Should “The Aenar” have been a standalone episode?

[FederationHistorian]

I’ve been having this thought floating around in my head over the last few days, about this episode’s placement in S4.

I’ve been thinking that the Romulan drone arc should have really been a two parter, and the Aenar episode should have been saved for later in the season. I think its addition to the Romulan arc nipped the story in the bud way too quickly. There was a genuinely good cliffhanger when it was revealed who the drone pilot was. And delaying a resolution to the Romulan drones would have further sold the idea of the Romulans becoming a growing, reoccurring threat to United Earth and its allies.

Trip transferring at the end of that episode could have been either a) been done the previous episode “United”, although it would have felt a little random and out of place with how Trip was pranking Reed b) been done with a different character (i.e. Mayweather or Sato, or both) in the previous episode with the aim of advancing their career if a character had to transfer to Columbia during that arc, or c) saved for later in the season and would have been very believable after the events of the Terra Prime arc, and served as a lead in to the finale.

What do you think?

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

I like the idea of moving "The Aenar" later. Actually, I would have loved to see "The Aenar" be a 2-episode arc of its own. The setup was wonderful, and the budding romance between Shran and Jhamel so touching. I would have liked to see what happened after that episode. Sure, put it in the middle of some conflict, like Shran being demoted for losing his ship, and Archer speaking in support of him. Maybe this could have been the setup for Shran being "punished" by being sentenced to serve on Enterprise in some sort of crew exchange in S5. And there's Jhamel, a stranger in Shran's world, needing to depend on him at this point, but supporting him, maybe being the reason Shran wasn't kicked completely out of the Imperial Guard. Learn more about the four Andorian genders. Fun chess pieces to play with.

 

[Oddish]

Mayweather should have transferred to Columbia regardless. He wasn't really doing much where he was, Columbia could have used his experience, and he was way due for promotion to lieutenant, even if we assume Starfleet at the time had no "hollow pip" ranks.