Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Star Trek Enterprise S 01 E 15 Shadows Of P Jem

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ent_shadowsofp_jem_219.jpg
Soval contacts Admiral Forrest, saying that P'Jem has been destroyed. Forrest feels sorry for the Vulcans to an extent, but also feels they were partly to blame for spying on the Andorians from there. Soval also believes the Enterprise crew were also partly to blame for revealing the spying, but Forrest refutes this, believing that it wouldn't have happened had the Vulcan High Command been more open. Soval reveals that Earth-Vulcan fleet operations have been suspended, while Forrest decides to speak to Archer.

Archer and Trip are having breakfast together and talking about a new place Archer found, but are interrupted by Forrest's hail. He tells Archer that the sanctuary was destroyed, but no one was killed. He also notes that he agrees with the Vulcans' decision to spy on the Andorians and warns Archer against getting involved with interspecies conflicts.

Archer then calls T'Pol to his ready room and tells her the bad news, adding more bad news— she's being transferred off the ship and the Enterprise is being held responsible. He is unhappy, believing that the Vulcan authorities have lost control of their emotions and are punishing them, but she believes she is responsible and takes it in stride. He goes to see Trip and tells him that he (Archer) will be spending time with T'Pol on the surface and trying to get her to "fight" the transfer and stay onboard. In the mess hall, Phlox tells T'Pol that she was the only Vulcan who didn't request a transfer off a human ship after a few weeks due to humans' alleged unpredictability.

Archer and T'Pol try to go in a shuttlepod, but are attacked by an aircraft, knocked out, and kidnapped. When they wake up, they're both tied together and are interrogated by an alien named Traeg. He doesn't recognise Archer's species, but recognises T'Pol's, believing Vulcans are an enemy. He then starts asking Archer about the shuttle, the phase-pistols, and the Enterprise, but Archer evades the question saying that the Enterprise's protein resequencers can make chicken sandwiches. He is thus attacked, so T'Pol lies that he is a steward. The Enterprise crew, meanwhile, learns of Archer and T'Pol's abduction from an unhelpful chancellor named Kalev. As Archer and T'Pol struggle to untie themselves, he tries to convince her that she wasn't responsible for P'Jem's destructions, despite her belief that she ought to have protested. They get their bonds off, but then guards appear and recapture them.

Trip and Malcolm find a place where the shuttle might be and consider sending a rescue team there. They are then hailed by the dissidents, who demand forty phase-pistols in exchange for the hostages, then immediately cut off. Malcolm points out that the dissidents can't be trusted to return the hostages, and besides, they only have fifteen phase-pistols. The Ni'Var (who were going to pick up T'Pol) then arrives and asks where Archer is. Trip explains what happened and Captain Sopek agrees to handle the rescue, then warns Trip not to do anything "foolish" and cuts off.

Sopek meets on the bridge with Trip and Malcolm, then explains that he and the other Vulcans tend to enter, strike at the terrorists, and recapture Archer and T'Pol. Trip wants him to try some other tactic, but Sopek thinks this one makes the most sense. Then, Trip orders Malcolm to get a shuttle ready. Meanwhile, Archer and T'Pol have been retied separately and given food. They try to eat while tied up, and Archer finds a communications device in his food.

Sopek hails the Enterprise to ask about a shuttle launch, but Hoshi pretends that the signal is bad. Trip and Malcolm are on the surface, and they try to go towards the shuttle signature, but are kidnapped by Shran, who reveals that they left the shuttle there to trap them, that the Andorians are preparing for a war with the Vulcans, and that the hostages will be killed once the ransom (consisting of weapons) is delivered to the dissidents. However, he also reveals that he and Tholos plan to rescue Archer and T'Pol in exchange for helping him discover the listening post. Trip asks Shran to let he and Malcolm help with the rescue, and Shran accepts. Thus, Trip uses the com device to tell Archer about his plan to rescue him and T'Pol.

Trip offers ale to the guards, while the operatives let in the Andorian agents. The outside guards hear Malcolm, grab Trip, and start a fight, which the Andorians win. They move onward, when a group of Vulcans, led by Sopek, arrives and starts firing at them. After a fight, the team reaches the cell and Shran gives T'Pol her scanner back. Then, the Vulcans fire a rocket launcher, knocking out the rest of the dissidents with the resulting explosion.

