Star Trek: 10 Times Captains Lost Control
4. Archer Steals A Warp Coil
Enterprise. Got. Dark.
In several reviews of the show, its relative light nature has been expounded upon. However, as the show sank deeper and deeper into the Xindi Arc, the crew began to face challenges that few of the series had depicted before. Left without a safety net, they were forced to fend very much for themselves.
In the episode Damage, Archer struggles hard with the decision to do what is necessary to save his crew. There are echoes of Captain Random here, certainly allowing the audience to have a deeper understanding of the other captain.
Archer sends an armed away team to steal the warp coil of an alien vessel they encounter. This is so far removed from everything that Starfleet stands for that it is something that tests the man to his core. He asks Phlox how he has dealt with crisis of ethics and conscience before. Phlox tells him to do what he thinks is right.
In this case, to be wrong is to be right. There is no question of Enterprise abandoning her search for the Xindi, yet doing so will condemn these kind aliens who offered everything but the warp coil as aid. Archer informs Phlox that there may be more casualties coming his way. Though Phlox, at this point, does not know why, he says that he will be ready.
The two men share a moment and Archer sinks further into this hell he finds himself in, desperate to do anything to save humanity, at the cost of his soul.