Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x01 — Shockwave, Part II
Synopsis
With Enterprise held hostage and Archer mysteriously missing, the crew faces its biggest challenge yet.
Remarkable scenes
- Archer and Daniels exploring a destroyed 31st century.
- Archer: "The Romulan Star Empire. What's that?" Daniels: "Maybe you shouldn't be reading that."
- T'Pol: "The Vulcan Science Directorate has determined that time travel is impossible." Silik: "Does Archer agree with that opinion?" T'Pol: "It's not an opinion." Silik: "Does Archer agree with that determination?"
- The dazed and confused T'Pol.
- Hoshi's experience in the shafts that house the EPS conduits.
- Archer to Silik: "I said you're an ugly bastard!"
- Archer's infamous gazelle speech: "When I was in my early twenties on a trip to east Africa, I saw a gazelle giving birth. It was truly amazing. Within minutes the baby was standing up. Standing up on its own. A few more minutes and it was walking, and before I knew it was running alongside its mother, moving away with the herd. Humans aren't like that, ambassador. We may come from the same planet as those gazelles, but we're pretty much helpless when we're born. It takes us months before we're able to crawl, almost a full years before we can walk. Our deep space mission isn't much different. We're going to stumble, make mistakes; I'm sure more than a few before we find out footing. But we're going to learn from those mistakes. That's what being human is all about. I'm sorry you can't see that."
- T'Pol referencing the events of P'Jem as evidence that like humans, Vulcans are not perfect and that Enterprise's mission should continue.
- T'Pol: "I still don't believe in time travel." Archer: "The hell you don't."
Review
Little progress concerning the Temporal Cold War is given here. In fact, the events of this episode make guessing at who Silik's boss is even harder. If wiping out the Federation wipes out Future Guy, then I'm totally out of guesses. Sorry. It seems the Temporal Cold War is nothing but a series events like Voy: Relativity. Malicious person A starts messing with the timeline. Federation time traveler B corrects it. The main characters of the show suffer while this happens. Time Trek is most boring and I hope it doesn't last. I sincerely hope season two does something useful with the Temporal Cold War. In any case, part II of this episode was a disappointment. Besides not getting the Temporal Cold War conclusion I was expecting, the episode resorted to some of the tasteless trends established in season one. T'Pol gets tortured in revealing clothing, Hoshi loses her shirt, and Reed gets severely beaten. And I'm just not even gonna talk about Archer's rather embarrassing gazelle speech. The conclusion to this otherwise decent action episode seemed rather tasteless to me. An extra point for the episode not featuring a reset button though.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x02 — Carbon Creek
Synopsis
T'Pol's recollection of the Vulcans' first encounter with Humans conflicts with what Archer and Trip learned from history books.
Remarkable scenes
- Trip wondering just how old T'Pol is.
- Mestral: "It's unfortunate that you'll be leaving these people without experiencing one thing they have to offer." Stron: "Such as alcohol, frozen fish sticks, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation?"
- Trip: "This is like finding out Neil Armstrong wasn't the first man to walk on the moon!" T'Pol: "Perhaps he wasn't."
- T'Pol winding up Archer and Trip over whether or not her story was true.
Review
T'Pol's story is captivating, and the Vulcan actors do a superb job. The episode leaves you wondering if any of it is true, but like Voy: The Haunting of Deck Twelve, there's clear evidence that it is true shown in the final scene. Besides, I find it hard to believe T'Pol would lie when she said the incident was well documented on Vulcan. Unfortunately, these plots are poor recipes for episodes and seldom make good ones. I was pleasantly surprised that this episode didn't turn into another Voy: 11:59, which was totally irrelevant. But then again, an episode like this is something the writers can only get away with once a long while. It was done well and it was a nice change of pace, but we just don't watch Star Trek these kinds of stories.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x03 — Minefield
Synopsis
Enterprise becomes disabled by an alien orbital mine while trapped in hostile Romulan territory.
Remarkable scenes
- Reed's uneasy breakfast with the captain.
- Archer to T'Pol regarding the landing site for the planet: "Find a volcano with a gentle slope, preferably one that's not erupting."
- Enterprise slamming into a mine.
- T'Pol regarding why the beacons weren't revealing anymore mines: "They were designed to penetrate Suliban cloaking devices." Archer shoots her a quick highly annoyed look. T'Pol quickly says: "I'll try shifting the phase variance."
- Reed's spacewalk on the hull, examining the mine.
- The Romulan ship decloaking before Reed's eyes and firing warning shots.
- Archer: "Our friends seem anxious for us to leave. We're going to break orbit, nice and slowly." Reed: "Understood. If plan to go to warp, sir, you'll let me know?" Archer: "I'll try to remember."
- The mine impaling Reed.
- Reed: "I would consider letting you amputate but if chef got hold of it, he'd be serving 'roast Reed' for Sunday dinner."
- Reed regarding the painkillers: "Please sir... may I have some more?"
- Archer and Reed chatting while attempting to disable the mine.
- Archer saving Reed.
