While preparing to orbit an uninhabited Class M planet, which Archer thinks might make a decent site for a brief shore leave, the Enterprise triggers a mine. The detonation causes severe damage, though fortunately no fatalities. However, a scan of the ship reveals that a mine is still attached. When Reed goes out to attempt to disarm it, a magnetized spike in the device impales his leg. The pressure of the spike prevents a suit rupture, but he is left trapped on the hull plating.
Archer takes it on himself to go out to help disarm the device and save Reed. But then the race responsible for the minefield appears. They are a secretive yet militaristic people known as the Romulans. Their audio-only hail to Enterprise is direct and to-the-point: detatch the section of hull plating (and Reed along with it) and leave the star system immediately, or be destroyed.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: It's interesting to contrast Archer when he's attempting to "be friendly" with his crew against Archer in the midst of a crisis. In the precredit sequence, when attempting to put Reed at ease for a friendly breakfast, Archer is ludicrously stiff and self-conscious. I found myself thinking that Bakula's performance was dreadful here. But once the Enterprise hits the first mine, triggering the crisis, the stiffness vanishes as Archer starts demanding each of his crew to figure out what is going on.
That makes me think that perhaps Bakula's performance wasn't bad in the earlier scenes. Perhaps it was a conscious acting decision, to show that Archer is most relaxed when working through a situation, and most tense when he has no obstacles to kick against. It is a potentially interesting character trait, and one I hadn't really picked up on before. It would be interesting to know if this was the intent with the character from the beginning (explaining Bakula's moments of artificial stiffness - not a tendency of his work elsewhere), or if the writers of this episode picked up on Bakula's discomfort with certain types of scenes and used it to good effect.
Reed: Speaking of discomfort, Reed's discomfort at having a chatty "breakfast" with the captain is palpable, and one foresees that Archer's planned meal of nothing but small talk would have turned into torture for both men. I fully sympathize with Reed. In cases where your boss/superior isn't actually your friend, it's often preferable to just discuss business with them.
Reed has an excellent episode. We see here that not only does he enjoy blowing things up, but he understands the equally important part of defusing things that might otherwise blow you up. His scenes with Archer are a highlight. As he attempts to talk Archer through disarming the mine, we get more genuine background on Reed than has been presented the entire series to date. We learn of the areas in which he disagrees with Archer's command style, and get to hear Archer's generally well-reasoned responses.
Villain of the Week: The Enterprise gets to be humanity's first contact with the Romulans. Such as it is. The Romulans don't show themselves, of course, thus maintaining continuity. They aren't really characterized at all, save as "sinister threat." They watch, silent and threatening, and make intermittent demands on the Enterprise, each demand well-timed to increase the urgency of the script.
THOUGHTS
Minefield wastes little time in establishing a serious crisis for the crew, and then gives every character something to do in resolving the crisis. While Reed and Archer bond over a bomb, T'Pol takes command on the bridge, Trip works to detatch the hull plating, Phlox works with the casualties, and an injured Hoshi translates the Romulan messages. Even Mayweather gets a moment to shine as he navigates the minefield, making this probably his best episode to date. I'm genuinely impressed with the script for managing to give every member of the large regular cast a page, while still shining the spotlight on Archer and Reed and developing a genuinely tense situation.
The script does a good job of raising the stakes throughout. First the ship is in the middle of a minefield. Bad, but not unsalvageable. Then, we discover that the ship has an unexploded mine attached. Much worse. Reed gets impaled while trying to defuse the mine. Worse still. The Romulans reveal themselves, and demand that the Enterprise leave immediately. Crisis. Finally, we discover that there is no way to defuse the mine under any kind of rational deadline. Essentially hopeless. From the very beginning, the situation keeps worsening, like a noose tightening around Enterprise.
In fact, even though I quite like both character and actor, I almost wish this had been an "exit episode" for Reed. It would have been a fantastically effective one, forcing Archer into a situation where he tries everything, fails, and ultimately is left with no choice but to allow the death of a crew member. Had the writers/producers gone that route, this episode would almost certainly score a perfect "10" from me. As it stands, it remains a well-constructed exercise in creating tension while building character. I don't entirely buy Archer's final "Hail Mary" plan working - as portrayed, the plan's success seems to require just a bit too much dumb luck. Still, I'll overlook that and award a strong score.
Rating: 8/10
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