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Episode credits are available, as is Tim Lynch's review of the episode.
TV Guide Description: "Enterprise follows the adventures of Earth's first warp-driven starship, commanded by Bakula's willful Capt. Jonathan Archer. Sharp dialogue and touches of sly continuity (Citizen Baines' James Cromwell briefly reprises his Ze[f]ram Cochrane role from the film First Contact) spark the explosive premiere, as Archer volunteers to go where no human has gone before to return a Klingon to his home planet--over the objections of Earth's Vulcan allies."
The first episode of the series, two hours. Production ran from May 14 to June 19th, 2001.
Takes place in 2151, with flashbacks to 2121 and recorded footage from 2119.
Brannon Braga, in an interview with Inside Trek, said: "Our pilot tells the story of a crew that comes together for the very first time. The crew's mission is simple: a Klingon has crash-landed on Earth--we've never seen a Klingon before--and the Klingons want him back. We've got to take him home or there's going to be trouble with the Klingon Empire. So it's a little bit like Saving Private Ryan--get the Klingon home. Along the way, we uncover a huge galactic conspiracy involving a new and deadly species called the Suliban."
Braga continues: "The Suliban have strange genetic abilities. They can breathe in the vacuum of space and run on ceilings and camouflage themselves like an octopus. We realize that the Suliban are somehow in contact with the distant future, that there's a situation called the Temporal Cold War and that there's a big conspiracy that also involves the Klingons. We begin to uncover this and it's a grand adventure. I think it's safe to say the crew stays together at the end."
Dominic Keating: "There is a really creepy villain introduced in the pilot 'Broken Bow' called the Suliban. [...] They can seep through anything, as it were. You know, I never actually saw one of them, now that I think of it. I did fire at an 'imaginary' one on the planet Rigel in the pilot episode while rescuing the captain, but it was added in later as special effects, so I never actually got to see one. I've read in the script, though, that they have the ability to be like chameleons, to take on backgrounds that they're standing in front of our clinging to, whether it's fabricated metal or balsa wood or whatever it may be. And they can seep through anything--literally--air ducts, keyholes, whatever. [...] They have actors playing them. But the Suliban's antics are computer generated." -- Trek Galaxy
Q: "In the pilot episode, 'Broken Bow', there's a scene where Charlie and T'Pol rub a decontaminant gel on each other. It does look like they get to know each other pretty well!"
Connor Trinneer: "Understand, though, he's pissed at her at that point. It's kind of an interesting dichotomy in terms of how the scene works. There's a physicality that seems like it's erotic, where in reality of the situation, it's anything but. So you've got an interesting thing going on there." -- Trek Galaxy
Brannon Braga, on the Suliban as seen in the promos: "Remember, these clips you are seeing are from raw footage. You are not yet seeing opticals or special effects yet. It's going to look ten times better when you see the actual pilot. The Suliban have subcutaneous pigment sacs, like Octopi have on their skin. This allows them to not become fully invisible, but take on the colorization of backgrounds. It's a very imperfect camouflage. The Suliban are bald, and they have a really weird texture to their skin, and we've came up with a makeup design that is really unique and very cool looking." -- Trek Galaxy
Previous appearances:
Vaughn Armstrong has had eight previous Star Trek roles, making him the most prolific actor in Star Trek since James Doohan (who voiced over sixty different characters in the original series and the animated series). Those roles are (1) the Klingon Commander Korris in TNG "Heart of Glory", (2) the Cardassian Gul Danar in DS9 "Past Prologue", (3) the Romulan Telek R'Mor in VOY "Eye of the Needle", (4) the Cardassian Seskal in two DS9 episodes, (5) the ex-Borg Two of Nine in VOY "Survival Instinct", (6) the Vidiian captain in VOY "Fury", (7) the Alpha-Hirogen in the VOY "Flesh and Blood" two-parter, and (8) the Klingon Captain Korath in VOY "Endgame". This is his first role as a Human in a Star Trek episode.
Mark Moses played Naroq in VOY "Riddles".
Gary Graham played the Ocampa character Tanis in the Voyager episode "Cold Fire".
Thomas Kopache appeared in TNG "The Next Phase" as the Romulan Mirok; TNG "Emergence" as an engineer; Generations as a comm officer, VOY "The Thaw" as Viorsa; and two DS9 episodes as Kira Nerys's father, Kira Taban.
James Horan played Jo'Bril in TNG "Suspicions", and Barnaby in TNG "Descent, Part II", as well as Ikat'Ika in DS9 and Tosin in VOY "Fair Trade".
Joseph Ruskin played Tumek in DS9 "The House of Quark" and "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", a Cardassian Informant in DS9 "Improbable Cause", a Son'a Officer in Star Trek: Insurrection, and the Vulcan Master in VOY "Gravity". In addition, he played Galt in the original series episode "The Gamesters of Triskelion". Counting Insurrection as TNG, Joseph Ruskin is the first actor to play characters in all five series.
Van Epperson previously played a Bajoran clerk in DS9 "Q-Less".
Matt Williamson previously played a security officer in the Voyager two-parter "Workforce". He may have also played a Klingon in VOY "Endgame", if he is sometimes credited as Matthew James Williamson.
James Cromwell, reprising his role as Zefram Cochrane from Star Trek: First Contact, also played Nayrok in TNG "The Hunted", Shrek in the TNG two-parter "Birthright", and Minister Hanok in DS9 "Starship Down.
