4-21. Terra Prime.

THE PLOT

Paxton (Peter Weller) has gained control of an array on Mars, used to divert comets, and has turned it into a weapon. He has issued a public ultimatum: All non-humans must leave the solar system, or he will begin targetting non-human strongholds, starting with Starfleet Command. 

Enterprise has been given orders to destroy the array. But Archer has an alternative plan. He is going to use an approaching comet to camouflage the ship, then send a small team down to the surface to free Trip, T'Pol, and the baby, and to defeat Terra Prime. But Archer hasn't planned for one contigency - a spy aboard his ship!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Gets to make another really bad speech. I'm not sure whether Scott Bakula is bad at delivering speeches, or whether his stiff delivery of Archer's speeches throughout the series is meant to be a character trait. Either way, "Archer makes a speech" has been reason to cringe from pretty much the very beginning. Much better is his confrontation with Paxton, in which he refuses to rise to the bait when the terrorist uses his father to try to put him off-guard. Archer is much less easily provoked than in the beginning, and remains focused in the face of jibes that would have set the Archer of Broken Bow into an uncontrolled fury.

T'Pol: When she sees the baby, her maternal instincts take over. She becomes fiercely protective, declaring that she will not allow Paxton to harm the child. When the baby's health begins failing, she attempts to use a scan she made of Paxton's DNA to coerce him into letting them go. The attempt fails, but it's a strong effort.

Trip: Connor Trinneer does some excellent acting at the end, bringing real emotion to a scene that could have come across stiffly if badly performed. Trip gets a good episode in general, cannily distracting his guard in what appears to be an attempt at sabotaging the array. His plan goes further than that. He knows Paxton will detect the sabotage, but his real agenda is to smuggle back to his cell a tool that helps him to break out. He meets up with Archer's team, on their way in, and provides valuable help in foiling Paxton's plan.

Reed: For the second time in this 2-parter, Reed makes contact with his former section chief, gaining information that helps Archer to resolve the situation and get Trip and T'Pol out alive. This would seem to put Reed back in the debt of his former employer - something which would probably have been used to interesting effect, if the series had gotten a fifth season.

Mayweather: He does not believe Gannet when she pleads her innocence to him, and insists that the real spy for Terra Prime is a crew member. He accuses her of trying to manipulate him, then heads straight off to pilot the mission. When the shuttlepod becomes the victim of sabotage, Mayweather switches to manual and successfully pilots the shuttle in, grinning at the challenge of flying the ship entirely on his own judgment, with no computer guidance. His joy at this moment is a nice payoff to his talk about the shuttlepod in the first part, a good bit of character writing for someone who usually doesn't get that kind of attention.

Hoshi: With Archer, T'Pol, Trip, Reed, Phlox, and Mayweather all off the ship, command ofEnterprise falls to Hoshi. Which, come to think of it, isn't a bad parallel with Mirror Hoshi's triumph in the last 2-parter. Her growing confidence allows her to trust both Archer and her instincts.  She resists pressure to fire on the array, allowing the landing party time to complete the mission. Fortunately, neither the writing nor Linda Park allow her to become Super!Hoshi! She is more confident than the young woman who "jumped at every engine noise," but her underlying fear remains visible even as she exercises her command.

Villain of the Week: The only really new wrinkle added to Paxton is a certain hypocrisy, both in his admiration of the unlamented Col. Green and in his xenophobia. It turns out that he would not have met Col. Green's standards of purity, because it is alien technology that is keeping him alive... a secret he carefully keeps from his followers. Beyond that, Paxton is a fairly shallow character, though he is again given credibility by Peter Weller's performance. 


THOUGHTS

The final "real" episode of Enterprise is a good one.  This episode is not only a strong conclusion to the Terra Prime arc, it is a very reasonable finale all-around. Writers Manny Coto, Judith Reeves-Stevens, and Garfield Reeves-Stevens were probably aware that this would be the series' last hurrah, and that Rick Berman and Brannon Braga were going to use the very last episode as a button on the franchise rather than as a proper close to this specific series.  Thus, they have crafted a script that gives every character a moment - something relatively unusual for Enterprise.

