The Seventh (episode)

T'Pol asks Archer to accompany her on a top-secret mission to capture a fugitive that has eluded the Vulcan High Command for two decades.

Summary
T'Pol is reading a book in the middle of the night when she receives transmission from the Vulcan High Command. The only thing her interlocutor tells her is that they have located a man named Menos, three days from Enterprise's location.

The next morning, T'Pol informs Captain Jonathan Archer that he will receive a transmission from Admiral Maxwell Forrest which will give him orders to assist T'Pol in a classified mission. She will need a shuttlepod, a pilot, restraints, and phase pistols. Even if she is unwilling to tell the details of her mission at first, she later asks Archer to be part of the mission because she needs someone she can trust. The captain accepts when she agrees to tell him more about the mission.

Menos, the fugitive, is a Vulcan ex-agent that wouldn't return when his mission was over, and is reported to have been a smuggler since then. A couple of years prior, T'Pol, then under the Vulcan Ministry of Security, had been in charge of apprehending six of these fugitives, and Menos was the only one that she hadn't been able to catch. The Vulcan High Command, considering that a matter of honor, assigned the mission to her again.

Even though Trip Tucker repeatedly entreats Archer to tell him what the situation is about, Archer refuses, and simply hands over command of the ship to him. Tucker finds out in regular intervals that being captain has its drawbacks and comes with answering everybody's inquiries.

Meanwhile Archer, Travis Mayweather, and T'Pol arrive at a bar situated on the Pernaia Prime moon where Menos is supposed to be hiding. They find him, and have no difficulties apprehending him; however, they cannot leave the moon because of a technical issue and will have to remain there for several hours. Menos, shackled to the bar, appears harmless, and tries to convince them that he has never actually been a smuggler, since he only cooperated with them as part of his cover, and is sustaining his family with an honest job (hauling spent warp injector casings). At the same moment, T'Pol has a strong flashback that seems to come from repressed memories. She remembers chasing him on Risa, as she previously explained to Archer, but someone else was there. With Menos' manipulative attitude and all the strange memories, she begins to doubt herself. When she checks his ship and finds only what he said she would, she feels sure he is telling the truth about everything, and her entire memories of the incident return to her.

Back on Enterprise, the crew is hailed by the Vulcan ship who was ordered to pick up Menos after the operation. Tucker has to pretend to be Captain Archer so that the Vulcans don't realize T'Pol asked for his help. Tucker manages to convince the other captain, only to find out the "important message" to Archer was simply the result of a water polo game, Cal beat Stanford 7 to 3. A relieved Tucker say's he'll be sure to tell him.

Back on Pernaia Prime, T'Pol leaves the bar with Archer and explains to him that while she was chasing after Menos on Risa, she killed another man named Jossen, and didn't remember it until some minutes ago. At the time, it appeared as if Jossen was about to draw his weapon, so she shot him. Now she remembers her guilt about this, since she was never entirely sure that he was a threat. Because she was unable to handle her guilt, she went through fullara, a ritual meant to suppress that memory and even the memory of performing the ritual itself. Their discussion is cut short by a disturbance in the bar. Menos caused a fire by turning over a table and claims that he would rather die on that frozen moon than be brought back to Vulcan for crimes he didn't commit. T'Pol decides to free him from the restraints and he quickly vanishes.

When the three of them go to his ship, they don't find him aboard. After a little investigation however, Mayweather finds a system still running on the otherwise powered-down ship. When Archer turns it off, it reveals a secret area behind a cloaking field where Menos was hiding. He takes T'Pol hostage and after a short fight he tries to escape. T'Pol goes after him and points her phase pistol at him, threatening to shoot. He tries to play on T'Pol's insecurities, telling her that catching him would be the same as killing another innocent, something that would make her feel even more guilty. Archer interferes at this moment and asks T'Pol to trust him. She does and finally stuns Menos as he is about to disappear again. Back on his ship, Mayweather discovers that Menos was indeed smuggling biotoxins.

Back on Enterprise, T'Pol thanks Archer for what he did on the moon and tells him that if he ever needs someone he can trust, she will be glad to return the favor.

Log entries

 * Captain's log, supplemental. As anticipated, I was contacted by Admiral Forrest, who has ordered us to accommodate the Vulcans' request.


 * Captain's starlog, supplemental. The Vulcan ship Nyran was waiting at the prearranged coordinates. After transferring Menos to their custody, we've returned to Enterprise.

Memorable Quotes
"Ironic, isn't it?! Burning to death on a frozen moon!"


 * - Menos

"Why did you want me here?"

"Because I trust you."

"Then trust me, you were sent to apprehend him.... not to judge him."
 * - Archer and T'Pol

"I killed him."

"Yes... and he didn't deserve to be killed."
 * - T'Pol, remembering killing Jossen, and Menos

"Come on, Travis. Let's see if we can find something to eat."
 * - Archer, when T'Pol asks to speak to Menos alone

"Captain Archer?"

"Yes? Is there a problem?"

"You seem very young for a Starfleet captain."

"Healthy living."
 * - Captain Tavek and Tucker

"I don't trust this guy, Travis. Find something to tie him up with."
 * - Archer, regarding Menos

Background Information

 * "The Seventh" refers to the seventh rogue operative, Menos, whom T'Pol pursued in this episode. He was believed to be the sixth, until T'Pol remembered Jossen, whom she killed. Coincidentally, it is also the seventh episode of the season.
 * It seems Menos was working for the Axanar, as most of his cargo containers have the Axanar written language on them.
 * Among the aliens at the bar on Pernaia's moon was a Kreetassan, several Klingons, several members of the shapeshifting species from, and a member of Kago-Darr's species.
 * T'Pol's experiences of pursuing Menos and Jossen on Risa and subsequently undergoing fullara at P'Jem are referred to in the ENT novel Surak's Soul.
 * Several costumes and props from this episode were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay, including the boots of Bruce Davison.
 * When Tucker impersonates Captain Archer, he wears a fourth rank pip to signify the rank of captain, but does not change into a gold-trimmed command division uniform, instead staying in his red-trimmed operations division uniform.

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

Guest star

 * Stephen Mendillo as Captain Tavek

Special guest star

 * Bruce Davison as Menos

Co-stars

 * David Richards as Dockmaster
 * Coleen Maloney as Vulcan Officer
 * Vincent Hammond as Huge Alien
 * Richard Wharton as Jossen

Uncredited co-stars

 * Adam Anello as an operations division crewman
 * Craig Appel as an alien bar visitor
 * Al Burke as an alien bar visitor
 * Solomon Burke, Jr. as Billy
 * Marijane Cole as a Vulcan nurse
 * Gregory Hinton as an alien bar visitor
 * Aldric Horton as an operations division crewman
 * Amina Islam as a command division ensign
 * John Jurgens as a command division crewman
 * Marlene Mogavero as an operations division crewman
 * Lana Taylor as an alien bar visitor
 * Mark Watson as an operations division crewman
 * Unknown performers as
 * Dee'Ahn's species bar visitor
 * Kreetassan bar visitor
 * Four male alien bar visitors

Stunt double

 * Lisa Hoyle as stunt double for Jolene Blalock