First Flight

First Flight, aired May 14, 2003

Read zealousgirl's Early Edition First Flight report posted in Miscellany!

It could be a phantom reading, T'Pol tells Archer. Even your scientists have confirmed the existence of dark matter, Archer responds.


Archer asks Trip if he can rig some spatial charges so that the dark matter nebula, if there, would be visible. "If I can it should put on a helluva show," Trip answers. Archer tells Trip to get to it.


These two and their lingering looks.


Linger, linger, linger.


Sadly, a good friend of Archer and Trip's died in a mountaineering accident: A. G. Robinson. Trip and Archer are both stunned.


Archer prepares to go alone to see the nebula. Trip offers to go along, but Archer says no.


T'Pol decides to accompany Archer anyway.


She comments that Archer is distracted, and that, although he wouldn't talk about it either, Commander Tucker did tell her a former colleague died. Archer begins to tell T'Pol how A.G. was very important to him, and helped Archer get where he is.


Nine years earlier in San Francisco: Bad news, Archer is not chosen for the first flight to test the warp engine.


He is disappointed.


It's Ruby! She is concerned because Archer is drinking too much.


Meet A.G. He tells Archer that just because Archer is a good, by-the-book pilot, that won't make him a good captain. Archer must be willing to take risks.


The first flight.


Something goes wrong, but A.G. won't slow down below warp 2.2.


The ship breaks apart, but A.G. escapes in an emergency pod.


A.G. says he doesn't know what went wrong but he wasn't wrong to keep going - the abort call was premature. He needed time to see if things would settle.


The Vulcans say the engine design is unsound. We hear a familiar voice say, indignantly, "There's nothin' wrong with that engine!"


It's Trip! Or, rather, Lieutenant Tucker. The anti-matter intermix isn't right, yet, Trip tells the Vulcans, but it will happen.


That's our point, say the Vulcans, you are moving too quickly. "Just because it took you a hundred years to crack warp 2 doesn't mean it will take us that long," Trip responds.


Archer is in love! He likes this man, and...


...invites him out for a drink. Hmm, Trip seems interested in women. Sigh.


The first man who can guess what Ruby will name her children is the man she will marry. Apparently Trip spends his time guessing the names and flirting with Ruby. She doesn't seem to mind!


What's your name, stranger?


Charles Tucker...Trip...my grandfather and father were both Charles as well, and I'm the third...triple...Trip...


Those Vulcans don't want us to succeed, do they!?!


Commodore Forrest overhears Trip, says he doesn't understand the Vulcans either, and joins the two men for a beer.


Forrest calls Trip on his outburst at the Vulcans, and Trip starts to apologize but Forrest was just joking. Everyone loves to tease Trip!


Forrest has told Trip and Archer that the program is on hold indefinitely. Trip has urged Archer not to let that happen - to make his father's dream a reality. Time passes and it is just Trip and Archer again at the table.


A.G. joins Trip and Archer and says he has been debriefed and said what went wrong mechanically. Trip asks about pilot error.


A.G. didn't like that question one bit, LIEUTENANT.


Archer is angry when A.G. says Henry built a lousy engine.


A fight breaks out! OMT saves the beer. Good job, Trip!


Break it up, Ruby orders. Oh great, Trip thinks to himself, this is just great.


He pulls Archer out of the fight.


The next day Archer and A.G. are friends again and decide to steal the second ship to test Trip's theory that the intermix wasn't right.


Trip asks to go along. Archer says no. So this pattern started from the very beginning! Archer tells Trip that if he is ever made Captain then he will sign Trip up. Trip responds he will hold Archer to that, and the two shake hands and part.


A.G. turns the controls over to Archer because now it is Archer's turn.


A furious Forrest is telling the two men to return. The Vulcans walk in right at that moment. "Perfect!" Forrest snaps with a roll of his eyes!


Trip monitoring the progress.


The guards have come to take Trip away, but Trip silently gestures for them to wait.


They did it. Archer and A.G. have broken 2.5!


Archer and A.G. have been busted, but Archer says it is worth it because even if neither man flies again the program will restart and go forward. Henry would have been proud.


Forrest is, too, but grounds them for 3 months.


Archer and T'Pol are still on the pod. They have tried twice to see if Trip's charges will light up the nebula, and this is the third and last set of charges they have.


It works! They are in a dark nebula and it is beautiful as Trip's charges light it up.


This is why A.G. and I wanted to explore, Archer tells T'Pol. This is what it is all about.


They return to the ship. T'Pol, that flatterer, tells Trip his charges were effective. Archer tells Trip should have been there - yes, Archer, it would have been very nice if you had taken Trip along - he is in space to see the same things you and A.G. wanted to see!


T'Pol reminds Archer of the human custom to name what you discover. Archer asks if she wants to name it the T'Pol-Archer Nebula, probably preparing to argue that it should be the Archer-T'Pol Nebula.


No, T'Pol says, she was thinking the Robinson Nebula. Archer is touched.

THE END!

Four of you have made comments

Linger, linger, linger! That's great! XD

Nice 'caps, as usual! :)

Great screencaps from one of season2 so far.I really like these screencaps alot

Loved it, I don't know what they did with Trip's hair but in kind of made him look younger in the flash backs.

Nice to see caps. of the episode which introduces Jon to the sweetest guy on earth!