The Great Chronological Run-Through

[Deranged Nasat]

What Price Honor?

The timing for this one is tricky, and I don't mean the dates being a year too early. The story takes place in January (New Year is relevant to the plot) which should place this story before the latest three episodes, all of which took place in February. The book mentions Zobral and Risa, though, so this has to take place after the "voyage to Risa" arc. I suppose we just have to accept that things are a little muddled here. Never mind.

A more pressing concern is that this book deals with the loss of a crewman, something that won't happen onscreen until season three (also an armoury officer, which is darkly humorous, I suppose). The book handles the theme quite well though, and the choice of Reed as the officer most directly affected makes it more interesting given Reed's taciturn nature (at least while on duty) - particularly as the dead officer is a character equally difficult for others to crack.

The Sarkassians are rather generic, though the situation they've found themselves in is engaging enough, I suppose. Once again, though, I would have preferred an established name be used rather than two new species being invented, particularly since the Sarkassians seem relatively powerful. That they'll not be seen again is potentially a problem. Ah well, perhaps they and the Ta'alaat bombed each other into near-oblivion. The book does use a canonical creation for the forebear race whose ruins and artefacts drive the conflict; implicitly two established cultures, here suggested to be a single civilization. We'll be seeing the ancient technologies established here in future stories, and archaeological expeditions will still be unearthing Anu'anshee outposts a century down the line.

The role of Vulcan is once again of some note. The ending involves the use of increased Vulcan oversight as a warning of sorts, with Vulcan applying pressure to the Sarkassians from this point forward. "We'll be keeping tabs on you", the Vulcans say, again taking it upon themselves to police the local territories and regulate younger races' use of advanced technology, even when it's technology they didn't invent. The Sarkassians themselves are divided on matters of policy toward other races, or the Ta'alaat at least, and once again we have the crew potentially dragged into other cultures' internal disagreements.

It's mentioned several times that Enterprise has reached an area Vulcans have yet to penetrate - that is, somewhere truly new. They'll be turning back soon enough, though.

We learn that Starfleet maintains facilities in systems proximate to Sol. Dinai Station, near Arcturus, is explicitly said to be at the edge of Starfleet's patrol zone. Pirates are a known quantity in the region. The Denobulan Sector is also proximate to Human-patrolled systems, which makes sense.

Hajjlaran are mentioned as a civilization, when previously it was the name of a spice from Preenos. I hope the Preenosians aren't serving Hajjlarans as spice. Are the Preenosians the Evil Poachers? Did someone tell D'Marr? Are Archer and Trip cannibals?

Overall, this book is quite generic but fairly readable. The twist is enough to make it memorable, and the theme of a crewman's loss, while causing a continuity hiccup, is a worthy one. The rest - the Sarkassian/Ta'alaat conflict - is nothing special, but builds on themes we've had onscreen, regarding policies of interference with both "lesser" cultures and alien conflicts.

Next Time: "Shockwave", consisting of both episodes as well as the novelization.

 

[Christopher]

I don't think it was ever explicitly stated that Crewman Fuller in "Anomaly" was the first casualty NX-01 had ever had, although it was implied. It's more that the writers didn't want to fall prey to redshirt syndrome, didn't want to kill a crewmember onscreen until they had a story where they could really give it impact and where it fit the tone of the story. So if WPH features a crew death well over a year earlier and actually deals with it seriously in the story rather than having it be incidental, then maybe that's not so incompatible. Although I've only read it once, years ago, so it's hard to say for sure.

The one that's really hard to reconcile is Last Full Measure, which has a bunch of MACOs dying in a story set immediately before "Anomaly."

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I don't think it was ever explicitly stated that Crewman Fuller in "Anomaly" was the first casualty NX-01 had ever had, although it was implied. It's more that the writers didn't want to fall prey to redshirt syndrome, didn't want to kill a crewmember onscreen until they had a story where they could really give it impact and where it fit the tone of the story.

