For two years, Starfleet has been trying to establish a deuterium
refinery at the edge of a nebula so that they have a steady supply of spaceship fuel, and Enterprise has been sent to help. Pike has been temporarily promoted to Fleet Captain for the duration of the mission, giving him operational command of the refinery, the Enterprise and the U.S.S. Farragut. He dispatches Number One to the refinery to take command, with Cmdr. Pelia as her deputy.
Uhura hasn't been getting much sleep lately, and is starting to flag from exhaustion. This makes it a problem when she starts hearing an angry bass roar, which she first mistakes for an incoming subspace signal. This leads her to the warp nacelle, where she attempts to recalibrate the subspace radio — calling on tutorials filmed by the late Chief Engineer Hemmer (guest star Bruce Horak), who got so tired of having Uhura ask him to do it that he taught her the procedure himself. Uhura is not precisely done — or, rather, has not precisely started — grieving his loss. This will be important later. But the upside is that she's in the nacelle while the Enterprise uses its Bussard ramscoops — the big glowing red things on the front of the engines — to pull hydrogen out of the vastness of space... and, when she keeps hearing the noises, and then seeing things that aren't there, everyone suspects deuterium poisoning.
The sole exception is the Farragut's soon-to-be Number Two, an up-and-coming lieutenant named James Tiberius Kirk (guest star Paul Wesley, reprising the Prime Timeline version of the character after the end of "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"). He beams over to the Enterprise to say hello to his brother, George Samuel Kirk Jr., who is a little resentful of his brother's rising star: Kirk is now the youngest first officer in Starfleet history, a record he took from a certain George Samuel Kirk Sr., and "Sam" feels alienated by Jim's willingness to eclipse him. James is taking in a drink at the bar when he encounters Uhura. He recognizes that the young ensign needs a friend, and promises he's not hitting on her... but he does follow her out of the bar, where Uhura is having a vision of the floor littered with Starfleet dead. She's then attacked by a version of herself. Uhura punches back — inadvertently catching Kirk in the face. Kirk, despite everything, believes that she's hallucinating, and the two begin to investigate.
Over on the refinery, Number One is having Jurisdiction Friction with the Commander Contrarian Pelia. In addition to a Stuffy vs Untamed disagreement, Pelia is eccentric and refuses to follow orders, conducting an investigation into the refinery's long list of problems without permission. This leads Pelia to discover sabotage: Lt. Saul Ramon has been having hallucinations. M'Benga notes that Ramon's Broca's area and Wernicke's area, the bits of the brain that relate to the production and comprehension of languages, have been damaged — Uhura shows elevated activities in those areas as well — but Ramon is clearly much further gone than Uhura is: he grabs a medical instrument, slashes M'Benga across the chest, murders a red shirt, and rushes to the warp nacelle, where he attempts to eject and detonate one of the ship's deuterium fuel pods. He fails at the first but succeeds at the second, damaging the Enterprise's nacelle and tossing himself out into space. (During the manhunt, La'an and Kirk run into each other, rattling the security officer.)
In her cabin, Uhura admits to Kirk that she's having trouble processing death; she still isn't over the shuttle crash that claimed her family. Kirk gives her a Dare to Be Badass speach encouraging her to face death head-on. This allows Uhura to finish watching Hemmer's YouTube tutorial, in which the first step is to turn down the gain on the subspace antenna lest they burn out the receiver. This is the "Eureka!" Moment: she realizes she's being communicated with, but that the signal is overwhelming her brain (and overwhelmed Ramon's). A quick visit to xeno-anthropologist Lt. George Kirk brings up the possibility of sapient life forms attached to the hydrogen of the nebula, and Uhura realizes that said cosmozoans are not only the source of her visions, but also their cause: she saw the bodies of dead Starfleet officers because the refinery is killing the aliens; she saw herself attacking herself because Starfleet is responsible; she's been seeing visions of a dead Hemmer because they are trying to appeal to her empathy. Uhura rushes to the bridge. Under her guidance, Pike has the refinery evacuated, and Enterprise and Farragut dismantle it as rapidly as possible: with photon torpedoes. Uhura gets one last vision: Hemmer, smiling at her in gratitude.
In the denouement, Number One admits that her grudge against Pelia dates back to a C grade in a course Pelia taught at the Academy. Pelia, who of course is a lot more experienced than that, recognizes the true source: Pelia reminds her of Hemmer, of the friend everyone loved and lost. She agrees to let it be about the grade if that makes Una feel better. Additionally, Uhura and Kirk relax after the mission. Both admit that Sam rubs them the wrong way sometimes, only to be joined by someone else who feels the same way: Spock. He and Kirk shake hands — the beginning of a friendship that will define them both — and the camera pans out on three future Living Legends with their destinies still before them.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Context Change:
- Jim's struggle with his father's legacy in the Prime Reality stems from the fact that the elder George Kirk was always away helping others, and famed for being the youngest officer in the fleet to be promoted to first officer. In the Kelvin Timeline, Jim struggled with the fact that George was revered for having sacrificed his life on the Kelvin to save its crew, including Jim and his mother.
