The Great Chronological Run-Through

[Deranged Nasat]

Rajiin

Thankfully, we now head back into the main plot, with another complication thrown at us - there are now two Xindi weapons to combat. It's a neat way of both upping the stakes even further and demonstrating the Xindi's weakness - their inability to agree on anything.

I like the setting of the Xanthan bazaar, and pretty much all the characters we meet there are entertaining. B'rat Ud the chemist, the pet supplier, Zjod the flesh peddler - all of them are quite enjoyable. As for Rajiin, I do wonder why the Xindi went with the slave angle (which has the advantage of making her sympathetic, of course) and not simply have her say, "I know a lot about Xindi". I mean, why do the Xindi think Archer will help her? They think Humans are The Enemy, they won't be expecting compassionate action. Was the original plan for Archer to buy her (however they'd arrange that - maybe indeed by saying that she was formally owned by Xindi) and then she had to improvise when he started leaving? I mean, if she did hire herself as a supposed guide on Xindi, not only would they be eager to take her aboard but she could feed the crew totally inaccurate information prior to slipping away, or at least misrepresent the Xindi in a way that would, say, see Enterprise focus attack on their strong points in the belief that those are actually the weak points, or just direct them right into a trap like La'an Trahve did in Last Full Measure.

The Xindi make their move, and to my delight they're shown to be extremely competent in battle, suffering only a single casualty who then takes his own life to avoid interrogation. It was great to see their armour absorb the Humans' shots, a welcome surprise when you're expecting just another standard gunfight. The sticky grenade was great, too; these Xindi come prepared. Along with several squads of Reptilians, there's at least one Insectoid attacking, suggesting that the agreement between Dolim and his Insectoid counterpart in the Council chambers is mirrored by acceptance of Insectoid crew or observers on Reptilian warships. This after the Council's last appearance (in Last Full Measure) saw Dolim and the Insectoid nearly come to blows when the Reptilians applied their "no man left behind...alive" policy to their non-Reptilian partners. As always, the Xindi are intriguingly complex.

The Insectoid joining the raid on Enterprise is a Star Wars fan and thinks he's a Geonosian, because he fires something not unlike the sonic pulse weapon they used. Between this and Kaletoo/Tatooine, I can only conclude that the unstable physics of the Expanse has caused this universe to bleed into Star Wars and vice versa. Still, it's great to see different Xindi working together.

The Council is starting to be established as Reptilian for the aggressive and calculating approach, Insectoid for the aggressive and hasty approach, Arboreal for the conservative and passive approach, Aquatic for the cautious yet boldly compromising approach, and the Primates for the focused, steady and determined approach.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important

Subspace vortices.

Continuity

I'm glad that Archer is still troubled, both physiologically and, implicitly, psychologically, by what happened at Loque'eque. I applaud the episode for taking the time to acknowledge the aftermath, though it doesn't change how pointless a detour it was.

Crewman Cutler is mentioned.

As previously noted (in the review for "The Xindi"), there's a Benzite at the Xanthan bazaar. There's also a couple of the bright yellow, vaguely hadrosaur-esque people (you may remember them from such Star Trek TV series as Deep Space Nine); perhaps the Expanse is their home territory, whoever they are. I mention them because I've always liked their makeup - its complex and interesting while managing to avoid excessive dependency on ridges. At one point, I thought I saw a Bolian in the crowd, but it turned out to be something different. Finally, there are Nuvian slaves on Xanthan - the Nuvians were previously mentioned in "Two Days And Two Nights", having a notable presence on Risa. Apparently their massage techniques are famous in the Expanse too.

Well done for having the bio-scans of T'Pol's innards be greenish in contrast to Archer's pink.

Next Time: Zombies are not logical, in "Impulse". T'Braiiiinnns...

