TheGodBen Revisits Enterprise

[SRFX]

Regularly yes, Linda > Jolene.

However Jolene did steal the sexy show in "In a Mirror, Darkly"

Negative.

Though I do think she looked better in IaMD; and not because of the skimpy outfit. The long hair works much better for Jolene than that stupid Vulcan bowl cut. Whose idea was it that every damn Vulcan has to wear their hair like that, anyway?

You're right, I just remembered Linda in that episode too.

Maybe in the prime universe the Beatles inspired Vulcan hairstyles for centuries to come?

 

[miriel68]

You know, there are times when danahubby and I fight, and it's a cold war. He'll do something stupid and avoidable, and I'll call him on it in some snotty way, and suddenly neither of us wants to apologize because the other's bad behaviour becomes our focus. (You shouldn't have snapped at me! Yeah, well, you messed up my schedule!) Both of us are wrong and owe each other an apology, but neither one of us is ready to cough one up, dammit. Eventually, yes we will, but not just this minute. I really don't think Archer was meant to come across as being right - he was meant to come across as being unprepared for the situation and overwhelmed (see point 1). T'Pol pretty much tells him this. The exercise room scene boils down to: You're being a child, apologize. And Archer's whole demeanor is: I know that, but not right now. Go away.

LOL, I recognize the pattern, too. In fact, Archer knows all way long that he behaved stupidly and he doesn't like to know that he has to apologize: however, he knows also that in the end he WILL apologize, what makes him even more irritated. I know quite a lot of people who would never admit they behave stupidly, so I do appreciate that in the end he is able to apologize sincerely to everyone.

3. The sexual tension plot is just another element added to the ones I mentioned above. Phlox is a busy body with a captive audience. It's like when your friend tells you not to notice the big zit in the middle of her forehead, and suddenly, she becomes Cyclops. I did think it played very nicely into the idea that Archer is irritated with T'Pol because she is right, and now on top of that he's confronted with an attraction that he's trying really, really hard not even to think about. So now he's aggravated, guilty, tired, worried, in the wrong, and sexually frustrated. Hi, Cyclops!

I've got no love for the bat chasing scene, though.

No love for the bat chasing scene, either.
I have never understood all this rage about Archer's wet dreams. First, it was all Phlox's fault. Second, they were quite innocent, after all. Third, I find it quite normal that a not-so-old male, after months of sexual abstinence, would have inconscious thoughts about an attractive female he sees every day. Of course, I am not a male, so may be I am all wrong about it....

 

[bluedana]

Third, I find it quite normal that a not-so-old male, after months of sexual abstinence, would have inconscious thoughts about an attractive female he sees every day. Of course, I am not a male, so may be I am all wrong about it....

Oh, honey. I have it on good authority that five minutes of sexual abstinence is enough to do it.

 

[SRFX]

I find it quite normal that a not-so-old male, after months of sexual abstinence, would have inconscious thoughts about an attractive female he sees every day. Of course, I am not a male, so may be I am all wrong about it....

No, you are 100% correct.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

LOL, I recognize the pattern, too. In fact, Archer knows all way long that he behaved stupidly and he doesn't like to know that he has to apologize: however, he knows also that in the end he WILL apologize, what makes him even more irritated. I know quite a lot of people who would never admit they behave stupidly, so I do appreciate that in the end he is able to apologize sincerely to everyone.

I got the same vibe. Archer knew he would have to make it up to the Kretassans sooner or later, and that's part of what made him so crabby. I know folks like that too. I think it reflects a strong moral compass -- even when you want to misbehave, in the end you just can't keep doing it.

Third, I find it quite normal that a not-so-old male, after months of sexual abstinence, would have inconscious thoughts about an attractive female he sees every day. Of course, I am not a male, so may be I am all wrong about it....

Oh, honey. I have it on good authority that five minutes of sexual abstinence is enough to do it.

So Archer is only human. But that was the point of the episode, I think.

