THE PLOT
While exploring a possible dark matter nebula, Archer is shaken by a call from Admiral Forrest. Forrest tells him that his old friend, A. G. Robinson (Keith Carradine), has died in a mountain climbing accident. This prompts Archer to recall the early days of the NX program, when he and A. G. were among a handful of pilots jockeying to break the Warp 2 barrier. When A. G. was involved in an accident that destroyed one of the program's two prototypes, the Vulcans interceded - with an impact that threatened to shut the program down. A. G., Archer, and a young engineer named Trip Tucker took a desperate gamble in order to prove that the program was viable. But their plan was almost certain to end their careers - if they survived the attempt!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: Flashback Archer is more cautious and "by-the-book" than our Archer is. The hotheaded streak is still there, of course (people don't generally change personality, so it would be very unconvincing if it wasn't), and his resentment toward the Vulcans and protectiveness toward his father's work and memory are extremely consistent with the Archer we saw in Broken Bow. But he's also tightly focused on being a good pilot, to the exclusion of being a good commander - something that A. G. helps him to overcome.
T'Pol: While acting entirely as the dedicated science officer, T'Pol proves herself to be a very good friend to Archer. She observes his more muted, withdrawn behavior after the message from Admiral Forrest, and gets just enough information from Trip to be able to lead Archer toward telling her what has happened and why it is important to him. She directs Archer back to his story at several points, and ultimately pushes him toward paying suitable tribute to his late friend.
Trip: Flashback Trip is great fun. He's borderline insubordinate when faced with Forrest and the Vulcans, happily talking back in defense of an engine that he knows works. Though Forrest greets him sternly at the bar later, it's clear from his expression that he actually found Trip's behavior refreshing. Young Trip also proves his engineering capabilities. He not only helps to get the technobabble right for the second flight to work, but by fooling all the sensors into believing that the prototype is still there until it is too late for anyone to stop it.
The Vulcans: More hints of the Vulcans having their own agenda, with regard to their "assistance" of humanity. In the flashback story, we see the Vulcans pushing for the suspension of the NX project at every turn. "It's like they want us to fail," Trip complains. It's so pointed in this episode, that taken with other hints dropped from as far back as the series' pilot, I am increasingly certain this is all going somewhere. Exactly where, I'm happy to say I still have no idea.
Guest Star of the Week: Keith Carradine is A. G. Robinson, Archer's friend and rival from the days of the NX program. If the flashback Archer is more cautious than the present-day one, then Robinson has some of the reckless, cocksure attitude that our Archer tends to display. Carradine is very good, as expected, and there are points in the episode where one can't help but re-envision this series with him as the lead.
THOUGHTS
When Enterprise was first announced, way back when, this was the kind of episode that I first pictured. Less Star Trek as we've seen it, and more a futuristic version of The Right Stuff, with a lot of time spent getting the program working before the launch of a flagship. I still think an opportunity was lost by not spending some time on Earth in the first season, before launching into space. I suppose such a version of Star Trek would have been too risky, with too much chance that Trek fans would abandon it. Then again, that ended up happening anyway, so they might as well have tried something truly different.
In any case, this episode gives us a glimpse of what that version of Enterprise might have been. The flashback plot, which dominates the episode, centers around testing a warp engine, and eventually around choosing who will command the first starship. It's quite effective to see these characters in an Earthbound setting, with a command structure that feels more genuinely military. There's an authenticity to seeing the characters wrestle with problems that have more to do with getting basic equipment to work than with blasting the aliens to cinders before they do it to us first.
Most of all, it's an effective character episode, with Archer recalling his friendship with the man who easily might have been Enterprise's captain, and who perhaps may have seemed a more natural choice for the job. It's important for the episode that we believe A. G. could have been Archer's equal, or even his better, and the casting of Keith Carradine helps to sell that. Meanwhile, scenes that show A. G. stubbornly refusing to abort a test that is failing, then being a little too willing to blame the failure on the engine, provide just enough hints of Robinson's weaknesses that it's equally believable that Starfleet didn't ultimately go with him over Archer.
With good guest acting across the board, including a notably expanded role for Vaughn Armstrong's Forrest, and a good balance of pace and character work, this is another strong episode. It's too bad so many viewers apparently abandoned ship during the rocky midseason, because this last chunk of Season Two has become consistently pretty good. It's too bad it seems to have gotten there just a little bit too late to salvage the viewership.
Rating: 7/10.
