Breaking the Ice (Star Trek: Enterprise)

"Breaking the Ice"
Star Trek: Enterprise episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 8
Directed by	Terry Windell
Written by	Maria Jacquemetton Andre Jacquemetton
Produced by	Dawn Valazquez
Featured music	Dennis McCarthy
Production code	108
Original air date	November 7, 2001 (2001-11-07)
Guest actors
William Utay - Captain Vanik

"Breaking the Ice" is the eighth episode (production #108) of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, and was written by Maria Jacquemetton and Andre Jacquemetton. Terry Windell served as director for the episode. This episode was nominated for the 2002 Emmy Award for visual effects.

Enterprise encounters a comet; Lieutenant Reed and Ensign Mayweather stop to mine some Eisilium. To their surprise, the Vulcan ship Ti'Mur stops by to also investigate the comet– except they are actually there to observe Enterprise. Meanwhile, Sub-Commander T'Pol has to make a decision: stay aboard Enterprise or return to Vulcan and her impending marriage.

Plot

Enterprise is investigating a comet, and Sub-Commander T'Pol learns that the comet contains eisilium, a rare mineral which Vulcan chemists have not previously studied in detail. An away team consisting of Lieutenant Reed and Ensign Mayweather is sent to collect samples. Meanwhile, a Vulcan starship, Ti'Mur, under Captain Vanik suddenly appears with a request to observe Enterprise. Captain Archer is not happy about Vulcans looking over his shoulders but, in the interest of cooperation, he agrees.

The Vulcans then send an encrypted message to T'Pol, which Commander Tucker intercepts, and Archer orders Ensign Sato to decrypt. It turns out that it was not a message about Enterprise, but more personal regarding her arranged marriage. Tucker apologizes to T'Pol for having read her message. She asks him to keep the contents of the letter confidential. Later, she confesses to Doctor Phlox that she has been having trouble sleeping, and he suggests that it might help if she confide in someone. She decides to consult Tucker, who does not share her views on Vulcan culture and customs, and that she must leave. Eventually, she decides to forgo her Vulcan traditions and fulfill her duties aboard Enterprise.

Archer decides to "break the ice" between their races and invites Captain Vanik for dinner aboard Enterprise. It is not successful, however, as the Vulcan is unresponsive and dismissive regarding human behavior. Archer concludes the meal by accusing the Vulcan of spying on Enterprise and then asks him to leave. Afterwards, Archer notes that an explosion on the surface of the comet has altered the comet's rotational axis. When the sun rises, Mayweather and Reed begin to have difficulties as the ice begins to crack. They attempt to use the shuttlepod to leave, but it falls into a chasm. Archer eventually swallows his pride and negative feelings to Vulcans by allowing Vanik to help rescue the shuttlepod.

Story and Script

A revised version of the script was submitted two days after the final draft, on 31 August 2001. Previously the script referred to the Vulcan ship as being of the "Surak class", the revised final draft categorised the type of ship as "Suurok class". This is the first episode of Star Trek: Enterprise which did not have Rick Berman or Brannon Braga writing the episode or its story, according to the credits of this instalment and the previous episodes in the series. However, Braga once referred to the idea of depicting people walking on a comet as an ambitious challenge that came about as a result of him continually trying to push the limits of what the series' creative staff could do.

Since the gravity level on a comet is too low for the forces shown in the story, the incidents on the comet's surface in the last section of the episode would be impossible on the surface of any comet or asteroid. The spacecraft would not have been damaged by slipping down the chasm. Travis could not have hurt himself by slipping or had difficulty limping back to the spacecraft which presume the operation of a much stronger gravitational force such as on Earth.

External links

• "Breaking the Ice" at IMDb
• "Breaking the Ice" at TV.com
• Breaking the Ice at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Breaking the Ice at StarTrek.com