Review
Romulans at long last. It's annoying that they're shown with cloaking devices when they were regarded as something new in TOS: Balance of Terror, but the problem existed since the first episode when the writers decided to give the Suliban cloaking devices. It's at least plausible that the Romulan cloak was defeated during the Earth Romulan war, and that in TOS: Balance of Terror they designed a more perfect cloak just as was done in TNG: The Neutral Zone to warrant the various reactions to the cloak seen over time. Anyway, enough of that. Minefield was the best Enterprise episode so far, besides of course Vox Sola which is an exception. I was hoping since day one that Enterprise would document the Earth Romulan war. This incident could very well spell the beginning of the said war. Besides the cloaking oddities, which really aren't that bad a continuity problem, the writers were true to TOS' portrayal of the Romulans. Spock said that in TOS: Balance of Terror that that was the first time the Federation had ever seen a Romulan. As unlikely as this may sound, the writers stayed true to it. There was no visual communication between the Romulans and Enterprise. I was also happy that first contact with the Romulans happened in this manner. The Klingons have been abused since the first episode, but this is just the abrasive first contact I would have expected to see with the Romulans. (The Klingons likewise, but oh well.) Finally, the interaction between Archer and Reed in this episode was great. Reed's interaction with Trip in Ent: Shuttlepod One was funnier, yes, but on the whole I found this episode to be vastly more entertaining and the Archer / Reed interplay was one of the reasons. Overall, most excellent. I want to see more like this!
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x04 — Dead Stop
Synopsis
Enterprise docks with a mysterious high-tech space station which proves too good to be true.
Remarkable scenes
- Archer and Trip surveying the damage from the last episode.
- Enterprise transmitting a distress call.
- Reed: "It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain." Phlox: " It's unethical to harm a patient. I can inflict as much pain as I like."
- Trip: "They've isolated every hull breach, every damaged system... I'll be damned. We scratched the hull right there a year ago. I bumped it with the inspection pod, remember?" Archer: "I thought I told you to have that repainted?"
- Trip and T'Pol playing with the replicator.
- The automated station repairing the ship section by section.
- The automated station repairing Reed.
- Trip and Reed being most embarrassingly beamed from the station to the Enterprise bridge.
- Hoshi describing a prank Travis pulled on her with strawberry jello.
- Phlox discovering that Travis' body is not really Travis.
- Archer and T'Pol recovering Travis and escaping the station, destroying it in the process.
Review
Another above average offering from Enterprise. The story is fairly original, but the devil is in the details. The damage from last episode's minefield is still very much a problem. How often has Voyager suffered severe hull breaches only to repair them in short order a week later? And remember when the Jem'Hadar destroyed an entire pylon on Deep Space Nine? That was sure fixed fast. This episode is a reminder of just how low tech the 22nd century really is. The alien space station is of course an exception to this. It featured some amazing replicator technology. You've got to wonder what kind of power requirements a station like that would need in order to sustain the advanced bio computer and the advanced replicator. Personally, I don't think 200 liters of warp plasma will sustain all that technology for long. It would have been nice if we could get a look at the power source as well as the computer core. There's some other great continuity in this episode, besides last week's damage. I liked how Reed was still injured. I also liked the mentioning the scratch Trip made on the hull when he bumped it with the inspection pod in the first episode. I also liked Archer getting annoyed with his squeaky floor again. A Tellarite freighter responds to Archer's distress call, they were an alien species featured in TOS. Finally, Phlox says mentions Rigelian fever, which was featured in TOS: Requiem for Methuselah. Obviously by then it mutates into something more deadly. While the episode is not without its flaws, it was a pleasure to watch. It managed to retain almost as much excitement as Ent: Minefield. In fact, it almost felt like Ent: Minefield, Part II. I home we see more of this careful attention to continuity.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x05 — A Night in Sickbay
Synopsis
Archer spends a fretful night in sickbay with Porthos and Dr. Phlox.
Remarkable scenes
- T'Pol revealing the reason for the Kreetassans taking offense... again.
- Phlox: "Have you considered that your anger may encompass more than just Porthos and the Kreetassans?" Archer: "What?" Phlox: "How long has it been since you were intimate with a woman?" Archer: "What?" Phlox: "How long has it be--" Archer: "I heard you!"
- Archer to Phlox: "From what you're telling me, the closest thing your people have to pets are furry little things that go well with onions!"
- Archer discussing with Phlox his extended family.
- This episode features another huge Phlox smile at the end.
Review
It was nice to see that Enterprise is still searching for spare parts to repair their minefield damage and it was nice to see Archer have to deal with his intolerance of other cultures. However, the problem with this episode is the sheer number of annoying scenes. They easily outnumber the good scenes. Some of these bad scenes include Phlox trimming his toenails and grooming his long tongue. That just wasn't necessary to see. The treadmill race between Archer and T'Pol. Why does Archer feel the need to engage in pissing contests with her so often? The bat scene with Phlox was just redundant. Yes, we got the point. Sleeping in sickbay with Phlox around creates distractions. Did we really need to see another one? Throughout the episode Archer ignored the Kreetassans, in favor of throwing his temper tantrums and ranting at his crew like a child. Archer dreaming of Porthos' death and of being intimate with T'Pol was in poor taste. The climax of absurdity came with Archer's "doing the breast I can" and "send me your lips" lines. Even the scene in which Archer finally apologizes to the Kreetassans was silly, though that one's not so bad compared to the rest. Ent: A Night in Sickbay has a few good scenes and quotes. And I did like the connection between this episode and Ent: Vox Sola, showing us the Kreetassans again. But the nonstop tastelessness in this episode ruins what little fun this episode had to offer. It's really not so bad if you like watching immaturity at its best, but you know what? This is Star Trek, not a teeny bopper film.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x06 — Marauders
Synopsis
In need of fuel, Enterprise discovers a mining colony that is being controlled by Klingons who are bullying the inhabitants and hoarding their supplies.
