The Great Chronological Run-Through

[Christopher]

It's interesting to imagine that the 24th century has essentially condemned the way Earth handled all this. (Assuming, though, that this isn't referring to, say, the Vulcan first contact with the Klingons.)

I established in A Choice of Futures that it was the Vulcan first contact Picard was referring to. After all, he never said it was Earth's first contact, just "a first contact."

After all, Archer's first contact with the Klingons didn't lead to decades of war. It led to some initial turbulence followed by decades of relatively stable or neutral relations, with the era of active, ongoing hostility not beginning until some seven decades afterward (according to TUC). It's really a stretch to try to make Picard's statement fit those events.

 

[Stevil2001]

Does Choice of Futures posit a Klingon-Vulcan war sometime in the past then? Because otherwise the gap between first contact and the 2220s hostilities is even longer.

That's what I think is interesting about interpreting the line in that way, though-- imagining what happened to make that later war break out that future generations would consider to be a consequence of Earth's first contact. We don't really know much about galactic history between 2161 and 2265 except in very broad strokes. (Obviously it's an overly humanocentric perspective, but that's par for the course for Trek.)

 

[Christopher]

Does Choice of Futures posit a Klingon-Vulcan war sometime in the past then? Because otherwise the gap between first contact and the 2220s hostilities is even longer.

It implies it, yes, though I didn't flesh out the details.

That's what I think is interesting about interpreting the line in that way, though-- imagining what happened to make that later war break out that future generations would consider to be a consequence of Earth's first contact. We don't really know much about galactic history between 2161 and 2265 except in very broad strokes.

Federation: The First 150 Years tries to tie it together and show how Archer not letting Klaang die in "Broken Bow" created bad blood with the Klingons that provoked later conflict. But I don't find that very convincing.

(Obviously it's an overly humanocentric perspective, but that's par for the course for Trek.)

Which is the other reason I don't like that interpretation. Not everything in Federation history should be about Earth.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Too rather middling episodes this time.

"Rogue Planet"

This is my least favourite episode so far, unfortunately. It's not bad as such, I just find it very slow and dull. It's dark, too, so there's not much to look at, which doesn't help. I did like the teaser scene, another reminder of how people on Earth are eagerly following this historical mission from an (ever-increasing) distance. Archer as a reluctant celebrity is something that I like seeing explored, however infrequently. This isn't just random exploring, it's random exploring with a great deal of meaning and purpose for the Human people.

It's the second time in the series that this has happened, but I find it odd that the term "people" is apparently interpreted at the start of the episode to mean "Humanoid", especially since the pilot episode featured casual mention of non-Humanoid sapience, so it's not like the crew assume all races are Human-shaped. (Even if they had, they've met non-Humanoids since, e.g. Vertians). Since this episode in turn features Non-Humanoids, it strikes a strange note, and seems at odds with several references earlier in the season where aliens were clarified as Humanoid, again showing that there was no initial assumption on that count.

On the topic of the aliens, these are the most convenient aliens ever, aren't they? Not only do they have sophisticated, almost-Founder level shapeshifting ability, but they have precise and effortless telepathy too! Somebody won the superpower lottery. And the Eska can't think of anything better to do with them than shoot them? If it were Klingons or a race obsessed with that sort of thing, maybe, but the Eska seem pretty well-rounded. We don't get the impression that they're a "culture of hunters" or a race unduly focused on this, only that some Eska like to hunt for sport every now and then. My blandly ridged friends, you have access to a group of shape-changing casual mind-readers that no one else knows exist and which you already have no moral qualms about exploiting. Clearly the Eska don't have ideas above their station, but your government doesn't want to use these beings?