 

[Christopher]

The third season has its merits, but it does take a while to get its act together. There are a lot of weak episodes early on. "Extinction" is a totally pointless sidebar, and "Rajiin" is a weak attempt driven mainly by titillation (although the actress is pretty striking, and Paul Baillargeon's leitmotif for Rajiin has a nice TOS-ish quality).

I think the main thing I liked about "Rajiin" was the way the crew used Earth spices to bargain for information. We tend to take it for granted that we can pop down to the grocery store and pick up any spices we want, but for much of history, exotic spices have been one of the main drivers of global trade and exploration. It's nice to see the show acknowledge that the same would probably be true of interstellar trade.

"Anomaly" is somewhat better, and notable for featuring the series' first crew fatality, Crewman Fuller. The producers consciously avoided killing a member of the crew until they could find a story where it would carry real weight and not just be a redshirt death with the heroes laughing again by the final act. And this highlights the thing I admire most about season 3, the way it consistently treated death in a mature and honest manner, portraying it as something that had a real impact on the crew rather than just being an incidental action beat. That's one thing that ENT handled better than any other Trek incarnation.

Unfortunately, it's kind of undermined by Last Full Measure having a whole slew of MACOs die in a story set immediately before "Anomaly" -- not to mention how Archer's dark turn with the interrogation is similarly undermined by the same novel taking a similar step. It makes me wonder why LFM wasn't set later in the season, where it would seem to fit better.

As for the Xindi species breakdown: While I liked the diversity of the Xindi, I regretted it that they were so stereotyped by species, and that it ultimately broke down to "mammals good, reptiles and insects evil." That was a little simplistic.

I believe "Rajiin" is Cutler's last mention in the series. She will, however, be mentioned in the novel Rosetta, which mistakenly calls her Nurse Cutler. And Myriad Universes: A Less Perfect Union establishes that she was still around as late as "Demons/Terra Prime."

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I think the main thing I liked about "Rajiin" was the way the crew used Earth spices to bargain for information. We tend to take it for granted that we can pop down to the grocery store and pick up any spices we want, but for much of history, exotic spices have been one of the main drivers of global trade and exploration. It's nice to see the show acknowledge that the same would probably be true of interstellar trade.

I liked the scene of the spice trade, too. It was funny while also being completely authentic. Watching B'rat ooh and aah over black pepper and the like was good for a laugh but, like you say, totally believable and sensible all the same.

"Anomaly" is somewhat better, and notable for featuring the series' first crew fatality, Crewman Fuller. The producers consciously avoided killing a member of the crew until they could find a story where it would carry real weight and not just be a redshirt death with the heroes laughing again by the final act.

Plus it puts further emphasis on the idea of the Expanse as a rough and dangerous place, differentiating it further from where the ship has been previously, which is important.

Unfortunately, it's kind of undermined by Last Full Measure having a whole slew of MACOs die in a story set immediately before "Anomaly" -- not to mention how Archer's dark turn with the interrogation is similarly undermined by the same novel taking a similar step. It makes me wonder why LFM wasn't set later in the season, where it would seem to fit better.

Definitely agreed. In fact, there is also an odd note or two in Last Full Measure suggesting that Trip and T'Pol have had several neuropressure sessions when "Anomaly" confirms that they hadn't had any since the first. Plus there's a possible undermining of another event's impact - the otherwise quite bracing first military encounter with the Xindi in "Rajiin". With all of that, I can't help but agree that the events of the novel would fit better a bit further into the season, and I wonder if they weren't actually originally supposed to...

As for the Xindi species breakdown: While I liked the diversity of the Xindi, I regretted it that they were so stereotyped by species, and that it ultimately broke down to "mammals good, reptiles and insects evil." That was a little simplistic.

A very fair point, one I've seen made elsewhere. I suppose that we could choose to look at it less about reptiles and insects being villainous and more that they were less inclined to sympathise with a mammalian species? Which is somewhat problematic in itself thematically, but at least would make some manner of sense. Maybe the Reptilians are particularly reluctant to believe or trust Archer because they're assuming the Primates and Arboreals are blinded by the Humans' fur. After all, they seem to have depended on a similar tactic by having their spy-slave be the most Human-esque woman we've seen in the Expanse.

