1.24 "Desert Crossing" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Clancy Brown

Clancy Brown's first movie role came with 1983's "Bad Boys", and he has been a prolific actor (and voice actor) since that time. His most prominent roles have been as the evil Kurgan in "Highlander" (1986), the hardnosed Captain Hadley in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), and the tough Sgt. Zim in "Starship Troopers" (1997). As a voice actor, his most recognizable role would have to be as Mr. Krabs from the "Spongebob Squarepants" franchise.

As Zobral, Clancy Brown's resonant voice fits perfectly as the affable freedom fighter, and he comes across as a true 'manly' man.

Answer: The Cygniai Expanse

As the one who effected the repairs on Zobral's ship, Commander Tucker is invited along with the captain to be hosted at Zobral's encampment in the Cygniai Expanse. At first, Trip doesn't want to go, especially given his less-than-enjoyable experience with survival training in the Australian outback, but Archer manages to wear him down and convince him to come along.

Captain Jonathan Archer was portrayed by Scott Bakula, while Connor Trinneer played the part of Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III.

Answer: Geskana

Geskana is a very similar game to lacrosse, excepting that it is played in sand, is a full-contact sport, and rather than try to get the ball past a goalkeeper, it must be thrown through a small circle in a big brass disc.

Captain Archer comes very close to scoring, but just misses the mark, and both he and Trip get a good (rough) workout in the process.

Answer: Freeing of Suliban prisoners (Episode 1.21 "Detained")

Zobral's telling of the captain's exploits in freeing the Suliban detainees from the Tandarans was exaggerated, with hundreds freed becoming thousands, and a great battle being fought when there never really was a battle.

The distress call had, in fact, been staged so that Zobral could meet Captain Archer and so that he could seek his aid in his fight against the Torothan government. When he learns of this deception, Archer is less than pleased, but he still gives Zobral the opportunity to explain himself.

Answer: Torothan cruisers bomb the encampment

When the Torothan bombers and artillery start their barrage, Zobral insists on keeping his guests safe, and has them hide in a bunker below his dwelling. Not long after, however, the dwelling above them receives a direct strike. Archer and Tucker emerge from the bunker to find nothing but debris all around.

Heeding Zobral's advice to not use the shuttlepod (making for an easy target), the two officers just grab some supplies and strike out into the desert to get away from the shelling.

Answer: 30 kilometers

Watching the show, it seems unrealistic that Archer and Tucker are able to manage a 30-kilometer trek through deep sand in the space of one day, and with only one canteen of water each. But, our intrepid officers are able to do so, arriving to the abandoned encampment in the dark.

Answer: True

When a Torothan patrol ship searches the area, Tucker and Archer bury themselves in the sand to escape notice. Soon after, Tucker begins to suffer from heat exhaustion, and no longer has any water in his canteen. Captain Archer must order him to drink from his own canteen, but even that is not enough to stave off the effects of heat exhaustion.

Answer: True

There is water in a basin, but it is not in drinkable condition until Captain Archer boils it, using his phase pistol to start a fire. Despite the horrid taste, the water is essential for them both, as the trek through the desert has severely dehydrated them, and Tucker is now showing the signs of heat stroke.

Answer: Geography

Trip is quite delirious after their trek, and Archer tries to keep him awake by engaging his brain. At first, he tries to get Tucker to name the eight major components of the warp reactor, but Tucker just replies with, "Well... there's the drumsticks... thighs... wings... you got anything to eat around here?" Archer goes with it and gets Tucker to describe what Chef can make for them when they get back to the ship.

After boiling the water, the captain tries to play a game of 'Geography', where the first player names a place, then the next player must name a new place that begins with the last letter of that place. Archer begins by naming 'Rhode Island', but then Tucker says, 'Draylax', leaving Archer with a difficult task. He comes up with 'Xanadu', and Tucker argues that it doesn't count, as it's not a real place.

Answer: An orbital detection grid

Signal jamming and a planet-wide detection grid prevents the crew of the Enterprise from mounting a rescue, but then Zobral arrives, having successfully made it through the grid undetected.

Sub-Commander T'Pol and Lt. Reed insist on Zobral's aid in finding their way through the grid, and they make it through in time to see a Torothan bombardment underway. When Zobral states that he has nobody in that region, Reed realizes that they have found the location of Tucker and Archer.

Afterwards, T'Pol and Archer discuss the difficulties of getting involved in the conflicts of other worlds, and while Archer agrees, he also believes that Zobral's cause was just, and deserved to be fought for.

Jolene Blalock played Sub-Commander T'Pol, while Dominic Keating was Lieutenant Malcolm Reed.