The pilot episodes of Star Trek Enterprise introduced us to the crew, established relationships with the Vulcan, Klingons, and Suliban, and gave us the first mission of the ship. Star Trek Enterprise: Fight or Flight takes a quieter approach and focuses on a few key characters while delivering a major threat. I’ll be reviewing this second episode today.

If you want to know the chronology of the episodes I’ll be watching, I’ll be going down this list. If you notice I’ve missed an episode, let me know and I’ll correct it. And if you missed my first post about Star Trek, you can check that out right here.

First contact with a slug

The episode starts with Hoshi and Dr. Phlox looking at a slug-like creature. Hoshi is the one who picked up the specimen and she’s worried it will die because it’s not eating anything. Dr. Phlox wants to keep it alive so he can feed it to his bat. Hoshi calls it a she but Dr. Phlox points out he hasn’t determined it’s gender if it has one. And the way Hoshi looks at it we can tell she strongly identifies with this slug from an alien planet. The slug is an Ariolimax and it does look otherworldly. But they actually used a banana slug for the scene.

Trip comes in to tell Dr. Phlox they rerouted power to sickbay and asks how the slug is doing. He’s bummed because the only alien contact they have had in two weeks is with this slug. He’s clearly hoping for something interesting to happen.

Of slugs, sleep, and squeaks

T’Pol comes to visit Captain Archer in his quarters. He’s bothered by a noise he’s hearing. T’Pol lets him know the sectors ahead don’t have much life in them either. Archer also assumes the Vulcans must have found something interesting out this way. But T’Pol assures him they don’t share humans love of exploration and they don’t explore based on what piques their interests. I’m not sure how true that actually is but Archer writes it off as being Vulcan logic.

Hoshi interrupts this conversation and T’Pol leaves. Archer also wants to know about the slug, who they have named, “Slugo.” Hoshi then complains her quarters are on the wrong side of the ship for her. She can’t sleep because of it and she wants to switch rooms. Archer grants it but it feels like a weird request and Hoshi looks like she wants to say more but she leaves Archer to figure out what the squeaking noise is that he hears.

Targeting problems

Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Ensign Mayweather run targeting simulations but they are off by three meters. Mayweather says it’s only three meters. But Reed says three meters could be the difference between hitting a weapons port and a warp core. He’s afraid they might destroy a vessel instead of disabling it.

Here’s something I love about Star Trek. Reed’s first concern here isn’t that he’s not going to hit a target. He’s worried he will cause more damage than necessary. While he is in charge of some seriously powerful weapons, this guy is looking for the least loss of life he can. I honestly can’t think of another show outside of Star Trek that thinks this way.

To be fair, he’s also afraid this will blow up the Enterprise too but that was not his first consideration. Reed is glad they haven’t found any intelligent life yet because he knows these weapons are not ready. Mayweather thinks Reed is being a bit paranoid and points out that everyone else on board can’t wait for first contact.

Captain Archer comes down to check on their progress and they explain the problem. Archer thinks it could be a problem with the simulation so he has the ship drop out of warp for target practice. Turns out it wasn’t the simulations, there really is an issue. Reed will have to make some adjustments but Archer goes back into warp. And this whole time, Hoshi is looking uncomfortable and nervous as she watches the torpedoes miss their targets. One almost hits Enterprise so I can’t blame her.

The first mess hall scene of Star Trek Enterprise

I don’t know exactly why but I always enjoy and find comforting the mess hall scenes in Star Trek. I think it’s because these scenes allow for quieter moments between characters. It’s rarely about the food they are eating. And something said here is almost always pivotal to either character development or a story happening in the episode.

This mess hall scene involves Trip and Dr. Phlox. Trip sits down next to the doctor who immediately prompts him to eat one of his own half eaten potatoes. Dr. Phlox is obviously not entirely versed on human eating habits. Trip seems uncomfortable. But Phlox has learned that unlike his home planet, speaking during a meal is acceptable for humans.

Trip explains how he’s feeling a bit restless with the lack of contact so far. Phlox feels the opposite because he’s learning so much about humans. And he doesn’t quite have the understanding of human etiquette. He even tells Trip he wonders if a couple on the ship would let him watch them mate. This will come up again in the series but Dr. Phlox is far less prudish than most of the members of Enterprise.

There is something out there

T’Pol does pick something up on the scanners eventually. It’s a vessel out in space and it’s not moving. Captain Archer sends a very diplomatic message to the ship. He lets them know they are on a peaceful mission of exploration and they come from Earth. He even sends a pulsar grid to show the aliens where Earth is. Despite sending this through the translation matrix, there is no response.