 

[Enterpriserules]

I would love to see Cutler included in more stories in the future. She was one of my favorite characters on ENT, it was so sad that we lost Kellie Waymire. It would be wonderful to see the character live on as a memorial to her. Plus I felt like the character was interesting enough to carry on.

 

[Stevil2001]

"Anomaly" is probably one of my favorite ENT episodes. Even aside from plot and writing, it just feels different: the direction is great at making you feel like you've been plunged into an alienating world. (Which is interesting, because looking up David Straiton, none of the other episodes he did were particularly striking.)

I didn't like Last Full Measure very much, and part of the reason was its really odd placement.

 

[Sto-Vo-Kory]

I would love to see Cutler included in more stories in the future. She was one of my favorite characters on ENT, it was so sad that we lost Kellie Waymire. It would be wonderful to see the character live on as a memorial to her. Plus I felt like the character was interesting enough to carry on.

+1. I appreciate that Christopher has re-introduced her into the story of his Enterprise novels and hope that he keeps her around for a good long while.

 

[Destructor]

I had such a crush on Kellie Waymire when Enterprise first aired.

 

[Enterpriserules]

I had such a crush on Kellie Waymire when Enterprise first aired.

I still do, every time I see one of her episodes

 

[Skywalker]

I haven't actually read Last Full Measure, but...it's set before "Anomaly"? That just...I don't understand the point of that. Especially since the book was written years after ENT had ended, so Mangels & Martin should have known that by setting the book so early that a lot of the book would be undermined by what occurred in Season Three.

Weird. If I ever read it, I'll have to pretend it was actually set later on.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Impulse"

Well, it's a zombie piece, isn't it? I must admit that I've never really gotten the appeal of zombies, or the grip that the animated dead have on the public imagination or the psyche. This time, it's not reanimated corpses but half-dead, deteriorated Vulcans, but they're shambling along mindlessly and there's no doubt about what they are.

What's odd is that the idea of violent, horrifically savage Vulcans has perfect merit, because as T'Pol explains part-way through the episode, her people are given to extremely strong and destructive emotions, and absent their cultural training and mental control the Vulcanoids are a formidable and deadly enemy. The paranoia and sneering contempt T'Pol begins to display as the trellium affects her is great fun and genuinely disturbing, so I don't know why we wasted time on zombies. If the Vulcans were all like T'Pol is here they could have been truly threatening.

Vulcanoids are dangerous. That's the whole point, ostensibly, so I don't know why the writers went in the direction they did. Playing them as monsters (with that weird directing that causes them to pop up out of nowhere) detracts from what it is about Vulcanoids that is so disturbing - that these are sophisticated, intelligent people who nonetheless are given to insane excesses of paranoia and aggression.

Yes, their nervous systems are degrading, so I guess having them shuffle along like they can't really control their bodies makes sense enough, but it still feels like a decision to ignore the truly interesting portrayal, the one that makes total sense as part of Trek lore, in favour of a standard zombie outing.

Still, I like that we have another complication to the crew's mission, continuing the season's habit of raising new issues and intriguing new twists (even as it seems to find it hard to resist the urge for one-off gimmick episodes. We've had alien transformation and zombies, still to come are the Western and...well, wait to see next week's instalment). Enterprise has gained a supply of trellium-D, but can't actually use it due to its dangerous effect on Vulcans. T'Pol's insistence that they leave her on the next inhabited planet and Archer's insistence that he won't abandon her are both pleasingly noble and heroic gestures, so I liked that part.

The Vulcan ship, a D'kyr-class, is named Seleya, after the sacred mountain on Vulcan, which has yet to be referenced (it's only in season four that we'll learn the significance of the name).

