An emergency message from the Denobulan Science Academy has Archer agreeing to divert Enterprise's course to Xantoras. This planet, which has long suffered from unstable governments, has fallen into the hands of a hard-line, xenophobic group that has declared that all off-worlders must leave immediately or face imprisonment or death. Three Denobulan scientists, working in caves far beneath the surface, cannot be reached and have no awareness of this order. Someone must get to them and get them out, before disaster strikes.
Archer secures an agreement from the hard-line Xantoran government that gives him three days to get the Denobulans out. He sends Mayweather, Trip, and Reed down to retrieve the scientists. Meanwhile, ships carrying offworlders are departing at a steady rate. When one of them suffers a reactor breach, the planet refuses to allow them to land. Archer takes them aboard Enterprise, where the injured are treated by Phlox.
The most severely injured man is Hudak (Henry Stram), an Antaran - a race with a long history of hostility against Denobulans. When he sees who the ship's doctor is, he flatly refuses to be treated by Phlox, leaving the doctor wrestling with the worst aspects of his own upbringing.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: Despite his growth over the course of his experiences, he still has a tendency toward knee-jerk reactions to anything that doesn't line up with his own morality. His initial impatience with Phlox's dilemma, and his attempt to order Phlox to treat the Antaran against the man's wishes and against Phlox's own medical principles, do not serve him well. Fortunately, once he calms down he is able to push Phlox in a more constructive direction - namely, to try to persuade the patient to change his mind. His willingness to act quickly and on instinct serves him far better when dealing with the troublesome planetary government, though.
Trip: "If you don't move by the time I count to three, I'm gonna take my phase pistol and shoot you in the ass. One... two..." Another good supporting role for Trip. He is happy to volunteer to go down into the caves, despite his lack of experience with caves. He learns quickly, sufficiently so to take over for the last leg of the mission, and thinks and acts fast to prevent an accident from turning into a disaster. And, as the quote I chose to lead off with shows, I quite enjoyed Trip's exasperation and loss of patience when the Denobulan scientists prove less than grateful for the rescue.
Dr. Phlox: This episode shows us a lot more about the Denobulans' background. We have thus far only seen them as scientists and intellectuals. In this episode, we learn that they have a military past - and not an entirely benign one. Brought face-to-face with a member of a species his people had fought and demonized, Phlox has to wrestle with his own buried prejudices. The way Phlox stares at Hudak the moment the unconscious man is wheeled in, and then hesitates to even approach him, tells us a lot even before the man wakes up and denies treatment. Phlox's outburst at how "no Denobulan would want to be in a room with (him)!" and his confession of having nightmares about Antarans are well-scripted, and Billingsley plays all the different emotions Phlox runs through with his accustomed excellence.
Mayweather: Though this is not a Mayweather-centric episode, it does have a strong role for him... probably a stronger one than the cliched histrionics of Horizon provided. Instead of just running Mayweather through the same character issues, this episode uses his love of climbing, and plausibly expands it to include cave exploration. The result has Mayweather effectively put in charge of the landing party. It's a good role for him, and Anthony Montgomery's performance goes up a notch from its usual "blank slate" in response to actually getting something decent to play.
THOUGHTS
Though not a standout, The Breach is a solid standalone episode, with some good character work for Dr. Phlox and solid supporting roles for Archer, Trip, and (astonishingly) Travis. The Phlox/patient scenes start out seeming as though we are going to learn the important lesson that "prejudice is bad." Surprisingly, writers Chris Black and John Shiban construct a script that at least attempts to go a little deeper than that, with some good results.
Phlox is quite obviously not a racist. He is, however, a product of a culture where he grew up surrounded by fear and hatred of the Antarans, and the prejudice against this "other" couldn't help but become ingrained. Intellectually, he knew this to be irrational, and he worked to set a more positive example for his children. But when a prejudice becomes rooted to the level of being instinctual, simply knowing it's irrational isn't enough to completely overcome it. As a result, Phlox is left to battle his own instinctive reactions to his patient, along with his patient's similar reactions to him. The scenes of conversation between the two men, doctor and patient, are some of the more maturely, intelligently scripted moments in Enterprise's run, and both actors are terrific.
The "B" plot is also engaging. The caverns in this episode are a far cry from the "cave sets" of earlier series. We have deep chasms, that feel almost like bottomless pits. A genuinely well-shot and fairly exciting slide, which nearly kills all three members of the landing party. A passage with a very low ceiling, which Trip and Reed must slide through on their bellies. It's claustrophobic and effective.
Even better, the character interactions among the landing party work. Mayweather's confidence in his own abilities to handle these caves helps this to be one of the strongest Mayweather episodes ever, Trip's instinctive reactions to each situation feel correct for him, and Reed's security instincts help him to identify the correct path to reach the Denobulans. Even the Denobulans' infuriating stubbornness about leaving is given a good reason. Their "rock samples," as Trip dismissively calls them, can provide data to help their world substantially, making it believable that they would be reluctant to leave the work half-done.
The episode does suffer from the typical Trek failings, though. Both plots are wrapped up a touch too tidily. The landing party has a far-too-easy time getting back out of the caves. An attempt to create tension during the final phase of the episode makes for an entertaining scene with Archer, but fails to actually raise the stakes or create any suspense. In the "A" plot, we get some wonderful characterization from Phlox, talking about his grandmother and his children. But Hudak remains mostly uncharacterized. We don't know much of anything about his background, beyond his hatred of Denobulans, so it doesn't mean anything when he finally agrees to Phlox's treatment. Our concern is entirely for Phlox, as we aren't given any reason to care about the patient, one way or another, at all.
Despite these fairly standard limitations, this is a thoughtful episode and a well-made one. It's hardly the best of Trek, but compared to a lot of this season's offerings, it stands out as an engaging and thoughtful piece.
Rating: 7/10.
Previous Episode: Horizon
Next Episode: Cogenitor
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