Minefield (episode)

Enterprise strays into a Romulan minefield and is disabled by a cloaked mine. While deactivating another mine, Reed gets pinned to the ship's hull.

Summary
Captain Archer invites Lieutenant Reed to breakfast, hoping to become better acquainted with his armory officer. Reed, however, seems reluctant to discuss anything other than work. Just as Archer is getting frustrated, T'Pol alerts him that an uncharted system has been detected and one of the planets is Minshara class. As Enterprise enters the planet's orbit, it is rocked by massive explosions, damaging sections of the ship and injuring several crewmembers, including Hoshi Sato. Reed is able to discern that the ship has been hit by an alien orbital mine, which has attached itself to the hull. As the mine has the power to disable Enterprise, Reed suits up and heads out to defuse it. Uncertain that Reed will succeed in his task, Archer suggests an alternate plan to Trip: detach the section of the hull plating surrounding the mine, allowing it to drift away. Tucker notes that this will expose a good portion of the impulse manifold, but Archer tells him to get started on it anyway – the Captain will consider the plan a last resort.

As Reed works, he suddenly becomes aware of a strange alien starship de-cloaking nearby. The ship hails Enterprise, but the universal translator can't quite get a lock on the strange language, and Sato is out of commission in sickbay. The aliens begin to fire warning shots at Enterprise, so Archer orders Travis Mayweather to move them out of harm's way – slowly, so as not to injure Reed who is still hard at work on the hull. Mayweather must also be careful not to collide with any of the other mines in the field.

Reed begins to make some headway in his efforts to disarm the mine, but just as he's making progress, the motion from Enterprise jostles the mine. A spike thrusts out of the mine and through Reed's leg, pinning him to the ship's hull. Hoping to disarm the mine and save his officer, Archer heads out to the hull. With Reed unable to reach the mine, Archer must depend on him for instructions to disable it. Reed thinks it is too dangerous, but Archer insists that he's a quick study.

Meanwhile, Sato is translating the mysterious alien language from sickbay. The aliens have ordered Enterprise to leave immediately or be destroyed – they have annexed the planet in the name of the Romulan Star Empire. Only T'Pol has heard of this species, and she reveals that they are an aggressive, territorial race. Archer orders Sato to compose a response explaining the crew's desperate circumstances.

Out on the hull, Archer works painstakingly to deactivate the mine. He also tries to engage Reed in casual conversation, but it doesn't seem to calm the armory officer's nerves. Rattled, Reed reveals that he doesn't believe socializing with superior officers has any place on a starship. Archer, however, points out that the crewmembers all have to depend on one another, and that Enterprise's mission is not a typical one. As they continue to talk, it becomes apparent that Reed is prepared to sacrifice himself for the ship. Archer, however, is determined to save both his officer and the Enterprise.

On the bridge, the crew is being hailed yet again by the Romulans, who insist that Enterprise leave. The Romulans know that Reed is trapped outside, but demand that the ship jettison the section of hull plating. Complicating things even further, the mine re-arms just as Archer believes he's defused it – he is forced to quickly reset it again. Reed ascertains that they will now have to dismantle the entire mine, but there's no time. Reed once again volunteers to sacrifice himself, even going so far as to disconnect his air supply hose. Archer, however, won't have it, and quickly attaches the auxiliary air hose from his own suit to Reed's.

Desperate, Archer comes up with one last-ditch plan, and requests two shuttlepod hatches and a plasma torch. Tucker detaches the section of the hull plating, and, as they drift away, Archer uses the torch to free Reed from the hull. As the mine begins to arm itself, Archer and Reed grab their shuttlepod hatches and launch themselves out of harm's way. The mine explodes. As the Romulans descend on Enterprise, Archer and Reed make it back to the ship just in time for T'Pol to order the ship to warp speed. Enterprise makes a safe getaway as the Romulans do not pursue, and Archer and Reed are left to ponder their ordeal (it takes the mine 34 seconds to explode).

Memorable Quotes
"This isn't a visit to the principal's office, Malcolm."
 * - Archer, trying to calm Reed at the captain's breakfast time

"Please sir, may I have some more?"
 * - Reed, mimicking Oliver Twist after having been injected with an analgesic

"So you were saying at breakfast that you didn't follow any particular sports?"

