TheGodBen Revisits Enterprise - Page 26

Vestboy · November 3 2009, 08:57 PM

One thing I liked about Canamar was it was the first time we saw a Naussicaan who seemed like he was a member of a species that was capable of figuring out interstellar flight.

Silvercrest · November 3 2009, 10:52 PM

HUMAN PLAY DOM-JOT!! WE LOOK FOR THINGS TO MAKE OUR SHIPS GO!!!

TheGodBen · November 3 2009, 11:51 PM

Judgment (***½)

Yes, this episode is based on TUC, but I liked TUC so I'm good with it.

Okay, fine, I'll deduct the point.

Here we are, the first episode Enterprise has done on the Klingons which I wouldn't be embarrassed to be caught watching. Hell, the Klingons here are possibly treated with more dignity than ever before, there is a exploration of that fact that not all Klingons are warriors, something that we hardly ever see on any of the Trek shows (except that singing chef on DS9).

KOLOS: My father was a teacher. My mother, a biologist at the university. They encouraged me to take up the law. Now all young people want to do is take up weapons as soon as they can hold them. They're told there's honour in victory, any victory. What honour is there in a victory over a weaker opponent? Had Duras destroyed that ship he would have been lauded as a hero of the Empire for murdering helpless refugees. We were a great society not so long ago, when honour was earned through integrity and acts of true courage, not senseless bloodshed.

Mmm, I love the sound of J.G. Hertzler's voice. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

ARCHER: For thousands of years, my people had similar problems. We fought three world wars that almost destroyed us. Whole generations were nearly wiped out.
KOLOS: What changed?
ARCHER: A few courageous people began to realise they could make a difference.

Actually, a drunk built a warp engine in order to get rich and that caused some aliens to drop by and help us out. It's not as inspirational as Archer's line, but it has the virtue of being the truth.

Anyway, I liked this episode, my two biggest complaints were that it was too bright, the Klingon courtroom and Rura Penthe looked better in TUC when they were dark and gloomy places, and my second complaint is the ending. I didn't realise that Canamar was supposed to be the original conclusion to this episode, but it would have been much better than the one we were given onscreen. Canamar needed to be more important, this episode needed a proper conclusion, it is a big pity that the timing didn't work out.

Disappearing Aliens: 16
Archer Abuse: 16

startrekwatcher · November 3 2009, 11:57 PM

I'd only give Judgment 2.5 stars. It was a retread in many ways of TUC and as a result inevitable comparisons will be made and in this case the ENT episode suffers. I'd rather rewatch TUC than this outing. I'm sure it looked better than a lot of what surrounded it in terms of episode quality but it still wasn't up to what I would call solid entertainment.

I remember a lot of fanboys were excited by Hertzler but it left me cold. If I wanted to see him as a Klingon I would watch DS9.

One solid scene discussing the complexity of Klingon society does not make a good episode. I also found the differing viewpoints of what really happened to be tedious because there was no room for ambiguity. Anyone in the audience would know the honorable Starfleet officer story was the accurate depiction of events--not the dishonorable *Duras*. And then for the umpteenth time we have Archer captured coupled with another formulaic rescue to fill the action quota.

SRFX · November 4 2009, 01:40 AM

startrekwatcher wrote:

And then for the umpteenth time we have Archer captured coupled with another formulaic rescue to fill the action quota.

But there wasn't any action. Which was part of the problem imo. The rescue was largely just Malcolm sneaking in and Archer sneaking out.

I really really like this episode, I have no complaints aside from the ending, but now that I know Canamar was supposed to be the conclusion, I am satisfied.

Hertzler's screen presence is unmatched by any of the other actors in this episode and I love the character he plays.

Disillusioned · November 4 2009, 03:16 AM

TheGodBen wrote:

Judgment (***½)

Yes, this episode is based on TUC, but I liked TUC so I'm good with it.

I'll have to disagree with you on this. I liked TUC, and really this episode was a lot better when it actually was TUC. This movie was such an obvious rip-off that it wasn't even funny. Not surprisingly, the one good thing about this episode was basically it's only point of originality, Captain Archer's lawyer. But one interesting character and one good element out of an otherwise shameless rip-off do not a good episode make, at least not in my opinion.

D Man · November 4 2009, 12:52 PM

Silvercrest wrote:

HUMAN PLAY DOM-JOT!! WE LOOK FOR THINGS TO MAKE OUR SHIPS GO!!!

Thanks for that.

Alidar Jarok · November 4 2009, 03:20 PM

I think the basic episode is actually very different than TUC because it focuses on the trial (the trial there was just one scene and it was designed to take Kirk to the prison so he could escape). The only reason why the similarities exist and are so prevalent is Goodman went overboard with the references. The trial looks very similar (I think he even stole some lines) and then, at the last second he went "why not" and actually had them sent to the same prison. The biggest difference is that this story is about Kolos (TUC was certainly not about Worf).

Peter the Younger · November 4 2009, 07:15 PM

SRFX wrote:

startrekwatcher wrote:

And then for the umpteenth time we have Archer captured coupled with another formulaic rescue to fill the action quota.

But there wasn't any action. Which was part of the problem imo. The rescue was largely just Malcolm sneaking in and Archer sneaking out.

I really really like this episode, I have no complaints aside from the ending, but now that I know Canamar was supposed to be the conclusion, I am satisfied.

Yeah I think I'm gonna pretend I live in an alternate universe where Canamar was called Rura Penthe, and the two eps formed a cool mini-arc.