I did like the Wraiths' favoured appearance - is that their natural form (implicitly it is) or just a popular one? While there is something appealing about the Human appearance juxtaposed with the somewhat inhuman manner - the performance does successfully suggest that this is an alien intelligence playing at something familiar - I sort of wish they hadn't been shapeshifters but just well-camouflaged slugs who were psychic illusionists. Still, I suppose it's nice to have a shapeshifter that isn't hostile, and nice too to have an alien assuming the form of a beautiful woman to provoke not a romantic/sexual response in the Human man (well, not primarily that) but instead a thematically provocative mnemonic familiarity. Childhood poems from your mother and the lure of abstract perfection as the catalyst for her choice of appearance is a nice reminder that there are other forms of lure than the straightforwardly sexual. Indeed, maybe the Wraith was rather squicked by the idea of going down that route (who'd want to come on to a bony, vertical mammalian pillar?), and so chose something that while offering fragility, vulnerability and sophistry avoided too obvious a sexuality?

Continuity

T'Pol mentions "Deneva Prime", presumably the world more commonly known as Deneva.

Trip's reference to Vulcan mummification is one of several times he's dropped references to experiences in previous episodes that resulted in his learning more about Vulcans. For example, he recalled learning about the Vulcan tradition of arranged marriage in childhood ("Breaking the Ice") during his conversations with Kov in "Fusion".

*****

"Acquisition"

Harmless fun, I suppose. As entertaining as it is to watch the Ferengi ransack the ship - and it is, really it is - it's never going to be topping the list of quality episodes. What can you say? There were Ferengi, and I suppose their trademark cowardice is a nice contrast with the more confident, calm hostility of Silik or the pure aggression of the Klingons. In terms of the evolving story, there's not much to talk about here since the Ferengi are never placed in context either thematically or for worldbuilding purposes, since the writers needed to be sly about them.

This episode is pretty much a Big Lipped Alligator Moment.

Continuity

As for what the Ferengi are doing in this place and time, that's the real point of interest. Granted, they're a culture given to wandering in search of new opportunities, new markets and new suckers to fleece, and their traders and independent operators make contact long before their centralized government does, but it's still hard to swallow that it will be literally centuries before they're known to Earth if their people are cruising this close already. DTI: Watching the Clock introduced the idea of a major financial crisis hitting them in the mid-22nd Century, setting the Ferengi back a long time, curtailing their expansion. This serves to explain, presumably, why they drop off the radar for two hundred years. They're too busy focusing on their problems at home. Another reference to the Ferengi in the 22nd Century will come in Rosetta, where the very well-connected Thelasian governor has heard rumours of them, and even manages to be placed in contact with a sub-nagus before writing these "Verengi" off as - basically - too annoying to work with. Helping keep the Ferengi presence in this part of space admirably minimal is the implication of the characters using "Menk" to mean "servile manual labourer". Implicitly, then, the Ferengi contact with Valakis mentioned in "Dear Doctor" might well have been made by this very band! Maybe it's just this one solitary ship that's made it this far.

The episode also features a single mention of Bolians, another race who will one day be prominent players but who won't be heard from again for quite a while. Was it 24th Century tribute week? They were doing so well, what with Axanar, Coridan, Malurians, etc. Then again, since "a Bolian female" is implicitly exotic to Ferengi eyes, maybe they're not a well-known or commonly encountered species. Maybe they haven't even invented warp drive yet. That might imply that slavers are raiding Bolarus.

Our friend Krem, according to the DS9 relaunch books, will be considered a likely candidate for the answer to the most enduring mystery of our times: who was the author of Vulcan Love Slave? So, Krem apparently not only got a new command out of this, he got a super-profitable literary franchise too. Krem is going to be the equivalent of those students who made a happy living writing dinosaurian sex books, isn't he? I guess that's about as dignified as he could aim for.

With Ferengi involved, this episode sees our first references to the various Ferengi-related terms we can't do without - gold-pressed latinum, Rules of Acquisition, Oo-Mox. Even beetle snuff (Hupyrian or otherwise isn't specified). The Ferengi also have a plasma whip, which is a nice touch. They'll drop out of favour after the next time we see them.

Finally, I must comment on the Ferengi's socks, which are so psychedelic even by their overly ornate standards that it's almost surreal.

Next Time: "Oasis".

