Star Trek: Enterprise — 4x20 — Demons
Synopsis
A xenophobic faction of humanity threatens to undermine talks to form a new coalition of planets.
Remarkable scenes
- Samuels: "With this Coalition of Planets we seek to strengthen our bonds of friendship, render permanent the peace that now exists among us for the ongoing exploration of our galaxy. Let us dedicate ourselves to these worthy goals so that future generations can look back upon this moment with pride and eternal gratitude."
- Samuels regarding the universal translator: "They are extremely precise. Though when I'm listening to the Tellarite Ambassador I wish they were a little less precise."
- The revelation that the child was somehow T'Pol's and Trip's.
- Reed contacting Section 31.
- Paxton and Greaves watching an historic Colonel Green speech.
- Trip meeting with Greaves, then attending the Terra Prime meeting.
- Trip and T'Pol being captured.
- The moon mining facility taking off.
- The lunar colony going to warp, arriving at Mars, and landing on it.
- Paxton firing on the Moon.
Review
This episode is nothing special, but not bad at the same time. It picks up on the xenophobia that humanity faces which first flared up in Ent: Home. I'm glad they're going somewhere with this, but I was hoping it wouldn't be taken in the direction of a KKK of the future. Unfortunately, this is exactly what Paxton represents. His racism is blatantly impractical and he's clearly a madman, just like the Colonel Green from 100 years before he admires so much, or Hitler from 200 years before. Only the minor details of this episode redeem it. For one, it's interesting to get a chance to see the Luna colony. I also enjoyed the special effects with the colony lifting off and traveling to Mars. Good stuff there. The most appealing aspect of this episode was the seeming preliminary talks regarding the formation of the Federation. Otherwise, the motives and intent of the antagonist remain unclear, and it's hard to give the episode much more than an average rating. On a side note, Travis gets lots of lines! It's a shame the small part of the story he was conceded was so full of cliche though...