4-22. These Are the Voyages...

And so at last, Enterprise's infamous final episode. Will it live down to its reputation?


THE PLOT

It is six years later... and the entire crew is still together, all still at the same posts they've held for roughly a decade now.  Meaning that the story starts with a major plausibility problem. Enterprise is on its way to the signing ceremony for the founding of the Federation, when they receive a message from Shran. He tells Archer that he is calling in the favor he is owed, and will need Enterprise to make a slight diversion in its route.

Shran's child has been kidnapped by some former associates. These criminals believe that he stole something, and are threatening to kill his daughter if he does not return it. Archer agrees to help - but he doesn't count on the high price that will be exacted before this adventure is concluded.

Meanwhile, in the distant future, Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) watches the entire set of events unfold, through the wonders of his Enterprise's holodeck.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: We are told that Archer hates giving speeches. Is that why he's so bad at them? In any case, we see Archer worrying and fussing over this speech in much the same way he worried and fussed over the introduction to his father's biography back in Singularity. He remains a loyal friend, and doesn't even seem to seriously consider rejecting Shran's demand for help. Scott Bakula may have been (understandably) disgruntled about this final episode, but his relaxed performance is actually better than much of the work he's done this season - though I could wish for more of a reaction to some late events.

T'Pol/Trip: In the six years since Terra Prime, they have kept up a neutral working distance. They still work together, but there is no relationship anymore. With reassignment coming up, T'Pol confesses that she is going to miss Trip.  This leads to a nice character moment in which Trip guarantees her that they will not lose touch with each other. With that level of feeling still existing, it seems strange that they would only be having that conversation now, but it does provide one of the episode's better moments.

Shran: Went on to marry Jhamel after the events of The Aenar, and eventually fell in with a criminal crowd after leaving the Imperial Guard. He faked his own death to evade them, which worked for a time. He retains trust in Archer, turning to the "pink-skin" for aid in his hour of need, and the two still work together. There's a sense in the first half of the episode that Shran is probably hiding something... but since Shran disappears from the episode's second half, this never gets any payoff.


THOUGHTS

The above points to one of the biggest problems with These Are the Voyages... There is the groundwork for a decent episode here.  The problems don't come from the basic plot.  A final adventure with Shran, just before attending the founding of the Federation?  Given the limits of a single-episode finale, that's actually not a bad starting premise.  With only one episode to work with, this was never going to be the next All Good Things...  But there's nothing wrong with the central story idea, which had the potential to at least make an enjoyable epilogue.

Then Rick Berman and Brannon Braga added the damn frame.


The story is framed by Riker (Jonathan Frakes) viewing these events in the holodeck while making a difficult decision related to the TNG episode The Pegasus.  The entire story is filtered through his viewpoint. This still didn't have to be disastrous, if the Riker/Troi bits had simply been used as bookends: A short opening scene and a closing scene to act as a button on the franchise would have been fine, had they otherwise left the Enterprise episode to work on its own.

Instead, Riker keeps interrupting the action for filler scenes.  We get pointless scenes of Riker listening to the regulars' confessions while playing the part of "Chef" (who we learn here was something of a counselor to the crew, even though that's never been alluded to in the preceding 97 episodes). Probably a good third of the episode is gobbled up by Riker - leaving inadequate time to properly develop the main story.

The result is inevitable: Dropped threads and abrupt script turns, which gradually sink a potentially decent episode.  There's much build-up to the effect that Shran is hiding something, and this feels in-character for the Andorian. The character's final mention of the episode has Archer implying that he's going to find out Shran's secret and drag it into the light.  But this is never followed up, because Shran disappears from the episode after that scene. 

Also, we are specifically told Shran's enemies cannot go faster than Warp Two.  This is a plot point, one we are given no cause to doubt.  With no explanation, however, they are somehow able to to catch up with Enterprise, and even manage to board the ship. How? Never explained. The aliens are able to do all this to generate an unconvincing crisis that comes out of nowhere, makes no sense, and is resolved (unconvincingly) just a few minutes later.

Add to that the idiocy of setting this story six years after the main series, while at the same time leaving all the characters exactly where they were in Terra Prime.  That's as idiotic as it is unnecessary. If you want a workaround that allows all of these characters to have moved on, but brings them together on the ship, simply throw in a line or two about how they've all been brought back together on their old ship for ceremonial purposes. That would be very plausible - far more so than trying to convince viewers that not a single member of the crew has moved on to anything more in their career (or personal relationships) in a six-year span!

I will say that the kidnapping plot works reasonably well for the first 30 minutes, with the rescue of Shran's daughter being one of the better-directed planetbound action scenes of the season.  Things only truly become dire in the final 15 minutes, when it's clear that the writers are trying to squeeze too much incident into too little time.

