The Watching/Rewatching Enterprise Thread
- Thread starter eyeresist
- Start date
I watched a bunch more ENT over the weekend, finishing season 3 and getting well into season 4. The last three episode of s3 kind of blur together for me, but they are entertaining and resolve the season issues nicely. My big gripe is the twist at the end - space Nazis! It takes some weight away from the conclusion of the Xindi arc. I'll also take this moment to point out that the MACO camo design looks like there was some sort of mucous incident.
Storm Front 1 & 2 resolves the season 3 finale and winds up the temporal cold war by stopping it before it ever began.
BTW, I have no idea what the title means. Daniels' make-up was agreeably horrifying.
This story sets up the approach of this season, which is very much exuberant sci-fi adventure. It's entertaining, but for me it's not as impressive as the way the previous seasons addressed heavy moral and character themes.
Home
I dislike this episode, mostly because whatever maturity Archer acquired during his previous adventures seems to evaporate. He's back where he started, reacting to Vulcan questioning by throwing a tantrum.
Tucker visiting T'Pol's home on Vulcan had a lot of potential, but was let down by the acting, particularly of T'Pol's mother, who acts nothing like a Vulcan. While T'Pol's fiance Koss isn't completely awful, he does wear a completely awful wig.
This is when I noticed that, although T'Pol is supposed to be getting used to emotions after her trellium-D addiction of the previous season, she spends much of season 4 looking like she's about to have a breakdown.
The Augments arc: Borderland/Cold Station 12/The Augments
This is more of that fairly superficial sci-fi adventure I mentioned above. I do find Spiner's performance as the wicked Dr Soong very enjoyable. The Orion slave market was interesting, though obviously built on a budget; interesting to see the sale of an Orion slave-girl in light of revelations in the later episode Bound. I think my favourite ep was Cold Station 12, as I found the setting intriguing and the stakes felt high.
The Augments themselves dress like something from a New Romantic music video, and are (of course) ridiculously arrogant. The young actors are a bit too Hollywood-bland to be interesting, but I did notice Malik putting on a sort-of British accent, presumably because English=Evil.
The Vulcan arc: The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara
I love the first episode, The Forge. It's so well written and directed, opening up Vulcan culture and creating a great sense of intrigue. Among other things, I love the idea of the desert of the title being a path of pilgrimage, with various sites relating to Surak's life along the way.
The following episodes aren't so great, with dialogue tending to the merely functional. In Awakening there is again the casting problem we saw in Home: T'Pol's mother has calmed down a bit, but T'Pau is woeful, emoting all over the place and coming across like a brat. Surak isn't awful, but I do wish he had been more charismatic.
The best part of Kir'Shara, for me, is the scenes of Shran interrogating Soval. For fans of these two characters their interactions are delicious. I especially liked the way Soval's emotions are released by the interrogation machine. I don't know if this guy is a great actor, but Soval is a great Vulcan, and I now have a fantasy about him making an appearance in the upcoming movie.
The last time I watched this, I didn't realise that the mysterious figure at the end of the arc was a Romulan - which ties this into the Andorian arc.
Daedalus
Very much an old-fashioned episode, with a guest of the week coming aboard to sort through his issues, just like on The Love Boat! I mean, TNG....
The central story is sort of interesting, but I don't like the guest actor, which sort of lets the whole thing down. Also, the plot requires Archer to act like an ass again, in order to keep the dangerous experiment (and the plot) going after someone is killed. There are some nice Trip/T'Pol bits, but the scene that is supposed to resolve their subplot makes no sense.
Observer Effect
I love the concept and much of the execution. It's an intriguing story and all the cast have a lot to do. Unfortunately the requirements of the script (being possessed by alien entities) expose the limitations of a couple of the actors. Also, it's a crucial plot point that in 10,000 years of observation, no species has shown as much compassion as the humans, which I find unbelievable. It also requires Archer to lecture the aliens on just how awesome humans are, a trope I would rather was confined to TNG and TOS.
The Andorian arc: Babel One/United/The Aenar
This is a good one, though I think it suffers from piling on too many different aliens (Andorians, Tellarites, Romulans, Rigelians, Aenar) and new technologies, making it a bit unbelievable. I also don't care for the Tellarites as serious dramatic protagonists; they were originally comedic figures, and their species characteristic - arguments and abuse as good etiquette - is ridiculous in realistic terms. The result is that the scenes of Shran, Archer and the Tellarite all yelling at each other seem childish. I also don't like how quickly Shran goes from mourning his beloved to being set up with the Aenar girl.
The idea of the Romulan stealth drone is interesting, and I liked the sequences of Trip and Malcolm stranded on it. But how did the Romulans kidnap an Aenar from Andoria?
The Shran/Archer fight is an obvious nod to TOS (I almost expected to hear the famous fight music*), but forgivable because it's such fun. The ice-knives and gauntlets look impressive.
The Aenar girl was good too, and the close-ups of her and her brother inside their control helmets were beautiful and effective.
But now Tucker want to leave the Enterprise, and goes whimpering to Archer for a transfer. Don't leave all your friends in the lurch just 'cause T'Pol's acting weird, Trip. Bros before hos!
Storm Front 1 & 2 resolves the season 3 finale and winds up the temporal cold war by stopping it before it ever began.
