The 41st episode of the Star Trek prequel spinoff Enterprise premieres on UPN. This is the first episode of any Star Trek series since the original 1960s series to featuree the Tholians. 
The Enterprise encounters a derelict ship of unknown design and origin – and its single occupant, though dead, reveals a number of surprises. Dr. Phlox determines that the pilot of the charred ship has human, Vulcan, Rigellian and Terellian DNA (among other species), apparently through natural breeding and not genetic engineering. Trip and Malcolm Reed scour the interior of the ship for clues, and discover a hatchway the leads to the lower decks of the capsule…even though it isn’t big enough to have those decks. They discover a data module in the dimensionally-impossible bowels of the ship, and moments later a Suliban ship appears, its commander demanding to take possession of the derelict from Archer. Archer refuses the request and bluffs his way out of the encounter, and the Suliban retreats to gather reinforcements. Not long afterward, another ship appears, its occupants identifying themselves as the Tholians. They too want the mysterious vessel, and they will let nothing stand in their way – not the Enterprise, not Archer, and not even an entire fleet of Suliban warships.
written by Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong
directed by James Whitmore Jr.
music by Dennis McCarthyCast: Scott Bakula (Captain Jonathan Archer), Jolene Blalock (Subcommander T’Pol), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), Dominic Keating (Lt. Malcolm Reed), Anthony Montgomery (Ensign Travis Mayweather), Linda Park (Ensign Hoshi Sato), Connor Trinneer (Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker III), Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Forrest), Cullen Douglas (Suliban Soldier)
Notes: This episode’s original title, Crash Landing, was hastily changed after the tragic loss of the space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003. Despite that event, images of the shuttle lifting off remained in the series’ main titles. This episode also marks the first appearance (though not the first mention) of the Tholians since the third season of the original Star Trek in The Tholian Web.
LogBook entry by Earl Green