 

[Jimmy Bob]

Ugh, Marauders was bad. It reminded me one of those not-so-good A-Team episodes. Which is how I would describe season 2. Season 2 is a remake of various tv shows and movies. For example Precious Cargo tried to be It Happened One Night and Canamar was a remake of Con Air. Sometimes the results are unbearable, but sometimes they're kinda fun. I think one of the following (from Marauders) episodes was a pretty fun remake of cold war era spy thrillers.

 

[FlapJoy]

^^Good stuff Jimmy Bob

And if I may also say: I simply love Bluedana’s posts on this thread. She’s consistently astute, insightful, and perceptive beyond question. Excelsior!!

Mr. Ghoul I did not heed your warning, and I’m glad I didn’t skip your review, you were right on the money in this case. Marauders is just terrible, in fact it’s the episode of Enterprise that I blame for finally drowning my sinking heart. An episode cursed with endless exposition, embarrassingly awkward and stilted fight training scenes, excessive trouser rage from “munitions boy” glaring upon “language girl” while she’s fisting a laser tag rifle with supposed ease… yikes!! Plus, this storyline garnered better treatment when it was called A Bug’s Life; of course the story concept itself is ages old and was already a tired parable.

I try not to make it a habit to nitpick plot holes, but under the category of “obvious past reason” this one fits the bill. As you keenly pointed out, the ring of fire scene just makes no sense, and would not challenge any Klingon, dumber or otherwise. None of the mouse traps set up by this special olympics volley ball team would have given a Klingon any bout of concern. But, I also maintain the theory that the writers had not originally intended the bullying race to be Klingonian. Perhaps Nausicans or some new introductory brute species were the initial intendeds for such antagonist pursuits. But as often happens in the business of show, I wonder if some corner office Paramount suit dictated that Klingons appear more frequently in this new Star Trek franchise and were plugged into this script… “y’know, for the fans, they’ll eat that shit up”. It seemed to me the creative staff had that plot point thrust upon them, but I’m not letting them off the hook. Overall this episode was a pure waste of time and resources, and an insult to even the casual viewer, and deserves no other merit!!

Marauders made me feel dirty and cheap… but I still hated it.

 

[SRFX]

...and Canamar was a remake of Con Air.

Wow, you've just made this episode much more appealing now.

 

[Glacial]

Yup, Marauders was in fact an indefensibly bad episode, and the nadir of the series for me. It's the Spock's Brain of ENT.

Then things started getting better.

 

[Lady Conqueror]

He also fails to nuke the town from orbit with a torpedo, because he's a very nice man once you get to know him.

I'm guessing that the Klingons probably didn't have a torpedo on their ship - these are the Klingons for who running a garbage scow becomes such a time-honored Klingon insult.

Marauders does have a few, admittedly shallow, charms. Those desert uniforms are Hot and they never used them in the series enough for my liking so every episode where they get seen is a bonus. Plus they all looked good in their village gear too.

 

[Shazam!]

The long hair works much better for Jolene than that stupid Vulcan bowl cut. Whose idea was it that every damn Vulcan has to wear their hair like that, anyway?

She only started to look nice in the 4th Season when she had [slightly] longer hair that was kinda Valeris-ish.

I've always hated the bowl cut. I hate how they used it on ALL Romulans as well.

 

[TheGodBen]

The Seventh (*½)

Remember when Picard received a secret transmission in Conspiracy and the audience was left out of the loop as to what was going on? You know what worked about that plot device? The fact that the revelation when it came was interesting and had huge implications. Even if you didn't like the eventual discovery that it was all a dastardly plan by some stop-motion pink scorpions, you could still buy into the tension of the early part of that episode. But in this episode they use the same plot device for a revelation so mundane that it makes you feel angry that they wasted ten minutes of your time keeping it a secret from you.

The episode still has the opportunity to be interesting because it promises us a trip involving T'Pol and Travis, a character dynamic we've not seen before, so we could be in for some original material. Instead the writers decide that Travis is too boring to support an episode, so Archer goes along as well and Travis is relegated to the role of a glorified extra. At this point the episode becomes very constructed; there's an acid on the landing platform so they have to wait with Menos in the bar... unless they wrap a little fabric around their feet, or unless Menos kicks over a table and magically starts a fire (), in which case walking on acid is okay.