Remarkable scenes
- Archer: "There's a saying on my world. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime."
- Hoshi demonstrating how to hit a target. Oh the irony! ;)
- T'Pol: "Try to strike me." Travis hesitates. T'Pol: "You won't hurt me." Travis: "It's not you I'm worried about."
- Archer recalling the events of Broken Bow to encourage confidence in Tessic.
- The victory against the Klingons.
Review
This is a decent episode, but it drowns under the weight of that rather nasty technical problem regarding how the authors don't have the slightest clue what deuterium is and some mildly poor writing. The technical problem is documented in the problems section, so I won't get into that. The Klingons are shown rather out of character here. They put up an amazingly weak fight. They fall for simple tricks and when told to leave and never come back, that's exactly what they do. This logical problem could have been solved if the Enterprise crewmembers taught the colonists more sophisticated ways to defend themselves, but it seems the writers have just as much a taste for guerrilla warfare as they do for misusing the term deuterium. ;) On the other hand, this episode contributes positively to continuity. Repeated incidents like this one could very easily get the Klingons pissed off enough at Earth to start a war. So it's a mixed bag. Not all that great, but not all that bad either.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x07 — The Seventh
Synopsis
T'Pol is is dispatched by the Vulcan High Command to capture a fugitive that has eluded their authorities for nearly two decades.
Remarkable scenes
- T'Pol's vague behavior when she tells Archer about her impending mission.
- Tucker having trouble being the acting captain.
- The Vulcan captain confusedly informing "Captain Archer" of the recent water polo scores.
Review
A meager plot. There are only two redeeming qualities in this episode. It's a nice character building piece between Archer an T'Pol and it was very well acted all across. Jolene Blalock's portrayal of a Vulcan whose emotions are bleeding into the surface was quite good. I guess there are a few other, minor things to redeem the episode too. We don't get to watch another atrocious decon scene, even though it was hinted at. And Mayweather isn't totally ignored. What's annoying is that we're shown yet another wayward Vulcan plot. There would seem to be three types of Vulcans in the 22nd century. Right wing, emotionless, arrogant Vulcans like Soval, left wing, emotional, unstable Vulcans, like the people from Ent: Fusion or this episode, and those that fall somewhere in between like V'Lar from Ent: Fallen Hero or more recently, T'Pol. It seems the lefty righty extremist types die off by the 23rd century. Personally, I'd like to see stories explaining how they die off, not more stories demonstrating that this social structure exists. There's been enough of them.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x08 — The Communicator
Synopsis
Reed and Archer retrieve a communicator left behind on an alien planet, but are captured in the process.
Remarkable scenes
- Reed: "Captain, my carelessness was inexcusable. I'm prepared for whatever reprimand you feel is appropriate." Archer: "How about 30 years in the brig? Or maybe a good flogging?"
- Trip accidentally cloaking his arm.
- The aliens examining the humans, astonished at their alien physiology.
- T'Pol, Trip, and Travis rescuing Archer and Reed.
Review
Another fairly unremarkable episode. It was a good idea in the sense that Archer learns another lesson about contaminating cultures, but even that is starting to get a bit old. I suppose it felt so old in this episode because it was only discussed in a limited capacity. An episode with less violence and paranoia and more discussion about consequences for these types of actions would have been a better episode. Even then, we've seen enough of it already. TNG did it to death, for example. Instead though, we got Archer and Reed getting beaten up again and a firefight in the end. Not exactly true to the spirit of Star Trek. T'Pol even admits in the end that they damaged this alien culture. And for what? So Archer could be taught a lesson he's already learned? Well, perhaps I'm wrong. Given the events of this episode, seems he hasn't learned it yet!
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x09 — Singularity
Synopsis
On a "typical" day on Enterprise, the crew finds their routine tasks turn into uncharacteristically strange obsessions over trivial matters.
Remarkable scenes
- The crew starting to obsess over trivialities.
- Reed's various obnoxious alert sounds.
- Hoshi freaking out at people.
- Everybody starting to freak out.
- T'Pol waking up Archer.
- Archer piloting while T'Pol determines the course corrections.
Review
We've seen it all before. TOS: The Naked Time, TNG: The Naked Now, DS9: Dramatis Personae, Voy: Bliss and even Ent: Strange New World. There've been far too many "the crew is acting strangely..." episodes. Hell, the whole flying between the stars thing reminded me a lot of Voy: Scientific Method too. Suffice it to say, the writers seem to lack originality. Fortunately, aside from the fact that the episode is unoriginal, it is genuinely entertaining and funny. I enjoyed watching Archer obsess over writing the preface to his father's biography, Trip obsessing over redesigning the captain's chair, Reed obsessing over his "Reed alert" which may be the precursor to the "red alert" ;), Hoshi obsessing over food, and Phlox obsessing over Travis' "medical condition." It's yet another cliche that T'Pol, as a Vulcan, is immune to the radiation's effects, but I'll let that one go. The episode may not be spectacular, but it's an improvement over the last four episodes anyway.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x10 — Vanishing Point
Synopsis
Following her first experience in the transporter, a series of eerie events leads Hoshi to question whether she is the same person.
