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The Enterprise and its crew run into a familiar face in the “Proving Ground” of the Delphic Expanse. Archer’s old frenemy Shran appears and tells the crew that he’s here to help destroy the Xindi superweapon. But can Archer trust the Andorian? Is the situation desperate enough with the Xindi running a test of their weapon? Or does Archer need to stay on his toes and learn to trust no one?
The Wikipedia plot summary for “Proving Ground”:
Enterprise, despite losing most of its map data, continues to traverse a series of spatial anomalies in the Delphic Expanse. When heavily damaged by a particularly dangerous vortex, Enterprise is suddenly pulled clear by an Andorian ship. The ship’s captain, Shran, claims he is only interested in helping Enterprise in its mission to subvert the Xindi’s weapon, in the interest of forming a closer alliance with humanity.
Suspicious of the Andorian’s true motives, Captain Archer nonetheless agrees to allow them to work with his crew to repair the ship and to scan the test-site of the Xindi prototype weapon.
Shran permits Archer to command his crew in capturing the weapon. With Enterprise distracting the Xindi, the Andorian vessel grabs the weapon and stores it aboard. The Andorians actually want the weapon to give them an advantage in their conflict with the Vulcans. Archer is ejected in an escape-pod.
Back aboard Enterprise, he threatens to detonate the weapon unless the Andorians surrender it. Shran believes this ultimatum to be a bluff, but when Archer activates the detonation sequence, he reluctantly ejects it. The weapon explodes, damaging the Andorian ship but leaving Enterprise unscathed.
They receive a secret transmission from the Andorians, containing detailed scans of the prototype. Archer is pleased and orders it transmitted to Starfleet, and invites Trip and T’Pol to his quarters to try some Andorian Ale.
In this episode of the podcast, Wes and Clay discuss “Proving Ground” and the benefit of characterization. Plus! The guys chat about getting to know the Xindi, ways the show could have developed the Andorians and Vulcans, and showing respect to the Andorian Mining Consortium.