Had the Riker material been jettisoned, and the extra time used to flesh out the story, this would likely have been a reasonable final episode.  Speaking for myself, if a "button" was really needed to link Enterprise to the rest of the franchise, I'd have preferred to have seen bookends with an older Archer and T'Pol attending the launch of the TOS Enterprise.You could even have the same melding of the voice-overs (Archer, Kirk, Picard) over the TOS Enterprise in flight. The same thing would be accomplished, without gobbling up a good third of the episode or making the Enterprise regulars guest stars in their own series!

Judged simply as an episode, These Are the Voyages... is very flawed, but far from the worst of the series or even the season.  Judged as a finale, however, it is an almost complete failure, unworthy of the series (let alone the franchise!) it intends to celebrate.


Final Rating: 3/10.

Previous Episode: Terra Prime

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4-14. The Aenar.

THE PLOT

With the Tellarites and Andorians having made an alliance for the first time in history, the Romulan mission to destabilize their region of space has backfired badly. But the Romulans have a last push to salvage the situation. A second drone ship is ready. As soon as the first drone is repaired and the pilot is recovered, both ships will launch with a mission to destroy Enterprise!

Meanwhile, T'Pol has traced the drone's brainwave patterns. The closest known match is Andorian, but Shran corrects that statement. The brainwave is actually that of an Aenar, an Andorian subspecies that lives in the coldest part of the planet. Archer and Shran beam down to make contact with the reclusive Aenar, to try to identify the drone pilot. They find Jhamel (Alexandra Lydon), the sister of the Aenar who was abducted by the Romulans. She wants to go with them to help her brother. But the Aenar elders oppose this plan, and are willing to use their telepathic abilities to keep Archer and Shran from finding the way out to return to Enterprise!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: A bit less in the foreground in this episode than has been the case, though he and Jeffrey Combs continue to show how well they play opposite each other. Beyond that, Archer is in "captain" mode for the entire episode, with other characters being allowed the spotlight for a change.

T'Pol: Though it's clearly conveyed to the viewers that she still has feelings for Trip, she is determined not to show it. Working closely with Trip on the telepathy chair, she focuses with absolute intensity on the work. She insists on performing multiple experiments to see if the chair works, even when it becomes clear that it isn't safe.

Trip: After the battle with the drones, he discovers that there was a very minor problem with the chair he constructed. He worries that his feelings for T'Pol are distracting him from his work.  This leads to a genuinely very good scene with Archer, which ends the episode on a cliffhanger of a different sort - an emotional one, which leaves us wondering what will happen with Trip now.

Shran: Though he doesn't get anything as intense as the "blood" scene in United, Jeffrey Combs continues to impress. I like the way he plays Shran's loss of balance. Both before and after the accident scene, Combs remembers that he is off-balance and walks just a bit off-kilter, as though constantly dizzy. He is harsh in his dealings with the Aenar, but surprisingly compassionate in his one-on-one conversation with Jhamel. As the episode goes along, seeds are planted for a potential romance with the Aenar girl, one which we probably would have seen blossom had the series survived.

Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: Alexandra Lydon is Jhamel, the Aenar who agrees to go with Archer and Shran to try to help her brother. She seems to know early on that the most she can really do is help to stop him from causing further destruction. She works as a character for two reasons: First, because she is rebelling against her culture, eager to see something beyond the Aenar city. Second, because Lydon is very appealing, and the bond she forms with Shran is convincing even with limited screen time to develop it. Though the Aenar themselves are not particularly interesting, Jhamel, is a character who would have been well worth a return visit.

Romulans: Valdore (Brian Thompson) reflects that all Romulans are soldiers, "from the moment (they) are born." He recalls when he was a senator, how he made the mistake of questioning whether conquest was truly in the best long-term interests of the Empire, and how he was expelled for daring to question. He does not tell that story to evoke sympathy, but as an object lesson: If you're a Romulan, you're a soldier. Forget that at your peril. Refreshingly, this look at the character's more thoughtful side does not result in him abruptly renouncing warfare or anything. He is just as ruthless at the end as he was at the beginning. What the scene does accomplish is to make Valdore into something more than just a 2-dimensional baddie, so that we feel for him when he faces the inevitable price of failure at the end.

THOUGHTS

The conclusion to the "Alliance" arc, The Aenar isn't nearly as good as the two preceding installments. It feels as if there was maybe another episode in here. Perhaps, given that the initial drone plot was resolved last episode, this should have been broken up into two 2-parters, with one or two standalone episodes separating them?

I'd readily trade the likes of Daedalus for more screen time to flesh out the Aenar as a culture. Let Archer and Shran's visit to the Aenar city be a full episode. Have a second episode devoted to the confrontation with the drones. In that way, both plot strands could be effectively explored. As it stands, both end up feeling rushed, with easy resolutions to the problems. The Aenar don't want Jhamel leaving the city? Simple: Jhamel tells them she wants to go, and they say, "Oh, okay then." Trip's jerry-rigged chair could cause brain damage? Simple: Jhamel says, "I want to try again," and everything's fine. The drones are too powerful for Enterprise? Simple... Well, I'll leave off spoiling the end, save to say that it's basically predictable.