Remarkable scenes
- Just one scene after Phlox tries to give Hoshi a sedative, Trip says: "If I were you, I'd ask the doc for a sedative. Nothing like crawling into bed." Hoshi: "You men are all alike."
Review
It was all a dream! My least favorite plot device. In a way though, the "it was all a dream" plot device saved the episode from a zero. Hoshi's dream made less and less sense as it went on, to the point where I was getting ready to write a big rant about all the technical problems. Fortunately, I don't have to do that, because it was just a dream. The actual episode lasted no longer than a few minutes though, so even if all the technical problems aren't really technical problems, stripping them away doesn't leave much an episode afterward. Linda Park did an excellent job playing Hoshi in this episode, especially considering the poor material she was given to work with. But this can't save the episode from its dismal premise.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x11 — Precious Cargo
Synopsis
Trip rescues an exotic alien woman from her kidnappers, but ends up on an unexpected romantic adventure.
Remarkable scenes
- Trip trying to get the Universal Translator to work.
- The evil Archer and evil T'Pol scene.
- Trip's fight with Goff.
Review
Remember TNG: The Perfect Mate? It's likely Kaitaama in this episode is one of those very rare empathic Kriosian females. But it seems Kaitaama was already married. It's interesting to see that while Trip finds her attractive, he doesn't at all fall for her immediately, like he would with an unbonded equivalent. Eventually, they start to hit it off though. Still, you've got to wonder why the Retellians stole her if she's already married. Not that they seemed very bright, though. Anyway, this episode is your rather generic abduction / hostage situation plot. It's rather annoying that there's a handy M class planet immediately available for Trip and Kaitaama to land on when they steal the escape pod. Other than that, the episode is another improvement over the not so good episodes season 2 has been serving up lately.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x12 — The Catwalk
Synopsis
When a deadly radioactive storm threatens Enterprise, the entire crew must take refuge for eight days in a small maintenance shaft.
Remarkable scenes
- Alien Captain: "Once we're aboard, I suggest you go to warp 7 immediately." Archer: "Our top speed is warp 5."
- Reed mentioning that cadets used to call the EV simulator the "vomitorium."
- Archer: "You know, there is a bright side to all of this." T'Pol: "Really?" Archer: "It's bringing the crew closer together. If you forget about the storm outside, this is almost like going on a camping trip." T'Pol: "Perhaps we can sing a few songs later."
Review
And another improvement in the writing. Ent: The Catwalk is the most original story since Ent: Minefield and Ent: Dead Stop. I liked that there are plenty of natural phenomena in the galaxy that can endanger Enterprise. Without shields and without a top speed of faster than warp 5, we see how vulnerable the ship really is compared to even TOS standards. There was good continuity with TOS: The Naked Time regarding how long it takes to cold start a warp engine. The warp engine trivia was good all around in fact. I enjoyed seeing the catwalk itself. A nicely constructed set. I wonder if the planet they were planning to explore in this episode was the planet Trip discovered in the last episode. The descriptions sound about the same. Would have been nice to insert a line of dialog confirming this. The alien takeover wasn't exactly original, but well played. I liked how the alien enemy captain guy had read Archer's logs. I also liked how Archer faked his attempt to destroy the ship so as to convince the aliens to leave. A question remains regarding why the aliens didn't come back when Enterprise very clearly changed course after the aliens disembarked. However, their sensors could have been fooled. That would have been another nice one liner to have in the episode. Overall, pretty average stuff, but it's certainly above Enterprise's average lately!
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x13 — Dawn
Synopsis
Trip is fired upon by a territorial alien and forced to land on the night side of a moon.
Remarkable scenes
- Trip beginning to communicate with Zho'Kaan.
- Zho'Kaan healing Trip's scratch wound with his spit. An interesting ability.
- Trip regarding talking to Zho'Kaan: "It's like talking to Porthos!"
- Trip doing his best, despite the language barrier, to attempt to cooperate with Zho'Kaan, only to have Zho'Kaan attack him again.
- Zho'Kaan finally starting to cooperate with Trip.
- Trip recalling the interesting things that happened to him on his mission.
- Archer: "I guess we won't be adding the Arkonians to our list of friends." T'Pol: "The encounter was less volatile than I expected. You managed to establish better relations in a single day than the Vulcans have in a century."
- Trip finally being able to talk with Zho'Kaan with the aid of a translator in sickbay.
Review
Well, they should have just named the episode Enemy Mine to complete the plagiarism! The alien makeup was similar to the movie, the premise was similar to the movie, and the plot was similar to the movie! Keeping the review a little more confined to Star Trek, the episode was also a bit like TNG: The Enemy. Despite the lack of originality, this was a very nice episode. Trip's compassion for his would be sparring partner is commendable. I like how he threw away his weapon, which started a fight, then after he barely won the fight he threw away his weapon again! Even when Trip had the ability to escape, he stayed to make sure that Zho'Kaan would be all right. This episode nicely demonstrates human compassion. Perhaps the lack of human compassion is why the Vulcans never established good relations with the Arkonians in the past. ;) While maybe not so original, the episode was most true to the spirit of Star Trek; nicely above average.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x14 — Stigma
Synopsis
T'Pol's standing on Enterprise is threatened when it is learned that she has contracted a deadly disease.
