Enterprise: Shuttlepod One

I just realized why everyone wants to join Starfleet. They get all the best booze!

Shuttlepod
One

 

Cast & Crew

Director: David Livingston
Written By: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga

Starring
Scott Bakula as Captain
Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Chief
Engineer Charles Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander
T’Pol
Dominic Keating as Lt.
Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery
as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi
Sato
John Billingsley
as Dr. Phlox

Guest Cast
None

Airdate Information

Originally Aired: February 13, 2002
Season: One
Episode: Sixteen

Shuttlepod OneWhat
Happened

Returning from a weapons test on Shuttlepod One, Cmdr. Tucker and Lt.
Reed find a massive debris scatter on an asteroid. Among the debris is a chunk
displaying part of Enterprise‘s serial number NX-01. With their sensors
down and unable to scan the remainder of the site, the two men conclude that
this is the remains of their former starship.

They are, of course, mistaken. The Enterprise is fine and is currently
in high warp to return the crew of an alien ship (the source of the wreckage)
to their home world. The small piece of Enterprise is the starboard shuttlebay
door, blown off when the alien ship exploded. The cause of the explosion, according
to T’Pol, were micro-singularities, a myth according to Vulcan science. For
those of you who can’t place the techno-babble: Romulan ships use, rather they
will use (circa DS9) micro-singularities instead of conventional warp cores
to power their warbirds.

Deciding there is nothing worth waiting around for, Trip and Reed make a course
for Echo 3 (or at least where they think it is), the last subspace relay the
Enterprise dropped. Reed, who feels death by suffocation is only ten
days away, begins recording numerous log entries for his friends and family.
Trip, on the other hand, is hold on to a very slim hope that someone may stumble
across the shuttlepod in time to save them.

This conflict of opinions leaves Trip and Reeds at odds for days. Reed, the
pragmatist, wants to set everything in place before he dies. Trip, refusing
to give up, sets about stretching the air supply, fixing the radio, and other
tasks to squeeze a few more hours out of the craft.

Having repaired the radio, the pod receives a faint message from Enterprise
telling them that they are coming, but are another few days away. Desperate
to get Enterprise‘s attention and have them speed up, Trip and Reed concoct
a plan to jettison their impulse drive and detonate it. The stunt works and
Enterprise rescues the pod in time to save the two crewmen.

Review

If you can get past the huge factual errors (I’ll list them later) this really
was a fairly good episode.

The dialog wasn’t the same old tired stuff we’ve been getting of late on "Enterprise."
Trip and Reed’s desperation does really come across clearly, and the conflict
of how each one is going to deal with their own death allows us to see fairly
deeply into their character.

Sure the plot has been done before, but what makes these stories interesting
is the different characters in the setting.

High Point

Reed’s dream sequence, once it got over-the-top, was good for a laugh or two.
Vulcans acting out of character isn’t automatically funny, but Blalock pulled
this one off. For those of you wondering: The Tuvok Two-Step is still evil.

Low Point

Glaring technical and factual problems really detract from the overall flow
of the story:

  • A ship traveling through space that shuts down its engines will keep moving
    at the same rate of speed. It won’t slow down.
  • A Chief Engineer should be able to tell the difference between parts of
    his ship versus those of an alien one.
  • Imbibing alcohol speeds up heat loss in humans. Blood is flushed to the
    skin making you feel warmer when, in fact, this process makes heat dissipate
    faster. Starfleet officers should know better. Though, if I knew I was dying,
    I’d live it up too!
  • Hair and nails don’t grow after you’re dead, the skin shrinks and makes
    it appear as though they are growing. (OK this wasn’t a big goof, more of
    a common misconception)

The Scores

Originality: Not too original, but we did get to delve into Trip and Reed’s
characters. For those of you that really liked the story, check out the Alfred
Hitchcock classic, Lifeboat
or the made-for-TV Sci-Fi version, Lifepod.
Looking for something more Trek? Check out one of the best Original Series episodes,
The Galileo
Seven
. 4

Effects: Nice bits here and there including the drive ejection, debris field
and Enterprise‘s ripped hull. 4

Story: It’s an old story and there was a lot of stuff to overlook to get into
the main plot. 2

Acting: Keating and Trinneer have good chemistry on screen. I think we have
a buddy pair for the series. 4

Emotional Response: There’s no real distress here, but you are interested in
their responses to the situation. 3

Production: The interior of the shuttle is well built and suitably claustrophobic
(at least it’s not a cave). 3

Overall: Some real bad elements with some good ones. I guess it’s better than
being ALL bad. 3

Total: 23 out of 42

Episode Media

From StarTrek.com

Next Time on Enterprise (Feb. 20, 2001)

Next Time on EnterpriseBreaking
the Ice
(Original Airdate: Nov. 7, 2001; Score:
26/42
)

Trip learns that T’Pol has received a secret message from a Vulcan ship that
is shadowing Enterprise. Meanwhile, Archer must attempt a dangerous rescue to
recover two crewman stranded on a rapidly disintegrating comet. (Another episode
follows)

Next Time on EnterpriseFortunate
Son
(Original Airdate: Nov. 21, 2001; Score:
26/42
)

Enterprise must intervene when the leader of a human freighter crew sets out
for revenge against alien pirates.

3 replies on “Enterprise: Shuttlepod One”

  1. The Galileo Seven
    I was going to suggest that this episode reminded me of The Galileo Seven, but you already noted that.
    I wondered why they thought the Enterprise was destroyed. I guess the hangar bay door that was destroyed and fell on the astroid had the NX-01 serial number on it. That and the crashed alien ship added up to enough debris to look like the Enterprise was destroyed. Also the shuttle sensors were off line.

  2. Update

    After reading the TV listing for tonight, I realized that there are two episodes airing: “Breaking the Ice” followed by “Fortunate Son”. See the revised article above for more details.

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