Even I have standards ("A Night in Sickbay")...

[JiNX-01]

I think the main problem regards our starting point at the episode: if we take it totally seriously, it is indeed irritating. But, as some people pointed here, it is an attempt to a comedy: so, naturally, also the starting point (Archer taking his dog to the visit on the planet) is not really serious and we aren't supposed to take is as such (the rather ridiculous scene in decon conferms it). It would be far worse if Archer had made himself guilty of doing something REALLY bad & potentially dangerous for his crew and if the ship had been put in real danger because of his action. The premise is "light" because the episode is intended as such.

I realize it was supposed to be funny. The problem is it didn't work.

When I watch this episode (which is rare), I compare it with "The Trouble With Tribbles." Kirk is also dealing with a difficult situation -- harassed by a demanding, officious bureaucrat, balancing the rights of the Klingons to be on Station K7, tribbles everywhere and a delicate diplomatic problem in preserving the Federation's interests in Sherman's Planet. His chief engineer defends the honor of the Enterprise, while letting Klingons get away with flaming his captain, Dr. McCoy is just fascinated by tribbles' ability to reproduce and eat everything in sight and then the quadrotriticali ends up poisoned.
Kirk is running around this episode like a chilcken with its head cut off, but no matter what happens, the show never loses the light-hearted tone of the story.

ANIS needed the same attention to keeping it light. There were some funny, silly moments in this episode that get lost because Archer's angrrrrrr!!!! gets in the way and becomes the only thing we remember about it. And it's too bad. Because with a lighter touch in the writing and delivery, this could have been a romp.

P.S. Given I have been criticised for the language I use, I would like to apologize for my not so perfect English: I hope this board is open to foreigners (English is my third language)

Well, that's two more languages than I know.

 

[Gepard]

Kirk is running around this episode like a chilcken with its head cut off, but no matter what happens, the show never loses the light-hearted tone of the story.

Even more importantly, at no point does it lose its credibility. The same cannot be said of ANIS. When the ability to buy into the absurd situations presented is removed, all humor departs with it.

 

[pookha]

I think the main problem regards our starting point at the episode: if we take it totally seriously, it is indeed irritating. But, as some people pointed here, it is an attempt to a comedy: so, naturally, also the starting point (Archer taking his dog to the visit on the planet) is not really serious and we aren't supposed to take is as such (the rather ridiculous scene in decon conferms it). It would be far worse if Archer had made himself guilty of doing something REALLY bad & potentially dangerous for his crew and if the ship had been put in real danger because of his action. The premise is "light" because the episode is intended as such.

I realize it was supposed to be funny. The problem is it didn't work.

When I watch this episode (which is rare), I compare it with "The Trouble With Tribbles." Kirk is also dealing with a difficult situation -- harassed by a demanding, officious bureaucrat, balancing the rights of the Klingons to be on Station K7, tribbles everywhere and a delicate diplomatic problem in preserving the Federation's interests in Sherman's Planet. His chief engineer defends the honor of the Enterprise, while letting Klingons get away with flaming his captain, Dr. McCoy is just fascinated by tribbles' ability to reproduce and eat everything in sight and then the quadrotriticali ends up poisoned.
Kirk is running around this episode like a chilcken with its head cut off, but no matter what happens, the show never loses the light-hearted tone of the story.

ANIS needed the same attention to keeping it light. There were some funny, silly moments in this episode that get lost because Archer's angrrrrrr!!!! gets in the way and becomes the only thing we remember about it. And it's too bad. Because with a lighter touch in the writing and delivery, this could have been a romp.

P.S. Given I have been criticised for the language I use, I would like to apologize for my not so perfect English: I hope this board is open to foreigners (English is my third language)

Well, that's two more languages than I know.

i like this.
kirk is also upset in tribbles.
he pretty much has a headache through the entire episode and at times it seems the tribbles or the universe as whole are personally mocking him.

but at all times it feels like a comedy.

the same feeling just dosnt exist with anis possibly because the situation with porthos is so personally chilling for archer.

beyond the questions of ability of being a diplomat something archer would have to be expected to do since enterprise is a first contact ship..
i never did understand why archer just allowed porthos to run lose on an habited civilzed world.

no responsible dog owner would do such thing unless it was a special area they had been told could be used in that manner.
and i dont think a sacred tree would be in an area like that.

really it seems at times as if anis cant make its mind to be more of a comedy or an examination of the dark night of archers soul after being severly sleep deprived and going through a period of time where his ship had been partially blown up and almost lost a crew member.

it is just a mess and it turned some of the people i know against archer just as they had finally started to like the character.

thankfully later there is catwalk to help salvage the character.

