For the novelization of this episode, see Broken Bow (Star Trek novel)

Broken Bow (Star Trek novel)

Broken Bow is a Star Trek: Enterprise novel, which was released on 1 October 2001 and 1 June 2003 .-Synopsis:It is the twenty-second century...and the dawn of mankind's boldest adventure...

.

"Broken Bow" is the pilot episode

Television pilot

A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...

 of the television series

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...

(then called Enterprise). It originally aired as a double-length episode, but has been split into two segments for repeats.

A novelization of the episode, written by Diane Carey

Diane Carey

Diane Carey is primarily a science fiction author best known for her work in the Star Trek franchise. She has been the lead-off writer for two Star Trek spin-off book series: Star Trek The Next Generation with Star Trek: Ghost Ship, and the novelization of the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot, Broken...

, was published in 2001.

Plot

On Earth in 2121, young Jonathan Archer

Jonathan Archer

Jonathan Archer is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. He is the protagonist of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, where he is played by Scott Bakula...

 is completing a model of a warp-capable spacecraft under the supervision of his father, Henry Archer, principal designer of Earth's first Warp 5 engine. Their conversation reveals that Jonathan feels bitterness toward the Vulcans

Vulcan (Star Trek)

Vulcans, or sometimes Vulcanians, are an extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek universe who evolved on the planet Vulcan, and are noted for their attempt to live by reason and logic with no interference from emotion. They were the first extraterrestrial species in the Star Trek...

, whom he feels have been holding humanity back.

Thirty years later, a Klingon named Klaang crashes in Broken Bow, Oklahoma

Broken Bow, Oklahoma

Broken Bow is a city in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,230 at the 2000 census. It is named after Broken Bow, Nebraska, the former hometown of the city's founders, the Dierks brothers.-History:...

. He dispatches his two Suliban pursuers, but is knocked unconscious by a corn farmer. Captain Jonathan Archer is called to Starfleet Headquarters, where he discusses the matter of Klaang with people including Admiral Forrest, Vulcan ambassador Soval, and Subcommander T'Pol

T'Pol

Commander T'Pol is a fictional character played by Jolene Blalock in Star Trek: Enterprise. She is a Vulcan who serves as the science officer aboard the starship Enterprise.-Concept and creation:...

.

The Klingon is a courier, carrying important information back to the Klingon homeworld, Qo'noS. The Vulcans believe that Klaang should be allowed to die and his corpse delivered to them, per Klingon ideals. After consulting with the Denobulan Doctor Phlox

Phlox (Star Trek)

Phlox is a fictional character in the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, played by John Billingsley.Dr. Phlox is the chief medical officer aboard the starship Enterprise.-Overview:...

, Archer convinces Forrest to allow him to deliver a living Klaang to Qo'noS himself. Archer spends some time assembling the crew, including T'Pol as science officer, and the Enterprise departs.

On a Suliban vessel, Silik, leader of the Suliban Cabal, speaks with a mysterious, nameless Humanoid Figure from their future. The Humanoid Figure orders Silik to recover Klaang.

Archer and Trip Tucker, Archer's best friend and chief engineer, try to acquaint themselves with T'Pol over dinner. Klaang regains consciousness, but the universal translator does not allow the Enterprise′s communications officer, Hoshi Sato

Hoshi Sato

Hoshi Sato , played by Korean American actress Linda Park, is a fictional character in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise....

, to communicate with him effectively. Main power then goes out all over the ship. After a brief scuffle with some camouflaged Suliban, power is restored to the ship, and Klaang is gone. Sato completes a translation of Klaang's speech, and T'Pol reveals that she has been withholding information from the Vulcan investigation, including the fact that Klaang had been on Rigel

Rigel

Rigel is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the sixth brightest star in the sky, with visual magnitude 0.18...

 10.

At the Rigel 10 Trade Complex, Archer, Sato, Tucker, and T'Pol are attacked by Suliban agents, and brought to Sarin. Sarin tells Archer that she gave Klaang a message regarding proof of Suliban involvement in recent attacks on Klingon factions, to be delivered to the High Council. The Suliban are following orders in a Temporal Cold War

Temporal Cold War

The Temporal Cold War is a fictional conflict waged throughout history in the Star Trek universe, predominantly during the 22nd century AD...

. Sarin frees the group, who escape back to the Enterprise.

T'Pol modifies the Enterprise′s sensors to track the Suliban vessel that attacked them. They track it to a gas giant

Gas giant

A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...

. Within the gas giant is the Helix, a Suliban aggregate structure composed of hundreds of Suliban ships. Using the grappler, the Enterprise successfully grabs an attacking Suliban ship, the pilot ejecting. After studying the captured ship and its controls, Archer and Tucker pilot it to the Helix, where they find Klaang. Tucker returns with Klaang to the Enterprise. After a brief physical confrontation between Archer and Silik, Tucker uses the Enterprise′s new transporter

Transporter (Star Trek)

A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern , then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter...

 to beam Archer out of the Helix, and back to the Enterprise.

The Enterprise delivers Klaang to Qo'noS, where Klaang delivers his message to the High Council

Klingon High Council

In the fictional Star Trek universe the Klingon High Council is the supreme ruling body of the Klingon Empire...

. Archer tells Tucker and T'Pol that Starfleet has ordered them to continue their mission and invites T'Pol to stay on as Science Officer. T'Pol agrees to contact her superiors for permission.

Awards

This episode won the 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series. It was also nominated for sound editing and makeup.

External links

• Carey, Diane. Broken Bow - October 2001. ISBN 978-0743448628