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Shuttlepod One (episode)

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Real World article
(written from a Production point of view)
"Shuttlepod One"
ENT, Episode 1x16
Production number: 016
First aired: 13 February 2002
← 15th of 97 produced in ENT →
← 15th of 97 released in ENT →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 97 released in ENT Remastered  
← 643rd of 727 released in all →
Written By
Rick Berman & Brannon Braga

Directed By
David Livingston
November 9, 2151
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For the auxiliary craft assigned to the starship Enterprise (NX-01), see Shuttlepod 1.

While investigating an asteroid field, Tucker and Reed are convinced that the Enterprise has been destroyed and try to face their own oncoming deaths.

Contents

[edit] Summary

Malcolm Reed and Trip Tucker are surveying an asteroid field, using the Enterprise Shuttlepod 1. Tucker is trying to troubleshoot the system to fix the problems they have been experiencing; the sensor array and com circuits are both down. As he's doing this, Reed spots an asteroid with what appears to be an impact crater and debris on it. The wreckage appears to have been a spacecraft of some sort. As the field of view rotates, the wreckage is shown to have Enterprise markings on it.

On the Enterprise, Hoshi Sato reports to Captain Archer about the recent rescue of some Tesnians whose ship was destroyed in a recent docking attempt. Enterprise's second launch bay door was also damaged in the accident, and the Captain and T'Pol go out in a shuttlepod to inspect the damage. T'Pol theorizes that the loss of control occurred because of microsingularities, and that the Enterprise was not as affected because of its polarized hull plating. Archer dismisses this notion.

On the shuttlepod, Tucker and Reed are discussing what to do. They think that the Enterprise has crashed and is destroyed. With no way to detect the black boxes and signs of the life pods, they fear the worst. The journey to the nearest subspace amplifier, Echo 3, would take longer than their remaining oxygen supplies, let alone the time for a replacement ship to come and rescue them. They argue, but agree to try and find a way to get to help. Reed starts to record a log entry describing the events leading to their current state. He describes how on their third attempt to test the long-range sensors, they shorted out, were forced to cut the mission short and returned to where they expected the Enterprise to be, mapping out the asteroid belt.

Tucker and Reed start arguing about what to do: Tucker feels that Reed is being far too pessimistic, recording farewell messages for everyone and giving up so easily, while Reed feels they will never be discovered and should just face their situation. With nine days of oxygen left, Tucker feels that now is the time to get to work so they can be detected and saved. After some bickering, they decide to have a meal. They sit down to some rations and a bottle of Kentucky bourbon which Archer left in the shuttle.

Later that night, Tucker is having trouble sleeping as Reed dictates another letter. He has been recording these for hours and hours, much to the annoyance of Trip who is trying to get some sleep. The friction between the two crewmen escalates as they have another argument. Reed promises to give Tucker all the time he needs to dictate his own letters, but Tucker snaps off the recorder and tells Reed to go to sleep.

Reed awakens in the medical bay in the presence of Phlox and Archer. The Captain thanks Reed for saving Tucker and being heroic. T'Pol then walks up to him and gives him a similar speech – and then begins to get closer to him. She tells him that Vulcans are very attracted to bravery, and that she believes Reed to have been a very brave man. As she leans over closer to him, Tucker wakes him up by telling him that the receiver is on line. Reed realizes he was dreaming but doesn't tell Trip about the dream and works on the receiver right away. They are getting static, and their transmitter is still down. Just as Reed sits down at the con, the vessel is rocked by an impact of some kind. The cabin begins to lose air pressure. Without sensors, Reed considers finding the source of the leak a near impossibility. Thinking quickly, Tucker vents some nitrogen from the storage tanks and uses the swirling of the gas to find the puncture points. There are two holes in the cabin. Each officer manages to plug one of the holes with their fingers. Reed gets the idea to use Tucker's leftover mashed potatoes from the rations, to fill the holes until they can get some proper puncture sealant. With the emergency temporarily handled, they check on the status. Whatever hit them managed to rupture one of their oxygen tanks, leaving them with only two days of air left.

The next problem they decide to figure out is what damaged the shuttle. The hull is designed to withstand meteorites up to a size much larger than the puncture in the cabin. Trip theorizes that whatever hit the shuttle could have damaged the Enterprise. They sit down to talk about memories. Tucker mentions that he used to go to the 602 Club, where he knew a nice waitress named Ruby. Reed states he also knew Ruby. Tucker remarks that it is good that they have something in common. He then asks Reed if he'd rather spend the next two days warm or if he'd prefer staying alive for two and a half days but be cold instead; he has figured out how to divert power from the heaters to make the air recyclers last longer. Reed agrees to roughing it out and lowering the temperature so that they at least got half a day more.