There is still a lot to enjoy in The Aenar. It's never dull and it never feels like a throwaway - which immediately puts it ahead of most of Season Two. Mike Vejar's direction is as confident as ever, and the series continues to excel at using CGI to establish genuinely beautiful-looking alien environments. The underground city of the Aenar is downright gorgeous, and would not be visually out of place in a feature film. Finally, it is nice to have an episode in which the emotional center is not Archer, but instead Shran.

It's vaguely unsatisfying, though, and I put that down to the rushed pace and the overall predictability. It's barely a conclusion to the arc, most of which seemed to be concluded at the end of United. It's also not a terribly satisfying episode on its own. There's no sense of jeopardy, and the stakes feel much smaller. It's adequate entertainment, but it could have been and should have been so much better.

Rating: 6/10.

Overall Rating for the "Alliance" arc: 8/10.

Previous Episode: United
Next Episode: Affliction

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4-13. United.

THE PLOT

The Romulan drone's next target is a Rigellian scout ship. It allows the scout to send a distress call before destroying it. Its signal shows the configuration chosen for the Romulans' latest scapegoat: Enterprise herself!

This proves to be a mistake, however.  The incident tips off Archer that the Romulans aren't simply trying to start a war between the Andorians and the Tellarites. They want to destabilize the entire region, probably in preparation for an invasion. T'Pol comes up with a way to scan the entire sector for the drone - but it will require more than 100 ships to put into effect with no gaps. Starfleet can supply some ships, the Vulcans can supply some more. But the only way Archer can complete the grid is with more help. The only hope lies in an alliance that includes both the Tellarites and the Andorians.

But with Shran's girlfriend Talas (Molly Brink) dying in sickbay from a wound inflicted by a Tellarite, it will be very difficult to get him to agree.  Even then, it may be impossible to keep him to that agreement...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Archer's scenes with Shran are the best of the episode. These two characters have developed a great deal of respect for each other over the course of the series, and Scott Bakula and Jeffrey Combs have developed a working relationship that sees each bringing out the best in the other actor. Archer's determination to see the alliance succeed leads him to an action that is potentially foolhardy, though it's hard to fault his logic... provided you accept that the alliance itself is more important than Archer's life, something T'Pol at least doesn't seem inclined to agree with. Good news for Archer, then, that Hoshi and Mayweather are able to come up with a suitable "out."

Trip: Uses his engineering skills to temporarily disable the Romulan drone. The experimental ship's self-repairing abilities and the remote control from the Romulan homeworld thwart his efforts, and place his life in danger. Even then, Trip continues working to disable the ship, largely ignoring the Romulan voice coming over the ship's intercom and directly ordering Reed to do the same.

Reed: His solution to the Romulan-created dilemma of either letting Trip die or giving the Romulans back full control of their weapon is highly effective and totally in-character. It's a perfect Reed solution to a problem: When in doubt, blow it up! As has been true since Shuttlepod One, Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer play well off each other; their scenes are uniformly engaging.

Shran: The scene in which he quietly tells the Tellarite who killed Talas about her, and continues to quietly talk about Andorian tradition after a guardsman is killed, is already a fantastic scene. The quiet anguish and anger is wonderfully played, haunting and a bit unsettling.  Then Combs erupts, screaming out his rage, with no warning between the silence and the fury. His eyes are as hard as his voice as he challenges Archer as much as the Tellarites, demanding Narg meet him in single combat or Archer's historical alliance will be dissolved.

Romulans: We see that the Romulan government is not united behind the drone attacks. A Romulan senator pays a visit to the command center, and demands the attacks be halted - making a not-so-veiled threat involving throwing the commander (Brian Thompson) to the Remans if he continues and things go south.


THOUGHTS

I hate to nit-pick a generally very good episode, but I can't help but wonder at the timeline. The Trip/Reed scenes place the episode as occurring over a 3-day span. But T'Pol informs Archer that it will be weeks before the Earth and Vulcan ships arrive, and I suspect it would be a similar length of time for enough Andorian and Tellarite ships to be available for Archer's plan as well. So how is the full alliance not only put together, but actively on-site, within 3 days? Am I missing something?

Timeline aspects to one side, United is another good episode. It keeps up the momentum Babel One left it with. It also raises the stakes, giving Archer the opportunity to form an alliance that will involve humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites for the first time ever - and then yanking that chance away unless he can find a way to satisfy Shran's bloodlust without the deaths of any Tellarites or Andorians. It's a rather harsh dilemma for Archer, and I tend to agree with the captain that the importance of the alliance probably does outweigh that of a single life.