- The circumstances behind Kirk meeting Pike and Uhura are also much different. In the Kelvin Timeline, he met both in a bar brawl trying to flirt with Uhura and getting into a fight with Starfleet cadets, with Pike daring him to do better than the late George Kirk did instead of wasting his life. He meets Uhura while nursing a drink after an argument with his brother, and has to make it clear he's not flirting with her (even when she decks him during a hallucination), with his first meeting with Pike being a result of his efforts to help Uhura.
- Big Little Brother: Jim is notably a few inches taller than Sam despite being the younger sibling. This only adds to their Sibling Rivalry.
- The B Grade: Una is still holding a grudge over Pelia giving her a 'C' on a paper while at the Academy. Pelia insists her work was sloppy, though she also recognizes that Una is using it as an excuse to avoid the deeper issue of Pelia replacing Hemmer as Chief Engineer.
- Bonding Over Dislikes: Jim Kirk bonds with Uhura and Spock (leading to his legendary friendship with the latter) over the fact that they find Sam annoying.
- Broken Bird: A major plot point with both Uhura and Ramon. Both had repressed emotions about people they’ve lost (her parents and Hemmer for Uhura and his crewmate John for Ramon) that caused the aliens to unwittingly cling to them to try and help.
- Brown Note: The alien signal is so intense that it damages the language and speech centers of the brain in those who can hear it.
- Call-Back:
- Hemmer's death last season in "All Those Who Wander" figures heavily into the plot, both in Uhura's visions and Una's abrasiveness towards Pelia.
- Kirk hasn't forgotten that offer to get drinks with La'an, though they don't follow through in this episode.
- Call-Forward:
- Kirk's speech to Uhura about facing death head on rather than letting it win sets up the attitude that would define his character throughout TOS, TAS, and the films—the same attitude that would eventually be his undoing.
- Uhura introduces Kirk to Spock, sowing the seeds for the duo's iconic friendship, and gives the three future Enterprise crew members of the 2265-2270 mission their first time in the room together.
- The Charmer: In a contrast to the Boldly Coming parodies or Character Exaggeration of James Kirk, this episode shows him to be naturally very outgoing and charismatic which can easily be mistaken for being flirtatious. He strikes up a conversation with Uhura after seeing her distracted and she takes a defensive position before he convinces her that he's not scouting for a hook-up and is being genuine. He has a similar way of acting around La'an, not forgetting the promise of getting drinks as a friendly gesture.
- Chekhov's Lecture: Hemmer's video walkthrough on communications diagnostics gives Uhura a "Eureka!" Moment about the signal.
- Commonality Connection: Spock and Jim Kirk's first meeting occurs with both men noting they find Sam Kirk rather annoying.
- Continuity Nod:
- Not counting the alternate future timeline depicted in "A Quality of Mercy", this is the first time Christopher Pike meets James T. Kirk. This meeting was referenced by Kirk in "The Menagerie, part I". Pike has even been (temporarily) promoted to Fleet Captain, in keeping with that episode.
- Kirk points out a mistake that Spock makes while playing 3-D chess against Christine, upholding the games they played in the Original Series but also established in "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (albeit an alternate version of him).
- George Kirk is discussed as still being alive by his sons. Spock Prime told the Kelvin Timeline's Kirk that in the Prime Reality, George lived long enough to see Kirk become captain of the Enterprise.
- Dramatic Irony: In his rant against his younger brother, Sam tells Jim to go back to the Farragut while he cozily stays on the Enterprise. Audiences who've watched TOS will know that Jim will take over as Enterprise's captain in a few years, while Sam won't be on it, and will be dead shortly after (although given the context of the situation, it seems like Sam inadvertently challenged his brother to become captain of the Enterprise).
- Exact Words: Meta example. In "The Menagerie", Kirk mentions that he first met Pike when he was Fleet Captain, which at the time suggested that they met at the end of Pike's time on the Enterprise. This episode reveals that, yes, Kirk did meet Pike when he became Fleet Captain, he just left out that it was a temporary promotion, it was only with two ships and one deuterium refinery, and it was only for one mission.
- Famed In-Story: George Kirk used to be the previous record holder for the fastest promotion to first officer, on the Kelvin, until his own son Jim broke that record.
