[ST:Ent][Tech] Overview of 104:"Strange New World" SERIES: "Enterprise" EPISODE: "Strange New World" PROD#: ENT004 EP#: 1.04 RATING: PG AIRDATE: wed-10-oct-2001-20:00 EPDATE: 6 wks into mission, 3 wks since last planetfall OFFICIAL: startrek.com/library/episodes_ent_detail.asp?ID=121944 FROM: Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org POST-TO: rec.arts.startrek.tech, rec.arts.sf.tv REVIEW#: 5.0 FORMAT: 2.0 This technical overview format is intended to be easy-to-scan, unambiguous, and precise, and a foundation for further freeform discussion. It is arranged in the order in which events are shown, unless I combine several points on the same technology. It distinguishes between what is said/claimed by characters, from what we see. Whenever possible, it uses spellings from the closed captioning (which can contain errors and may not match that on the official website). If the spelling is unclear, I'll append (sp?), should I remember. Corrections to typos, phrasing, etc. are welcome, but only if you include a citation -- the idea is to *avoid* half-remembered inferences. Format 2.0 is an experiment, slightly more "narrative" than 1.0. It also includes a sloppy breakdown of the episode's shots/scenes/sequences, which can give an idea of the pacing of an act, what sets and how many FX shots are used. This overview is (c)2001 Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org. If you wish to reuse large hunks of text, please notify me and include a citation. PLOT SPOILERS BELOW! I. TERMS Tricky (cc): Loracus Prime, Minshara-Class, cormaline, tropolisine, inaprovaline. Technology: marker buoys, beacons, manmade satellites, Minshara-Class, shuttlepod, pod; cormaline, auxiliary landing thrusters, plasma coolant; bio-signs, matter stream, phase discriminator, tropolisine, phase-pistol, submolecular scan, inaprovaline; EV pack, nitrogen narcosis. Culture: plomeek broth. Characters: Cwn.Cutler(f), Cwn.Ethan Novakovich(m). II. SCENES TEASER 001. Mess hall: Cutler and Novakovich. 002. Bridge: T'Pol, Archer, Reed, Tucker, Mayweather, Sato. ACT 1 003. Launch bay. 004. EXT FX launch bay. 005. Shuttlepod: Archer, T'Pol, Tucker, Mayweather, Cutler, Novakovich. 006. EXT FX meadow. 007. EXT meadow: the six (plus a seventh male, plus Porthos) debark. 008. EXT river: Cutler scans fish. 009. EXT FX: two moons. 010. EXT: Novakovich picks and sniffs yellow flowers. 011. EXT FX: mountains. 012. EXT river: Archer, Tucker, Mayweather. 013. EXT meadow/river: T'Pol calls Archer. 014. EXT meadow: Archer's party returns. 015. EXT campfire. 016. Tent: Tucker, Mayweather. 017. Tent: Cutler, Novakovich. 018. EXT: T'Pol's tent. 019. Tucker's tent/T'Pol's tent. ACT 2 020. Corridor outside, Archer's quarters, cave: Reed, Archer, T'Pol. 021. Cave: T'Pol et al. 022. Cave/outside: T'Pol, Cutler/Tucker, Mayweather. 023. Bridge: Archer. 024. Cave: T'Pol, Tucker, Mayweather, Cutler. 025. EXT FX shuttlepod. 026. Shuttlepod: Archer, Reed. 027. EXT forest: Novakovich. 028. Shuttlepod. 029. Cave. 030. Shuttlepod/clearing. ACT 3 031. Cave. 032a. Bridge: Archer, Sato. 032b. Clearing: Novakovich. 032c. Transporter: Reed. 032d. Clearing. 032e. Transporter: Reed, Novakovich. 033. Cave. 034. EXT FX Ent. 035. Sick bay/cave: Phlox, Archer, Novakovich, Reed/T'Pol, Tucker. 036. EXT cave. 037. Cave: Vulcan. 038. Bridge. 039. Sick bay. ACT 4 040a. Cave. 040b. Bridge. 040c. Cave: Vulcan. 040d. Bridge. 040e. Cave. 040f. Bridge. 041. EXT FX Ent. 042. Transporter: Phlox, Reed. 043a. Cave. 043b. Bridge. 043c. Cave: Vulcan. 043d. Bridge: Archer, Sato: Vulcan. 043e. Cave: Vulcan. 044a. EXT cave, morning. 044b. Cave: Tucker, T'Pol, Mayweather. 044c. Cave, looking out: Cutler. 044d. EXT. 044e. EXT clearing. III. NOTES TEASER 001. In the mess hall, CREWMAN CUTLER(f)(brunette, blue, 2 pips) is sipping PLOMEEK BROTH (named in 003) while reading a physical book, opened to the entry on TERMITES OF LORACUS PRIME (apparently there are over 500 sub-species). CREWMAN ETHAN NOVAKOVICH(m)(brun, blue, 2 pips) joins her. Everyone gets up to look at the planet that swings into view outside. 