Star Trek: 10 Things That Made You Cringe

Nowadays, The Original Series is regarded as a pretty progressive show for 1960s America, but you might get a different impression if you start watching the series with the original pilot, The Cage.

In one of the first scenes, Captain Pike got startled by one of his female officers, Yeoman Colt, and yelled at her for bringing him a report that he ordered from her. He then stated completely out of nowhere that Colt did her job well, but he 'can't get used to a woman on the bridge'. Number One, his female First Officer, overheard this and was obviously pretty shocked, but quickly moved on after Pike assured her that she was 'different'.

It's pretty hard to believe that a Starfleet Captain could be allowed to be so openly sexist in the 23rd century, or even in Archer's time. So, while parts of The Cage are definitely canon, we're gonna assume that Pike's misogyny has been completely retconned, along with the other continuity issues from the episode.

This scene makes for a pretty bad first impression to The Original Series, which also ended on a sour note with the final episode, Turnabout Intruder, again stating that women were banned from commanding a starship. It wasn't until 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home that we finally saw a female Starfleet captain.