The alliance makes this arc a critical one, as having these four races working together on a joint operation is clearly marked out as the first step in the journey toward the Federation of Planets. Now that I'm nearing the end of this series, I'm truly regretting its cancellation. It would have been interesting to have seen another season developing more of the steps toward the Federation's official formation, as well as the growing tension with the Romulans. Given their involvement in the Vulcan arc and their involvement here, it seems clear that this we are now watching the prelude to the eventual Romulan War. Leaving me with a feeling that had a fifth season happened, it would have been a very interesting year.

The final shot provides another ending twist. It's not as impressive a surprise as the last episode's, but it's still an effective visual moment. Combined with the overall strength of this arc so far, it has me very much looking forward to the conclusion.


Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Babel One
Next Episode: The Aenar

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4-12. Babel One.

THE PLOT

Enterprise is carrying the Tellarite ambassador to a peace conference on Babel One, where it is hoped that tensions between the Tellarites and the Andorians can be cooled before they escalate into a shooting war. Not long after entering Andorian space, the ship receives a distress call from a familiar source. Shran (Jeffrey Combs)'s ship was attacked by Tellarites, with only 19 of his crew escaping in lifepods.

While taking Shran's wounded crew back to Andoria, the Enterprise is also attacked - by an Andorian ship, whose power signature exactly matches the Tellarite ship that attacked Shran. After fighting off the attacker, Archer decides to pursue to find out how this is possible. But the Tellarites increasingly fear that Archer is siding with his old friend against them, while the Andorians are equally unhappy that he is even considering the Tellarites' claims of innocence.  All of which may just leave the captain with an active time bomb inside his own ship!

CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: The preferred Tellarite interaction is arguing, something Archer clearly enjoys, perhaps a little bit too much.  Once Shran is aboard and the situation becomes complicated with the multiple attacks, apparently from both sides, Archer becomes more thoughtful. In a near-direct reversal of his early Season One persona, he actually wonders aloud to T'Pol if maybe humans are moving too quickly.  He worries that they may lack the experience to play a major role in interstellar diplomacy. It is left to T'Pol to remind him that, given their history with Andoria, the Vulcans are simply not suitable - that in this case, there really is no good alternative to Starfleet involvement.

Trip: His engineering knowledge pays dividends in keeping himself and Reed alive when they are stranded on the alien ship. His general knowledge of how ships work allows him to guide both of them to the bridge, on the simple reasoning that the power conduits will surely end up leading to the bridge. He also recognizes how to use the ship's fuel to resupply the oxygen for their EVA suits.

Hoshi: She's mostly in the background, as usual, but she does get one really good scene in which she gives Archer a quick primer on Tellarite culture. She seems to enjoy giving Archer a "practice argument," probably working out some of her own frustrations in the process.

Shran: The loss of his ship is a blow to his pride, and the loss of so many of his crew is an even harsher blow. Jeffrey Combs does a good job of showing a Shran who is constantly at the brink of violence. From the moment he learns that the Tellarites are on board, he is hissing to Archer to keep them apart, "or there will be bloodshed." His hatred of the Tellarites is as great as his hatred of the Vulcans once was - greater, given the deaths of his crew - and any evidence that the Tellarites may not be responsible bouncess of a high brick wall of pure denial.

THOUGHTS

Babel One is another episode that acts as a prelude to the original series.  Clear groundwork is laid for the founding of the Federation, and much of the script deals with what such an alliance would mean for some of the more aggressive Trek races. The Vulcans and the Andorians have been in the midst of what is essentially a Cold War (with occasional eruptions into a shooting war) for a very long time. The Tellarites and the Andorians are in the same situation. The Vulcans and the humans are allies, but there is plenty of shared resentment between them. This is actually an advantage for certain other races, who don't have to worry about these species combining their strength.

Which brings us to the situation of this episode. In the wake of the unveiling of the Kir'Shara, Vulcan society has begun to shred its more aggressive elements. This has led to a general improvement in relations between Vulcan and Earth, and also between Vulcan and Andoria. Now the Andorians and the Tellarites are beginning talks that might lead to a sustained peace. The conflicts among these races are ending. Now, if you're a race outside that circle, you have to be worried about what it will mean for you if those species all come together. It truly would be something to shift the balance of power.

But it's fragile, with all those old suspicions still there to exploit - which provides the basis for this story.  This could be highly talky stuff... but with Mike Sussman, the series' best action writer, as one of the writers of the opening installment, it turns out to be one of the most exciting and action-intensive episodes of the season. It starts off with the situation and the mystery. Once Enterprise is face-to-face with the enemy ship, the momentum increases exponentially.

The final shot provides a wonderful reveal, a twist ending I genuinely did not see coming. It's a very eye-catching pullback, as well, a reminder of how strong and well-used the CGI has been on this series, and how much it's improved from the early days (which themselves weren't bad at all).

