Singularity ( episode ) Upon approaching a black hole , the crew starts exhibiting strange behavior and uncharacteristically obsesses over trivial matters . Summary . Act One . The " Enterprise " discovers a class IV black hole , which is unusual because it is part of a trinary star system . It will take two days to reach the system at impulse and Captain Archer decides to set a course . He also asks to fix his chair when he has some free time ; it is uncomfortable because when Archer leans back , he feels like he is sort of sliding out of it . Back in his ready room , T ' Pol informs Archer that Lieutenant Reed has a new security protocol that he wishes to discuss with him . She also informs him that has fallen ill and that Ensign Sato has offered to take charge of the mess hall . Archer informs T ' Pol that he has received a manuscript from Earth – a biography of his father – and that he has been asked to write the preface . He is concerned that he will not get it finished and wonders how he should sum up his father ' s life in one page . In the mess hall , Sato gets ready to prepare one of her grandmother ' s specialties for the crew from scratch , no protein resequencer . In sickbay , Ensign Mayweather complains about a minor headache and Dr . Phlox insists on examining him before he dispenses any medication . While he is at it , he says , he might as well check up on him and see if he has any problems ever since the neural implant s he received at the repair station were removed . On the bridge , Commander Tucker works on the captain ' s chair , with a lot of noise , much to the dismay of T ' Pol who is trying to do some work . Meanwhile , Lt . Reed recommends to Archer implementing a ship - wide emergency alert , something more comprehensive than battle stations . He believes that the crew is taking far too long to react to potential threats . Archer is slightly irritated , stating that this is not a warship , but that he will run this by the senior officer s and will get back to him . During meal time in the mess hall , Lt . Reed continues obsessing about the various ways he can name the new security protocol while an annoyed Tucker is wondering if adding a cup holder to the captain ' s chair might be too much . They continue irritating each other , as each believes that his task is far more relevant than the others . Hoshi Sato gets slightly upset as Lieutenant Reed finds her dish a bit salty , while Dr . Phlox decides to keep Ensign Mayweather overnight for observation for he is convinced that there is something wrong with Mayweather that he must find . Meanwhile , Captain Archer is struggling with the task of writing something about his father for the upcoming biography . He gets especially impatient with Porthos who keeps barking for cheese . Act Two . T ' Pol , who seems to be immune to this , calls Tucker to her quarters , informing him that the trinary system is emitting some unusual radiation which she is trying to identify . But Tucker can ' t believe that she actually dragged him up there to identify radiation . He believes that she is just doing this to get back at him for having made so much noise earlier . He consequently refuses helping her , stating that he has no time to cater to her whims . When she asks him if he is feeling all right , he goes off on the importance of the captain ' s chair and its relevance to the well - being of the ship . All throughout the ship , crewmembers continue experiencing obsessive behavior that keeps escalating . In sickbay , Dr . Phlox wants to perform a cerebral microsection on Mayweather , who is worried about getting a reprimand on his permanent record if he does not get back on the bridge to finish those upgrades . He is even worried about being court - martialed . When he tries to leave , Phlox knocks him out with a hypospray and ties him to the biobed . Lt . Reed plays the various alert signals he has been working on for Tucker , who is diligently working on the captain ' s chair and is getting seriously irritated by Reed . Reed says that he needs Tucker ' s assistance , but Tucker sends him away because he has to work on the chair first . Sato , who has been cooking the same meal over and over again , is once again in the galley adding various spices to her dish and obsessing about the amount of salt in it . As T ' Pol enters the armory , Reed asks her for a clearance code , because supposedly the armory is a restricted