1-25. Two Days and Two Nights.

THE PLOT

The third time proves to be the charm, as Enterprise finally reaches Risa for its long-overdue shore leave. T'Pol stays aboard to run the ship. Cutler supervises the sickbay as Dr. Phlox takes his needed time to hibernate. Meanwhile, the rest of the command crew head to the planet for very different vacation plans.

Trip and Reed are determined to expand their horizons at a local bar... but their selected one-night-stands have an unexpected surprise for them. Mayweather decides to go climbing on a cliff-face whose slope changes constantly... with predictable consequences. Hoshi decides to just settle in, free of the universal translator, and practice speaking Risan... which catches the eye of an amorous fellow vacationer (Rudolf Martin). Finally, Archer's quiet retreat to a villa overlooking the seaside connects him with an attractive woman (Dey Young)... but as he gets to know her, he discovers that they share a closer connection than he had counted on.


CHARACTERS

Archer: Despite sometimes seeming like the sort of guy who would have been a "frat boy king" in his youth, Archer is not entirely comfortable taking vacations. While Trip and Reed head for a bar to score one-night-stands as fast as possible, Archer decides to take a quiet vacation with his dog, catching up on his reading and watching the stars. He enjoys making a low-key, adult connection with Keyla. However, he cannot turn off his inner starship captain long enough to enjoy her company once she lets slip her own past with the Suliban.

Trip/Reed: The double-act they began in Shuttlepod One continues here. The two actors bounce off each other very well in their ill-fated comic quest to Get Laid Now, and their attempted improvisations ("We're both the captain... We take turns") and their continuing bickering is quite entertaining.  That said, their subplot is easily the most disposable of the episode.

Hoshi: A very relaxed episode for Hoshi.  She seems to be genuinely enjoying herself in every scene, whether practicing her language skills with an older Risan couple or enjoying a vacation romance with the guest star of the week. Linda Park is terrific throughout, and it's nice to see an episode focusing on Hoshi without forcing her to deal with emotional "issues." Linda Park is also quite lovely, and in the "morning after" scene, I felt a touch envious of Rudolf Martin's Ravis.

Phlox: His need for hibernation, mentioned in earlier episodes, becomes a plot point here, when he is effectively incapacitated during a minor medical emergency. John Billingsley is highly entertaining as a semi-irrational, sleep-craving Phlox.  Still, this subplot does beg the question: Given that it's part of Phlox's genetic makeup that he absolutely must hibernate for a certain period each year, surely the ship needs more of a backup medic than the girl who has a crush on him? Lovely to see Cutler again, by the way - though it's a pity that this was apparently her last appearance.

Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: Dey Young is Keyla, Archer's attractive vacation neighbor. At first, she seems to simply be a friendly, somewhat lonely and reclusive woman in early middle age, someone similar enough to Archer in both age and temperament to make a pleasantly low-key, short-term match. Given the innocuous nature of the episode's first half, it actually comes as a surprise when Keyla brings up the Suliban, reminding us of the ongoing arc. Keyla exits leaving us with more questions than answers.  I find myself hoping that we will see her again, if only to see exactly what it is she is up to. Young and Bakula play off each other quite well, so a return appearance would certainly be welcome.


THOUGHTS

Enterprise seems to do very well with character-based episodes. The cast seem to do far better simply interacting in differing settings than when they have to run through Trek formulas. I also can't help but notice that, one episode from the season's end, we are yet to have even have a single "redshirt death." Enterprise may not have been different enough from the Trek formula to stand out in the early 2000's, at the tail end of a glut of Trek spinoffs. But in retrospect, it does have a very different feel than other series, and it seems far more its own show than, say, Voyager did.

There's a definite sense that this ensemble is far more comfortable in their roles than in the early episodes of the series. By this point, every character on the show is working... except Mayweather. I had to laugh when Phlox's reaction to being told there was an emergency involving Mayweather was, "Who?" Even the writers are acknowledging that Mayweather is a nonentity.  The end of this season would have been a fine time to have not only acknowledged that the character didn't work, but also to drop that character (something which I already know didn't happen, but it would have been a good idea).


Rating: 7/10. A quiet, but thoroughly enjoyable, 45 minutes of television.

Previous Episode: Desert Crossing
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1-24. Desert Crossing.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is back on course for Risa, when they pick up a distress signal from an alien ship. The distress is relatively minor, a matter of some engine repairs that Trip is able to put into effect quite quickly. The alien ship's commander, Zobral (Clancy Brown), insists on extending his personal hospitality to Archer, who in turn insists on including Trip in his visit to Zobral's desert home.

