Roxann Dawson directs a classic beauty-and-the-beast tale that puts Hoshi Sato in a relationship with a wretched-looking alien amidst a gothic setting.

"Exile" is the sixth episode of the season, written by co-producer Phyllis Strong. In the story, a powerful telepath named Tarquin makes contact with Hoshi and tells her he will help the NX-01 crew track down the Xindi. Enterprise finds Tarquin living alone on a planet — having been exiled by his people because of his abilities (hence the title) — and though he makes the humans uneasy, Hoshi urges Captain Archer to trust him. Archer puts his suspicions aside and agrees to Tarquin's assistance, but the price may indeed prove too high.

Tarquin is played by Maury Sterling, who has appeared in such movies as "Hart's War" and "Behind Enemy Lines," and such TV shows as Angel, JAG, CSI and Crossing Jordan. Sterling spent part of his shooting schedule looking like himself, for scenes where Tarquin appears to Hoshi telepathically in human form. The rest of the time, he bore the grotesque face of his character's true appearance in an elaborate prosthetic mask.

As she announced to fans at the Las Vegas Creation convention on August 2 (related story), Dawson returned to the Paramount lot shortly after that event to begin pre-production on this episode. She started shooting on Wednesday, August 20, the same day that "Impulse" finished up principal photography, and wrapped last Friday, in time for a well-deserved three-day Labor Day break for the cast and crew.

Everyone in every department deserves a great deal of credit for responding to the ramped-up production values this season on a truncated schedule — given an early premiere date of September 10 — but the construction crew in particular has worked virtually around the clock to create an array of unique and impressive sets. In this episode, they built a gothic yet futuristic abode for Tarquin, referred to in the production notes as "Alien Sanctuary," with stone and metal lattices, large copper-leaf doors and other architectural details, all painted to look fairly aged. The various "Sanctuary" sets included a Corridor, Tarquin's Chamber, Living Quarters and an Arboretum, plus an exterior portion of the "castle" and surrounding grounds. Set decorator Jim Mees filled the spaces with candles, exotic flowers, alien candelabra and other sci-fi/gothic-style artifacts.

Of course, this being a Hoshi episode, Linda Park is in the forefront of the drama and therefore had the most time in front of the camera among the cast. But the other actors had plenty of scenes dealing with the ongoing travails of being in the Delphic Expanse. Some bizarre things happen in the Armory, on the Bridge, and in the Captain's Quarters, all of which will be enhanced with optical effects and sound effects in post-production. There were other scenes shot in the Command Center and in Shuttlepod One, among other standing sets, for another side of the plot where T'Pol's mathematics bring the crew closer to unveiling some of the secrets about the Expanse. As usual, Dan Curry and his visual effects team will bring a lot of these story points to life in breathtaking manner.

Dawson, of course, is most recognizable as the actress behind Star Trek: Voyager's B'Elanna Torres, but she has spent most of her time lately as a director. This is her sixth Enterprise episode, her last being the controversial "Bounty." That was also the latest credit for writer Strong, another Voyager veteran with many scripts from that show and this to her credit.

"Exile" is tentatively scheduled to air October 15 on UPN.

More information about "Exile" can be found at its preliminary Episode Detail page.

Please note: All production and story information is subject to change.