The Great Chronological Run-Through

[Enterprise1701]

The Avians apparently colonized the planet which became New Xindus centuries ago, but none survive there. Why this should be isn't explained, though a possible answer is offered in Federation: The First 150 Years, which isn't compatible with this continuity but has some interesting ideas in places. Its proposal is that the Xindi-Avians never trusted the "Guardians", and so presumably any survivors at best didn't receive Guardian aid and at worse met with unfortunate accidents, breaking their necks as they stepped out of the bird-bath. The Xindi continue to transition from dangerous enemies to a sympathetic and victimized people, with the revelation that they trust the Sphere Builders as benevolent sages (an idea reinforced, perhaps, by the latter's smoothly feminine appearance, a "motherly" guise). As Degra and Archer note, no wonder the latter's accusations are so hard for the Xindi to accept.

Are you referring to the Xindi Council's meeting planet as "New Xindus"? I thought New Xindus was never shown onscreen and the Council planet was something else?

In "E^2", why was it again that the other Enterprise didn't try to return to Earth in the 2150s? Obviously they knew about the Kumari at least trying to leave the Expanse after "Proving Ground".

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Are you referring to the Xindi Council's meeting planet as "New Xindus"? I thought New Xindus was never shown onscreen and the Council planet was something else?

Having just re-watched "Countdown", it seems you're right, as it's strongly implied that the new Xindi homeworld as yet doesn't exist, and is simply some hoped-for future project. Then again, we know it will exist by the 2360s, thanks to the literature, and the dialogue suggests that the planet has already been chosen, or that candidates have been selected. I suppose I assumed that since the five species are setting up facilities together on a world that seems habitable enough, that this would become their new homeworld once it was developed enough. But, yes, good point - it's never stated that the Council planet is New Xindus.

In "E^2", why was it again that the other Enterprise didn't try to return to Earth in the 2150s? Obviously they knew about the Kumari at least trying to leave the Expanse after "Proving Ground".

We don't know. It would seem to make sense, since they might have enough evidence aboard to convince Earth that the Xindi threat was real.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Countdown"

Even Dolim begins to question the "Guardians". It's obvious that he's genuinely upset about the sundering of the Xindi and the start of civil war, even if it was he who knowingly caused it. He may be a Reptilian supremacist and a thoroughly unpleasant person but like every other Xindi we've met he seems truly committed to the idea of Xindi unity, even if his ambition causes him to picture it as a potential Reptilian empire. Considering his comment to his lieutenant in a previous episode when the latter questioned the Guardians, the fact that he's confronting them at all here says a lot. Later, when the Sphere Builders indeed use their powers to turn the tide of battle his faith is reaffirmed, of course; he insists that they won't let him fail, and he even turns on his Insectoid counterpart when the obvious proof that the Guardians control the Spheres causes the Insectoids to question their earlier choices. Still, it was interesting to see that even for Dolim the appeal of Xindi unification is strong enough to challenge any other priority. Dolim makes for a great villain - ruthless and dangerous, often very cruel, but with legitimate and sometimes complex motives.

We finally see all five Xindi species deploying starships in the same scene. The Aquatics, the final race to have their vessels make an appearance in the series, have huge dreadnaught carrier ships capable of holding Enterprise. Along with their smaller vessels, these have a ray-like appearance, and a silvery-blue colour scheme, no doubt based on other aquatic lifeforms.

It's obvious that Major Hayes is going to die, even more so than it was with Degra last episode, but again the death is effective. I like that Hayes and Reed were never friends, and had a tense working relationship to the end.

I like how the ending splits the cast, particularly how Enterprise won't be saving Earth directly but will instead be saving the Xindi by destroying the Spheres, while Degra's ship will be heading to Earth. It's a good illustration or final test of the alliance that Archer has been claiming as necessary all this time.

Next Time: "Zero Hour".

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Zero Hour"

An effective finale for the season. Everyone gets something to do; it's a true team effort to destroy the weapon and the Spheres, and every character gets at least a little moment to shine. That includes Jannar, Mallora and Shran; it's great that Humans don't save the day on their own. Archer (and Daniels to Archer) have stressed again and again that it's an alliance of races that makes the future great, even if Earth is particularly important - the episode reinforces that, since Earth would have been destroyed without Andorian (and, ironically, Xindi) assistance.