I'll have to see what's stated or implied in "Anomaly" when I get to it; I don't know how I gained the impression that Fuller was definitely the first, only that I did. I know that Novakovich survived in "Strange New World" because Scott Bakula wasn't comfortable killing a crewman off without time spent on the crew's reaction, and the writers agreed. (A good call, I'm thankful for it).

As for Last Full Measure, I guess MACOs don't really count as part of the crew? It sounds a bit cold, but I can see the reaction to the death of one of the people they've worked with closely for two years hitting them harder than the death of newly-assigned MACOs who form their own clique with a distinct mission. Perhaps they're not part of the family yet, held apart.

 

[Stevil2001]

What Price Honor? is my favorite ENT novel (not that this is a very competitive field). I remember really liking the spooky tone of the planet scenes. And I remember liking the way Stern depicted the ENT universe with background details: it's a little more built up than the one on screen, I think.

It's also the first appearance of Donna O'Neill, the NX-01's never-on-screen second officer/night watch commander. (Again, a nice detail and bit of realism.)

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I remember liking the way Stern depicted the ENT universe with background details: it's a little more built up than the one on screen, I think.

Part of the appeal of Trek novels is definitely that they allow for greater depth to the backdrop, and can flesh out what we see on screen, so I'll see what I have to say about that when we get to the Daedalus books.

It's also the first appearance of Donna O'Neill, the NX-01's never-on-screen second officer/night watch commander. (Again, a nice detail and bit of realism.)

Good catch; I should have mentioned that, shouldn't I?

 

[Paris]

It's also the first appearance of Donna O'Neill, the NX-01's never-on-screen second officer/night watch commander. (Again, a nice detail and bit of realism.)

Has she been mentioned in the post-Michael Martin Enterprise landscape yet? It'd be cool to see what's up with her now. I imagine she may have her own ship by now...

 

[Christopher]

It's also the first appearance of Donna O'Neill, the NX-01's never-on-screen second officer/night watch commander. (Again, a nice detail and bit of realism.)

Has she been mentioned in the post-Michael Martin Enterprise landscape yet?

Not in anything I've done.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Shockwave"

This is quite effective as a season finale. As a cap to the season, it takes multiple thematic arcs and melds them together. I think it does a good job with it too, capturing most of the important themes and integrating them.

We have the theme of Humanity looking to Enterprise's mission as a celebrity endeavour. Here it takes on a heavier, more sombre feeling than before, as the episode deals not with the joy of it but with the responsibility. Just as Earth has been dragged into interstellar politics by, for example, the interference at P'Jem (which is brought up in the second half more than once) so we see the potential for their actions out here to poison their reputation in the eyes of the people at home, who invested so much in their success. In the novelization, Archer recalls the words of Keyla the Tandaran ("Two Days and Two Nights"), about how they must be naming schools after him on Earth, and now wonders if history will instead vilify him as a man who placed the desire to conquer space above any other concern. We're reminded again that Enterprise carries with it the hopes and ambitions of all Humans, and the weight of that responsibility is made very clear.

There's also the character arc dealing with T'Pol and Archer's relationship. The development on that point is made clear with T'Pol serving as an ally rather than an obstacle, willing to work with Archer for the success of the mission. Her intention to put in a good word with her government if he's prepared to stand up to his is illustrative of V'Lar's observations in "Fallen Hero". As Archer says, it's "probably the first time a Vulcan has attempted to cheer up a Human".

These threads are merged with that of the Temporal Cold War. We have factions attacking the timeline through sullying - or playing upon - the reputation of Enterprise in order to send the ship home in disgrace. It's quite clever, really - the historical importance of the mission is emphasised in several distinct ways, for different definitions of historic. This is perhaps the first time that the far-future interference plot has really sold itself as relevant to the 22nd Century. The importance of the mission from a future perspective as a very real matter of their physical foundation is merged with its abstract importance to the present, and Humanity's self-confidence.

There's something very appealing in Archer's wonder and awe at having travelled through time.

