EPISODE: "Vanishing Point" PROD#: ENT036 TRAN#: 2.10 RATING: PG AIRDATE: wed-27-nov-2002-20:00 EPDATE: [late summer 2152] OFFICIAL: startrek.com/library/ent_episodes/episodes_ent_detail_126460.asp FROM: Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org POST-TO: rec.arts.startrek.tech, rec.arts.sf.tv REVIEW#: 28.0 FORMAT#: 4.0 URL: underbase.org/dept/trek/ent210_vanishing_point.txt This technical overview is intended to support more detailed discussion of this episode and others, by specifically indicating who did what, and by indicating the spelling of proper nouns and technobabble, as attained through closed-captioning (CC). The NOTES are listed in approximate seen-on-screen order, and ANALYSIS summarizes topics. THESE MAY CONSTITUTE PLOT SPOILERS; continue at your own risk. Abbreviations used: (m/f/?) name belongs to mel/fem/unclear, (os) on viewer screen, (?) quote is uncertain, (sp?) spelling is unclear, (vo) voiceover, VHC Vulcan High Command, Vdb Vulcan database. Captions use the spellings "Launch Bay", "Sick Bay", and "shuttle pod", but I sometimes abbreviate to one word. "Star Trek" and all related indicia are copyrights of Paramount Pictures. This overview is (c)2002 Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org. Please notify me-the-author if you wish to re-print large hunks of text. And if you liked this, consider subscribing to my similarly-detailed e-newsletter, the _Non-Sequitur Express_. I. TERMS TECHNICAL: SHIPBOARD AND GEAR flash unit, UT, hand scanner, turbo lift, access shaft B7, D-deck, plasma circuit. TECHNICAL: TRANSPORTER pattern buffer, secondary phase coils, resequencing, molecular cohesion, matter-stream converter. MEDICAL bio-sign, leeches, biomolecular scans, protein filaments, subcellular membranes, cellular residue, DNA, amino acids, dipeptides. METEOROLOGICAL diamagnetic storm, polaric burst, polaric discharge. CULTURAL bimodal syntax CHARACTERS Cpt.Jonathan Archer Travis Mayweather Dr.Phlox (Reed does not appear -??) Ens.Hoshi Sato Sub-Cdr.T'Pol Cdr.Charles "Trip" Tucker Morgan H. Margolis as Crewman Baird Carly Thomas as Alison (neither rank nor surname) Keone Young as Hoshi's Father (given name not given) Gary Riotto as Alien #1 Ric Sarabia as Alien #2 MENTIONS Cyrus Ramsey, the first man to vanish during a long-range transporter test (maybe). III. NOTES TEASER Sato and Tucker are taking flash photos of carvings inside a vine-covered stone ruin, part of a complex of buildings "over 4000 years old". (Other equipment stands ready.) "Not a single bio-sign on the entire planet," they comment. ENT calls, warning them of a rapidly approaching {diamagnetic storm} saturated with {polaric energy}. A single {polaric burst} could "short-circuit" the shuttlepod, and "do a lot worse to your nervous system," warns Archer. Reluctant to leave, Sato grabs Tucker's comm, and suggests polarizing the shuttle hull plating; but that would attract a {polaric discharge}, says T'Pol. They're ordered to beam up; they'll have to do so one at a time, clear of the building. Sato is nervous, so Tucker goes first. She pulls out her own comm. ACT 1 * Sato scrutinizes her face in the mirror over the sink in her quarters. * It does not seem to be in a separate compartment; it's visible from the hatch. * {flash unit} * {warp imbalance} * In (probably) May-2146 [6 years earlier], {Cyrus Ramsey} was the test subject for the first "long range" transport, a distance of 100-m. The {pattern buffer} malfunctioned, and he never rematerialized. Now used as a ghost story. * Mayweather did his survival training in Callifornia/Death Valley. * Tucker and Archer did theirs together, in Australia/Alice Springs. * Phlox's {leeches}. * Phlox spent nearly 9-mo on Earth. * Sato claims the birthmark on her right cheek moved, upward by 1-cm. * Sato oversleeps. * Tucker and Mayweather are taken hostage by previously-undetected natives, to protest the removal of sacred relics. * At helm, fem-brun-yellow. * Neither the {UT} nor Sato's linguistic skills can penetrate the alien language. * Takes conn, mel-brun-blue. ACT 2 * Sato activates shower (using control on far wall.) * Her reflection fades out in the mirror. * Soap dispenser in shower. * Her hands fade out [water passes through] in shower. * In the Mess, Sato has trouble getting T'Pol to notice her. * She learns that {Cwn.Baird} deciphered the alien language -- "a simple bimodal syntax." * In the corridor, she passes a pair of crew engrossed in their own conversation, who don't notice her: mel-brun-red and fem-brun-blue {Alison}. In the {turbo lift}, a crew-mel. She gets to {Sick Bay}. Sato encounters Tucker in the ship's gym. He's riding the