Everything appears to be exactly as Zobral described. They have a meal, they play a strange volleyball/lacrosse-type game, and they all flatter each other extravagantly. Then T'Pol contacts Archer. It seems a representative of the planet's government has inquired as to why Archer is meeting with Zobral - whom the government has declared a terrorist. Zobral insists to Archer that it is the ruling class that has refused to extend full rights to his people, leaving them no choice but to rebel. Before Archer can disentangle himself, an attack is launched on Zobral's settlement... leaving Archer and Trip out in the middle of the desert, desperately attempting to reach shelter, and leaving T'Pol to attempt a perilous rescue mission before the captain and engineer become casualties of a war that's not their own!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: No good deed goes unpunished.  An exaggerated version of Archer's rescue of the Suliban detainees reached Zobral's ears, causing the "terrorist" to seek out Archer as a potential source of aid. Now the captain finds himself stuck in an impossible situation. He knows he cannot do as Zobral wants and fight a war for him.  He also recognizes that Zobral is not a man who will take "no" for an answer. In some ways, Archer and Trip might actually have been saved by the attack launched on Zobral's people. Otherwise, I suspect they might have found Zobral difficult to dissuade - or escape from. At the very least, Archer is certainly coming to recognize that even his most benign decisions can have serious consequences.

Trip: Acts as the voice of caution when Archer is half-contemplating Zobral's request, pointing out - quite aptly - that Zobral hadn't been fully honest with them, and urging Archer to "walk away." In the desert, we see that Trip isn't quite as skilled at survival training as Archer, and Archer spends the bulk of the second half of the episode keeping Trip alive.

T'Pol: Once again is left in charge of Enterprise, and does a strong job of navigating a difficult situation, negotiating first with the planet's established government, then - when it becomes clear that the representative has no interest in listening to her - enlisting the aid of Zobral. She and Reed handle Zobral adeptly, attending to his misconceptions about Archer being a great warrior while at the same time shaming him into taking responsibility for Archer's and Trip's well-being. She shows respect for Archer's abilities, labeling him an "excellent starship captain," but is realistic about the risks of first contact.  She realizes what Archer is only beginning to - that the captain will need to take a more thoughtful and structured approach than he has done to date.


THOUGHTS

As the end of the season looms, the continuity of the show appears to be getting tighter and tighter. In my last review, I said that I hoped the need for shore leave raised in that episode was not forgotten. Here, we pick up with the Enterprise continuing to its shore leave destination (and getting diverted again). It is good to see that the situation didn't simply reset itself. Although after two diversions, I'm wondering if the next episode will be titled Enterprise III: The Search for Risa.

I'm glad to see that Archer is becoming more and more hesitant about just bungling into other races' problems. Though he is sympathetic to Zobran's plight, he doesn't seriously consider helping him. As soon as he realizes that he's put himself in the middle of a war, his only priority is to get himself and Trip out of there. Kirk or Picard would surely have settled a lasting peace, or at least led the two sides to the first steps toward such a peace, inside 45 easy minutes. For Archer, it's a challenge simply to survive the 45 minutes. The war is left in the exact state it was in prior to his arrival.  The only consequence of his visit is that the government in charge of the planet now considers the humans to be potential enemies, due to their association with Zobral.

Clancy Brown gives an effective, if over-the-top, performance as Zobral. If this were a British show, and made a decade or two earlier, the role would be tailor-made for Brian Blessed. Zobral speaks in pronouncements, and is vaguely threatening and imposingly genial by turns. He speaks in a bizarre, pseudo-Arabic accent, just in case anyone missed the modern-day parallels in the story being told. He ultimately comes across as more honorable than his enemies. Then again, we only get to see Zobral's side of the story, with his enemies depicted only in the face of a single, sneering bureaucrat. One can imagine a more ambitious version of this story seeing the Enterprise crew confronted with the after-effects of one of Zobral's attacks, complete with massive civilian casualties. Even so, it is clear that Zobral is not above lying or threatening to get what he wants from Archer - and his first impulse, once he discovers that the stories he has heard of Archer have been strongly exaggerated, is to leave the captain to his fate.

Overall, an interesting episode. Loses a point because the desert scenes with Trip and Archer go on just a bit too long, making the second half a fair bit weaker than the first half. Still, this is a reasonable piece, even if it's not as good as the preceding two episodes.


