It had an average of 3.4 million viewers. According to Nielsen Media Research, it received a 2.2/3 rating share among adults. Proving Ground first aired in the United States on UPN on January 21, 2004. The episode is directed by veteran Star Trek franchise television director David Livingston, who directed over 60 episodes of Star Trek in this period. Combs and the puppeteer discussed the scenes in advance so they could work in tandem, 'we have created, slowly, this little bit of language,' which can reflect the character's mood, speech, and actions. Shran's antennae are prosthetics that are moved by remote control. Producer Manny Coto said he hoped to make Combs a regular on the show, had the series been renewed for a fifth season. Archer is pleased and orders it transmitted to Starfleet, and invites Trip and T'Pol to his quarters to try some Andorian Ale.Ĭombs had previously made guest appearances in both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. They receive a secret transmission from the Andorians, containing detailed scans of the prototype. The weapon explodes, damaging the Andorian ship but leaving Enterprise unscathed. Shran believes this ultimatum to be a bluff, but when Archer activates the detonation sequence, he reluctantly ejects it. Archer is ejected in an escape-pod.īack aboard Enterprise, he threatens to detonate the weapon unless the Andorians surrender it. The Andorians actually want the weapon to give them an advantage in their conflict with the Vulcans. With Enterprise distracting the Xindi, the Andorian vessel grabs the weapon and stores it aboard. Shran permits Archer to command his crew in capturing the weapon. 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. 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. When heavily damaged by a particularly dangerous vortex, Enterprise is suddenly pulled clear by an Andorian ship. PlotĮnterprise, despite losing most of its map data, continues to traverse a series of spatial anomalies in the Delphic Expanse. Archer and a recurring character, the Andorian Captain Shran, take on the Xindi in an uncertain alliance. The episode continues the Xindi story arc, opening with a montage of scenes from previous shows.

This is a science fiction episode about a spaceship dealing with an attack on Earth by aliens in the 22nd century.

It's the sixty-fifth episode of the series, first airing on January 21, 2004.

' Proving Ground' is the thirteenth episode from the third season of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.

Star trek enterprise proving ground