EPISODE: "The Xindi" PROD#: ENT053 TRAN#: 3.01 RATING: PG-LV AIRDATE: wed-10-sep-2003-20:00 EPDATE: [six weeks into the Expanse] OFFICIAL: startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/1729.html FROM: Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org POST-TO: rec.arts.startrek.tech REVIEW#: 44.0 FORMAT#: 5.0 URL: underbase.org/dept/trek/ent301_xindi.txt I. INTRODUCTION This technical overview is intended to support discussion of the current episode, and to later serve as a reference: it contains PLOT SPOILERS; CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Whenever possible, it indicates who did/claimed/knew what. Spellings of technobabble and alien nouns are obtained from TV closed-captioning ("CC") -- which is imperfect: it may not match spoken dialogue, or the website, or be consistent within or between eps. In the Synopsis, I sometimes condense or reorder scenes, for clarity. If you have corrections or clarifications, please contact me, and I'll (eventually) make corrections. "Star Trek" and all related indicia are copyrights of Paramount Pictures, while this overview is (c)2003 Phillip Thorne. Some details provided by _The Star Trek Encyclopedia_, 1st ed., 1994. Feel free to use this document as a reference, but please give credit where due. Abbreviations commonly used: -(m/f/?) name belongs to mel/fem/unclear, (os) on [viewer] screen, (vo) voiceover, -(?) quote is uncertain, -(sp?) spelling is unclear; VDB Vulcan database, VHC Vulcan High Command; series: TOS TAS TNG DS9 VGR ENT. Although CC uses "Launch Bay", "Sick Bay", and "shuttle pod", I often condense those terms to single words. II. TERMINOLOGY TECHNICAL: Command Center, storage bay, conduit housings, Cargo Bays 1/2/3, liquid platinum, antimatter relay, platinum-cobalt alloy, trellium D, duranium BIOLOGICAL: pigmentation, epithelial cell, physiometric profile, Vulcan neuro-pressure, REM, neural nodes, fifth (cervical) vertebra(e) LOCATIONS, POLITIES and ORGANIZATIONS: Military Assault Command, the Expanse, the Xindi, Duluth (Earth), Orassin distortion fields NAME-DROPPING: Ens.McFarlane(m) III. ANALYSIS 1. What we get... The five Xindi species, plus the Foreman's species. Trellium D. The term "Military Assault Comman", and names for four of the MACOs. Evidence of the anomalies in the Expanse. A new shipboard set (the "command center"). A planet reduced to rubble. 2. What we don't get... A date. Names for any of the species. A name for the Xindi miner, or the mine-planet. A look at the three slave-capture warships. The term "MACO" (Military Assault Command Operation), as used on the website. 3. The shirtless files... Tucker awakes from his nightmare shirtless (as seen from the shoulders up). Later, during therapy with T'Pol, we get a full view of his chest. T'Pol removes the top of her (new blue) pajamas: we see her back, and entirely more of her side and front than is strictly necessary in a family show. 4. In her initial objection, T'Pol makes Vulcan neuro-pressure sound like a form of meditation; but with Tucker, it's just a matter of pressure-points along the spine. Phlox himself could have administered simple acupressure. (For it to work in humans, and for the Vulcan nerve-pinch to always apply, we must posit near-identical nerve tracts in most all humanoids.) T'Pol calls its instruction "a very intimate act", but for Vulcans, merely *touching hands* is intimate; she may not be referring to shirts. 5. In Cargo Bay 2, cargo is stuck to the wall. If Archer asks whether malfunctioning grav-plating could be responsible, that implies that the artificial grav field can be shaped. 6. ENT can scan hull composition and presence of weapons on ships that are at warp, two hours away (probably at warp 4). 7. A Xindi-humanoid have forehead and cheek ridges, and a big chin. Rounded horizontal ridges arch between a V-shaped pair leading downward to pronounced eybrow ridges, which curve around the eyes and down to the cheeks; these side-ridges are lined with a half-dozen tooth-like points. IV. NITS 1. T'Pol directs Tucker to neural nodes "3 cm either side of [her] 5th vertebrae." Technically, she should've said "5th cervical vertebra," as "vertebrae" is plural. Assuming Vulcans and humans share a skeletal structure, there are 7 cervical (neck) vertebrae, 12 thoracic (rib cage), 5 lumbar (lower back), and then fused vertebrae that form the sacrum (hips) and coccyx (tailbone). 