BTW, I have no idea what the title means. Daniels' make-up was agreeably horrifying.This story sets up the approach of this season, which is very much exuberant sci-fi adventure. It's entertaining, but for me it's not as impressive as the way the previous seasons addressed heavy moral and character themes.
Home
I dislike this episode, mostly because whatever maturity Archer acquired during his previous adventures seems to evaporate. He's back where he started, reacting to Vulcan questioning by throwing a tantrum.
Tucker visiting T'Pol's home on Vulcan had a lot of potential, but was let down by the acting, particularly of T'Pol's mother, who acts nothing like a Vulcan. While T'Pol's fiance Koss isn't completely awful, he does wear a completely awful wig.
This is when I noticed that, although T'Pol is supposed to be getting used to emotions after her trellium-D addiction of the previous season, she spends much of season 4 looking like she's about to have a breakdown.
The Augments arc: Borderland/Cold Station 12/The Augments
This is more of that fairly superficial sci-fi adventure I mentioned above. I do find Spiner's performance as the wicked Dr Soong very enjoyable. The Orion slave market was interesting, though obviously built on a budget; interesting to see the sale of an Orion slave-girl in light of revelations in the later episode Bound. I think my favourite ep was Cold Station 12, as I found the setting intriguing and the stakes felt high.
The Augments themselves dress like something from a New Romantic music video, and are (of course) ridiculously arrogant. The young actors are a bit too Hollywood-bland to be interesting, but I did notice Malik putting on a sort-of British accent, presumably because English=Evil.
The Vulcan arc: The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara
I love the first episode, The Forge. It's so well written and directed, opening up Vulcan culture and creating a great sense of intrigue. Among other things, I love the idea of the desert of the title being a path of pilgrimage, with various sites relating to Surak's life along the way.
The following episodes aren't so great, with dialogue tending to the merely functional. In Awakening there is again the casting problem we saw in Home: T'Pol's mother has calmed down a bit, but T'Pau is woeful, emoting all over the place and coming across like a brat. Surak isn't awful, but I do wish he had been more charismatic.
The best part of Kir'Shara, for me, is the scenes of Shran interrogating Soval. For fans of these two characters their interactions are delicious. I especially liked the way Soval's emotions are released by the interrogation machine. I don't know if this guy is a great actor, but Soval is a great Vulcan, and I now have a fantasy about him making an appearance in the upcoming movie.
The last time I watched this, I didn't realise that the mysterious figure at the end of the arc was a Romulan - which ties this into the Andorian arc.
Daedalus
Very much an old-fashioned episode, with a guest of the week coming aboard to sort through his issues, just like on The Love Boat! I mean, TNG....
The central story is sort of interesting, but I don't like the guest actor, which sort of lets the whole thing down. Also, the plot requires Archer to act like an ass again, in order to keep the dangerous experiment (and the plot) going after someone is killed. There are some nice Trip/T'Pol bits, but the scene that is supposed to resolve their subplot makes no sense.
At which point I shout at the screen, "Well, I don't!"
Observer Effect
I love the concept and much of the execution. It's an intriguing story and all the cast have a lot to do. Unfortunately the requirements of the script (being possessed by alien entities) expose the limitations of a couple of the actors. Also, it's a crucial plot point that in 10,000 years of observation, no species has shown as much compassion as the humans, which I find unbelievable. It also requires Archer to lecture the aliens on just how awesome humans are, a trope I would rather was confined to TNG and TOS.
The Andorian arc: Babel One/United/The Aenar
This is a good one, though I think it suffers from piling on too many different aliens (Andorians, Tellarites, Romulans, Rigelians, Aenar) and new technologies, making it a bit unbelievable. I also don't care for the Tellarites as serious dramatic protagonists; they were originally comedic figures, and their species characteristic - arguments and abuse as good etiquette - is ridiculous in realistic terms. The result is that the scenes of Shran, Archer and the Tellarite all yelling at each other seem childish. I also don't like how quickly Shran goes from mourning his beloved to being set up with the Aenar girl.
The idea of the Romulan stealth drone is interesting, and I liked the sequences of Trip and Malcolm stranded on it. But how did the Romulans kidnap an Aenar from Andoria?
The Shran/Archer fight is an obvious nod to TOS (I almost expected to hear the famous fight music*), but forgivable because it's such fun. The ice-knives and gauntlets look impressive.
I liked the subtle "rainbow" highlights in the Aenar ice caves (and check out the pretty decal behind Archer's head when he is in the Aenar room). Also, the "ice-bores" were a great little science fictional touch - they didn't have to be there, but the way they were referenced in one scene then actually shown in a later one was great dramatic world-building.
The Aenar girl was good too, and the close-ups of her and her brother inside their control helmets were beautiful and effective.
But now Tucker want to leave the Enterprise, and goes whimpering to Archer for a transfer. Don't leave all your friends in the lurch just 'cause T'Pol's acting weird, Trip. Bros before hos!
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Wow, eyeresist , that's quite the marathon ! 
I agree with a lot of what you said. However, I didn't see Archer as exhibiting a lack of maturity in Home, so much as I think he was suffering from PTSD, and then going off the handle when questioned about his decisions. I did find it a nice touch when Soval thanked Archer, and even shook his hand.as I recall, Vulcans don't like "touch", so shaking hands was a big deal. My opinion on Archer is just that, an opinion.
