THE PLOT
Soong and his augments head for Cold Station 12, where the remaining augment embryos are stored. Their objective is obvious. They intend to free all the remaining embryos, and see a new race of augments born... doubtless with more of Soong's "enhancements" to make them even more indestructible than Malik and his group (I do wonder how Malik would feel about that, once the implications sank in for his own leadership). Enterprise follows, with orders to use any necessary force to stop Soong.
The augments have a significant head start, though, and reach the station well in advance of Enterprise. They quickly take the station hostage, along with all of its personnel. When Dr. Lucas (Richard Riehle), the station director, refuses to surrender the codes to the augment embryos, Malik becomes violent - more violent than Soong is comfortable with.
When Archer leads a landing party to infiltrate the station, it doesn't take long for him and his group to be captured. But Archer has a backup plan to stop Soong's augments. There's only one hitch - It means the destruction of everyone on Cold Station 12!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: Identifies Malik as the real threat, and makes some attempts to get Soong to realize that his "children" have lied to him. Coupled with Malik's own violent tendencies, it's an effective approach... but there just isn't enough opportunity for Archer to really hammer it home. My suspicion is that the next episode will have a bit more of Archer pushing the scientist to realize what Malik has become.
Dr. Phlox: When he realizes that his long-time pen pal, Dr. Lucas, is now stationed at Cold Station 12, he requests permission to join the landing party. He rushes to Lucas' aid, showing no fear at all of the augments, either when treating his friend or when pushed into the test chamber under threat of imminent death.
Dr. Soong: Though Soong was portrayed as the villain in Borderland, he was given some sympathetic notes: his respect for Archer, his insistence on sparing the lives of the Enterprise crew. These are further expanded on here. We see in flashback that he genuinely loved the children, whom he raised as his own. When he learns of the death of one of them (at Malik's hands), he sits in the dark, recalling the boy's love of astronomy and demanding to know what happened. Brent Spiner's performance in the last episode was entertaining, but here - as Soong's arrogance is gradually wiped away by the realization that things have gone beyond his control - he genuinely excels.
Villain of the Week: With Soong showing a more sympathetic side, the story needs a truly evil villain. That role is filled by Alec Newman's Malik. He was potentially sympathetic in the last episode. Yes, he orchestrated the attack on the Klingons and killed his own brother - but both of these acts were explicable, given the circumstances. Now we see him revealed as a monster. Soong's squeamishness about killing disgusts him. He regards the deaths of humans as morally irrelevant, the equivalent of stepping on ants. Having, in effect, killed his brother and married his sister Persis (Abby Brammell), he's a villain who would be entirely at home in a Shakespeare play - one of the really bloody ones.
THOUGHTS
The "Previouslies" emphasize just how superfluous the Orion Slave subplot in Borderland really was. The "Previouslies" lay out everything of importance from the first part: the takeover of the Klingon ship, Dr. Soong's imprisonment, his rescue by the Augments, and Malik's killing of his brother. Notice what isn't there? Not a single shot referencing the side plot that took up close to half of the previous episode! It's not that it wasn't an entertaining diversion. But if there was only really two episodes' worth of plot in this story, whywasn't it simply made as a 2-parter, with the Orion plot being left for a standalone episode elsewhere in the season?
As to this episode, it's a far stronger one than its admittedly enjoyable predecessor. The hostage situation creates an inherently tense scenario, and the give-and-take between Soong and Malik provides another layer of tension. Soong is increasingly unhappy about Malik's violent nature, and Malik now seems interested in getting rid of his squeamish "father" just as soon as he can be sure that the others will go along with it.
Brent Spiner and Alec Newman give particularly good performances. As much Spiner might have had sneering through Borderland, he is much more interesting with the more layered characterization Soong is given here. Mike Vejar's polished direction keeps things moving, and this is a tremendously strong episode visually. Special praise is due to the set design of the station, with other visual standout moments including: the approach to the station, inside the asteroid; the chamber with the embryos; and that final shaft that Archer ascends as "To Be Continued" appears on the screen.
Rating: 9/10.
Rating: 9/10.
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