Day 284: Enterprise, Shuttlepod One

(Why yes, this is in fact the first time Malcolm’s managed to make it into the header. I was just waiting for an opportunity where he was both important to the story and I could get a flattering shot.)

Show: Star Trek; Enterprise

Episode Particulars: S1EP15, “Shuttlepod One”

 Summary: Malcolm and Tucker have taken the titular Shuttlepod One out to run some tests, leaving the Enterprise to map an asteroid field. After sustaining some damage that knocks out their sensors and communications, they return to the rendezvous point, only to discover debris from a ship splattered across one of the larger asteroids. With only impulse power and enough oxygen for ten days, it seems likely that they’ll die before help arrives. Malcolm takes the opportunity to try to tie up loose ends in his life, while Tucker works to make repairs, each criticizing the other’s response to the situation. I think we’re all trope savvy enough to guess how this is going to play out…

Standalone Thoughts: This is another episode I’m always going to be predisposed towards, given that it’s heavily Malcolm-centric in a good way. Furthermore, Keating gets a chance to do more than just exude an air of professionalism, and he takes full advantage of it. And overall, the episode is executed well, from the pacing to the acting to the character development. I do, however, have a few quibbles.

First, I question the decision to show us that the Enterprise is in fact alive and well immediately after we come back from the opening credits. Obviously, we know they’re all right, because we wouldn’t have a show otherwise, but since we only cut back to them twice throughout the entire episode, it might have been more interesting to leave what happened to them up in the air until the end. I guess the writers were running out of ideas for what to have Malcolm and Tucker get up to, and needed a break.

Secondly, there’s a conceit in this episode that breaks my suspension of disbelief, which is Malcolm recording various goodbye letters to friends and family, to Tucker’s increasing frustration. This is important from a story perspective so that we can learn more about Malcolm’s character, but I just can’t stop thinking that it seems really careless of Malcolm to waste his oxygen by making those recordings. It was established in the first minute that he had a padd; he could have been writing the letters instead. And given that Malcolm’s the one who’s really fretting about oxygen depletion, I feel like he should have been aware of that. All we needed were two lines, where Tucker points this out and Malcolm responds with “I know, but I feel like there are some things that need to be said”, and I probably would have been more accepting of it. Instead, I feel like the writers didn’t quite think this one through.

Finally, while I am completely on board with the direction this episode takes Malcolm’s character (a man who has a lot of emotional barriers and doesn’t find it easy to take them down), I feel like it doesn’t fully mesh with the Malcolm we saw earlier in the show. As early as the pilot, Malcolm had a pretty warm, friendly rapport with Mayweather, and that was long before he’d had time to get to know anybody on board and feel a little more comfortable opening up. I know I should chalk it up to everyone still figuring out their roles, but it’s kind of jarring to look back on, especially since I remember Malcolm’s emotional repression being a pretty big part of his character. Though perhaps I’m overstating the case; several years distance and a lot of hanging around fandom can skew ones perspective. I guess that means I’ll have to keep an eye on how he’s portrayed going forward. As if I needed an excuse.

How it Relates to the Whole: While more may come of the phenomenon T’Pol describes as “micro singularities”, I’m not positive on that score. Mostly what this episode does is give us more of a sense of Malcolm’s character (following up on the hints dropped in “Silent Enemy”) and try to establish a friendship between him and Tucker. Though it also has a moment that’s hilarious in hindsight (as TV Tropes puts it), because it relates to another relationship that comes up in later seasons. Those moments are sometimes the most amusing.

Other: *Before the crisis begins, Malcolm states that he intends to pass the time by reading Ulysses. Assuming he means the James Joyce novel, then I kind of question his taste.

*I’m with Archer on this; micro-singularities, which are described as “tiny black holes” that “dissipated on impact” when they hit the Enterprise sound ridiculous and implausible. I can put up with a lot of technobabble, but I have my limits.

*There is an incredibly weird conversation transition at one point. Tucker is sniping at Malcolm about his recording practically identical goodbye messages to all of his former girlfriends, Malcolm counters by saying he remembers different things about each girl…and suddenly Tucker is talking about how young Mayweather and Hoshi were. I think we needed another line to bridge that gap. Either that or a longer pause between sentences.

*Tucker already admitted in “Terra Nova” that History wasn’t his best subject, and says in this episode that he never really understood those “train leaves a station” word problems (which SFDebris had a field day with). While it might not have been intentional on the part of the writers, he also reveals that science wasn’t his strong suit either, not only because he perpetuates the myth that your hair and nails continue to grow after death, but also because he suggests drinking alcohol to keep them warm, which has been proven to be one of the worst things you can do (you might feel warm, but it’s not good for you). Again, that’s more on the writers than the character, but if you’ve been stereotyping Tucker as a redneck…this episode doesn’t exactly help in that regard.

Badass Malcolm Moment: I have to give it to the moment when he MacGyvers up a solution to the holes that appear in the cabin. There are other moments that are great, but that one’s probably the most creative. Not to mention the one least likely to get him in trouble.