Review

Ah, the infamous Klingon Forehead Problem. This is probably the most amusing continuity-centered episode ever done. Before I begin my review, let me briefly outline the Klingon Forehead Problem. In TOS, Klingons head no facial makeup, other than some interesting haircuts and a darker complexion. They had no cranial ridges. In the TOS films, Gene Roddenberry did an about face on this and made the Klingons look more alien. He claimed that's how he always wanted them to look, but TOS lacked the budget. A reasonable explanation. And it fell through with DS9 when TOS era Klingons made their cameos. They had full ridged Klingon makeup. But in DS9: Trials and Tribble-ations, the equivalent of an atomic bomb was dropped on Roddenberry's argument. Now don't get me wrong, that episode was a wonderful homage to TOS. But when Bashir et al noticed the difference between the Klingons of TOS and Worf and started speculating as to the reasons why this could have happened and Worf just cryptically responded with "we don't talk about it," it made canonical this Klingon Forehead Problem. An explanation was demanded and none was ever given. Then Enterprise as a series further aggravated the issue by depicting pre-TOS Klingons with ridges! Well, Manny Coto hates loose ends and here we are with Ent: Affliction. The solution to the Klingon Forehead Problem. The Klingons during the late Enterprise era began experimenting with human Augment DNA. The result? A ridgeless, TOS style Klingon. Now, there are still questions to be answered. How far does this plague spread? Why is every Klingon we see in TOS ridgeless? Why is every Klingon we see post TOS ridged? I have my own theories, but I'll wait to postulate them until the second part has aired. My only comment regarding this is wow, Coto has lots of bravery to attempt this. He's trying to correct the biggest continuity error in Star Trek history! That's no small feat. The episode itself was fairly by the book. Trip's emotional problems didn't interest me very much, but I was kind of glad that it gave us a chance to see the Columbia. T'Pol and Hoshi were given a decent showing as well; I loved the mind meld scene. I'm not sure Reed's conflict with Archer was such a good idea. The idea to bring Section 31 to Enterprise is acceptable from a continuity standpoint, but given the limited time left on Enterprise thanks to that asinine cancellation, introducing new complex long term plot threads seems ill advised. Probably the best part about the episode though was Phlox working with the Klingons. They were in character all throughout and I thus found the episode sufficiently convincing. I am impressed with Coto's audaciousness!