Meanwhile, back on Enterprise we learn that Starfleet was planning on sending a starship into deep space with a first officer woefully unprepared for taking over should a captain who enjoys going on dangerous missions be incapacitated in some way. Good work, Brannon.

As for T'Pol remembering that she killed someone and went insane over the guilt, I could be generous and claim that this ties into how emotional she is and how human she becomes later, but instead it is just a pointless revelation that we'll never hear about again. Archer tells T'Pol that following the rules is more important than doing what her heart tells her is right, which makes no sense given the character who is saying those words. And in the end the episode drops the pretence that it had any courage by revealing that Menos really was a criminal and T'Pol was right to arrest him and kill the other guy. Have I already complimented Braga on his good work?

 

[SFRabid]

This is another episode that left me feeling, "Not good, not bad, no real damage done." The best thing about the episode was the set.

 

[Jimmy Bob]

It was the Seventh that reminded me of cold war era spy thrillers. Some action in central american jungle, CIA financed government coup, something happens, CIA agent goes rogue, years pass and now his student is a top agent and is sent to someplace where she comes face to face with her former mentor/lover/thing.

I liked that it developed Captain's and T'Pol's relationship a bit further. It sort of revealed the current status. T'Pol has come a long way that she now trusts Archer with this side of her life. You could actually feel (well I did) that she is putting herself out there. In the open. A lot of vulnerability.

Though the episode was like reading a tv trope description (I mean that it was that generic), it was far better than Marauders, which for me is just slightly better than Acquisition. For the record, I think A Night in Sickbay is better than Marauders and Acquisition put together. They're that awful.

And while we're at it - Carbon Creek was awesome, if you're a sort of person who likes cute heart-warming feel-good shows like Touched By An Angel. Well I do and I also love the actor who played Mestral and I was grateful for the refreshing change of scenery (I mean, the Enterprise sets are just Voyager sets with gray paint on them)... so I guess I'm trying to express my disagreement here.

The next episode - The Communicator - had a 30's pulp vibe to it, sort of like the Rocketeer, and is one of the highights of season 2 for me.

Singularity was actually funny (though a bit ho-hum) and Vanishing Point was a very interesting psychological meditation on Hoshi's character. But after that comes a very painful moment which sort of broke me for a moment. I wouldn't blame you if you decided to skip Precious Cargo and just go by memory. But on the other hand, it wasn't actually Precious Cargo itself, but all the bad things about season 2 so far, that were like multiplied and enhanced in that episode.

 

[Lady Conqueror]

You know the writer of Precious Cargo, David A Goodman, is also a registered member here (or at least he was, looking back at the old threads it seems to have put him back to guest status suggesting he's not a member anymore )

David A. Goodman responds (probably a bit early to be posting this reply now but I was thinking of it and have a few moments to post)

 

[TheGodBen]

You know the writer of Precious Cargo, David A Goodman, is also a registered member here (or at least he was, looking back at the old threads it seems to have put him back to guest status suggesting he's not a member anymore )

Phew, I wont have to be kind to him after watching the episode. Thank Christ.


The Communicator (***)

TRAVIS: Having a cloaked hand could have its advantages. Be useful in a poker match.
TRIP: I could probably become a world-class magician.
TRAVIS: It might be helpful on movie night, if you bring a date.
TRIP:
TRAVIS: In case you want to steal some popcorn.

Black people; they're sexual deviants.

Actually, to be fair, that probably is what a guy would really be thinking in that situation and I have an easier time believing that Travis would actually say that than that Trip would respond with incredulity. Although it probably says something about me that when I first saw that scene, aged 17, I actually thought that Travis was originally suggesting stealing popcorn.

Anyway, The Communicator. The things I liked about this episode was that it took the reverse tactic from what Civilization did; Archer and co mess about on an pre-warp alien world and screw up, to the point where they have to sacrifice themselves to put things right. If I remember correctly this will be the last time we see Archer send people down to explore a pre-warp civilisation, so I guess that could be interpreted as plot development.

