THE PLOT
The Enterprise encounters a dead ship, adrift in space, and pulls it into the docking bay to examine it. To the surprise of the entire command crew, the (dead) pilot is human - which should be quite impossible, since no humans have ever been out this far! There are other impossibilities. The ship is bigger on the inside than the outside, and seems to be powered by organic technology. The pilot is not pure human. He has traces of Vulcan DNA, Terellian DNA, and other species that Phlox cannot even identify. The only conclusion Archer can reach is that both ship and pilot come from the future - which is confirmed by Crewman Daniels' database.
Before Archer can properly decide what to do with this information, the Enterprise finds itself targeted by those who want the ship. The Suliban Cabal wants its technology, to turn the tide of their Temporal Cold War. The Tholians, a xenophobic species with highly advanced technology, also try to lay claim to the ship. With both hostile species determined to gain this prize, Archer finds himself in a desperate race to a rendezvous with a Vulcan battle cruiser.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: For the first time in a while, Archer returns to being stubborn past the point of being reasonable. Once it becomes clear that both the Suliban and the Tholians, both of whom are more advanced than Enterprise, are determined to get hold of the ship, he should be willing to consider destroying it. It certainly wouldn't be unreasonable to prepare some kind of warhead if the need quickly arises. His desire for answers to the frustrating Temporal Cold War issue overrides his common sense in this instance - something he seems to realize at the end, as he takes upon himself the doubtless bitter task of preparing both an apology to the Vulcan High Command and an expression of gratitude for their help.
T'Pol: In some ways, she's just as unreasonably stubborn as Archer. The Vulcan position is that time travel is impossible, a position which T'Pol describes as "not an opinion," even in the face of the evidence the Temporal Cold War presents. Her recommendation to Archer to destroy the ship is logical, and ends up being proved by what awaits them at the Vulcan ship. But there's a distinct sense that her recommendation is at least partially motivated by a desire to protect herself from evidence that the Vulcan Science Directorate could be (gasp) wrong.
Trip/Reed: These two make an entertaining double act, particularly in the early stages of the episode. Trip's wish to explore the impossible ship contrasts with Reed's urgency for security. Trip drops a spanner down the ship's shaft to test that the shaft actually is that deep, and not just a hologram. Then he overrides Reed's objections to simply going down the shaft by pointing out that he has to retrieve his tool. The pair also get to experience a time loop together, which foreshadows the time loop in which Reed and Archer later find themselves.
The Tholians: It's been far, far too long since I saw The Tholian Web, so I can't comment on how the ships here match up with the originals. The design is effective, though, as are the clicks and screeches that punctuate the Tholians' communication with Enterprise. I was glad to see how horribly outmatched our heroes are by the Tholians, in both military and technological terms. I've missed that early element of Enterprise, of the humans being near the bottom of the technological food chain. It's something that's been lost as the show has gone along, and a return to that helps this episode to build tension.
THOUGHTS
Another strong episode, and it's probably no coincidence that it's another one which revisits one of the first season's too-long-neglected running arcs - in this case, that of the Suliban and the Temporal Cold War.The Temporal Cold War episodes tended to be among the stronger episodes of the first season, with Cold Front particularly standing out. Even if the Temporal Cold War was added at the network's insistence, it's interesting, particularly as we receive just a tiny bit more information about it each time it is revisited. It's a heck of a lot more interesting than watching Archer protect miners from Klingon bandits, or other episodes of that ilk.
It also allows the writers to explore some of the Archer/T'Pol character conflict that has so substantially eased since the series began. Season Two Archer, with the horrible exception of A Night in Sickbay, has learned his lessons well and has abandoned much of the pure muleheaded tendencies that made him such a flawed commander in the beginning. This progress has been nicely gradual, almost invisible on an episode-to-episode basis.
The Enterprise encounters a dead ship, adrift in space, and pulls it into the docking bay to examine it. To the surprise of the entire command crew, the (dead) pilot is human - which should be quite impossible, since no humans have ever been out this far! There are other impossibilities. The ship is bigger on the inside than the outside, and seems to be powered by organic technology. The pilot is not pure human. He has traces of Vulcan DNA, Terellian DNA, and other species that Phlox cannot even identify. The only conclusion Archer can reach is that both ship and pilot come from the future - which is confirmed by Crewman Daniels' database.