Hoshi gets to be put in charge, Mayweather gets some characterization, Reed makes a deal with his former Section, Phlox gets a steady supporting role, and the three leads all get healthy screen time. This is done without really drawing attention to itself. It's not boxes being checked off - Every character has something to do to advance the specific story. I wish that could have happened more often on this series, but it's nice to see in the crew's final adventure.

I also like that the last major threat the NX-01 must overcome is a group of humans. Star Trek always basically stood for humanity overcoming its own limitations and narrow-mindedness. I tend to believe more in Babylon 5's philosophy: that we'll take all our flaws to the stars with us. But having the Enterprise, in its last proper outing, outwitting and overcoming a group that effectively represents human ignorance is a nice embodiment of this franchise's principles. It's also a good story for a prequel. Sure, violent xenophobia and homegrown terrorism is largely a thing of the past by Kirk's time, let alone Picard's... but Archer still has to deal with the last, desperate attempt by these demagogues to thrust their agenda on humanity through a violent ultimatum.

Terra Prime is a noticeably better episode than Demons, making it this season's only multi-parter whose resolution outshines its set-up.  Overall, this is one of the "smaller" feeling multi-parters. But it's also one of the most accomplished, in terms of controlled plotting. All the different components are used, and almost every individual element ends up working, albeit some more strongly than others. Terra Prime also makes Demons a better episode in retrospect, raising the arc as a whole.

Or to put it more succinctly: Good stuff.


Rating: 9/10.

Overall Rating for Terra Prime arc: 8/10.

Previous Episode: Demons
Next Episode: These Are the Voyages

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4-20. Demons.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise crew is attending a conference involving several of the species they have met, with a goal of forming a coalition of worlds. It's an ambitious project. But no sooner has Minister Nathan Samuels (Harry Groener) made his speech than a woman stumbles in, passing a hair sample to T'Pol and telling her that "they're going to kill her." The woman collapses, revealing that she has been shot by a phase pistol.

Phlox tests the hair, and determines that it belongs to a half-human, half-Vulcan infant. The child is identified as being that of Trip and T'Pol - despite the fact that T'Pol has never been pregnant. The dead woman was a member of Terra Prime, a human separatist group that had a resurgence following the Xindi attack. 

With Minister Samuels wanting to keep things quiet, Archer decides that his crew will need to launch their own investigation.  He sends Trip and T'Pol to infiltrate the moonbase that is Terra Prime's headquarters.  But Archer is a step behind, and it all too soon becomes clear that Trip and T'Pol are walking into a trap!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Manny Coto's script showcases his competence as ship's captain: In a public setting, he makes sure that the unenthusiastic Trip knows that he's expected to be on good behavior for the cameras; when the human/Vulcan DNA is explicitly linked to his crew, he uses Reed's Section 31 connection to keep the investigation alive; finally, he adjusts his plans quickly when he learns that he's sent his people into a trap.  All of this is good, giving Archer plenty to do without allowing him to overshadow the entire story, as has been the case too many times this season.

Trip: While I believe his shock at learning of his daughter, his befuddlement over how it might be possible seems odd. Cloning is a scientific possibility now, never mind more than a hundred years hence. His suspicion of T'Pol feels more like a plot device than a natural extension of his established character, and his attempts to infiltrate a separatist group by making a few vaguely xenophobic comments to a random miner seem, frankly, laughable. Not Trip's best episode, despite solid work by Connor Trinneer.

Hot Earth Babe of the Week: Gannet Brooks (Johanna Watts) is an ambitious reporter who shares a history with Mayweather. She uses that history to get herself aboard Enterprise, ostensibly to do a story on the ship from the point-of-view of the crew. It isn't long before she makes it clear that she wants to rekindle her old relationship with Mayweather, sparking doubts in Travis as to whether or not he really wants to continue his time in space.

Pompous Earth Bureaucrat of the Week: Harry Groener, one-time evil mayor of Sunnydale/giant snake, is a serpentine politician again, though this time without the evil.  Minister Samuels is extremely ambitious, which may be just what is called for. His proposed coalition is a clear stepping stone toward the Federation of Planets that will eventually form. But he is self-serving. His speech makes no mention of Enterprise and its crew, reserving all glory for himself. His reluctance to share the Terra Prime investigation with Archer has a connection with a skeleton from his own past, as well.