- Foreshadowing: Ramon's sabotage is geared toward preventing the refinery from processing deuterium, and when moved to the Enterprise his first instinct is to find deuterium storage and eject it, blasting himself into space in the process. This hints towards the purpose of the sound both he and Uhura have been hearing.
- Forgotten First Meeting:
- La'an met an Alternate Timeline version of Jim in "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" but he both died and that timeline was erased. She had a brief meeting with him over the comms, but this was the first time they are meeting in person.
- Una and Pelia have some tensions as they work on getting the station operational, which the animosity feels like it is coming from nowhere. Una then admits that she took one of Pelia's classes and got a C grade and is still bitter about it. Pelia says she remembers Una and stands by the grade.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Sam Kirk is jealous of his brother Jim now being the youngest first officer, upset he’s being outshined by his little brother, and feeling like he's The Un-Favorite for not being as ambitious as his little brother.
- Inappropriately Close Comrades: Actually discussed, as Spock reminds Christine about Starfleet's policy regarding fraternization.
- Infectious Insanity: When Uhura realizes that she has the same symptoms as Lt. Ramon, she fears she has caught the same madness and will go insane herself. Turns out rather than catching the insanity, it's more like she's been chosen by the aliens.
- Innocuously Important Episode: The episode seems to play out as the standard issue of the week style adventure. But the episode reveals how Kirk meets his future friends Spock, Uhura, and his first contact with the Enterprise, his beloved ship that would make him a legend.
- Insistent Terminology: Twice Pike tells his officers that his promotion is temporary.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Upon realizing that the deuterium refinery is actually torturing and killing the aliens, Uhura and the Kirk brothers have this reaction.
- Mythology Gag: Previously unknown beings trying to telepathically communicate their distress situation to the Enterprise, but unintentionally inflicting dangerous madness instead on the receiving crew, is much like the Next Generation episode "Night Terrors".
- Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Pelia respectfully calls Hemmer one of her best students, though she quickly backpedals and admits he was just "ok" and didn't want to speak ill of his memory.
- Oh, Crap!: Uhura has a quiet "Oh, no" face when one hallucination ends and she sees that she just punched Kirk in the face (especially since striking a superior officer is a court-martial offense in pretty much every military, quasi or otherwise). Fortunately, Kirk recognizes she didn't mean to punch him, and was obviously hallucinating.
- Origins Episode: While a mostly standard conflict-of-the-week episode, it also provides the moment James Kirk's first stepped foot on the Enterprise and him meeting Uhura and Spock for the first time.
- Poor Communication Kills: Literally. The aliens' way of trying to communicate with people literally fries their brains. It isn't until Uhura finally watches the full video Hemmer recorded that she understood what's going on.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: Starfleet's deuterium harvesting in the nebula is accidentally killing off the deuterium-based aliens living there.
- Rank Up:
- Pike is promoted to Fleet Captain in this episode, albeit only over the station and the Farragut, and only for the duration of the mission. To his annoyance, Una and Kirk insist on referring to him as such despite it being a temporary assignment.
- Kirk is promoted to first officer of the Farragut, though it won't happen for a few months until they can train his replacement.
- Red Shirt: Ramon stabs a goldshirt officer to death during his escape on the Enterprise.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Upcoming XO Kirk believes Uhura is suffering from more than deuterium poisoning, having experienced it himself and knowing her symptoms don't match. He makes it his mission to prove her story.
- Replacement Scrappy: In-Universe — Una's dislike of Pelia stems from the constant reminder of the deceased Hemmer. It's implied that Uhura has been avoiding her for the same reason.
- Ship Tease: Kirk hasn't forgotten that he wants to buy La'an a drink. She's still traumatized by losing her version of Jim, but she doesn't seem to completely object to her timeline's Kirk.
- Sibling Rivalry: Scads of it between George and Jim Kirk. George has gone his own path, finding fulfillment as a scientist while Jim is not only following in their ambitious father's footsteps, he's outpacing the elder George. This creates tension between the brothers.
- Space Is Cold: Ramon freezes solid when he blasts himself into space.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Upon meeting Jim in person La'an is notably shaken, having fallen for an Alternate Timeline version of him in "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" and compelled to not discuss her time travel adventures with anyone. She also can't help but appear slightly jealous of his interactions with Uhura, as this episode is not about her.
- Thrown Out the Airlock:
- In one of Uhura's hallucinations, the entire bridge crew gets blown out into space when the viewscreen shatters.
- Ramon spaces himself during one of his hallucinations, while attempting to eject Enterprise's deuterium fuel pod.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Sam feels like he's not doing enough to make his father proud compared to Jim.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Jim reveals that the elder George Kirk was so busy with his Starfleet work that he was rarely home with his family, making him wonder why his dad would choose to help total strangers rather than make the effort to be with his sons.
