On Enterprise, Hoshi reports to Archer about the rescue of some Tensians, whose ship was destroyed in a botched docking attempt, which also damaged the Enterprise's second launch bay door. Archer and T'Pol go out to inspect the damage, with the latter wondering if it was microsingularities that caused the crash. On their way to Tensia, Archer notes that they have to get to their rendezvous point before Trip and Malcolm get there.
On the shuttlepod, Trip and Malcolm now think the Enterprise has been destroyed. They have no way to detect the black boxes and no radio to detect a beacon, and to make matters worse, they only have ten days' worth of oxygen left and the nearest subspace amplifier, Echo Three, would take too long to reach. Trip wants to go to Echo Three anyway, leading to an argument.
The next day, Malcolm begins making a log entry, but Trip is annoyed by this, feeling it's too pessimistic, leading them to argue again. Malcolm thinks they should just give up, as the shuttlepod is too slow to reach anyone on time, but Trip wants to try to get detected in case someone runs into them. After a bit of back-and-forth, they eat dinner.
That night, Trip tries to sleep, while Malcolm dictates a letter to his parents. Trip, who is frustrated with Malcolm keeping him awake, starts a third argument, ending with Trip turning the recorder off and telling Malcolm to go to bed. Malcolm goes to sleep and apparently wakes up in sickbay and is praised by Archer and T'Pol, the latter of whom flirts with him and prepares to kiss him. This, however, turns out to be a dream and the guys begin working on fixing the comm line. An impact hits the shuttlepod, causing a leak in the air pressure. Trip vents some nitrogen and uses it to find the holes, of which there are two. They plug the holes with mashed potatoes, but unfortunately, the shuttle now has only two more days of oxygen.
The men wonder what damaged the shuttle, wondering if it also hit the Enterprise. Unable to find an answer, the two wax nostalgic about a bar called the 602 club, in which worked a waitress named Ruby who they both slept with. Trip also mentions that he has found a way of making the oxygen last longer by lowering the temperature. Malcolm shaves, but Trip tells him that it's pointless since (according to him) hair still grows when you're dead. Back on Enterprise, T'Pol gives Archer the data on the damage to both ships, and Archer decides to signal the shuttle and set a different rendezvous point, since the shuttlepod lacks the hull plating that kept Enterprise safe.
Back on the shuttle, where it's now very cold, Malcolm keeps dictating letters to his ex-girlfriends, which still annoys Trip, and they talk about their "lost" crew mates. They start to argue again about whether to be optimistic or pessimistic, then Trip whips out a bottle of bourbon he found and Malcolm rants about how his only real friends are apparently dead. They get drunk and Malcolm admits that he thinks T'Pol has a "nice bum". Then, the shuttle gets hailed by Hoshi, meaning that the Enterprise crew aren't dead... but she promises to collect them in two days, which is too late.
Malcolm has the idea of jettisoning and blowing up the impulse engine, which Trip reluctantly agrees to do. Then they joke that if there was only one of them, there'd be more air, which leads to another argument when Trip takes it seriously. He tries to go out the airlock, only stopping when Malcolm threatens him with a phase pistol.
Malcolm wakes up in sickbay, for real this time, and Archer explains to him that his plan worked. Malcolm asks if he was heroic, but T'Pol just tells him to get some sleep.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Artistic License – Biology: Trip was likely not paying attention in his honors biology class, as your hair and nails do not keep growing after death. What happens is the skin contracts, making it appear that they're still growing.
- Artistic License – Chemistry: The aliens breathe boron gas? Isn't that at least 7000 degrees Fahrenheitnote ?
- Beard of Sorrow: Trip and Malcolm get noticeably scruffy on the shuttle. The "sorrow" part comes from the fact that they believe Enterprise to be destroyed, leaving them stranded until they die.
- Bottle Episode: Provides the trope's page image! Features only the standard sets and the main characters, with Trip and Malcolm carrying most of the episode. It's the only episode of Star Trek to not even have background extras. Oh, and there's also a bottle of Kentucky bourbon, making this a literal "bottle episode".
- Brick Joke: While trapped on Shuttlepod 1, Malcolm has a dream in which he and Trip were rescued and T'Pol starts coming on to him while commending his heroics. When they're finally rescued for real, a slightly out-of-it Malcolm asks T'Pol if she has something to say to him regarding heroics. T'Pol wisely chooses to leave.
