able to capture the Keeper as he attempts to confiscate the weapons. Pike intuits that the phasers still function, and that their escape attempt was thwarted by an illusion. He forces the Talosian to reveal a hole in the cell wall. The humans proceed to the surface, but learn that this was the Talosians' plan. Number One (Majel Barrett, billed as M. Leigh Hudec) sets her phaser on overload, preferring to die rather than be enslaved, but deactivates the weapon when more Talosians arrive. The aliens have found that humans' "unique hatred of captivity" makes them unsuitable for the Talosians' plans, which must therefore be abandoned. Pike desires an apology, but the Talosians point out that this failure spells the death of their species. Pike offers help from the interstellar community, but the Talosians fear that their mental powers would spread and bring other races to ruin. As the rest of the party are beamed back to the ship, Pike is shown that Vina's appearance up to now has been an illusion. In reality she was severely injured in the Columbia's crash and further left deformed by the Talosians' failure to adequately repair her injuries. She elects to stay on the planet, and Pike returns to the ship.
Back in 2267, the transmission ends as the Enterprise arrives at Talos IV. Commodore Mendez suddenly fades away, and the Keeper appears on the viewing screen, informing Kirk that Mendez's presence was an illusion. The court-martial was a ploy to buy time to bring Pike back to Talos IV, where, if willing, he would be able to enjoy the illusion of a normal life. A message from Commodore Mendez then advises that Starfleet has waived the prohibition against contact with the planet for this one occasion, and that Kirk is free to proceed as he thinks best. Pike is transported to the planet, and the rejuvenated Pike and Vina are seen on the viewing screen returning with the Talosians to the underground complex. The Keeper appears one last time to wish Kirk well.