 

[Christopher]

"Rogue Planet"

This is my least favourite episode so far, unfortunately. It's not bad as such, I just find it very slow and dull.

Hmm. I rather liked it. It's nice and atmospheric, and I like the Wraith, and Paul Baillargeon's music is excellent. Good casting too -- it's got Eric Pierpoint and Keith Szarabajka in it, which is impressive, and Stephanie Niznik was effectively otherworldly.

Still, I suppose it's nice to have a shapeshifter that isn't hostile, and nice too to have an alien assuming the form of a beautiful woman to provoke not a romantic/sexual response in the Human man (well, not primarily that) but instead a thematically provocative mnemonic familiarity. Childhood poems from your mother and the lure of abstract perfection as the catalyst for her choice of appearance is a nice reminder that there are other forms of lure than the straightforwardly sexual.

I think they missed an opportunity here. The image the Wraith adopted should've been based on Archer's memory of what his own mother looked like when he was that age. They came so close, but didn't actually make the connection.

"Acquisition"

Harmless fun, I suppose. As entertaining as it is to watch the Ferengi ransack the ship - and it is, really it is - it's never going to be topping the list of quality episodes.

I did find it really cool that the teaser and nearly the entire first act were done in an alien language. Just one of this season's many stylistic innovations that create more of a sense of alienness in Trek aliens than most previous series ever achieved.

As for what the Ferengi are doing in this place and time, that's the real point of interest. Granted, they're a culture given to wandering in search of new opportunities, new markets and new suckers to fleece, and their traders and independent operators make contact long before their centralized government does, but it's still hard to swallow that it will be literally centuries before they're known to Earth if their people are cruising this close already.

But that's the thing people overlook: Enterprise isn't staying close to home. It's ranging as far afield as it can get. And presumably the Ferengi are too. Exploration isn't a steady spherical expansion -- lots of explorers go really, really far from home in search of interesting or profitable things to find. And since space is so huge and empty, it's plausible that two remote civilizations could have one chance encounter and then never run into each other again for another 200 years.

DTI: Watching the Clock introduced the idea of a major financial crisis hitting them in the mid-22nd Century, setting the Ferengi back a long time, curtailing their expansion. This serves to explain, presumably, why they drop off the radar for two hundred years. Too busy focusing on their problems at home.

Although, yes, I did stack the deck with this.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Rogue Planet"

This is my least favourite episode so far, unfortunately. It's not bad as such, I just find it very slow and dull.

Hmm. I rather liked it. It's nice and atmospheric, and I like the Wraith, and Paul Baillargeon's music is excellent. Good casting too -- it's got Eric Pierpoint and Keith Szarabajka in it, which is impressive, and Stephanie Niznik was effectively otherworldly.

I do agree that Niznik did a good job. She did effectively sell the idea that this was a decidedly non-Human intelligence trying to communicate its needs through an attempt at adopting Human form, and that's one reason why I can't call the episode bad.

Still, I suppose it's nice to have a shapeshifter that isn't hostile, and nice too to have an alien assuming the form of a beautiful woman to provoke not a romantic/sexual response in the Human man (well, not primarily that) but instead a thematically provocative mnemonic familiarity. Childhood poems from your mother and the lure of abstract perfection as the catalyst for her choice of appearance is a nice reminder that there are other forms of lure than the straightforwardly sexual.

I think they missed an opportunity here. The image the Wraith adopted should've been based on Archer's memory of what his own mother looked like when he was that age. They came so close, but didn't actually make the connection.

Hmmm, yes. Although maybe his mother would be too suggestive of comforting authority and not vulnerability? Casting him as the archetype of the soulful man pursuing a vision and/or the protector of the sophisticated yet fragile fits with what she's trying to ask him to do - maybe she didn't want to risk painting herself as "superior" in any way, in the manner that a parent would be? Emphasising her peoples' weakness? (Assuming it was a she, the Eska were right on that point).

