Enterprise 1x16 "Shuttlepod One"

rating: ****

the story: Reed and Trip end up marooned together in a shuttlepod, convinced either that Enterprise has been destroyed, or they won't survive long enough to be rescued.

what it's all about: "Shuttlepod One" has a few antecedents. The more famous of the two I'll mention is the original series classic "Galileo Seven," in which Spock is similarly marooned with some bigoted colleagues.  But perhaps more to the point, Deep Space Nine's "Armageddon Game" features Bashir and O'Brien finally putting aside animosity toward each other that had existed since the start of the series, as they struggle to survive.  Reed and Trip don't have as much history as Bashir and O'Brien at this point (theirs happened in the second season, for one), and regardless of my interest in Enterprise, they will probably never be as famous or beloved as Spock.  What they have going for them instead is a singular, spectacular experience, regardless of how many times the scenario has happened before.

Reed had previously gotten a little character work in during the events of "Silent Enemy."  Trip, meanwhile, had been featured as one of Enterprise's most important characters since the start.  The contrast between Trip's extrovert nature and Reed's introvertedness is itself a classic template, Odd Couple style.  How far can they push each other?  How desperate will their situation become?  Will they put aside their differences, at last?

Trip actually has another survival experience later in the season, "Desert Crossing," with someone he is friends with, Captain Archer.  The results are completely different.  In "Crossing" he gets to be the vulnerable one.  Of course in "Shuttlepod" it's Reed.  The first regular episode of the series, "Fight or Flight," had attempted to paint Hoshi as the most neurotic main character, but she has nothing on Reed.  A second season episode (one of my favorites), "A Night in Sickbay," draws on the kind of delusions Reed experiences in "Shuttlepod," and this is a series where this is no coincidence. 

So the joy of the episode is watching Reed and Trip antagonize each other.  That's it!  But they have so much time, as it's really most of the episode with minimal subplot aboard the ship, that it either works or it doesn't.  It works.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Drawing on a tradition of characters antagonizing each other for a whole episode.
• series - It draws you further into Enterprise by revealing the true strengths, and weaknesses, of two main characters.
• character - Ah, again, Reed and trip.
• essential - It's a must-see character moment.