Episode cast overview: | |||
Scott Bakula | ... | Capt. Jonathan Archer | |
John Billingsley | ... | Dr. Phlox (credit only) | |
Jolene Blalock | ... | Sub-Cmdr. T'Pol | |
Dominic Keating | ... | Lt. Malcolm Reed | |
Anthony Montgomery | ... | Ensign Travis Mayweather | |
Linda Park | ... | Ensign Hoshi Sato | |
Connor Trinneer | ... | Cmdr. Charles 'Trip' Tucker III | |
Padma Lakshmi | ... | Kaitaama | |
Scott Klace | ... | Firek Goff | |
Leland Crooke | ... | Firek Plinn |
Enterprise answers a distress call of a Retellian cargo ship. The crew, Goff and Plinn, tell they have a problem with a stasis pod that apparently carries a passenger. While both Retellians enjoy Enterprise' facilities, Trip tries to repair the pod which contains a beautiful woman. Then suddenly the woman wakes up. She seems to choke and Trip opens the pod, only to be knocked out by the quickly returned Goff. He escapes with his ship from Enterprise, leaving Plinn behind. The woman introduces herself as Kaitaama, heir apparent to the throne of Krios, and she suspects she's being held for ransom. Trip thinks of a plan to escape. Written by Arnoud Tiele (imdb@tiele.nl)
Enterprise helps a cargo ship carrying an important passenger and Trip Tucker gets very involved.
Yes the acting isn't great. Yes the story is cliched and predictable. However, it's not as bad as its appearance on numerous 'top 10 worst Star Trek episodes of all time' would suggest. For a start Kaitaama didn't annoy me in comparison to the way other Trek characters have done previously and although the plot is uninspiring, it's not as ludicrous as plenty of episodes throughout the franchise.
Does the sexual tension work? I think it probably does when they are not conversing. They are both physically attractive people and in a situation where she is a scantily clad damsel and he's a dashing hero who's down to his underwear, so that in itself is should be mildly entertaining.
Would I watch it again? No. Would I recommend it? Probably not, but it depends on what type of story someone is looking for. If this was done in 1966 and it was Shatner with some sixties glamour model in a halloween costume it would probably be considered a camp classic.