FlapJoy · November 4 2009, 09:53 PM

The Klingons are an interesting race to be sure. Most of Trek in the past has depicted them as so many varieties of a horde society. A conquering race, but riddled with failure, compensated in the form of pure brutality. Willing to ally themselves with outsiders if deemed worthy of the principle, but prone to betrayal. Easily fooled, but capable of genuine treachery. Barbaric, but with a smidgen of political intrigue. Nomadic pirates, terrorists, spies and conspirators, patriots and profiteers… so many faces of this race exist. We’ve only seen a small sliver of Klingon society, often seemingly imperialistic, regicidal, but having no clear leader. Factions existing all over space, not answering to anyone… sometimes fighting amongst themselves but still held to a strict honor code. Is there not only a caste system, but also separate territories on the home world and beyond with vastly differing systems of government? Or are they a chaotic brood, looking only for honor for the master race with no regard for diplomacy? We’ve seen all that but still know nothing about them really… duplicative organs, a reinforced skeletal system. How do they fuck? What we’ve seen of them is a limited view even though more about them is known than even the Vulcans. But the standard depiction of Klingons is often a tiresome one. This episode revealed so much more that could be explored and I wish they had. So while the debate about dumb Klingons and smart Klingons and bumpy/smooth Klingons and masked NuKlingons rages on… it’s clear, they all fit the description of Klingon, but like any good dark empire, even more secrets are yet revealed.

Enterprise would have been the perfect format to truly expand on the simplistic complexities of this race, and while some episodes reaveled so much indeed, I wonder what could have been if (like DS9) more Klingon arc episodes were spread about the series revealing more about these early Klingonians still, perhaps, in the midst of building their chaotic empire... oh well.

HopefulRomantic · November 4 2009, 11:13 PM

TheGodBen wrote:

Mmm, I love the sound of J.G. Hertzler's voice. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I really enjoyed "Judgment" -- the exploration of Klingon society, the direction and cinematography, the nod to "Rashomon." And J.G. Hertzler made Kolos a very compelling character.

teacake · November 4 2009, 11:56 PM

Judgment was the first ENT ep that really blew me away (other than BB). Hertzler was magnificent.

TheGodBen · November 5 2009, 01:05 AM

Horizon (**)

Apparently the writers on Enterprise felt sorry for constantly having to cut Anthony Montgomery's powerful and evocative scenes for time, so they decided to throw together a pity episode for him. Luckily they decided not to go the romance of the week route that Voyager went with Chakotay and Kim in later seasons, instead they gave us something halfway relevant for the character and provided us with some backstory too. Not that it's all that interesting; his dad dies, he argues with his brother, some very friendly-looking aliens show up and attack for some reason... It's nothing compelling, but I'm still going to give the episode a bonus point for at least trying to develop Travis as a person.

Then there's the b-story about T'Pol and movie night, which just goes over old ground that we've already seen with T'Pol and Reed in the past. There's also something about a planet and volcanoes, but that's only there so that Andre Bormanis could collect a paycheck for doing something vaguely sciencey with this episode.

startrekwatcher · November 5 2009, 01:22 AM

I'd give Horizon 2.5 stars. It isn't a bad episode just a pretty average one that doesn't do anything wrong but doesn't exactly make for compelling viewing.

Probably the best scene was the teaser when Archer informs Mayweather his dad died. The rest of the episode had passable material but well worn with the idea of two brothers--one staying on to continue the family business resenting the other brother for going off and having a different life. In fact, continuing season two theme of "been there, done that better on an earlier Trek series"--this is in some ways similiar to TNG's "Family" but not as good.

SRFX · November 5 2009, 04:06 AM

The "Travis was a freighter boomer" had the potential to be so much more interesting and significant than it was.

Hell, I would've been happy with a 100% flashback episode that had no bearing on the rest of the series if meant serving Travis and the freighter storyline some worthwhile screen time.

Unfortunately both Fortunate Son and Horizon were boring as hell. And then in S4, they gave Travis a love interest. Who cares about that.

Guardian Bob · November 5 2009, 04:02 PM

SRFX wrote:

The "Travis was a freighter boomer" had the potential to be so much more interesting and significant than it was.

Hell, I would've been happy with a 100% flashback episode that had no bearing on the rest of the series if meant serving Travis and the freighter storyline some worthwhile screen time.

Unfortunately both Fortunate Son and Horizon were boring as hell. And then in S4, they gave Travis a love interest. Who cares about that.

If you're talking about the love interest in Terra Prime, I thought it was one of the best Travis episodes.

Alidar Jarok · November 5 2009, 05:26 PM

Terra Prime was a good episode. Travis is not the reason.

I think Boomers had lots of potential, but their episodes ("Travis episodes") sucked in general. They pretty much had to abandon the concept because of that.

SRFX · November 6 2009, 12:18 AM

Yeah, Travis' love interest was the only negative aspect of Terra Prime/Demons. It started off as boring and cliched. Every time the scene switched to them the episode started to draaaaaag. And then she's just inexplicably given a purpose by being part of Starfleet Intelligence.

It was just so horribly forced. It's not unwatchably bad, but it's a blemish on an otherwise great pair of episodes and is usually about the time I get up to make a drink.

apenpaap · November 6 2009, 12:41 AM

Yeah, she was annoying as hell, and was the only minor point in an otherwise great finale.

Disillusioned · November 6 2009, 01:27 AM

I don;t know, having Trip and T'Pol go after their clone baby was kind of a bad aspect of the episode, too, mostly because it was kind of stupid. I mean, I can see them wanting to go and all, but considering that it was their kid made from their DNA, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume the people who did it would know what they looked like. If they wanted to have them captured, it actually would have made more sense and been more exciting if this big bad terrorist group had actively sought them out and kidnapped them in some kind of exciting para-military operation.