The initial reaction to the loss of the Paraagan colony helps sell the rest of the episode. Everyone's distress and grief comes through very well. The crew retaking the ship in the second part was fun and nicely heroic.

T'Pol's conclusion - that the events of the season should be considered a learning experience for both Humans and Vulcans - is an effective summary of most of the thematic threads brought together here.

The novelization takes the story's role as a season finale even further, really trying to sell the idea that this is an evaluation to what we've seen so far. It brings back notable "lower decks" characters - Rostov, Kelly, Cutler - and explores their reactions and their opinions on the senior staff (especially Cutler saying what she assumes is goodbye to Phlox). It also provides brief novelizations of previous episodes in the Temporal Cold War arc - "Cold Front" and "Detained". It's not a particularly great book by any means, but I appreciate what it was doing to flesh out the episode while emphasising its successes and intent.

Continuity

Archer orders warp four as they make their escape following the raid on the Suliban stealth ship. Again, we see that while it's a warp five engine on paper they don't actually consider warp five to be particularly safe or sustainable. Warp four is the favoured "top speed", apparently, at least when they have a way to go and don't want to burn themselves out.

This is our first indication of what was pretty obvious anyway, that Archer will be instrumental to the founding of the Federation. Apparently, with no Federation Earth won't survive until the 31st Century. It will be destroyed long before then, though how and why remain a mystery.

Chef sort of appears in the novelization, in that other crewmen describe his reactions to having Suliban traipsing through the galley. We don't actually get a picture of him, though. One cannot depict Chef; it would be like giving Morn dialogue. It is simply not done.

First Appearances of things That Are Important

The D'Kyr-class combat cruiser. This is the third design of Vulcan capital ship that we've seen (the show is really fleshing out the Vulcan fleet).

The Romulan Star Empire receives its first mention. It's obviously of some historical importance, given that Daniels is leery of Archer learning anything.

Next Time: "Carbon Creek".

 

[Enterprise1701]

What Price Honor?

The timing for this one is tricky, and I don't mean the dates being a year too early. The story takes place in January (New Year is relevant to the plot) which should place this story before the latest three episodes, all of which took place in February. The book mentions Zobral and Risa, though, so this has to take place after the "voyage to Risa" arc. I suppose we just have to accept that things are a little muddled here. Never mind.

I noticed how the novel mistakenly gives the dates as being in December 2150/January 2151 when ENT began in April 2151, but in one instance the date is correctly given as January 2152. However, Voyages of Imagination moves the main story to late February 2152 between "Oasis" and "Detained" to account for the aforementioned Risa arc.

I blame this on that nasty bugger Q.

Say, Christopher, does The Buried Age reference Camus II and/or the Anu'anshee?

 

[Christopher]

^I believe I did throw in a passing reference to one of the worlds related to Camus II as mentioned in this novel, yes.

 

[Enterpriserules]

Deranged Nasat: I really love these reviews. I think you are showing the validity of ENT as a series and how good it was. It's nice to see someone really digging in and appreciating the connectedness of the episodes and the fact that it was a "worthy" show. (at least till that last episode

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Deranged Nasat: I really love these reviews. I think you are showing the validity of ENT as a series and how good it was. It's nice to see someone really digging in and appreciating the connectedness of the episodes and the fact that it was a "worthy" show. (at least till that last episode

Thanks. While I remember season two being weaker (and the weakest season overall), I've been impressed with season one during this rewatch. It's successfully threaded several thematic arcs through the various episodes, and given us multiple angles on the thornier aspects of the setting, e.g. Vulcan socio-political dominance over Earth-adjacent space. The writers really mined the potential there. Season one has been consistently quite good, I think, with almost every episode adding something to the established themes and ideas that underly the setting and the time period. It's in the middle of season two that I remember the show losing its way a bit, probably because that season is the only one that doesn't really have an arc or a thematic purpose (Archer's troubles with the Klingons come closest).

 

[Deranged Nasat]

^I believe I did throw in a passing reference to one of the worlds related to Camus II as mentioned in this novel, yes.

