Minefield (Star Trek: Enterprise)
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"Minefield" is the 29th episode (production #203) of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.
Synopsis
The Enterprise begins to orbit a seemingly unclaimed planet for observation when it runs into a cloaked mine, heavily damaging the ship and flooding sickbay with injured crew members. Soon, another cloaked mine attaches itself to the hull but doesn't immediately explode. Lt. Reed performs a spacewalk in an EVA suit to try to disarm it, but accidentally activates a magnetic grappling spike that impales his leg before attaching to the ship's hull, thus pinning him to the mine with limited air. Any attempt to cut the spike would set off the mine. The NX-01 then makes first contact with the Romulan Star Empire when two Romulan Warbirds arrive and demand that they leave Romulan territory or else.
Alignment with canon
This episode is often cited as an example of the Enterprise series breaking established Star Trek canon. Specifically, this episode shows that the Romulans have had cloaking technology since at least the 22nd Century, despite the fact that in the original Star Trek series episode "Balance of Terror", Spock implies that the Romulans did not have cloaking technology during the Earth-Romulan war 100 years earlier and have seemingly developed one during the time since hostilities ended.
It is also mentioned in "Balance of Terror" that the war with the Romulans was fought using "old style nuclear weapons" and there was never an up close visual encounter between the two races, leading to the revelation in that episode that Romulans closely resemble Vulcans. "Minefield" preserves this element of canon by never showing actual Romulans, just their ships.