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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4-16. Divergence.

THE PLOT

As Phlox continues his work on the Klingon plague, he and Dr. Antoch (John Schuck) discover a way to stop the disease in its first stage. The Klingons will still undergo physical changes, but they will not be augmented, nor will they become sick and die. But with Klingon warships on their way to sterilize the planet, the only way Phlox can identify the cure in time is to infect four patients - only one of whom will live!

Meanwhile, Enterprise continues its search for Phlox, now with its sister ship, Columbia in tow. Archer investigates Reed's recent transmissions, and uncovers a link to Harris (Eric Pierpoint), the tactical officer's former superior. He confronts Reed with what he now knows, and gives him a choice: Where do his loyalties lie?


CHARACTERS

Capt. Archer: Though he remains bitterly disappointed at Reed's betrayal, he also knows that he needs his expertise. He does not allow his feelings to get in the way of allowing Reed to get Trip on board to save the ship. After this, he offers Reed a chance to redeem himself by telling Archer what he knows, but only after discovering enough on his own that Reed will be able to do so with some level of integrity. 

Reed: This 2-parter has definitely allowed Dominic Keating an opportunity to shine. Playing a tormented Reed, torn between his loyalty to his old section and his more recent and genuine loyalty to Archer, he has spent these two episodes in a state of desperation. When he finally is pushed to make a choice, he feels genuine relief at no longer having to fight himself. The final scene of the episode also seems to be the show's last word about where Reed's loyalties lie - though I suspect, had the series gone on for another season, that issues related to his old section would have come up again.

Dr. Phlox: "I lied." I love John Billingsley's inflection of this simple line. It's hardly an original retort, but he delivers it so well, with just the right mix of humor and venom. Billingsley gets another strong episode, particularly as Phlox comes ever closer to finding the cure. His compassionate interactions with both Dr. Antoch and the Klingon victims of the plague make an effective counterpoint to his more intense dealings with K'Vaugh (James Avery), the Klingon general. Phlox's insistence on staying to finish providing a cure for his "several million patients," even when Archer arrives and he could get away safely, says volumes about the character's core decency.

Klingons: In Judgment, we learned that Klingon society had undergone a decline. All castes are subsidiary to the warrior caste now, we are told, but it had not always been that way. Here, we see another relic of a better Klingon society, in the form of Dr. Antoch. Antoch chose a life as a healer over that of a warrior, and was disowned for making such a "dishonorable" decision. He is as pragmatic as the other Klingons, finding a way to get Phlox to cooperate by withholding certain information from his own superior. K'Vaugh also receives some added dimension to his character, his interactions with the infected soldiers showing him to be more than the snarling one-note baddie seen in the previous episode.


THOUGHTS

Divergence begins in exciting fashion, with Reed guiding Trip from Columbia to Enterprise at Warp 5, with a shared warp field that is steadily deteriorating. The basic dilemma, that Enterprise will blow up if it goes slower than Warp 5, is stolen wholesale from Speed, with the Klingons standing in for Dennis Hopper. But it's still a genuinely exciting set piece, and kicks the episode off in fine form.

The rest of the show is also good, even if it never builds up the same intensity as that opening set piece. Reed's dilemma remains interesting, and the Reed/Archer interaction is one of the episode's highlights. Reed's former section, justified by "a few lines in Section 31" of the Starfleet charter, points to something a bit less utopian and a bit more sinister in the Trek world, and I wouldn't have minded seeing more developed regarding these covert operations. Ah, well. I'm sure there's a book or some fanfics somewhere.

It's all very tightly-paced and produced to the series' usual high standards. I wouldn't rank this as one of the series' greats, by any means, but it was a good, solid 2-parter, with much to enjoy.


Rating: 7/10.

Overall Rating for the Klingon Augments Arc: 7/10

Previous Episode: Affliction
Next Episode: Bound

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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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