Besides that, we see heroic Soval later, as he stands up to the High Command, and also survives some torture. As for other Vulcans, I also agree with your assessment on T'Pol's mom. Aside from the awful wig, I did like Koss. He seemed to be very honorable - what with helping Archer , then releasing T'Pol from the bond. And T'Pau..,yea, something between a brat and a know-it-all...a teenager maybe?
Daedalus was just..awful. I also was not impressed with the main guest star.
I enjoyed the Andorian arc, especially the Trip/Malcolm scenes. And that scene where they were out in space with all the task force ships around was pretty impressive on my new big screen t.v.
and when the ships take off at warp and I think Malcolm says "they left us!" 
Sounds like you're at the point where Trip throws his little self-pity party and decides to leave. That was just, meh. Thankfully it doesn't last too long.
Oh, and the Augments just took me back to those bad 80s sci fi movies.
I agree with a lot of what you said. However, I didn't see Archer as exhibiting a lack of maturity in Home, so much as I think he was suffering from PTSD, and then going off the handle when questioned about his decisions. I did find it a nice touch when Soval thanked Archer, and even shook his hand.as I recall, Vulcans don't like "touch", so shaking hands was a big deal. My opinion on Archer is just that, an opinion.
Besides that, we see heroic Soval later, as he stands up to the High Command, and also survives some torture. As for other Vulcans, I also agree with your assessment on T'Pol's mom. Aside from the awful wig, I did like Koss. He seemed to be very honorable - what with helping Archer , then releasing T'Pol from the bond. And T'Pau..,yea, something between a brat and a know-it-all...a teenager maybe?
Daedalus was just..awful. I also was not impressed with the main guest star.
I enjoyed the Andorian arc, especially the Trip/Malcolm scenes. And that scene where they were out in space with all the task force ships around was pretty impressive on my new big screen t.v.
and when the ships take off at warp and I think Malcolm says "they left us!" Sounds like you're at the point where Trip throws his little self-pity party and decides to leave. That was just, meh. Thankfully it doesn't last too long.
Oh, and the Augments just took me back to those bad 80s sci fi movies.
It didn't occur to me to see Archer's behaviour in the light of PTSD - I will try to bear that in mind next time I watch this episode. Yes, I liked the hand-shake moment too. I've seen some people criticise it, but they tend to be haters anyway. And Soval's arguably non-Vulcan behaviour is justified by a very amusing exchange in the episode Awakening:
BTW, when I quote from Enterprise I use this handy site, which has transcriptions of all the episodes: http://www.chakoteya.net/Enterprise/episodes.htm
Yes, being single does have some advantages.I honestly don't know where you'd get the time to watch an entire season in a day. Oh, wait...yes I do! It's called being single.
Seriously though, Archer was always in need of a dose of Ritalin....
Ritalin to even Archer out seems a good idea - or perhaps something more herbal?....
(That's a joke - in my experience pot has largely negative personality effects.)
So , I just rewatches the Andorian arc. and, eyeresist, I agree with you..as I was disappointed on how Shran went from mourning Talas to being possibly setup with Jhamal (sp?) - but that was on my first watch. On rewatch, I didnt get a "romantic vibe" for the pair, as much as I felt that Shran was being ultra protective of her. I think that through most of his appearances, Shran comes across is ultra emotional (possibly as an antithesis to the ultra logical Vulcans). I could see him as being more of a "big brother" to Jhamal, if my perception wasn't so colored by what the post-Enterprise novels show...and I don't want to go into spoilers about the novels.
^ I admit the relationship could be regarded in different ways, but from his behaviour (eye contact, physical proximity, low voice) romance fits best for me.
I've watched more of season 4 over this week, and have a few general thoughts. I think ENT must have had its budget significantly reduced for its final season:
1. There seems to be no location shooting after the first three episodes (except possibly some desert exteriors in The Forge? I don't remember. The street scene in Affliction would have been shot on the Paramount lot).
2. The mess hall set seems to have been scrapped, as its only appearance is in Observer Effect (possibly this was the first episode shot for the season?). This is a shame, as conversations in the mess hall and captain's mess in previous seasons really opened up the show and made it more "real" and more human.
3. The season has two "bottle episodes", which are done to save money. Observer Effect is a good one; Daedelus is not. In the latter they did have two guest actors but on the other hand that ship looks awfully empty. Apart from the lack of extras, Hoshi does not appear at all; Reed has three lines in one scene.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BottleEpisode
The Klingon arc: Affliction / Divergence
More sci-fi adventure (see my previous posts). Malcolm's dilemma is a nice bit of angst and conflict, and although it was not foreshadowed, it makes sense that the intelligence service would want one of their people on Earth's first exploration spaceship (especially as the Vulcans have put their own person on board). The in-between makeup on the mutated Klingons was cleverly designed to connect the later versions with TOS.
Complaints: The Klingons were really hamming it up too much. The Klingon sets were small and uninteresting; the red light strip around the doorway to the lab looked very odd. The action music in the second episode was really irritating. The way the Klingons wanted to destroy the base even though Phlox had found a cure for their plague was rather silly.
Bound
This is a much better episode on second viewing! The ogling of the Orion girls seems like a sleazy and undesirable return to the sexism of 60s Trek, but once you know what's really going on, the episode plays differently. The big twist, that it's the "slave" girls who are really in charge, is clever and interesting. To be honest, I was kind of hoping Archer would threaten to flush them out an airlock.
