Talk:The Expanse (episode)

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T: The Expanse
A: ENT	N: 2x26	P: 40358-052	C: 680	CP: 51	CR: 51	CT: 51	D: 21	M: May	Y: 2003

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Woman from deleted scene

Does anybody recognize the woman in the first deleted scene on the DVD ? She has a British accent, and I remember her from somewhere but I can't think where. Alex Peckover 18:19, 12 Jul 2005 (UTC)

Never mind, it's Serena Scott Thomas, sister of the somewhat more famous Kristin. It was Buffy the Vampire Slayer I recognized her from. Alex Peckover 18:35, 12 Jul 2005 (UTC)

Klingon officers

Does anyone have a copy of, or access to, the novelization of this episode? It would be interesting to know how that book describes the Klingons on the bridge of Duras' ship, particularly the officer who stands behind the command chair, and how it names them. --Defiant | Talk 12:55, 30 Aug 2005 (UTC)

Nitpicks

• This episode features huge gaps in time that go unaccounted for. The first gap occurs during the crew's voyage home from deep space, a journey that seems to have taken months. The next occurs during the six week trip between Earth and the expanse.

• While T'Pol resigns from her position, she continues to wear her Vulcan uniform throughout the six week journey to the expanse, but is seen wearing civillian clothing throughout the next season.

• Minor modifications made to the bridge (a new monitor above the dedication plaque and new computer systems replacing air vents above the science and tactical stations), apparently while the ship was back at Earth, do not appear until the following season.

• Despite a brief mention of new non-Starfleet officers being assigned to the mission, none of these characters are introduced in this episode.

• The patch worn by Captain Ramirez does not match the Intrepid uniform patch initially established in "Silent Enemy".

Removed per conversation on Memory Alpha:Ten Forward; episode pages are not intended for reviews or critiques. --Alan del Beccio 13:31, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

• There is a major blunder in this episode. Trip Tucker had previously stated (Episode 117 "Fusion") that he was from Panama City, Florida. The Xindi weapon was fired at southern Florida, while Panama City is located in the northern panhandle. There has not been an explanation for this error.

The very definition of a nitpick. - Archduk3 07:28, January 26, 2012 (UTC)

Intrepid Patch

The patch worn by Captain Ramirez does not match the Intrepid uniform patch initially established in "Silent Enemy".

I take it that this refers to the one worn by Mark Latrelle, Malcolm's friend seen on said episode? I don't remember it ever being stated that he was stationed on the Intrepid. Did it establish this in the episode or not? --Mada101 23:16, 3 Jan 2006 (UTC)

It was never established in that episode where he was serving. --Alan del Beccio 13:31, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Geography Gaffe

I'm from Florida, and I have a pretty good idea where Panama City (Where Trip was said to have grown up) is. In this episode, big giant swath the Xindi cut down from Florida to Venezuela starts a little above Lake Okeechobee (that huge lake down near the tip of the peninsula). Trip's sister is killed. When they first said Trip's sister was dead I figured she'd moved down there from Panama City, which is in the panhandle, really really far from where the swath cut. But then Trip goes down to look at the destruction and says it's his hometown...which has been established as Panama City...which would've been well clear of the destruction...so what the heck? – The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.119.164.149.

The whole thing's quite vague. Visual evidence on the Enterprise viewscreen doesn't give a clear start point for the "swath". Fairly heavy cloud coverage and clipped camera framing never gives us a clear image of the panhandle. The swatth could have gone NW fo the part we do see clearly.

Also, Trip's sister is not explicitly stated to live in Panama City as an adult. Her episode-current home isn't revealed, but she is described as being an architect who travels a lot. I would tend to think she's based in a bigger city—perhaps Miami.

And Trip doesn't actually say it's his hometown that he and Reed are viewing. All he mentions is "the house" being close by and an old movie theatre he and his sister used to go to "as kids". Now, were this our century, I'd say that these lines would probably make it Panama City, but Trip and Elzabeth lived in a time where travel isn't the barrier it is today. They could've easily had a favorite movie theatre in a part of Florida we would today consider to be relatively remote to Panama City.

Another point to consider is that this episode establishes Elizabeth as the "baby sister". We don't know what the age gap was. All we can say is that they were close enough in age that Trip could stare down "all the boys her class" if they got too close to his sister. Does this mean they were separated by only a few years, that they went to high school together? Or does it mean that he was a senior at university while she was a freshman in high school? The likeihood is that they were no more than four years apart, but even so, there was perhaps enough of an age gap for him to consider himself to have been raised in Panama City before the family moved further south. Many people who move during their teenage years can speak of two places as their "home town".