I did find it really cool that the teaser and nearly the entire first act were done in an alien language. Just one of this season's many stylistic innovations that create more of a sense of alienness in Trek aliens than most previous series ever achieved.

Agreed! I've been impressed with that, too. The season so far has made an effort with language.

As for what the Ferengi are doing in this place and time, that's the real point of interest. Granted, they're a culture given to wandering in search of new opportunities, new markets and new suckers to fleece, and their traders and independent operators make contact long before their centralized government does, but it's still hard to swallow that it will be literally centuries before they're known to Earth if their people are cruising this close already.

But that's the thing people overlook: Enterprise isn't staying close to home. It's ranging as far afield as it can get. And presumably the Ferengi are too. Exploration isn't a steady spherical expansion -- lots of explorers go really, really far from home in search of interesting or profitable things to find. And since space is so huge and empty, it's plausible that two remote civilizations could have one chance encounter and then never run into each other again for another 200 years.

I see your point. Although I imagine that also takes us into the klach d'kel bracht of exactly how successfully or consistently Star Trek portrays the issue of speed, distance, reach, etc. Just how big and empty is Star Trek space from a storytelling perspective?

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Oasis"

I appreciate the acknowledgement in the episode's teaser that Enterprise is running short on repair material. They've taken some damage, through battle or through microsingularities, and there isn't a drydock out here. Plus they gave a lot of stuff to the V'tosh ka'tur. It makes sense that they'd look for opportunities to replenish their stock, and that the ship isn't in pristine shape. I wonder if they were prepared for this sort of thing, e.g. stocked Earth delicacies for trade purposes as well as for their own enjoyment? Since they launched on short notice, I guess not, though Archer has realized the value of coffee, at least. I wonder if D'Marr is going to drink it or sell it on. Presumably interstellar trade is an odd mix of the exchange of universally useful materials, the mundane necessities of space travel, and of oddities, antiquities or delicacies unique to your people. There's a market for the new and exotic and a market for the practical, and some people specialise in the former. Since I'm assuming that Starfleet is not in the habit of using beautiful women as a trade commodity, unlike our charming big-eared friends of last week, it's unclear what a lone Earth ship would have to offer besides coffee.

I wonder what the Kantare think of holograms? Is Ezral's behaviour in viewing them as friends (and replacement goldfish) understandable to mainstream Kantare or disturbingly deviant? Are Kantare holograms sapient or not? The episode doesn't choose to go into that, and it's not clear whether the crew are really people or not. I'm leaning toward "no".

I liked the holographic doctor comment. It was a "cute" moment that actually works for once, because it's entirely reasonable that Trip would say what he said. "If she gets sick, are you going to program a holographic doctor?" There's nothing sly about that, in-context.

Continuity

The episode references the events on the Xyrillian ship several times. The first, which is also our first clue as to what's really going on, is when Trip mentions seeing similar engineering components on the Xyrillian vessel. The Rise of the Federation books name the Kantare as trade partners of the Xyrillians, suggesting that it isn't a coincidence, that Kantare was given the technology by Xyrillia. Later in the episode, T'Pol reminds Trip of what happened the last time he got friendly with an alien woman while working with her on repairs.

(According to The Case of the Colonist's Corpse, Xyrillians will resume trading their technology in the 23rd Century, with the Federation trying to install it on their ships; that was foodstuff-related, though, I think, and not holograms. Other than the single mention in A Choice of Futures, Kantare haven't reappeared).

The Kantare ship is a reuse of a model we'll see two hundred years down the line, as the "Antares-class" freighter/transport. This is its first appearance, for our purposes. Are the Kantare perhaps its originators? I guess their economy could be based around selling transport ships to the rest of the galaxy. There's an embarrassing tendency to have their plasma conduits rupture, of course, but Kantare guarantees that any dead crew will be replaced with holographic recreations, so long as you keep your receipt!

