In defence of...

[Reliant Robin]

Anyone else want to defend a much maligned favourite episode? I'm going to start with Terra Nova:

- The first five minutes are really good. Well, the first five minutes after the opening credits, anyway.

- Bakula does some pretty fierce acting. In fact, he's everything on the scale from brilliantly subtle to entirely made out of cheese. This man has range.

- They basically get their bottoms kicked by cave people, which is really apt at this point in the series, and also never not funny.

- Mayweather has lines! No actual role in the plot or anything, but, lines. Even if one of his lines ("Something about people who choose to live off-world") doesn't sound so much like a line as something the writers put there to remind themselves to think of a proper line later.

- Not all of us were even aware this was a rehash, and anyway, I bet the original didn't contain either Archer emoting or Malcolm with a dirty face.

- Malcolm has a dirty face.

- Phlox cures cancer.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I thought it was incredibly touching to see the old woman looking at the photo of herself as a child. I love this episode and always enjoy rewatching it. I was quite taken aback to see it lumped in as one of the worst. It's an interesting mystery, full of pathos and ethical questions.

 

[Shatnertage]

I didn't like this one at all. It's been a while since I've seen it so I don't remember the particular things that I didn't like, but I remember thinking that it was shale.

 

[BruntFCA]

I am not sure what the consensus is but I loved North Star. Being a HUGE fan of western's I knew I would get some enjoyment out of it regardless of the quality but I was really surprised by how much I loved it. It is now in my top 10 Trek episodes ever.

 

[Shatnertage]

Well, if we're talking in general about unpopular episodes that we like, I'm a big fan of "Doctor's Orders."

 

[Reliant Robin]

I thought it was incredibly touching to see the old woman looking at the photo of herself as a child. I love this episode and always enjoy rewatching it. I was quite taken aback to see it lumped in as one of the worst. It's an interesting mystery, full of pathos and ethical questions.

I agree, I loved her performance, and think she deserves extra kudos for pulling it off despite the lines she had.

North Star contains one of my absolute favourite moments, where the cowboy has a gun to T'Pol's head and tells Reed "Don't move or I'll shoot!", so Reed shoots T'Pol. And then shrugs. Brilliant

I also enjoyed Doctor's Orders - I think both Billingsley and Blalock are excellent in that episode (though Billingsley is always excellent IMHO)

 

[Rom's Sehlat]

For some reason this episode reminded me of "The Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women": a human colony long-lost rediscovers their humanity? But this definitely stretched the weirdness out, a lot.

 

[bluedana]

Okay, don't laugh, but: Rogue Planet.

Apart from the whole how does this planet exist without a light source or gravitational pull? issue, I love the feel of it.

It's a show, don't tell character study of Archer. We learn that his whole life is all about reaching for something he can't quite have -- which is the very definition of an explorer. I love the idea that the wraith pulled out a memory that he didn't even recognize at first, like an itch in the middle of your back, and that memory was both frustrating and comforting. I thought it was cool that T'Pol and Trip were caught between trusting their CO and thinking he might very well be crazy. And I thought the resolution to the problem, giving the wraiths the tools to protect themselves, was genius.

Looking back on the episode having watched the whole series, those themes continue: Archer is always reaching for what's beyond the horizon (see his speech in Terra Prime). T'Pol and Trip learn to trust Archer (and each other) even when he can't explain precisely why -- or, sometimes, to over-rule his crazy (see Hatchery). And the crew generally tries to help the oppressed underdog (take your pick of episodes).

I get that I am probably the only person in the world who likes this episode, but there it is.

 

[Winterwind]

North Star contains one of my absolute favourite moments, where the cowboy has a gun to T'Pol's head and tells Reed "Don't move or I'll shoot!", so Reed shoots T'Pol. And then shrugs. Brilliant

That's probably one of my favourite comedy moments in all of Trek, not just ENT.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I am not sure what the consensus is but I loved North Star. Being a HUGE fan of western's I knew I would get some enjoyment out of it regardless of the quality but I was really surprised by how much I loved it. It is now in my top 10 Trek episodes ever.