- Captain's Log: Malcolm uses his log to record a Video Will.Personal log, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed. November 9, 2151. By the time anyone hears this — by "anyone", I suppose I mean "anyone human" — Commander Tucker and I will be long dead. It's my intention to recount the events that led to the destruction of the Starship Enterprise and to express my deepest feelings regarding my short but memorable service with Starfleet. […] May God have mercy on our souls.
- Cringe Comedy: Malcolm is embarrassed upon waking up from a romantic dream about T'Pol because he'd been sleep-talking.
- Cultural Posturing: Low-grade between Trip and Malcolm.Malcolm: British schools have a core curriculum. It serves to provide a well-rounded education. Sometimes I think you North Americans read nothing but comic books and those ridiculous science fiction novels.
Trip: I'll have you know that Superman was laced with metaphor. Subtext layered on subtext.
Malcolm: Oh, if only Doctor Cochrane had been a European. The Vulcans would have been far less reticent to help us. But, no, he had to be from Montana. He probably spent his nights reading about cowboys and Indians.
Trip: Well, I don't recall any Europeans figuring out how to build a warp engine. - Distress Call: With their communications down, Malcolm and Trip jettison their impulse engine and rig it to self-destruct. This results in Enterprise increasing speed and rescuing them with time to spare.
- Dramatic Irony: When Trip and Malcolm see a damaged bit of Enterprise, they think the ship is destroyed, but we know that it's fine.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Malcolm, who, along with Trip, thinks he's dying, finds a bottle of Kentucky bourbon that Archer hid. A few scenes later, he and Trip are completely bombed.
- Go-to-Sleep Ending: The episode ends with Malcolm falling back asleep.
- Ham-to-Ham Combat: Trip and Malcolm go a few rounds, courtesy of their extended confinement on Shuttlepod 1.
- Have I Mentioned That I Am Heterosexual Today: As usual when
two male characters are stuck in a confined space together, they talk of their sexual conquests. - Hope Spot: Trip and Malcolm have one when they suddenly get a message from Hoshi. Enterprise is okay and is coming back. But, they're expected long after their oxygen will have run out.
- Hypocritical HumorMalcolm: You know, I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure you use up a lot more oxygen WHEN YOU SHOUT LIKE THAT!
- Idiot Ball: T'Pol discovers that micro-singularities impacted and destroyed the alien ship they met. Yet, at no point does Archer think to increase speed to pick up Malcolm and Trip sooner, even though their shuttlepod has far less protection than Enterprise.
- In Vino Veritas: A very drunk Malcolm talks about how pretty T'Pol is, especially her bum.
- I Was Having Such a Nice Dream: Poor Malcolm. Just as he's about to snog T'Pol, the transceiver wakes him.
- Mood Whiplash: Courtesy of a scene transition going from sad Malcolm mourning the loss of Enterprise and the only people he felt comfortable around to drunk Malcolm snickering about T'Pol's bum.
- More Expendable Than You: With seemingly only enough air for one man, Trip and Malcolm argue over who gets to sacrifice himself to save the other.
- The Radio Dies First: The shuttlepod's radio and sensors were knocked out prior to the episode, meaning that when Trip and Malcolm see a debris field with a small piece of Enterprise (visually identified by the "01" marking), they have no way to scan it and find out that the rest is from another ship.
- Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: Subverted. Malcolm is fully aware of how big space is, meaning that their impulse drive will get them halfway to nowhere and their chances of being rescued by passing aliens are nonexistent.
- Talking in Your Sleep: Malcolm does this during an Erotic Dream involving T'Pol. According to Trip, he kept calling for someone named "Stinky."
- To Absent Friends: Trip and Malcolm toast the crew of Enterprise.
- Train Problem: Trip starts to rattle off a train scenario one might face on a math test, then admits that he was never good at them. Our Chief Engineer, ladies and gentlemen.
- Unconventional Food Usage: Malcolm uses some of Trip's mashed potatoes to seal a hull breach caused by a microsingularity.
- Wham Shot: The Teaser ends with a debris field on an asteroid, and a piece of it has markings from Enterprise. Fortunately, the next scene reveals that the ship is (mostly) fine.