The Antares-class is also very similar to a model used quite consistently as a Bajoran craft. Is that of Kantare design too? They seem to share a lineage, and the Bajorans use Antares-class transports as well. I actually think this is one of those situations where we can make sense of the similarities in-universe. The Star Charts place the Kantare colony on Kotara Barath within later Cardassian territory, near to Chin'toka. Perhaps the Kantare are still using ships of similar hull configuration in the 24th Century and these are then used by the Cardassians when they annex Kantare colonies? They use them to haul ore and other materials in their territory, including in the Bajoran system, and then abandon these old, no-longer-in-great-shape ships when they withdraw from Bajor. The Bajoran Militia claims them, being in desperate need of ships and in no position to turn its nose up at the opportunity. I doubt immediate post-occupation Bajor had resources enough to buy a fleet, no matter how cheaply Kantare (or whoever else builds them) offer their wares. Cardassia continues to use these ships elsewhere, for what it's worth; e.g. their convoy at Pentath ("Rules of Engagement").

Next Time: "Detained".

 

[Christopher]

"Oasis" just did not work for me. Bad enough that it's just a rehash of DS9's "Shadowplay," right down to having Rene Auberjonois in it. But the holographic and AI technology are just way too advanced for the 22nd century. If this was available in the Alpha Quadrant that early, why is the state of the art so much less advanced a hundred years later?

And both of these could've been avoided, since the story didn't really need the crew to be holograms. They could've been androids, although that has similar problems. I would've preferred it if they'd been shapeshifting aliens trying to provide for Ezral and Liana or something, if we hadn't just had shapeshifters in "Rogue Planet." Really, it doesn't quite work with any approach I can think of. It just feels kind of unnecessary.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Detained"

Tandar is one of the more interesting cultures we've encountered, in terms of power gradients and cultural influence. They're apparently somewhat the equivalent of Vulcan - a race who have at least de facto power over a region of space containing multiple inhabited systems. More overt and centralized control than in the case of Vulcan, but perhaps comparable. If outsiders would recognise a nebulous but definite "Vulcan space" then so would they recognise Tandaran space. This is a race who appear to count as a significant local military and political power on a level beyond that of, say, Xyrillians or Tesnians. They have multi-racial immigrant populations and multiple colonies, and are recognized as a preeminent authority. Tandar Sector appears to be used as a political term, although that's ambiguous.

It's good to learn more about the Temporal Cold War from a different perspective; not what the time travellers and future communicators are doing but how the people of this century who have learnt about the war are dealing with it. It also reaffirms that the conflict isn't about Archer or Humans, that they're not the primary targets or actual participants (ironically, they may not be major targets entirely because of their historic significance). It's a welcome reminder that this is an ongoing matter that Enterprise has only recently gotten itself involved in. That in turn contributes further to the sense that the galaxy in this era is very large and Humans are very small.

We learn that Suliban are a scattered, largely nomadic race whose world was destroyed three hundred years ago. Some assimilated into other cultures, including that of Tandar. The Suliban were formal citizens, so Tandar apparently has a rather open and integrationist immigration system (most of the time).

Colonel Grat's going to get a demotion for this, isn't he? I hope the Suliban didn't get any ideas about trying to liberate other camps. I also hope Danik's wife wasn't thrown into permanent solitary or something as spiteful punishment for her husband leading the revolt.

****

"Vox Sola"

I also hope the Suliban didn't land here, on a world that reminds me uneasily of a planet in a children's book that was (okay, that is) a favourite of mine. That too featured a world covered in a single absorbent lifeform whose tendrils linked with the nervous systems of other beings, sharing knowledge and experience. This being is more benign than that one. Still, I hope someone put a warning beacon around the planet. We wouldn't want parts of the native being deciding to experiment by incorporating visitors, or fragments of it being introduced to other planets. Who knows how big its "cuttings" can grow? And clearly when separated from the whole it's inclined to grow rapidly and panic by latching onto other lifeforms. As the episode makes clear, that it's dangerous doesn't mean it's hostile and it doesn't have to be hostile to be dangerous.

