Home ( episode ) Once " Enterprise " finally returns to Earth , the weary crew face repercussions from their journeys , both positive and negative . Summary . Teaser . Carrying the senior officer s of the , a swoops down from orbit to the Bay Stadium , overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge . A ceremony celebrating " Enterprise " s success in the Delphic Expanse pays tribute to the heroic crew , although Captain Jonathan Archer says in a speech that it ' s important to remember the heroes who didn ' t make it back , the 27 crewmates who died on the mission without whom none of them would have made it home alive . A crowd of thousands gratefully applauds their efforts which saved Earth from the Xindi weapon . Act One . Archer , dressed in civilian clothes , walks into a bar and meets up with Erika Hernandez . She is not only Archer ' s former love interest , she is also a Starfleet captain , preparing to command the upcoming . The two discuss the upcoming debriefing and how the people of Earth have been waiting at knife - point for the last year , not knowing if the Xindi would return and succeed in destroying the planet . On " Enterprise " , which is undergoing an extensive repair and refit , Commander enters T ' Pol ' s quarters and mulls his options for shore leave – with his hometown in Florida destroyed , he has nowhere to go . T ' Pol invites him to join her on a trip to , which she hasn ' t visited in many years ; Tucker accepts , leaving to pack his bags . Archer visits Hernandez aboard " Columbia " , still being prepared for its maiden voyage . He recommends she make several changes to the ship before leaving , based on his starship experience . Archer notes the ship ' s new weapon s upgrades , recalling how he once naively opposed weapons on " Enterprise " to the designer of the , Captain Jefferies , as they might deter from any first contact missions . As Archer is debriefed by Starfleet Command and the Vulcan High Command , the topic drifts to the trellium - infected Vulcan ship " Seleya " encountered by " Enterprise " in the Expanse . When Ambassador Soval insinuates that Archer destroyed the vessel without doing enough to help the delusional crew , Archer becomes outraged , blaming the High Command for not providing enough assistance in their mission , saying that he received more help from the Andorian s than from the Vulcans . Admiral Forrest later chews Archer out for his behavior , and the captain refuses to apologize . Forrest suspends the debriefing and forcefully orders Archer to take some time off to clear his mind . Back on " Enterprise " , Doctor Phlox , toting a large array of travel bags for his vacation on Earth , is warned by Lieutenant Malcolm Reed about the heightened level of xenophobia on Earth in the aftermath of the Xindi attack ; Phlox dismisses the warnings and continues to the surface . In a beautiful wilderness retreat , as Archer prepares to go rock climbing , Captain Hernandez suddenly appears , offering to join him , to Archer ' s chagrin . Act Two . Arriving on Vulcan , T ' Pol leads Tucker into the house where she grew up . Her mother T ' Les greets them , surprised to see that T ' Pol has brought a guest – a Human guest , moreover . She informs T ' Pol that she has " retired " from her teaching position at the Science Academy . She also shows T ' Pol a letter from Koss , T ' Pol ' s fiancée since childhood ; however , much to her mother ' s chagrin , T ' Pol expresses no interest in seeing Koss . High up in the hills , Archer and Hernandez discuss his new hero status , Starfleet politics , personnel issues , and encounters made by " Enterprise " in the past three years . Herself eager to explore the galaxy , Hernandez finds Archer a significantly changed man , not as " gung ho " about space exploration as he once was . Early the next morning , T ' Pol awakens Tucker at four o ' clock so that they , as guests in the household , can prepare the morning meal ( another Vulcan tradition ) . While eating , T ' Les is unhappy with many of the changes she notices in her daughter , such as T ' Pol ' s unwillingness to marry Koss as well as her plans to join Starfleet . In a bar on Earth , crewmates Reed , Ensign Travis Mayweather and Phlox enjoy their new - found celebrity , until they are confronted by a nasty bar patron exhibiting the very xenophobia they had heard of . When the man strongly urges Phlox to leave the establishment , Reed and Mayweather come to their friend ' s defense ; a brawl ensues . During the fight , Phlox expands his face to three times its normal size , an instinctive defensive posture ( much like a puffer fish in Earth ' s seas ) , scaring away the troublemakers . Afterward , Phlox calmly munches on a pretzel . Act Three . T ' Les confronts Tucker about being in love with her daughter , a point he reluctantly concedes . As he adjusts a field generator to fix T ' Les ' Stasis box , Tucker answers a knock on the front door ; it is Koss , asking to speak to T ' Pol . When alone with T ' Pol , Koss expresses his interest in going forward with the marriage , for traditional reasons more than anything else . T ' Pol tries desperately to dissuade him , hinting at her " sickness " ( either Pa ' nar Syndrome or trellium poisoning ) , even suggesting the " kal - if - fee " , a fight to the death – to no avail . Koss tells T ' Pol that if she goes forward with their marriage , he will have T ' Les reinstated at the Science Academy , hinting that her retirement wasn ' t voluntary . When T ' Pol asks her mother about the circumstances of her retirement , T ' Les reveals that she retired to halt an inquiry into her alleged criminal behavior ; the trumped up charges were retribution for T ' Pol ' s actions which partially led to P ' Jem ' s destruction . Since T ' Pol was aboard " Enterprise " and untouchable , the Vulcan High Command punished her mother instead . Back in the mountains , Archer has a frightening dream , in which he is attacked on the mountainside by Xindi - Reptilian s and is thrown off the mountain by them . Awakening with a start , he admits his guilt over some of his actions while in the Expanse and feels like he lost something , no longer feeling like the explorer he was three years ago when " Enterprise " first launched . Hernandez offers to help , kiss ing Archer , and rekindling their romance . Act Four . T ' Pol gives Tucker a tour of a Vulcan lava field , which resembles Earth ' s Grand Canyon , yet with giant statues ringing the valley . Tucker offers to show her sights of Earth to return the favor . Afterwards , she tells him of her plans to go forward with the marriage to Koss in order to restore her mother ' s position ; Tucker angrily storms off . Back on " Enterprise " , Phlox informs Hoshi Sato that the Xindi neural parasite s that Dolim injected her with are almost completely gone from her brain . To celebrate , she invites him to Madame Chang ' s for their famous egg drop soup , but he pretends to be too busy caring for an ailing osmotic eel . Having spoken to Mayweather about the bar fight , she knows the true cause of his reluctance to return to the planet ' s surface . She urges him to stand up to the prejudice ; when he sadly declines to join her , she promises to bring him take - out . Once Archer and Hernandez return from their climbing trip , Archer continues the debriefing at Starfleet Headquarters . After it is concluded , he apologizes to Soval for his prior outburst . Soval , who opposed Archer ' s appointment to " Enterprise " , now acknowledges that he was in error ; while some of the captain ' s actions were morally questionable , he argues , they were necessary to save Earth , as well as Vulcan . Remarkably out of character ( for a Vulcan ) , Soval " thanks " Archer , shaking his hand in friendship . Tucker has donned T ' Pol ' s father ' s Vulcan attire for the wedding ceremony . At the last minute , T ' Les urges Tucker to divulge his true feelings to her daughter ; Tucker declines , reasoning that T ' Pol already has enough pressure on her as it is . Stunned at his selflessness ( which reveals the depth of his love ) , T ' Les walks away , wondering herself if T ' Pol is really doing the right thing or not . Arriving at the ceremony , Tucker compliments T ' Pol on her beautiful purple wedding gown ; kissing him delicately on the cheek , she proceeds to the ceremony , as Tucker stands near , quietly and regretfully watching the wedding . Memorable quotes . " " I ' ve been told that people are calling us heroes . When it comes to my crew , you won ' t get any argument from me . But I think it ' s important that we remember the heroes who aren ' t with us – the twenty - seven crewmen who didn ' t make it back . Without their sacrifice , I wouldn ' t be standing here right now . None of us would . But I ' m sure I speak on behalf of my entire crew when I say . . . it ' s good to be home . " " " " I had an argument once with Captain Jefferies . He was one of the designers of the NX - class . " " " " I ' m aware of that . " " " " I told him I didn ' t want to be in command of a warship trying to make first contact with new species . Jefferies was right . We needed those weapons . . . and a hell of a lot more . " " " " You did everything you could to sabotage our mission . I got more help from the Andorians than I ever got from the High Command . This planet would be a cloud of dust right now if we ' d listened to you ! " " " " There ' s more to life than one ' s profession . Perhaps you ' ll learn that one day . " " " " Things have changed since " Enterprise " left spacedock . You ' ll spend a lot of your time boldly going into battle . " " " " If we weren ' t out there stirring up trouble , seven million people might still be alive . " " " " You weren ' t stirring up trouble . You were exploring . " " " " I ' m not sure there ' s much of a difference . " " " " What do you suggest ? Put our starships in mothballs ? " " " " No , we need them . But look at the Vulcans . They ' re not explorers . They keep their ships close to home . Never know who ' s going to come calling . " " " " That ' s not the mission either one of us signed up for . " " " " Maybe you ' ll feel differently after you ' ve delivered a few dozen eulogies . " " " " Are you all right ? " " " " I ' m not even sure what ' all right ' means anymore . " " " " I look at you and I see the person I was three years ago – the explorer that my father wanted me to be . I lost something out there . I don ' t know how to get it back . " " " " I ' m sorry . " " " " You ' re sorry ? You brought me sixteen light years just to watch you get married to someone you barely know . " " " " Ambassador . . . I want to apologize for what I said to you the other day . I was out of line . " " " " Yes , you were . " " " " I ' m glad we can finally agree on something . " " " " Captain . . . your actions , while being morally questionable , were necessary . I opposed your appointment as captain of " Enterprise " , but it ' s obvious now that I was wrong . T ' Pol has told me that the Expanse would have someday encompassed hundreds of systems , including Vulcan . You ' ve done a great service for both our worlds . Thank you . " " " " What ye are about to witness comes down from the time of the beginning without change . This is the Vulcan heart . This is the Vulcan soul . This is our way . " " Links and references . References . alcohol ; alloy ; Andorian ; Archer IV ; ; asteroid ; auxiliary control room ; Bay Stadium ; captain ' s chair ; ; ; Delphic Expanse ; Earth Starfleet ; egg drop soup ; EPS junction ; Erika Hernandez ' s brother ; Erika Hernandez ' s father ; eulogy ; field generator ; Fire Plains ; first contact ; First Minister ; food synthesizer ; " gespar " ; Golden Gate Bridge ; high school ; hull polarization ; ; " kal - if - fee " ; kitchen ; kitchen appliance ; lumbar support ; MACO ; Madame Chang ' s ; Medals and awards ; mothball ; Mount Tar ' Hana ; mountain lion ; Nah ' ru vine ; nest ; neural pathway ; North America ; ; ore ; osmotic eel ; P ' Jem ; P ' Jem monastery ; Polaris ; prejudice ; pretzel ; psychotropic compound ; pulsed phase cannon ; reactor breach ; refit ; Rigelian ; scotch ; " Seleya " ; senior administrator ; senior officer ; squad ; spatial anomaly ; Starfleet Command Council ; stasis unit ; toast ; trellium ; ; volcano ; Vulcan s ; Vulcan ( planet ) ; Vulcan Consulate ; Vulcan High Command ; Vulcan Security Ministry ; Vulcan Science Academy ; World War III ; xenophobia ; Xindi ; Xindi incident ; Xindi - Reptilian ; warship