Villain of the Week: John Frederick Paxton (Peter Weller) is a mining industrialist who acts as the leader of Terra Prime. He was once a student of history. But his studies led him to admire a generally hated genocidal figure from the aftermath of World War III, and his clashes with the accepted view of history led him to turn his back on academia and instead pursue terrorism. Peter Weller plays his scenes with a conviction that helps sell even some of the more ludicrous moments, including his cliffhanger-inducing masterplan to hold the entire solar system hostage with a big freakin' laser (paging Dr. Evil?). I should add that Paxton didn't start seeming ridiculous to me until the moment I began typing this paragraph - which means both script and actor do their job of making his convictions seem credible in-context.


THOUGHTS

The final 2-parter of the series begins, following up on the one remaining loose end from Home - the rising xenophobia on Earth in the wake of the Xindi attack.

Even without a particularly easy-to-spot plot twist, I would have been surprised had Trip and T'Pol been able to successfully infiltrate the mining colony. After all, hasn't it been established as early on as Breaking the Ice that the ship's command staff are effectively celebrities? Their faces would be on the air regularly - something the beginning of the episode reminds us of! Imagine Neil Armstrong trying to infiltrate the mob just after the moon landing. That's basically this plan in a nutshell.

This obvious logic gaffe aside, Demons is a good episode. It perhaps feels a bit padded, with the Gannet/Mayweather material and even the Trip/T'Pol mine infiltration taking up at least twice as much screentime as is actually needed. But it's an interesting story, effectively set up. The story feeds on what we've seen before, particularly in Home.  The episode also benefits from strong production values and effective guest turns by Harry Groener and Peter Weller. 

The success of the full story will entirely depend on Part Two. But as an opening installment, Demons does its job well.


Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: In a Mirror Darkly, Part II
Next Episode: Terra Prime

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4-19. In a Mirror Darkly, Part II.

THE PLOT

Enterprise has been destroyed, but not before Archer has taken control of the Defiant. Once he gets the basic systems on line, he is able to rout the Tholians and then retrieve Enterprise's lifepods. He orders Trip to continue working on the ship's systems as he plots a course to engage the rebels.

Once that is done, Archer decides that he will not give up command of Defiant, not to the admiralty, not even to the emperor himself. He hatches a plan to seize control of the Empire, to take command away from the "criminals, in their offices," and lead from the front, using the starship's enormous power to crush all opposition!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: When they access the historical records aboard Defiant, Archer gets to feel overshadowed by his own, alternative self. Mirror Archer obviously sees himself as a potentially great warrior who has been passed over and marginalized through his whole career. When he sees that his counterpart was made captain of Enterprise from the day it left dock, it is not a validation that he should have been captain - It's a slap in the face that his other self was given that which was denied him. Through the rest of the episode, he has visions of our Archer taunting him with how much better a job he'd have done in the same situation. This is all good stuff, wonderfully written. Unfortunately, my problems with Bakula's performance remain. As in Part One, he seems to overplay everything, spitting out lines that would be more effective simply delivered.

T'Pol: Just like Mirror Spock was very recognizably Spock, just more ruthless, the same is true of Mirror T'Pol. The Vulcans in the Mirror universe appear to have had much the same development, up to the point of first contact with Earth, as the normal universe Vulcans. As a result, they are less warlike and are probably leading the rebellion mainly to save themselves and other non-Terrans from lives of servitude.

Dr. Phlox: John Billingsley gets some more great supporting material, as T'Pol and Soval entice Phlox into participating in their rebellion against Archer. Phlox shows no interest in their political arguments. But Soval reads his weaknesses all too well, striking a nerve that allows Phlox to rationalize helping the rebels. Mirror Phlox continues to differ from our Phlox, notably in his response to an injured crewman. "He could go either way," he says, completely unconcerned as he stuffs his face in the galley.

