239: Deep-Fried Crew

“The Catwalk” 20th-anniversary reflections

What looks to be an exciting field trip to a life-filled planet is cut short before it begins when the Enterprise encounters a ship carrying three aliens with an urgent request. A neutronic storm is about to sweep through the system and they’ll die if they don’t get out of the area right immediately. Or so they say. Escape means going to Warp 7, but the Enterprise tops out at Warp 5. What to do? Bunk up in the warp nacelles, of course! The shielding should be enough to keep everyone safe from the radiation for eight days, Phlox agrees. Plus, it’s a great place for a BBQ. But as mother always said, don’t leave the front door unlocked and don’t leave your starship unattended—because you never know who might come in while you’re away. The Enterprise gets surprise visitors amid a terrible storm and a race ensues to take back the ship before the crew gets fried. And it all happens in spacesuits.

In this episode of Warp Five, hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing continue our 20th-anniversary retrospective that takes you through all of Star Trek: Enterprise, one episode at a time. In this installment, we continue Season 2 with “The Catwalk” as we discuss how a bag of Star Trek tropes is reassembled into a story which only this series could tell, and how the situation brings the whole crew together for the better.

Hosts
C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer)