The Enterprise picks up a "rogue planet," a world that has slipped from its orbit and is not part of a star system. Scanning it, they are surprised to discover that there is life on the planet, and an atmosphere, and even a single ship. An Away Team discovers a team of hunters, which travels to this rogue planet for a narrow 4-day window in which they have a chance to hunt.
However, when Archer sees a mysterious woman in the mists, he learns that the game these hunters seek is no dumb animal - but rather, an intelligent, shapeshifting life form!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: "Trip, have you ever known me to do anything foolish?" Really, Johnathan. Don't ask a question you don't want answered. I've only known you for the space of about 17 episodes, and I could already rattle off a pretty fair list. How generous of Trip to play off such an opening with a joke.
Archer does seem to be learning to at least be slightly more circumspect when imposing his morals on others, though. When he starts to suspect the hunters' game is of the "most dangerous" variety, he doesn't begin lecturing them or arguing with them. Instead, he plays along, getting as much information as he can, while planning a way to act surreptitiously. He also shows an increased degree of trust in T'Pol, confiding in her even at the risk of making himself appear foolish.
Reed: He is immediately intrigued by the hunters' technology, which allows them to cloak themselves from scanners. He accompanies them on their next day's hunt, in part to learn more about how their technology works. He also enjoys one-upping Archer when they compare numbers of merit badges earned.
Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: The alien chooses Archer to communicate with, and chooses the form of a beautiful woman from Archer's distant memories in order to do so. She chooses a good form. I could easily understand why Archer was beguiled by her. Stephanie Niznik does a reasonably good job of making her speech patterns and interactions with Archer just alien enough that we never forget she's not human, while at the same time remaining sympathetic.
Villain of the Week: The endlessly reliable Keith Szarabajka is Damrus, leader of the hunting party. There really isn't much role here - Damrus and his cohorts want to hunt, and enjoy hunting a sentient, telepathic being... at least, so long as their scanners make doing so a reasonably safe prospect. Szarabajka lends presence and a certain rough charm to Damrus, elevating a potentially faceless baddie slightly. The script, however, doesn't allow Damrus to become a truly memorable villain.
THOUGHTS
A "B" episode, though a moderately diverting one. Riffs on the short story, The Most Dangerous Game, are par for the course in most long-running series at some point. This manages to veer away from being a simple rip-off by not having Archer and/or members of his crew made the object of "the hunt," but it's still nothing terribly original, and it doesn't take long to figure out exactly where this episode is going.
Even if it's predictable fare, it is amiable. There are some nice character beats, from Trip's absolute trust in Archer, to Hoshi's throwaway about being glad she's staying in her bunk, to Archer's reflections on his favorite Yeats poem. Even the guest villain gets a good bit, reflecting on his father's disastrous hunt a generation earlier.
It is also, yet again, well-directed. As I noted in my previous review, the directing has been a consistent strength for this series. The alien world actually feels alien, with strong atmosphere. The shapeshifter Archer observes is effectively framed by mists and fog when first observed. An attack on one of the hunters is executed abruptly enough to be startling, but not so abruptly that it feels confusing in any way.
I'm not going to give this any better than a "passable" rating, because the script, while competent, is thoroughly pedestrian, with not a single unexpected turn. Still, if the show must have "B" episodes, I'd far prefer Enterprise's "B" episodes stick to this quality, rather than dipping back to the truly dismal levels of Terra Nova or Fortunate Son.
Rating: 5/10
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