On the ship, T'Pol brings in the results of her investigation of the damage to the Enterprise and the other vessel. She thinks this could be a very important discovery. Archer thinks it is also a reason to signal the shuttle and set a different rendezvous point, since the shuttle is not equipped with the same hull plating that kept the Enterprise safe.

Back on the shuttle, Reed continues to record his letters. Both crew members are dressed up as much as possible to keep warm with their reduced life support setup. Tucker's complaint about Reed's letters leads to another argument; Reed says that Tucker's hope is beginning to get to him, and Tucker calls Reed a "Grim Reaper". They break off, and Tucker opens the bourbon. After protesting that he doesn't drink on duty, Reed accepts the drink. Tucker lights a candle and they drink a toast to the Enterprise. Reed mentions that the candle will consume valuable oxygen, and Tucker replies that he won't mind dying five or six minutes sooner, and how it might be just what Reed wants. Reed finally breaks, confessing how important the crew of the Enterprise was to him, and how much he's had difficulty making connections and friendships. Tucker blows out the candle and says he wouldn't mind another few extra minutes.

Some hours later, the two are very drunk, and bundled together. Reed and Tucker giggle about how the universe isn't going to get any of their bourbon. Reed confesses he finds T'Pol attractive. Just as they're laughing about it, they start to receive a transmission. Reed is practically beside himself with joy as he hears Sato's voice. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation dawns on Tucker as he realizes that the rendezvous that is supposed to happen in two days' time will not be soon enough for them, as they have only a little over a day's worth of air left.

Reed enters the new coordinates, but they will be eleven hours short on air. Tucker and Reed start trying to figure out how to signal the ship and get them to arrive sooner. Reed comes up with the idea to jettison the impulse engine and detonate it, as a means of signaling the Enterprise. At first Tucker resists, but then agrees that it is probably the only solution since they can't hold their breath for eleven hours.

Adrift, Reed and Tucker take bets on how much air they have left. If it is less than twelve hours, Tucker gets the remainder of the bourbon; more than twelve, and Reed gets it. Reed checks the indicator and sees that they have ten hours left. After drinking, Tucker says that if they had one person, there would be twice as much air left for whoever was left. Reed jokingly suggest that Tucker go into the airlock and let himself out. Tucker agrees, and goes to climb out. Reed tells him to stop, and they have an argument. Reed pulls a phase pistol on Tucker and threatens him with being stunned if he doesn't stop trying to climb into the airlock. After a shouting match, Tucker gives up and sits down.

Reed wakes up in sickbay. Archer fills him in, explaining that their plan worked and that the Enterprise did detect the destruction of the impulse drive. They managed to get them with just a few hours of air left. Reed asks T'Pol if she's supposed to say something about heroics to make sure it is not a dream. T'Pol tells him to sleep well.

[edit] Extended scene

For this episode, there is an extended scene that can be found on the ENT Season 1 DVD. An accurate sign preceding the scene states, "The color portion of the following was lifted from the show – the black & white portion was retained in the final version."

[edit] Deleted scene 35

As in the aired version of the episode, Reed and Tucker, bundled together, drunkenly giggle about how the universe isn't going to get any of their bourbon. The officers' discussion then deviates from the one they have in the episode's final version, with Reed commenting that he had begun to suspect Archer was invincible, due to the captain's assuring knack of securing his crew's safety. Tucker replies that Archer has always been reliable and, as an example to back up his claim, recalls coaching him to dive at least once a month, when Archer, by then a member of Starfleet, would travel down to the Florida Keys. Tucker says of the experience that it "really got on my nerves", as Archer was such a quick learner and could soon do everything faster and better than his experienced instructor.

As Archer's comeuppance, Tucker decided to introduce his student to "Old Waldo", a male green moray eel. While Archer was wearing protective titanium mesh, Tucker lead him into the eel's hole, hoping that he would be a little frightened when he pulled "old Waldo" out of the hole. After Tucker told him that there were some beautiful starfish inside the hole, Archer reached inside and pulled the eel's entire body out. As the creature clung to his arm, Archer found a pressure point under its lower jaw and the eel let go, returning to its hole. Although Reed suspects that, from then on, Archer would have refused to go diving with Tucker, he instead found the entire incident funnier than his instructor, who he took out to dinner that night. Tucker remembers that they had steaks, lobsters and Kentucky bourbon before the scene returns to the aired version, with Reed confessing that he finds T'Pol attractive.

