Episode Report Card Keckler: C- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mallomar
By Keckler | Season 2 | Episode 17 | Aired on 02.26.2003
Enterprise. T'Pol talks to the Enolians and tries to get info out of them. They profess to know nothing about the abduction. T'Pol tells him she'll send him Trip and Quantum's descriptions.
Prison Transport. Ignoring the Enolian prisoner sitting in front of Quantum, the Enolian guards dish out gruel. You know, I've never understood why gruel is served to prisoners and orphans. It's not like it's that easy to make. I mean, you've got the dried cream of wheat or oats or whatever the chaff of choice is, and you have to boil water and then mix it all together. In my opinion, that's too much work for some prisoners you don't really care about. Why not just throw dried fruit and beef jerky at them? They keep forever and there's no prep time needed. Yet they always use gruel to show just how cruel the prison or orphanage is. Of course Trip has to be a smart-ass and say, "Anything else on the menu?" Well, at the touch of a button, you could have Deep-Fried Trip, so just shut your big yapper. Some Nausicaan in the back tells Trip that if he's unhappy with his prix fixe, he can hand it over to those who would better appreciate its subtle bouquet of mush on mush. I find it really singular that the Nausicaans of this century seem to speak much more eloquently than the "Play Dom Jot Hu-MON!" of Picard's youth. Trip says he likes his gruel "jest fine," and the Nausicaan tries to be all intimidating about how he wasn't asking for Trip's food; he was insisting. After Trip sasses him, the Nausicaan jumps to his feet with a roar, only to be wrist-zapped back to his place by the Enolian guards. Trip thanks the guard, and gets some wrist-zapping of his own for even bothering with Southern niceties. Quantum glares ineffectually at the Enolian guards. Well, it's better than furrowing ineffectually. Terence Trent D'Alien warns Trip to be wary of the Nausicaans' and their nasty tempers. Although he neglects to mention it, Trip is actually well acquainted with Nausicaans and their moods. Trip tries to tell his curious seatmate who he and Quantum really are, but Terence Trent D'Alien doesn't believe him one dom-jot.
Awesome new shot of Enterprise hovering over blue ocean and green land. The Enolian T'Pol spoke with earlier is now aboard Enterprise, telling them what exactly went awry. Apparently, some patrol vessel thought Trip and Quantum were carrying contraband, so they were arrested. Dance Of The Reed Flutes questions the Enolian methods of pulling people over on the super-highway. The Enolian Ambassador tries to make it up to the human and the Vulcan by giving them the coordinates of the transport vessel and telling them that the guards are now aware of Quantum and Trip's innocence. T'Pol bullies the Enolian Ambassador into coming with them to ensure that there are no further complications.