First Flight (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

When he is told of the death of an old rival, Archer reflects on his days in the NX test program.

Summary[]

Teaser[]

Enterprise detects a nebula of what they believe to be dark matter. This would be the first time either Humans or Vulcans have seen such a large concentration of dark matter. Sub-commander T'Pol is skeptical, but Captain Archer wants to explore it. Although it is not visible at the moment, Archer recalls an experiment in which Vulcans excited dark matter using metreon particles, deciding to give it a try despite T'Pol's note that the experiment was on small dark matter concentrations.

Archer's excitement at discovering the nebula is dampened when Admiral Forrest contacts him and informs him that an old comrade, A.G. Robinson, had died in a mountaineering accident.

Act One[]

Archer and Trip Tucker enthusiastically talk preparations for the shuttlepod. After Tucker loads the six spatial charges to excite the dark matter with at 500 kilometers, the two briefly discuss Robinson and how he survived all the warp trials only to die in a random accident at Mount McKinley. Tucker offers to come along, but Archer would rather go alone. Before he can go, however, T'Pol enters and insists on accompanying him due to ship regulations prohibiting the captain from leaving the ship unaccompanied.

As they head to the first set of coordinates to launch the charges, T'Pol asks Archer about Robinson, having gotten the basic details from Tucker. Although Archer initially claims that he doesn't want to talk about it, he finally begins to tell her about him and how they were in the NX Project along with a couple of others and that they both wanted to be be the pilot of the first flight to break warp 2…

Commander Jonathan Archer meets with Commodore Forrest and proudly announces that he achieved a 92% efficiency in the warp reactor simulation. But he is disappointed when Forrest tells him that Robinson had been selected to pilot the NX-Alpha. Archer is clearly disappointed but promises to fully support Robinson's flight. That night, he has a drink with Robinson and several other pilots at the 602 Club. Taking him aside, Robinson tells Archer that he did not get the assignment because he is too by-the-book and that Starfleet want someone with more than just piloting ability take command of the first starship.

T'Pol is confused, as she had thought Archer and Robinson were friends, but it sounds like they were opposed to each other. Archer admits they were more rivals than anything at this point, but they both enjoyed the competition. T'Pol points out that Robinson was right, in that it takes more than piloting abilities to be a captain. Archer agrees, and T'Pol notes that he has developed the necessary skills. Archer is bemused that T'Pol just gave him what came close to a compliment but tells her than the test flight didn't go as planned.

Flight director station, NX Control — Jonathan Archer supervising the flight of the NX-Alpha in 2143

Two weeks later, however, Robinson easily breaks the warp 2 barrier, but problems arise. But when he ignores orders to drop to impulse, he accelerates further, reaching warp 2.2 at great risk. The warp field then collapses. The ship eventually slows down and the escape pod jettisons as the ship explodes. Archer can remember trying to contact him repeatedly.

Act Two[]

Particle density increases, meaning they should be entering the nebula. At this point, Archer and T'Pol launch two of the charges but fail to get a reaction. They decide to move deeper into the nebula, and T'Pol asks what happened next. Archer notes that Robinson did indeed survive and enter the history books as the first Human to deploy an escape pod at warp. However, no-one was very happy as he almost derailed the Project. The Vulcan observers immediately claim that this proves that Humans are progressing in warp technology too quickly, and that the Program will have to be postponed and the warp engine built from scratch. Archer expresses outrage at the idea, and he is joined by (then Lieutenant) Tucker, working as an engineer in the Program. Both insist that the engine design is sound and is just undergoing some teething problems caused by the increased amounts of antimatter pumped into the engine. Robinson insists that risks will need to be taken if they want to make any progress, but Forrest puts an end to the discussion.

Later in the 602 Club, Archer and Tucker, talking for the first time, agree that it isn't the engine at fault, but rather the imbalance in the intermix ratio. However, Forrest arrives with bad news… on the advice of the Vulcan Advisory Council, Starfleet Command has decided to put the NX Program on indefinite hold and wish to begin designing a new engine from scratch, a process that will likely take years, if not decades.