You did. Kandoge and Eris Alpha are indeed mentioned in The Buried Age.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Carbon Creek"

I really like this episode; it remains one of my favourites. The basic idea behind it isn't necessarily that great - Vulcans landed in the 1950s and one of them wanted to stay, how cute - but it has a lot of charm. It's also trying something different, experimenting a bit. It's somewhat whimsical and is simply very enjoyable to watch. I like too how it shows T'Mir's view on Humans changing relatively subtly, without spelling it out (e.g. her learning that some Humans meditate frequently). Her quiet development is actually far more effective than any speech on the subject would have been.

This episode doesn't do any damage to the backstory, either. We know that Vulcan was monitoring Earth to some extent prior to 2063, because we were told that they deemed the planet uninteresting until they detected evidence of a warp flight. They were obviously snooping around, and why not have small, unremembered contacts and events that weren't big enough to make the history books? That a stranded party happened to include T'Pol's direct ancestor is pushing it a bit, but then perhaps T'Pol ended up assigned to Earth precisely because her family had passed down stories? That ending really works, and is the closest we've come to a "tender" moment with a Vulcan. A family heirloom, one that presumably has taken on more significance for T'Pol now that she herself has built a relationship with a community of Humans.

I must protest Mr. Stron's caustic though amusing evaluation of Earth. Alcohol, frozen fish sticks and the threat of nuclear annihilation is all we need for a good time, thank you very much.

It's one year to the day since T'Pol came aboard Enterprise.

This is the first time we see Humans and Vulcans engaged in "intimate activity", though I don't think they went so far as to have active intimacy. On that note, Mestral better make sure he's either in a relationship or making use of those street corners when the Pon Farr comes 'round.

I assume the name T'Mir is supposed to suggest the space station.

T'Mir refers to television as an "idiotic device", so clearly she's coming to understand Earth rather well. The Twilight Zone exists in the Trek universe; Trip mentions it, and Archer clearly knows what he's talking about. I wonder what other TV shows exist and which, besides the obvious, don't. Also, what did they name the prototype space shuttle? The thought experiments are limitless.

The episode also reveals that velcro was a Vulcan invention. Myriad Universes: The Tears of Eridanus will refer to the material as vel-kroh. In reality (which as recent threads have reminded us, violates canon and should therefore probably be ignored) velcro comes from the French for "velvet" and "hook", apparently, and was invented by one George de Mestral. That name seems familiar...Why, oh why, does neither Wikipedia or Memory Alpha mention this? That's a good joke. EDIT: Apparently they do, and I wasn't looking hard enough. Never mind then, carry on!

We learn that Tellarites have been established as a spacefaring culture since at least the 20th Century. By the 1950s they're already operating freighters between the stars and are in contact with the Vulcans. This episode marks the first but not the last time this season that a Tellarite Freighter is helpful yet dedicated to its own schedule. They'll assist you, but damn it, they have to get their truffles to market you know.

Next Time: The Romulans make their dramatic entrance in "Minefield", which also features... a minefield.

 

[Christopher]

It's one year to the day since T'Pol came aboard Enterprise.

Which is interesting, since "Shockwave" was only ten months after launch. Although it would've had to be a bit more than ten months, given the log date in "Two Days and Two Nights" (10 months & 2 days after the log entry a few days after launch in "Broken Bow"). So there's a gap of maybe a month and a half or so between these two episodes.

 

[Enterprise1701]

I love how From History's Shadow followed up things including "Carbon Creek". I was ecstatic to find out that Dayton has plans for a sequel. I hope it portrays what Mestral does next after the Certoss incident.

 

[Stevil2001]

The episode also reveals that velcro was a Vulcan invention. Myriad Universes: The Tears of Eridanus will refer to the material as vel-kroh. In reality (which as recent threads have reminded us, violates canon and should therefore probably be ignored) velcro comes from the French for "velvet" and "hook", apparently, and was invented by one George de Mestral. That name seems familiar...Why, oh why, does neither Wikipedia or Memory Alpha mention this? That's a good joke. EDIT: Apparently they do, and I wasn't looking hard enough. Never mind then, carry on!

