The Enterprise is attacked by Xindi-Reptillians, who leave, but the ship is in bad condition and can't move. On the Xindi Council ship, Dolim is furious at the others for not taking the Enterprise crew prisoner, but they would prefer to interrogate Archer in open council. Then, the Council orders the Xindi-Aquatics to transport Archer to the council chamber.
The crew goes over exactly what is wrong with Enterprise — five people are dead, dozens of people are injured, the hull is gone, the launch bay is inaccessible, the primary warp coil is damaged beyond repair, and they don't have the necessary supplies to build a new one.
Archer wakes up on the Aquatics' ship and tries to talk to them, but they sedate him instead, then send him back to Enterprise. When Archer returns, he is updated — nine more people are confirmed dead, and only two of the weapons are working, so Archer decides that they need to hide before the Xindi-Reptilians come back. Now able to move again, they go to a comet dust field, where he tells T'Pol that he may have gotten through to Degra, but she leaves with shaky hands.
While the crew continues their repairs, Archer gets a distress call from an Illyrian ship, which has been disabled by anomalies. Archer offers to trade some trellium-D for their warp coil, but the Illyrian captain refuses since that would knock them out of warp, and leaves. Meanwhile, T'Pol feels disoriented and is having trouble suppressing her emotions, then has a nightmare about attacking Trip in the shower. When she wakes up, she goes into the storage area in an EV suit and injects herself with trellium-D. Hoshi translates some data from the Aquatics' escape pod and finds out where Degra will be in three days, but it's too far to reach without their warp drive. Archer decides to make a hard choice: steal the Illyrian ship's warp coil.
In the Xindi Council Chamber, Degra and the Primate and Arboreal Council members talk to an alien woman and ask her if she helped the Reptilians with the bio-weapon. She admits that she did, to prevent the Insectoids from leaving the Council. Degra angrily asks if Archer's claim that her species built the spheres is true, but instead of answering, she claims that Earth must be destroyed for the Xindi's benefit, tells them not to summon her again unless the whole council is present, and leaves. They ask why they should doubt her, but then Degra points out that she doesn't provide proof, but Archer does.
The Enterprise crew reluctantly discuss how they will steal the coil — they can't beam it away as that could damage the engines and would take too long. Archer tells Travis to set the course, then goes to his ready room, where T'Pol tries to plead Archer not to steal the warp coil, at one point yelling at him and breaking a PADD. She goes to see Phlox and explains that she has been injecting herself with trellium-D because she enjoyed its effect on her emotional suppression, but is now addicted.
They reach the Illyrian ship and the Illyrians hail them, but Enterprise doesn't answer. Archer, Trip, Parsons, and a few MACOs board the ship and search for the coil, while the Enterprise leaves with the Illyrians in pursuit and T'Pol refusing to disable their weapons. Trip finds the coil but it's behind a force field, but after a struggle, he retrieves it and beams back. The Illyrian captain confronts Archer, who has tried giving them supplies to compensate, asking him and the others why they did it. Archer simply replies that he had no choice.
While T'Pol gets treatment in sickbay, the crew integrate the coil into the Enterprise systems, and they head off, with Archer feeling somewhat guilty about his actions.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Addled Addict: T'Pol's addiction to Trellium-D takes its toll as she is cut off from her supply and begins going through withdrawal.
- Armor-Piercing Response:
- During the meeting, the Sphere-Builder is actually quite calm, until Degra explains why they called her.Degra: We were told the Reptilians attempted to build a bio-weapon.
Sphere-Builder: WHO TOLD YOU THIS?! - T'Pol likens the raid to what the Ossarians did to them months earlier. It rattles Archer enough that he closes the door to his ready room before continuing the conversation. She also hits him with an Ironic Echo of what he previously told her: "We can't save humanity without holding on to what makes us human."
- During the meeting, the Sphere-Builder is actually quite calm, until Degra explains why they called her.
- Artistic License – Military: Phlox assures T'Pol that he won't tell Archer about her addiction, saying that this is between her and her doctor. But she has clearly been compromised by her addiction and is now suffering through withdrawal. Under normal circumstances, Phlox would have every right to tell the Captain and declare her unfit for duty. Justified, as under these circumstances, they can't afford to lose the first officer.
- Call-Back:
- Turns out the events of "Impulse" affected T'Pol more than anyone thought.
