Azati Prime, Judgment, First Flight, and Twilight. Those are the episodes that immediately come to mind when it involves episodes where Archer doesn't get the crap beat out of him.
Best Archer Episode?
- Thread starter Odo
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A solid installment, Minefield is one that slips under the radar, and despite it essentially being a carbon copy of Shuttlepod One, it reaffirms Archer's leadership style and shows his steadfast loyalty to his crew. Unfortunately, this episode is followed by a string of mediocre and sub-par episodes that hampers the overall quality of season two.
Two episodes that jump to mind are Strategem, where Archer get to pull off one of his con artist tricks on someone for an entire episode, making them think they're in Shuttlepod Two: The Wrath of Degra, and United, where we see how his personality makes him the ideal person to be the common ground between the Andorians and Tellarites. Plus he has a knife fight to the death and gets the crap beat out of him, so it's not just one of the best Archer stories, it's also one of the most Archer stories.
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It was the culmination of everything that Archer went through in The Expanse and he finally tackled his PTSD head on. This was also the episode he started to consider Soval an Ally.
It was the culmination of everything that Archer went through in The Expanse and he finally tackled his PTSD head on. This was also the episode he started to consider Soval an Ally.
I actually liked him a lot in Regeneration; - specifically the scene where he realizes he has to, and makes the choice to space (and kill) the newly Borgified aliens they were attempting to save; to save his own ship.
It might reveal his character, but I certainly don't think he comes off well in that one...
As a devoted dog and cat lover, I completely understand being strung out and sleep-deprived over a critically ill pet, where annoyances that are usually easy to handle (Kreetassans or whatever) become ridiculously difficult to deal with, and any walls of propriety crumble under the strain.
The preview ads for ANIS presented it as a goofy comedy. I watched it as a dog owner, and it worked fine for me, to see Archer trapped in a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, not entirely of his own making (the Kreetassans promised Porthos would be safe from illness on the planet, remember?), trying to deal with a crazy range of captain crises and cringey faux pas when all he really wanted to focus on was Porthos.
Sure, it was embarrassing. We don't expect to see our Captain (fill in your favorite captain) so fallible, and it's ugly at times, because we normally don't get such a stark reminder that he's human. It was a brave choice for a storyline, and it backfired for mostly everybody, but I'll bet Bakula loved it as an actor.
Remember Michael Keaton's Batman, the first one? Those moments where he couldn't get up the nerve to tell Vicki he was Batman, or he was all achy after a fight. He was so human. I loved that.
The preview ads for ANIS presented it as a goofy comedy. I watched it as a dog owner, and it worked fine for me, to see Archer trapped in a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, not entirely of his own making (the Kreetassans promised Porthos would be safe from illness on the planet, remember?), trying to deal with a crazy range of captain crises and cringey faux pas when all he really wanted to focus on was Porthos.
Sure, it was embarrassing. We don't expect to see our Captain (fill in your favorite captain) so fallible, and it's ugly at times, because we normally don't get such a stark reminder that he's human. It was a brave choice for a storyline, and it backfired for mostly everybody, but I'll bet Bakula loved it as an actor.
Remember Michael Keaton's Batman, the first one? Those moments where he couldn't get up the nerve to tell Vicki he was Batman, or he was all achy after a fight. He was so human. I loved that.
A good character has layers,
The episode alone is a wonderful and intriguing glimpse into what the first season of Enterprise was envisioned for under Rick Berman and Brannon Braga’s original pitch. Whilst the first season can be hit or miss, capturing the wonder and novelty of space exploration, ultimately I can't help but wonder how the first season would have panned out if the executives at UPN hadn't rejected the concept.
Yeah, Enterprise was at its best when it focused the "new to deep space" idea, and I always wished they would have done more to explore Archer's process of maturing from wide-eyed childlike optimist ready to explore the wonders of the galaxy to realizing that the galaxy is also full of dangers. One of my favorite examples of this is Season 1's "Silent Enemy": "Hi, new friends, we come in peace! O MY GOSH WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING AT US?!" Archer is great at responding to this by resisting the temptation to run scared back to Earth, and instead inspiring his crew to rise to the new challenge before them.
It's kind of fascinating just how good Archer was at uniting people and getting them to work together. I think it's his superpower. But yes, he does seem to get beaten up a lot.
I love ANIS. It's just so funny. Which may not have been what they were aiming for, but still.
^^ Good character interaction in each of those two. Malcolm's awkwardness with the Captain at first, but all that goes out the window when the crisis hits. And I love the episodes where Archer fights tooth and nail to keep T'Pol on the ship. The growing mutual loyalty between them was well earned and made their partnership really strong.
Now I understand everything! Bakula took Kirk from "Shore Leave" (what a great fight that was) and made it a regular thing on purpose. I think Archer got beat up more than all the other Trek captains put together.
Archer 2x09: “Placebo Effect”
Oh, wait, did you mean something else?
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