Later, after Forrest has left, Robinson arrives after his debriefing. Archer and Tucker ask him what he told Starfleet and the Vulcans, and he tells them he told the truth, that the engine destabilized and the subspace field collapsed. This just adds to Archer's anger, since if Robinson had admitted the possibility of pilot error, then Starfleet may not have taken the Vulcans recommendation to delay the Program indefinitely. Or, if Robinson had stopped the ship when ordered, they still would have had the ship and could have continued the Program by fine-tuning the engine. Robinson tells him that he had no intention of taking the blame and confronts Archer with his frequently blaming other factors for his father's warp engine design other than the design itself. Archer is incensed and the two get into a fistfight, which is shortly broken up.

Act Three[]

The shuttlepod's systems are affected by the dark matter, but T'Pol doesn’t think the power surge in the shuttlepod has been caused by dark matter. T'Pol is unsure if they should proceed, but Archer tells her that taking risks is part of their job, something Robinson taught him. He admits that the fight turned out to be the beginning of his friendship with AG, who may have been responsible for nearly derailing the program but was also partly responsible for getting it back on track.

Archer discovers Robinson in the locker room packing and convinces him that if they could get the intermix right, the ship would achieve stable warp flight. The two apologize for their earlier words, with Archer admitting that he had problems being objective about the engine but knows that if they prove the findings, they can stop the program being scrapped. Robinson points out that the Vulcans will need a lot more than just findings and reminds Archer they still have the NX-Beta. Archer knows they'll never get clearance, but Robinson never said anything about getting clearance and reminds him that a good captain will need to take risks. Archer is reluctant, knowing this will likely lead to dismissal from Starfleet and possibly even prison, but agrees.

Archer and T'Pol are now 20,000 kilometers inside the nebula with a doubled particle density and fire the second round of charges which again fail, leaving them with only one more attempt to excite the dark matter. T'Pol notes there is no record of Starfleet pilots stealing the NX-Beta. Archer thinks T'Pol doesn't believe him, and she responds that the part of the story she has trouble believing is that he had to be convinced to take the risk. Archer tells her he was quite different back then, an officer who always followed the rules. T'Pol wants to hear what happened, and Archer agrees on the condition she doesn't enter it into the Vulcan database.

Archer and Robinson decide to launch at night, and Tucker quickly agrees to assist on the ground. Tucker notes how much he wishes he could go out there too, and Archer promises to have the engineer on his crew if he ever gets his own ship. Tucker disables the tracking sensors and creates false data to make it appear the NX-Beta will still be in its hangar. NX-Beta launches and it goes unobserved by people outside, but the three officers know it won't be long before New Berlin's sensors pick the ship up. Archer and Robinson are unconcerned, knowing they'll be too far away to be caught before then.

Indeed, New Berlin quickly detects the ship and Commodore Forest realizes what has happened almost immediately. The NX-Beta maintains a stable warp field, and Robinson allows Archer to pilot since he got to do it last time. The NX-Beta jumps to warp. Watching the intermix closely, they receive a communication from Forrest ordering them to return immediately, promising he'll do his best to see they avoid criminal charges if they do. The officers cut him off and, just as Forrest thinks things can't get any worse, two Vulcans enter, ruining any chance he had of keeping this incident from them.

NX-Beta reaches warp 2, but then starts to have the same engine problems that the NX-Alpha had.

Act Four[]

As Tucker and Forrest monitor from Earth, Robinson quickly brings it under control through the right intermix ratio and the ship holds steady at warp 2.5, a new record. Forrest congratulates them, and sternly orders them back to Earth.

Archer and Robinson are hauled to Forrest's office where he furiously reprimands them for their actions, telling them their actions were irresponsible, reckless, and verging on criminal. He immediately suspends them from duty and reminds them that they've undermined the program by making it seem like Starfleet can't keep its pilots under control. Archer and Robinson accept they're likely to be kicked out of Starfleet for this, but it was a small sacrifice to keep the NX Program going. Every engineer on the staff believes the engines work, and Archer asks Forrest why they're waiting to explore the galaxy.

Archer tells T'Pol that he and Robinson managed to avoid a court martial, but were suspended for three months. However, the NX Program continued, and for over a year, the Vulcans ran every test they could on the engine before finally confirming the design worked. Eight months later, the NX-Delta broke the warp 3 barrier and five years later Enterprise was built.

The particle density of the dark matter has increased, so they decide to fire the last two charges. At first, nothing seems to happen… but then, a few seconds later, the nebula begins to appear. T'Pol admits this is going to cause a debate at the Vulcan Science Directorate, however Archer is enraptured at the beauty of what's happening, and he urges T'Pol to leave the sensors alone and just watch what is happening. He tells her that this sort of thing is why he and AG worked so hard and risked so much. T'Pol notes that Robinson obviously wanted to command Enterprise as much as Archer did. Archer tells her that while there were plenty of candidates, he and Robinson were the final two remaining. Six months before Enterprise's launch, Archer was selected to command the new starship.