Hoshi: I think I may just be a little bit in love with Mirror Hoshi. Many of her character traits are recognizably those of our Hoshi. When she reads the records about her counterpart, she identifies with her. She also has a touch of envy over our Hoshi being "remembered for something." Unlike Archer, she doesn't see herself as truly separate from her counterpart, to the point of refusing to allow him to reveal who Hoshi married or how she died.  She continued to use her sexuality as a weapon, leading to a particularly memorable scene near the end. This 2-parter, taken as a whole, is the meatiest role Linda Park has had in the entire series, and she seems to revel in it.


THOUGHTS

Well, I was obviously wrong about the end of First Contact marking the point of divergence. Archer talks about the Terran Empire having "endured for centuries," so that's my private fan theory down the tubes. If a specific point of divergence does exist, it obviously occurred at a much earlier point. Or else it's simply a case of the nature of the two universes just being completely different.

I love the way the episode uses the basic set design and general aesthetic of the original series in such a way that it doesn't come across looking cheap. The CGI model of the Defiant is very faithful to the original series. But with angles and effects shots the original series could never have afforded, the basic design looks amazingly good. There's a particularly good shot in which Defiant is shown alongside an NX-class starship. The digital artists make sure to composite the shot so that Defiant dwarfs the other ship. The clean TOS design looks brighter and more powerful than the NX design, genuinely selling the idea that this is a vastly more advanced vessel.

Unfortunately, Part Two is not as tightly-constructed as Part One was. There's a subplot involving Archer hunting for a Gorn on board the ship.  This comes out of nowhere and connects to nothing - and it takes up most of the first half of the episode!  The CGI Gorn here really isn't an improvement over the rubber suit of Arena, and this entire superfluous strand marks the weakest spot in the two-parter.

Fortunately, the last half of the episode is terrific. With the external threats momentarily taken care of, there is time for the agendas of the various self-serving Mirror characters to return to the fore. The scheming of various factions is highly entertaining. Archer becomes more and more isolated from the other characters, to the point at which almost all of his significant dialogue scenes are opposite Hoshi. The final twist is terrific, and feels perfect as an ending to these two episodes.

Overall, while the narrative is more slapdash than in Part One, the momentum remains high.  Even during the Gorn scenes, the episode is never less than entertaining - and the ending sees it close on a high note.  It's not the near-perfect piece that Part One was, but it's a strong conclusion to a fantastically fun story.


Rating: 8/10.

Overall Rating for In a Mirror Darkly: 9/10.

Previous Episode: In a Mirror Darkly
Next Episode: Demons


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4-17. Bound.

THE PLOT

Enterprise is investigating a region of space which is a promising site for the first of several proposed Starbases when they come into contact with Harrad-Sar (William Lucking), an Orion privateer. Harrad-Sar offers Archer a deal to smooth relations with the Orion Syndicate, in return for Starfleet's aid in setting up a mining operation. Archer agrees, but Harrad-Sar does have one stipulation: The captain must accept a gift.

The gift comes in the rather fetching form of three Orion slave girls. Their presence on the ship instantly creates disturbances. Male crew members begin disregarding their duties to pay attention to the girls. The female crew members begin reporting headaches. Phlox is able to determine that the Orions' pheremones are causing the disorder... but not before the replacement chief engineer sabotages the engines, leaving Enterprise a stationary target for the returning Harrad-Sar!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: His own newfound pragmatism is what gets him in trouble here. When Harrad-Sar contacts him, he agrees to meet the Orion's terms more readily than he once would have done, largely because he doesn't feel he can pass up an opportunity to mend fences with at least one hostile race. Once he realizes that he is acting under an alien influence, he fights very hard to retain control of himself - though he has much more trouble fighting the effects when face-to-face with the girls than when on the bridge, focusing on his duties.

T'Pol: A sign that Archer is already falling under the influence of the Orion women is that he does not ask T'Pol's advice before accepting Harrad-Sar's offer. T'Pol seems surprised by this, perhaps even a little hurt. As Archer begins behaving irrationally, T'Pol tries to be a supportive Voice of Reason for him. She works well with Trip in dealing with the havoc in Engineering, and the two of them together ultimately save the ship.

Trip: With Archer struggling under the Orion influence, Trip gets cast in the "hero" role this week. Thanks to his mental link with T'Pol, he is the only male on the ship not affected. This doesn't bring him too much relief, however, as it leaves him in the situation of being the sole "adult" in Engineering, having to constantly work to keep his men focused on their duties. 

