Rapture, Part One (Unity episode)

"Rapture, Part One" is the first episode of the fifth season of Star Trek: Unity.

Synopsis

Captain Lewis and Jimb'a discover that the wreck of their old starship has become an underwater city on an alien world where the ideals and technologies of the Federation have been given a deadly twist. Welcome to Rapture, Opportunity Awaits...

Minutes after the USS Odyssey explodes into a fiery, out-of-control juggernaut, Captain Lewis is attempting to wrestle back control of his ship on the bridge. A computer control panel asks him to "kindly" stabilise computer systems, but after a near miss flying past a planet, Lewis is forced to run through the decks and evacuate in an escape pod, with the Odyssey warping away, still aflame.

Two months later, on the dark lower decks of the Odyssey, a large creature moves through the corridors, accompanied by a young woman dressed in ancient clothing. In Main Engineering, an injured crewmember awakens and in a panic, grabs hold of the woman, prompting her to call out for the large creature, which attacks and kills the crewman.

Meanwhile, on in the Sirius Sector Earth colonies, Rakellian Prime Minister Jimb'a arrives for a trade meeting, but soon witnesses Lewis' escape pod crash land and meets up with the battered and bruised Starfleet captain. Confident he can locate the remains of the Odyssey, Lewis and Jimb'a use a small cargo ship to follow the distress signal.

Some time later, Lewis and Jimb'a arrive through a Gateway on planet Kressgon, and track the ship's course to under an ocean. Discovering a lighthouse in the middle of a forest, the pair enter and step inside a small submarine bathysphere which takes them underground and into the ocean, down towards a large city built out of the Odyssey's hull. A recorded message by a man named Ryan Andrews explains that he has built "Rapture" as a place from which he can launch a political revolution in the Federation, favouring a more individual and less morally-restricted philosophy. When Lewis and Jimb'a dock their bathysphere, a Starfleet crewmember named "Lt. Ulysses" contacts them by radio.

Background information

Continuity

• The beginning of this episode takes place minutes after the ending of season four, as the USS Odyssey is on fire and out of control for reasons unknown. However, the bulk of the story takes place more than two months later.
• Captain Lewis spent two months inside an escape pod, time which is chronicled in two "Road to Rapture" monologue minisodes.

Story and Source Material

• This episode is based on the 2008 PC video-game Bioshock and uses art, sound and music assets from that title. Bioshock involves the player character travelling through a mysterious underwater city called Rapture, encountering political revolutionaries and genetically mutated humans as the subject of free will is explored. The Unity episode shares common themes, plot points and even lines, but the core story is significantly different.
• To a lesser extent, the setting of the 2003 video-game Freelancer is used, as the Sirius Sector Earth colonies are introduced as being a pre-warp colonization for humanity.

Cast and Characters

• Captain Lewis becomes the sole commanding officer again, following Ian Pidgley's departure at the end of season four.
• After only being referred to in season two and recurring appearances in seasons three and four, Jimb'a returns to the series as a main character, his time as a Starfleet Academy lecturer having ended and now on a trade mission as part of his duties as Rakellian Prime Minister. Jimb'a remains on the Odyssey, part of a triad with Captain Lewis, Jane Barker and later Eleanor.
• Emma Long appears (briefly) for the second time as Eleanor, following "Zombies on Kressgon" in season four, although the character isn't introduced until the second part of this story. Emma was originally asked to just play a Little Sister, but the role was expanded significantly into the new main female character for season five.
• This is the only episode in which Iesha Godden's character of Jane Barker appears (except for a flashback in "Revolutions, Part Four". She is later revealed to have been "beamed to the surface" by Lewis and Jimb'a, although it is later implied that the Discontinuities are responsible for her disappearance.

References

• The opening scene in which the USS Odyssey is on fire and out of control is a homage to the opening scene in "The Eleventh Hour" the first episode of revived Doctor Who's fifth series in which The Doctor find himself in a similarly precarious situation.

Quotes

"They told me 'Son, you're special, you were born to do great things. Y'know what? They were right'."

— Captain Lewis

External link

• Rapture, Part One on YouTube!