Remarkable scenes
- Archer and Trip meeting Phlox' second wife Feezal. She finishes the scene with one of those big Denobulan smiles.
- Phlox and T'Pol being questioned by the Vulcan doctors.
- Archer finding out about T'Pol's illness.
- Trip fighting off advances from Phlox' second wife.
- Archer approaching the Vulcan doctors demanding a hearing.
- Trip talking to Phlox about Feezal's advances.
- Dr. Yuris revealing how T'Pol contracted her disease to the other doctors.
Review
This episode demonstrates more clearly than any other the vast differences in social structure on Vulcan compared to that of TOS and later. The two most shocking differences are the insinuation that mind melds can only be performed by certain Vulcans and not any Vulcan, and that the right wing Vulcans are practicing eugenics. I've said before that we've seen enough proof that the Vulcans are different than in the other shows. In a way, I found this episode redundant too. But it was also a nice idea, to show that T'Pol has incurred consequences due to the events of Ent: Fusion. This episode is also very clearly an AIDS allegory. Why find a cure when you can just let the infected die off? The disease is only transmitted by "undesirable" people anyway... Sound familiar? Despite my disagreements with the way Vulcans are being shown on Enterprise, this ended up being a nice episode. And at least the writers are being consistent with their portrayal of Vulcans. I just hope they finally get around showing us what changes them by TOS sometime soon. On a lighter note, the Denobulan subplot was much more successful. Phlox' second wife was just hilarious. I wonder how many times Trip (or Archer) has said the words "perfect gentlemen" on the show now? ;)
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x15 — Cease Fire
Synopsis
When a military conflict erupts between the Vulcans and Andorians, Archer is brought in as negotiator.
Remarkable scenes
- Archer: "Maybe we're not out here just to scan comets and meet new species. Maybe we're out here to prove that humanity is ready to join a much larger community."
- Archer: "No offense but my ears are less likely to draw fire than yours." Soval: "What is their fixation with our ears?" T'Pol: "I believe they're envious."
- Soval laying into T'Pol for not having left Enterprise.
- Soval getting shot.
- Archer wins a fight! Against a girl...
- Trip placing Enterprise between the Vulcan and Andorian ships.
- Shran: "Join me in a drink. To our mutual dissatisfaction."
- Shran: "I think he likes you, pinkskin." Archer: "I wouldn't go that far."
Review
Easily the best of the Andorian episodes so far, Ent: The Andorian Incident and Ent: Shadows of P'Jem both had annoying qualities to them which sort of wrecked the chance for some insight into the most canonically neglected Andorian culture. This episode doesn't repeat that mistake. We're given some fascinating trivia regarding the history of the Vulcan and Andorian people. Apparently, the Andorians colonized a planet in the Vulcan planetary system! I rather liked T'Pol's comment about what Earth would do if the Klingon Empire annexed Pluto. ;) It was a good point. And a hard conflict to resolve. I was glad to see that this episode made progress, but didn't totally resolve the conflict. Logically such a conflict should take time to resolve. The episode had a shot at being profound, but the writers decided to waste a great deal of time on the worthless hostage situation. Why does every Andorian episode have to have Vulcans and Andorians shooting at each other? Fortunately it was toned down this time, but not in time to do some real laying down the groundwork for the Federation. Maybe in another episode. Another nice quality is that Shran is becoming more and more a likable character. After only three episodes, I'm already starting to like him just as much as Weyoun from DS9, who was also played by Jeffrey Combs. The actor is just fantastic at playing characters that have a dark side. Finally, Trip placing Enterprise between the Vulcan and Andorian ships before they went to battle was just perfect practically and symbolically.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x16 — Future Tense
Synopsis
Enterprise finds a small craft adrift in space that contains what appears to be a human corpse, one the Suliban and the Tholians both try to retrieve.
Remarkable scenes
- Trip and Reed discovering that the ship is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside... literally. :)
- Reed: "This gives space exploration a whole new meaning!"
- Phlox discovering that the dead pilot is actually a hybrid of several species, including human and Vulcan.
- Archer: "If a human and a Vulcan did have a child, I wonder if he'd have pointed ears?"
- The Tholians!
- Trip and Reed getting stuck in a time loop.
- Enterprise battling the Suliban.
- The Tholians battling the Suliban.
- Time repeating for Archer and Reed.
- Archer regarding the Vulcan High Command: "I wonder if they'll believe that humans and Vulcans will be swapping chromosomes one day?" T'Pol: "They're more likely to believe in time travel."
Review
Ent: Future Tense is yet another Temporal Cold War episode which depicts conflict and action without much explanation. Reminds me a bit of Ent: Cold Front. This episode is quite a bit more successful though. The object of the plot itself was most original. The ship itself and the body inside were fascinating. The Temporal Cold War is further aggravated by the appearance of the Tholians. Despite my lack of appreciation of the Temporal Cold War in general, this was a really great use of the Tholians. TOS: The Tholian Web utterly failed to show us anything of significance when it introduced the Tholians. This episode is a continuity goldmine concerning them, and manages not to create any problems too! As exciting as the episode is, I'm only annoyed that we learn nothing new about the Temporal Cold War other than that the Tholians may be working for one of the factions and that they're opposed to the Suliban. So this episode ends up being a grand, albeit exciting, waste of time from a developmental standpoint.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x17 — Canamar
Synopsis
Archer and Tucker are mistakenly arrested and placed on a prisoner transport vessel bound for the penal colony Canamar.
