The time-traveling Daniels (Matt Winston) returns with news for Archer. Three Xindi have gone back in time to Detroit, 2004, where they are developing a bio-weapon as an alternative to Degra's planet-killer. Daniels enables Archer and T'Pol to follow them into the past, to stop their experiments before it is too late.
It isn't long before Archer and T'Pol locate the Xindi, hiding in a warehouse. They also observe their human accomplice: Loomis (Leland Orser), a sleazy individual who is using his job at a blood bank to supply the Xindi with people belonging to each blood type. There are just three blood types left to be supplied. And Archer, who is AB-, decides that his best way in is to be the next victim!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: The absolute trust he has grown to place in T'Pol is shown by the simple fact that, allowed to take exactly one crew member with him, he chooses her. In the early days of the series, you know he would have opted for Trip. Mistaken for a police officer, he plays the role with relish, basically imitating the behavior of shady movie "tough guy" cops. He also shows his absolute determination by managing to stay still and feign unconsciousness even when the Xindi stick a needle into his neck.
T'Pol: Plays very entertainingly off Archer, as the two attempt to blend in and react to early 21st century Earth. She is even more amusing opposite Loomis. It is clear that she finds everything about Loomis to be foul, from his cigarette smoking to the food he orders at the drive-thru.
Scumbag of the Week: Leland Orser is Loomis, the chain-smoking, beer-swilling, drug-dealing kidnapper who, as T'Pol observes, represents all of the worst of humanity. He doesn't realize he's working for aliens determined to wipe out humanity; he just thinks he's working for Al-Qaeda or somesuch. That makes it all right, then. Orser is hilariously disreputable, and thus enormously entertaining in presenting a man with no redeeming features whatsoever.
The Xindi: The reptilian Xindi continue with their plan to create a bio-weapon. It's interesting that they choose to travel into the past to do this. They know that Degra opposes the bio-weapon, and that Degra still has the trust of the majority of the Xindi council. Likely, they are maintaining as much secrecy as possible in order to stop intereference with their work.
THOUGHTS
The Xindi arc continues to develop here, with the bio-weapon being followed up on, and the development of that weapon reaching a stage where it could impact 3/4 of the human race. We also see the Xindi reptilians using time travel for the first time, confirming that they not only have a source from the future but actually have the ability to travel into the past. That's an interesting development, one which could be used to various effects in future episodes. I hope it isn't forgotten and relegated to simply being a one-shot.
The arc also is advanced in that Archer now possesses that weapon, and the equipment used to develop it. I'm not sure what the season will do with that. But this season has been doing a good job so far of building on previous episodes (unlike, say, Season Two), so I'm actually feeling confident that will lead to something.
As to the episode itself? At its heart, it's a romp. A chance for Scott Bakula and Jolene Blalock to discard their sci-fi jumpsuits, dress in street clothes, and basically play at another genre. A couple episodes ago, it was western week. This time, it's a contemporary cop show. Too much of this sort of thing could get old, but it still works here, thanks to good acting and an entertaining script that works both as pastische and as a genuine episode of Enterprise. The drive-thru scene, with the garbled speaker providing the characters with endless upsells ("for just 75 cents more, we can add three strips of bacon") is a particularly amusing moment.
That said, I hope it will be a while before another "past Earth" genre is aped. Two in three episodes is already pushing it, and is only getting a pass with me here because I enjoyed both episodes. Barring something truly outstanding, I doubt I could give a pass to a third.
Rating: 7/10.
Previous Episode: Similitude
Next Episode: Chosen Realm
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