Hot Alien Space Babes of the Week: The Orion slave girls (Cyia Batten, Crystal Allen, Menina Fortunato) are expertly manipulative. Though Archer initially believes them to be innocents, it is clear to the audience almost instantly that they are using the Enterprise crew for their own ends. A late twist regarding their relationship with their "master" does not particularly come as a surprise.


THOUGHTS

I do have to give credit to the production design of the Orion ship. It's obvious that this season has taken its role as a prequel to TOS very seriously, and the Orion design is very much modeled after the original series' interiors, with the use of color in the lighting, the walls, and even the alien beverages the characters sip. It all makes for a rather neat visual tie-in.

I'm glad to be able to praise that element, because I honestly didn't find much else in Bound that's particularly praiseworthy. The setup is adroitly handled, with all the necessary exposition dealt with quickly and clearly in the opening Act. Once the Orion women are aboard Enterprise, however, things become a lot weaker, with much of the plotting relying on idiocy and convenience. 

When Archer discovers that the Orion women are deliberately working to sabotage his ship and that their pheremones are dangerous to the crew, he puts them in isolation. So far, so sensible. But then, even after directly experiencing that they retain influence through the glass, he leaves... male guards? We've seen, in numerous episodes, that there are plenty of women serving on Enterprise. We also see that the women are less affected by the pheremones. Hoshi and another female officer complain of headaches, and that seems to be about the extent. So why does Archer leave a male guard on duty instead of a female one? Or even just trust to automated security protocols, as he did in Observer Effect? Answer: Because the plot requires the Orion women to get out of the cell, so Archer has to be an idiot to keep the plot moving.

The resolution is also achieved through Technobabble Convenience. After Enterprise is rendered helpless, Trip and T'Pol send a burst of Deux Ex Machina through a grappling wire to disable the other ship. How convenient. Finally, the subplot about Trip's transfer is resolved with equal convenience, lest anything resembling a loose end be left to the next (in-universe) 2-parter.

Perhaps this was cobbled together in a hurry to tie off some character strands once the episode order was cut back from 24 to 22. Perhaps the show's writers simply forgot how to write a good, action-heavy single-parter. Season Four's one-part episodes have largely been much weaker than the multi-part ones. Enterprise has taken several big steps forward in Seasons Three and Four. But when it tries to tell the simple Trek stories that it often managed quite engagingly in its early days, that seems to be one knack this series has lost.


Rating: 3/10.

Previous Episode: Divergence
Next Episode: In a Mirror Darkly

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4-15. Affliction.

THE PLOT

Enterprise returns to Earth for the official launch date of her sister ship, the Columbia - the ship to which Trip is transferring. For the crew, it's an opportunity for some well-deserved leave. Dr. Phlox is in San Francisco with Hoshi, taking in a meal at his favorite Chinese restaurant. The two are just walking back when they are jumped by alien attackers. Hoshi is knocked out while attempting to fight back, but not before she overhears one of the attackers speaking in Rigelian.

Reed has only just begun to investigate the kidnapping when he receives a transmission from Harris (Eric Pierpoint), his old boss.  Harris informs Reed of an important mission, something that must be kept from Archer for security reasons. Dr. Phlox learns of it, too, when he is brought face-to-face with his captors: the Klingons. The Klingons are suffering from a virus that is spreading from world to world. Phlox is tasked with finding a cure. What he learns about the virus, however, may strain his devotion to preserving life.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: The information he gleaned from Surak's katra allows him to talk T'Pol through initiating a mind-meld. I'm sorry, but is that really necessary? In a season that's badly overinflated Archer, do we honestly need him talking the series' regular Vulcan through a Vulcan procedure? When do we hit the episode where Archer parts the Red Sea?  Rant aside, Scott Bakula does well when Archer finally discovers Reed's deceit. A range of emotions, from weariness to disappointment to anger, are evident in his face and voice, and he and Dominic Keating do some first-class acting in this scene.