A universe without Vulcan is a universe without verlcro! How do kindergartners keep their shoes on in the Eridanusverse?

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Minefield"


A rather dull title, really. Some of the titles have been quite good, in that they've given us some double meanings, none amazingly clever but still worth noting. "Broken Bow", "Breaking the Ice", "Fusion", etc. This one is among the obviously straightforward.

The ship's Daniels-derived cloak-penetrating beacons are used again, and tweaked here to penetrate different types of cloaking field. It's good that this technology is being reused and hasn't been forgotten, like too many Star Trek technologies are (later this season, the writers will sheepishly remember that Enterprise has a Suliban cell ship).

So, the Romulans make their entrance here, after "Shockwave" namedropped them and hinted at their future importance. It's interesting that it's not certain in this episode how much T'Pol knows. She's long past the point where she mistrusts the crew and would keep things from them on principle, but some secrets are more important than others. How much does the Vulcan High Command know? From this episode, we don't get any indication, and following my chronology here we have no way of knowing that the Romulans are Vulcan. Apparently, there's no clue in the language, since Hoshi doesn't turn around at any point with, "say, Subcommander, this is like an old dialect of Vulcan taken in a different direction".

On that note, apparently "Romulan" is their translated name even before anyone knows about the twin worlds and makes the connection to Earth mythology. Federation: The First 150 Years, while not a part of this continuity, suggests that Romulus is actually Rom A'Losh ("Raptor's Nest"), presumably making Romulans "Raptors". Vulcan's Soul will suggest that the twin worlds were named for mythological twins who are evidently a near equivalent to Romulus and Remus; the novel continuity as a whole uses Rihannsu as the primary Romulan language, in which Romulus is ch'Rihan, "Of the Declared". It seems then, if we're to make sense of all this, that the Humans heard "Romulans, from Rom A'Losh" and said, in that charmingly ethnocentric way of Humans, "oh, okay, Romulans from Romulus" (see also: Raij'hl and Dhei-Lta), which just so happened to be far more appropriate than they realized in that an alternate name for the Romulan homeworld indeed drew upon the mythology of twins. Satisfied with this, the Humans labelled the planet Romulus and never budged, even if Rihannsu had something different to say.

It's interesting that the Romulans play a rather generic role as "alien hostiles" here; there's no clue as to the central importance they'll play in the years to come.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important:

The Romulans. They're described as territorial and aggressive, but not well-known or understood by the Vulcans. We don't see a Romulan, but we hear the voice of one, which is appropriately commanding and paranoid, aggressive and proud with a hint of fear, reinforcing the xenophobia attributed to the race. The blood-green avian design lineage to Romulan ships is introduced alongside them, though I'm disappointed that we didn't get a bird painted on the underside. Having received my Eaglemoss model not too long ago (it now stands proudly alongside my D'deridex, to be joined in a few months by a Mogai), I must say that the accompanying magazine's picture of the original design, complete with bird, is fantastic, and I wish the final version had retained it.

Tricobolt Explosives feature in the Romulan mine.

Continuity

The World Cup is still in effect on Earth. However, England has qualified for the final, sending this into the realm of ludicrous fantasy.

The Romulan star system into which Enterprise has blundered will later be confirmed as Unroth.

****

"Dead Stop"

First off, well done to the writers for dealing with the aftermath of "Minefield", and presenting Enterprise as in need of significant repairs (and Reed along with it). That there are consequences to blowing up part of the ship is a welcome relief.

So, one of those sort-of helpful Tellarite freighters directs Enterprise to... The Repair Station *scare chord*. Viewers know by now that when B'Elanna's voice is coming out of a computer, that AI is evil and destructive and tricky, but Archer and co don't know it yet. The repair station is quite effective, I suppose, given how bright the set is and how non-malicious the computer voice and its programmed responses are. There's no sense of a true adversary here, and the mystery is left unresolved. The third Rise of the Federation book will apparently be delving into it, just as the first book answered the other enduring Enterprise mystery by featuring the "Shroomies".