 

[CaptainHawk1]

I think the main problem regards our starting point at the episode: if we take it totally seriously, it is indeed irritating. But, as some people pointed here, it is an attempt to a comedy: so, naturally, also the starting point (Archer taking his dog to the visit on the planet) is not really serious and we aren't supposed to take is as such (the rather ridiculous scene in decon conferms it). It would be far worse if Archer had made himself guilty of doing something REALLY bad & potentially dangerous for his crew and if the ship had been put in real danger because of his action. The premise is "light" because the episode is intended as such.

I completely reject this idea that this episode was supposed to be a comedy. I think that calling it a comedy is a not-so-subtle attempt by some to justify a really bad dramatic episode. It was a character based episode, no doubt but it was not a comedy. Just because an episode focuses on characters instead of some larger than life conflict doesn't make it a comedy.

P.S. Given I have been criticised for the language I use, I would like to apologize for my not so perfect English: I hope this board is open to foreigners (English is my third language)

For the record, your English is perfect. What I questioned was your use of vocabulary ("big words" that aren't normally used in casual conversation) and the tone and content of your posts (which as I said, suggested to me that you were an adolescent).

That being said, don't be self-conscious about your language skills. They are excellent and far better than most Americans.

-Shawn

 

[miriel68]

I completely reject this idea that this episode was supposed to be a comedy. I think that calling it a comedy is a not-so-subtle attempt by some to justify a really bad dramatic episode. It was a character based episode, no doubt but it was not a comedy. Just because an episode focuses on characters instead of some larger than life conflict doesn't make it a comedy.

Don't forget the dog . You cannot have a dramatic episode (bad or good, doesn't matter) about a dog, unless, of course, it's Lassie. It has nothing to do with the fact it's based on characters: (who would call Shuttlepod one a comedy?) the characters here are all showed in somewhat exaggerated manner, because they are "used" and not really "explored". It didn't work very well because, as pookha rightly pointed, they writers seemed unable to decide what kind of comedy they wanted to show . Yet ANIS still seems better to me than some abysmal comedy episodes like TNG Manhunt. It may be clumsy, but the general message it delivers is quite convincing.

I'm not sure suggesting your interlocutor is adolescent is the most valid agrument in a discussion, but on the other hand, it nice to find myself rejuvenated, even if only virtually, lol.

 

[cooleddie74]

Even as a comedy episode and taken almost entirely on that basis it is still a disappointing, underperforming script that lets me down. It could have been much funnier but the script never took the risks to be that way.

 

[pookha]

Don't forget the dog . You cannot have a dramatic episode (bad or good, doesn't matter) about a dog, unless, of course, it's Lassie. .

old yeller, i guess you never have seen it.
and there have been others.

if the life or death of the dog had not been in question more people might have been accepting of it as a comedy but once you bring in either the potential death of a child or even a pet things change.

even if the dog was just ill things might have been seen differently.
but the spectre of the dog dying loomed acrosss a large part of the episode.

 

[miriel68]

if the life or death of the dog had not been in question more people might have been accepting of it as a comedy but once you bring in either the potential death of a child or even a pet things change.

even if the dog was just ill things might have been seen differently.
but the spectre of the dog dying loomed acrosss a large part of the episode.

Even if I wouldn't attribute the death of a pet and that of a child the same gravity, I do agree that it can be a very emotional issue: just like Lassie (always wept watching it) and movies of that kind. And in the real life it is always traumatic event to lost a dog you loved: our dog passed away just few weeks ago and I see my parents are still mourning him.
However, we know well enough Porthos won't die: he is not a red shirt, he is "regular" of the show and it is obiovious that Phlox will eventually find a cure. On the other hand, Archer getting irrational about a dog is understandable and sympathetic just enough to grant him forgiveness for his errors, once he mends them. If the reason of his behaviour were more trivial, he would be shown as an intolerable character indeed.

 

[angie]

Well said Miriel! We also know Archer was somewhat a loner---he participated when expected,had girlfriends but he was overlooked originally for the captain position because of the kind of man he was. I imagine his dog is as important to him as any human in his life on a personal level.He has no family but Porthos.I liked ANIS though because of Archer being human.No other humans had met with these people and he made mistakes.We saw him say things most humans would say.Had he been the perfect diplomat he would have been a cardboard cutout captain and of no interest to me.