Captain Robinson congratulates Captain Archer on getting the much-wanted assignment, joking that he'd rather wait for the NX-02 so that Archer can make all the mistakes first. He then leaves to get an early night as he has survival training the next day, but promises he'll see Archer 'out there'.

Archer is sad at the thought that Robinson never did make it into deep space, as he and T'Pol head back to the Enterprise. Docking, T'Pol reminds him of the Human custom that when someone makes a discovery of merit, they have the right to name it. Archer suggests the T'Pol-Archer Nebula, but T'Pol believes the Robinson Nebula would be a more appropriate choice. Archer is touched by her thoughtfulness.

Memorable quotes[]

"All the close calls he had flying warp trials and he gets himself killed climbing Mount McKinley."

- Archer on A.G. Robinson's death

"There were just a few of us; Gardner, Duvall, A.G., and me. We all wanted the first flight."

- Archer reminiscing to T'Pol about the NX test program

"You remember what Buzz Aldrin said when he stepped onto the moon?"
"No."
"Nobody does. Because Armstrong went first."

- Archer and Ruby

"Congratulations."
"You mean that?"
"Of course not. I'm waiting for Forrest to realize what a horrible mistake he made."

- Robinson and Archer

"As Doctor Phlox would say: optimism."
"Optimism doesn't alter the laws of physics."

- Archer and T'Pol

"When the first warp five starship is built, its captain won't be able to call home every time he needs to make a decision. He won't be able to turn to the Vulcans. Unless he decides to take one with him."

- A.G. Robinson, to Archer

"Don't worry, you'll get out there some day. If I had my own ship, I'd sign you up in a second."
"I'm going to hold you to that!"

- Archer and Tucker

"We didn't build this engine to make test runs around Jupiter. We built it to explore! If my father were alive today, he'd be standing here asking: 'What the hell are we waiting for?' "

- Archer, to Commodore Forrest

Background information[]

Shooting First Flight — A.G. Robinson actor Keith Carradine laughing with Director LeVar Burton, during the creation of this episode

First Flight fight talk — Keith Carradine discussing, with Director of Photography Marvin V. Rush, a fight scene from this episode

Production timeline[]

Filmed: 10 March 2003 – 19 March 2003 [1]
- Day 1 – 10 March 2003 – Principal sets
- Day 2 – 11 March 2003 – Principal sets
- Day 3-10 – 12 March 2003-19 March 2003 – NX Hangar, NX Mission Control, The 602 Club, and other temporary sets

Production[]

The NX-Beta itself and its launch process on rails are both similar to the 1962-1963 British science fiction themed children's television show Fireball XL5 spacecraft and its launch process.
The NX hangar exterior was previously seen in the sci-fi series Seven Days as the "Never Never Land" facility. ^{(citation needed • edit)}

Cast[]

First Flight sailors — LeVar Burton with actors Scott Bakula and Connor Trinneer as well as a trio of sailors from the USS *Enterprise* (CVN-65)

Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley), Lt. Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating), and Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) do not appear in this episode. Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) appears in only one scene and has one line.
The episode included guest appearances by "Sailors of the Year" from the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), James D. Frey, Kathy J. Grant and Thomas P. Hunt. Frey described the experience as "a life's dream, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You can't get any closer to Star Trek than this." [2]
Vaughn Armstrong, Michael Canavan, and Victor Bevine all guest-starred in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Armstrong played Danar in "Past Prologue" and Seskal in "When It Rains..." and "The Dogs of War". Canavan played Tamal in "Defiant" and Bevine played Belar in "Things Past". LeVar Burton directed Bevine in the latter episode and this one.

Sets and props[]

Among the items from this episode which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay were two Pilsner glasses, [3]^(X) Keith Carradine's uniform and boots, [4]^(X) and a 602 Club menu card. [5]^(X)
The desk lamp seen while Robinson is emptying his locker was previously used during the Starfleet Praxis briefing at the beginning of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, in TNG: "The First Duty", on an alien ship in VOY: "Gravity", in Travis Mayweather's quarters on board the ECS Horizon, and once again on board the Enterprise in ENT: "Babel One".