Like Austin Powers when confronted with The Mole, I feel I should get it out of my system now: THE BEING LOOKS LIKE IT'S MADE OF SEMEN. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO THINK THIS.

It's a rather poor effect, really, and that's a shame. Never mind, I suppose. It's really just an excuse to get Archer and Trip out of the way so everyone else can work on a solution. T'Pol and Hoshi discussing the former's attitude toward the latter, Malcolm and Phlox arguing over jurisdiction, Travis in the role of diplomat; everyone is given something to do. The episode doesn't get much mileage out of any of this from a characterization angle, but it's there.

The Kreetassans are quite amusing. Not hostile, rather well-meaning actually, but holding everyone else to their own standards of etiquette and demanding redress for offence given before they'll continue dealing with you. We'll see more of them, happily.

Continuity

Hoshi has apparently been learning some Andorian languages. I suppose future encounters are anticipated.

For the first time, the crew deploy a force field. It's good that Reed doesn't pull it out of thin air, that he's building on years of research, though perhaps it would have been more fulfilling if he had mentioned this as an ongoing project before now. We've seen force fields before, but not used by our protagonists.

Next Time: "Fallen Hero"

 

[Enterprise1701]

Do the Tandarans count as a Temporal Cold War faction in their own right? I can't decide.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Do the Tandarans count as a Temporal Cold War faction in their own right? I can't decide.

Hmm, well they're a proactively defensive faction, who are fighting from their present against interference from the future(s). They're involved because Future Guy is attacking them in order to stoke their interest in time travel (or so we'll learn eventually), not because they'd otherwise have a stake. Soon enough they're sucked in deeper, but still always defensive - their hostility toward Certoss Ajahlan a century from now, for example, is because they know that in one future timeline Certoss will destroy Tandar (From History's Shadow) not because they seek to meddle in history (that is, the past) themselves. Really, they're not a willing player. From their viewpoint they're a victim and from Future Guy's (and that of the timeline that sticks, the "prime" timeline) they're a pawn.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I've just (re)discovered something - although I said upthread that Kantare hadn't reappeared outside a mention in Rise of the Federation, I just noticed that the planet Kantare is mentioned in Watching the Clock, confirmed as a part of Tandar Sector. That's the locational usage, it doesn't necessarily mean the Kantare are part of the Tandaran political system. I imagine "Tandar Sector" as used by the Tandarans is a bit like "alpha quadrant" as used by the later Federation - convenient shorthand for "our sphere of influence" that doesn't actually match the literal meaning of the term.

 

[Christopher]

Do the Tandarans count as a Temporal Cold War faction in their own right? I can't decide.

I'd say no, at least no more than humans are at this point. Cold wars, after all, are about superpowers waging indirect battles through proxies, so that other, smaller nations get dragged into a fight that isn't really about them. Although in Watching the Clock I did establish that there's an element of self-fulfilling prophecy that led the Tandarans to be targeted for what their descendants would do in the future.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Fallen Hero"

Another episode that fleshes out the Vulcans' role as the dominant power in the region, and their relationship to their protégé races. Ambassador V'Lar is quite delightful - Fionnula Flanagan makes her very likeable and interesting, and it's great to have a Vulcan who isn't (by Human standards) rude while still being an obvious product of her culture and a defender of its policies. I suppose what I'm saying is that V'Lar, as well as being a fun character, also seems a lot more like an actual diplomatic representative than usual. Clearly speaking the Vulcan party line but going out of her way to establish good relations with other peoples.

While T'Pol has definitely developed a sense of humour over the course of the season, she has nothing on V'Lar, whose humour is the product, perhaps, of her great experience with many non-Vulcan races. The ambassador's commenting on the relationship between Archer and T'Pol marks the first time, as far as I can remember, that the pair's potential for building better understanding between the two races has been explicitly acknowledged. It would make sense that this character is the one to draw attention to that.

Mazar is another world, like Earth and Coridan, which essentially functions as a Vulcan protectorate. Here, though, we see a more positive side to the "local government calls in the Vulcans" scenario than we saw at Coridan. As ever, the Vulcan situation is played in a very multi-faceted, pleasingly complex way across the course of the season. We're given so many angles on this.