"Well I haven't started following any since breakfast, sir."
 * - Archer and Reed, disarming the mine

"Frankly, sir from my point of view that kind of socializing has no place on a starship."

"I had a C.O. 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 a typical mission. We could be out here for years. All we have to depend on... is each other."


 * - Reed and Archer

"They say they've annexed this planet in the name of something called the... 'Romalan Star Empire'?."

"Romulan. It's pronounced 'Romulan'."
 * - Sato and T'Pol

"Detach the hull section and leave this system immediately. We will not tolerate espionage!"
 * - Romulan Captain

"So how long was it?"

"I counted 10 seconds."

"10?! It was more like 20."

"Respectfully, sir, it was 10."

"I'm not going to argue with you, Malcolm... It was 20... That's an order."
 * - Archer and Reed

Scene 21
In the Sickbay full of injured crewmen, Ensign Sato tries to stand up, but Dr. Phlox stops her. He tells her that her injuries don't appear to be serious, and that the present circumstances should not keep them from continuing their Denobulan lessons. He retakes the class about Anatomy, asking how to say "Thyroid Gland", "Hypothalamus" and "Xiphoid process". Sato gets the first two right, but makes a mistake on the last one, saying a word that could be misinterpreted as "big toe". Phlox corrects her and resumes the lesson.

Sets and props

 * The Romulan mine prop was later reused as the reactor of the Xindi superweapon.

Continuity

 * During breakfast, Archer mentions that England has made it to the final round of the World Cup, revealing that the World Cup has survived into the mid-22nd century.
 * Consistent with the differing customs of their respective homelands, The World Cup's sport is referred to as "soccer" by the American Archer and "football" by the British Reed.
 * This episode represents the first appearance of a Romulan ship on the series, and the first chronological contact in all the series.
 * This episode takes place two episodes after Captain Archer learns the name of the Romulan Star Empire ; he apparently did not tell his crew about it, as Ensign Sato mispronounces the word "Romalan."
 * In keeping with continuity established in Star Trek: The Original Series, the Romulans in this episode are only heard and not seen. Romulans are seen visually for the first time by Humans in.
 * This episode features Romulan cloaking technology, while "Balance of Terror" depicts cloaking as a fairly new technology that the Romulans are experimenting with. An explanation is given for this inconsistency in the non-canon novel The Good That Men Do. The novel explains that the ships seen cloaking in this episode were two prototype Birds of Prey which were being tested at the time. The Romulans had previously experimented with cloaking technology, but had only been able to apply it to their mines and not to their ships due to the huge amount of power needed. These ships were an attempt to deal with this problem. According to the novel, the prototype Birds of Prey were ultimately unsuccessful, as the power needed put too much strain on the ships, and one of them was destroyed in an antimatter containment failure caused by its stealth systems. It would then be decades before the Romulans would successfully solve the problem.

Starring

 * Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer
 * John Billingsley as Doctor Phlox
 * Jolene Blalock as Subcommander T'Pol
 * Dominic Keating as Lieutenant Malcolm Reed
 * Anthony Montgomery as Ensign Travis Mayweather
 * Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi Sato
 * Connor Trinneer as Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III

Co-stars

 * Tim Glenn as the med tech
 * Elizabeth Magness as an injured crewmember

Uncredited co-stars

 * Adam Anello as an operations division crewman
 * Jef Ayres as Haynem
 * Solomon Burke, Jr. as Billy
 * Mark Correy as Alex
 * Evan English as Tanner
 * Hilde Garcia as Rossi
 * Bryan Heiberg as an operations division crewman
 * Scott Hill as Hutchison
 * John Jurgens as a command division crewman
 * Martin Ko as a command division ensign
 * Marnie Martin as an operations division crewman
 * Marlene Mogavero as an operations division crewman
 * John Wan as an operations division crewman
 * Mark Watson as an operations division crewman
 * Unknown actor as a Romulan commander (voice)

External link


Minefield Das Minenfeld Minefield Minefield ja:ENT:許されざる越境 Minefield (aflevering)