Continuity

There's a great little scene that builds on a character moment from an episode last season, with Phlox nattering on enthusiastically during the movie and T'Pol pointedly telling him to be quiet and watch the movie. Unfortunately, that scene was part of a dream. It's not as bad as having my favourite Garak moment be part of an illusion, but it's still disappointing. Episodes like this need a few decent character moments scattered around. Well, at least there was the interactions between the MACO and T'Pol, however brief - a nice reminder that the MACOs haven't served for two years with a Vulcan and don't understand T'Pol's people as the regular crew have come to.

Chef has been sharing his concerns about the crew with Trip. This could be seen as evidence justifying the later assertion that Chef is this crew's unofficial counsellor, their Guinan, so to speak.

Next Time: Tale as old as time...song as old as rhyme...it's "Exile"

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, "Impulse" is pretty unpleasant. Doesn't make much sense either. Yes, Vulcans without logic are prone to aggression, but they're not mindless savages -- they're more like Romulans. I really can't think of anything good to say about this one.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Exile"

This one's odd, but I don't think it's bad, just rather half-hearted. A Hoshi episode is always welcome, and this one manages to advance the plot while doing something different on the side. I won't say it does it well, as such, but I have nothing against this episode. Tarquin is at least in concept an interesting character, and Hoshi's awkward mix of understanding, sympathy, wariness and anger is reasonably well-played. If the dialogue were more intense and sophisticated and the atmosphere ramped up a bit, this could have been really good. In short: much potential, just rather flat in execution. Harmless, though.

Telepathy was explored in By the Book, and Vulcan psychic abilities have been used, but this is perhaps the first time that telepathy has been truly central to the plot. Interestingly, Tarquin's people are not a telepathic race - only one in fifty million is born with enough psionic talent to be classed a true telepath.

Continuity

We learn that the sphere encountered in "Anomaly" was one of many, and that the spheres are spread across the Expanse. More than simply amplifying the spatial anomalies, they're quite possibly the reason the Expanse exists in the first place, though - as T'Pol notes - why someone would wish to create such a place is unclear.

Shuttlepod One is insulated with trellium-D. The danger the compound poses to T'Pol is referenced.

A member of Tarquin's species was previously seen as a slave miner on Tulaw in "The Xindi".

As a total aside, we get some nice shots of the osmotic eel during a scene set in sickbay. Now's as good a time as any to mention something that bugs me - why it's called an eel I don't know, when it's a starfish-esque creature and not a fish. I like to assume the word "eel" is a coincidence, and not a translation.

The images Hoshi sees when attempting the psychometric technique are a collection of CGI scenes from earlier episodes and are presumably not to be taken literally - in "reality", I assume we're to think that she simply had impressions of unusual, alien places and beings. That said, the "Shroomies" (Vertians) show up, both personally and in the form of their ships, and since those ships reappear later in the season as Kovaalan, we might pretend that the Kovaalans are indeed a Vertian offshoot (maybe the Elachi, for the Star Trek Online fans ). We also see images of Enolian ships, the Wisps' ship (maybe the Wisps are native to the Expanse - it might explain the complete lack of sense their ship and general situation made, since in the Expanse the usual rules don't apply ), and Jupiter (odd choice for something alien, unless it's supposed to be an ominous touch, in that the Xindi creators of the weapon are fixated on Sol). Like I said, though, I assume the choice of images isn't actually relevant or meaningful.

Next Time: The Xindi situation becomes more complex still in "The Shipment".

 

[Enterpriserules]

This was one of the weakest episode of the season for me. I think half-hearted is well said. It is sad that so many Hoshi or Mayweather stories are just not great.