This ep also pays off the "daydreams" subplot nicely, in a way that both develops T'Pol and Trip's relationship, and is essential to the plot. And Phlox injecting himself in the middle of a sentence is a very funny moment.
The scene in the gym is nice, and very interesting in regards to Mayweather's character - he is so much more interesting and more believable when he has an "edge". If only he had played the character this way, rather than as the bland nice-guy, Mayweather wouldn't be the joke he is now regarded as. This also applies to the character he plays in the Mirror episodes.
In a Mirror Darkly, Part 1
I watched this last night. It lacks something in pace, but contains many great pleasures: all the characters get fun things to do, and there are many nice nods to previous episodes and movies (I'm sure there are many references I missed). Note that the display of previous Enterprises in the ready room has been replaced with a display of historic weapons, including the gun with which Zefram Cochrane repelled the Vulcan "invasion" (a reference to First Contact).
"Captain" Forrest returns! (to be killed off again in the next ep.)
Bakula is obviously having fun playing a complete bastard; Reed revels in being evil. Mayweather gets to be dark and threatening, with more to do in the next ep IIRC. I think Trip would have been better with an eye-patch. Phlox is basically the same as normal! I've always felt there was a ruthlessness underlying his character.... He gives possibly the best line reading of the ep: "Will you kindly die?" Though Reed's "Aren't all Tellarites guilty of something?" runs a close second. Plus Archer growling "Break him." I guess there are a lot of great lines in this ep!
The TOS-era Defiant is very impressive. They tweaked it in a few subtle ways to make it less cardboard and more real than the original, but still I'm surprised at how well it works in the context of modern cameras and naturalistic acting.
I'll watch the sequel this weekend!
I've watched more of season 4 over this week, and have a few general thoughts. I think ENT must have had its budget significantly reduced for its final season:
1. There seems to be no location shooting after the first three episodes (except possibly some desert exteriors in The Forge? I don't remember. The street scene in Affliction would have been shot on the Paramount lot).
2. The mess hall set seems to have been scrapped, as its only appearance is in Observer Effect (possibly this was the first episode shot for the season?). This is a shame, as conversations in the mess hall and captain's mess in previous seasons really opened up the show and made it more "real" and more human.
3. The season has two "bottle episodes", which are done to save money. Observer Effect is a good one; Daedelus is not. In the latter they did have two guest actors but on the other hand that ship looks awfully empty. Apart from the lack of extras, Hoshi does not appear at all; Reed has three lines in one scene.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BottleEpisode
The Klingon arc: Affliction / Divergence
More sci-fi adventure (see my previous posts). Malcolm's dilemma is a nice bit of angst and conflict, and although it was not foreshadowed, it makes sense that the intelligence service would want one of their people on Earth's first exploration spaceship (especially as the Vulcans have put their own person on board). The in-between makeup on the mutated Klingons was cleverly designed to connect the later versions with TOS.
Complaints: The Klingons were really hamming it up too much. The Klingon sets were small and uninteresting; the red light strip around the doorway to the lab looked very odd. The action music in the second episode was really irritating. The way the Klingons wanted to destroy the base even though Phlox had found a cure for their plague was rather silly.
Bound
This is a much better episode on second viewing! The ogling of the Orion girls seems like a sleazy and undesirable return to the sexism of 60s Trek, but once you know what's really going on, the episode plays differently. The big twist, that it's the "slave" girls who are really in charge, is clever and interesting. To be honest, I was kind of hoping Archer would threaten to flush them out an airlock.
This ep also pays off the "daydreams" subplot nicely, in a way that both develops T'Pol and Trip's relationship, and is essential to the plot. And Phlox injecting himself in the middle of a sentence is a very funny moment.
The scene in the gym is nice, and very interesting in regards to Mayweather's character - he is so much more interesting and more believable when he has an "edge". If only he had played the character this way, rather than as the bland nice-guy, Mayweather wouldn't be the joke he is now regarded as. This also applies to the character he plays in the Mirror episodes.
In a Mirror Darkly, Part 1
I watched this last night. It lacks something in pace, but contains many great pleasures: all the characters get fun things to do, and there are many nice nods to previous episodes and movies (I'm sure there are many references I missed). Note that the display of previous Enterprises in the ready room has been replaced with a display of historic weapons, including the gun with which Zefram Cochrane repelled the Vulcan "invasion" (a reference to First Contact).
"Captain" Forrest returns! (to be killed off again in the next ep.)
Bakula is obviously having fun playing a complete bastard; Reed revels in being evil. Mayweather gets to be dark and threatening, with more to do in the next ep IIRC. I think Trip would have been better with an eye-patch. Phlox is basically the same as normal! I've always felt there was a ruthlessness underlying his character.... He gives possibly the best line reading of the ep: "Will you kindly die?" Though Reed's "Aren't all Tellarites guilty of something?" runs a close second. Plus Archer growling "Break him." I guess there are a lot of great lines in this ep!
The TOS-era Defiant is very impressive. They tweaked it in a few subtle ways to make it less cardboard and more real than the original, but still I'm surprised at how well it works in the context of modern cameras and naturalistic acting.
I'll watch the sequel this weekend!
