Episode Spotlight: ENT's First Flight

Episode Spotlight
ENT's First Flight

Enterprise has detected a nebula which they think contains dark matter.  Excited, Archer wants to examine it closer, using a shuttlepod to duplicate a Vulcan experiment to excite the dark matter with metreon particles.  Archer then receives a message from Admiral Forrest: his old friend and fellow NX test pilot A. G. Robinson has died in an accident.  In the shuttlebay Archer prepares to go on the shuttle alone, but T'Pol arrives and insists on going with him, citing ship regulations.  After launching the shuttle and moving to the first set of coordinates T'Pol asks Archer about Robinson, having heard some details from Trip.  At first reluctant Archer finally tells her that he and Robinson were in the NX project together as test pilot, and that they both wanted to be the first to break warp 2.  In a flashback to 2143 Commander Archer meets with Commodore Forrest to discuss warp reactor simulations.  Forrest tells him that Robinson has been selected to pilot the Warp 2 flight.  That night a disappointed Archer has a drink with Robinson at the 602 Club.  Robinson privately tells Archer that he actually did not get the flight because he is too by-the-book and that command needs more than just piloting ability.  On the shuttle T'Pol expresses confusion as she thought the two were friends, Archer says they were more like rivals.  T'Pol points out that Robinson was right about command.  Flashing back to 2143 Robinson breaks Warp 2 in the NX-Alpha test ship but the ship experiences problems.  Ignoring orders to go to impulse he accelerates to warp 2.2 but the warp field collapses and Robinson jettisons in an escape pod as the ship explodes.  On the shuttle Archer launches two metreon charges into the nebula with no result.  Continuing his story Archer tells T'Pol the Robinson survived and became the first human to deploy an escape pod at warp.  Starfleet was unhappy however that the project was nearly derailed.  Their Vulcan observers site this as proof the human warp tech is progressing too fast and say that the project should be postponed, possibly for years.  Archer is outraged at this.  He meets one of the project engineers, Lieutenant Charles "Trip" Tucker III.  Both men insist that the engine design is sound and just needs minor adjustments.  Robinson says that making progress will require taking risks, but Forrest shuts down the discussion.  Later at 602 Club Archer and Tucker discuss the engine issues.  Forrest arrives and delivers bad news: on the Vulcans' advice Starfleet Command has decided to put the project on indefinite hold and design a new engine from scratch.  After Forrest leaves Robinson arrives at the club following debriefing.  A tense discussion of the debriefing and what Robinson told the brass turns into a fistfight.  In the shuttle Archer and T'Pol experience issues with the shuttle's systems, possibly caused by the dark matter.  T'Pol question whether hey should continue but Archer that taking risks is part of their job, something he learned from Robinson.  In 2143 Archer find Robinson in the locker room packing his belongings and convinces him that they can get the intermit right and get a stable warp flight.  The apologize for the incident at the 602 Club and agree that if they can prove findings they can get the project back on track.  Robinson says that the Vulcans will need more proof and that they still have NX-Beta.  Archer says that they'll never get flight clearance bur Robinson says that it's worth the risk to do the fight without clearance.  Reluctantly Archer agrees.  20'000 kilometers inside the nebula Archer and T'Pol fire another set of charges, again with no affect.  They have one more set of charges left.  T'Pol notes that there is no record of the NX-Beta being stolen.  T'Pol wants to hear what happened, Archer agrees if she agrees not to enter it into the Vulcan database.  Archer and Robinson with Tucker's assistance enter the hangar at night.  Tucker disables sensors and sets up false data showing that NX-Beta is still in the hangar.  Agreeing to help from the ground Tucker wishes he could go with them on the flight.  Archer says if he ever gets his own ship he'll have Trip as his engineer.  The NX-Beta launches unobserved but is shortly picked up by New Berlin's sensors on Luna.  Realizing what happened Forrest goes to flight control and orders Archer and Robinson to return.  The ship achieves a stable warp field and Robinson lets Archer pilot the flight.  Ignoring Forrest's orders to return the NX-Beta jumps to warp.  It reaches warp 2 but has the same problems NX-Alpha had, but Robinson corrects the intermix and brings the ship under control, holding steady at warp 2.5.  Forrest congratulates them and sternly orders them back to Earth.  In Forrest's office the commodore reprimands Archer and Robinson for their actions and suspends them from duty.  He tells them that they've undermined the project by making look as if Starfleet can't control it's pilots.  The two accept the likelihood of being kicked out of Starfleet as a small sacrifice to keep the project going.  Archer tells T'Pol that they avoided a court martial but were suspended for three months.  After over a year of running tests the Vulcans finally agreed that the engine worked.  8 Months later Duvall broke warp 3 on the NX-Delta.  5 years after that construction started on Enterprise.  Noting that the particle density has increased they fire that last two charges.  At first nothing happens, then the nebula appears.  T'Pol says this will lead to debate in the Vulcan Science Directorate.  Archer tells her to ignore the sensors and take in the beauty of the nebula.  This is what he and Robinson worked so hard and risked so much for.  He says that there were a number candidates for captain of NX-01, in the end it came down to him Robinson.  In 2150, six months before the launch of NX-01 Captain Robinson congratulates Captain Archer on his assignment and jokes that he'd rather wait for NX-02 so Archer can make all the mistakes first.  On the shuttle Archer is sad thinking that Robinson never made it to deep space.  Back on Enterprise T'Pol mentions a human custom of someone who makes a major discovery having the right to name it and suggests the "Robinson Nebula".

I like this episode.  The idea of using flashbacks to learn about the days before the series started, when the NX project was still in it's infancy and Archer was younger.  Looking at the pioneering days of warp flight, the Mercury/Apollo "right stuff" days of Starfleet.  Really fun, interesting and original.  Seeing the first meeting of Archer and Trip was a nice touch, and fit perfectly in the story.  The episode also gives us some good insight into Archer and his motivations, beyond just he commands the ship powered by his father's engine.  The friendly rivalry between him and Robinson is a lot of fun.  Keith Carradine does a masterful job playing Robinson opposite Scott Bakula as Archer.  This episode is very much the type of story we could have gotten more of had Rick Berman and Brannon Braga gotten their way with their earlier concepts for the series, where the first season would have taken place on Earth with the ship under construction in orbit.


Favorite Quotes

Robinson: When the first warp five starship is built, its captain won't be able to call home every time he needs to make a decision.  He won't be able to turn to the Vulcans.  Unless he decides to take one with him.

Archer: Don't worry, you'll get out there some day.  If I had my own ship, I'd sign you up in a second.
Trip: I'm going to hold you to that!

Archer: AG and I may never fly again, but its a small sacrifice to make if it keeps this project going.  We didn't build this engine to make test runs around Jupiter.  We built it to explore.  If my father were alive today, he'd be standing here asking: what the hell are we waiting for?

Archer: The Vulcans had us run every simulation they could think of for over a year before they finally admitted the engine would probably work.  Eight months after that, Duvall broke warp three in the NX Delta.  Five years later we laid the keel for Enterprise. 

Robinson: To Jonathan Archer, first skipper of the Starship Enterprise, and one lucky s.o.b.
Archer: Luck had nothing to do with it.
Robinson: It couldn't have been talent.  I'm just waiting for Forrest to realize what a horrible mistake he made.  Still, they could have done a lot worse.  Anyway, I'd rather wait for the NX-02.  Let you make all the mistakes so I'll have an easier time of it.

T'Pol: I believe there's a human custom that says when you discover something of merit, you earn the right to name it.
Archer: What would you suggest? The T'Pol - Archer nebula?
T'Pol: I was thinking the Robinson nebula would be more appropriate.