Rating: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Observer Effect
Next Episode: United 

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4-9. Kir'Shara.

THE PLOT

Archer is now in possession of the Kir'Shara, containing the original teachings of Surak. He, T'Pau, and T'Pol now embark on a new course of action - to bring the artifact into the High Command itself, to get the council to relieve V'las (Robert Foxworth) of his command. But V'las has his guards combing the desert, with orders to eliminate any survivors.

Meanwhile, Trip makes contact with Commander Shran (Jeffrey Combs), hoping to gain his trust to help avert the Vulcan attack on Andoria. Since the information comes from Ambassador Soval, Shran is skeptical, as are his superiors. Before Shran can commit his forces, he has orders to make sure Soval is telling the truth. His method? Beam Soval out of Enterprise undetected, and subject him to torture!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: OK, exactly how is Archer - on an unfamiliar planet, with atmospheric issues that put him at a physical disadvantage - able to fend off multiple Vulcan attackers in hand-to-hand combat? That's not even mentioning the Vulcans' superior physical strength. Archer should be hopelessly winded and exhausted after a minute or so of such fighting, not continuing to hold his own until T'Pau forces him against his will down the desert equivalent of a rabbit hole.  I actually like that Seasons Three and Four have build up Archer's toughness - but he's still a human being, not a superhero, as the writers would do well to remember.

T'Pol: She remains skeptical about the katra, but she defers to Archer even as she voices her doubts.  When she is captured by a Vulcan patrol, she uses her wits to lead them away from the captain and T'Pau.

Trip: Admits questions as to whether he's pursuing the correct course of action. As Reed points out, the Vulcans do have grounds for taking action against the Andorians, though those grounds seem less and less legitimate given any level of scrutiny.

Shran: In the course of peace talks, he came to respect Soval - but he cannot, and will not, take Soval's word about an attack at face value. He does not actually enjoy subjecting the ambassador to a form of torture specifically calculated to work on Vulcans, but he will follow his orders. Once that is done, his respect for Soval only deepens, and it seems possible in the end to envision these two difficult yet formidable men forming an uneasy sort of friendship.

Villain of the Week: Well, at least one question of mine from my last review is answered, as V'las does have reasons beyond simply being a villain to attack Andoria.  Though there are plenty of holes to poke in his justification for a pre-emptive strike, his worries about the Andorians equipping their ships with the superior Xindi technology seem legitimate, at least sufficiently to provide some context to his actions.


THOUGHTS

Following up on that thought, I rather like that this entire chain of events is set in motion as a direct result of the Xindi arc from last season. My own regret about the generally-excellent Xindi season was that it, by necessity, took place in a bubble, largely unaffected by the other events explored in the series' first two seasons.

Now the bubble has broken, its contents spilling out into the pre-existing fabric of the show. Home showed the effects of the Xindi attack, by presenting a human populace much more hostile to aliens than had previously been the case. The Andorians' help in stopping the Xindi weapon has made the Vulcans nervous about their access to leftover technology, which sparks V'las's pre-emptive actions. This 3-part arc may be finally paying off things set up in Seasons One and Two, but the catalyst is the Xindi arc. That is a narrative masterstroke, bundling all these disparate strands of the series together.

T'Pau's final exchange with Archer confirms closure to one of the initial issues of the series: the constricting Vulcan oversight of human progress. The episode also nods at T'Pol's forgotten Pa'Nar Syndrome, even if the perfunctory "cure" is clearly just a case of writer Mike Sussman tying up an annoyingly unaddressed thread.

As a wrap-up to the long-running Vulcan arc, these three episodes are highly sastifying.  Enterprise's Vulcans are brought in line with other Trek Vulcans in a way that remains entirely consistent with earlier Enterprise episodes. As a story in itself, it's a good one, even if the last two parts never quite live up to The Forge. Finally, as a pointer toward future stories, the ending provides a tantalizing glimpse of things to come. In all respects, a highly satisfying arc.


Rating: 8/10.

Overall Rating for the Vulcan arc: 9/10.

Previous Episode: Awakening
Next Episode: Daedalus

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3-24. Zero Hour.

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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3-13. Proving Ground.

THE PLOT

As the Xindi prepare to test the prototype of their new weapon, the Enterprise finally picks up the trail of the ship that Archer tagged. Following that signal means flying right through a series of anomalies, however, and it isn't long before the ship finds itself suffering damage.

That's when help arrives from a most unexpected source: Shran (Jeffrey Combs), the Andorian commander Archer has encountered several times before. With Shran's help, Enterprise's repairs go quickly enough for them to reach the site before the Xindi weapons test. That leaves Archer with an opportunity for an ambitious gambit: to steal the prototype!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Though wary about the sudden appearance of the Andorians, he is in a critical situation where he cannot refuse the offer of help. Plus, as he tells T'Pol, while he may not trust the Andorians he has developed a certain degree of trust with regard to Commander Shran.