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Oh, I forgot to mention before that one of my personal joys while watching the Andorian arc was glimpsing a couple of Remans in the scenes on Romulus. They were introduced in Nemesis, which I think is an underrated movie.
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Reman
http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Reman
I didn't understand the reference the first time through..but then I finally watched Nemisis a few weeks ago. Now I get it!
I've been doing some rewatching of S4 myself this week. Yesterday it was Affliction/Divergence. I enjoyed the angst of it all. But in this watch, I was trying to gauge Archer. He threw Reed in the brig, and made the comment along the lines of Reed being the last one he'd suspect of treason. But then he turns around and basically trusts Reed with Tucker's life on getting him on to Enterprise. That takes some trust. And then the drama of trusting Reed to perform a maneuver that apparently had never been done before. That takes a lot of trust too. My thought was that Archer knew that Reed was going through "something" , and perhaps he saw that Reed was struggling with his conscience...and that throwing Reed in the brig was , in part, trying to shock him out of it.
Archer did come to Reed's defense pretty quickly when he told Harris that he "put him (Reed) in an impossible position."
And in regards to Section 31 having someone on Enterprise..I got the impression that Reed truly thought he was done with Section 31 , and wasn't under their "employ" when he was assigned to Enterprise.
Harris was pretty stupid/naive in trusting the Klingons though!
I doubt Reed would have been so trusting...
And I have to say that Soval is in a dead heat with Spock as my personal favorite Vulcan!
So, I think I'm going to force myself to watch Daedelus today, so that I can comment on it with more knowledge...(it's one of my least favorite Trek eps)
Poor Malcolm is like a worried dog in the Klingon arc! I think Archer knew him well enough to know that Malcolm wasn't just being treacherous, but was facing a real "crisis of honour". I agree that throwing him in the brig was probably a case of shock treatment.
Regarding Section 31, that sounds like intelligence methodology to me - once someone has worked for you, you have your hooks in them for life. (Or maybe I read too many John Le Carre novels?)
In a Mirror Darkly, Part 2
Despite all the interesting things happening, the pace does feel a bit plodding.
It's fun seeing the interiors of the original Enterprise, sorry, Defiant, recreated.
Speaking of Soval, here is his mirror version, wearing a beard and looking rather less grey than "our" version. I did think his scream as his ship exploded was rather unVulcan.
I do wonder how an Orion slave girl would work out on the bridge of a Starfleet ship, given what we learned about them in Bound. Maybe they have to be spayed? Or they take an oath something like Ilia's "oath of celibacy" in TMP.
Malcolm's dying line (if he is dying): "I've failed you, Captain." Wonderfully melodramatic.
BTW, in the audio commentary for Part 1, the writer, while talking about the alternative opening credits, said Brannon Braga wanted to recreated the TNG titles for another episode. Is he referring to These Are The Voyages? Is he serious, or is he making a joke?
Demons / Terra Prime
I've never much liked this arc, and rewatching hasn't changed my mind. There are some points that bother me:
1. Who would think a Terran/Vulcan baby would stir up xenophobia? I think a cute little baby with pointed ears would have the opposite effect. It would have been more logical to cross with a Klingon or Tellarite. But they wanted to cram in the Trip/T'Pol story, even if it made no sense.
1a. T'Pol says "the moment Phlox said that the child was ours, I knew it was true," which apparently is some kind of special Vulcan ability, to believe something is true AFTER someone tells you it is.
2. Terra Prime have a halfbreed baby AND a doomsday weapon. In the end, Paxton mentions the baby in his speech almost as a throwaway line.
3. If you're going to infiltrate a Terrans-only organisation, taking a Vulcan with you is pretty stupid.
4. Trip's grief at the end was way overdone, considering the baby had been created in a lab without his knowledge, and he'd had no time to live with the idea or imprint on the baby. This was just done so that Braga could have the couple broken up in These Are The Voyages.
5. I thought Archer's speech was a bit of a mess, and Bakula's desire to walk around while speechifying was really overindulged, especially when he does that final loop around his crewmates. Also, Soval leaping to his feet applauding was just too unVulcan. If he'd just joined in the clapping and smiled quietly, that would have been much more effective.
6. Travis's girlfriend was extremely bland, and they had no chemistry. It was nice that Travis got something to do, but they should have cast someone more interesting opposite him.
7. As the writer actually pointed out in the audio commentary, the verteron beam that "safely" strikes the ocean near San Francisco looks like it's caused a terrible tsunami.
The dialog in general was little more than functional - except of course for Peter Weller, who could make the phone book sound like Shakespeare! Apparently he actually modified his lines when he felt like it, calling Greaves "Daniel", for instance.
The music during Trip's "MacGyver" scene was so out of character for the show that at first I thought Paxton was pumping muzak into his cell.
Note what T'Pol is wearing in the last scene - could this be Vulcan mourning dress?
Back to the fate of the baby, I think it would have been much more interesting from a story perspective to have the baby live. It would make the Trip/T'pol dynamic more lively, it would provide an interesting cultural challenge for the crew (and any Vulcans they meet), and would prefigure or comment on the TNG idea of having families on starships.
Regarding Section 31, that sounds like intelligence methodology to me - once someone has worked for you, you have your hooks in them for life. (Or maybe I read too many John Le Carre novels?)
