Episode Report Card Keckler: C- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Here Comes The Bride, Siliconed, Green, And Snide
By Keckler | Season 1 | Episode 8 | Aired on 11.06.2001
Aboard Enterprise, Quantum orders Trip, "Bring the grappler online." Trip's skeptical: "The mouth of that chasm's a little narrow." Quantum tells him he'll get the ship in close enough, and takes control of the helm. We see Enterprise heave into view above the comet. "Do you see them?" Quantum asks. "Bring us in another fifty meters," Trip says. Quantum adjusts things. "Two meters starboard," Trip says. Quantum fiddles with a joystick that looks like the stick shift from my parents' old Pinto. "A little more," Trip says. Hoshi interrupts them: "The Vulcan ship is hailing us." "Take a message; I'm busy," Quantum growls. "Captain Vanik wants to know if we require assistance," Hoshi says. "Tell him we've got everything under control," Quantum's ego commands. I've come to the decision that either he's an ass or he's doing a good job masquerading as one. Hoshi messages that back. About them not wanting to talk, not about Quantum being an ass. I'm sure they already figured that one out for themselves. Trip carefully examines the coordinates and deploys the grappling device. One grappler gets sticky with the pod and the other misses. Trip reports this back to Quantum. "One'll be fine, reel them in," Quantum says.
Reed and Mayflower look around nervously at the sound of a strained cable, well, straining. They brace themselves as the pod shudders. The shuddering stops suddenly. Trip reports that the pod is wedged on an outcropping and orders the ship to move a few meters to port. The pod bounces against the walls of the chasm. "Those eisillium deposits are disrupting the maglock," Trip reports, "I'm losing them." Quantum tells him to "ease them back down." The cable snaps, and the pod slams back down into the depths of the chasm. I don't think that's what Quantum meant by easing them down. Reed and Mayflower groan. "They've fallen another nine meters," T'Pol reports. Quantum tells Trip to try again. T'Pol interrupts him: "Captain, they're moving out of the sunlight. The surface ice is recrystallizing." "In less than an hour that chasm will be sealed up again," Trip says. "Then we'd better hurry," Quantum says. T'Pol stands up and tells him he has another option: "Captain Vanik." "I'd rather leave him out of this," Quantum's ego says, again overtaking Quantum's common sense (if he even had any in the first place, which is doubtful). T'Pol tells him the Vulcans have a tractor beam that won't be affected by the eisillium. Quantum ignores her and tells Trip to reset the grappler. T'Pol approaches Quantum and says, "Vanik offered to assist us, there's no shame in accepting." Didn't she use that same line on the Klingon captain? They copy plots, scenery -- the very least we could hope for is ORIGINAL DIALOGUE within the same show! Quantum's Super Ego gets involved and tells T'Pol that they can take care of it themselves. Trip adds his opinion to T'Pol's, saying, "I don't like him any more than you do, Cap'n. But a tractor beam sounds like a pretty good idea right now." Do you even know what a tractor beam is? "Vanik expects you to refuse his offer. He sees humans as arrogant, prideful. Why not prove him wrong. You can save them or you can let your pride stand in the way. You're human. You're free to choose," T'Pol challenges him. Ah, there's the parallel to what Trip told her. They worked that in so cleverly -- I almost didn't notice the anvil crushing my toe. Quantum's id looks at T'Pol. In the shuttle pod, Reed and Mayflower feel another shudder. "They've got us," Mayflower breathes. The com beeps at them. "Go ahead, Enterprise," Reed says. "This is Captain Vanik of the Vulcan ship Ti'Mur, stand by to ignite your engines and return to your ship," the voice says. We see the pod pulled out of the crevice by a wavering light beam.
Enterprise follows in the wake of the awesome-looking Ti'Mur. On the bridge, Quantum tells Vanik, "I thought you might like to take a look at the data we collected. You helped us bring it back -- it's the least we could do." On the viewscreen, Vanik says, "As your Science Officer told you, we have little interest in comets." "That tractor beam of yers is quite somethin'," Trip says. "Any chance we could take a look at the specifications?" Vanik tells him it's classified. He could tell him, but then he'd have to disrupt him. Trip nods, "I thought it might be." "We leave within the hour. Is there anything else we can help you with?" Vanik asks. "You've done more than enough," Quantum says bitterly, and Hoshi gives him a sidelong look. Oh, get over it already -- they saved your ignorant hide, act gracious! "See you around," Quantum says, making a mental note to send them a Hillshire Farms gift basket for the holidays. Vanik coms off. Trip walks over to T'Pol and comments, "You don't have much time." She looks at him. "I assume yer all packed." T'Pol turns to Quantum: "Captain, with your permission I'd like to transmit a message to the Ti'Mur, to send to Vulcan." Quantum tells her to have at it. She thanks him. Trip smiles at her. T'Pol leaves the bridge. "What was that all about?" Quantum asks. "It's personal," Trip grins. Quantum nods understandingly. Trip continues to grin.