Tucker's diving experiences with Archer were later referenced in "These Are the Voyages...", also written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.

[edit] Log entries

  • "Personal log, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, November 9, 2151. By the time anyone hears this – by anyone, I suppose I mean anyone human – Commander Tucker and I will be long dead. It's my intention to recount the events that led to the destruction of the starship Enterprise, and to express my deepest feelings regarding my short but memorable service with Starfleet. In order to test the targeting scanners on Shuttlepod 1, Commander Tucker and I had to get at least 20,000 kilometers from Enterprise. During our third trial, we experienced a brief but sizable jolt. And shortly thereafter, realized that our sensor array had gone off-line. We had no choice but to head back to the asteroid field where Enterprise was involved in a mapping project. We found the ship... destroyed... its debris strewn across a square kilometer of one of the larger asteroids. Had our sensors been working, we certainly would have done everything possible to determine the cause of the disaster. But as it was, with only a short-range distress beacon and limited air, we had no alternative but to set a course for Echo Three where, someday, this vessel – eventually, this log – will be found. May God have mercy on our souls."

[edit] Memorable quotes

Tucker tinkers while Reed reads

"Astrometrics detected what could be microsingularities in the vicinity of the asteroid field."
"Microsingularities are a Vulcan myth. There's no scientific evidence that they exist."

- T'Pol and Archer


"I don't suppose you have a sextant handy."
"I left it with my slide rule."

- Reed and Tucker


"See you around, captain."

- Tucker, as they make a final pass over the debris field presumed to be Enterprise


"Kentucky bourbon."
"Yeah. The captain was planning to give that to somebody. I can't remember who. Guess it's ours now!"

- Reed and Tucker


"The skin of this pod is designed to deflect a meteor five times the size of this hole."
"Well, in that case, I'd guess it wasn't a meteor. I wonder if something like it destroyed Enterprise?"
"Hmm. We'll never know."
"Always the optimist."

- Reed and Tucker


"To the brave men and women of the starship Enterprise."

- Tucker toasts his "fallen" comrades


"Is that modulated enough for you?"
"Modulated?"
"The radio! Or is it just the galaxy giggling at us again?"
"It can giggle all it wants, but the galaxy's not getting any of our bourbon!"

- Reed and Tucker


"You must have seen the explosion."
"Hard to miss! You know you guys only had two or three hours of air left."
"You don't say."

- Reed and Archer

[edit] Background

  • This is the first episode in which no scene takes place on the bridge of the Enterprise NX-01. The other time is later, in Enterprise's third season with "Carpenter Street", which is set mainly in 2004.
  • The Kentucky whiskey bottle that Reed and Tucker are drinking from is labeled "Dorton's Best," a reference to Louise Dorton, the show's art director. Frïs Vodka was the original, real-world content of the distinctive bottle.
  • This is a "bottle show", and, as such, includes no guest stars, background performers, or unique sets. It was filmed to lower the costs of the production and became the favorite episode of several cast and crew members. (Rick Berman ENT Season 1 DVD)
  • In fact, this is the only Star Trek episode which features no background cast or stunt performers. Only the seven main actors appear in this episode.
  • Because Reed's first choice of emergency ration is sea bass, this episode appears to contradict Mark Latrelle's comment in "Silent Enemy" that Reed "hated fish."
  • At Dragon Con in Atlanta, Dominic Keating cited this as his favorite episode.
  • This episode was featured in the Sci Fi Network's August 2008 Fan Favorites Marathon. [1]

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Main cast

[edit] References

602 Club; asteroid; biology; black box; black hole; boron; bourbon; Brit; Catelin; Chilean sea bass; Cochrane, Zefram; comic book; common cold; Crewman; cowboy; Deborah; Echo 3; escape pod; God; Hess; hypothermia; Italian; Kentucky bourbon; lifeboat; Malaysia; mashed potatoes; meat loaf; micro-detonator; microsingularity; Mill Valley; mol-kom; Montana; moo goo gai pan; nitrogen; Nobel Prize; oxygen; Rochelle; Royal Navy; Ruby; San Francisco; sea bass; Serbo-Croatian; sextant; Sherry; Shuttlepod (22nd century); slide rule; "Stinky"; Superman; Tesnia; Tesnians; Tesnian starship; thermostat; Ulysses; veal marsala; viewer; Xyrillians


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