Remarkable scenes
- The prison ship coup.
- Archer passing himself off as the smuggler he was accused of to gain the prisoners' trust.
- Zoumas talking Trip's ear off.
- Kuroda: "I may not know how to fly this ship, but I am sure I can figure out how to crash it!"
- Trip defeating the Nausicaan.
- Archer shooting off his mouth to the Enolian official.
Review
An episode much like TNG: Gambit, Archer gains the trust of Kuroda in much the same way Picard gained the trust of his captors. We get another dose of fighting and guns, Archer gets beaten up again, though he does manage to do fairly well in a fight this time. It's remarkable that the episode doesn't really have a B plot. The two settings were largely contributing to the same plot. The "Enterprise chases the prison transport" plot though was rather dull and predictable. What little surprise it had to offer, it spoiled by having T'Pol ask Reed about the armaments of the ship that was about to dock with the prison transport. Personally, I thought the scene when Archer blew off the Enolian official was too short. Archer's anger was understandable, but a longer scene would have been a better scene. In addition, the fight between Archer and Kuroda went on far too long. And I was kind of looking forward to watching that prison transport break up in the atmosphere. I wonder why they didn't show it? Maybe because of the Columbia disaster? In any case, this episode was more original than most, but the ending was somewhat anticlimactic.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x18 — The Crossing
Synopsis
Enterprise is swallowed by an otherworldly vessel occupied by noncorporeal creatures who seek to trade consciousnesses with the crew members.
Remarkable scenes
- Trip being disembodied.
- Reed: "Are you a female?" Crewman: "Sir?" Reed: "Your gender, you are a female, correct?" Crewman: "Last time I checked." Reed: "I am a male." Crewman: "I'm aware of that Lieutenant." Reed: "There seem to be a number of anatomical differences."
- Reed coming on to T'Pol.
- Reed to T'Pol: "Would you mind taking off your clothing? I'd like to learn more about your anatomy."
- Rostov being possessed.
- Trip slugging Travis.
Review
It's remarkable how suspicious Archer is of the wisp aliens at first. As harmless as they looked, Archer just seemed so xenophobic about it all. This is all excused of course because of the fact that Archer's instincts were correct. It annoyed me that when T'Pol found out the aliens' true intentions, Archer doesn't try to reason with the aliens, but instead exploits their weaknesses and destroys them. Maybe this is better for continuity and maybe this is more realistic for the 22nd century, but it was hardly in the spirit of Star Trek. The ethics are almost as questionable as is shown in Ent: Dear Doctor. There's a decent helping of humor in this episode and the plot advances well. I enjoyed the reuse of the catwalk and I found the episode genuinely entertaining up until that seemingly Enterprise patented anticlimactic ending. Another disappointment.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x19 — Judgment
Synopsis
Archer stands accused before a Klingon tribunal of conspiring against the Empire, and faces a lifetime sentence on Rura Penthe.
Remarkable scenes
- Duras telling his colored story.
- Archer telling the real story.
- Kolos telling Archer that not all Klingons are warriors, complaining about the new trend among young people.
Review
A fairly unremarkable episode, but interesting. It's a shameless blatant rip off of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and DS9: Rules of Engagement. It also tried to generate some ratings by using J. G. Hertzler to play Kolos. But I don't really care about any of these things. What I enjoyed about the story was that we got to see some of the origins of the Klingon warrior culture. Obviously, Klingons were always warriors. But I like how Kolos described the difference in generations and how the acquisition of honor has somewhat depreciated over time. For this insight into Klingon culture, I give the episode extra points. So yeah, the general plot may have been ripped off, the seemingly important detail of exactly how Archer fell into the hands of the Klingons was omitted, and resolution was rather convenient, but at least they weren't mining "deuterium" at Rura Penthe. ;)
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x20 — Horizon
Synopsis
While Enterprise investigates a planetary phenomenon, Mayweather takes the opportunity to visit the cargo ship where he was born and raised.
Remarkable scenes
- Travis hanging out at the sweet spot.
- Travis: "Starfleet really ought to think about putting families on starships." Reed: "You must be joking!" Mayweather : "No one would ever get homesick." Reed : "Yes... well they'd better post a psychologist on board. Because I'd need one if my parents were roaming the corridors."
- Archer joining Travis at the sweet spot.
- Archer telling Travis about the letter of recommendation he got from Travis' father.
- The Horizon being attacked.
- T'Pol's reaction to the movie.
- The Horizon battling the aliens.