 

[Christopher]

"Exile" is another weird sidebar, the sort of episode that feels like it was left over from script development for season 2 and had a few tweaks to tie it into the Xindi narrative.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"The Shipment"

This episode has a firm commitment to developing the main plot and so unsurprisingly it's a good one. It's great to have a Xindi as an ally, taking the established diversity further by drawing a distinction not just between the five races but between the Council and the various Xindi settlements, who aren't necessarily privy to their plans or supportive of their chosen response. The fact that they're explicitly a decentralized and scattered people makes it harder to pinpoint who and what the enemy is here, which while on the one hand being a hopeful discovery is also another unneeded complication for Archer.

On top of that, we learn that it was the Xindi themselves who destroyed their original world, in a drawn-out war between the various factions, and that the five species were once six. They've already wiped out a whole species, and that was one of their own. Depressingly, it becomes easier to see why the Xindi leaders are so convinced that Humans will be dangerous and destructive - they have no difficultly imagining Human fanaticism and ruthlessness, because they recognise those qualities in themselves. If Xindus could be destroyed by their own factionalism and hatred, it makes perfect sense that they'd buy the idea of another race destroying New Xindus; indeed, why even question the motives too closely?

It's also interesting that Archer is shown struggling with the idea that if he starts blowing up Xindi facilities he'll seemingly confirm the propaganda about Humans - yet he also seems prepared to murder Gralik for reasons of tactical security. Archer, then, is still unsure exactly what his mission, in practice, is. Find the Xindi and stop the weapon, yes, but what does that mean? It's like knowing the answer to life, the universe and everything but not the question. Here we see that a part of Archer still clings to the idea that this is all a misunderstanding that can be resolved without war - he even complains that he came here to stop a war, not start one, which is an interesting interpretation - while embracing his new role as a dedicated warrior all the same. Is part of him in denial; is he keeping himself steady by retaining a grip on his old priorities; is he still holding on to optimism without purpose; does he actually believe on some level that he can get through to the Xindi and stop them that way, or does he merely hope and wish he can?

There are a few moments of convenience in this one - I always think the fact that Gralik lives alone makes it all a bit easy - what if he lived with his child or something, and so had less reason to come around so quickly or be so reasonable and calm after gunmen invade his home? Still, it's a good, strong episode that continues the development of the Xindi as an interesting foe. (And sometimes friend, as Gralik stresses).

The Xindi continue to be competent as a military force, too. We see that their sidearms are equipped with a feature that cause an overload if an untrained person (or maybe a non-Xindi?) tries to fire them. Also, the Reptilians use fast-moving remote reconnaissance drones fitted with energy weapons. The show really seems to be making a genuine effort to portray the Reptilians as formidable, clever, and disciplined opponents rather than dumb mooks. I appreciate that.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important

Kemocite. In the 24th Century, kemocite will be a restricted cargo in Federation space. Gralik notes that it has many applications, so it isn't necessarily used for weapons. Is it just its volatility that led to it being highly regulated, or is the history involved at least part of the reason? Does Earth in particular come down hard on anyone trading in kemocite because of the Xindi Incident?

On a lesser note, topaline also makes its debut here, though no mention is made of its primary function in life-support systems, which will make it so valuable to later societies like the Federation.

Degra's ship. It's worth noting that while we wouldn't know it yet, if we consider the Xindi ship designs seen across the entire season, it would seem that Degra's ship is of the Xindi-Insectoid design lineage, not the Xindi-Primate, another example of how the races might integrate.

Continuity

The crew are at the kemocite refinery because Tarquin directed them there as a last gift to Hoshi. Reed mentions Hoshi's "telepathic friend".

Trip examines the Xindi rifle they recovered from the dead Xindi soldier in "Rajiin", and references the ease with which the enemy overran the ship in that encounter.

Reed's force field generators are used again - interestingly, weapons testing seems to be their most common purpose.

The crew learn who Degra is.

Next Time: "Twilight".