gyro-thing, and invites her to try it; but she demurs, as she gets motion sickness. She adjusts a resistance machine using a control panel on the wall behind it. He leaves. Her hand passes through a set of barbells, and her reflection in a full-length mirror fades out. ACT 3 Hours later, Tucker and T'Pol enter the gym, part of a shipwide search for Sato -- who they don't see. Their report to Archer implies it's in the forward portion of C-deck. Convening in Sickbay, Phlox shows them the {biomolecular scans} he'd taken, showing decay of {protein filaments} and {subcellular membranes} in the space of 24-hours. Moving to the transporter niche, Tucker reports that the {secondary phase coils} aren't aligning. If they weren't perfectly synchronized, then Sato's "resequencing would start to dissipate" (Tucker) and she would "lose molecular cohesion" (T'Pol). Phlox sadly advises searching for {cellular residue}. Using a {hand scanner}, Phlox and Tucker find some goo in {access shaft B7}. Sato then encounters a pair of blue-skinned aliens wiring up blinking boxes. ACT 4 Sato follows the aliens to {D-deck}. Sato's father has been located, and Archer opens realtime video comm with him. He has trouble getting to the point, and refers to the transporter as "a matter-stream converter". Sato sticks her fingers into an overhead pipe (near a set of 5 buttons), and causes a light to blink (a blue LED in a set of 5) in Morse code. Archer notices the noise, and calls in T'Pol, who identifies the {plasma circuit} as being interrupted -- but since the circuit "is self-contained to this room", it can't be anyone sending a message. Archer understands "S-O-S" but not "H-O-S-H-I". Sato watches from a vent high in one wall as an alien plants bombs atop the warp reactor. Fem-brun-red works at the controls. She follows them to their nexus, and waves her hand through the control box, deactivating it. [At this point, due to the episode starting at 22:10, my VCR cuts out. Darn, and I wanted to get a clean copy of the ending theme, which is only audible when the show's *not* in its regular slot, with the credits overwritten by program promos.] [Hoshi discovers it was all a transporter-induced dream.] V. CONNECTIONS [...] VI. ANALYSIS 1. It's TNG-"The Next Phase", but without Ro's acerbic wit, and with the cop-out that it's all a transporter-induced hallucination. Hence, anything Sato witnessed, including topics of her own expertise, must be considered suspect and unreliable. 2. As usual, the phased person is able to pass through solid objects, but does not fall through decks (or the floors of access tubes). 3. Crew: We get two new names: "Alison" (no rank or surname) and "Crewman Baird". However, since Baird is never addressed while on-screen, never referred to via pronoun, and because the actor has the gender-neutral name "Morgan", we don't know his/her sex. 4. Aliens: pale blue skin, hairless. Cranium covered with a rectangular array of small toothed scales, similar to the "Tosk" from DS9. 5. Alien language: a bimodal syntax. As usual, dropouts in the CC signal have killed letter-pairs, entire phrases are untranscribed, and the spellings often don't match the pronunciation. (Attempting to negotiate the release of the prisoners.) XT::: AASK zha Shos! KLESS tahs KO sah moost! SAHZ kahs moo RAHT tah! AAHSK oohs. NOOKah[sic] NOOK sah! jous oh RAAS JAAK sah shoss tanna raak tooka! Mooras sansanna. Sato: ahs JAAL... soo KOHS? XT::: sla AH jous RAH! Rahk Rahk sla. Sato: tanz ROCK oo RAHS toe rah NAAH. XT::: Nook sah! ha AAS tah! (In the access shaft.) XT1:: Raht-soosjaal, [not in cc]. XT2:: Maask jassoss, Torat! [not in cc] XT1:: ahs kuh AHN toc RAHT. XT2:: VAHS... (And later.) XT1:: tosk ZHAS loo RHAN kree JAT. XT2:: [not in cc] (Sato deactivates the control box.) XT1:: "Soo RAHR aht TOHS," reporting the deactivated box. XT2:: "skah AHR nok," responding. VII. NITS 1. While scanning for Subcellular Residue à la Hoshi, Phlox searches for DNA decomposed into "amino acids", and for "dipeptides". Those are characteristic of *proteins*, not the nucleic acids of heredity; and this is a freshman-level error/sin in SF writing. Since Sato is providing the dialogue, we can perhaps chalk it up to Sato scoring poorly in her biochem courses. 2. Why does nearly the entire crew consist of generic caucasians with straight brown hair? Why is there no blonde hair, or red, or curly? (Surely the Hollywood casting calls aren't *this* limited?) This sameness makes for difficult counting of the anonymous crew members. The narrow department-color-stripes and near-invisible rank pins are irritating, too. VIII. NEXT WEEK Repeat of 3.02-"Carbon Creek".