Extinction

[borgboy]

I found it annoying that Archer was so determined to keep the virus in stasis as a way of preserving the extinct species. That virus was a weapon used against innocnet beings, not the last survivor of a species. It's tragic that their species was dying off but changing other species into their own was very wrong. If the only choices offered to them was extinction or turning other people into their species against their will, they should have gone extinct.
Keeping the virus in stasis means there's a chance the virus could be used to transform other people, either intentionally or thru accident. It was too dangerous to keep imo.

 

[JiNX-01]

I agree. I didn't like this episode at all. It added nothing to the S3 arc and Archer's decision to preserve the virus was wreckless, particularly in that region of space where the ship was vulnerable to anomalies as well as any number of other threats that could have damaged even a secure medical container. And even worse than that, we never heard of it again, so this incredible decision meant absolutely nothing in the entire scheme of the show.

Bleah.

 

[borgboy]

I wondered if the virus would turn up. I really was expecting Archer's decision to bit him in the rear at some point.
And you;re exactly right, in the dangerous unpredictable area of the expanse there was no guarantee that even a secure stasis field would have held up. I can't help but think of the old saying about every weapon that is created being used.
Extinction definitely felt like a filler episode that could've taken place outside the expanse arc. It also reminded me of the Voyager episode where Janeway and Paris became lizards. And in TNG LaForge became an alien , and didn't the whole crew revert to primitive life forms. This idea has been done several times before.

 

[commodore64]

I thought this episode had a few redeeming qualities -- I liked the idea of an ancient race that "takes over the hosts" to make them relive their civilization. I also like seeing the characters reduced to their most primal level.

Where the episode went wrong was the silly accents, weird costumes/alien faces and boring aliens that came to destroy the main characters. Also, some of the dialog was disappointing, the peach science silly (Phlox surely has some DNA sample on file) and the conclusion empty.

 

[borgboy]

The idea of an advanced civilization attempting to resurrect itself beyond death is an interesting idea, but I didn't get any feel of greatness in Archer, Hoshi and Reed's transformation. If there had been redeeming qualities seen thru their transformation the story may have been more interesting, but since their transformation made them into grubworm eating savages the story was more simple than it had to be imo.

 

[miriel68]

Extinction is my last favourite episode from the season 3 and I could really do without it. The idea of ancient civilisation trying to ressurect themselves had some potential, but the film didn't make it justice. The most ridiculous thing was their becoming kind of savages: doesn't make sense at all! It would have been far more interesting if they had became very intelligent beings with no remembrance of their former personality, IMO

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Um...the "grubworm eating savages" were the same species that built that vast and wondrous city that our transformed people found in ruins toward the end of the episode, and developed that intricate virus that could reconfigure an individual's DNA to mimic their own. My guess is that they were very advanced and intelligent.

I realize nobody much likes this episode, but I thought it dealt with some compelling issues. The Loque'eque's poignant desire to survive as a race was quite a contrast to Tret's people's ferocious need to destroy them. Forget about compassion, forget about Phlox's offer to work with them to find a cure. Their fear and paranoia had blinded them to a more merciful solution.

I wasn't thinking of Voyager's "Threshold" when I watched "Extinction," but more that TNG episode when Picard mentally lived an entire lifetime of a member of a race that had died out (I forget the title), because they didn't want to be forgotten forever.

 

[JiNX-01]

Um...the "grubworm eating savages" were the same species that built that vast and wondrous city that our transformed people found in ruins toward the end of the episode, and developed that intricate virus that could reconfigure an individual's DNA to mimic their own. My guess is that they were very advanced and intelligent.

I realize nobody much likes this episode, but I thought it dealt with some compelling issues. The Loque'eque's poignant desire to survive as a race was quite a contrast to Tret's people's ferocious need to destroy them. Forget about compassion, forget about Phlox's offer to work with them to find a cure. Their fear and paranoia had blinded them to a more merciful solution.

I wasn't thinking of Voyager's "Threshold" when I watched "Extinction," but more that TNG episode when Picard mentally lived an entire lifetime of a member of a race that had died out (I forget the title), because they didn't want to be forgotten forever.

TNG's "The Inner Light."

I agree with the critics that the behavior of Archer, et.al. belies the greatness of the species (the city, the skills to develop such a virus). It's as if we had created a virus to transform other species into homo erectus and ended up with Neanderthal.