T'Pol: After the revelations of Similitude, it seems that she may be trying to minimize contact with Trip - which is not unnoticed by the engineer. Her experience with Andorians has her urging Archer to be cautious about trusting them, but she backs up his decisions.

Reed: Security conscious to the point of paranoia, Reed is resistant to the idea of having the Andorians assist with repairs, fearing that they may steal the ship's secrets. He develops a strong bond with Lt. Talas (Molly Brink), Shran's tactical officer, and they have some highly entertaining scenes together. It's good to see him develop a brief friendship/flirtation with a "kindred spirit," without ever entirely letting down his guard.

Shran: The obligatory Shran episode of the season. Not that a Shran episode is ever a bad thing - His first appearance marked the series' first fully satisfying episode, and all of the episodes to feature him have been consistently watchable. A large part of that is the performance of Jeffrey Combs, who invests just the right touches of both brittleness and humor to make Shran interesting. His relationship with Archer is not quite a friendship, but it's built upon a lot of mutual respect, and watching their interactions is never anything but fun.

The Xindi: The various factions continue to quarrel, with the reptilian, insectoid, and acquatic Xindi seeming the most impatient about Degra's progress. That the weapons test - which all but bisects the moon on which it is tested - is deemed a failure shows just how seriously they take the "human threat." Archer credits the test's "failure" to interference from Gralik, showing the value of alliances Archer has already made.


THOUGHTS

After some episodes that were largely standalones, Proving Ground brings the Xindi arc back into focus. Archer and his people learn more about the weapon. Archer's successful theft of the prototype (at least as far as the Xindi are concerned) will probably also increase the Xindi fears about him, which may make them more active in their pursuit of Enterprise.

The Xindi prototype is very well portrayed by the CGI department. Its basic appearance and firing mechanism look very much the same as the final weapon, which we saw destroying Earth in an alternate timeline, but it's not quite identical. The fluid-like lighting is red, instead of the radioactive green, and it appears somewhat smaller. Also, portraying as a failure a weapon that would destroy Earth as a viable planet reinforces the threat the Xindi pose.  That said, one does start to wonder why they aren't simply attacking with what they have - Their technology already suffices to devastate Earth.  At this point, they seem to be holding off for the weapon to be "perfect" simply because the plot demands it of them.

In addition to furthering the Xindi arc, Proving Ground also continues the development of the Vulcan/Andorian story. To date, the series has tended to portray the Andorians more sympathetically than the Vulcans with regard to this conflict. Here, we see that the Andorians are just as capable of suspect actions as their pointy-eared foes. The Andorian High Command is willing to squander potential alliances for the sake of a tactical advantage over the Vulcans, with Shran's own objections to this dismissed and ignored. Shran flaunts the information he has gathered from the Andorians' monitoring of communications between Starfleet and Vulcan - the exact sort of surveillance that, when the Vulcans did it, led to the destruction of the Vulcan monastery at P'Jem. As T'Pol observes, though there may be movement toward some form of alliance with the Andorians, these are not people that Archer can trust.

It's another good episode, though in a season of mostly good episodes it isn't really a standout.  Still, with a strong pace, the always-reliable guest performance by Jeffrey Combs, and strong arc development, this is definitely solid entertainment.


Rating: 7/10

Previous Episode: Chosen Realm

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2-15. Cease Fire.

THE PLOT

The Vulcan/Andorian confict erupts into violence, as Andorian troops led by Shran (Jeffrey Combs) land on a planet that both they and the Vulcans have laid claim to. As the fighting intensifies, Shran agrees to negotiations with the Vulcans - but only if those negotiations are mediated by Capt. Archer.

Archer finds himself stepping into the middle of a war zone. Shran trusts him, at least to a point, but Shran's second-in-command believes he is just a Vulcan puppet. Meanwhile, the Vulcans, represented by Archer's old nemesis, Ambassador Soval (Gary Graham), still believe Archer is unreliable and seem to actively hope that his attempts with the Andorians fail.

When Archer's shuttle is shot down while bringing Ambassador Soval to meet with Shran, and Andorian reinforcements near the planet, everything seems poised to tip over into a full-scale interplanetary war!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Both Archer and Scott Bakula's performance seem to function at their peak level when Archer is in crisis mode. Archer's stubbornness comes in handy when he insists on continuing with the plan to meet Shran even after the shuttle is shot down. On the other hand, Archer continues to show blind spots. He truly doesn't expect trouble when bringing Soval to the planet's surface, something even Trip finds naive. Still, Archer continues to win Shran's trust, while at the same time earning a certain grudging respect from Soval - on this occasion, at least. I also appreciated that while Archer refuses to cede authority to Soval, he's no longer actively trying to antagonize him.