 

[Enterpriserules]

^ I felt like this was a spectacular episode by throwing yet another wrench in Archer's plans and making his choices even more unclear. One of my favorites of season 3

 

[Christopher]

Yes, "The Shipment" is the first really strong episode in season 3 and a significant advance in the arc. It was a satisfying episode because it affirmed that the season wasn't just going to degenerate into "revenge porn" but was dedicated to questioning the aggressive response that had begun the mission, and continuing the classic Trekkian theme that there are alternatives to war if one is committed enough to find them. Also, John Cothran, Jr. was terrific as Gralik Durr.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Twilight"

This one helps keep the stakes high by demonstrating that the mission to find the Xindi is just as essential as we've been told. Getting to see the consequences if Enterprise fails reinforces the mission's importance, justifying the stress the crew are under in later episodes.

This one is great for the T'Pol/Archer relationship, which is integral to the show. Archer as a representative of Earth and T'Pol as a representative of Vulcan coming to trust and admire each other is one of the most essential arcs in the series. This outing, though, is interesting because it downplays or even removes that wider context to what we see - there's no longer any Human-Vulcan alliance or a future for their relationship, after all, and instead the episode plays Archer/T'Pol simply as two people, absent any significance beyond that. And it works very well. I was really moved by T'Pol's loyalty and sacrifice, and it was a welcome reinforcement of the mutual regard we saw at the end of "Impulse".

I also liked T'Pol's scene with Soval, which shows a softer and more sensitive side to the ambassador's obstructionism. Soval isn't uncaring, and he shows genuine concern for T'Pol, so much as a Vulcan will express it.

One of the few false notes in the episode comes with the mention of communication with Starfleet through a subspace buoy. That raised an eyebrow. I don't recall any evidence prior to this that Enterprise was in contact with Earth; indeed, even if they had dropped a buoy, I imagine it would be ravaged by an anomaly or destroyed by the Xindi once they detected Human transmissions. We know that the Xindi are monitoring Enterprise and have been since it arrived in the Expanse. As for the physical possibility of contact, the Vulcan ship Vaankara managed to send a last transmission to the High Command so we know that communication from within the Expanse is possible, but I didn't think real-time communication would be. I assume anything Earth receives comes in the form of delayed bursts.

The Xindi have transporter technology (and in the alternate future use it to board ships, in contrast to their physical boarding practices of the present, seen both here and in "Rajiin"). The transporter effect is sparkly gold.

Archer uses his Zefram Cochrane statuette to stab a Xindi-Reptilian; symbolic, perhaps, of the direction events have taken? According to First Contact, the statue design presents Cochrane looking boldly to the horizon and summoning the future; now, the statuette is broken and desperately plunging into the heart of an enemy. It might not mean anything, but it's certainly possible to read something appropriate into it.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important

Non-Temporal life. Personally, I love the idea of a reset button justified through dissolving the entanglement between time and something existing outside of it. Life-forms from outside the flow of time have become lodged in the structure of our continuum (specifically within Archer's brain) due to the anomalies of the Expanse, like flotsam in a wave of water dashed against something unyielding by a storm and left stranded. When there exists contact between non-temporal life and a timeline, then, the former can be entwined with the cause/effect structure of the latter and the point of contact can register as an event within the timeline, while the non-temporal life remains mostly outside of the fourth dimension. Basically, they can become partially incorporated into time, as unwitting parasites in the neural structures of sapient beings (and other suitably complex structures?) while retaining their non-linear nature. The incursion of non-temporal life into our realm (and Human incursion into theirs), will become important in Deep Space Nine, though things are complicated there by the fact that it will be sapient non-temporal life, which chooses to remain lodged with our continuum. (The Millennium trilogy will go so far as to suggest that they choose to do this precisely to protect temporal life).

Yridians. The Vulcan database contains information on the Yridians, who even now are known to specialise as information merchants. (I doubt the Humans get updates from the Vulcans, so the information had to have been in the database prior to the mission into the Expanse).

