Warp Five: A Star Trek Enterprise Podcast

"Chosen Realm" 20th-anniversary reflections The Enterprise crew already knows that there is something unusual about the spheres scattered around the Delphic Expanse, but the extent to which some locals hold them sacred comes into focus when they bring aboard of a group of aliens who find scientific examination of the globes to be paramount to sacrilege. As these extremists attempt to commandeer th...

"Carpenter Street" 20th-anniversary reflections As the Xindi continue to develop their superweapon to destroy Earth, the Xindi-Reptilians decide to take matters into their own hands and create a bioweapon. To do so, they need a sample of each human blood type. Where best to find that? Detroit, Michigan, of course. In the year 2004. When temporal agents get wind of the incursion, they send Daniels...

"Similitude" 20th-anniversary reflections Sexy time with T'Pol turns into a brainstorming session for Trip Tucker, but the neuropressure-induced euphoria won't last long. When he attempts to pull off his plan to improve engine performance, he is critically injured. Without Trip, the Enterprise has little chance of successfully completing its mission, so Doctor Phlox proposes a bold resurrection pl...

"North Star" 20th-anniversary reflections As they explore the Expanse in search of the Xindi superweapon, the Enterprise crew runs across a planet inhabited by humans. Living in a town that looks like it was yanked right out of the 19th-century Wild West, these humans love their whiskey and hate the locals. Archer learns that they were brought to the planet by the Skagarans, an alien race that was...

"Twilight" 20th-anniversary reflections As anomalies in the Delphic Expanse rock the Enterprise, T'Pol is trapped under debris and Archer works to rescue her. Although he pulls her out just in time, another wave smacks him head-on and knocks him out. Even worse, the wave deposits interspatial parasites in his hippocampus. He is also left with anterograde amnesia, leaving him without the ability to...

"The Shipment" 20th-anniversary reflections With deployment of the Xindi superweapon just weeks away, the Enterprise follows a tip from Hoshi's almost boyfriend, Tarquin, and visits a planet where Xindi-Arboreals are refining kemocite. The mineral will be used in the construction of the weapon, something the facility's primary technician, Gralik Durr, claims to be unaware of when confronted by Arc...

"Exile" 20th-anniversary reflections Contacted telepathically by an alien who says he might be able to help find the Xindi, Hoshi decides to take advantage of the opportunity by packing her nicest dresses and high heels for a stay at his mysterious castle. At first she's happy to be his guest and even enjoys a lavish dinner of her Earth favorites—despite being creeped out by his mind-reading. But...

"Impulse" 20th-anniversary reflections A distress call leads the Enterprise to a derelict Vulcan cruiser trapped in an asteroid field. When the crew boards the ship to mount a rescue, they find not the calm and cold Vulcans they're used to but rather scary and cold zombies. As they attempt to get off the ship, whatever has transformed the Vulcan crew begins to affect T'Pol. And as her behavior bec...

"Rajiin" 20th-anniversary reflections While the Xindi Council continues to debate how best to destroy Earth, the Enterprise welcomes aboard a beautiful passenger. Archer rescued the lingerie-clad alien from a slave market on the Xanathan planet where he, Tucker, and Reed sought clues about the Xindi and a way to synthesize trellium-D. It turns out that the freed woman may not have the information...

"Extinction" 20th-anniversary reflections   Arriving at a dangerous planet not clearly marked, Enterprise crew find themselves being transformed into primitive creatures who apparently have amazing scientific prowess. Luckily, the mutagenic virus created by this civilization's geneticists doesn't work on T'Pol, thanks to her Vulcan K cells. Otherwise, all would have been lost before the end of Act...

"Anomaly" 20th-anniversary reflections Things in the Expanse get weirder—and more dangerous—as an anomaly starts rearranging Enterprise. And an unexpected visit from a group of alien pirates complicates matters and threatens to leave the crew stranded. Porthos knew it was going to be a bad day when he saw a book on the floor, but he didn't realize just how bad it would get. To keep the mission on...

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 warp into Season 3 with "The Xindi" as we discuss how the series takes a dark turn with a new mission, sexy character tension, and an upbeat retooling of everyone's favorite theme song....

"The Expanse" 20th-anniversary reflections An attack on Earth by an unknown species forces Starfleet to call the NX-01 back and presents the crew with a new mystery, one filled with danger greater than anything humanity has faced. Tipped off by Future Guy that a species called the Xindi are behind the attack, Archer has to convince Admiral Forrest to let him go find these unknown bad guys. Meanwhi...