The Xindi Crisis comes to an end, leaving us in a somewhat awkward place, and I'm not talking about World War II. A hopeful future and the foundation of a lasting peace, but is that going to be enough? Is that a truly satisfactory outcome to the people back on Earth, who didn't meet the Xindi and see first-hand what was happening? Yes, it's a favourable outcome in that there'll be no more killing, but the Xindi are never held accountable, never pay reparations and for many I imagine there's no sense of justice having been observed. It's like the Minbari War in Babylon Five - peace and hope for understanding won't heal the wounds overnight, when there's no real sense of closure. And that's just on Earth. I wonder what will happen with the Xindi in the years to come. Naturally, they have more pressing matters to concern themselves with than building on their new relationship with the Humans, in that they'll need to come to terms with their recent history and with each other. It's good to hear that the Insectoids have rejoined the Primates, Arboreals and Aquatics in restoring the Council, and that the Primates believe the Reptilians will inevitably come back before long. I believe them, given how powerful the Xindi sense of mutual loyalty has always been. Even as the superweapon raced to Earth, one of the Reptilians opined that had the Guardians made their species the overlords of the Xindi from the start, then "our Avian brothers would still fill the skies of Xindus". Even their sense of superiority encompassed a regard for Xindi as a whole.

Oddly, the menagerie has survived the mission to the Sphere. Since the crew came close to death, I find it hard to believe that all these animals were fine after immersing in the altered space for fifteen minutes. I know they were all okay in "Doctor's Orders", but that was only affecting the nervous systems of the crew (presumably only the more complex neural systems were affected) - this is full-on exposure to an environment intrinsically hostile to our version of life. Maybe Phlox put them all in stasis or something? Oh well, I'm glad they're okay, even if it makes no sense. The menagerie has contributed greatly to the mission. The Pyrithian bat helped save the day in "Chosen Realm", the Osmotic eel removed the Xindi parasites from Hoshi, the Regulan Bloodworms participated in the ruse that led the crew to Azati Prime. And of course one member (Lyssarian desert larva) was killed in the line of duty.

Phlox doesn't seem to have skin cracking like the others - I suppose that is consistent, since he was more immune to the effects in "Doctor's Orders".

The Aquatic ships can travel from the Expanse to Earth in about a day. One does wonder why the Xindi couldn't simply have launched an armada of Aquatic Dreadnaughts through the subspace corridors and subjected Earth to massive bombardment.

Speaking of Earth...where is everybody? Earth orbit is strangely deserted. We might believe that the planet is already out of synch with the timeline due to silly Nazi-related issues were it not for the fact that Yosemite Station is still there. Are the Starfleet vessels encircling Sol in a distant orbit, as some sort of blockade? That might be darkly amusing, if they don't realize that Xindi ships can jump in-system through subspace vortices. Then again, Kumari got in just fine. Is Starfleet on holiday? This will become even more confusing in "Storm Front, part two" when Enterprise's mission is finally over and a whole fleet of Earth ships (plus several Vulcan vessels) glide out to meet them.

So, that's it for season three. In all, I like it. It was uneven and exasperating at times, but the core arc was a strong one and very engaging, with the final third of the season being pretty fantastic when it all starts paying off. Degra and Dolim ended up being truly great characters, and T'Pol and Trip wound up in a genuinely endearing sexual relationship through surprisingly deft writing for something that began with simple Look At The Sexy. Most importantly, the show seems to have realized that what made season one successful was the sense that every episode was contributing to an overarching theme or a set of ideas relevant to the setting. That sense of the whole being added to by each individual outing returned in season three and will continue through to the end of the series.

The Xindi were a fascinating addition to the setting, and I hope we eventually learn what happens to them in detail. We know from a short story in The Sky's The Limit that New Xindus has joined the Federation as of the 2360s (or at least that citizens of New Xindus are serving in prominent positions within the Federation government, which certainly implies that it's a member). The story of the Xindi from Enterprise to the post-Destiny timeframe is at the top of my wish list for future novel projects.

The Sphere Builders won't be seen again, as such, but they'll be mentioned. They'll try another attack on Earth, using a variant of their plan here - sending another force to destroy Humanity in the past to prevent the formation of the Federation. Next time they'll choose someone who can't be reasoned with or made to turn on the Guardians. We've already seen that second plan foiled, funnily enough. I'm glad this angle was introduced - after all, why would the Sphere Builders only try once?

Continuity

It's confirmed for the first time that the founding of the Federation occurs in 2161, with Humans, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites involved. From there the alliance will expand to include dozens and eventually hundreds of species. Archer will be among those signing the Federation Charter.

Next Time:

 

[Thor Damar]

Only just started reading this thread though but just wanted to salute your craft and devotion to the cause of continuity and general elegance.

(and apologize for not reading sooner)

Now for the time-space vampire Nazis.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Only just started reading this thread though but just wanted to salute your craft and devotion to the cause of continuity and general elegance.

(and apologize for not reading sooner)

Good to see you posting again!

Now for the time-space vampire Nazis.

Meddling with the timeline leads inevitably to one of two things. The first is Nazis, particularly Nazis where there shouldn't be Nazis. The second is bat-like creatures from the future. "Storm Front" will bring us both, because it's efficient like that.

 

[Thrawn]

Meddling with the timeline leads inevitably to one of two things. The first is Nazis, particularly Nazis where there shouldn't be Nazis. The second is bat-like creatures from the future. "Storm Front" will bring us both, because it's efficient like that.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Storm Front, part one"

Season four opens with what's very obviously a contrived twist for the sake of a contrived twist. At times the episode does try to make something legitimate out of that decision. Trip complains that he was looking forward to the mission being over and isn't coping well because he wasn't expecting being thrust into another "situation". T'Pol agrees and admits in turn that she was eager to see Vulcan again. I don't object to the idea of an unrelated twist complicating the Xindi arc's ending, and having the Temporal Cold War heat up is as good a left-fielder as any, but it can't really escape the fact that it's alien Nazis (for real, not even holograms). There is something fun in watching black-and-white footage of alien soldiers blowing up tanks with ray guns, but it's just too surreal at a time when I'm feeling exactly what Trip and the others are feeling. I want the mission to be over so we can get our well-deserved downtime. I want "Home", and no matter how appealing parts of this are, I just want to get through it so we can get to the real aftermath of the Xindi arc. In that sense, then, it's successful in having me identify with the characters, but I don't think that's quite the way it's supposed to work.

Fix this, already, so we can go home!

The whole situation is actually very reminiscent of the Xindi arc, with aliens from elsewhere (or elsewhen) taking advantage of people in their past to further their own ends. That similarity is intriguing to some degree but nothing is done with it so it doesn't lead to anything thematically interesting. Rather than the Xindi, here it's the Nazis. It makes sense enough - offer a fanatical and expansionist faction advanced weaponry and the opportunity to conquer their enemies and they're likely to accept your offer of alliance whether they truly trust you or not. Why Vosk and his people are on Earth, I don't quite know. They're hiding from the Temporal Agents, who are clearly affiliated with the Federation, so why they're hiding on Earth I'm not sure.

Trip isn't very good at keeping his professional relationship with T'Pol separate from his personal one - he's been making a habit of openly questioning her command decisions, not out of hostility as such, out of frustration coupled with comfortable familiarity, but it's still unacceptable. Luckily, he does realize here that he's crossed a line and he apologises to T'Pol.

Silik is back, and it's nice that he serves to bookend the Xindi mission, even if he's mostly here to be tied off rather than remaining a loose end. I guess it's consistent with the character's previous ambiguity that Silik is used as a red herring. By ambiguity I don't mean morally - he's a black hat, of course, there was never any doubt - but in terms of his agenda, which isn't always at odds with Archers'. Silik has never been working against Enterprise as such - even on those occasions when he was targeting them, Enterprise was just a temporarily useful piece in a wider puzzle, not the point of anything. It makes for an interesting villain, though I suppose I'll talk more about how successful he was in the next post.

Daniels is in a state of temporal flux, a condition we'll see again.

Next time: "Storm Front, part two", of course.

 

[Sci]

With an episode like "Storm Front," it seems to me that you either go for the ride or you don't; there's almost no point in trying to critique actual quality, because it's too busy goofing off.

My only real complaint about "Storm Front" is that the newsreel teaser to "Part II" should have been the opening teaser to "Part I."

 

[Enterprise1701]

I'm annoyed that the Na'kuhl are from the 29th century, but the TIC isn't used in this episode.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

With an episode like "Storm Front," it seems to me that you either go for the ride or you don't; there's almost no point in trying to critique actual quality, because it's too busy goofing off.

Good point. If it were placed anywhere else in the series, I probably would be willing to go along with it, and just have fun. After the Xindi arc, though, it's getting in the way of my closure.

 

[Thor Damar]

As a fan of Doctor Who I am all in favour of what might be called 'timely wimely' plots and whatnot (at least that's what my great Grandson told me 10 years from today) but this temporal cold war seems somewhat out of place in a series that should be more about setting the scene for the star trek universe as it would become.