 

[miriel68]

I agree with the critics that the behavior of Archer, et.al. belies the greatness of the species (the city, the skills to develop such a virus). It's as if we had created a virus to transform other species into homo erectus and ended up with Neanderthal.

That wouldn't be so bad, I suppose: I do think Neanderthal was a bit better than homo erectus
I agree with HopefulRomantic that the episode tried to deal with some important issues: unfortunately it did it clumsily .

 

[commodore64]

I realize nobody much likes this episode, but I thought it dealt with some compelling issues.

I think so, too.

I don't think having the characters (*all the characters*) revert back to primal instincts was what's wrong with the show though. I think that many of the best Trek episodes have shown that, including All Our Yesterdays and the TNG show where Worf bit Troi on the cheek.

 

[Pensive]

I wanted to like this ep despite Archer/Reed/Hoshi's weird monkey-states... but even watching it makes me embarassed! I hope they got bonuses that week because that's one aspect of sci-fi acting I'd fail miserably at: making an ass of myself in weird makeup.

I couldn't even pay attention to the story of preservation or tolerance or whatever grand thing...


There you go JiNX, there's one bad thing I've said lol

 

[JiNX-01]

I wanted to like this ep despite Archer/Reed/Hoshi's weird monkey-states... but even watching it makes me embarassed! I hope they got bonuses that week because that's one aspect of sci-fi acting I'd fail miserably at: making an ass of myself in weird makeup.

I couldn't even pay attention to the story of preservation or tolerance or whatever grand thing...


There you go JiNX, there's one bad thing I've said lol

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Thanks for the title, JiNX.

Eh, sue me. Y'all know me by now--I find something to like about every episode. I thought the makeup was cool, and the acting too. And Trip in charge, and the peaches scene, and that way-cool CGI cityscape, and the direction and cinematography, and Trip charging through the corridors in search of DNA, and T'Pol in that white catsuit... I loved the scene where they discovered the ruins--I thought it was beautifully played. And the moral issues were intriguing, IMHO.

 

[bluedana]

And Trip in charge, and the peaches scene, and that way-cool CGI cityscape, and the direction and cinematography, and Trip charging through the corridors in search of DNA, and T'Pol in that white catsuit... I loved the scene where they discovered the ruins--I thought it was beautifully played. And the moral issues were intriguing, IMHO.

All good. I thought Bakula delivered very well in the scene where he discovers the ruins - the confusion and disappointment is very clear. I also like T'Pol's gentle side; it's like she's dealing with a child and getting it to trust her. I thought the Trip/alien interaction was also quite good - another one of those "they're both right" moments in the series. Unfortunately, I have to mute Hoshi's Carol-Kane-in-the-Princess-Bride shrieking. All in all, it's not one that I pop in the DVD player and watch right through.

I do love the fact that it's carried on into the next ep, Rajiin, in two cool ways: Archer's visit to Phlox with the smelly itch balm (and getting his hand slapped for scratching - very cute), and the fact that Rajiin scans three people who had been genetically altered from human - I like to think that the bio information was tainted and the biological weapon in Carpenter Street would not have worked as planned. (See? It fits into the arc if you're patient . . .)

 

[Pensive]

on HoT you said I always had good things to say... I know you were referring to the Con, but I wanted to crack a joke (damn the internet for not allowing vocal tenses!)

And Trip in charge, and the peaches scene,

See that was my favorite two parts of this ep

 

[JiNX-01]

on HoT you said I always had good things to say... I know you were referring to the Con, but I wanted to crack a joke (damn the internet for not allowing vocal tenses!)

Oh, I thought you were responding to something I said here.

And Trip in charge, and the peaches scene,

See that was my favorite two parts of this ep

Those are two things I liked about it, too.

 

[Pensive]

so who's craving a peach now?

 

[Jack Bauer]

I always thought that they mainly had Archer save the virus because they were thinking about maybe using it as a weapon against the Xindi later in the season.

 

[Pensive]

Seems like that would have been a last-resort, even for Airlock Archer. I appreciate his sentimentality with keeping a species alive (even in a test tube), but it was reckless to keep that stuff on the ship. Maybe he sent it packing to Cold Station 12, but still.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Archer accidently released the virus during the events of "Carpenter Street". But no one noticed the effects because it was Detroit.