In a Mirror Darkly, Part 2
Despite all the interesting things happening, the pace does feel a bit plodding.
It's fun seeing the interiors of the original Enterprise, sorry, Defiant, recreated.
Speaking of Soval, here is his mirror version, wearing a beard and looking rather less grey than "our" version. I did think his scream as his ship exploded was rather unVulcan.
I do wonder how an Orion slave girl would work out on the bridge of a Starfleet ship, given what we learned about them in Bound. Maybe they have to be spayed? Or they take an oath something like Ilia's "oath of celibacy" in TMP.
Malcolm's dying line (if he is dying): "I've failed you, Captain." Wonderfully melodramatic.
BTW, in the audio commentary for Part 1, the writer, while talking about the alternative opening credits, said Brannon Braga wanted to recreated the TNG titles for another episode. Is he referring to These Are The Voyages? Is he serious, or is he making a joke?
Demons / Terra Prime
I've never much liked this arc, and rewatching hasn't changed my mind. There are some points that bother me:
1. Who would think a Terran/Vulcan baby would stir up xenophobia? I think a cute little baby with pointed ears would have the opposite effect. It would have been more logical to cross with a Klingon or Tellarite. But they wanted to cram in the Trip/T'Pol story, even if it made no sense.
1a. T'Pol says "the moment Phlox said that the child was ours, I knew it was true," which apparently is some kind of special Vulcan ability, to believe something is true AFTER someone tells you it is.
2. Terra Prime have a halfbreed baby AND a doomsday weapon. In the end, Paxton mentions the baby in his speech almost as a throwaway line.
3. If you're going to infiltrate a Terrans-only organisation, taking a Vulcan with you is pretty stupid.
4. Trip's grief at the end was way overdone, considering the baby had been created in a lab without his knowledge, and he'd had no time to live with the idea or imprint on the baby. This was just done so that Braga could have the couple broken up in These Are The Voyages.
5. I thought Archer's speech was a bit of a mess, and Bakula's desire to walk around while speechifying was really overindulged, especially when he does that final loop around his crewmates. Also, Soval leaping to his feet applauding was just too unVulcan. If he'd just joined in the clapping and smiled quietly, that would have been much more effective.
6. Travis's girlfriend was extremely bland, and they had no chemistry. It was nice that Travis got something to do, but they should have cast someone more interesting opposite him.
7. As the writer actually pointed out in the audio commentary, the verteron beam that "safely" strikes the ocean near San Francisco looks like it's caused a terrible tsunami.
The dialog in general was little more than functional - except of course for Peter Weller, who could make the phone book sound like Shakespeare! Apparently he actually modified his lines when he felt like it, calling Greaves "Daniel", for instance.
The music during Trip's "MacGyver" scene was so out of character for the show that at first I thought Paxton was pumping muzak into his cell.
Note what T'Pol is wearing in the last scene - could this be Vulcan mourning dress?
Back to the fate of the baby, I think it would have been much more interesting from a story perspective to have the baby live. It would make the Trip/T'pol dynamic more lively, it would provide an interesting cultural challenge for the crew (and any Vulcans they meet), and would prefigure or comment on the TNG idea of having families on starships.
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That's a great analysis, eyeresist! You brought up points that I hadn't even thought about, so it makes me look at the episodes in a different way.
I have to say that MU Travis is quite possibly more wooden than "regular " Travis!
seriously, that scene in the brig with Archer and Forest, he says "yes Captain" with the same delivery as he speaks to his girlfriend when SHE is in the brig! I did not really have any problem with the actress who played his girlfriend I just think that it would be hard to find someone with chemistry for Montgomery. Something about the way he delivers his lines is just..off..somehow. And I've seen the guy in interviews, and he seems like a affable, likeable guy!
I agree that the pacing was a little off to me also, on those mirror episodes. But, since I really enjoy the Tucker/Reed friendship, I really enjoyed how they just HATED each other in the MU...and how Reed just relished the torture scene. I actually never understood how anything got accomplished, what with all the backstabbing, torture, and sleeping around (well, on Hoshi's part) ..which gets me to thinking, Hoshi got with at least 4 main crew, but apparently NOT Malcolm? He'd be MY fist choice..but then , Archer made it clear he really didn't have any "upward mobility" , so Hoshi probably wouldn't have bothered....
Sounds like you got the DVd with commentary? So you also know that the death scene for baby Elizabeth was filmed right after Trineer found out his wife was pregnant? The emotion was real. And I actualky bought it, since Trip is the guy who wears his heart on his sleeve anyway.
I have to say that MU Travis is quite possibly more wooden than "regular " Travis!
seriously, that scene in the brig with Archer and Forest, he says "yes Captain" with the same delivery as he speaks to his girlfriend when SHE is in the brig! I did not really have any problem with the actress who played his girlfriend I just think that it would be hard to find someone with chemistry for Montgomery. Something about the way he delivers his lines is just..off..somehow. And I've seen the guy in interviews, and he seems like a affable, likeable guy! I agree that the pacing was a little off to me also, on those mirror episodes. But, since I really enjoy the Tucker/Reed friendship, I really enjoyed how they just HATED each other in the MU...and how Reed just relished the torture scene. I actually never understood how anything got accomplished, what with all the backstabbing, torture, and sleeping around (well, on Hoshi's part) ..which gets me to thinking, Hoshi got with at least 4 main crew, but apparently NOT Malcolm? He'd be MY fist choice..but then , Archer made it clear he really didn't have any "upward mobility" , so Hoshi probably wouldn't have bothered....