002. On the bridge, T'Pol reports that the planet has an atmosphere of 17% oxygen, 81% nitrogen, and has a diverse ecology with no sign of humanoid life. Archer orders a scan for MARKER BUOYS, BEACONS, or MANMADE SATELLITES; Reed reports "none within range". Orders Tucker to prep a SHUTTLEPOD (aka POD), Mayweather to locate a landing site, and T'Pol to select a team. T'Pol stiffly suggest they follow Vulcan PROTOCOLS, which dictate sending automated probes to the surface; if the planet proves to be MINSHARA-CLASS ("suitable for humanoid life", explains Sato), they'd next conduct a geophysical scan from orbit; in total, 6-7 days. ACT 1 003. In the launch bay, prepping the pod; crewman walk around it while T'Pol stands in the upper hatch. Cutler was selected for her entomology expertise, because the planet has "a diverse insect population". She hands over the sterilized sample containers. 005. The pod holds seven humans in shirtsleeves (not all seated) and a dog. (The seventh, an unnamed male, isn't seen till they land.) 007. With her sccanner, T'Pol identifies "trace elements" of NITROGEN DIOXIDE and CHLOROMETHANE. At Archer's question, "does the sky ever get this blue on Vulcan", she answers, "occasionally". She's been on 36 Minshara-Class planets and this one is only marginally different. Tucker takes a group photo with his sensor device, holding it like a camera. Archer refers to VULCAN HIGH COMMAND. They split into several parties. 008. Cutler scans small fishlike creatures in a river. 010. Novakovich picks a pair of yellow flowers and inhales deeply. 012. In Archer's party, Archer comments on their 3 weeks in deep space to get hair. Mayweather says he could never consider a place home without a pair of warp nacelles. Tucker grunts, "Boomers". 014. T'Pol asks to stay on the surface with Cutler and Novakovich to observe the NOCTURNAL MARSUPIALS they'd detected. Tucker asks if he and Mayweather can stay; there's plenty of camping gear in the pod. 015. Around the campfire, Mayweather tells a ghost story. A distress call received, but those CARGO VESSELS not equipped for rescue operations. It was a LIFE POD from an "old Y-500 class freighter" ("those were retired decades ago", comments Tucker), drifting for 63 years. BIO-SCANS showed one LIFE SIGN, but when opened by Assistant Engineer George Webb, it was empty. He began to act oddly, almost overloaded the IMPULSE REACTORS, then fled in another life pod. Was it a LIFE-FORM? SUBSPACE NOISE, COM OFFICERS. Novakovich gets a headache. Cutler bats at glowing insects ("fireflies"). Blue dome tents (3), teapot, cylindrical lanterns, crates. A windstorm blows in. 016. Inside one tent, Tucker guesses the storm is blowing at 80-kph. Mayweather says it's nothing to flying through an ION STORM at warp 2. 019. They head for the caves T'Pol had detected, "less than half a kilometer" away. ACT 2 020. Archer throws a ball to Reed, with comments probably about water volleyball. Ent has no swimming pool. The wall intercom can be patched into external com. 021. Mayweather leaves the cave to retrieve food packets, and sees a figure that resembles Tucker, then two others; he returns and repots them. T'Pol insists her SCANNER detected nothing. Novakovich (named ETHAN) shivers, then hears voices, then gets paranoid and runs out. They have a case with 4 phase-pistols packed in foam. 022. Outside, Tucker sees a rock-alien, then almost steps over a cliff (despite what looks like a map-display on his sensor unit). In the cave, Cutler hears voices. Follows T'Pol and sees her with 2 rock-aliens. 024. T'Pol insists the cave consists of only limestone and CORMALITE. 