T'Pol: In her interactions with Soval, we learn exactly how much T'Pol is sacrificing by continuing to serve on Enterprise. She is effectively crippling her own career for the sake of the work she finds so rewarding. I do think this episode should have preceded Stigma, as it is clear that T'Pol still has the option of reclaiming her "fast track" career here - a career which is likely to be even further crippled in the wake of her Pa'Nar syndrome. This is not the first time that I have wished a few of the episodes in this series had been aired in a slightly different sequence.  I do wonder sometimes who was responsible for the airing order, when it seems clear that the series' weaknesses could have been reduced and its strengths better exploited by just a few, intermittent tweaks in the episode order.

Trip: Though mostly peripheral, Trip does get some strong scenes on the Enterprise bridge, interacting with the trigger-happy Vulcan and Andorian ship captains. He recognizes the gravity of this situation, and is willing to put the chance of peace ahead of the safety of the ship when the ship is in his hands.

Shran: In his third Enterprise appearance, Shran continues to be a very strong recurring character. The anger of his first appearance is still there, as is his hatred of the Vulcans.  Still, in an intriguing development, this soldier is gradually evolving into a diplomat. It's a dangerous situation for him, as he is at odds with both his own second-in-command and the Vulcans. Shran appears to be stepping into the role of a "moderate" in the extreme Andorian community, grudgingly meeting Soval halfway and even agreeing to further negotiations. I look forward to his next appearance, as all of the episodes featuring this character have been good ones.


THOUGHTS

The second season of Enterprise spent its first half largely avoiding the very interesting issues surrounding the more aggressive Vulcan society of the show. This was not to the series' advantage. It may have reduced the frustrations of certain Trek fans who have no room for a Vulcan who doesn't behave more or less like Spock, but it steered the show away from one of its most interesting running elements. It was a relief to see the darker side of Vulcan society return in last week's episode, and gratifying to see yet more follow-up on last season's Vulcan episodes here.

The Vulcan/Andorian conflict fueled the series' first truly strong episode, in The Andorian Incident, and was fleshed out in an intriguing fashion in Shadows of P'Jem. Far too much time was allowed to pass between that episode and this one, but we finally see the conflict raised again here.

The war zone is well depicted, particularly the physical sets which Archer, T'Pol, and Soval are forced to traverse. Ruined buildings, exposed beams... It's effective. Some of the establishing CGI isn't so convincing, but it's still eye-catching. At least there seems to be some genuine effort taken to do something atmospheric with the set design, while at the same time matching the CGI to that and pushing forward television CGI. Performances are strong across the board, with the relationships between Shran and Archer and Soval and Archer continuing to evolve.

I could have wished for less predictable plot development, particularly involving Shran's second-in-command. Still, this episode offers some pretty good action, a strong plot that builds on what went before, and even some good character pieces. There was a fair-sized stretch of Season Two in which this show seemed to lose its way.  With the last couple of episodes, it seems to have found itself again. Now I just hope it doesn't run back to the "safety" of generic TNG reject scripts again.


Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Stigma
Next Episode: Future Tense

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1-15. Shadows of P'Jem

THE PLOT

When the Andorian government takes action against the sanctuary on P'Jem, destroying the monastery, the Vulcans order T'Pol transferred back home, to take the blame for her part in the Andorian discovery of the listening post. Archer is told that a Vulcan ship will rendezvous with Enterprise in two days, after which he will no longer have a Vulcan science officer.

Archer decides to take T'Pol on one last mission, to make contact with an alien race who have advanced starship capabilities. However, his shuttle is intercepted by a ship belonging to rebels fighting against the government, claiming that this government is a corrupt, unrepresentative puppet of the Vulcans. Archer and T'Pol are taken hostage, with the rebels demanding weapons.

Now Reed and Tucker must launch a desperate rescue attempt. An attempt that may just be complicated by the arrival of a Vulcan starship...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Though unrepentent about his actions at P'Jem, he does regret the destruction of the sanctuary. He also has clearly come to value T'Pol, and reacts against the ordered transfer. From the outset, he urges T'Pol to fight against the effort to scapegoat her, Despite his distaste for the Vulcans, he does find it in himself to negotiate reasonably with the captain of the Vulcan ship.

T'Pol: Spends the first half of the episode, after receiving her transfer orders, going into a near-shutdown. She adopts a ultra-logical, ultra-unemotional facade... which demonstrates to both Archer and the viewers just how upset she is.

Trip: With Archer and T'Pol off the ship, Trip gets to take command. He works with Reed to try to plot out a rescue operation... though it's a rather rushed and reckless plan, saved from disaster only by very good luck.


THOUGHTS

Finally, some consequences from The Andorian Incident! I was starting to wonder whether those rather significant events would ever have ramifications for the crew. In my Breaking the Ice review, I noted the disapproval with which other Vulcans seemed to view T'Pol and her current assignment. Here, we see that expanded on.