Closer inspection of the ship reveals hull breaches and scorch marks. This ship was likely attacked. The tension builds here as Archer wants to scan for life but TPol asserts this could be considered a breach of privacy. She wants to resume course.

Of course, humans are gonna human, so Archer scans for life signs. There are life forms aboard but below the sensitivity of their normal scans. Mayweather thinks they could be in trouble or sick. T’Pol recommends they try alternate methods of contact and Hoshi agrees.

But instead, Archer has Reed prepare a shuttle and takes a reluctant Hoshi along for the ride.

Star Trek Enterprise: Fight or Flight

Commander “Trip” Tucker is upset he doesn’t get to go. But Archer points out Enterprise needs Trip more at the moment.

Archer muses in his quarters about T’Pol and realizes she might be right about these aliens not wanting Enterprise to board their ship. Ultimately he decides they need to take action. Hoshi comes back to Archer’s quarters to try to be allowed to stay. Poor Archer can’t win here with some people itching to go and Hoshi begging to stay. But Archer won’t let her stay despite the excuses she keeps making.

Before boarding the shuttle, Reed gives everyone going a phase pistol. That does not make Hoshi feel any better about this.

In the alien vessel, the crew finds something unexpected. There is almost no power on board and there is a trail of blood. They discover hydraulic pumps and Hoshi lets out a blood curdling scream as she sees bodies hanging from the ceiling. It’s at this point that I think T’Pol might have been right. But it is now time for Enterprise to decide if they flee or if they fight whoever did this.

Whoever did this is dangerous

Turns out there were fifteen people killed, hung upside down, and had their body fluids drained. T’Pol insists they should leave. And yeah, that is definitely logical at this point. But Archer can’t bring himself to leave the bodies. To his credit he does go to warp three and resume course.

Hoshi goes to sickbay to check in with the slug and Dr. Phlox reassures her that it is a totally normal reaction to scream when you see dead bodies strung up on a ceiling. I’m no doctor but I think he’s right on this one. The slug is still not eating but Phlox tries a protein. If the slug won’t eat it, it is going to die.

Dr. Phlox also asks Hoshi if she ever considered teaching rather than exploring. She gets a little upset and realizes the Captain needs her there. But she also feels like she’s not living up to the mission.

Worried about the slug, Hoshi says, “She needs to get back to an environment more suited to her.” To which Dr. Phlox replies, “Perhaps someplace where she could teach.”

While I get the point the doctor is making here, it was maybe not the best bedside manner. But I think it does drive home the point to Hoshi.

We’re going back

Over an awkward dinner with T’Pol and Trip, Captain Archer realizes he left fifteen dead crewmen just floating out in space. Archer asks T’Pol what she would have done if these people had been Vulcans. She points out that they weren’t Vulcans and that it’s very difficult to know who they were or who to contact to retrieve the bodies. Archer also asks Trip if he would have reacted the same if they were human. Trip points out that whoever did this is probably coming back. Archer realizes they can’t avoid confrontation forever. Archer kind of gets angry at T’Pol saying she has an answer for everything. She replies they have a code of behavior and they try to obey it.

Captain Archer points out humans have a code of behavior too. Which means they are going back. I think Archer’s motivations are noble here and I understand why he would want to go back. But I honestly think T’Pol is right in this situation. Their weapons aren’t calibrated correctly, they don’t know who these people were, and more importantly they don’t know who attacked. It’s a fraught situation to say the least.

This time Archer brings Dr. Phlox to help identify the species, Trip to get the ship’s comms up and running, and poor Hoshi has to go back.

Here’s what is going on

Dr. Phlox figures out how they all died. Each one killed in a different way. But they were all strung up the same way. He takes a body to perform an autopsy on. Trip gets the comms on and they discover a repeating signal. Hoshi figures out it is a distress call.

The autopsy reveals whoever did this is trying to collect triglobulin which is similar to human lymphatic fluid. That’s pretty unsettling. And it gives off vibes of the movie Alien as they all discuss this morbid stuff in their exo-suits. Phlox thinks this stuff could be used for anything from vaccines to aphrodisiacs.

For his part, Trip is thrilled. He is also jealous of Hoshi because she’ll probably be needed on away missions more than he will. Hoshi tells Trip she’s going to ask the Captain to take her home. But she does get a small boost of confidence once she decodes the distress message. We won’t find out until the end of the episode but these aliens are called the Axanar.

