The Enterprise discovers an enormous comet, the largest one ever observed by either humans or Vulcans, and one that contains a rare substance beneath its surface. Reed and Mayweather are dispatched to collect samples from beneath the ice on the comet's surface, an operation that will take some time to complete.
Meanwhile, a Vulcan ship appears - creating irritation on Archer's part that the Vulcans are apparently following Enterprise. Irritation becomes suspicion when he learns that T'Pol has received an encrypted message from the Vulcans, prompting Trip to intercept and translate the message. The contents are not what Trip had expected.
Back on the comet, Reed sets off a blast in order to collect the requested samples. But when the blast changes the comet's trajectory, the ice begins to melt - a bit too fast to give Reed and Mayweather any reasonable margin of safety!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: His suspicion and resentment of the Vulcans continues to loom large, here interfering with his judgment to such an extent as to endanger two members of his crew. He does make some overtures to the captain of the Vulcan vessel to try to achieve some common ground. When these efforts are (genuinely quite rudely) rebuffed, Archer reacts... badly. Also, despite the many times that T'Pol has proved her value and her loyalty, Archer still seems unable to bring himself to fully trust her.
T'Pol: We find out substantially more about her background in this episode, and get hints that her decision to stay with Enterprise after the end of her initial assignment is anything but well looked-upon back home. The captain of the Vulcan ship speaks even more harshly to her than he does to Archer, and there is a sense that her career path may be making her an outcast with her own people. Meanwhile, she reacts surprisingly well to Trip's intrusion. Perhaps on some level, she welcomes having another crew member realize some of the issues she is facing. In any event, despite some friction around the midpoint of the episode, she obviously takes to heart some of the things Trip says to her. The ending indicates a growing bond between these two characters, which could make for some potentially interesting future developments.
Mayweather: Actually gets some vague characterization this time! Mayweather's enthusiasm when he is out on the comet, in the ice, is infectious, and I enjoyed watching him and Reed take a break from their work in order to build a (Vulcan) snowman. I wouldn't say any breakthrough character work is done... but this is the first episode in which Mayweather actually feels like a character, which deserves mention.
THOUGHTS
Was this episode originally intended to come before The Andorian Incident? It does seem like it should be earlier in the line-up. The crew interactions, particularly with T'Pol, are at a far more basic level than they were in the previous episode. Also, as a character-heavy and incident-light episode, this may have been better-placed a few episodes earlier. The "message to the class" bit, for instance, seems like something that would be done very early in a mission - and if this had been moved up to, say, Episode Four, the Trip/T'Pol subplot here might actually provide some motivation for T'Pol's out-of-character snottiness toward him in Unexpected. On the whole, this feels out of place where it falls.
Most of all, of course, is the difficulty in believing that right after the events of The Andorian Incident, this incident wouldn't be directly mentioned by someone when they encounter the Vulcan ship.
Placement issues aside, this is a rather good character-building episode. No, not much happens, and the crisis at the end is clearly manufactured by the writers to create a little tension and to give Archer a brief internal conflict between common sense and prejudice. But several character relationships build. Archer has to acknowledge that there are some situations he isn't equipped to handle, and that occasionally it might behoove him to swallow his pride and ask for help. T'Pol and Trip take some stumbling steps toward some kind of friendship/potentially something more. Reed gets to set off an explosion, and he and Mayweather get to generally have fun faffing about on the comet - at least until the final act crisis arrives.
It's all quite low-key, but still surprisingly engrossing. Special mention the visual effects surrounding the comet, which are very nicely-realized.
Rating: 7/10. Not an "exciting" episode, perhaps, but a rather well-played one just the same.
Previous Episode: The Andorian Incident
Next Episode: Civilization
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