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The Catwalk (episode)

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"The Catwalk"
ENT, Episode 2x12
Production number: 038
First aired: 18 December 2002
← 37th of 97 produced in ENT →
← 37th of 97 released in ENT →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 97 released in ENT Remastered  
← 666th of 727 released in all →
Written By
Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong

Directed By
Mike Vejar
September 18, 2152
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When a deadly neutronic storm threatens the ship, the crew must take refuge for eight days inside the maintenance shafts of the warp nacelles.

Contents

[edit] Summary

An away team is preparing for a survey on an uninhabited planet when they are contacted by three Takret who inform Jonathan Archer that a neutronic storm is coming right in their direction. They ask to come aboard Enterprise to take cover from the storm.

Archer consults his senior staff for ideas to protect them from the storm. While the storm won't do much harm to the ship, the crew won't survive the exposure to the radiolytic isotopes. While sickbay should be secure enough, it won't hold 83 people. Trip suggests that they evacuate into the catwalk, the narrow service walkway inside of the warp nacelles. Because the nacelles are surrounded by the ships' heaviest armor shielding, it should adequately protect them from the radiation.

Evacuation begins, and by the time Enterprise hits the storm, all the crew is in the catwalk and an emergency bridge has been set up. The crew adapts to its new environment, and, little by little, they get used to the confined space. Archer suggests that T'Pol take the opportunity to get closer with the crew, and develop her social skills. The only people that keep their distance are the three alien passengers.

Just as everything seems to be going well, the warp coils begin to come back online, threatening to activate the nacelles and endanger the crew. Unable to remotely deactivate the warp coils, Trip dons an environmental suit and goes to take them offline manually. Before he can finish the process, Trip finds engineering (as well as the rest of the ship) crawling with Takret soldiers that are trying to take over Enterprise, and are seemingly unaffected by the radiation.

Back in the catwalk, Trip informs the crew, and Phlox confirms that the aliens are immune to the radiation's effects. Archer interrogates the three 'guests', who reveal that they are deserters from the Takret military. They fled when they realized the officers were corrupt; pirating alien vessels, and committing illegal acts.

Since the Takret are immune to the radiation, it seems unlikely that the crew will be able to retake Enterprise by force (the crew has only three EV suits between them, and the suits only provide protection for a limited period of time). Archer decides to play a deception game. While T'Pol and Malcolm attempt to prevent the warp core from coming online, the captain hails the Takret commander from the galley. He says that all of his crew are dead and he is going to destroy Enterprise to prevent it falling into the wrong hands. He then orders Travis to head for a plasma eddy on a separate channel.

As the Takret attempt to regain control of the ship, a brief firefight ensues in the galley between Archer and several Takret soldiers. Archer manages to stun one of the soldiers, but is still outnumbered. Meanwhile, T'Pol and Malcolm succeed in deactivating the warp core and return to the catwalk where Travis is awaiting Archer's signal to move the ship away from the eddy. Realizing that they won't be able to reroute the controls back to the bridge in time, the Takret reluctantly abort their mission and flee Enterprise. With the Takret gone, Archer signals Travis to pilot Enterprise away from the plasma eddy and back onto a safe course. The rest of the trip passes without incident, with T'Pol deciding to attend a movie night.

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[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Would you like to try out the Captain's chair?"
(Camera pans to a cargo container)
"Maybe later."

- Trip and Archer


"You're the captain. Can't you order the storm to calm down a little?"
"I'll see what I can do."

- Hoshi and Archer


"What I wouldn't give for a shower right about now. When this hand's over, maybe you can look into building one."
"Would you like a sauna while I'm at it?"
"You knew we'd be stuck in here for over a week. You might have given a little thought to making it tolerable."
"I only had four hours, Malcolm. You're lucky we've got a toilet!"
"Well I obviously underestimated your peoples' abilities when it comes to indoor plumbing."
"You want to take a shower? Build one yourself."

- Reed irritably complaining to a sarcastic Tucker


"Did that guy shoot one of his own men?"
"It's hard to tell them apart in those ridiculous hats."
"The dead man was secretly working for Sheriff Boggs."
"How do you know that?"
"Isn't it obvious?"

- Charles Tucker, Malcolm Reed, and T'Pol, watching an episode of Kung Fu on a movie night.

[edit] Background Information

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Starring

[edit] Guest Stars

[edit] Co-Stars

[edit] Uncredited Co-Stars

[edit] Stand-ins

[edit] References

ambassador; antimatter injector; barbeque; Boggs, Sheriff; broccoli; camping; catwalk; Chef; neutronic storm; claustrophobia; crossword puzzle; Day the Earth Stood Still, The; Denobula; Denobulans; dilithium matrix; Earth; Edosian slug; EV simulator; EV suit; galley; gastrointestinal distress; Grand Canyon; grav-plating; gravitational shear; Gyrannan system; Horizon, ECS; kahs-wan; Kung Fu; latrine; Lunaport; Mazarite; monitor; motion sickness; movie night; neutronic radiation; neutronic wave front; osmium; pineapple cobbler; plasma eddy; plasma manifold; playing card; poker; pot roast; power transfer module; rafting; Shuttlepod 1; stellar cartography; Solkar; spatial turbulence; storage locker; strawberry shortcake; T'Plana; Takret; Takret Militia; Takret starship; Takret system; Tanner; toilet; V'Lar; "Vomitorium, The"; Vulcan; Vulcan database; warp coil; water polo; Zero-gravity training


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