The events of P'Jem have the Vulcans eager to make T'Pol a scapegoat. As Archer observes, since they can't punish him, they're going to take it out on her... and, of course, accept no culpability whatsoever for their own treaty violations. We also get more hints of a darker side to the Vulcan government at this point in their history, with them being accused (we never do find out exactly how justly) of setting up "puppet governments" - a government that, in this case, appears to be highly repressive against a large portion of its own population. At this point, I'm thinking that all of this material painting the Vulcans in an unflattering light has to be building to something, though I'm not sure exactly what.

Jeffrey Combs returns as Shran. This time, he's actually allowed to show some of his facility with humor, particularly when he complains about feeling indebted to Archer. One does wonder just how closely the Andorians might be tied to these rebels, however. We already have a Temporal Cold War in this series... Is there another Cold War going on, with Vulcans and Andorians backing repressive regimes and violent rebellions against those regimes? There's the potential to explore some very interesting avenues here.

Character work and performances are generally strong throughout. All of the non-Mayweather regulars have settled into their roles nicely, and all of the non-Mayweather characters are shaping up to form an interesting and dynamic crew.


Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Sleeping Dogs
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1-7. The Andorian Incident

THE PLOT

Archer decides to visit P'Jem, home to a Vulcan temple devoted the practice of Kolinahr, the ritual purging of emotion. Archer, T'Pol, and Trip take a shuttle down to the planet's surface. However, no sooner have they arrived, than they discover that the temple has been taken over by Andorians, whose paranoia has them convinced that the Vulcans are hiding a sensor array on the site. The Andorians have searched the temple multiple times before - always leaving within a day when they find nothing. The arrival of the Enterprise, however, has the Andorians convinced that there is something of value here. As one Vulcan monk sourly tells Archer, "Your arrival has endangered us all."

Now Archer, Trip, and T'Pol must figure out a way to contact Enterprise and defuse the situation, before the Andorian leader, Commander Shran (Jeffrey Combs), decides to start killing the monks, one by one!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Despite his deep-seated distrust of Vulcans, he still feels outrage that the monks let the Andorians regularly trash their monastery with no real protest. He acknowledges the desirability of a peaceful solution to their dilemma. However, when it becomes clear that Shran's paranoia is becoming violent, he pragmatically accepts the reality that a peaceful solution probably isn't going to happen, and helps coordinate a rescue. Scott Bakula has a strong episode, and is particularly effective at conveying anger.

T'Pol: She is still clearly uncomfortable with her assignment on a human ship, and far from thrilled at the prospect of introducing other Vulcans to her human crew. However, she is quick to notice that things are amiss at the temple, and trusts Archer and Trip sufficiently to allow them to intervene. Despite her discomfort with Archer, she affirms her loyalty to him, which she proves with her actions at the episode's end. She finds human body odor offensive, and uses a numbing agent to control her sensitivity to the smell in order to make her assignment on Enterprise tolerable. Jolene Blalock, while still far from my favorite performer, shows tremendous improvement from the first couple of episodes here, and is quite adequate. If her improvement continues, I may rethink my regret at her casting.

Reed: Despite less screen time than Trip, his character actually ends up having a stronger episode. When the Away Team is out of contact for a bit too long, he makes several on-target observations about safety precautions that should be standard protocol. He's right about every one of them. When the Andorians attempt to intimidate Reed, he snaps that he doesn't follow orders from a voice on a communicator, "unless that voice is the captain's." And of course, Reed finally gets to do his favorite thing here: He gets to blow stuff up and shoot at people! All told, a pretty good day for the ship's tactical officer.

Villain of the Week: Jeffrey Combs is typically strong as Commander Shran. He doesn't get much chance to show his ability with humor here, but he plays Shran's paranoia and outrage to the hilt. One senses immediately the capacity for violence in this character, which reinforces the sense of an incident spinning out of control. His henchmen are also a fairly scary lot, particularly the one who spends most of his time leering at T'Pol, making thinly-veiled rape threats almost from the outset.


THOUGHTS

Finally, a genuinely good episode! Not a promising one, not one that entertains despite missed opportunities, not one that offers hope for the future... but a truly good, well-written, nicely-structured piece! After Terra Nova (and, to a lesser extent, Unexpected), the series desperately needed to deliver something to re-establish my waning interest. This did the job quite nicely.

All the regulars are on good form. Admittedly, Mayweather and Hoshi still get nothing to do, but I suppose one can't ask for miracles. Bakula, Blalock, and Dominic Keating (Reed) all give their strongest performances to date. The situation feels genuinely dangerous, a sense that is heightened when Archer receives two separate, and rather severe, beatings from the Andorians.

The ending is particularly strong. I will avoid spoilers, save to note that I will be severely disappointed if there is no follow-up to Archer's actions in future episodes.


Rating: 8/10. By far the best episode of Enterprise to date.

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