Malcom Reed suits up for what's about to be the lousiest duty shift of his life.
A casual breakfast between Archer and Malcolm Reed is interrupted when they're called to the bridge — and shortly after they get there, a mine explodes and rips open a portion of Enterprise. Another mine is discovered attached to the hull, near the ship's engines, and Malcolm takes it upon himself to go out and disarm it.Meanwhile, a strange ship shows up, which hails the Enterprise, but the universal translator won't translate and Hoshi is unconscious in Sickbay because she was knocked out during the attack.
Malcolm works on the mine, but unfortunately, the aliens fire at the Enterprise, jostling it, and sending a spike through his leg, pinning him to the side of the ship. Archer comes out to save Malcolm and disarm the weapon with his instructions.
Back on the ship, Hoshi has translated the aliens' language from Sickbay and reveals that they're called Romulans and want the crew to leave immediately. T'Pol explains that she knows of Romulans, and that they're aggressive and the Vulcan High Command has never talked to them before.
Archer and Malcolm chat, and the latter wants to sacrifice himself. The Romulans again demand that the Enterprise crew leaves, stating that one officer's life is "insignificant". Archer almost finishes disarming the mine, but then it resets.
Malcolm insists he must be sacrificed and cuts his supply hose, but Archer is determined to save him and so shares his own supply hose with Malcolm. Archer then comes up with a plan: he asks Trip for two shuttlepod hatches and a plasma torch, then uses the torch to free Malcolm and the hatches to drive them both to safety. Finally, they fly at warp speed away from the Romulans.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Artistic License – Sports: Over breakfast, Archer tells Malcolm that England made it to the finals in the World Cup. Barring any sort of change to the schedule thanks to World War III, 2152 is not a World Cup year. It would, however, have the UEFA Euro and the Summer Olympics.
- Bomb Disposal: The plot of the episode as Malcolm, and later Archer, have to deactivate a live mine.
- Call-Back: Archer mentions that he learned about Romulans when he was in the future library with Daniels.
- Call-Forward: This episode marks the unofficial first contact with the Romulans, setting up their eventual conflict with Earth.
- Calling Your Bathroom Breaks: Malcolm says he needs to use the bathroom while his leg is impaled.
- Casual Danger Dialog: Archer eventually does get to know Malcolm better, as their breakfast was originally intended. It's probably safe to say that he didn't intend to have that conversation while disarming a live mine that's nailed Malcolm's leg to the hull.
- Cold Equation: The Romulans detect the plan to detach the section of hull with the mine on it and insist Archer detach it even if Reed must be sacrificed. It's better than all the people Archer would lose if the mine went off, and losing his entire ship if the Romulans run out of their already low patience. Malcolm himself agrees that sacrificing him is better than letting Enterprise get destroyed. Thankfully, Archer thinks up a third option.
- Cool Starship: The Romulans' infamous Bird of Prey makes its 22nd century debut.
- Cutting the Knot: The mine clamps itself to the hull to prevent being removed, so the crew detaches the entire piece of hull plating it's attached to. This isn't exactly safe, but it's better than having the mine explode there.
- Explosive Instrumentation: Hoshi's console explodes and knocks her to the deck. Fortunately, she's a main character, so she suffers nothing worse than a concussion.
- Face Your Fears: Malcolm mentions one of his uncles who, like Malcolm, also suffered from aquaphobia, and joined the Royal Navy Submarine Service. Archer namedrops the trope.
- A Father to His Men: This episode explains quite a bit about Archer's seemingly happy-go-lucky attitude. Archer says that one of his first COs maintained a professional and distant relation with his crew. When he took command of Enterprise, Archer decided to adopt this trope as his command style, since their mission would take them away from support for years at a time and so they needed to be closer. Malcolm has proven himself to be a loyal officer, but he's used to the more formal style of command, and during their breakfast in the teaser, he has no idea what to make of Archer's candor.Reed: If you must know, I was honored to be asked to sit at your table. I just wasn't entirely comfortable having a casual meal with my captain. I was trained not to fraternize with superior officers.Archer: Never too late to learn.Reed: Frankly, sir, from my point of view, that kind of socializing has no place on a starship.Archer: I had a CO once; felt the same way. "They're your crew, not your friends." I thought about that a lot when I took this command, but then I realized this is not your typical mission. We could be out here for years. All we have to depend on is each other.
- Forgotten Phlebotinum:
- When one of the spikes pierces Malcolm's leg, the hole is automatically sealed to preserve the pressure in his EV suit. Gee, that sure would have come in handy for Worf in Star Trek: First Contact.
