10 Star Trek Episodes That Are Beyond Words
7. The Sound Of Silence
How do you make peace with a species that keeps giving you the silent treatment?
Given Archer's position as Earth's pathfinder in the stars, it's a wonder he didn't have more trouble communicating with new friends and foes. But the Silent Enemy proved to be one of his most challenging first contacts.
An unknown vessel takes interest in the Enterprise, then flies away without responding to Archer's hail...and their return visit isn't any more successful. Archer's greeting is met with deafening silence...until an ear-piercing screech blares over the comm, followed by an unannounced scan of the ship.
Things take a legitimately creepy turn when the aliens get braver, boarding the vessel and stalking the dark corridors before attacking and scanning two crew members. Even when confronted, they remain silent, barely reacting when they're shot.
It spooks Archer enough to finally get the ship's cannons working, and he's forced to use them when the strangers return with a spliced recording of him in the galaxy's worst deepfake, demanding he surrender.
And that's that. The aliens skedaddle pretty sharpish after a couple of shots, and the crew get absolutely no answers.
But it's strangely fitting for Enterprise. No matter how unsettling the encounter is, it's just the tip of the iceberg for what awaits in the final frontier. Not all attempts to offer a hand of friendship will be successful, no matter how much they want to make it work.
There are some things in the great unknown that will remain...well...unknown. For the time being, at least. The important thing was that they tried, even when unnerved...and came out of it mostly unscathed.