History Recap / StarTrekEnterpriseS02E023Regeneration

* SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfDistance: The arctic transport leaves Earth at Warp 3.9. With ''Enterprise'' over a hundred lightyears away, it would still take them weeks, if not months, to intercept.

* ThrownOutTheAirlock: When the assimilated Tarkaleans prove immune to phaser fire, Archer has Malcom's team evacuate the section and then vents the whole thing into space, sucking the Tarkaleans out.

* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Turns out that Zefram Cochrane went off-script during a commencement address at Princeton and started talking about "what really happened" during the events of First Contact. Naturally, no one believed him and he eventually recanted the story. Archer thinks that there's something to the story; T'Pol dismissively notes that Cochrane had a reputation for telling [[TallTale "imaginative stories"]] and was [[PinkElephants "frequently intoxicated"]].

* WorfHadTheFlu:
** Field assimilation takes far longer than depicted in ''First Contact''. Fans often HandWave this by suggesting that with only two initial drones, who were still recovering, the nanoprobe supply was very quickly thinned out and thus it takes several hours before Phlox is on the verge of being assimilated.
** In addition, Phlox mentions in the episode that his own Denobulan immune system was throwing the nanoprobes for a loop, though they would eventually take hold of him. One could also imagine that the Tarkaleans are similarly more resistant to the nanoprobes than humans, just not to the same degree that Phlox is. All the other elements of assimilation appear to be right on the money.
** Also, it takes longer for the Borg to adapt to phase pistol fire, most likely because the Borg are used to dealing with the phasers that Starfleet uses in the 24th century, rather than the phase pistols that they use in this timeframe. Several drones go down before the rest have their personal DeflectorShields ready.

* AgentScully: T'Pol doesn't believe the story Cochrane gave about "cybernetic beings from the future," and also suggests that Phlox imagined having a connection with the aliens. That said, once it's clear how much of a threat the Borg are, she takes it seriously.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: In a switch for this show, TheTeaser and first act focus entirely on guest characters.

An archeological expedition to the Arctic Circle discovers a mysterious wreckage, along with strange cybernetic creatures who quickly abduct them...

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Phlox has a neurotoxin standing by so that if his radiation treatment fails to de-Borgify him, [[MercyKillArrangement he can be quickly and painlessly killed]].

* GodzillaThreshold: After seeing what the Borgified Tarkaleans are capable of and suspecting the same of everyone on the transport, T'Pol tells Archer to destroy it. He doesn't consider doing so, however, until he and Malcolm board the transport and see that everyone is beyond saving.

** In the same vein, Phlox doesn't think that the Borgified Tarkaleans are dangerous until they attack him and inject him with nanoprobes. Archer, at least, is wary and has security posted as a precaution, not that it helps.

* CassandraTruth: Zefram Cochrane told others of the Borg during a commencement speech at Princeton nearly 90 years ago, but being a known drunk, his story was dismissed as fiction and he recanted it a few years later. In the present, Archer recalls the speech and realizes his story, despite the more fantastic elements, rings true given the nature of their enemy.

* MercyKill: After Archer and Malcolm sabotage the Borg ship, T'Pol asks if any of the crew could be rescued. Archer simply says they're beyond saving, before ordering the ship destroyed when it starts to come back online.

* OhCrap: The situation prompts Archer to recall a refuted story by Zefram Cochrane about "what really happened" during First Contact. When he reads it, he finds that Cochrane had said the goal of these creatures was "to enslave the human race."
* SequelEpisode: To ''Star Trek: First Contact'' and also a prequel episode to TNG's "Q Who" by the way of a StableTimeLoop.
* SideBet: When Drake radios for his team to begin digging, he asks them to contact Starfleet and tell Commander Williams he owes him a bottle of scotch.

* StableTimeLoop: Before being destroyed, the assimilated freighter sends a subspace message to the Borg homeworld in the Delta Quadrant: the coordinates of Earth. T'Pol and Archer note that if the message were received, it would not be until the 24th century - thus explaining why the Borg were heading for Earth in the first place in ''The Next Generation''.

** Also, it takes longer for the Borg to adapt to phase pistol fire, most likely because the Borg are used to dealing with the phasers Starfleet uses in the 24th century, rather than the phase pistols they use in this timeframe. Several drones go down before the rest have their personal DeflectorShields ready.
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Turns out that Zefram Cochrane went off-script during a commencement address at Princeton and started talking about "what really happened" during the events of First Contact. Naturally, no one believed him and he eventually recanted the story. Archer thinks there's something to the story; T'Pol dismissively notes that Cochrane had a reputation for telling [[TallTale "imaginative stories"]] and was [[PinkElephants "frequently intoxicated"]].

* CassandraTruth: Zefram Cochrane evidently told others of the Borg, but being a known drunk, his story was dismissed as fiction.

** In the same vein, Phlox doesn't think that the Borgified Tarkaleans are dangerous until they attack him and inject him with nanoprobes.

* ContinuitySnarl: The researchers find antimatter residue on the debris, concluding that the ship suffered a warp breach. However, the ''Enterprise''-E destroyed the Borg sphere with quantum torpedoes, which use zero-point energy. Photon torpedoes have antimatter warheads.

** Also, it takes longer for the Borg to adapt to phaser fire, most likely because the Borg are used to dealing with the phasers Starfleet uses in the 24th century, rather than the phase pistols they use in this timeframe. Several drones go down before the rest have their personal DeflectorShields ready.

** Also, it takes longer for the Borg to adapt to phaser fire. Several drones go down before the rest have their personal DeflectorShields ready.

* OhCrap: The situation prompts Archer to recall a refuted story by Zefram Cochrane about "what really happened" during First Contact.

* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Turns out that Zefram Cochrane went off-script during a commencement address at Princeton and started talking about "what really happened" during the events of First Contact. Naturally, no one believed him and he eventually recanted the story. Archer thinks there's something to the story; T'Pol dismissively notes that Cochrane was [[PinkElephants "frequently intoxicated"]].

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Phlox has a neurotoxin standing by so that if his radiation treatment fails to de-Borgify him, he can be quickly and painlessly killed.

* ForgottenPhlebotinum: While the Borg do adapt to Malcolm's modifications to the phase pistols, Phlox devises a treatment to deal with the nanoprobes which involves subjecting the body to Omicron radiation. This is generally HandWaved with the position that all information of this incident was deeply classified, and in all likelihood, the Borg eventually encountered another species with the same treatment and gave their nanoprobes radiation shielding.
** I always took that to mean Phlox and his species' rather unique biological make-up was the only sort who could survive such a thing.

* StableTimeLoop: Before being destroyed, the assimilated freighter sends a subspace message to the Borg homeworld in the Delta Quadrant: the coordinates of Earth. T'Pol and Archer note that if the message were received, it would not be until the 24th century - thus explaining why the Borg were heading for Earth in the first place in The Next Generation.

* NoSell: Malcolm and his security team first try to stun the assimilated Tarkaleans. It doesn't work. Then they try the kill setting, and the Borg shielding has already kicked in.

** I always took that to mean Phlox and his species rather unique biological make-up was the only sort who could survive such a thing.

* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Turns out that Zefram Cochrane went off-script during a commencement address at Princeton and started talking about "what really happened" during the events of First Contact. Naturally, no one believed him and he eventually recanted the story.