Having a grand arc wherein Archer has to save the timeline really takes away from that and it seems that the TCW was added to give a sense of drama to Enterprise

That being said I enjoy it for the daftness that it embodies and, as Sci rightly says, I definitely enjoy the silly ride of time travel.

Why the Nazis? It's always the Nazis with time travel and alternative futures, why not the Eastern Roman Empire?

 

[Christopher]

Having a grand arc wherein Archer has to save the timeline really takes away from that and it seems that the TCW was added to give a sense of drama to Enterprise

Reportedly it was added at network insistence because they were uneasy with a straight prequel and wanted some element that moved forward from the 24th-century series rather than backward. This was over Berman & Braga's protests, which is why they never really had a plan for it, largely avoiding it in season 2, swerving in a new direction in season 3, and then cursorily wrapping it up altogether in "Storm Front."

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Storm Front, part two"

It's very satisfying to have Enterprise return home, mission accomplished. (And with a whole fleet of Human and Vulcan ships flitting about in orbit, this time, as there should be). It's also reasonably satisfying to have the Temporal Cold War resolved, though I'm disappointed that Silik was killed off. He could easily have been kept around, and seeing how he and the Cabal develop after they're no longer receiving instructions from the future would have been interesting. It could have kept the Temporal Cold War arc feeling meaningful to the series going forward without actually having any more time travel. Hell, have Silik become some sort of shady information broker who sometimes assists Archer. Silik was underused as a villain, which I think is rather a shame. On the other hand, a large part of his appeal is the fact that his motives (really Future Guy's motives) are opaque and rather disconnected from anything in Archer's frame of reference, so to bring him into focus detracts from his success. Either way, he's gone, and he died preventing the Temporal War. Or is he gone? I mean, he died in an alternate timeline. Is he still out there in the reset timeline?

Silik's comment that Archer has changed since they last met might be the character's most important moment in the series, for all that it's also an implicit acknowledgement of his obsolescence. Archer himself has been bloodied by the time-travel wars; the naïve Archer that Silik faced in the past is gone, and Silik isn't so much of the threatening mystery anymore.

Funnily enough, for all that it wraps up the arc unceremoniously, this episode does for the first time begin to explore the idea of the Temporal Cold War, at least a little. Vosk's perspective on time travel as a technological innovation like any other, to be used freely by any race that can master it, is an interesting philosophical position, and finally gives us a sense of the issues that the interstellar community winds up divided over in the distant future. In essence, we get a sense what the cold war is actually about. Daniels has explained it, but that was only a one-sided clinical overview. Here we get another angle on the conflict. Vosk is a true fanatic, with enough righteousness and reason behind his perspective to make him engaging, even if it's all secondary to his megalomania.

I wonder where the Na'kuhl are from, and when they make contact with the Federation?

We learn that the Accordist powers prevented an effort by the Na'kuhl to retroassassinate the entire Suliban species. I wonder how the Cabal feel about their entire species being placed in danger because of their actions, when their justification is that they're improving their species by accepting temporally-smuggled augmentations. Letting other Suliban suffer prejudice and retaliation because of your actions is one thing - they're the outdated version, presumably they don't matter - but risking having the species wiped from history is something else. Great opportunity for self-betterment goes hand-in-hand with great risk?

This two-part episode is fun - I agree that the opening news reel, Hitler's Big American Adventure, is great, for instance - but it gets in the way of the resolution to the Xindi arc, and everyone - the writers regarding the TCW and the characters - are anxious to get it over with, so that's how I feel.

Next Time: "Home".

 

[Enterpriserules]

^ I liked that they worked to wrap up the TCW so the show could move forward. I go back and watch this now and like it much more than I did at the time of it's airing. I think it works for the most part

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Home"

It's good to see Forrest and Soval again, and to have a quiet episode with nothing dangerous occurring. This does feel like a welcome homecoming, a much-deserved rest.

Perhaps for the first time, we get a feel for 2150s Earth in a political and social sense, rather than merely a point of focus and origin for Starfleet. This is furthered, of course, by the xenophobia discussed more than once and embodied by the man who accosts Phlox in the bar. It's good that we're getting a sense of how the Xindi attack affected Earth, and how things have changed while Enterprise was away. The people of Earth weren't in the Expanse; they didn't fight alongside Xindi to keep both Earth and New Xindus from destruction. To them, the Xindi remain a faceless enemy who attacked them unprovoked and who may have been removed as a threat (somehow - clearly they don't know the details, since much of the debriefing is classified) yet aren't here to answer for what they did or even to explain it. There's no outlet for the grief and anger, no closure. The Terrans are having to cope with it however they can, and in some cases it's manifesting as a general xenophobia. The sense of civilian investment in Enterprise's mission that came through so well in the first season has taken on a more troubling tone. As the man in the bar demonstrates, some people think that Starfleet's policy of exploration is the problem, as it draws other races' attention back to Earth. Archer voices a similar perspective, arguing that Vulcan had the right idea all along, even though he condemns Soval for Vulcan's lack of support.

