Episode 7: Breaking the Ice or "Guess who's Coming to Dinner"

Trip annoys T'Pol because she is in love with him. In fact, she broke off her arranged marriage to stay on the ship with him, but enough of the love story...in this exciting episode Archer chases down a big comet and modestly names it after himself. Then he sends Travis and Malcom to land on it with the shuttle and do some mining for some rare minerals. But, that is when they noticed that their cosmic "babysitters" were going to watch them....the Vulcans. Archer decided to try to break the ice with the Vulcan captain whom he invites to dinner on Enterprise. It didn't go well. Here is a sample of the stimulating convo during the meal:
Archer: "Tell us about yourself."
Vanik: "Why do you want to know?"
Reminds me of many of my interactions and meals with my German acquaintances. I have actually had that identical response many times in Germany when I have asked someone I didn't know well Wie geht's (How is it going?).
OK, so back to the plot. Travis and Malcom were jacking around making snowmen on the comet ( I especially liked the one they put Vulcan ears on) and squandered away the time they were supposed to be using for mining and drilling. As the comet rotated, the sun around which it was orbiting heated up the surface and the shuttle fell through the ice as they started their takeoff roll. Archer and Trip try to attach a winch from Enterprise and reel them in ("like reeling in a big bass"), but it was no use. Archer, with a little persuasion from T'Pol, swallows his pride and asks the Vulcans to use their top secret classified tractor beam. The Vulcans save the day and kept our new "Red Shirt Memoriam" nice and empty!
While the earthling Archer may have had to swallow his pride and ask the Vulcans for help, it was the Vulcan T'Pol who had to go the earthling Trip for help with her love life. Trip talked her not only into breaking up with her boyfriend, but more importantly into eating a piece of pecan pie...well played.