Line #14 Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS04E21TerraPrime


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ent_terra_prime_043.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"I have no intention of using this weapon again, provided that every single non-human in our system leaves immediately."'']]
3	Terra Prime takes control of a particle beam array on Mars and threatens to destroy Starfleet Command and alien consulates if their demands are not met.
4	----
5	* BittersweetEnding: Quite bittersweet. On the one hand, the conference moves forward, a significant step to what will become the Federation. On the other, Trip and T'Pol must endure the worst pain imaginable: a parent losing their child.
6	* ButtMonkey: Kelby was originally going to be TheMole who commits suicide, but the writers decided he had suffered enough and invented a new character Ensign Masaro. Kelby's just a brief RedHerring suspect.
7	* CallBack: Travis mentions that he has experience with comets. [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS01E08BreakingTheIce Didn't he break his leg on the last one?]] Probably best that he didn't mention that detail to Samuels.
8	* CallForward: Trip says that Phlox found a flaw in the method used to create Elizabeth, and determined that there's no reason why a human and Vulcan couldn't reproduce. In a hundred years, there will be a human-Vulcan hybrid who will become a Starfleet legend. His name is [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Spock]].
9	* CharacterCheck: The scene where Archer leaves Hoshi in command alludes to the close platonic relationship they had at the beginning of the series. This sets up Hoshi displaying a little CharacterDevelopment while in command.
10	-->'''Archer:''' I remember when you used to jump every time the engines hiccuped.
11	-->'''Hoshi:''' I still do. I'm just better at hiding it.
12	* ContinuityNod:
13	** Phlox provides Malcolm with a vomit bag on the shuttlepod in response to his [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS02E012TheCatwalk motion sickness]]. He wastes little time in using it [[VomitDiscretionShot off-screen]].
14	** In "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E21ESquared E Squared]]," Phlox is told that he would eventually discover a means of successfully combining human and Vulcan genomes. He manages to do so here.
15	* DeadGuyJunior: Trip names the baby "Elizabeth," for his sister who was killed in the Xindi attack.
16	* [[DieHardOnAnX Die Hard on Mars]]: Couldn't let the final season end without one last episode of this.
17	* DrivenToSuicide: Masaro phasers himself in the head right in front of Archer.
18	-->'''Masaro:''' (with a phase pistol) Captain.\
19	'''Archer:''' [[TalkingDownTheSuicidal You don't want to do this.]]\
20	'''Masaro:''' I have to.\
21	'''Archer:''' Give me the phase pistol. [[ThatsAnOrder That's an order.]]\
22	'''Masaro:''' I can't, sir.\
23	'''Archer:''' Ensign.\
24	'''Masaro:''' I wanted you to know...I'm sorry. I believed in what we were doing. Tell my parents...I'm sorry. I never wanted anyone to get hurt.\
25	'''Archer:''' Ensign!\
26	'''Masaro:''' ''(shoots himself)''
27	* GrewASpine: While in command of ''Enterprise'', Hoshi demonstrates this by putting Minister Samuels in his place when he tries to order her around.
28	* {{Hypocrite}}: As T'Pol points out, Paxton has a degenerative disease and is only being kept alive thanks to alien medicine. Had he been alive during Colonel Green's reign, he'd have been killed too. She also doesn't buy his attempt to justify it.
29	--> '''Paxton:''' I'm not the first significant leader to fail to measure up to his own ideals.\
30	'''T'Pol:''' You're not significant!
31	* ItIsDehumanizing: Paxton keeps calling the child "it." Trip calls him on it.
32	* ManlyTears: Trip is clearly devastated by Elizabeth's death, as is Phlox.
33	* TheMole: Someone whom we've never seen or heard of before. Also, Travis' girlfriend Gannet, who's actually with Starfleet Intelligence.
34	* NewEraSpeech: Continued from last episode.
35	--> '''Paxton:''' We do not seek war, but if the aliens do not leave, and force us to fight, I make this solemn promise to all of the sons and daughters of Earth. Our future will be secure because humanity will prevail.
36	* NotSoStoic: You can see the SuppressedRage in T'Pol during her confrontation with Paxton.
37	* RememberTheNewGuy: When the mole is uncovered in the last five minutes, the episode tries to establish that Archer and the crew are already familiar with him.
38	* RousingSpeech: After an entire show of mediocre speeches, including the infamous [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS01E26S02E01Shockwave "gazelle speech,"]] Archer closes with his best speech.
39	-->"Up until about a hundred years ago, there was one question that burned in every Human, that made us study the stars and dream of traveling to them. Are we alone? Our generation is privileged to know the answer to that question. We are all explorers driven to know what's over the horizon, what's beyond our own shores. And yet the more I've experienced, the more I've learned that no matter how far we travel, or how fast we get there, the most profound discoveries are not necessarily beyond that next star. They're within us, woven into the threads that bind us, all of us, to each other. A final frontier begins in this hall. Let's explore it together."
40	** This prompts a SlowClap that's started by Soval, cementing the fact that Archer has earned his respect.
41	* SadisticChoice: Hoshi is faced with one--destroy the verteron array and take out Utopia Colony with it, or let Paxton destroy Starfleet Command. Fortunately, Trip is able to TakeAThirdOption.
42	* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: {{Subverted}} when T'Pol finds out about Paxton's illness and Rigelian treatment for said illness. Rather than attempt to silence her, he practically dares her to tell his men, figuring that they're too drunk on the Kool-Aid to take her word over his. From what we see of them, he's probably right.
43	* SurpassedTheTeacher: Harris says this of Malcolm, though most likely in jest.
44	* TalkToTheFist: When Trip's rage hits the boiling point, one of Paxton's {{mooks}} dares him to try something. Trip says "Okay" and slugs him.
45	* {{Terraform}}: Mars is in the process of it. The terraforming has already yielded a thicker atmosphere, eliminating the need for pressure suits, though they still need oxygen and thermal garments.
46	* VillainRespect: When Trip sucker-punches one of Paxton's {{mooks}} and sabotages part of the weapon system, Paxton is genuinely impressed. He even expected a man of Trip's principles to try something like that.
47	* WasntThatFun: Malcolm quips this in a ''very'' sarcastic and deadpan voice after the shuttlepod almost crashes during the comet ride.
48	--> "Well, that ''was'' fun. Can we do it again?"
49	* WaveMotionGun: The verteron array on Mars is essentially a very big phaser cannon which is designed to adjust the course of comets for the purpose of terraforming Mars. The beam is wide enough to encompass ''Enterprise'' entirely, and even at 2% power it causes considerable damage. Paxton's plan is to use it to destroy Starfleet Command. Fortunately, Trip throws its aim off, and only San Francisco Bay is hit.

Context Recap / StarTrekEnterpriseS04E21TerraPrime