While exploring a possible dark matter nebula, Archer is shaken by a call from Admiral Forrest. Forrest tells him that his old friend, A. G. Robinson (Keith Carradine), has died in a mountain climbing accident. This prompts Archer to recall the early days of the NX program, when he and A. G. were among a handful of pilots jockeying to break the Warp 2 barrier. When A. G. was involved in an accident that destroyed one of the program's two prototypes, the Vulcans interceded - with an impact that threatened to shut the program down. A. G., Archer, and a young engineer named Trip Tucker took a desperate gamble in order to prove that the program was viable. But their plan was almost certain to end their careers - if they survived the attempt!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: Flashback Archer is more cautious and "by-the-book" than our Archer is. The hotheaded streak is still there, of course (people don't generally change personality, so it would be very unconvincing if it wasn't), and his resentment toward the Vulcans and protectiveness toward his father's work and memory are extremely consistent with the Archer we saw in Broken Bow. But he's also tightly focused on being a good pilot, to the exclusion of being a good commander - something that A. G. helps him to overcome.
T'Pol: While acting entirely as the dedicated science officer, T'Pol proves herself to be a very good friend to Archer. She observes his more muted, withdrawn behavior after the message from Admiral Forrest, and gets just enough information from Trip to be able to lead Archer toward telling her what has happened and why it is important to him. She directs Archer back to his story at several points, and ultimately pushes him toward paying suitable tribute to his late friend.
Trip: Flashback Trip is great fun. He's borderline insubordinate when faced with Forrest and the Vulcans, happily talking back in defense of an engine that he knows works. Though Forrest greets him sternly at the bar later, it's clear from his expression that he actually found Trip's behavior refreshing. Young Trip also proves his engineering capabilities. He not only helps to get the technobabble right for the second flight to work, but by fooling all the sensors into believing that the prototype is still there until it is too late for anyone to stop it.
The Vulcans: More hints of the Vulcans having their own agenda, with regard to their "assistance" of humanity. In the flashback story, we see the Vulcans pushing for the suspension of the NX project at every turn. "It's like they want us to fail," Trip complains. It's so pointed in this episode, that taken with other hints dropped from as far back as the series' pilot, I am increasingly certain this is all going somewhere. Exactly where, I'm happy to say I still have no idea.
Guest Star of the Week: Keith Carradine is A. G. Robinson, Archer's friend and rival from the days of the NX program. If the flashback Archer is more cautious than the present-day one, then Robinson has some of the reckless, cocksure attitude that our Archer tends to display. Carradine is very good, as expected, and there are points in the episode where one can't help but re-envision this series with him as the lead.
THOUGHTS
When Enterprise was first announced, way back when, this was the kind of episode that I first pictured. Less Star Trek as we've seen it, and more a futuristic version of The Right Stuff, with a lot of time spent getting the program working before the launch of a flagship. I still think an opportunity was lost by not spending some time on Earth in the first season, before launching into space. I suppose such a version of Star Trek would have been too risky, with too much chance that Trek fans would abandon it. Then again, that ended up happening anyway, so they might as well have tried something truly different.
In any case, this episode gives us a glimpse of what that version of Enterprise might have been. The flashback plot, which dominates the episode, centers around testing a warp engine, and eventually around choosing who will command the first starship. It's quite effective to see these characters in an Earthbound setting, with a command structure that feels more genuinely military. There's an authenticity to seeing the characters wrestle with problems that have more to do with getting basic equipment to work than with blasting the aliens to cinders before they do it to us first.
Most of all, it's an effective character episode, with Archer recalling his friendship with the man who easily might have been Enterprise's captain, and who perhaps may have seemed a more natural choice for the job. It's important for the episode that we believe A. G. could have been Archer's equal, or even his better, and the casting of Keith Carradine helps to sell that. Meanwhile, scenes that show A. G. stubbornly refusing to abort a test that is failing, then being a little too willing to blame the failure on the engine, provide just enough hints of Robinson's weaknesses that it's equally believable that Starfleet didn't ultimately go with him over Archer.
With good guest acting across the board, including a notably expanded role for Vaughn Armstrong's Forrest, and a good balance of pace and character work, this is another strong episode. It's too bad so many viewers apparently abandoned ship during the rocky midseason, because this last chunk of Season Two has become consistently pretty good. It's too bad it seems to have gotten there just a little bit too late to salvage the viewership.
Rating: 7/10.
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