Review
Ent: Horizon is a good episode, worthy of the series. Unfortunately, it's nearly identical to Ent: Fortunate Son. Some of the nuances of the rehash could have been avoided. For one, I would have preferred Travis' father had not died and instead of a sibling conflict we could see a father son conflict. That would have been more interesting in my opinion. Most importantly this episode features yet another stubborn leader who refuses help and yet another alien attack on a cargo ship. This is beginning to strain credibility. Are all cargo ship captains stubborn luddites who are under constant attack by pirates? The episode's basic premise could have been made into something better if the writers had decided to write a bit more original story. Instead, we're shown a pretty blatant rehash that only a year ago was a pretty nicely original idea.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x21 — The Breach
Synopsis
Enterprise is asked to evacuate a group of Denobulan geologists from a world that has been taken over by a militant faction.
Remarkable scenes
- Phlox feeding a tribble to one of his pets...
- Phlox finally breaking after his patient's constant insults.
- Trip and Reed encountering the Denobulan scientists.
- Phlox confronting the Antarean, answering his questions, making the case for anti racism.
- Trip: "If you don't start moving in the next five seconds, I'm gonna take my phase pistol and shoot you in the ass!"
- The Denobulans climbing the slope with ease, using some kind of natural sticky hands or some such.
Review
Dr. Phlox steals the show in this episode. The backstory we get on the Denobulans and the Antareans is fascinating and the moral dilemma Phlox' character faces regarding his patient's racism is captivating. This obviously is not the first episode to tackle racism in Star Trek, but it does it in an interesting way. The war between the two species was long over. Three centuries had passed, but the hate was still prevalent. You shake your head during the scene when Phlox loses his patients with his patient, but I much enjoyed when Phlox revealed to T'Pol that his shame wasn't due to his outburst but due to the racism his people still feel. After Phlox' bad ethics displayed in Ent: Dear Doctor, I was sure Phlox would end up being racist, just like the rest of his people. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that not only did he not share those beliefs, but he'd worked to spread the message of anti racism to his children. I was also pleased to see Phlox' message got through to his patient by the end. The racism is beginning to die. The secondary (?) plot with Trip, Reed, and Travis was less successful. Once again, Travis contributes the least, being put out of commission early. It's as if the writers just personally hate the guy. There were a few funny moments with the Denobulans, but ultimately, and I think Captain Archer would agree with me, the climb took way too long. Instead of all the climbing, a better episode would have focused more on showing us a little about this alien culture whose planet was the setting. They weren't sufficiently elaborated upon. As a result, a fairly profound episode is reduced to above average. Still a great ep, but not as good as it could have been.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x22 — Cogenitor
Synopsis
Enterprise encounters a race called the Vissians who feature a third sex of "cogenitors" who are treated as second-class citizens.
Remarkable scenes
- Trip asking T'Pol her age again when she admitted that in another 100 years she'd probably still be around.
- Trip discussing the cogenitor with Phlox.
- Phlox: "I imagine the cogenitor provides an enzyme, which facilitates conception." Trip: "What do you mean by provides?" Phlox: "Well, first the female has to..." Trip: "No... no, no. Don't tell me. I don't think I wanna know." Phlox: "Oh well. Hmm. I have pictures!"
- Trip: "They treat her like a pet. Kept in her room, not taught to read or write, no name. Porthos has a name!"
- Reed's cheese scene.
- Trip teaching the cogenitor to read.
- Archer: "I might have expected something like this from a first year recruit, but not you. You did exactly what I'd do? If that's true then I've done a pretty lousy job setting an example around here. You're a senior officer on this ship, you're privy to the moral challenges I've had to face. You know I've wrestled with the fine line between doing what I think is right and interfering with other species. So don't tell me you know what I would have done when I don't even know what I would have done!"
- Archer revealing to Trip that the cogenitor killed itself.
Review
And Enterprise chalks up another winner. Multigender species is something Star Trek hasn't really covered, so the episode is refreshingly original. This episode was a joy to watch from start to finish. There are many quotable dialogs, more than I've marked. Nearly all the dialog was nicely pointed, showing intelligent writing. There were a few unnecessary details though. Similar to Ent: The Breach's climbing scenes, Archer's piloting extravaganza seemed to go on too long. We probably could have done without Reed's promiscuous behavior too. Finally, Trip seemed way too obsessed with the cogenitor. His constant changing of the subject in conversation got a bit tiresome. But these flaws are extremely minor. Archer's and Reed's more than positive first contact intensifies the magnitude of the effect Trip's actions had on relations. And while I probably wouldn't have been so hard on Trip if I were Archer, I can understand his reaction. Even if I don't agree with it. It's easier to understand Trip's position. The way the cogenitor was being treated most certainly looked like sexism. But then again, as the Vissian Engineer pointed out, and as T'Pol did in Ent: Broken Bow it's easy to incorrectly judge a culture which you don't understand. This makes the viewer come to his own conclusion. Were the Vissians practicing discrimination? Or were the humans making unfounded assumptions? These kinds of moral issues are exactly what make Star Trek so great.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x23 — Regeneration
Synopsis
An arctic research team discovers debris from an alien vessel, buried in a glacier along with the bodies of two cybernetically enhanced humanoids.
Remarkable scenes
- Phlox telling Reed about the Bynars.
- Archer telling T'Pol about Zefram Cochrane's story about the Borg.
- Archer decompressing the hatch the assimilated Tarkaleans were in.
- Archer: "Sounds to me like we've only postponed the invasion until... what? The 24th century?"