area and such a code is required as part of the new security protocol . T ' Pol tells Reed about needing assistance in establishing a sensor interface in her quarters and about Tucker ' s strange behavior and asks him whether he noticed anything , but all Reed cares about is why T ' Pol wanted to access the sensor array from her quarters in the first place . She notices that he is armed as well and finally realizes that there is something more going on here , when Reed threatens to go to Starfleet Command if Archer does not take his proposals seriously . After taking apart the captain ' s chair , Tucker informs Archer that the captain deserves better than sitting on chairs they have been using on warp 2 ships for over a decade . He decides to build him a " throne " and starts taking Archer ' s measurements . While being measured , Archer begins reading what he has been drafting about his father to Tucker . It is nineteen pages long , and Tucker has no interest in listening to it all . Tensions and belligerence among crewmembers increase . T ' Pol asks Sato in the galley for plomeek broth , a seemingly simple request , but she is adamant about perfecting her recipe . Archer comes in just then looking for his lunch , but Sato ignores him as well . T ' Pol watches as Archer tries to prematurely open one of Sato ' s pots and they wrestle with it a bit . Suddenly , an alarm sounds with Reed ' s voice repeating " tactical alert . " He has obviously continued his own pursuits without consulting Archer . Act Three . On the bridge , Reed shakes his head as Archer bursts in . Reed complains about the crew ' s response time , including himself , who he then reprimands his slow response time . Then , Tucker rushes in , dragging away the captain just to show him the extra features on his new chair . Reed is outraged that the tactical alert is being ignored for the chair , stating that this isn ' t a " bloody pleasure cruise . " They become so agitated that Archer has to separate them . He leaves after demanding he not be disturbed unless it ' s a " real " emergency . T ' Pol , who is highly alarmed at the seriousness of the situation tries to talk to the captain about the crew ' s erratic behavior . She suggests declaring a medical emergency and have Dr . Phlox examine the crew , beginning with the captain , but Archer doesn ' t want to listen to it and throws her out of his quarters . She turns to Phlox in sickbay , just in time for him to start exploratory and dangerous surgery on Mayweather to find the cause of his headache . He asks her to join him , but she realizes he has been affected as well and refuses . When he threatens her not to stop him , she subdues him with a Vulcan nerve pinch . As the " Enterprise " approaches the trinary system , crew members begin to fall unconscious one by one until T ' Pol is the only one left awake . T ' Pol rushes to the captain ' s quarters and tries to revive him . She explains to him what is going on , but he is only semi - conscious , so she drags him out and puts him in the shower . She explains to him what the black hole is doing to them and that they need to get out of there as quickly as possible . She explains that they have to pass within two million kilometer s of the black hole and that the course she charted will get them out of the radiation in seventeen minutes . However , given the massive debris field , she needs Archer to pilot the ship while she determines the course corrections . Archer says he ' s in no condition , but T ' Pol says it ' s their only choice . Act Four . The " Enterprise " encounters large debris pieces as Archer pilots with T ' Pol guiding . He makes a few mistakes , but is able to correct for it . Suddenly , a very large asteroid blocks their path which requires phase cannon s . T ' Pol thinks there ' s not enough time , but , to her surprise , the weapons are all online and ready , thanks to Reed ' s recent upgrades . She fires and clears the rocks . Soon , they clear the area and head into open space . Tucker then wakes up , unaware of all that happened . Most of the crew has regained consciousness and is in relatively good health . Sickbay is busy with Phlox now treating the remaining injuries , but nothing major . Even Mayweather ' s headache is gone with relatively little action on Phlox ' part . Later , Archer tells Reed that his new tactical protocols were very useful during their crossing of the debris field