The Mazarites use a distinctive form of energy weapon that shoots singular blasts at a relatively rapid rate of fire; these can fire at warp, while phase cannons cannot. Mazar is generally comparable to Earth in terms of warp technology.

Continuity

It's interesting that the warp five barrier is still daunting to the crew and approached with a great deal of trepidation. That there's a difference between warp five capability on paper and in the reality of the field is intriguing. On the topic of warp speeds, there's a potential problem here in that the Sh'Raan is said to have a top speed of warp seven, when "Shadows of P'Jem" gave the top Vulcan speed (or, to be fair, what the Humans believed to be their top speed) as 6.5. I guess Vulcan is keeping it under wraps that they've been given a Coridanite prototype for installation in their largest and mightiest cruisers, though why T'Pol reveals it so casually here isn't clear. Then again, maybe this is another example of the difference between theoretical possibility and practical usage. Perhaps on paper they can make warp seven but in practice no Vulcan captain would consider actually attempting it except in the most desperate of situations.

We learn that the first real treaty between Vulcan and Andoria was signed prior to 2063, and V'Lar's insistence that the Andorians "required a firmer hand" hints at a similar truth to Shran's later claim that the treaty was unbalanced in favour of Vulcan.

Once again, an alien (V'Lar) explicitly speaks English while aboard. It makes sense for a Vulcan diplomat to speak multiple languages, of course.

A later episode ("Affliction") informs us that Mazarites participate in the Interspecies Medical Exchange. The Mazarite crime cartels will return in the second Rise of the Federation novel, while a Mazarite crewman aboard the USS Chaffee in Unspoken Truth shows us they remain associated with Vulcan and its allies into the next century, though whether they join the Federation is unknown.

Risa is introduced in dialogue here, though it will take the crew another couple of episodes to get there.

Next Time: "Desert Crossing".

 

[Kertrats47]

I've always enjoyed "Fallen Hero." Flanagan did indeed give a great performance.

I'm currently watching ALL OF STAR TREK (TM) with my friend and roommate, something we've been doing over the past few years. Right now, we're in season one of Enterprise, but we've only just watched "The Andorian Incident."

 

[Enterprise1701]

Is the warp scale used in ENT linked somehow to the scale in the TNG era? I would think that they are different, but ENT's producers took.....a lot of inspiration from the TNG era.

 

[Christopher]

Is the warp scale used in ENT linked somehow to the scale in the TNG era?

It was never spelled out one way or the other. ENT never mentioned warp factors above seven, so there was no sign of the characteristic "warp 10 limit" of the TNG era. And beyond that there's really no way to tell, since no era of Trek has ever had a consistent warp scale when it came to on-camera travel times. Whatever was published in tie-in reference books was always far slower than the "speed of plot" velocities shown onscreen.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Desert Crossing"

The crew are still journeying to Risa, preparing themselves for their holiday. Once again, they're diverted, making this a running joke.

It makes sense that Trip is hip-deep in repairs, given that a few days ago the ship was under fire by Mazarites and nearly burnt out the engines on top of it. Those events aren't referenced, but it adds up and that's what counts.

Archer keeps getting dragged in deeper, doesn't he? After his encounters with the Cabal caused him to become of interest to Colonel Grat, now his actions at the detention complex almost see him dragged into another conflict. The legend of Archer is beginning to spread; he's gaining a reputation that the Vulcans would be very displeased with. Indeed, there's a sense that he's beginning to see that a reputation for interference and meddling is going to be a problem, even if the occasion with the Suliban was one where he'd still consider his interference fully justified.

