Precious Cargo 

While Trip is repairing a stasis pod at a Retellian cargo ship and the woman inside, heir apparent to the throne of Krios, wakes up, the ship makes a hasty departure. Trip must make a plan to escape.

Director:

David Livingston

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (based upon "Star Trek" created by), Rick Berman (created by)

Stars:

Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock

Cast

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

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

kidnapping | looking out a viewport | overhead camera shot | blue underwear | long haired female | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Among the items from this episode which were sold off on an online auction were many crowbars.

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Goofs

The alien ship had a 5 month journey at warp 2. In Star Trek: Enterprise: Dead Stop, it is shown that warp 2 is 9 times the speed of light, so the destination is less than 4 light years away, and Enterprise sensors have been shown to be able to detect stars and planets that close, so the destination would be obvious.

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Quotes

[Archer is threatening Plinn with a tribunal]
Captain Jonathan Archer: From what I understand, Sub-Commander T'Pol has already reviewed the evidence. This... tribunal... is nothing more than a formality. I thought you should be prepared. Her punishments can be... severe.
Firek Plinn: How severe?
Captain Jonathan Archer: If you're late for your shift, you might receive a beating. But for more grievous offenses - dereliction of duty, conduct unbecoming an officer...
[sighs]
Captain Jonathan Archer: We started out with 83 crewmen on board. We're down to 76.

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Connections

References Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Perfect Mate (1992)

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Soundtracks

Trip's harmonica song
[Trip plays this at the beginning of the episode on his harmonica]

User Reviews

Mildly entertaining episode

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Release Date:

11 December 2002 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Network Television, Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1