Precious Cargo (Star Trek: Enterprise)

"Precious Cargo" is the thirty-seventh episode (production #211) of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise airing on the UPN network. It is the eleventh episode of the series' second season.

"Precious Cargo"
Star Trek: Enterprise episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 11
Directed byDavid Livingston
Story by
Teleplay byDavid A. Goodman
Featured musicPaul Baillargeon
Cinematography byMarvin V. Rush
Production code211
Original air dateDecember 11, 2002 (2002-12-11)
Guest appearance(s)

Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship Enterprise, registration NX-01. In this episode, the Enterprise answers an alien distress call and Commander Tucker (Connor Trinneer) is kidnapped and then escapes with a spoiled and beautiful alien princess Kaitaama (Padma Lakshmi). She is from Krios Prime, which were a race of aliens introduced on Star Trek: The Next Generation ("The Perfect Mate").

The episode has been compared to the film Star Wars (1977), with the character Kaitaama being compared to Princess Leia.[1] The overall theme of rescuing a princess, flirtatious one liners, and crash landing on an exoplanet like Dagobah.[1]

The episode is noted by technologists for its depiction of the universal translator, one of the "treknologies" real-world experts are interested in realizing.[2]

The Retellian's cargo spacecraft was designed by John Eaves.

Production
Actress and model Padma Lakshmi guest stars as an alien princess.

Writer David Goodman wrote the script based on the story idea presented by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Goodman notes that there had been a lot turnover after the first season with writers, and the one writer, Chris who had helped him on his draft was sad about this.[3]

The episode guest stars the Indian-American actress and model Padma Lakshmi, who also appeared in ABC's The Ten Commandments (2006) and went on to host Top Chef.[4]

Plot

Firek Goff, the captain of a Retellian cargo vessel, docks and asks Captain Archer for help; a passenger-carrying stasis pod is malfunctioning. Archer then offers Trip's services, while also extending an offer of Enterprise hospitality to both the captain and his brother, Plinn. When Tucker enters the cargo hold inside Goff's ship, he notices a beautiful female alien beneath the stasis canopy. Goff tells him that she is a passenger traveling home from a planet where she was studying medicine. He explains that because his ship can't travel over warp 2.2, she has to be kept in stasis because there is not enough food to support them all.

As Tucker starts working on the stasis pod, it begins to fail, and fearing that the occupant will suffocate, he releases her. Tucker is then knocked unconscious by Goff, who then flees from the faster Enterprise by disabling her engines and ionizing its warp trail, but Plinn is left behind. The female passenger, Kaitaama, is initially hostile. However, Tucker uses the translator Ensign Sato left with him, and he learns she is a high-ranking soon-to-be First Monarch being held for ransom. Tucker has a plan for escape, and though she believes that her status will keep her safe, she joins Tucker in an escape pod.[1]

Meanwhile, Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol use a ruse similar to "good cop/bad cop" to persuade Plinn to tell them how to locate Goff's ship. The plan works and Plinn reveals the warp core's signature frequency. After finding an island on the planet, Tucker and Kaitaama soon set up camp in a swamp, and their mutual antipathy eventually gives way to burgeoning sexual tension. But Goff soon locates them using the homing beacon on the escape pod. Tucker and Goff fight until the latter is subdued by Kaitaama, just as an Enterprise rescue team also arrives. Kaitaama is later collected by a battle cruiser from her home world of Krios Prime, and suggests she will invite Tucker to visit her in the future when she is in power.[1]

Viewership and reception

"Precious Cargo" was played on UPN with an audience of almost 5 million people.[5] As of 2017, it had a rating of 7.3 out 10 based on 164 votes on TV.com, with Padma Lakshmi getting the most votes for the show's "MVP".[6] The good cop/ bad cop scene with T'Pol and Archer is noted for making people laugh.[1][7]

In 2016, fans at the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention voted "Precious Cargo" as the 10th-worst episode of any Star Trek series.[8] In 2018, CBR included this episode on a ranking of episodes of Star Trek, they stated were "So Bad They Must Be Seen".[9]

WhatCulture ranked this episode the 7th-worst episode of the Star Trek franchise.[10]

In 2017, Screen Rant ranked this episode the 11th-worst episode of the Star Trek franchise.[11]

Releases

The first home media release of "Precious Cargo" was as part of the season two DVD box set, released in the United States on July 26, 2005.[12] A release on Blu-ray Disc for season two occurred on August 20, 2013.[13]

See also

References
  1. Green, Michelle Erica (December 12, 2002). "Precious Cargo". www.trektoday.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  2. Lasbury, Mark E. (2016). The Realization of Star Trek Technologies: The Science, Not Fiction, Behind Brain Implants, Plasma Shields, Quantum Computing, and More. Springer. p. 169. ISBN 978-3-319-40914-6.
  3. Gross, Edward; Altman, Mark A. (2016). The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek. Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-250-08946-5.
  4. "'Top Chef' Host Padma Lakshmi Cooks Up New NBC Sitcom". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  5. "Underwhelming Ratings For 'Cargo' & 'Catwalk'". Trek Today. 29 December 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  6. "Star Trek: Enterprise: Precious Cargo". TV.com. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  7. "Enterprise Review – "Precious Cargo"". Bureau 42. 12 December 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  8. "10 worst Star Trek episodes, according to the fans". CNET. Retrieved 2017-04-12.
  9. "Star Trek: 20 Episodes So Bad They Must Be Seen". CBR. 2018-12-12. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  10. Kmet, Michael (2014-01-26). "Star Trek: 20 Worst Episodes Ever". WhatCulture.com. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
  11. "15 Worst Star Trek Episodes Of All Time". ScreenRant. 2017-05-22. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
  12. Ordway, Holly E. (August 7, 2005). "Star Trek Enterprise – The Complete Second Season". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on July 28, 2015. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  13. "Enterprise Season: Two Blu-ray Available August 20". StarTrek.com. May 23, 2013. Archived from the original on February 18, 2014. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
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