Reed: From the first season, a part of Reed's characterization has been how distant he is, how difficult he is to know. This episode provides some background which sheds light on that particular established quality. Long before he joined Enterprise, Reed was an agent. Here, he is called back into service, putting him in the position of keeping information from his captain. It is not a comfortable situation for him, as he feels torn between loyalty to Archer and the still-strong dictates of his previous job.

T'Pol: Trip's departure affects her more than she wants to admit. As she attempts to meditate, she makes a telepathic connection to Trip, who is probably pausing in his busy day to think of her. In the midst of her white void of meditation, the two instantly begin to argue, before Trip is snapped out of it by one of his new shipmates. T'Pol also pulls triple-duty. She has to cover for the new chief engineer's learning curve. Then, when Archer begins to suspect Reed of deception, she has to double-check Reed's work and report back to Archer.

Trip: The easygoing Trip of the first season is not the Trip who signs onto Columbia. Trip is strict to the point of harshness with his new crew, working them triple shifts in order to get his new ship's engines working at the level of Enterprise's. By the time he has dinner with his new captain the next day, two of his crew have already requested transfers. He remains very good at his job, and he does get the engines working in time to meet Columbia's accelerated deadline. He even seems to be relaxing into his new post a bit, congratulating one of his new people on a job well done.

Dr. Phlox: Despite his outrage at being kidnapped, he is willing to do what he can to assist the Klingons once he learns of the virus.  He is appalled at the harsh Klingon methods, however, including the execution of infected patients to allow for dissection. When he discovers the true nature of the virus, he is even further outraged, both by what the Klingons attempted to do and by their keeping this from him when he should have been given the information at the outset.  John Billingsley is a good enough actor to keep his performance from being one-note, cranking up the intensity at just the right points and then reverting to a more subdued performance in between the more strongly emotional scenes.

Hoshi: We actually get a demonstration of the fighting skills she mentioned in Observer Effect, as she fights with Phlox's abductors. She's effective, too, kicking the gun right out of one attacker's hand and fending him off. If not for the third attacker, unseen until too late, she and Phlox might well have succeeded in getting away. Her linguistic skills come in useful, first in recognizing that the attackers spoke Rigelian, later in recognizing the prisoner speaking Klingon.

Klingons: They are unwilling to ask for help in dealing with the virus, lest they look weak to their enemies. But kidnapping a skilled doctor? That's no problem. When Phlox wonders why they didn't just kidnap Dr. Soong, who would have been more efficient at mapping genomes, the reply is direct and pragmatic: They tried; Soong was just too heavily guarded. At every turn, the Klingons prove to be ruthless and jealous of their secrets, and it seems evident that they have no intention of letting Phlox leave alive with what he knows.


THOUGHTS

I'll admit to being in the Trek camp that never really felt that an explanation was needed for why TOS Klingons had smooth brows while later Klingons had bumpy ones. It's always seemed obvious to me that the simple makeup of the TOS Klingons was a matter of budget, and that all that ever needed to be addressed on this issue was covered by Worf's, "It is not something we discuss with outsiders," in Trials and Tribbleations.

But if the main reason behind this 2-parter basically amounts to fan service, that doesn't matter to me in the slightest. Based on this first episode, it's going to be a pretty good 2-parter. It incorporates several elements from earlier in the season. The Trip/T'Pol arc follows directly on from The Aenar. The Klingon virus is directly linked to the Augment arc. Capt. Ramirez and the Columbia return from the episode, Home, along with a reference to Phlox's altercation in that episode. It all serves to tie the season together as an extended narrative, something I love when it's done well - and here, at least, it's done extremely well.

The most interesting story strand belongs to Reed. We know him well enough to realize that he's no traitor. But his having worked in intelligence makes sense, actually lending some focus to his characterization early in the series. Being called back into duty, splitting his loyalty between his old superiors and his current one, puts a strain on him which shows in Dominic Keating's performance. When he is caught, and Archer throws him in the brig, he is left to feel helpless as the ship undergoes a new crisis - and he is left unable to assist.

A strong first episode, with some good continuity with the rest of the season, some excellent character work, and some nice touches of intrigue.  The sort of setup episode that leaves one hopeful when anticipating the Part Two payoff.


Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: The Aenar
Next Episode: Divergence 

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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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4-10. Daedalus.

