# Enterprise Cease Fire spoilers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 12, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480 "2003-02-12T00:44:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/41 "2003-02-13T05:58:26Z")

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the St. Louis shows had credits over a starfield above the top fourth of planet earth. This was usually squeezed to the bottom half of the screen and commercials were put up top. San Fran just does the credits in orange field while commericals run.  
And why didn’t we see the Tholians in the preview!! i don’t want to wait!!! Wahhh!!!

(BTW, Tubbs from Miami Vice is supposed to be in the Travis one)

Oh, and i liked this one.

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**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/42 "2003-02-13T06:37:01Z")

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'Kay, so I watched the show this week. I don’t that often, ‘cause I think it’s not that good, and it wasn’t that good again this week (although the blue girl was kind of hot)…But if I watch it then I can participate in a thread with **Kn** (secret crush) **ckers** , who I think is frickin’ hilarious…

Anyhoo, am I right in thinking the guy who played the Andorian commander is the same guy who played Weyune in DS9?

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**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/43 "2003-02-13T07:06:21Z")

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**Ferrous:** Yes, that was Jeffrey Combs. You would also have seen him in **Reanimator.** I loved his toast to “mutal dissatisfaction” at the end of the show.

**carni** : I believe that was Admiral Forrest.

I liked this one…Does this mean the “writers” are finally starting to come out of their very long slump? We can only hope…

It also resonated with me because I just came off of a year of negotiations with people I was ready to strangle who were a lot like the Vulcans apparently had been, according to the Bluies. We were all pinkskins, though, not just our mediator. 😉

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**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/44 "2003-02-13T07:08:15Z")

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I just consulted Jeffrey Combs’s filmography. He has played no fewer than _five_ Star Trek roles (and five species, all non-human) in _three_ series:

“Tiron” (a Meridian) and “Weyoun” (a Vorta) in _DS9_.  
“Penk” (some Delta-quadrant alien) in _Voyager_.  
“Shran” (the Andorian commander) and “Krem” (a Ferengi) in _Enterprise_.

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**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/45 "2003-02-13T07:51:41Z")

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Bakula’s more bearable when he doesn’t have his shirt on. Speaking of whom…Anyone catch the **Enterprise** reference on **Buffy** the other night?

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**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/46 "2003-02-13T12:04:42Z")

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Leave it to Trip to bring up his “fireproof” underpants at breakfast. Like T’Pol would blurt out “This I gotta see!” and throw him to the floor, tear off his clothes and hold a candle to his underpants-clad buttocks… Hmmm… No. That could NEVER happen.

Although when he was sitting on the bridge being all Capt. Kirk-y, he was favoring one cheek, sitting all crooked in the Big Chair (no cupholders)… And did you notice in the one shot of Hoshi, he cheeks were kinda flushed…  
-Rue.

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**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/47 "2003-02-13T13:28:58Z")

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Finally a Vulcan acting in a familar Vulcan way. The Ambassadors final line “You weren’t very Meddlesome,” as a compliment brought me back to the good ole days. Unfortunately it is such a jarring reminder of how bad the writers have been on Vulcan Characters in this series.

The Andoruians are a great race and most of it is Coombs portraial. Only he can get away with the “Pink Skin” lines… though you wonder what he’d call Travis.

Mind you that could lead to actual lines

“Hello Brown Skin…”

“Say What?? You’d better take that back or I’ll bust a phaser in your ass!”

Sorry dopey moment there.

t is episodes like this that make for a stronger series. While not perfect it fits well within the accepted cannon and gives a better picture of the Federation’s formation. The Characters behave in a believable way and it makes sense that teh Human’s are the ones to bring together the races as they themselves have (supposedly) learned to deal with diversity on their own planet.  
Cheers… lets hope they keep on track now that they are back on it.

Oh yes one more thing, if Archer is going around single handedly forming this federation why doesn’t San Fransisco Have a Giant Statue of him?

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**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/48 "2003-02-13T13:32:15Z")

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I think Jeffrey Coombs plays one of the Suliban, doesn’t he?

I was also pleased to see Suzie Plakson again. She was Kehlar (Worf’s mate), she played a Vulcan doctor on a ST:NG episode (the one where the scientist dies and implants his memories into Data) and she played the female Q in Voyager (she and Q had a baby together to stop a Q Civil War.)

I did like Trip’s line about the flame-proof underwear…and T’Pal admitting she respects Archer. Archer’s little exposition while he was being “bombarded” by the doctor was a little hard to watch…shades of Shatner acting, I think.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/49 "2003-02-13T13:32:59Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Rue DeDay \*  
> \*\*  
> sitting all crooked in the Big Chair_\*

Dog spit. Same problem with Mrs. Plants canine and my couch.

Balance: Travis? Who’s that?