Continuity[]

In the teaser, the opening flyby reveals that the damage to Enterprise's dorsal saucer section at the end of "Regeneration" has been repaired. However, there is no captain’s starlog or character dialogue to explain how or where this was done.
The flashbacks of this episode serve as a prelude to the first episode of the series, ENT: "Broken Bow".
During the flashback, Tucker reveals the reason behind his nickname to Archer. As he is Charles Tucker III, his nickname is short for "triple."
The security guards that attempt to arrest Trip are armed with phase pistols not introduced until 2151 during the events of Broken Bow.
Trip Tucker refers to Captain Jefferies, an engineer who worked on the NX Program in the 2140s who later helped design the NX-class. This name is an allusion to Matt Jefferies who was the art director of Star Trek: The Original Series and designed the USS Enterprise, the D7-class Klingon battle cruiser, and many other ships. The Jefferies tubes are also named after him. He died on July 21, 2003, two months after this episode first aired.
In the bar, Captain Archer speaks with Ruby, whom both Trip Tucker and Malcolm Reed once dated (mentioned in "Shuttlepod One").
Star Trek Beyond establishes the first warp 4 ship of United Earth Starfleet was the USS Franklin NX-326 (under its original designation).
This episode marks the first appearance of a commodore in Star Trek since the Star Trek: The Animated Series second season episode "The Counter-Clock Incident". The only other mentions have been Commodore Probert in radio chatter in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, a brief appearance in the council chambers in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and a dubious mention in the Star Trek: The Next Generation third season episode "The Enemy", and later Commodore Oh in Star Trek: Picard.
The search for the first dark matter nebula would seem to be redundant as Archer mentions in the episode "Breaking the Ice" that he had previously "made a run" to a dark matter nebula to set up a graviton telescope.
In the 602 Club, there are paintings and patches of many of the spacecraft mentioned on Star Trek, including the DY-100-class, the Phoenix, the NX-Alpha, and the USS Enterprise (XCV 330). An assignment patch of the Earth-Saturn probe, featuring Christopher, and added astronauts O'Herlihy and Fontana, named after Michael O'Herlihy and D.C. Fontana, the director and writer, respectively, of "Tomorrow is Yesterday", the episode where it was mentioned. Michael Okuda later sent a copy of the patch to Fontana, which she reportedly appreciated greatly (O'Herlihy died in 1997).
The patches on the wall behind the bar of the 602 Club are the following, starting at the top and going from left to right:
- Apollo 9, the first manned flight of the Apollo program LM
- Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission after the Apollo 1 fire, a test flight of the Command and Service Module
- Apollo 12, the second landing on the moon, and the first precision landing
- Apollo 14, third landing on the moon (a shot of mission commander Alan Shepard donning his spacesuit for this mission can been seen in the show's title sequence)
- the logo of the Canadian Space Agency
- Space Shuttle mission STS-54
- Space Shuttle mission STS-52
- Skylab 2
- Apollo 11, the first lunar landing
- Apollo 15, the fourth lunar landing, first to use a lunar rover, and the only all US Air Force crew
- Space Shuttle mission STS-26
- Apollo 13, which did not land on the moon due to an explosion en route
- Apollo 16, the penultimate lunar landing of the Apollo Project
- Apollo 17, the final lunar landing
- the logo of the Ariane ESA mission
- Space Shuttle mission STS-36
- logo of NASA Mission Operations
- Space Shuttle mission STS-49
Also in the bar is the Rings game from VOY: "Fair Haven".

Reception[]

The book Star Trek 101 (p. 260), by Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block, lists this episode as one of the "Ten Essential Episodes" from Star Trek: Enterprise.

DVD releases[]

As part of the ENT Season 2 DVD
As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Captain's Log collection

Links and references[]

Starring[]

Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley as Phlox
Jolene Blalock as T'Pol
Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery as Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer as Charles "Trip" Tucker III

Guest stars[]

Brigid Brannagh as Ruby
Vaughn Armstrong as Maxwell Forrest

And

Special guest star[]

Keith Carradine as A.G. Robinson

Co-stars[]

Stunt doubles[]

Vince Deadrick, Jr. as stunt double for Scott Bakula
Tom Morga as stunt double for Keith Carradine

References[]

