Terra Prime
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 13 May 2005
- ON
- UPN
- STARDATE
- None given
- DIRECTED BY
- Marvin V. Rush
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 097
WRITTEN BYTeleplay by Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Manny Coto; story by Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and André Bormanis
Terra Prime holds Earth to ransom from Mars, and with Tucker and T'Pol held captive, Archer must find a way past a weapon aimed straight at Starfleet Command.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
From Mars, Paxton threatens to destroy Starfleet Command with the verteron array unless all aliens leave Earth. His prisoners, Tucker and T'Pol, are shown the baby girl he has created from their DNA, and T'Pol realises the child is gravely ill. Paxton forces Tucker to help with the array's targeting by threatening T'Pol. Gannet Brooks reveals she is a Starfleet Intelligence operative and warns of a traitor aboard Enterprise. Archer leads a team to Mars in a shuttlepod hidden inside a comet and joins up with Tucker. In the firefight, Paxton fires the array, but Tucker's secret changes send the beam harmlessly into San Francisco Bay. Paxton is arrested and the saboteur, Ensign Masaro, is exposed. Phlox cannot save the child, named Elizabeth after Tucker's sister. At her funeral, the delegates recommit to the Coalition, moved by Archer's speech about exploring the galaxy together.
- 01Marvin V. Rush, usually the show's director of photography, was asked mid-shoot to direct after LeVar Burton began work on “Demons”.
- 02The baby was played by twins, with Vulcan ears added in post-production.
- 03Visual effects shots of Mars include the Carl Sagan Memorial Station and the dormant Sojourner rover, covered in dust.