2. Startrek.com has rearranged its per-episode URLs again. V. THIRD-PARTY COMMENTS [...] VI. EPISODE SYNOPSIS TEASER: Seventy-five-second synopsis of 2.26-"The Expanse". The XINDI COUNCIL (as we later learn) is in session, the five member species (two of each) arguing about ENT and Earth ("50 lightyears away"). The species are humanoid (with facial ridges), ape-like, reptile with cranial stalks (like the bad guys from "Galaxy Quest"), CGI bug-man, and CGI fish-man (in a tank). The latter two have unintelligible vocalizations and subtitles. The opening-sequence has a revised musical score, but the lyrics and visuals are unchanged. ACT 1: Archer storms into the "COMMAND CENTER" where Reed and T'Pol (in red) are working. It was formerly a "storage bay" for "conduit housings", but now contains (assuming it's symmetrical) a table, large screen, eight wall-consoles, assorted other screens, and three hatches. Reed has misgivings about a freighter captain who gave them a tip about finding a Xindi, but Archer angrily explains that, after "six weeks" in the Expanse with no clues, it's time to take some risks. In the mess, Sato meets four of the "MILITARY ASSAULT COMMAND" troops now onboard: MAJ.HAYES, SGT.KEMPER, CORP.ROMERO and CORP.CHANG. All four wear grey-tone camo jumpsuits. She IDs Kemper as a Duluth native by his accent. Archer is called to see the (latest) Expanse-induced anomaly, occuring in Cargo Bay 2 (but not 1 or 3). All the cargo is stuck to one wall (it's not a problem with the "grav-plating") and, after a minute, flies to the other. ENS.MCFARLANE(m) had been injured by the effect. The bay is two decks deep and rectangular; the bulkhead to the right of the door has a ladderway to a gallery, and the left bulkhead is covered with a 2-deck-high "garage door". In Sickbay, Phlox is examining the "pigmentation" in a sample of "epithelial cells" from the Xindi probe corpse; he's been working up a "physiometric profile", and they resemble reptilian scales. He comments that Tucker's been having trouble sleeping, tormented by his sister's death (only one sister; T'Pol has no siblings). Sedatives have been ineffective, and he suggests "Vulcan neuro-pressure" for therapy -- but T'Pol is skeptical that he'd have the patience to get past "the first posture", and moreover, its instruction is "a very intimate act". ENT approaches a planet with a stormy blue atmosphere. A shuttlepod descends to a foggy, blue-lit mountain valley, covered with debris and with a single functioning wind turbine. Archer and Reed exit, and gasp in the polluted air (Phlox had assured them a short exposure was safe). They're admitted to the mine by a couple of guards with guns and breath-masks. (Inside are a couple of Hirogen control-spheres). They're led to the office of the FOREMAN, who negotiates for access to the Xindi worker. He wants a half-liter of "liquid platinum". Archer: "we don't carry precious metals aboard," but remembers that the "antimatter relays" have linings coated with a platinum-cobalt alloy, which could be separated. The Foreman gives them a package containing the miner's finger, so his identity can be confirmed. Tucker has a nightmare about his sister "Lizzie's" (Elizabeth) death. He awakes in a cold sweat (shirtless). ACT 2: Phlox confirms the finger is Xindi, but genetically it doesn't quite match the probe pilot. The difference is less than that of human/chimp, akin to human/neanderthal. His reconstruction of the pilot indicates he was reptilian, but this finger isn't: it has skin, not scales. Tucker reports that his crew will have to strip nearly 200 relays to get the half-liter of platinum. Archer and Tucker meet the Foreman, with the cylinder of platinum; Tucker warns him it's "volatile" above 30ºC. In the mine workings, they pass miners of multiple species, including one resembling a Benzite (it has the catfish-like barbels at the mouth, but no breather; its skin has a bronze cast, but that might be the blue-tinged lighting.) The mine's only product (the Foreman explains) is "trellium D", used for insulation, mostly on interstellar vessels; when asked, Archer comments that ENT's hull is "lined with duranium". They meet the Xindi male, who's not happy, then laughs: ENT's been caught in a trap, ripe for more mine laborers. On ENT, T'Pol (in blue) is in command, as three "heavily-armed" "warships" are detected, approaching at warp, ETA two hours; their hull alloys match the construction of the mining camp. They report this, then comm goes out: the Foreman gives the excuse that they're "de-ionizing the landing decks" for the approaching freighters, and this blocks communication with "the lower levels" (including 22, Archer's level). She orders Reed and Hayes to ready a rescue plan in one hour. She later checks: they're arguing over who should go: Reed wants his security forces, and Hayes his MACOs (in case the rescue party doesn't return in time, and ENT's crew are needed to repel boarders). Hayes calls Reed "sir". T'Pol will go with Reed's plan, but agrees with Hayes. Reed decides: 6 MACOs led by himself. After Hayes leaves, he complains bitterly (as a man from a military family) to T'Pol that it was a dominance thing. The Xindi leads Archer and Tucker through a waist-deep sewer (sewage from 31 species) to the unused "plasma duct 13", which has an inspection hatch every 8 levels. ACT 3: The trio painfully ascend a portion of the shaft that lacks a ladder (but has pinhead lamps along all four edges). The Xindi explains that he never previously tried to escape because the "residue" in the atmosphere is 30 times as toxic as that in the mine. He explains that there are five distinct species of Xindi. The Foreman realizes where they are, and orders the "baffles" opened -- flaming red plasma begins to rise. The trio slides down to the hatch below, and tumbles out. They're met by guards, and a brought before the Foreman, who orders all three (despite the Xindi's craven entreaties) be brought to the surface and shot... The shuttlepod heads for the surface (piloted by Mayweather), with a half-hour before the warships arrive. ...They rappel in and interrupt the party. The MACOs wear camo and backpacks, but no helmets or goggles; their weapons fire pale blue-white bursts. The miners fire green beams. A fem MACO clobbers a guard with a police-style nightstick, with electric prod. There's an explosion, and Reed enters through the front door. They leave, but come under fire from above; the Xindi is shot. Ryan uses a pop-up electronic sight in his gun to spot the sniper (the Foreman), and shoots him in the head. The two shuttlepods arrive at seven minutes ETA (the warships still at warp 4), and ENT warps out. ACT 4: "Captain's Starlog, supplemental..." After an hour of pursuit, the warships "couldn't keep up" and fell back. Phlox reports that the Xindi died, but not before (painfully) dictating the coordinates of his homeworld. After a two-hour shower, Tucker (in civvies) reports to Sickbay for his sedative; Phlox gives him a placebo, and an excuse (a PADD) to go to T'Pol's quarters. She invites him in. "Vulcan science teaches our bodies to produce their own medicines." With the excuse(?) that "I believe the Expanse has been disrupting my REM patterns", she request his help in triggering the appropriate "neural nodes", located "3 cm either side of the 5th vertebrae." She then returns the therapy (on his lumbar vertebrae), though Tucker initially mistakes it for a sexual overture (which he denies). ENT drops from warp outside the indicated system, and prepares to fight. T'Pol (at her scanner) detects no planets, inhabited or otherwise; Mayweather reports a "debris field". T'Pol clarifies that its nearly "80 million kilometers long", and that by its dispersion, it's 120 years old. Tucker detects refined metals and alloys, some matching the probe -- there was a civilization here. Archer angrily wonders: how can the Xindi be working to prevent the destruction of their world (in 400 years) if it's already gone? He orders warp 4, "deeper into the Expanse" -- despite "long-range sensors" indicating "increasing numbers of spatial distortions". At the Xindi Council, the reptile-man reports ENT scanned and left nearly three hours earlier, and headed towards the "Orassin distortion fields." The insect-man insists "the weapon" be completed, or he'll destroy the Earth ship himself. VII. SFX SHOTS ENT's warp effect is modified: there are still blue streaks from the nacelles, but there's also a red-edged white streak between them. [...] VIII. PRODUCTION REGULAR CAST: Scott Bakula as Cpt. Jonathan Archer Connor Trinneer as LtCdr. Charles "Trip" Tucker III Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander T'Pol Dominic Keating as Lt. Malcolm Reed Anthony Montgomery as Ens. Travis Mayweather Linda Park as Ens. Hoshi Sato John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox [No Porthos] GUEST CAST: Steven Culp as Major Hayes [Somebody as Sergeant Kemper] Marco Sanchez as Corporal Romero [Somebody as Corporal Chang] [Somebody as Female MACO] Adam Taylor Gordon as Young Trip [Somebody as Young Elizabeth Tucker] Stephen McHattie as Alien Foreman Chris Freeman as Alien Head Guard Randy Oglesby as Degra [unnamed] Richard Lineback as Kessick [unnamed] Scott MacDonald as Xindi Reptilian Tucker Smallwood as Xindi Humanoid Rick Worthy as Xindi Sloth CREATIVE STAFF: Directed by Allan Kroeker Written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga NEXT WEEK: In 3.02-"Anomaly", more badness happens in the Expanse. An alien infiltrates the ship, and Archer stuffs him in the airlock. See: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/2285.html