Archer Abuse: 14
Captain Redshirt: 15

What I don't like was the ending. They've had that Suliban ship onboard for over a year and nobody has brought it up? And Trip figures out to use a cloaking device? And a century later Starfleet still doesn't know how to build their own? Archer doesn't realise that telling a bunch of aliens on the brink of a global war that their enemies have super-soldiers and advanced weaponary might be a bad idea? There's some good moments in the episode, but 15 minutes from the end the story feels very sloppy in order to resolve the plot as quickly as possible. Where was the transporter anyway?

 

[Joel_Kirk]

If I can give my opinion on the Jolene Blalock or Linda Park debate:

Both...

Since I'm usually partial to Asian chicks, I might have been partial to Park....but I've seen and know many Asian chicks offline who can give Park a run for her money.

Too, Blalock is pretty sexy with her Vulcan demeanor...and that makes her sexy and mysterious...and the fact that she becomes curious about human customs; and is even innocent of such customs adds to her sexiness...

Regularly yes, Linda > Jolene.

However Jolene did steal the sexy show in "In a Mirror, Darkly"

Negative.

Though I do think she looked better in IaMD; and not because of the skimpy outfit. The long hair works much better for Jolene than that stupid Vulcan bowl cut. Whose idea was it that every damn Vulcan has to wear their hair like that, anyway?

I agree!

The long hair works much better for Jolene than that stupid Vulcan bowl cut. Whose idea was it that every damn Vulcan has to wear their hair like that, anyway?

She only started to look nice in the 4th Season when she had [slightly] longer hair that was kinda Valeris-ish.

I've always hated the bowl cut. I hate how they used it on ALL Romulans as well.

You know the writer of Precious Cargo, David A Goodman, is also a registered member here (or at least he was, looking back at the old threads it seems to have put him back to guest status suggesting he's not a member anymore )

Phew, I wont have to be kind to him after watching the episode. Thank Christ.


The Communicator (***)

TRAVIS: Having a cloaked hand could have its advantages. Be useful in a poker match.
TRIP: I could probably become a world-class magician.
TRAVIS: It might be helpful on movie night, if you bring a date.
TRIP:
TRAVIS: In case you want to steal some popcorn.

Black people; they're sexual deviants.

I don't know how to answer that....

@NCC-1701:

I know I've seen that hot MACO chick later on in the series, but who is she;what is her name?

@TheGhoulBen:

I'm going back through the series for 'research' so I may look at your reviews from time to time....(Currently I'm at the official--IMO--first episode 'Fight or flight'....)

 

[Pemmer Harge]

Re: The Seventh. The way it took a potentially decent premise and wrecked it was almost worthy of Voyager. Which I like better than Enterprise, but boy did that show know how to shoot itself in the foot.

 

[SRFX]

Have to say, after recently watching some Voyager (and mind you only the good episodes), some of which still made me cringe, coming back and watching some Enterprise was so refreshing. I think I started with The Andorian Incident and I was like "YES. This is so much better." The characters are more fleshed out earlier on and I feel the show just overall feels tighter. Plus most of the characters are instantly likeable. Most of Voyager's cast gets on my nerves.

Watching Enterprise after Voyager felt the same as watching TNG or DS9 after Voyager - a sense that VOY is a horrendous blemish on the ST franchise.

 

[Praetor]

I have to say, the Ghoul still articulates well my own thoughts. Oh, Godfrey, I could practically kiss you for what you said you'd have done differently in the summation of season one. Or steal your popcorn.

And I can't agree enough that Klingons don't have to be unintelligent vikings to be Klingons. But I'd have preferred them not to be on ENT at all.

On the issue of "Carbon Creek," I can see how it was trying to be a lighter "heartwarming" episode, but it didn't really work for me. And "A Night in Sickbay" is indeed overrated as the worst episode, but it's still pretty bad.

Carry on, TGB.