Finally, one more small point: it's hard to believe from the matte painting that they are in Panama City. For one thing, the height and type of palm tree in the shots is inconsistent with the panhandle. For another, the lack of ocean in the 180-degree shot is a little weird. It's hard to imagine such a sweeping shot missing the ocean if they actually were in the flat, coastal town. CzechOut ☎ | ✍ 14:49, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm also a native Floridian and watched the intro several times (hey, how many times does my home state get a role in my favorite show?). The particle beam clearly starts just west of Lake Okeechobee and then proceeds south. Proceeding in a straight line, Panama City is nearly 400 miles northwest from the northernmost impact area. Additionally, when Trip and Reed are standing next to the area that was hit, Trip points out the movie theater that he used to take his sister to - which according to his article on this wiki, was in his hometown. On the other hand, in the episode "Precious Cargo", Trip notes that he "grew up in a place like this" (a jungle) that was near the Everglades. I suppose we can patch this up by saying he obviously moved at some point. The writers should pay more attention to geography; people will notice. Also, my grandfather is from one of the towns near the fictional Carbon Creek from that episode, and I've been there as well...but that's another discussion. --Koriko 00:18, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually, you know...if you look at the picture closely, you can see the trench running the curve of Florida. Even though the episode doesn't show it, the weapon apparently hit the entire length of the state, so it could have whacked Panama City as well. --Koriko 00:27, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Here is what I posted in the main article that was deleted by a mod as speculation... I forgot to check here, my apologies...

The Xindi Weapon appears to strike Florida somewhere between Sebring and Lake Placid. It then travels south, entering the sea just West of Homestead and Key Largo. It traveled south across the middle of Cuba crossing somewhere near Santa Clara. If it continued on its path, it would have hit the South American continent in Colombia somewhere near Cartagena. In order to hit Venezuela as is stated in the episode, it would have had to alter course to the east by several hundred miles. That is of course assuming that national borders are the same as were in the 20th century and didn't drastically change due to the multiple wars since. The quoted distance of over 4000km would indicate that the weapon struck much farther north, putting it near the north end of Florida and much closer to Tucker's home town of Panama City.

I might also add, that if it had shifted toward what is currently Venezuela, It would have been almost impossible for it to miss Miami and the casualty numbers of 7 million would be way too low. - Mekender 28 May 2009

Yeah, it's either a goof or the weapon decided at some point to cut across...we don't know that's why it was removed as speculation. As you can see here in this entire talk page - everyone noticed it :) — Morder 11:18, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Flooding?

Overview

The path the Xindi cut into Florida should have been flooded since it would naturally be way below sea level. But I don't think it was, was it? Shouldn't there now be a giant 'river' running from Florida to Venezuela? Also, in the orbital picture of the destruction you can clearly see where the path was cut into the ocean. Shouldn't it have filled in with water by then? It should not have been visible. Da Cheez 20:17, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, you'd think that, but I believe the image I posted above is the only shot we got of the whole scene of destruction and it's much to small to see if there was flooding. Otherwise, referring to the scene where Trip and Malcolm were standing, they may have been far enough inland that the water never reached their position or was stopped by an advanced 22nd century levee system we are not familiar with. --Alan 22:19, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

By the time Enterprise got there, they probably pumped the water out and sealed up the breach; you can't leave stagnant water sitting around in a tropical environment, or it will cause disease. On the other hand, a trench that deep would have caused groundwater to appear below 6 feet. The path in the ocean may have been visible if it cut into the sea floor; it may have been a different color from the rest of it.--Koriko 00:22, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Clearly not Venezuela

The orbital images of the swath indicate a strait line from the Florida Panhandle to South-Central America. The damaged part of Central America lies in Panama. Venezuela doesn't even boarder Central America, let alone incur into it. The possibility that the missing section of Panama could be an expanded Panama canal occurred to me, but the Panama canal lies west of the hump of Panama, not east, as depicted in the orbital image. Also, the alignment of the missing section of Panama with the swath cut in Florida makes this an unlikely explanation. The only conceivable explanation for the discrepancy that I could think of would be that the boarders of Venezuela may have expanded before the abolition of war and thus the characters would colloquially refer to the entire region as Venezuela. -Orionriver Oct 13 2008 04:00 PST

Removed

• Archer's last line: "Let's see what's in there," is similar to Picard's final line from "Encounter at Farpoint": “Let’s see what’s out there.”

Needs a citation as deliberate.--31dot 10:49, March 17, 2011 (UTC)

Deleted scenes needs to be rewritten

The grammar in the deleted scenes section of this article is pretty poor. I would rewrite it, but I don't have access to the DVDs and don't want to make a mistake. Anyone out there have access to the DVDs and care to take a crack at a rewrite? --Rseanes 23:29, May 30, 2011 (UTC)

I don't have the DVDs at the moment (can't find my Star Trek DVDs at the moment), but I fixed up the grammar some based on what is written. I'd still leave the attention note because something could be wrong, but at least it reads a little better. Maestro4k 01:58, June 22, 2011 (UTC)