The Enterprise is invaded by an entity that entangles several crew members in its weblike framework and uses them as a source of nourishment.

We're back to the realm of ideas that no doubt sounded okay on a piece of paper, as this story is a shipboard adventure where Phlox and Reed use different ways to try to combat the creature infesting the Enterprise. Unfortunately, the first 15 minutes or so consist of waiting for crew members of sufficient importance (Archer and Trip) to be captured by the creature before anyone notices what is going on. The sub-plot of an alien race offended by something the crew did at dinner is pretty feeble, as we've pretty conclusively demonstrated the different habits of alien races in this and other series before now.

Once the captain and engineer are captured, the story becomes a parade of ideas that eventually lead to the one that works. Yes, okay, so not everything anyone tries will work perfectly the first time, but could we not have a better sub-plot and just come in when someone has come up with a workable hypothesis? Even when a plan is arrived at, it still relies on the convenience of Reed having done some tinkering with the idea of a forcefield which, naturally, holds up perfectly once it's pressed into field use. By the end of this series, the Enterprise crew will have been singlehandedly responsible for all of the 23rd and 24th Century's greatest advancements. What's Malcolm going to do for an encore? He's already revolutionized phase cannons and made a forcefield; what's the betting he's got some eminently patentable ideas about comm badges that could one day be built into a uniform pin?

The lack of any real tension is where this episode is let down. We know the main stars will survive, and considering there hasn't been a crew death all season, it's expected that they'll make it through as well, Phlox putting them right just in time. This should all be far harder than it is, and this ease makes for a lazy episode.

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