Sounds like you got the DVd with commentary? So you also know that the death scene for baby Elizabeth was filmed right after Trineer found out his wife was pregnant? The emotion was real. And I actualky bought it, since Trip is the guy who wears his heart on his sleeve anyway.
And I wanted to add, with the Demons/Terra Prime episodes..Peter Weller is indeed mesmerizing. But what I don't get is how much xenophobia exists on Earth. We see it here, and even in Home. What with all the episodes (well, maybe a few) that glorify how humans have done away with disease and war, etc, in "a generation" (a Trip quote from early on), there still is quite a bit of home grown terrorism. The Andorian ambassador made a good point, questioning how Earth can take the lead in forging relationships with entire worlds, when they don't quite have their own "act" together,
Found it fun that while the Andorians were somewhat panicked, the Vulcans just stayed put in their compound, not leaving. Kind of like a big "F-you , Paxton. You don't scare us!"
And now for Daedelus . What a mess. Second time around, same as the first. Sorry, but I found Erickson to be a pompous, self-important , narcissistic jackass. Im glad Trip got over his hero worship very quickly. When Archer basically decided "well, since we're already out here, might as well try to get Quinn back" - at the risk of his crew - Trip called him on it. Archer's best friend was telling him that he thought Archer was allowing personal feelings to get in the way. And Archer's response - "you're bordering on insubordination !" I mean, Archer might have just as well stuck his fingers in his ears and yelled "la la la, can't hear you" and walked away.
So, Enterprise loses another crewman, and Erickson's response? "We lost a lot of brave men and women. I think about them often." Uh, no you don't, moron...you only think of QUINN - who apparently was a volunteer test subject, presumably like the others. Crewman Burrows had no choice. And when all was said and done, Erickson says is prepared to suffer the "consequences". Then, he mentions how maybe they will make him a "teacher" , like that is some sort of "punishment". Seriously? WTF , moron!
You perpetuate a FRAUD and it led to MANSLAUGHTER. That is some jail time, dude! (Sorry, I get really upset at the loss of crew members, even anonymous red shirts...) 
Oh, and then Archer says that Dani should be "out here". Yea, dream on. This woman was an accomplice in the crimes committed...she should have some punishment coming too- not some assignment on a starship.
And I also have to say, with a guy like Erickson responsible for developing the transporter, I'd be REALLY concerned with the possibility of him falsifyng test results or something. I mean, they don't even know the long term effects of transporters on humans..especially since Broken Bow , it was stated that it was to be used for produce and supplies and such..,until Archer allowed it to be used on people in emergency situations.
Ok...well my rant is done. I think this episode rates as the worst for me (next to TATV)
Found it fun that while the Andorians were somewhat panicked, the Vulcans just stayed put in their compound, not leaving. Kind of like a big "F-you , Paxton. You don't scare us!"
And now for Daedelus . What a mess. Second time around, same as the first. Sorry, but I found Erickson to be a pompous, self-important , narcissistic jackass. Im glad Trip got over his hero worship very quickly. When Archer basically decided "well, since we're already out here, might as well try to get Quinn back" - at the risk of his crew - Trip called him on it. Archer's best friend was telling him that he thought Archer was allowing personal feelings to get in the way. And Archer's response - "you're bordering on insubordination !" I mean, Archer might have just as well stuck his fingers in his ears and yelled "la la la, can't hear you" and walked away.
So, Enterprise loses another crewman, and Erickson's response? "We lost a lot of brave men and women. I think about them often." Uh, no you don't, moron...you only think of QUINN - who apparently was a volunteer test subject, presumably like the others. Crewman Burrows had no choice. And when all was said and done, Erickson says is prepared to suffer the "consequences". Then, he mentions how maybe they will make him a "teacher" , like that is some sort of "punishment". Seriously? WTF , moron!
You perpetuate a FRAUD and it led to MANSLAUGHTER. That is some jail time, dude! (Sorry, I get really upset at the loss of crew members, even anonymous red shirts...) Oh, and then Archer says that Dani should be "out here". Yea, dream on. This woman was an accomplice in the crimes committed...she should have some punishment coming too- not some assignment on a starship.
And I also have to say, with a guy like Erickson responsible for developing the transporter, I'd be REALLY concerned with the possibility of him falsifyng test results or something. I mean, they don't even know the long term effects of transporters on humans..especially since Broken Bow , it was stated that it was to be used for produce and supplies and such..,until Archer allowed it to be used on people in emergency situations.
Ok...well my rant is done. I think this episode rates as the worst for me (next to TATV)
The actor, Alec Newman, is from Scotland and works quite a bit in London, so he might have just been lapsing into his normal stage voice. He was about 30 at the time.
Well, I didn't want to say, as I've already been quite critical of the actor elsewhere, but yes, you are right. He was okay once he knew he had been betrayed, but Travis in love was hardly even there. For some reason, I imagine that if his girlfriend had been substantially shorter than him, that might have made the relationship more interesting. Weird, I know.I have to say that MU Travis is quite possibly more wooden than "regular" Travis!