Ceti Alpha. The Humans flee to this distant star system to escape the Xindi. There's a doubly amusing twist here. In a century's time, in the prime reality, Ceti Alpha V will be devastated by the explosion of its neighbouring world - the episode's writers note that this was a cruel joke on their part, implying that Humanity would have been wiped out even if they had successfully avoided detection. However, the reason Ceti Alpha VI explodes will in fact be revealed as the consequence of Human activity (Ming Xiong and Carol Marcus working on Project Vanguard), so in fact in this continuity they'd probably be okay. On that note, I wonder how Botany Bay is doing in the alternate timeline? It would be amusing if the Xindi blew it up after detecting Humans aboard. The Mutara System, which presumably gives its name to the sector, is mentioned by Soval - another Human convoy was destroyed there.

Continuity

The tracking device on the kemocite shipment from Gralik's colony is mentioned, and movie night is indeed back on as a regular event.

Captain Ramirez of Intrepid, whom we met briefly in "The Expanse" - chasing away Duras as Enterprise approached Sol - survived the Xindi genocide and joined the survivors headed to Ceti Alpha. Reed succeeds him as the Intrepid's captain - or would have if the Xindi hadn't picked that time to attack.

Shran made it to General, and provided the Human survivors with shield technology. He really does take his debts seriously, doesn't he? We can take that as confirmation that his agenda is truly a matter of personal ethics and honour, rather than politics (there's clearly no hope of Humans ever being useful to Andoria again).

Among the fleet of Human survivors are J- and K-type freighters, Intrepid-class ships, the unnamed "arrowhead" Starfleet craft and - funnily enough - the model that will later be used as a Rigelian scout ship, though since it will show up in Earth orbit in "Storm Front, part two" it's clearly intended to be Human. (Originally it was Hazari, and since they live in the Delta Quadrant two hundred years from now, we have to just ignore the similarity). Perhaps the Humans purchased a scout ship, or at least its hull, from a Rigelian interest. The Rigelians are capitalists and traders, and probably aren't nearly as wary about selling their technology as some races. Speaking of Rigelians, the Yridian spy claims to be trading in Rigelian flame gems.

There's also a Valakian shuttle (or possibly an Andorian vessel, since the model will be reused as such) lurking among the fleet, though of course we're supposed to read all of these ships as Human.

Next Time: "North Star".

 

[Christopher]

"Twilight" is one of the series' strongest episodes, although the temporal physics are pretty ludicrous.

The problem with choosing Ceti Alpha is that it's supposed to be very far from the Expanse, but we know from "The Expanse" that the region is roughly in the same direction as Vulcan (they were going to drop T'Pol off at Vulcan on their way to the Expanse), and yet the angular separation of 40 Eridani and Alpha Ceti in Earth's sky isn't that great. Sure, the latter is much farther away, but the Expanse is really far away too, so this suggests they'd actually be close together.

Although I gather that recent Stellar Cartography publication put the Expanse in a position that would suggest it's rather far to the galactic south of the part of the 24th-century Federation that abuts Klingon and Romulan space, which would put it a fair distance from Ceti Alpha, at least, and could be considered more or less in the direction of Vulcan.

It's worth noting that the alternate future of "Twilight" is in late 2165 (it's over 12 years ahead of the episode "present," and they've been in the Expanse for about 3 months at that point, making it probably October 2153), which means that Rise of the Federation is getting close to catching up with it; Uncertain Logic is in the first half of 2165. In both versions, Malcolm Reed is the captain of an Intrepid-class ship and has a goatee (the latter being a deliberate nod to this episode).

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"North Star"

I'm sorry, we've wandered into a Western. Isn't there an alien superweapon to look for or something?