Before Archer can properly decide what to do with this information, the Enterprise finds itself targeted by those who want the ship. The Suliban Cabal wants its technology, to turn the tide of their Temporal Cold War. The Tholians, a xenophobic species with highly advanced technology, also try to lay claim to the ship. With both hostile species determined to gain this prize, Archer finds himself in a desperate race to a rendezvous with a Vulcan battle cruiser.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: For the first time in a while, Archer returns to being stubborn past the point of being reasonable. Once it becomes clear that both the Suliban and the Tholians, both of whom are more advanced than Enterprise, are determined to get hold of the ship, he should be willing to consider destroying it. It certainly wouldn't be unreasonable to prepare some kind of warhead if the need quickly arises. His desire for answers to the frustrating Temporal Cold War issue overrides his common sense in this instance - something he seems to realize at the end, as he takes upon himself the doubtless bitter task of preparing both an apology to the Vulcan High Command and an expression of gratitude for their help.
T'Pol: In some ways, she's just as unreasonably stubborn as Archer. The Vulcan position is that time travel is impossible, a position which T'Pol describes as "not an opinion," even in the face of the evidence the Temporal Cold War presents. Her recommendation to Archer to destroy the ship is logical, and ends up being proved by what awaits them at the Vulcan ship. But there's a distinct sense that her recommendation is at least partially motivated by a desire to protect herself from evidence that the Vulcan Science Directorate could be (gasp) wrong.
Trip/Reed: These two make an entertaining double act, particularly in the early stages of the episode. Trip's wish to explore the impossible ship contrasts with Reed's urgency for security. Trip drops a spanner down the ship's shaft to test that the shaft actually is that deep, and not just a hologram. Then he overrides Reed's objections to simply going down the shaft by pointing out that he has to retrieve his tool. The pair also get to experience a time loop together, which foreshadows the time loop in which Reed and Archer later find themselves.
The Tholians: It's been far, far too long since I saw The Tholian Web, so I can't comment on how the ships here match up with the originals. The design is effective, though, as are the clicks and screeches that punctuate the Tholians' communication with Enterprise. I was glad to see how horribly outmatched our heroes are by the Tholians, in both military and technological terms. I've missed that early element of Enterprise, of the humans being near the bottom of the technological food chain. It's something that's been lost as the show has gone along, and a return to that helps this episode to build tension.
THOUGHTS
Another strong episode, and it's probably no coincidence that it's another one which revisits one of the first season's too-long-neglected running arcs - in this case, that of the Suliban and the Temporal Cold War.The Temporal Cold War episodes tended to be among the stronger episodes of the first season, with Cold Front particularly standing out. Even if the Temporal Cold War was added at the network's insistence, it's interesting, particularly as we receive just a tiny bit more information about it each time it is revisited. It's a heck of a lot more interesting than watching Archer protect miners from Klingon bandits, or other episodes of that ilk.
It also allows the writers to explore some of the Archer/T'Pol character conflict that has so substantially eased since the series began. Season Two Archer, with the horrible exception of A Night in Sickbay, has learned his lessons well and has abandoned much of the pure muleheaded tendencies that made him such a flawed commander in the beginning. This progress has been nicely gradual, almost invisible on an episode-to-episode basis.
Still, the easing of both the stubbornness and the hostility has made Archer a bit more generic than he was at the beginning. By putting him into a situation in which he believes he has a genuine chance to get some answers to questions that have been hanging over him, the writers create a plausible scenario to bring some of that muleheadedness back. For all the progress both have made, he and T'Pol sometimes do come at situations with directly opposed priorities and agendas.
Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong, whose scripts have been the consistent highlights of Season Two, do it again here. They even manage to layer in some decent character moments. Mayweather and Hoshi are basically set dressing again, but all of the others get at least one or two good scenes. Veteran television director James Whitmore Jr. helms the piece with a confident hand, using lighting to particularly good effect inside the future ship.
It zips along at a good pace, furthers the Temporal Cold War arc, and introduces the humans to the Tholians in a way that keeps the Tholians both mysterious and threatening. In short: it's a good one... though something I can't quite put my finger on keeps it from crossing over into being a great one.
Rating: 8/10.
Search Amazon.com for Star Trek: EnterpriseMike Sussman and Phyllis Strong, whose scripts have been the consistent highlights of Season Two, do it again here. They even manage to layer in some decent character moments. Mayweather and Hoshi are basically set dressing again, but all of the others get at least one or two good scenes. Veteran television director James Whitmore Jr. helms the piece with a confident hand, using lighting to particularly good effect inside the future ship.
It zips along at a good pace, furthers the Temporal Cold War arc, and introduces the humans to the Tholians in a way that keeps the Tholians both mysterious and threatening. In short: it's a good one... though something I can't quite put my finger on keeps it from crossing over into being a great one.
Rating: 8/10.
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