THE PLOT
The Reptilians have taken the Xindi weapon, but they don't have all the codes needed to activate it. What they do have is Hoshi - whose linguistics skills in the Xindi council chamber convinced the Reptilian leader that she will also be able to decrypt the other races' codes. Hoshi initially resists, until all resistance is made useless by the injection of some Wrath of Khan-like parasites directly into her brain.
Archer manages to convince the Aquatics to join the Humanoids and Arboreals in chasing down the weapon and battling the Reptilians and Insectoids. But Archer's newfound alliance may not be strong enough to stop them when the Sphere Builders decide that the time has come to intervene directly!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: Scott Bakula shifts his acting gears to "grim determination" and more or less keeps them there for the entire episode. Archer is largely left barking orders or demands from the Enterprise bridge while other characters get the bulk of the action, but his intensity does set the tone and anchor the episode's sense of urgency.
T'Pol/Trip: They continue their awkward progression toward the relationship that their E2 counterparts had before/parallel to them. Trip has noticed T'Pol's more emotional behavior. Though an outburst from her does put him on the defensive, when she admits her turmoil he instantly offers his support.
Reed: Gets another very good episode, particularly in his scenes with Hayes. His emotion following the death of Hawkins is further followed up on, as he confesses to Hayes that he knows that Hawkins was his responsibility. It's an admission that gains him a measure of respect from Hayes, and the two men seem to end this episode as friends.
Hoshi: Tries very hard to resist the Reptilians' attempts to use her to activate the weapon. Even when she is injected with the parasites, she manages to resist long enough to add another layer of encryption to the weapon's arming sequence, further delaying deployment. When this is discovered and a further "procedure" is ordered, she attempts to kill herself - though she hesitates, and the next wave of parasites forestalls all further resistance.
The Xindi: The Reptilians are now the outright villains, allying themselves with the Sphere Builders for the promise that they will be the rulers of the remaining Xindi. Any sense that the leader of the Reptilians still believes that he is acting in self-defense or doing what is right for the Xindi overall is totally abandoned. He is now The Villain, and all he needs is to twirl a mustache and kick a puppy (in Hoshi, he already gets to tie down and torture a damsel in distress) to complete the image.
ZAP THE REDSHIRT!
Major Hayes is brought back, after being barely referenced in the very eventful run of episodes that followed his last appearance. This time, he leads a mission to infiltrate the weapon and retrieve Hoshi. Naturally, he meets a suitably heroic end, complete with John Wayne-style last words of advice to Reed... which advice, as far as I could tell, Reed entirely ignores when putting together his new infiltration squad at the episode's end. Anyway, farewell Major Hayes. I'd like to say I'd miss you, but since you were never more than a 2-dimensional stereotype to start with, I'm afraid I'd by lying.
THOUGHTS
Countdown is not as outstanding an episode as The Council was. The script is less layered, with less of a sense of fully-rounded characters making weighty decisions and misjudgments perfectly in keeping with their nature. It's more of a straight action piece.
That said, it is a very good action piece, particularly once the action really gets going in the second half. The momentum of past episodes is kept running, and events barely pause to allow for breath. A lack of time for reflection and an absence of some of the shaded characterization of some of the previous episodes keep it from being as good as the Azati Prime trilogy or The Council. But in a run of shows that have ranged from "very good" to "outstanding," Countdown shouldn't be dismissed merely for falling on the "good" side of that scale.
The current run of episodes is easily the best Enterprise has seen, it is among the best of Trek - provided, that is, that the finale doesn't blow it.
Rating: 8/10.
Previous Episode: The Council
Review Index
Nice to see the insectoids get a bit more screentime this episode.
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