Grade "Breach"

[guyute03]

Eh... C+.
It wasn't a terribly exciting episode, and I could see what was going to happen w/ Phlox's story in the first five minutes. This could have been so much more. They could have took a chance and let that Antaran (SP?)die, but no such luck. The "+" is for a few redeeming qualities:
A. The Tribble and Hoshi's reaction
B. The cave fx (the long cgi shots)
C. Phlox freakin out
D. Travis, Trip, and Reed having some screen time together

I'm assuming the ratings will suck, and honestly, it doesn't suprise me at this point. I'm just hoping this "new direction" is gonna help, cause it ain't lookin good right now. I was looking forward to Cogenitor, but after that promo, jesus... what the hell was that about?

-guyute

 

[Campe]

B+
I really liked the scenes between Phlox and the other guy, and despite what some reviewers said, the rock climbing scenes were pretty well done. Gets dropped down to a B because of predictability. I was wondering if it was going to go the way of Worf and "The Enemy" and allowing Phlox's patient to die, but I figured too many fans might see that as a ripoff, so the ending works. The plus is definitely for the writers, actors and everyone involved giving it the old college try. Nice to see everyone having something to do this week too. The producers are definitely trying to go back to the feel of messages in their episodes. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, these messages aren't as subtle as they were in TOS, and hit you like a ton of bricks instead of slowly seeping into your subconcious. Blame that on today's society being willing to accept more in real life. But, anyway, it's nice to know they're trying. Like I said, B+. Very nice effort.

 

[Guest]

I give it a B+.

The scene at the beggining with Hoshi and the Tribble was funny.Her reaction when Phlox feeds the Tribble to his lizard was great.

The cave scenes were good also.

 

[Enterprise8875]

I give it an A. We learned so much in this episode and I thought it was exciting and entertaining. We learned more about the Denobulans, Tribble, and specifically Phlox. I thought it was funny and just overall one of the best episodes of the season.

 

[Bucky]

C

eh...

 

[Lanzman]

B+ on the strength of excellent use of Phlox, Hoshi and the tribble, and decent use of Travis.

Points taken away for another cave, sending Trip and Malcolm into the cave (WHY would the Chief Engineer be sent on such a mission?!?), and the pat, predictable endings to both storylines.

Dammit, Enterprise could be so much better than this with just a few changes . . . and good writers.

 

[Kira's Mom]

A-. It's really a B because it's so predictible (Look out! Cave in!!! D'oh! Travis is hurt!) and preachy (Prejudice is bad! BAAAAD!). However, it had many good things: Good stuff for Phlox, Travis actually says and does something for a change (wow, that's two episodes in a row), Trip's great "I'll shoot you in the ass" attitude with the Denobulan scientists. And, of course, the Tribble teaser was an A+ in itself. Still laughing about that... I missed two of the last three episodes and only saw half of Horizon. Looks like I've been missing something after all...

 

[Psion]

I gave it a B. I rolled my eyes at first with the tribble, but when we saw the use he had for it, I roared my head off (literally...it's left a nasty stain on the couch) and missed the dialog that followed. I presume it was otherwise another teaseless teaser?

The Denobulan/Antarran conflict was engaging. Travis got something to do (he even saved my favorite character!), and the Cave got a decent use in this episode. (Note to self: in future Star Trek RPGs, emphasize training in spelunking as part of a required program in astronautics.)

 

[TonyNder]

Two "A" plots jammed together, neither of which was realized. They could have dropped the cave adventure completely and made much more of Phlox's story, especially the pat conclusion it achieved.

Exactly, what is this pre-occupation with modern Star Trek to always have two running plots. When I think of the greatest Star Trek episodes (The City on the Edge of Forever just to name one) I can find but one plot. This episode had a lot of good racism context, much like one of my favorite episodes Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (yet another one plot episode). The cave scenes took away screen time from the real message.
My suggestion to Enterprise producers/writers is to drop all their formulas, if you have a strong story and/or a compelling script with only one plot, go with it. Don't ruin a good thing just to "conform" to your own formula.

Just my "fan-eyed" view of things.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

"C".

The two moments I really enjoyed were the Denobulan geologists being able to skitter up the cliff walls, and Archer facing off with the local mucky-muck.

Oh, Phlox losing his temper was nice, too.

 

[Mooch]

Personally, I've been missing the A plot/B plot that TNG always had. I was pleased to see two stories in Enterprise tonight.

I liked the acting in this one, and the cave-in was excusable because it was weapons-fire instead of just random seismic activity.

Overall, an A. Much more entertaining than Horizon.

 

[KennyB]

B+ --- I really enjoyed it--all the Phlox background stuff was great. Went into it without much expectation due to the boring promo from last week but I was pleasantly suprised.

 

[Jaysisko]

B+

The A and B plots came together very well. Billingsly was great and the dialogue between him and the Antaran was excellent as well. A lot of haters have been asking to see more lessons in morality and ethics in Enterprise...here you go.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Billingsley was great, the caves plot provided a couple of new excuses for old Trek cliches, and I howled at the Tribble scene. I'm going A- on this one. Archer growing balls and the lack of a horribly rushed ending pushed my rating up from B+.

 

[Captain Spot]

C-

Its heart was in the right place, but the execution fell exceedingly flat for me. It did several things right... Phlox is always great, but the whole thing just felt too predictable.

 

[Terra Pryme]

I give it an A. Rare and good character and background development for Phlox as well as getting some use out of Travis. Would have been better though if he didn't get hurt. Also some good spider-like qualities from the Denobulan scientists when they climbed the cave walls. Add the great homage to TOS with the Tribble.

 

[Guest]

A - better than average!

 

[Michael Chris]

A+!

 

[Guest]

B+
Solid acting, exciting scenes, good Phlox character development.

 

[SuperSaint]

A

Some people won't give this series a chance no matter what they see. Why don't you go somewhere else if you hate it this much?

I did have one puzzling question, though. When Malcolm tripped and fell off the edge, and threatened to drag everyone over the edge of the chasm, Mayweather was holding the rope that kept them from falling. When he finally can't hold on anymore, Trip manages to hang his piton in a crevice of the rock face to keep from falling to the bottom. So, my question is, how did Trip and Malcolm get back up to Mayweather?