026. Archer pilots the pod. 030. The pod is blown by wind shear into a cliff face, damaging the AUXILIARY LANDING THRUSTERS, THRUSTER FOUR, and causing PLASMA COOLANT to leak. Archer aborts the leanding. ACT 3 031. T'Pol claims she can survive without water "for several days". 032. Reed beams up Novakovich from the midst of the windstorm. He reports "contaminants in the matter stream" that the "phase discriminator can't isolate". He materializes with leaves and leaf-sized pebble-shaped things embedded in his skin. 033. The readings on T'Pol's scanner are in Vulcan. Tucker grows increasingly paranoid: 6 weeks into mission, all 82 crew will be found dead. Mayweather sees a rock lizard. 035. In Sick Bay, Phlox reports on Novakovich (leaves removed): his system contains TROPOLISINE (not -lysine), a "psychotropic compound with hallucinogenic effects"; it's normally found in certain flowering plants; and he should be lucid in 3-4 hours. Reed suggests it may have blown in with the windstorm. In speaking to Tucker, Archer introduces pollen, and with no formal conference, everyone else carries on the notion: pollen blown down from mountains. The wall intercom can be patched into external com. PHASE-PISTOL. Archer tries to calm Tucker, alludes to relevant simulations in Starfleet training, familiarity with mind-altering substances. 037. Mayweather's vision is distorted. Tucker sees and talks to a MR.VELIK. 038. On the bridge table, Reed points out how the storm system is 500-km wide, and it's 9-h till dawn. 039. In Sick Bay, Phlox reports a turn for the worse: "each tropolisine atom" contained a toxic "extra neutron"; a SUBMOLECULAR SCAN would've detected them. He's already dosed Novakovich with INAPROVALINE. This changes the timetable for the rescue. ACT 4 040b. On the Bridge, Archer speaks to Tucker, explains the toxin, and that they'll be transporting down ampoules of inaprovaline for inoculation. A yellow-stripe is at the helm, and 2 others are in back. 040f. Archer tries to gain Tucker's trust by reminding him of the time Tucker's EV PACK malfunctioned on Titan during the OMEGA TRAINING MISSION, inducing nitrogen narcosis. 042. Reed tells Phlox he can probably materialize the box 2-m inside the cave's mouth. 043. T'Pol stuns Tucker, retrieves box. She injects Tucker, Cutler, Mayweather (neck-pinches him), and herself. 044. Tucker awake, drinks. T'Pol explains situation; he apologizes; explains that in his tenth grade biology class, Mr.Velik was a Vulcan who came to teach about other worlds. Mayweather's neck hurts. V. CONNECTIONS VI. ANALYSIS 1. Vulcan dialogue: (T'Pol in the cave.) Par shinsarat. Mura fisahr. (T'Pol reports that Tucker is ready to kill her.) Tp: Pralaya moyeht. Tp: [...] HS: Lisahala canandun da. Tp: Tahrolaya mirot. (Playacting is not a Vulcan tradition, but will do her best.) HS: Sahsuran ahmot ludah-sloya. HS: Moroya toonan fohva toriinas. Tp: Sakahs fahs noora locanan soorahs. Tp: Turah loniina foran. Tp: Mahs turatah. (T'Pol's speech to the rock-aliens.) Mireena luras! Ponfo borothas plomees yoran! Akasa gorah foras mi! Kasooka lrone mos. T'Pol arakis poran dutar... 2. When Phlox says that "each tropolisine atom" contains an "extra neutron", presumably he means "each carbon, nitrogen, etc. atom in each tropolisine molecule"; "tropolisine" doesn't sound like the name of an element. 3. Archer refers to a shared "omega training mission" with Tucker; can't tell if that was the final exercise in Starfleet training, or training for a specific mission to somewhere called Omega. 3. Reed tells Phlox he can place the box 2-m inside the cave mouth. Can't tell if this a limit of transporter beam line-of-sight, or diffraction around corners, or the depth of rock above the cavern: after 2-m, there's too much roof. 4. From Tucker's phrasing, can't tell if Mr.Velik the Vulcan was his biology teacher for all of tenth grade, or merely visited during that time. VII. NITS 1. When the shuttlepod tries to land in the windstorm, "thruster four" is knocked out, but all four throats are still glowing blue.