First Appearances of Things That Are Important:

A full-blown replicator, described as being like a protein resequencer only more advanced.

Mention is made of Rigellian Fever, which I count as important since several later stories will feature it in a significant role. Apparently, the crew were inoculated against the fever when Crewman Fisher contracted it recently on Tessik Prime. This presumably occurred during the month and a half of missing time that Christopher mentioned a few posts back.

Continuity

We're now about 130 light-years from Earth, assuming Archer's comment about catfish is to be taken literally, and I don't see why not, since it seems an appropriate distance (remembering that Risa was about 90).

The Tarkalians (Tarkaleans) are mentioned for the first time. Apparently they're quite advanced, given that they're using replicators already. T'Pol has visited a Tarkalian ship; later in the season we'll meet some Tarkalians in person.

Hoshi mentions the dead bodies on the Axanar ship from "Fight or Flight". Several Axanar are among the victims here, presumably because the studio had all those corpses lying around. There's also a Klingon or two, a Kreetassan, a Vulcan and - amusingly - what I'm pretty sure is a Vaadwaur.

The incident with the scratch on the hull that Trip promised to paint over was, I believe, actually seen in the pliot.

Regulan Blood Worms, introduced in "Two Days and Two Nights" are used again here. One has decided it likes Malcolm's leg and is refusing to come out. The benevolent medicinal usage of blood worms is an interesting departure from what seems to have been the standard fanon interpretation that they're dangerous creatures. It makes sense in a strange way that Klingons would use the name of this creature as an insult - not only is it ugly and spineless and squishy, but it helps the weak. It is not an honourable creature.

Next Time: Archer threatens to urinate on priceless cultural relics in "A Night In Sickbay".

 

[Thrawn]

The World Cup is still in effect on Earth. However, England has qualified for the final, sending this into the realm of ludicrous fantasy.

 

[Christopher]

"Minefield"


A rather dull title, really. Some of the titles have been quite good, in that they've given us some double meanings, none amazingly clever but still worth noting. "Broken Bow", "Breaking the Ice", "Fusion", etc. This one is among the obviously straightforward.

I don't know about that. There's the political/diplomatic minefield of trying to deal with the Romulans, and there's the personal minefield of differing attitudes between Archer and Reed. Although that might be a bit of a stretch.

On that note, apparently "Romulan" is their translated name even before anyone knows about the twin worlds and makes the connection to Earth mythology.

Yeah, I hated it when the episode did that. I wish, instead of having Hoshi call them "Rommelan" and have T'Pol say "It's pronounced Romulan," they'd had T'Pol offer some alien sound that was similar to "Romulan" and had the humans mangle it into that over her futile protests. Or just straight up stuck with the intended classical origin of the name -- had T'Pol say they were from twin planets and offer some hard-to-pronounce names (like, oh, ch'Rihan and ch'Havran) and have Hoshi or someone suggest Romulus and Remus as appropriate equivalents.

The problem is that Americans don't get a classical education anymore. I wonder if the makers of the episode even realized that the Romulans took their name from Roman mythology. Or maybe they just figured the audience wouldn't know.

The blood-green avian design lineage to Romulan ships is introduced alongside them, though I'm disappointed that we didn't get a bird painted on the underside.

There is an avian shape molded into the underside in the relief details. Maybe the description handed down through the Stiles family got mangled by the time it got to a certain future lieutenant.

"Dead Stop"

First off, well done to the writers for dealing with the aftermath of "Minefield", and presenting Enterprise as in need of significant repairs (and Reed along with it). That there are consequences to blowing up part of the ship is a welcome relief.

Yeah, I really liked the continuity there. It's a good start to a season that unfortunately tends to meander later on.

Speaking of things that make their first appearance, the digital models of the hull damage in these two episodes will be recycled as part of the more extensive hull damage the ship sustains in season 3 (spoilers!).