Speaking of Archer, alongside the effects on Earth this episode also takes time to explore the impact the Xindi mission had on the main characters, which is a very welcome development. Now that they have the time and luxury to take stock of themselves, they have a lot to work through. Archer isn't happy with the man he's become, seemingly unable to forgive himself for his new perspective that places security, caution and preparedness ahead of idealism. He wants to be like Hernandez, like the man he was, but doesn't believe he can anymore, and Earth's earnest embrace of him as a role-model and a hero isn't palatable when his own self-respect has taken such a blow. T'Pol and Trip, meanwhile, face the matter of their admittedly highly unusual, fire-forged relationship coming up against Vulcan tradition and politics; in other words, they're thrown back into the real world. The stress of the Expanse brought them together and now they have to readjust to their old lives with the major complication of their new connection.

We see the United Earth logo on the podium from which Archer addresses the assembled press and dignitaries. It's Earth with a laurel leaf along one side. Predictable, I suppose, but then that's not a bad thing when you're designing logos.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important

Erika Hernandez. Newly appointed captain of Columbia NX-02 and former lover of Archer. She certainly makes a good impression, and has a lot of potential as a recurring character. She's going to wind up being basically the most important person in galactic history, by the way. It's a long story, and we won't get further than the first act for quite a while...

Vulcan makes its first appearance; none of the episodes or books preceding "Home" in this chronological run-through have depicted it or paid a visit, except in short flashbacks (e.g. T'Pol's childhood in Surak's Soul).

In a similar manner, then, although she's appeared in literary flashback (simply as "T'Pol's mother"), this is the first appearance of T'Les.

Continuity

The Seleya incident is discussed in some detail; references are also made to the Illyrian theft and the Osaarian torture incident.

Going back further, the High Command's foiled effort to recall T'Pol from Enterprise in the aftermath of the destruction of P'Jem wasn't their only attempt to punish her for what happened there; during her absence her mother has been forced from her position at the Science Academy.

T'Pol references her "recent illness" in an attempt to warn off Koss; this no doubt refers either to the aftermath of her trellium addiction or to her Pa'nar Syndrome (or both).

Koss himself, naturally, is a detail from the first season that becomes of greater relevance here.

Archer and Hernandez find the star that supports the first M-class world Enterprise discovered (the one with the hallucinogenic pollen). That is, they find the star that will one day be named "Archer" (amusing, since this comes at a time when Archer is struggling to accept his status as a world hero).

Andorians and Rigelians are now visiting Earth. While the planet has had an uneasy year waiting for news of the Xindi and has become increasingly xenophobic, it's also apparently gained a higher profile. This makes sense given the role Earth played in the Vulcan-Andorian talks at Weytahn. Races and influential nations that the Enterprise crew have visited or contacted are following through on those contacts.

Cinema is still popular; World War III epics are the current thing, apparently.

Captain Jefferies was one of the designers of the NX-class. Presumably this is the person after whom the Jefferies Tubes will be named in-universe.

Next Time: "Borderland".

 

[Christopher]

"Home" is a refreshing episode after the incongruous weirdness of "Storm Front." It's nice that they were willing to do another "Family," a strictly character-driven story about the characters dealing with the aftermath of past events.

Speaking of firsts, I believe this is the first episode to establish that Vulcan is 16 light-years from Earth, all but confirming James Blish's identification of 40 Eridani as its primary star.

Since Uncertain Logic takes place largely on Vulcan, I rewatched "Yesteryear" and "Home" beforehand, and it struck me how much the design of T'Les's home here is based on the design of Sarek's home in the animated episode. Both houses have walls made entirely of windows looking out on enclosed courtyards containing fountains and sculptures.

 

[Enterpriserules]

"Home" is hands down one of my favorite episodes of ENT. There is not anything about ti that I do not like. Love how all of it plays so honestly and beautifully. It's realistic, sad and hopeful all at the same time. A 10 for me.

 

[Stevil2001]

I really hate the sexual healing crap for a lot of different reasons; it really sinks "Home" for me.

 

[Paris]

Loved "Home". One of my favourite Enterprise episodes of not only the fourth season, but the entire series.