Review

Just when you think that this episode is gonna make some real progress, Bennings starts shooting people randomly! Then again, it's not much of a Western cameo without a gunfight, is it? ;) The action wasn't excessive, only the timing was a bit strange. Then again, the episode was going too well to have the timing get much better. What I liked the most about this episode is the parallel to Voy: The 37s. The society Voyager discovered was a kind of new Earth founded on the other side of the galaxy. Like the people of this episode, the 37s overthrew their oppressors and created an independent society. The 37s though continued to evolve and didn't suffer from the fear mongering that the people of this episode succumbed too. They weren't as advanced as the Federation, but they were pretty advanced. In contrast, this society never grew out of the old west and had to be helped by the crew of Enterprise and eventually others from Earth. My only complaint about this episode is the timing. It has absolutely nothing to do with the Xindi. Why was it done? Between this episode and the last one, we've had two in a row that are technically filler, and we've not even seen very much advancement in the Xindi arc! Time shouldn't be wasted in such fashion. If this episode had been done in season 1 or 2, and it showed us other Earth ships later arriving at this planet helping / relocating these people, it would have been worth more points.