Desert Crossing

The Enterprise resumes course for Risa, but is diverted yet again by a distress call. It picks up a shuttle commanded by Zobral, who lives on a nearby desert world. Zobral’s gratitude extends to offering a banquet to Archer and Trip, who repaired the damaged shuttle. When they reach Zobral’s homeworld, it seems his hospitality is considerable – until T’Pol contacts the captain from orbit with a disturbing report. She has been hailed by a government official from Zobral’s planet, claiming that Zobral is a terrorist. Archer tries to make a diplomatic retreat, but Zobral cuts off his escape. It turns out that Zobral is indeed fighting a war against the planet’s ruling government, claiming centuries of racial inequity – and also claiming to have heard that Archer is a great warrior who freed thousands of Suliban from a detention center. Worse yet, Zobral’s encampment comes under heavy fire, forcing Archer and Trip to hide in the desert. But as eagerly as the planet’s government is hunting down Zobral, even that may not be a safe place.

teleplay by Andre Bormanis
story by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga & Andre Bormanis
directed by David Straiton
music by Velton Ray Bunch

Cast: Scott Bakula (Captain Jonathan Archer), Jolene Blalock (Subcommander T’Pol), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), Dominic Keating (Lt. Malcolm Reed), Anthony Montgomery (Ensign Travis Mayweather), Linda Park (Ensign Hoshi Sato), Connor Trinneer (Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker III), Clancy Brown (Zobral), Charles Dennis (Chancellor Trelit), Brandon Karrer (Alien Man), and Porthos

Notes: During the game scene at the beginning of act three, there’s a Trek oddity – a brief shot of Archer which was shot on video, not film. Though footage sourced on video has been used before – such as Seska’s distress call in the Voyager episode Basics Part I – it has always been on a viewscreen, and never before a full-screen shot; the entire series would later adopt digital video instead of film in season 4. Bozeman, Montana is also referenced as the landing site of the Vulcan ship – and therefore also the home of Zefram Cochrane – in Star Trek: First Contact; Bozeman was also the site of Alexander’s wild west holodeck program in A Fistful Of Datas, not to mention the name of the temporally-displaced starship in Cause And Effect. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s the birthplace of executive producer Brannon Braga.