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/50 "2003-02-13T13:45:55Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by kingpengvin \*  
> \*\*Oh yes one more thing, if Archer is going around single handedly forming this federation why doesn’t San Fransisco Have a Giant Statue of him? \*\*

They named a ship after him in “Nemesis”.

Maybe the statue was destroyed when the Shape Shifters attacked San Francisco in DS 9 ^:)^

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**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/51 "2003-02-13T13:52:29Z")

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Travis, you know, _Travis._ Don’t you pay any attention **carni**? Everytime Mayweather gets introduced to anyone, he always says “Please, call me Travis.” Of course this is easy to miss since right after they show him, the camera pans right away or he gets dropped into a Jefferies tube or someone just tells him to “shut the hell up you big whiney blabbermouth!”

And that one time he was in the mess hall, he brought his own lunch. It was in a brown paper bag with “Travis” on the front in green marker.  
-Rue. (the observant)

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**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/52 "2003-02-13T14:32:28Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Achernar \*  
> \*\*Has “Tactical Alert” always just involved turning on a red light? \*\*

IIRC, this is only the second time we’ve seen them use the Alert and the red light was present both times.

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**Author:** ![Ellis1138](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@Ellis1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis1138)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/53 "2003-02-13T14:38:19Z")

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It was definitely a good Enterprise episode. Usually, (and don’t ask me why I do it) I sit through the show, like a good dutiful Star Trek fan and take the pablum they serve me. But “Cease Fire” was one I actually watched with a smile on my face and no feeling of “Well, I have to sit through it…”

The pink skin thing is a bit weird in these Politically Correct times, but I guess if all the Andorians have seen is Archer, they might think all humans have pink skin.

Drat, no Tripp in underwear scene. It’s become almost Pavlovian for me to equate Enterprise with blue underwear.

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**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/54 "2003-02-13T15:05:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ivylass \*  
> \*\*I Archer’s little exposition while he was being “bombarded” by the doctor was a little hard to watch…shades of Shatner acting, I think. \*\*

Ohhhhh I almost forgot to add my two bits on that little speech. Once again the writers unsubtle forshadowing boggles the mind.

One day I can see us in a larger comunity… like a federation… A federation of Planets. And we’ll go on some sort of Trek… A Star Trek… yes and millions will watch our weekly adventures…

Phooey!

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**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/55 "2003-02-13T15:47:04Z")

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Hey-- not bad at all. My eyes didn’t bleed like the like couple episodes I watched before the great “this sucks” decision was made.

There was little things here and there, but overall the episode was quite enjoyable.

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**Author:** ![Kn\_ckers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/96bed5/32.png) [@Kn\_ckers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kn_ckers)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/56 "2003-02-13T18:55:13Z")

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Okay, so, wow, you were all right. A goodish episode for once! Hooray!

**Kn\*ckers** and Ebert give it one thumb up (only because **Kn\*ckers** cut off Eberts’ thumb because he never agreed with her). And here’s what they had to say about it:

Kn\*ckers: I liked Archers’ fight with the Miss Blue Breasts. Well choreographed, and it was really funny when he fell through the floor.

Ebert: MmMmmpphhhmph!

Kn\*ckers: Shut up, old man, you’re gagged for a reason. Ahem, sorry about that, folks. I also liked how Trip was all tough and shit when he got to play captain. What? Is this character development I see? On ENTERPRISE?! Remember how he was acting captain on some previous episode and he had lots of stress and shit, and kept just telling everybody he’d “get back to ya on that”? Our little boy’s growing up!  
And he has flame-retardent underwear, which is always a plus in my book. You never know when that might be important. Take my word for it; I speak from experience.

Ebert: Mmmpphhh Hmmmmphh Rmph Rmph.

Kn\*ckers: _SMACK_

Ebert: _whimpers_

Kn\*ckers: As I was saying, flame-retardent underwear good. And nice to see the Vulcans acting the way they’re supposed to, though the 2nd fiddle Vulcan dude (don’t know his name) had a really annoying tone of voice. Like he was trying to demonstrate lack of emotion by removing any kind of tonality from his voice whatsoever. Sounded like a stoned robot.

Ebert: _more whimpering_

Kn\*ckers: Shut it, Critic Man, this is my show. Anyway, all in all, I was pleasantly surprised, and I almost didn’t want to be doing my workout while I was watching, 'cause push-ups can get a mite distracting. But my body will thank me for it, and isn’t that the important thing?

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have cement to pour.

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/57 "2003-02-13T20:00:15Z")

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I think it’s sad that we’re judging this episode as “good” solely because it doesn’t suck camel jizz like most everything else this past season.

Good next to Hoshi being awoken from transporter psychosis? Most assuredly.

Good compared to Trip gettin’ jiggy with a cardboard boob job in a tropical pond? Oh my yes.

Good considering what this show _should_ be? Barely.

In other words, grading on an “Enterprise” curve, this is a B episode. Grading according to any reasonably objective standard of quality, this is a C at best. Come on, who didn’t know Ms. Robin’s Egg Cleavage was going to sabotage the plan?