- The crew also seemed to forget that the transporter exists, which is not unusual for this series. However, it's possible that the early transporters wouldn't have worked with the mine obstructing them.
- In a rare Trek aversion, Archer immediately makes use of the Suliban decloaking tech from Shockwave to spot the minefield.
- From Bad to Worse: As if Enterprise having a mine on her hull isn't bad enough, it then spears Malcolm to the hull. And it won't be disarmed.
- Gallows Humor: Malcolm gets a few lines re: his impaled leg.Archer: Thought you might need a hand.
Malcolm: Actually, sir, I'd prefer a leg. [...] I would consider letting you amputate, but if Chef got ahold of it, we'd be having Roast Reed for Sunday dinner. - Going Down with the Ship: Malcolm's aforementioned uncle sealed himself in the engine room of his submarine and kept systems running long enough for everyone else to Abandon Ship.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Malcolm is prepared to let himself be sacrificed to save Enterprise, as the mine is too well built to safely disarm and if it goes off, the ship will be crippled. Fortunately, Archer is able to save both Malcolm and the ship.
- It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: Archer says this about his backup plan to detach the hull plating with the mine, which he came up with before Malcolm got skewered.Archer: That backup plan I was telling you about? I asked Trip to prepare to detach this section of hull plating. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Malcolm: It's still a good idea.
Archer: Not with you attached to it. - Mood Whiplash: Our heroes are just getting ready to explore a cool new planet...and an explosion rocks Enterprise.
- The Needs of the Many: Malcolm, the good soldier, is ready to sacrifice himself so everyone else on the ship can survive, but Archer stubbornly refuses to lose even one member of his crew.
- No-Sell: The quantum beacons can detect the mines, but whatever cloak the Romulans are using can't be penetrated.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Downplayed with T'Pol. Hoshi translates a message from the alien ship as being from the "Rom-a-lans." T'Pol simply corrects her pronounciation to "Romulan," but her tone of voice just screams "we are in deep shit."
- The reactions to seeing the full, uncloaked minefield is a Mass "Oh, Crap!".
- Potty Failure: Discussed. Malcolm has to go to the bathroom, and Archer tells him to just go in his suit. However, we don't know if Malcolm followed through.Archer: I won't tell a soul.
Malcolm: In my EV suit, sir? - Redshirt: Averted. Despite that massive hole in the hull, Enterprise doesn't lose anyone.
- Reset Button: Averted. A fairly large section of the hull is blown open and Malcolm's leg is injured, which leads to the following episode "Dead Stop."
- Separated by a Common Language: Archer, an American, and Malcolm, a Brit, refer to the World Cup as soccer and football respectively, though their different terminology is used without further comment.
- Shout-Out: In-Universe, when Archer injects Malcolm with pain meds.Malcolm: Please, sir, may I have some more?
- Shutting Up Now: T'Pol points out that the quantum beacon was designed to detected cloaked Suliban ships. Archer glares at her and she resolves to adjust the frequency.
- Socially Awkward Hero: This trait of Malcolm's is put on full display. He can discuss tactical issues with Archer or face a mine with his usual Stiff Upper Lip, but he can't maintain a casual breakfast chat with his captain.
- Space Mines: The planet is surrounded by them. And they're invisible. When Enterprise is able to see through their cloaks, "Oh, Crap!" doesn't quite cover it.
- Stealth Pun: Malcolm recounts a story of his uncle, who was afraid of drowning and became a submarine chief engineer. Archer comments that he has faced his deepest fears.
- Take a Third Option: Archer detaches the hull segment with Malcolm trapped on it—but goes with him to cut him loose and shield him from the explosion.
- That's an Order!: Played for Laughs at the end—Archer and Malcolm can't agree on whether it took the mine ten or twenty seconds to blow up, so Archer decides, "It was twenty. That's an order."
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich: So much for Archer and Malcolm's eggs benedict.
- Trope Telegraphing: While Malcolm is examining the mine on the hull, Archer has Trip prepare to detach the section of hull plating with the mine attached to it as a backup plan that he'll consider a last resort. This, of course, guarantees that he'll end up using it.
- Wire Dilemma: Zig-zagged. The disarming of the mine requires dislodging certain components and reinserting them in the proper sequence. However, disarming the last detonation circuit triggers a sub-detonator, which would require dismantling the entire mine.
- With Due Respect: Malcolm, when reminding Archer that he's not trained for Bomb Disposal.