- T'Pol warns Archer that attacking the alien ship makes him no different from the Space Pirates who attacked them several months earlier.
- It's mentioned that three crewmen are unaccounted for—a sly reference to the three who were sucked out into space.
- When questioned, the Sphere-Builder says she did transport three Reptilians to 20th century Earth to work on the bio-weapon. She says the three later went missing.
- Catapult Nightmare: Downplayed. When T'Pol wakes up from her nightmare, she does sort of jolt awake, but she only sits up partially.
- Cliffhanger Cop Out: Played with. The friendlier members of the Xindi Council (last seen being led away) are able to call off the attack on Enterprise—saving the ship from destruction and putting Dolim in his place. On the other hand, the crew has to struggle with the damage from the attack—forcing Archer to consider crossing a line.
- Damage Control: From here through the rest of the season, a lot of repair work is going on in the background. Much of it shows that Building Is Welding.
- Deadpan Snarker: During their heated argument, T'Pol smashes a data pad on Archer's desk.Archer: We've had our share of disagreements, but you've never taken it out on my desk before.
- Erotic Dream: Subverted. T'Pol's dream starts out with her admiring Trip in the shower, but then it becomes a nightmare about attacking him.
- Explosive Instrumentation: A rare instance of our heroes on The Bridge being warned that it's coming, giving them just enough time to duck to avoid the falling debris.
- Fantastic Drug: The reason for T'Pol's increasing emotional actions is revealed: she's been injecting herself with small doses of liquified Trellium-D.
- Foreshadowing: Archer was returned to Enterprise in an Aquatic pod. He gets Hoshi to work on studying the craft to learn their language—setting up her role in later episodes.
- Greater-Scope Villain: We are introduced to the Sphere Builder woman, who has been pushing the Xindi to destroy Earth so that her people can conquer the galaxy.
- Hope Spot: The Xindi stop firing and retreat to the system! Yay! Travis says the thrusters are down; they're completely immobile. Oh, Crap!
- I Did What I Had to Do: Archer willingly acknowledges that he's crossing the line to piracy and potentially dooming an alien crew. Why? Because he has no other choice.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: T'Pol warns Archer that he's dangerously close to doing so by rationalizing the attack on the alien ship.
- Mythology Gag: Scotty
never actually said "She cannae take much more, Cap'n!" But here, Malcolm, a Brit, finally does get to say "We can't take much more of this!" Sure enough, that's the Xindi's cue to stop firing. - The Needs of the Many: Disgusted as he is with himself, Archer strands an alien crew three years from home because the fate of billions on Earth hinges on him making that meeting with Degra.
- Nightmare Sequence: T'Pol has a nightmare about turning into a creature and attacking Trip in the shower.
- "Not So Different" Remark: T'Pol says Archer's plan is no different than what the pirates who attacked them did.
- Not So Stoic: The main sign that T'Pol is addicted to trellium-D is that she sometimes openly shows fear or anger.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Over a dozen of the crew are dead, many more injured, and the ship is in shambles. While sitting in his wrecked quarters with Phlox, Archer contemplates this trope.Archer: Hard to believe we'll ever get this ship back the way it was.
Phlox: It's a simple matter of repairs. [Archer looks at him, surprised] Perhaps not that simple. - O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Archer realizes that something is seriously wrong with T'Pol when she voices her objection to piracy...by smashing a padd on his desk while Suddenly Shouting.T'Pol: I WON'T LET YOU DO IT!
- Race Against the Clock: Archer pushes forward with stealing the warp coil because the meeting with Degra is in three days. Trip later estimates it will take him 10 minutes minimum to remove the coil, which Reed notes will be "a very long time" during a firefight.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Degra is slowly being convinced by Archer, and arranges a secret rendezvous so he can hear more of what he has to say.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Travis asks why they have to perform a risky raid when the transporter is still functional. Trip explains that the way the Illyrian coil is hooked up, doing so would leave them without even impulse engines.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Both T'Pol and the alien captain call Archer out for his act of piracy.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Travis is the only one on the ship who's absolutely certain they'll get home.
- Worf Had the Flu: A pristine NX-01 could easily subdue the Illyrian ship, but the current damage leaves them at a great disadvantage. Trip says it would only take one lucky shot to the nacelles for a fight to be over.
- You Did the Right Thing: Trip tries to tell Archer this in the end.Archer: It seems the longer we're out here, the more I have to keep saying that to myself.
