This is a bit different. the tires and axles), and also less danger from environmental hazards such as wet roads. Thanks for the post! Burnham heroically saves Pike, of course, inverting an old adventure trope and allowing the captain to briefly be the damsel in distress. You have made a great point: despite the fact that these are “futuristic” images of the body, ableism still runs rampant. Can a 2k thermistor be converted to a 10k output? He doesn’t break a million Starfleet regulations just because he cares for Christopher Pike. The only way Pike and Vina are allowed to have their happily ever after is if it is far away from the rest of the Terran and Federation communities. There is a thematic argument to be made. Spock, in true TOS fashion, gets off without punishment. After Spock goes along his merry logical way, something subversive, something queer happens. If you haven’t guessed by now, Spock is taking Pike back to Talos IV so he can be able-bodied and pretty with Vina. 7:25. Because he’s a longtime Trek fan, it’s easy to picture Mount going back and poring over the performances of earlier Pike actors Jeffrey Hunter, Sean Kenney, and Bruce Greenwood to prepare for the role. Though I guess that's not really an answer, since he wouldn't be able to ride a classic wheelchair if no classic wheelchairs should exist anymore (which is the premise of your question). She wears a shiny grey cloak. What God does Captain America believe in? Great post! Actor Anson Mount, the fourth actor to play Captain Pike, says no. Come on! “It’s an insecurity issue, that is stemming from the fact that he and his crew and the Enterprise were held out of the Klingon War. Well it seems the wheels at least rotate; and there's even a guy behind it acting as 'pusher'! Every step they take, every move they make, the Talosian will be watching them and moving them. ( Log Out /  The Talosians eventually come to agree and release Pike and Vina. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. McCoy has a silver phaser holstered on his right hip and a medical tricorder slung over his shoulder. Which is damn problematic given that Pike is what some might call “severely disabled.” Pike got radiation poisoning when he rescued cadets during a ship accident. Captain Christopher Pike strikes me as an oldschool kind of guy. On the left: Vina's appearance as manipulated by the Talosians. ( Log Out /  She goes from a sensual woman to a woman with disfigurements and scars. You really have to wonder what was going through Gene’s head when coming up with the frame at the eleventh hour. We already know they have anti-grav / levitation technology; not least because in the second scene of the film, a policeman/bot is portrayed riding an anti-grav motorbike. And so there’s something in him that’s trying to make up for it.”. “I think more immediately what’s going on in that moment is he realizes he shouldn’t even be in that situation as a captain,” Mount explains. The Talosians can feel what Pike and Vina are feeling. Wheelchairs do not need to be recharged/refueled. The wheelchair incases all of Pike's body below the shoulders. It seems to be the perfect happy ending until you get to thinking about it. If there was anything that I was trying to keep in mind in leading up to the third-act Pike, it was how do we make Pike — with that inevitability of what we know — how do we make that endpoint a victory and not a tragedy.”. Levitation means that you do not encounter any friction from the ground (only the air), and therefore incur less speed losses due to friction, thus making for a more economical journey. Quite often, a prop would show up several times: ... (and this is important for repairing the damage to Christopher Pike) Christopher Pike himself! There is a reasonable argument to be made for anti-grav transportation (on Earth, not for space travel). Of course, Mount can’t reveal where all of this is leading exactly, or how far Pike will go to make up for his guilt. There is no proof to indicate that hoverchairs are considered economically viable, nor that anti-grav has become an everyday item (note: motorbikes > wheelchairs!). “The Menagerie” two-parter was one of the more successful efforts, at least according to the Hugo Awards who awarded it Best Dramatic Presentation. In the new episode, Pike says, “Sometimes it’s wise to keep our expectations low.” But in real life, Mount thinks the way to approach TV is to remember it's all a metaphor. I think you are right: reading science fiction through a disability theory lens really lets you see the shorthand that it used: scars, augmented bodies, damaged bodies, etc.