"Bounty" 20th-anniversary reflections The Empire never forgets its enemies. That's something Jonathan Archer learns when he decides to trust a surprisingly friendly Tellarite offering vacationing tips. Turns out he's a bounty hunter working for the Klingons, who still haven't forgiven Archer for escaping from Rura Penthe. The Enterprise crew sets out on a mission to rescue their captain but find i...

"First Flight" 20th-anniversary reflections While observing a dark matter nebula, Captain Archer receives a message from Admiral Forrest informing his that one of his old comrades from the early warp program days has died while climbing Mt. McKinley. Reflecting on the loss, Archer tells T'Pol the story of how he competed with this fellow pilot, AG Robinson, for the chance to captain Enterprise, an...

"Regeneration" 20th-anniversary reflections A research team in the Arctic uncover mysterious cybernetic beings while examining the wreckage of an alien ship that dates back more than 100 years. Unaware of the danger, they quickly find themselves assimilated by regenerated drones from a previous attempt by the Borg to assimilate Earth and stop first contact. The Enterprise is ordered to pursue the...

"Cogenitor" 20th-anniversary reflections The Enterprise makes first contact with the Vissians, a species that has a lot in common in with humans, such as a love of exploration, a fascination with ice cream, and an interest in large tactical arrays. But they also have key differences, like a third gender that enables reproduction. Given the specialized role these cogenitors, as they are called, pla...

"The Breach" 20th-anniversary reflections When the new xenophobic government of planet Xantoras orders all off-worlders to leave, the Enterprise is called upon to rescue Denobulan geologists trapped in a cave. While Trip, Malcolm, and Travis goes spelunking for scientists, the crew bring aboard some injured Antarans from an alien ship suffering a reactor leak. It turns out that the Antarans are en...

"Horizon" 20th-anniversary reflections A change of course for the Enterprise takes the ship close to the ECS Horizon, the cargo vessel on which Travis Mayweather grew up—and that means family reunion time. But it's a sad homecoming for Travis when he learns that his father passed away, and resentment bubbles to the surface between Travis and his brother, Paul, now captain of the ship. When aliens...

"Judgment" 20th-anniversary reflections Captain Jonathan Archer of the battle cruiser Enterprise stands before a Klingon magistrate to face the music for aiding and abetting fugitives from the Empire. At least that's the Klingon side of the story. Archer, actually captain of the Earth starship Enterprise, tells a different story and attempts to prove his innocence with the help of a Klingon advoca...

"The Crossing" 20th-anniversary reflections When the Enterprise is swallowed by a giant whale-like ship, Archer and the crew find themselves in the belly of a beast—a beast filled with wispy critters who want to experience life in real bodies … and eat bread. Soon, an opportunity for seeking out new life turns into an invasion of the body snatchers and only the successful completion of a very comp...

"Canamar" 20th-anniversary reflections When the Enterprise rendezvous with Shuttlepod One to meet Captain Archer and Commander Tucker, who had been on a mission to make first contact with unknown aliens, they find the shuttle dead in space. After reviewing the logs, they believe Archer and Trip were abducted, and they begin a search with the help of the alien authorities. Meanwhile, the captain an...

"Future Tense" 20th-anniversary reflections A mysterious ship leads the crew of the Enterprise into the mysteries of time—and DNA—as they find themselves once again mixed up with the Suliban and the Temporal Cold War. When the Tholians show up, things get really messy and the crew must race against time to save the ship and unravel … When the Tholians show up, things get really messy and the crew...

"Cease Fire" 20th-anniversary reflections When a decades-old territorial conflict between the Vulcans and Andorians resurfaces, Captain Archer is called upon to mediate. But by whom? As Archer unravels the details, he finds conflict and deception not only between the two sides but within them. Seeing the situation as an opportunity to prove that humans are ready to join a much larger community, Ar...

"Stigma" 20th-anniversary reflections After the encounter with V'tosh ka'tur, or Vulcans without logic, in Season 1's "Fusion," T'Pol has contracted Pa'nar Syndrome, a disease spread by the practice of mind-melding. When Doctor Phlox sees an opportunity to help her during the Interspecies Medical Exchange, T'Pol's career comes into jeopardy when she is identified as part of an undesirable element...