PLOT
When a Klingon crash-lands in a field, it falls to a farmer to make first contact with a new alien race. Which he does... using a shotgun. This incident coincides with the planned launch of the flagship of the recently-formed Starfleet: the Enterprise. The Vulcans, who have spent the last 100 years "advising" humanity (or, possibly, holding humanity back), urge delaying the Enterprise's maiden flight until after they have returned the Kllingon. However, the Enterprise's captain, Johnathan Archer (Scott Bakula), is having none of that, and convinces his superiors that since this happened on Earth, it should be the Enterprise that takes the Klingon home.
The Vulcans reluctantly agree, with the proviso that one of their own is assigned as science officer (Jolene Blalock). And with that, the Enterprise is off on its first-ever mission. A mission which is complicated when the ship is invaded by a race known as the Suliban, who take the Klingon and vanish. Now Archer must follow a scant few, very thin leads in order to track down the Klingon and complete his mission - or return home, defeated, proving the Vulcans right in their belief that man just isn't ready for the stars.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: A reasonably interesting start, at least, for this character. Scott Bakula isn't nearly as good here as he was in Quantum Leap, at least not yet. He remains an engaging presence, however. His Archer is easy enough to like, even as he shows some potentially unlikable qualities: notably, he's quite headstrong (once the Klingon is taken, he really should at least contact his superiors), and he has an only very thinly-veiled strain of bigotry, at least as it concerns the Vulcans. On the other hand, Archer is reasonably resourceful. And the end of the episode does see him grappling with his preconceptions about his Vulcan science officer, even if it's clear he's still uncomfortable with her presence.
Collagen Spock: Jolene Blalock was clearly cast for two reasons, neither of which had anything to do with acting ability. I confess to being predisposed against her, making it little surprise that I found her the weak link in the cast here. The pity of it is that T'Pol seems to have some potential as a character. There is room to play with her conflicting motives: Is she working for the Vulcans (whose motives appear a bit murkier here than in other Trek series), or is she committed to her new ship, even if she isn't particularly happy about the assignment? Sadly, the answer to that question appears to be evident simply from her staying for all four seasons. Meanwhile, Blalock does nothing here to overcome my preconceptions, though I'll acknowledge that she isn't painfully bad in this pilot either.
"Trip": If the ship's engineer is nicknamed "Trip," does that really inspire confidence? How about "Doctor Whoops?" Unfortunate nickname aside, Trip makes a mostly positive first impression, the actor making the most of a handful of character beats. Admittedly, as of this moment, Trip's character seems to amount to: supporting the captain, making wisecracks, and speaking in a Southern drawl. But the actor seems game, and the character has potential to be a scene-stealer.
The Enterprise Crew: The regulars are passably well-established for a pilot, even if most of the rest of the cast doesn't get much to do here. After a promising opening scene, Hoshi the Translator (Linda Park) is mostly reduced to standing in the background and whining. The British guy... is British, and this episode seems uninterested in giving him any other character beats. The token black guy was born in space, likes to sit upside down (top that one, Shaolin masters!), and thus far has no other character. As of this point, I would have to look up the show on IMDB to tell you either character's name.
Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley) shows some promise. The actor has a potentially creepy undercurrent to him, which could be fun to play with - though I have a sinking feeling that the show will end up just going the "comedy relief" route with him. None of the actors makes me cringe during line deliveries, though I reserve the right to hate one or more of them by the end of the season.
THOUGHTS
For all the many bad things I have read about Enterprise, Broken Bow is surprisingly a pretty good pilot. The regulars are all at least introduced, we get a functional sense of the characters of three or four of those regulars, and we get to see a passable amount of interaction among them. At the same time, the episode presents a fairly interesting story, while hinting at both backstory affecting the various races and characters and foreshadowing conflicts to come. There is plenty to build on here, and every reason to believe that this pilot should lead to a good program. Well, every reason except the rather poor status the program actually enjoys within Trek fandom. I will attempt to approach it with an open mind.
There are certainly things I would like to see built upon. In only his second scene, we see Archer commenting on how emotional the Vulcans are reacting, the humans seeing the Vulcans as untrustworthy throughout. I would enjoy seeing this developed further. What if the humans aren't simply being provincial, and these Vulcans actually are hiding something? Alternately, what if the Vulcans' motives actually are for the best, but the humans end up being genuinely dangerous. Certainly, Archer's insistence on plunging into situations head-first seems likely to backfire on him at some point. What if Archer ends up creating an incident, maybe even starting the Klingon war referred to so often in TOS? I'm not optimistic about the series actually going such places - but the potential is there.
The Suliban seem poised to be major recurring baddies for this show, and do make a reasonably sinister presence here. CGI enhances them in nicely creepy ways, such as the Suliban who slides under the door to the grain silo, or the Suliban creeping along the ceiling in the darkened Enterprise sickbay during the attack. The "Temporal Cold War" alluded to here has potential to be interesting, though there's equal potential for it to be used as a lazy plot-reset device.
Really, "potential" seems to be the key word here. It seems obvious that Enterprise is being devised as a more arc-driven show than previous Trek series, with much of Broken Bow at least as concerned with setting plot threads in motion as with the episode's own plot. Most of the elements in evidence here could be really good. But it all depends on the execution... and though I am trying to approach the series with an open mind, and enjoyed this initial installment at least, it's difficult to optimistic about a show that is still widely held to have been a "franchise killer."
Scattered things I liked: I love the design of this first Enterprise. Very cramped, very submarine-like, it does a good job of suggesting technology more primitive than the original series Enterprise, while at the same time looking... well, looking good enough for 2001 audiences to have been able to take it seriously. I like the sense that the humans are a bit out-of-their-depth. I like the need for a human with strong language skills, and that communication with the Klingons is anything but simple.
Scattered problems: Blalock's flat performance. Does it improve? The decontamination scene... I approve of the women's uniforms on TOS, on the grounds that a little pandering isn't necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, blatant, in-your-face pandering is a bad thing, and the "peekaboo" tone of the decontamination scene makes it feel like one of the "boring parts" of a porno. Phlox to T'Pol and Trip: "It's a good thing we aren't on cable, or the decontamination procedure would involve a hot, sweaty, naked sex scene."
Also, does it really have to be such a quick trip to Klingon space? Just a few days there and a few days back? Surely, this ship is far slower than the TOS Enterprise. And there's no need for it. Archer's dialogue could just as easily have been, "Just 3 weeks there and 3 weeks back." Given that the trip to the Klingon planet is interrupted anyway, it wouldn't particularly have changed the plot. If Klingon space is really just a few days away for this primitive Enterprise, then so much for space exploration - everything is apparently just a couple days' drive away! It's something I can squint at and overlook if later episodes don't repeat this kind of marginalization of the vastness of space... but it does grate, particularly in that it bespeaks a certain laziness which does not raise hopes for future episodes.
On its own merits, though, Broken Bow is a fair pilot, with several strong elements and much potential to be turned into a strong series. I can't make myself feel entirely optimistic about the series to come. Still, I have seen far worse pilots to shows that I've ended up loving (Babylon 5 springs to mind), so... we'll see how it goes.
Rating: 6/10
Next Episode: Fight or Flight
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