EPISODE: "Strategem" PROD#: ENT066 TRAN#: 3.14 RATING: PG AIRDATE: wed-4-feb-2004-20:00 EPDATE: [12-16 December 2153] OFFICIAL: startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/3715.html FROM: Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org POST-TO: rec.arts.startrek.current, .reviews, .tech, rec.arts.sf.tv REVIEW#: 57.0 FORMAT#: 5.0 URL: underbase.org/dept/trek/ent314_strategem.txt I. INTRODUCTION This document focuses on the technical aspects of a current episode; it is intended to support discussion, and to later serve as a reference; it accordingly contains PLOT SPOILERS, so CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Whenever possible, it indicates who did/claimed/knew what, because characters can lie or be mistaken. 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 may condense or reorder scenes. If you have corrections or clarifications, please contact me, and I'll (eventually) make corrections. 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, XDB Xindi database; 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. "Star Trek" and all related indicia are copyrights of Paramount Pictures, while this overview is (c)2004 Phillip Thorne. Feel free to use this document as a reference, but please give credit where due. II. TERMINOLOGY TECHNICAL: spatial charges, red giant, dilithium, kemocite, trellium, subdermal transceiver, subspace vortex, phased deflector pulse TECHNICAL/ENTERPRISE: warp reactor, Cargo Bay Two, [command center], [bridge], [sickbay], [brig], [engineering], phased deflector pulse, Decks D and E, emergency bulkheads, hull plating, pylons, invert the warp field TECHNICAL/MALOSIAN CARGO SHUTTLE: shields, starboard warp plasma tanks TECHNICAL/INSECTOID SHIP: [green beams], intake manifolds TECHNICAL/DEGRA'S SHIP: sensor drones, computer core, main deflector, plasma conduit LOCATIONS, POLITIES and ORGANIZATIONS: [Xindi] Council, Calindra system (proving ground), Azati Prime (red giant), Maarek Three BIOLOGIC: Regulan bloodworms, lymphatic system CULTURAL: Insectoids, Aquatics, Reptilians, Arboreals, Primates, Andorian ale NAMES: Naara, Piral, Jaina III. ANALYSIS 1. What we get... A date! (12-dec-2153.) System names (Calindra system for the tests, red giant system Azati Prime for construction of the Weapon). Degra's ship. Names for his family. Regulan bloodworms, another of Phlox's med-creatures. Another detail of Denobulan culture ("dermal art"). 2. What we don't get... Nothing much. 3. The shirtless files... None. 4. Arcs... The Xindi Weapon. 5. Links... This is a direct followup to 312-"Proving Ground." Degra and his ship have appeared repeatedly this season. Gralik and the kemocite appeared in 307-"The Shipment." Subdermal transceivers have been seen in TOS and TNG-"Who Watches the Watchers?". 6. The startrek.com site calls Gralik's species "Xindi Sloth," but Degra refers to them as "Arboreals." The site uses both terms "Humanoid" and "Primate" for Degra's race. IV. NITS 1. The attacking craft that Degra recognized as Insectoid appeared to have a shape we've never seen before. Where did ENT get the pattern? - -the Xindi Database (presumably not erased in 312-"Chosen Realm")? 2. They never asked Degra about who gave the tip about future-Earth's attack, or provided the future-components for the Prototype. 3. Did Phlox remember to erase the "dermal art" from Degra's arm, and recolor his hair? Did they sweep out all the shed human hair and skin cells, and perfectly repair the battle-damage? V. THIRD-PARTY COMMENTS [...] VI. EPISODE SYNOPSIS TEASER: Degra awakens on the deck of a small ship (a MALOSIAN CARGO SHUTTLE(1)) under attack (by Insectoid non-trefoil fighters firing green beams), only to find its pilot is Jonathan Archer. Archer manages to raise the shields (GUI), then dumps "500 liters" of "warp plasma" from the "starboard tanks" (GUI) which gets into their "intake manifolds" and overheats their engines. Archer explains to the weapon designer that they've been cellmates for 3 years at an Insectoid prison (numbers on their right arms); he's been in an interrogation chamber for the past 2 days. ACT 1: Archer attributes Degra's confusion to the "bloodworms," whose "secretions" act as a truth serum, but can also temporarily suppress years of memories. (He cuts it out and drops it in a flask.) He last recalls the "Calindra system," where the weapons test failed because of sabotaged "kemocite." "Gralik! He'll be executed for this." "He was." Earth was successfully destroyed, but the Insectoids had secretly built "hundreds" of new ships and attacked the other Xindi colonies. The "Aquatics" and "Reptilians" would never allow that, Degra protests. Archer was captured by the Insectoids, who planted "spatial charges" around the "warp reactor" and destroyed ENT. Eventually he and Degra become allies, and escaped in this unarmed "Malosian cargo shuttle" (they supply the prison). A pipe ruptures, leaking green-lit "reactor coolant." Breathing mask, welding tool. The Xindi "Council" was formed after their planet was destroyed, with the purpose of finding a new homeworld; but it couldn't agree amongst the candidates. That was put aside upon learning of the threat from Earth. Degra has spent years working on the Weapon. His wife "Naara," on a colony "near a red giant." While Degra sleeps, Archer injects