Review

Preliminary remark, it's annoying that we're shown a hostile alien of the week that we've never seen before and will probably never see again. However, we aren't told their names. Maybe they were one of the many hostile aliens mentioned in previous Trek series but never shown. Regardless, it would have been a better idea to show the Klingons, Romulans, or even the Suliban, not introduce something new. With so many hostile aliens lurking about, it's a wonder that Earth wasn't wiped out years ago. Maybe the Vulcans protected it. Anyway, the basic idea of the episode is fascinating. I'm glad Reed's concerns in Ent: Broken Bow and in Ent: Fight or Flight about the ship being fairly defenseless are finally being addressed. In many ways, this was entirely Reed's episode. He got to blow some stuff up and he got to eat his favorite food! But I think the episode has a much more profound effect on Archer. At the beginning, he was very excited to make another first contact but as this soon leads to yet another conflict, Archer starts having his first real doubts about his mission and wonders if the Vulcans were right. It's interesting and quite consistent that the only person he could talk about this was Trip. Finally, I thought this musical score in this episode was way above average. If only this episode had featured a familiar alien to give us some valuable backstory, it would have been worth eight points.