I’m depressed that this passably mediocre installment is being regarded as one of the high-water marks for this season. The only part I thought was really exciting and interesting was where Trip finally acquired some chutzpah in the last half of the show. That was good.

Oh, and the gestures of the Andorian antennae were hilarious. I’ll admit that.

But, I mean, come on. “You distract the Andorians, and I’ll sneak around behind them.” Are the bad guys really so tactically inept as to fail to plan for such an obvious maneuver? I guess nobody ever played Capture the Flag on Andoria, but apparently it’s a centerpiece of Starfleet strategic training.

Or how about when Archer went off to reconnoiter, leaving T’Pol and the Ambassador behind? Let’s see, we’re in a war zone, Andorians and Vulcans are shooting at each other, the only reason this trio might survive is that there’s a human with them, so let’s have the human run away and leave two Vulcans unaccompanied! Genius!

I was also disappointed, though not exactly surprised, that when Trip put the conference call on screen, neither the Andorians nor the Vulcans reacted to it in any way. Seriously: You’re facing down an enemy. You get a call from a supposedly neutral party. You pick it up, and unexpectedly you find your enemy is also on the line. What, honestly, do you do? You don’t have to hang up, but you do have to acknowledge _at least_ a breach in protocol. The fact that the writers keep overlooking these simple yet evocative details of basic behavior repeatedly pushes me out of the reality of the show.

I also don’t buy the Vulcans. Not one bit. When the ambassador says, “Gratification is an emotional indulgence,” I want to yell back, “And being a testy, short-tempered blowhard isn’t?”

And hey, now that I’m thinking about it, what the heck happened to the cloakable Suliban pod? You’d think that would be amazingly handy for dropping into a live-fire zone, especially with an important dignitary on board. Or at least you could use it for reconnaisance ahead of time. But no, I guess Travis or somebody must have stacked some boxes in front of it, so they forgot about it.

I don’t think I’m nitpicking. I think we’ve been lowering the bar of acceptability so far on this show that we’re now willing to give them a pass on elementary storytelling merely to keep watching. Just because one episode manages to avoid any _glaring_ stupidities doesn’t mean it isn’t otherwise riddled with inconsistencies and easily preventable annoyances.

I hate to be the party pooper, but this installment doesn’t come close to changing my mind. I still plan to give the show through the end of this season to show improvement, and that’s it.

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**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/58 "2003-02-13T20:42:05Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Cervaise \*  
> \*\*  
> regarded as one of the high-water marks for this season.
> 
> Oh, and the gestures of the Andorian antennae were hilarious.
> 
> the only reason this trio might survive is that there’s a human with them, so let’s have the human run away and leave two Vulcans unaccompanied! Genius!
> 
> I was also disappointed, though not exactly surprised, that when Trip put the conference call on screen,
> 
> I also don’t buy the Vulcans. Not one bit. When the ambassador says, “Gratification is an emotional indulgence,” I want to yell back, “And being a testy, short-tempered blowhard isn’t?”
> 
> And hey, now that I’m thinking about it, what the heck happened to the cloakable Suliban pod?
> 
> \*\*

I said “good”. In my experience that goes along with “Carnivorous tries very hard, but…”  
I thought the antenna were cool.  
Robin’s Egg was tring to whack the Vulcans; that was the whole point of shooting them down.  
Yeah, the Vulcans are A-holes at this point.  
The Suliban pod? Tripp was interested in “letting them do their work” than rescuing the Captain.

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**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/59 "2003-02-13T20:56:10Z")

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[McCoy during _Friday’s Child_]

“The Kligon’s words are unimportant, and we don’t hear them.”

[/McCoy during _Friday’s Child_]  
Actually, **Cervaise** makes an excellent point. This is markedly better than several other eps from this season, but it still lacked.

I realise that their must be some growing pains. If the net was as widespread in '86 '87 as it is now, we would’ve been saying the same things concerning _TNG_. But… big but… the Trek people have had almost two decades to work things out. As it stands, the every other movie superstition may as well apply to series, too.

I am a Trekker. Have been since I was first allowed to watch the last part of the 1968/69 season (in '66, '67, & '68 it was past my bed time). I will always at least watch. Enjoyment is another issue.

Next week:

_Future Tense_

Far beyond where any Earth vessel has ventured before, the Enterprise crew is shocked to find a small craft adrift in space that contains what appears to be a human corpse. Trip Tucker and Malcolm Reed discover the craft holds some strange secrets, and the mystery deepens when the Suliban arrive making claim to the salvage. On top of that, Captain Archer is confronted by the Tholians, who also aggressively try to procure the enigmatic vessel. (from [startrek.com](http://startrek.com))

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**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enterprise-cease-fire-spoilers/154480/60 "2003-02-13T20:59:35Z")

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their = there

in this case, anyways…

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