him with a hypo (a sedative that should last at least two hours) -- then exits the motion-control shuttle simulator into Cargo Bay Two(2). ACT 2: In the Command Center, Archer and Tucker examine a map brought up by T'Pol(blue) and Sato: seven red giants spread over 40 Ly. Archer guesses Degra, as a high-ranking official, would keep his family near the Weapon. THREE DAYS EARLIER ("December 12th, 2153")... ENT returns to the wrecked test-moon in the Calindra system. T'Pol(violet) detects one of the Xindi "subspace vortices:" it's Degra and his two aides (incl. "Thalen"), come to deploy "sensor drones." They're attacked, boarded and captured, but not before they erase most of their computer core, including nav logs. Sato finds fragments of a personal letter, which mentions "Azati Prime." Tucker investigates their engines, which are tied into the "main deflector." Archer barks at the prisoners in the brig, when the lights flicker -- a "surge in the plasma network" (reports Reed) due to radiation from the "debris field" (adds Mayweather). Phlox guesses a truth serum could take weeks to synthesize; but he might be able to erase recent memories. He's been studying his scans of Xindi-R neurophysiology, and the Xindi-P are almost identical. The senior crew meet at the briefing table to plan the ruse: simulator, its controls, the backstory. For comm, Archer will get a "subdermal transceivers" like MACOs use. "Dermal art used to be very common on Denobula," Phlox explains, adding the prison markings to Degra's arm with a green-glowing tool; and his parents forced him to learn it. He inserts a "Regulan bloodworm," which he typically uses for cleansing the "lymphatic system." NOW... They simulate turbulence in an anomaly field (Degra asks if the shuttle is lined with "trellium"), and get stuck. They call for help, on a channel used by "high-level Primate officials" that Degree guesses the Insectoids won't be listening for. Meanwhile, Reed detects a distortion in "subspace" that implies more Xindi will arrive, in only six hours. ACT 3: Archer and Degra share a bottle of "Andorian Ale"(2) (Archer took an "anti-intoxicant" beforehand). He speaks of "Maarek Three," a staging area for smuggling "dilithium," with thousands of miles of beaches. Degra says the "military habitat" with his family is a "bleak, desolate, barely inhabitable" site for a colony. When the Prototype attacked Earth, he was monitoring the "telemetry" -- seven million dead, and he wondered how many were children. A signal! Sato disguises her voice as Thalen, calling from Azati Prime. Over a thousand Primates and "Arboreals" live at the classified installation, Degra says, and enters the coordinates. ("1127.4 by 4052 by 3901.1," which would take ENT three weeks at max warp.) Just then, radiation overloads the simulator hydraulics, and Degra happens to notice the starfield wink out in static. He gets suspicious, asks Archer the names of his children ("Piral and Jaina"), then attacks with a knife. The attendants (including a MACO) burst in and help Archer subdue him. ACT 4: In the brig, Degra claims he knew it was a ruse ever since "Thalen" called: Azati Prime is an "Insectoid deuterium facility," not a place Primates would hide. Archer isn't convinced. ENT implements a plan to use a "phased deflector pulse" to open the "subspace vortex" so that, like the Xindi, they can travel "half a dozen lightyears in a couple of minutes" (Tucker). Shaking ensues. Degra and Thalen are dragged to Engineering to help fix the problem, but refuse. Fires break out, breaches on D and E, "emergency bulkheads," the hull fracturing, pylons buckling -- then Travis "inverts the warp field," dropping them back into "normal space." Cylindrical silver fire extinguishers. Degra is dragged to the bridge, where he sees a red giant, and is told they've reached their destination; ships and "kemocite" detected. "You'll never get past the defenses!" he screams -- and then the screen reverts to the shattered moon. It was all a second ruse, to elicit a reaction. They stuff the three Xindi-P back on their ship, memories wiped, with evidence that a "plasma conduit" ruptured. Phlox injects plasma -- trace amounts that aren't dangerous. T'Pol points out that the wiped computer core will remain unexplained, but Archer hopes the Xindi will just accept it as a mystery. ENT sets course for the red giant. VII. SFX SHOTS Window: attacking ships. Window: stars to warp. ENT passes shattered moon. Degra's ship approaches debris. ENT shoots its engines. Degra's ship docked at ENT's portside. ENT exterior. OS: red giant. OS: shattered moon. ENT and Degra's ship docked. ENT pulls away from Degra's ship, goes to warp. VIII. PRODUCTION REGULAR CAST: Scott Bakula as Cpt. Jonathan Archer Connor Trinneer as LtCdr. Charles 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 [x Porthos] GUEST CAST: Randy Oglesby as Degra Josh Drennen as Thalen [Somebody as MACO] CREATIVE STAFF: Story by Terry Matalas Teleplay by Michael Sussman Directed by Mike Vejar NEXT WEEK: In 315-"Harbinger," a mysterious alien refugee induces heightened emotions in the crew. Then in 316-"Doctor's Orders," Phlox plays Seven from "Thirty Days;" followed by 317-"Hatchery," in which they discover a crashed ship full of Insectoid eggs. Finally in 318-"Azati Prime," they reach their goal.