It might be time to fight

T’Pol signals Captain Archer and lets him know there is a vessel approaching. And worse, it’s power signature matches the scans of the bio pumps draining the dead bodies. Whoever did this has returned. The away crew hurry back to the shuttle so they can return to Enterprise. T’Pol asks Reed if the weapons are ready He says the answer is most likely no. T’Pol commands him to do the best he can and be on the bridge in five minutes.

Things get exciting as the shuttle comes to dock with Enterprise. T’Pol has tried to hail the other ship but there is no response. And Enterprise’s scanners can’t penetrate the shielding to know what kind of weapons are on this other ship.

Just as the shuttle gets onto the docking arm the enemy ship fires, targeting the engines. The away crew is able to get off of the shuttle and onto Enterprise but they haven’t been able to go to warp. The engines have been damaged by the hits.

Archer has Malcolm arm the torpedoes.

Things get worse

With torpedoes loaded, Reed fires at the enemy ship. It bounces off the ship. The second shot is blasted away by the enemy. Suddenly, some kind of bio-scan goes through the ship and Dr. Phlox speculates they have figured out human lymphatic systems contain some useful compounds.

Archer orders Malcolm to get to the armory and start distributing hand weapons. But just after that, another vessel drops out of warp on an intercept course.

This ship actually hails Enterprise. They recognize this person as from the same species as the murdered crew. Archer is visibly relieved. Archer has Hoshi tell the Captain of that ship they weren’t the ones who attacked their friends. Rather, it was the ship above Enterprise which is about to attack.

Two characters get a moment to shine

Hoshi puts things in the translator relay but it doesn’t seem to make sense. This new ship locks on to Enterprise with a stabilizing beam. Now, even impulse engines won’t work. The translations continue to go poorly as the Axanar thinks Enterprise killed his friends. T’Pol calmly tells Hoshi to tell him they sent the distress call. It would make no sense for Enterprise to do that after they killed the crew. The Axanar ship then says the distress call came from his ship not the Enterprise. Archer explains they had to go there to find their frequency. The guy then asks why the humans were there two years ago. Hoshi assumes he means two days ago.

She is probably right but then again, we have already established time travel here so who knows? Hoshi keeps trying but it seems like the Axanar aren’t gong to help. Archer has the idea to tell them to run scans on the pumps hooked up to the corpses. Hoshi puts this into the translator but she can’t get the word for pump right. Captain Archer tells Hoshi to forget the translator and do it herself. This is her chance to talk in a new language to a living alien for the first time. Hoshi comes through and lives up to the moment. This ship will help Enterprise.

Meanwhile, on the weapons front, the enemy ship starts drilling into the hull. But with the Axanar ship helping, the enemy ship lets go of Enterprise. Malcolm says he has the scanners aligned and asks for permission to launch a torpedo. This time it hits dead on and Malcolm has his moment to shine.

The Axanar wait for Enterprise to get clear and they blow up the enemy ship.

Star Trek Enterprise: Fight or Flight conclusion

When the dust clears, Archer tells Hoshi they may have just made a friend, thanks to her. Captain Archer then goes back to do his star log. In case you are wondering, this is May 6th 2151. They did spend some time with the Axanar who are androgynous and live over 400 years. The Enterprise does make a detour to put Slugo on a world more suited to it. I’m really not sure how that would affect a world’s ecology or what the ethics of that are but Hoshi tells the slug, “It’s not that hard to adapt. You’re going to do just fine here.” Obviously, she’s not just talking about the slug here.

While this episode was not as action packed as the pilot there is some great character development here. Mostly for Hoshi but a little bit for Malcolm who also overcomes a challenge. And we’ll see more of the eagerness to explore come out in Trip in future episodes as well. Plus, Archer and T’Pol continue their tense relationship but do come to trust each other a little more with each interaction.

I think episodes like these in Star Trek shows are great. Watching Hoshi overcome her fears in a tense moment, to me, is just as exciting as the battle itself. And while some might consider this a little simplistic, the story really nails the moment. If you ever want to understand the character development of Hoshi, you can’t skip over this episode. Future episodes will give other characters their chance to shine. Although, not all of them meet the challenge as well as this episode does.

This episode didn’t allow for a lot of exploration but it did involve some first contact. The next episode is titled Strange New World, so we’re definitely getting to see a bit more of an alien planet soon.

Until next time, live long and prosper.