THE PLOT
The Reptilians have successfully armed the weapon, and are on their way to Earth. Archer has taken command of Degra's ship, which can navigate the vortex and can move faster than the Reptilians. His plan is to beam a team aboard the weapon, to destroy it from the inside.
Meanwhile, T'Pol takes command of Enterprise for its last mission within The Expanse. She will make good on Archer's promise to the Acquatics to break the Sphere Builder's hold over The Expanse by destroying one of the key Spheres in the network. But this time, the Sphere Builders will do more than just observe the outcome...
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: The usual grim determination and self-sacrifice. Scott Bakula is terrific, as he has been most of this season. Had the series been cancelled here, this would not have been a bad final bow for either the character or the actor. Thankfully, it's not quite the end of the series yet. Hopefully, Bakula's performance will continue to impress as it has since late Season Two, without slipping back to the intermittent awkward stiffness of the first season-and-a-half.
T'Pol: She no longer seems to be trying very hard to hide her new emotions. I'm still not sure I like the plot turn of giving T'Pol a full set of emotions. To me, this misses the point of having a Vulcan character. That said, I do like that T'Pol is gradually becoming comfortable in expressing them. It should also make for some interesting developments when she has to interact with Vulcans again in the future.
Dr. Phlox: Is able to create a compound that will allow the ship's crew to survive for up to 15 minutes in the space surrounding the Sphere. He is firm that at that point, the crew will begin to die. Though as a doctor he is devoted to life, when the Sphere Builders infiltrate the ship directly, he uses the knowledge he gleaned from the captive Sphere Builder to help the marines and ship security fight back against them. He also gets a couple of terrific quieter moments opposite T'Pol, scenes that bring out the best in both of these characters and actors.
Hoshi: Her ordeal has left her very weak. Her first scene of the episode sees her in almost a fugue state. She is simultaneously trying to decipher the weapon schematics for Archer, paralyzed with guilt over her failure to jump before the parasites she was injected with stopped her, and flashing back to being a prisoner of the Reptilians. She stabilizes after that scene, and does well during the mission, particularly when called upon to remember a critical sequence from memory.
The Xindi: The Reptilians are now open about wanting to dominate all of the Xindi. By the episode's end, the Insectoids have realized the Reptilians' duplicity and joined with the rest of the Xindi council. With only the Reptilians holding out, and the leader of the humanoids observing that they will eventually have to come back to the council, it would seem that Archer has accomplished what the Sphere Builders failed to do: He has unified the Xindi.
ZAP THE REDSHIRT!
An unspecified number of marines meet their makers when the Sphere Builders attack Enterprise. An additional two marines go into the weapon, but don't come out again.
THOUGHTS
And so the season-long Xindi arc... ends on a cliffhanger!?
In fairness, the story of the Xindi weapon is resolved. The cliffhanger is more of a tag at the end of the story - Less a case of the episode going unresolved than of the complication for the next season premiere being introduced at the end of this one. I'd assume that if the series had been cancelled here (a distinct possibility) that they'd have simply cut the episode a little shorter, ending with the arrival at Earth before it became apparent anything was wrong, probably with some stock footage of Starfleet headquarters and maybe a voice over from Bakula to close out the series. Thankfully, it did get renewed one last time, allowing for one of the more bizarre season cliffhangers I can recall. At the very least, I'm interested in knowing what happens next!
The episode itself is another good one. Berman and Braga return to the writers' chair, for yet another reminder that whatever people may have thought of them as showrunners, they are solid writers. The pace is relentless, with the cuts back and forth from the weapon to Enterprise's complications around the Sphere provoking strong tension. Before the action, Berman and Braga pause to allow Crewman Daniels to give Archer a glimpse of the future, a faraway glance at the founding of the Federation. It's a scene I suspect we'll be seeing again, with a little closer a view next time.
The episode does lack the multiple emotional layers of some of the previous episodes. This is a flat-out action piece, with no subtext to speak of. But that's not really a flaw. After a season's worth of build, this is our climax. It may come in the form of big action scenes and bigger explosions, but it's quite satisfying in doing so. And the epilogue (pre-cliffhanger) manages to evoke a fair amount of emotion.
It's also great fun to see Shran again. I wasn't expecting that. It would be even better if his credit could have been held back to the end credits, to make his arrival a genuine surprise. Still, his entrance is well done, particularly his triumphant cry of, "Tell Archer... Now he owes me!"
Rating: 8/10.
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