There were lots of good references to past episodes in this one - discussion of "Silent Enemy" as well as "Detained", with the season's frequent theme of Archer's idealistic unpreparedness, made so central to that episode, now given a twist in that it's this very sense of idealism that's causing him to be viewed now as a mighty warrior, aiding the cause of the downtrodden. "We turned back to install more weapons", a moment where harsh reality and practical necessity won out over Archer's idealism, is now turned in Zobral's mind to a reaffirmation of that quality, in that Archer supposedly needed more weapons so he could right wrongs across the galaxy.

Zobral is a good character; his blend of amicable hospitality and overbearing, volatile aggression makes him unpredictable yet likeable in his way, and the episode leaves it nicely ambiguous as to what's going on between his clan and the Torothan.

T'Pol's counsel that political decisions be left to governments and not starship captains, which the episode invites us to agree with, is interesting in light of the tendency to show the opposite in later Trek. The Federation will apparently empower its captains to make some very big and far-reaching decisions on its behalf, perhaps as a matter of practicality given that they're the people on the scene - though their decisions are picked apart later. Kirk and especially Picard would probably be here to mediate a solution to the conflict on Zobral's world; Archer is simply pulled into it, a situation as yet beyond his capacity to deal with.

*****

"Two Days And Two Nights"

T'Pol's very insistent that captain and crew need a vacation, isn't she? It was her idea to come to Risa back in "Fallen Hero" and she's still all but punting Archer down to the surface. I suppose it is only logical that the crew have some recreation time if they're to be at their best. I do quite like that it's the Vulcan crewmember pushing for them to take a break, stressing the importance of relaxation from the practical perspective. It makes sense enough while still being unexpected. Still, T'Pol is very invested in this. She even goes so far as to pack Archer a copy of Surak's teachings (translated by Skon, who we'll meet in the novels not too far down the line).

Following on from last episode's references we see further fallout from the detention camp incident; Archer is still of interest to the Tandarans as a source of intelligence on the Cabal and its activities. It's great to see that plot thread followed up on, and it's disappointing that we won't be seeing the Tandarans again on screen after this episode.

It was good to see Cutler and Rostov, too; keeping the familiar lower-decks faces around is important when we're dealing with a crew of less than a hundred who have no opportunities to rotate out.

The writers remembered Phlox's hibernation. Good on them.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important:

We finally arrive at Risa, which is looking very appealing (and expensive to produce, no doubt). It's interesting to see the Risan couple's appreciation of Hoshi's effort to learn their language. Risa is so cosmopolitan and eager to accommodate offworld tourists that it's easy to forget that they have a native culture besides the casual sex. Risans showing pride in their culture beyond romance and hospitality is a welcome touch, and once again the series goes out of its way to use alien languages, not being afraid of subtitles. It makes it all feel more real.

We see there is a downside to the Risans' accepting ways - criminals and spies mingle with the tourists.

Next time: At long last, I'll be back to literature, with What Price Honor?

 

[Christopher]

I'm not too fond of either of these two episodes, but I do like the way they build on the season's arc of Archer's actions having consequences on how Enterprise and Earth are perceived by other races and beginning to have an effect on interstellar affairs.

But good grief, how is it possible to set a story on a hedonistic free-love pleasure planet and make it this staggeringly dull? Risa episodes are always problematical due to the need to keep Trek family-friendly, but this one takes its avoidance of anything racy to a whole new level, and makes Risa seem like the blandest vacation spot in the galaxy.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

But good grief, how is it possible to set a story on a hedonistic free-love pleasure planet and make it this staggeringly dull? Risa episodes are always problematical due to the need to keep Trek family-friendly, but this one takes its avoidance of anything racy to a whole new level, and makes Risa seem like the blandest vacation spot in the galaxy.

Well, Hoshi got laid.

Not in a very racy way, admittedly...

Let's see, Archer sat and read Surak, Phlox hibernated...er, you might have a point here.

Yeah, Risa is always problematic like that. Its entire shtick isn't something we're ever allowed to actually see so it comes across as just a pleasant place to relax and not the sensual party world it's said to be. If it helps, we can pretend that Mayweather's rock climbing featured crowds of naked people clambering over each other? Or at least that there were some very sexy nurses at the hospital?