and wants to make them standard procedure , only insisting that a better alarm sound be devised . Finally , Archer examines the new chair Tucker prepared for him and realizes that it feels much better and is , in fact , " totally different " . Tucker says he just lowered it by one centimeter . Memorable quotes . " " I thought Vulcans had all this mental focus and discipline . " " " " We also have sensitive hearing . " " " " Keep those target discriminators aligned . We don ' t want a torpedo mistaking one of our own nacelles for an enemy vessel ! " " " " I appreciate your concern Malcolm but this isn ' t a warship . " " " " Well , that ' s obvious , sir . " " " " And Malcolm ? Don ' t call it battle stations . Think of something less aggressive . " " " " Just what the captain needs in a crisis ; a place to rest his beverage ! " " " " Hand me the Kreetassan spice , I ' ll add it to the stock . Oh – and I ' m out of carrots . " " " " There are twenty - five - - " " " CARROTS ! ! " " " With all due respect ensign , you ' ve been cooking the same meal over and over again . " " " " Shut off that damn noise ! " " " " It ' s a " chair " ! " " " " It ' s the " captain ' s " chair . " " " " You ' re lucky you ' re a decent engineer because you obviously don ' t know anything about writing . ' " " " I ' m not the only one ! " " " " You ignored a tactical alert for THIS ? " " " " Give it a rest , will you ! " " " " This isn ' t a bloody pleasure cruise ! Without proper discipline on this ship , this mission is doomed ! " " " " Why don ' t you go play soldiers somewhere else ? ! " " " " If this were a military situation , you ' d be taken out and shot ! " " " " What happened to my chair ? ? ? " " " " Did you know that " this " chair is the " exact " same model used on " Neptune " - class survey ships ? " " " " Is that why you called me down here ? " " " Enterprise " is the first warp five vessel in Human history . The pride of the fleet . And you ' re sitting in a chair they been using on warp two ships for over a decade . You deserve better . So , I ' m starting from scratch . I ' m gonna build you a throne . Stand right there . I need to get a few parametric scans . To get your " exact " dimensions – this baby ' s gonna fit like a glove . " " " " Isn ' t that used for aligning phase coils ? ? " " " " You won ' t feel a thing . " " Links and references . References . analgesic ; Andronesian encephalitis ; ; automatic repair station ; " battle stations " ; beverage ; bib ; biography ; biomolecular scan ; breakfast ; captain ' s chair ; carrot s ; cat ; centimeter ; cerebral micro - section ; ; chemical imbalance ; cflass 4 black hole ; clearance code ; ; coffee ; color ; command packet ; cortical scan ; court martial ; cup holder ; Denobulan ; dizziness ; duty roster ; Earth ; EPS grid ; first officer ; flight school ; flux paradox ; fraternization ; galley ; gravitational shear ; headache ; headrest ; hyperspanner ; iced tea ; impulse manifold ; inertial micro - damper s ; kilometer ; Kreetassan spice ; laser micrometer ; logic ; manuscript ; Mazarite ; mess hall ; millimeter ; Minaran spinach ; mortar and pestle ; narcissism ; navigation sensor ; ; neural implant ; neurotransmitter ; " oden " ; ; paragraph ; parametric scanner ; peach cobbler ; phase coil ; plasma conduit ; " plomeek " broth ; preface ; prefrontal cortex ; protocystian spore ; radiometric analysis ; recipe ; Reed alert ; riot ; Risa ; salt ; sandwich ; Sato ' s grandmother ; serotonin ; sprain ; Starfleet Command ; Suliban ; surgical brace ; tactical alert ; tactical drill ; target discriminator ; Tasaki ; Terrellian plague ; throne ; trinary star system ; Vulcan ; Vulcan database ; Vulcan neck pinch ; Vulcan star charts ; water polo Menu references . Argelian cole slaw ; asparagus ; barbecue ; beef ; bread ; brisket ; cabbage ; Carnegie style cheesecake ; champagne ; cheese ; chocolate ; crêpe ; debris ; filet mignon ; fondue ; French fries ; fried chicken ; garlic bread ; ; DeRosa ; green apple s ; green bean s ; green olive caviar ; green pea s ; grilled alpine surprise ; grilled curled onions ; grilled trout almondine ; grilled vegetable panini ; lamb ; lasagna ; Minaran spinach ; mixed green salad ; noodle kugel ; parietal lobe ; peach cobbler ; " Plomeek " tea ; raspberry sauce ; red apple s ; rice pilaf ; roast duck ; scalloped potatoes ; soy fondue ; steamed rice ; strawberries ; twice - baked potato ; Vietnamese pork