As the rescue team is leaving, the Vulcans accuse the Andorians of breaking the treaty, leading to an argument, then the injured Traeg fires at Sopek, but T'Pol gets in the way of the blast and is hit instead. Thus, she is taken back to Enterprise for medical treatment.

Phlox then updates Archer and Sopek on T'Pol's status, and apparently her injuries are very severe and may be fatal. Archer asks Sopek to try to persuade the Vulcan High Command not to strip T'Pol of her position, saying she doesn't deserve punishment and risked a lot to help him. Sopek initially disagrees, but when reminded of T'Pol's injuries,he agrees to discuss the matter when he next sees the High Command. Sopek leaves, and Phlox gives T'Pol a shot, which wakes her up. Archer updates her on the situation, believing that T'Pol will be staying on the Enterprise.


Tropes in this episode include:

  • Bittersweet Ending: T'Pol is likely going to stay on the ship, but she's injured and confined to sickbay for the next day.
  • Call-Back: It turns out that the incident at the P'Jem monastery has had serious consequences, including the destruction of the monastery.
  • Chained Heat: Archer and T'Pol are tied together. As per this trope Archer learns an important Aesop — while Vulcans may be annoying, some of them have great tits.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Shran returns the scanner that T'Pol gave him in "The Andorian Incident."
  • Corporal Punishment: Archer is punished for being cryptic by being attacked.
  • Debt Detester: Shran establishes himself as this. He's only helping Archer because he wants to rid himself of the debt he owes Archer.
  • Fake Static: A variation— Hoshi generates some real static during her conversation with Captain Sopek, claiming that his transmission is breaking up before hanging up on him.
  • A Father to His Men: Archer showing his protectiveness towards T'Pol — when he learns that she's to be punished for what happened at P'Jem, he tries to take full responsibility.
  • The Guards Must Be Crazy: Accepting ale from some strange passer-by? Not the smartest idea.
  • Hilarious Outtakes: Connor Trinneer blows one take when he screws up at saying "the captain and T'Pol" because he was trying not to say "the Captain and Tenille".
  • Hostage Situation: Archer and T'Pol are in trouble again. Trip suspects that the hostage takers might kill them once they're no longer necessary, which Shran confirms.
  • Hypocrite: Sopek, as far as Shran is concerned.
    Sopek: Your presence here is a violation of the Tau Ceti accords.
    Shran: You lecture us about treaty violations?
  • Lured into a Trap: According to Shran, the shuttlepod was left in the open as a trap, and Trip and Malcolm almost walked into it.
  • Makes Us Even: Shran after helping to rescue Archer and T'Pol.
    "My debt is repaid."
  • Marshmallow Hell: While trying to escape their bindings, T'Pol falls on top of Archer with his face in her chest.
  • Mathematician's Answer: When Traeg asks Archer to tell him about the Enterprise, Archer replies that its protein replicators can make chicken sandwiches.
  • Pet the Dog: Despite being angry enough to destroy P'Jem, the Andorians did give the monks (and intel agents) advance warning to evacuate.
  • Right-Wing Militia Fanatic: The Coridian rebels who capture Archer and T'Pol are essentially this trope IN SPACE: a small armed faction fighting, as they perceive it, the tyranny of a government they regard as illegitimate (in their case because they consider it to be a puppet regime kept in power by the Vulcans, though there's no evidence of any such thing and the Vulcans likely have no particular interest in Coridan) — while the government, for its part, regards them as more of a nuisance than a threat, to the point that they didn't even bother to inform Starfleet of their existence.
  • Running Gag: People keep hanging up on Trip.
    Trip: I'm gettin' real sick of bein' cut off.
  • The Scapegoat: Archer claims that the Vulcan High Command is using T'Pol as this because of the destruction of P'Jem.
  • Starts Stealthily, Ends Loudly: Trip, Malcolm, Shran, and Keval successfully sneak into the rebel compound to rescue Archer and T'Pol—and then an explosion rocks the compound, and a Vulcan commando team charges in with guns blazing.
  • Taking the Bullet: T'Pol takes a plasma bullet meant for Captain Sopek. This leads to Shran, who hates Vulcans in general but has started developing a grudging respect for T'Pol, telling Sopek, "You should be the one dying, not her."
  • That's an Order!: Archer orders T'Pol to eat the lunch that their captors provide. Good thing, as it has a hidden comlink that helps in their rescue.

Top