Rating: 6/10

Previous Episode: Fallen Hero
Next Episode: Two Days and Two Nights

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1-23. Fallen Hero.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise crew is preparing for a much-needed shore leave on the planet Risa when they receive orders for an emergency mission. They are ordered to pick up V'Lar (Fionnula Flanagan), a Vulcan ambassador accused of criminal misconduct on the planet Mazar, and take her to a Vulcan ship for return to her homeworld. Archer realizes, however, that there is more to the story than the Vulcans are letting on when a Mazarite ship attacks them in transit. Now Archer must make a difficult decision: turn back to Mazar, enraging the Vulcans and ensuring V'Lar's death in the process; or continue to the rendezvous, and risk the lives of everyone under his command.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: His mistrust of the Vulcans is raised again, and enhanced when he realizes that V'Lar is not telling him the full truth. I cannot agree with his actions after the initial attack. By turning the ship around, he not only is blurring the line of his actual orders, he is also giving the Mazarite attackers time to prepare a stronger assault. Archer does well in the final conflict, delaying the Mazarites and then bluffing them... but I can't help but think that his desperation tactics would have been unnecessary had he not reversed course twice, giving the attackers plenty of time to regroup. At least he's come to pretty much fully trust T'Pol, to the point that her simply asking him to complete the mission is ultimately all he needs to go through with a risky course of action.

T'Pol: Her interactions with V'Lar are very much those of someone who has met a childhood hero, only to be left disappointed. She clearly disapproves of V'Lar's willingness to meet the humans on their own, emotional ground. It is after seeing V'Lar engaged in humorous banter that she begins to wonder if the charges against the ambassador might be true. Not only does V'Lar sense T'Pol's disappointment in her, Archer cannot help but notice it as well. T'Pol's faith in Archer continues to be demonstrated, when she insists to V'Lar that the captain can and should be trusted.

Reed: We once again see how much he enjoys a chance to put his weapons in action. When Trip accuses him of liking it when Enterprise is shot at, he sensibly replies that he prefers "shooting back." It is clear that Reed is less interested in peaceful exploration, and more interested in gunplay. Between this and his willingness to resort to torture tactics (as seen in the previous episode), there might be some interesting places to take this character, if the series ever decides to take a darker turn.


THOUGHTS

Fallen Hero begins as one type of episode, and ends as another. The first half is fairly quiet, appearing to be focused mainly as a character piece for T'Pol. The openly gregarious ambassador is a clear foil for T'Pol: outwardly genial and humorous, in contrast to T'Pol's severe front. That V'Lar's presentation of herself disappoints T'Pol is made clear.  T'Pol is perfectly willing to believe the best about V'Lar before the ambassador arrives and behaves in "too human" a manner.  When Archer confronts T'Pol about her borderline rudeness, it seems set to be one of those forced character episodes that Next Generation produced far too often.

Then the Mazarite ships arrive, fire on Enterprise, and the episode abruptly becomes an action piece - a chase, with Enterprise being pursued by technologically superior ships to a rendezvous point. At this point, the episode begins to find its focus.  V'Lar's conversation with T'Pol, in which the two discuss the "good reasons" why the Vulcans kept information from humans, shows that she really is a proper Vulcan beneath the genial exterior.  One presumes she cultivates that geniality to aid her in her work.

In her conversation with Archer, she makes the best case yet for exactly why the Vulcans may have been right to hold the humans back. "You had just emerged from a global war," she tells him, informing him that the idea of the recently-warring humans suddenly taking their place in the stars frankly terrified the Vulcans. Her reasoning seems sound, and Archer spluttering about "100 years of good behavior" seems to be mainly his own bottled resentment talking. It's nice to see some acknowledgement that the Vulcan/Human issues have more than just one side to them.

The final chase is quite well-realized. There's some genuine tension as Archer has Trip push the ship to its breaking point. For a while, it seems to turn into a race as to which ships' engines will die first: Enterprise's, or the Mazarites. It is made explicit that both sets of ships are being pushed to the limit. Archer's final delaying tactic is a desperation move, but a well-judged one.

That said, I can't help but think that V'Lar makes a potentially serious error in judgment revealing herself to the Mazarites at the end. Surely allowing them to leave in the false belief that she was dead - thus making any future attempts on her life pointless - would have been more logical than popping up to gloat?

In the end, this is another good episode... Though I hope both the need for shore leave, and the damage the Enterprise clearly took here, are addressed in the next episode, and not simply forgotten about.


Rating: 7/10

Previous Episode: Vox Sola
Next Episode: Desert Crossing

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