 

[Captain X]

I like how Archer's defenders always reduce the choices of how Archer should have been presented to either he had to be perfect or he had to be the complete frak-up we saw. That argument makes no sense. Neither does a senior officer neglecting his duties and being hell-bent on creating an unnecessary interstellar incident because he didn't have the common sense to leave his dog on the ship when he went down to a planet full of easily offended aliens to ask them for parts his ship needed.

 

[commodore64]

I guess only Trip's faults are "charming" (like in Cogentior or Two Days Two Nights).

I quite liked that Archer had faults and that they were glaring. I also liked by the end of the episode, he apologized for his faults and made strides not to make those same mistakes again. The biggest fault of all was his hubris, and pretty much every hero has it in spades. Archer is humbled by his realization he is only a man (with desires, a poor temprament when he's lacked sleep, etc.) and more humbled by the "punishment" he's given. Having him learn on the job was fun to watch. I enjoyed seeing: Archer's Really Bad Day Where He Screws Up Royally and Has to Pay for It. It would've been fun to see it happen to others.

The dog .... I don't hate Porthos, but don't like the plot device to show Archer is wrong.

 

[Captain X]

I guess only Trip's faults are "charming" (like in Cogentior or Two Days Two Nights).

Another tactic I see used a lot is to try to shift the conversation over to another character.

I quite liked that Archer had faults and that they were glaring.

So you like that a completely inept loser was representing the best Earth had to offer? I disagree, but different strokes and all that.

I also liked by the end of the episode, he apologized for his faults

Was that the part where he jumped through the hoops and still acted like an arrogant entitled teenager, or the part where he made several juvenile Freudian slips of a sexual nature to his female first officer?

and made strides not to make those same mistakes again.

Except he kept making the same types of mistakes over and over and over again.

The biggest fault of all was his hubris, and pretty much every hero has it in spades.

Not really. Not to the extent of this character, who really hasn't done anything to warrant it. I would agree that Archer had excessive pride though.

Archer is humbled by his realization he is only a man (with desires, a poor temprament when he's lacked sleep, etc.)

A wet dream brought on by lack of sleep and a weird doctor didn't have anything to do with any realization in him. There was nothing in that episode or any that followed that would suggest he became any less arrogant because of a weird dream and Freudian slips.

and more humbled by the "punishment" he's given.

There's also nothing to suggest he was humbled by anything. He finally came to the realization that he needed those parts and did what he had to do to get them, but he didn't lose any of his arrogance or delusions of entitlement.

Having him learn on the job was fun to watch. I enjoyed seeing: Archer's Really Bad Day Where He Screws Up Royally and Has to Pay for It. It would've been fun to see it happen to others.

He doesn't learn though, that's the problem with Archer - he never learned anything, and off the top of my head I can't even think of an instance where he ever admitted to being wrong about anything. He also never really had to pay for anything - usually his crew did that for him. Ironically, ANiS is probably the worst Archer has to suffer for anything up until the third season when the Xindi capture him and beat him up.

 

[TEH BABA]

Why wasn't a command master chief petty officer on such a critical mission?

 

[Captain X]

He was too busy fighting the Covenent.

 

[cooleddie74]

He was too busy fighting the Covenent.

THAT'S something Archer and the MACOs needed against the Xindi...Warthogs and rocket launchers!

 

[Captain X]

They're a "fire and forget" weapon, meaning you just fire, and forget that it took no skill whatsoever to get that kill.

 

[angie]

Commie you ARE a Porthos hater! I do think it is foolish to continue to compare the crew of Enterprise with modern military deployments. That said I will say my brother who was a Navy pilot for 8 years(first Gulf War) had only minimal ground training.Archer as we saw was being trained primarily as a test pilot with some rare mentions of survival training and no mention of diplomatic training. Why people assume he should be everything astounds me.

 

[Skywalker]

Commie you ARE a Porthos hater! I do think it is foolish to continue to compare the crew of Enterprise with modern military deployments. That said I will say my brother who was a Navy pilot for 8 years(first Gulf War) had only minimal ground training.Archer as we saw was being trained primarily as a test pilot with some rare mentions of survival training and no mention of diplomatic training. Why people assume he should be everything astounds me.

It's established in dialogue that he's a trained diplomat!

 

[number6]

...But nobody said he was a skilled diplomat.

 

[pookha]

Commie you ARE a Porthos hater! I do think it is foolish to continue to compare the crew of Enterprise with modern military deployments. That said I will say my brother who was a Navy pilot for 8 years(first Gulf War) had only minimal ground training.Archer as we saw was being trained primarily as a test pilot with some rare mentions of survival training and no mention of diplomatic training. Why people assume he should be everything astounds me.

because he was a captain of an exploration mission that was expected to make contact with other species.