In the MU he at least had the excuse that he was "the muscle".The ridiculousness is part of the fun of the MU. If only they spent a little less time being Evil, and a little more time developing a warp engine that doesn't give you cancer...
I wonder if Hoshi had to do the rounds of the whole crew, "just in case". And everytime someone new comes aboard, she's like "Here we go again...."
I actually don't remember that. Maybe I just tuned out that part - or maybe it was actually mentioned in one of the featurettes? I'll be watching them soon, so I'll keep an ear open.
Well, after the Vulcans blew up the Earth embassy (in The Forge), I guess no-one's perfect. Most Star Trek series don't really deal with civilian attitudes, on Earth anyway, though I think it came up a bit in DS9. I thought it was interesting to show that future humans still have their issues, and in the context of the Xindi attack and increased alien immigration it's understandable.
Yeah, that was not good writing.
More bad writing. But on the other hand, since he also lost a lot of people during his transporter experiments, maybe Starfleet has given him a blank cheque as far as culpable homicide is concerned.
She was Erickson's daughter and his employee (conflict of interest?), but her duties seem to consist of pushing the wheelchair and running errands, so my question was what qualifications does she have for a space mission?
I enjoyed your rant.Ok...well my rant is done. I think this episode rates as the worst for me (next to TATV)
I did like the haunted house look of the ship in this episode, and enjoyed Trip, T'Pol, Phlox and Reed, so it's not a complete loss. For me, there are several episodes which are worse than this (Extinction, Precious Cargo), apart from TATV.
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I just watched the series finale today and I... I wish I hadn't even bothered! That has got to be the worst Trek finale I've ever seen. It didn't do the crew justice at all. If I wanted to watch TNG, I'd watch TNG (the perks of using my friend's Netflix account!). Trip's death seemed as senseless as Tasha Yar's. The worst part though, to me, was everyone's delight at the Captain preparing to meet his speech. There were no nods to Trip's death the day (hours? minutes?) before. I would've at least thought everyone would've seemed solemn but trying to put on a happy face - something like, "it's too bad Trip isn't here to see this." I realize the show got cancelled but I refuse to believe that was the best thing they could come up with even on a short notice. Let me just end this with: WTF did I just watch?!
Yep! And not only did I utter that same phrase, but I continued with. WTF! WTF! WTF! They killed Trip, with no emotional repercussions?? And then the other scene with Travis, Hoshi and Malcolm in the stands - none of whom had been promoted in 10 years! And again, it was WTF! WTF! They freaking SAVED EARTH , and got NO AWARDS and NO PROMOTIONS!? What kind of f-upped organization is Starfleet anyway?
Oh, I was ranting again...that dang episode always gets me....
Oh, and the big irony is that I just watched the Andorian arc (S4) , where Trip is joking with Malcolm about "writing him up" and Malcolm panicking that it would ruin his chances at promotion....
So, when Maldolm is telling the others in that final scene that they'd "be wise to stick with Archer" and that was what HE was gonna do, I was like....
RUN, Malcolm, RUN! Do not pass Go, do not collect $200...get AWAY from Archer! He's a career-killer!
So, when Maldolm is telling the others in that final scene that they'd "be wise to stick with Archer" and that was what HE was gonna do, I was like....
RUN, Malcolm, RUN! Do not pass Go, do not collect $200...get AWAY from Archer! He's a career-killer!
Amen to that! What the hell, Capt. Archer? What more must the crew members do to get a friggin' promotion? I mean surely that is up the Captain even though Starfleet has a say. We saw Capt. Picard just give Wesley Crusher "acting ensign" status and eventually even make him an ensign without him having to go to the Academy first. You'd think a group of people who repeatedly saved everyone's lives would at the very least get a promotion or a medal of some sort.
It reminds me of Harry Kim in Voyager. I'm not a huge fan of his but my God, still an ensign after 7 years? Screw Starfleet if that's how they work!
I'm pretty much going to pretend like Trip never died. Apparently there's a Trek novel out that rewrites the series finale as some holographic cover-up by Section 31. I can deal with that. I just really wanted some flash to the future of Trip and T'pol raising a family. There are enough bad endings in real life - I don't need that in my favorite sci-fi shows!
It reminds me of Harry Kim in Voyager. I'm not a huge fan of his but my God, still an ensign after 7 years? Screw Starfleet if that's how they work!
I'm pretty much going to pretend like Trip never died. Apparently there's a Trek novel out that rewrites the series finale as some holographic cover-up by Section 31. I can deal with that. I just really wanted some flash to the future of Trip and T'pol raising a family. There are enough bad endings in real life - I don't need that in my favorite sci-fi shows!
JadziaDax Read the novels! I love them! The authors go into more detail and characterization than the ENT writers ever did. (It's a different medium of course) I like the books by Martin, Mangels , and Bennett (Bennett's is the most recent release).
The books take TATV and basically explain what we saw...it actually probably could have been used to explain away that episode had there been a season 5. At any rate, one of the depressing things for me in the novels has to do with the long term effects of the transporter...,,,,as if I didn't dislike Emory Erickson enough....
The books take TATV and basically explain what we saw...it actually probably could have been used to explain away that episode had there been a season 5. At any rate, one of the depressing things for me in the novels has to do with the long term effects of the transporter...,,,,as if I didn't dislike Emory Erickson enough....