Review
This episode at first would seem to heavily aggravate the Borg's apparent inconsistent portrayal on Star Trek. But I'm a little more forgiving. Consider Seven of Nine's past. By the time of TNG, there was a group of people who defied Starfleet by searching for the Borg, who were only rumored to exist at that time. This episode could in fact provide the necessary background information for where Seven of Nine's parents got their wild ideas. There are two questions to answer if we're to buy into this rationalization. Why did Picard and more importantly Data know nothing about them? It's at least possible that even after the events of this episode, Starfleet lacked any interest in these aliens. Cochrane's statements about the Borg were largely considered ridiculous both before and after this episode. It's likely that officially this episode was considered an isolated incident, and that a connection was never drawn by Starfleet. It was up to minority groups like Seven of Nine's parents, to draw these connections. The second question to answer is what happened to the Borg wreckage and the detailed medical scans of the bodies? Given that the Borg never showed up again until the 24th century, neither the the data nor the wreckage was of any use. I wouldn't be surprised if it never got any recognition outside the scientific minority that Seven of Nine's parents belonged to. Yes, this episode is annoying, to put it mildly. And it would have been nice if the writers payed better attention to continuity, by supporting these rationalizations in the episode. But like Ent: Acquisition, it's not a devastating blow to continuity. No, Enterprise does not exist in a new timeline. No, these types of episodes are not impossible to rationalize. Yes, this was a reasonably entertaining episode, but I do hope this trend stops before it really does become a problem.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x24 — First Flight
Synopsis
While Enterprise is investigating a nebula, Archer hears that A.G. Robinson, his old rival in the early days of the NX test program, has died.
Remarkable scenes
- T'Pol imposing herself on Archer's mission into the dark matter nebula. :)
- Archer: "You remember what Buzz Aldrin said when he stepped on the moon?" Ruby: "No." Archer: "Nobody does. Because Armstrong went first."
- The warp 2 test and the destruction of the NX-Apha.
- The flashback to when Archer and Trip first met.
- T'Pol: "I suppose we'll never know who would have won." Wow, was that T'Pol making a joke about all the fights Archer loses?
- The launch of the NX-Beta.
Review
An unremarkable episode in terms of the sci fi plot, but a good story in terms of the history lesson. The details we got on the early NX program were fascinating and I most of all enjoyed seeing Archer meet Trip for the first time. The story manages to convince and entertain without resorting to the rather common retconning we've seen lately. I'm only a little annoyed that Robinson had to die meaninglessly before we were told this story. It's also a bit strange that T'Pol endeavored to cheer Archer up in this episode instead of another character.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x25 — Bounty
Synopsis
A Tellarite bounty hunter captures Archer intending to turn him over to the Klingons for a substantial reward.
Remarkable scenes
- The Tellarite's appearance.
- Archer won a fistfight! Against a Klingon!
- Enterprise defeating the Klingon ship.
Review
This episode is good and bad at the same time. On one hand, I like the fact that relations with the Klingon Empire have finally soured after Ent: Judgment and this episode. I also like how the Tellarites, a future Federation member, have been introduced and are depicted to be on relatively good terms with Earth. On the other hand, the whole secondary plot concerning T'Pol's unscheduled Pon Farr was just unnecessary and totally obnoxious. I'm really getting tired with 1. the decon chamber being used for sex appeal and 2. the inappropriate use of T'Pol's character. I really hope this stops, along with the annoying retconning.
Star Trek: Enterprise — 2x26 — The Expanse
Synopsis
When a probe from an unknown alien source unleashes a devastating assault upon Earth, Enterprise is recalled, then sent to search for the perpetrators.
Remarkable scenes
- The probe cutting a swath through Florida.
- Archer speaking with Future Guy.
- Earth ships coming to Archer's rescue when Duras attacked. Nice to see there are other Earth ships.
- The Vulcan "doctor" questioning Archer.
- Trip and Reed examining the damage first hand.
- Reed: "Photonic torpedoes. Their range is over fifty times greater than our conventional torpedoes. And they have a variable yield. They can knock the comm array off a shuttle pod without scratching the hull, or they can put a three kilometer crater into an asteroid."
- Archer and Trip discussing T'Pol and their mission.
- Duras: "Surrender, or be destroyed!" Archer: "Go to hell!"
- Enterprise destroying Duras' ship.
Review
Hoo boy. Now here's an episode to get the opinions flaring. The obvious question was as to why the Klingons or the Romulans weren't the ones who attacked Earth. Duras and his crusade against Archer seemed to play little importance in this episode, as if the writers wanted to wrap up that whole Klingon thing so they could focus on this "expanse" storyline. It would seem that the writers were more interested in following in the tradition of Ent: Shockwave and Ent: Broken Bow by making this season finale further complicate the Temporal Cold War. Now Archer is taking orders (in a sense) from Future Guy! It would seem that the writers would much rather take Enterprise in a "bold new direction" than stay true to the prequel they created. Two seasons have gone by and we've seen only one episode dealing with the Romulans and only a smattering of episodes dealing with the Klingons. No war has been declared and it doesn't look like much more time is going to be spent on the Klingons at all, much less the Romulans. This is depressing to say the least. Maybe the Xindi will be interesting and maybe the Temporal Cold War will stop sucking, but I'm getting the feeling that this new arc they're developing is nothing but filler.