I must admit though, that I actually really like this one. Yes, it's gimmicky and pointless and the backstory makes little sense, but it's actually really fun. It has some memorable moments (Malcolm's shoot-the-hostage action is hilarious, Archer's decision to land the shuttlepod right in the centre of town is brilliantly bold); it has a legitimate message and a complex portrayal of the relevant issues without being heavy-handed about it; it's respectful to people of the past without sugar-coating various historical unpleasantries; and most important of all the guest characters are engaging. Bethany, The Sheriff, Deputy Bennings - they're all pretty well-realized and three-dimensional, and I enjoyed watching each of them. I actually think this was a very good episode in spite of the ludicrous premise.

That said, I have to wonder over the backstory. For most of the episode I was thinking how bizarre it is that their society has remained exactly that of the old American west (though I assume it's a Hollywood version of such to some extent - I don't know much about the reality) when that society was the product of being situated on a colonial frontier - there is no frontier here, this is the centre and entirety of their society. Why is it still exactly as it was? Their society has no reason to hold that shape. Obviously the development of a society depends on all sorts of social, political and historical factors that would be absent such an isolated culture, so I can buy the technological stagnation and certainly wouldn't expect them to have advanced as greatly as the United States back on Earth, but it still seemed odd. Then again, the episode's ending acknowledged the stagnancy in contrast to Earth and I didn't feel so disinclined to believe it when I considered it a greater length. There aren't any external pressures or influence of outside forces, so the same issues that made me question why they're still living "on the frontier" in a place that doesn't have one also help explain, perhaps, why nothing's changed. I guess it depends how you choose to look at it.

Still, we have an odd situation whereby a small group of Skagarans (whoever the Skagarans are) abducted a small group of Humans (and horses, for some reason) and transported them to the Delphic Expanse in order to set up a small colony...which looks entirely Human, like a replica of Earth, and not Skagara? Then the Humans rose up and killed most of the Skagarans...and left their energy weapons and technologies, the source of Skagaran power, alone? Totally forgot them? Okay, maybe they distrusted and hated them so much they refused to use them, and maybe they dismantled the original Skagaran dwellings and replaced them, but still.

There's an effort to justify the abduction of the original Humans by saying that they were chosen due to being well adapted to living in these conditions. Nice try, but I'm not buying it. First of all, there are far, far more suitable Human cultures to kidnap if that's the motive. Why not take a tribe or two from the Sahara or the Australian outback? On that note, the native Americans would presumably be a better choice than the colonists, since they've lived in the relevant area for longer. They'd all be better desert-dwelling slaves, I'm sure. And that's assuming you even made it to Earth, and why you'd go there I don't know. There must have been other pre-warp, vulnerable worlds with decent slave stock closer to the Skagarans' chosen planet - what about Toroth, from "Desert Crossing"? They were quite technologically primitive. For that matter, aren't there Vulcanoids scattered across the Beta Quadrant, old Debrune proto-Romulan outposts, Sargonian diaspora, races like the Zami Rigellians, etc? That's a good desert worker stock.

Where is Skagara, and why were the colonists here separated from the homeworld? Clearly they had no affiliation or contact with Skagaran homeworld; it seems to have been one solitary ship which decided to start its own society on this world (which, on that note, is green from orbit so why did they need to be in the desert? Do Skagarans prefer deserts?). None of this makes any sense to me.

As for the novels:

The Buried Age will mention the Skagaran slave raids, revealing that a group of interstellar philanthropists and explorers, a group with which Guinan was traveling, put a stop to the practice, in the process introducing Guinan to Earth, where she'd spend some time.

Enterprise will also take some souvenirs with it upon leaving this world; Trip and Reed will drink Skagaran Whiskey in The Good That Men Do. (The Sheriff drinks it here).

Anyway, this episode makes no sense whatsoever, but I think it's actually a good episode regardless. Maybe this is to fortify me ready for TOS, which will have many "this planet is exactly like some Hollywood version of a certain Earth culture" stories.

I very much hope the Xindi-Reptilians didn't find this world in the next few months, since the Xindi are monitoring Enterprise.

Next Time: "Similitude".