I loath westerns. North Star was WONDERFUL. Very atmospheric and attractive, great story too.

 

[bluedana]

North Star also has the BEST commentary on the DVD. It makes watching the ep even better.

 

[Holiday Romantic]

I get that I am probably the only person in the world who likes this episode, but there it is.

Me too! Doesn't hurt that it has Eric Pierpoint, of the late, great Alien Nation, who later played the enigmatic Harris of Section 31.

And "North Star" is one of my absolute faves. Everyone looks so good in their western duds, the location filming (Universal Studios' Western streets) was marvelous, and the direction was first-rate. And bluedana's right--Mike DeMerrit's commentary is a really entertaining look behind the scenes of the making of a TV show.

I liked "Doctor's Orders" too -- probably because I fell for the misdirection and didn't guess the twist at the end. The sequence where Phlox is trying to start the warp drive or whatever, and T'Pol becomes this mute, helpless little thing--hilarious.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I'll throw my hat in the ring with.... Precious Cargo.

- It's a fun little adventure.

- I didn't find Padma Lakshmi's acting terrible, as some others appear to have. Of course, that might be because, as a superficial male, I'm so distracted by her beauty.

- Judicial administrator T'Pol = .

- When they find Trip and the princess in their skivvies, the look on Reed's face is priceless.

- As someone on this board once said, "it was a genuine effort to break Trek free of the greyfaced, humorless Trekkie Taliban who demanded every episode of Star Trek be embarrassing pomposity and pretentious moralizing inevitably resolved neatly by an inverse tachyon pulse deus ex machina."

All in all, I'll agree that what the episode ultimately amounts to is filler and a waste of time. Especially when the show could have doing other stories. But in the end, it was an enjoyable waste of time.

 

[Reliant Robin]

Ok. I'm going in. A Night in Sickbay.

No, no, stay with me.

Full disclosure, I love Archer, flaws and all, and yes he's a crushing crushing idiot here, but that is kind of the point of the episode. This is far less infuriating to me than the episodes where he's being a crushing idiot and no one, including the writers, seems to have noticed. I love the acknowledgement that Archer Brand Diplomacy leaves a bit to be desired sometimes, and that Archer learns a lesson in being humble and listening to T'Pol, both of which are vital skills.

I am also so on side with Archer as a dog owner here, because I would totally take my dog on a diplomatic mission. Admittedly, that's one of several reasons why I'm not a diplomat, but still.

I also almost always love what Billingsley does with Phlox, and he doesn't disappoint here - he manages to give Phlox compassion and humanity while keeping him brilliantly alien.

I still haven't figured out what kind of neurosurgery requires you to first drown your patient, however. And yeah, at the end of it all Porthos remains unchallenged as the crew's best diplomat, but I think it's far more watchable than it's given credit for.

 

[Holiday Romantic]

- Judicial administrator T'Pol = .

Great scene! And there was some of that Tracy/Hepburn style bickering going on between Trip and the princess that was fun.

Ok. I'm going in. A Night in Sickbay.

No, no, stay with me.

Good for you. I liked it too.

I love Archer, flaws and all, and yes he's a crushing crushing idiot here, but that is kind of the point of the episode.

Exactly! And I'm a dog owner too, so I was totally with him worrying over Porthos. And dammit, the aliens could have bothered to study the data Phlox sent them and told Archer not to bring the dog, but noooooo.

And there's this.

 

[JiNX-01]

I also enjoyed Doctor's Orders - I think both Billingsley and Blalock are excellent in that episode (though Billingsley is always excellent IMHO)

Yeah, I really enjoyed the interaction between Seven of Nine and The Doctor too.

 

[Reliant Robin]

Honestly, I don't know why I even bothered to write my defence, I could have just posted that picture, because it sums it all up. Poor drowned Porthos.

Yeah, I really enjoyed the interaction between Seven of Nine and The Doctor too.

If Seven of Nine can do comedy shrugging that well, I might have to start watching Voyager