THE PLOT

Enterprise plays host to Emory Erickson (Bill Cobbs), the inventor of the transporter. Erickson and his daughter Danica (Leslie Silva) have been granted clearance to adapt Enterprise's systems for a long-range transporter test, one which has the potential to make spaceflight obsolete.

But there's more to the test than Emory is telling. When the Enterprise reaches the region of space known as "The Barrens," it becomes subject to bizarre spatial anomalies. Soon, one crewman is dead - and Archer is stunned to learn that Emory knew all about the anomalies and was, in fact, counting on them!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Scott Bakula's performance dips substantially in a scene in which Archer becomes unnecessarily angry, dismissing T'Pol's and Trip's objections to his chosen course and all but shouting them down. This feels like a return to the Archer of early Season One, and the actor seems uncomfortable with the writing. He is much better opposite Leslie Silva.  Their relationship as childhood friends is well conveyed, with an easy screen rapport between the two actors. Nevertheless, this remains Bakula's weakest episode since A Night in Sickbay, and I suspect that's more the fault of the writers than of the actor.

T'Pol: Is struggling with the adjustment to her world-view in the wake of the preceding 3-parter. She spends most of her spare time alone, studying the Kir'Shara. This seems likely to be the final strain breaking her not-quite-relationship with Trip, as she declares that her focus on learning what it is to be Vulcan simply does not leave time for anything else.

Trip: Tries to be a good friend to T'Pol.  He offers to listen if she wants to talk about her mother's death or her other recent issues, then withdraws when it becomes clear that she does not wish to talk. When T'Pol asks him to acknowledge that he at least understands her priorities, he gives her that much, if not entirely happily. In terms of the episode, he goes from hero-worship of Emory to being outraged at Emory's actions when he realizes that his idol has lied and put the ship in danger. Connor Trinneer is very good in all of the above scenes, and his performance is one of the few bright spots of this episode.

Guest Star of the Week: Bill Cobbs is a veteran character actor who has made a specialty of investing roles with authenticity and humanity. Which makes it all the more disappointing that his performance as Emory is so weak.  It doesn't help that the script attempts to characterize him by having him literally recite his own backstory. That backstory is awfully familiar, too - almost as if a much earlier Trek show had a guest character with roughly the same dilemma.  All right, Emory isn't insane like Daystrom was - but the episode might be better if he were, if only to infuse this script with some interest or at least "fun ham."

Hot Space Babe of the Week: Danica Erickson (Leslie Silva)'s characterization is fairly thin, basically existing to act as a sounding board for Emory. Fortunately, Silva gives a very appealing performance. She manages to hit just the right note of earnestness in her scenes with both Bill Cobbs and Scott Bakula, making Danica sincere without making her annoying. After seeing this episode, I never want to see Emory again. I wouldn't mind a return appearance by Danica, however, who - had the series survived longer, and had the writers chosen to bring her back in future seasons - could probably have been developed into a strong recurring character.


ZAP THE REDSHIRT!

Redshirt Count: One. Crewman Burrows (Noel Manzano) comes face-to-face with the anomaly. His face doesn't survive the experience.


THOUGHTS

Daedalus is the episode Manny Coto cited as the fourth season's worst. And who am I to argue with the show's own executive producer?  Daedalus is largely deadly dull, with a script made up almost entirely of used parts. With a plot steered more by cliche and contrivance than by concept or character, this is the exact type of episode Enterprise bashers are thinking of when they denigrate the show.

This is clearly the season cheapie. Two guest actors, only one of them with any substantial name value. Standing sets only. Minimal special effects of a type the show can easily realize. After the near-cinematic epic of the Vulcan 3-parter, an episode like this was probably needed to keep the series on budget. But just because an episode uses only standing sets, it doesn't mean it has to be bad. Some of TOS' best shows were entirely ship-bound, a few of them almost entirely bridge-bound. But those episodes had sharp, imaginative scripts that turned limitations into virtues - as opposed to the talky, cliche-ridden mess here.

In the end, my thoughts on Daedalus can be summed up in two words: Bad television. This episode is bad television, of a type I had believed Enterprise left behind a long time ago.


Rating: 1/10.

Previous Episode: Kir'Shara

Next Episode: Observer Effect

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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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