602 Club; Aldrin, Buzz; Alice Springs; Ariane 1; Archer, Henry; Armstrong, Neil; auxiliary power; background radiation; beer; blinds; bourbon; Caroline; checklist; Chester; circuit breaker; consolation prize; court martial; Cyrus; dark matter nebula; debriefing; density; Duvall; Enterprise NX-01; EPS grid; escape pod; field gen overthruster; field impeller; flight surgeon; Fontana: forward field flow sensor; Gardner; GNDN; ground control (GC); history book; Holmes, Sherlock; hydraulic manifold; intermix controls; intermix ratio; International Space Station; Italy; Jefferies; Jupiter; Jupiter, moons of; kilometer; lanyard; last call; logic; Luna; Mount McKinley; midnight oil; mushrooms; namesake; New Berlin; NX-02; NX-Alpha; NX-Beta; NX-Delta; NX-class; NX-Control; NX Program; paragraph; phenomenon; pilot error; piloting ability; plasma conduit; pretzel; O'Herlihy; "powers that be, the"; pylon torsion regulator; quantum field; record book; rib; Robinson Nebula; Rosalie; San Francisco; shuttlepod; skipper; software; spatial charge; Starfleet Mission Control; Starfleet Museum; Starfleet Research Center; surge tank; test run; tracking sensor; trajectory operations officer (TOPO); Tucker I, Charles; Tucker II, Charles; Tycho Base; Vulcan; Vulcan Advisory Council; Vulcan database; Vulcan Science Directorate; warp 2 barrier; warp barrier; warp drive; warp five starship; warp ship; Zefram Cochrane Space Flight Center

602 club menu[]

Bread Salad; Burger and Fries; Potato Gratin; Rosti a la 602; Sandwich de Jour; Steamed Veggies

Background references[]

Akers, Thomas; Anders, William; Anderson, Michael Phillip; Antarctica; Apollo; Apollo missions; Apollo program; Apollo spacecraft; Bean, Alan; Ariane 1; astronaut pin; Baker, Michael A.; Barry, Daniel T.; Belgium; Bluford, Guion; Borman, Frank; Brandenstein, David; McDowell Brown, David; Buchli, James; Canada; Canadian Space Agency; Casper, John; Cernan, Eugene; Chaffee, Roger B.; Chawla, Kalpana; Chilton, Kevin P.; Clark, Laurel; clipper ship; Coats, Michael; Conrad, Pete; Covey, Richard; Creighton, John Oliver; Cunningham, Walter; Denmark; Duke, Charles; eagle; Earth; Eisele, Donn F.; Endeavour (OV-105); Endeavour, HMS; Enterprise (XCV-330), USS; Evans, Ronald; European Space Agency; France; galaxy; Germany; Gidzenko, Yuri; Gordon, Richard F., Jr. Great Britain; Grissom, Gus; Hammond, L. Blaine ; Harbaugh, Gregory J.; Hauck, Frederick; Helms, Susan J.; Hieb, Richard; Hilmers, David C.; Husband, Richard Douglas; International Space Station; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Irwin, James; Jernigan, Tamara E.; Kerwin, Joseph P.; Krikalev, Sergei; Latin language; Lounge, John M.; Lovell, Jim; Luna; MacLean, Steven; maple; Mattingly, Ken; McCool, William Cameron; McDivitt, James; McMonagle, Donald R.; Melnick, Bruce E.; Mission Control Center; Mitchell, Edgar; Mullane, Mike; Nelson, George; Netherlands; North America; Ochoa, Ellen; Old Britain; olive branch; Onizuka, Ellison; Payette, Julie; Payton, Gary; Phoenix; Ramon, Ilan; Rominger, Kent; Roosa, Stuart; Runco, Mario, Jr.; Russia; Russian Space Agency; Saturn; Saturn V; Schirra, Wally; Schmitt, Harrison; Schweickart, Rusty; Scott, David; Shepard, Alan; Shepherd, William; Shriver, Loren; Skylab; South America; Soyuz; space shuttle orbiter; space shuttle missions; Spain; Stafford, Thomas P.; Sweden; Switzerland; Thornton, Kathryn C.; Thuot, Pierre J.; Tokarev, Valeri; United States of America; Veach, Charles L.; Weitz, Paul J.; Wetherbee, Jim; Higgins White, Edward; Worden, Alfred; Young, John

External links[]

"First Flight" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
"First Flight" at Wikipedia
"First Flight" at the Internet Movie Database

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Star Trek: Enterprise
Season 2

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