Strange New World Date not given: Enterprise arrives at an Earth-like planet. T'Pol, Tucker, Mayweather, Cutler and Novakovich are staying on the planet for the night when a storm forces them to leave their camp and seek refuge in a cavern. Soon they begin to hallucinate. Novakovich runs away, but can be beamed up and treated against the hallucinations that are caused by the pollen of a plant. In the meantime Tucker threatens T'Pol with the phase pistol, because he thinks that T'Pol is collaborating with the non-existent inhabitants of the planet. By claiming that this is actually true Archer can move Tucker to put down the weapon, and T'Pol can treat the survey team.

After the promising start to the series this is an unremarkable episode. It seems to have been pieced together straight out of the "standard plot construction kit". A deceptive paradise! Thunderstorms! Caverns, pollen, and paranoia, crew members threatening each other: we've seen this all before, in various combinations. Unlike in last week's "Fight or Flight", the way the story is told is no different than it would have been in TOS, TNG, DS9 or Voyager. It simply doesn't justify yet another reissue. If this episode had been in a later season, I would have figured that the writers' imaginations were exhausted - but so early? There is no such excuse. Moreover, I am growing tired of the overly dim and scary tone that envelops Enterprise. Such a dark tone might suit a series about vampires, but not Star Trek. Another thing I find particularly annoying about "Strange New World" (and its dark tone) is that the suspense isn't even supposed to come from the meager plot, but rather from the blatantly superficial depiction of non-existent visions and voices. It didn't work. Star Trek never needed gimmicks like this before and shouldn't use them again, unless it wants to become Star Trek: The Vampire Slayer.
"Strange New World" didn't seem to have anything worth remembering - not even character development - due to the fact that no one of the survey team was acting of their own will anyway. In saying that, Tucker's gripe against the Vulcans resurfaced vigorously, but this is hardly something new. It wasn't interesting at all to see Tucker pointing a phase pistol at T'Pol for half of the episode. T'Pol, like Spock in the good old times of TOS, was the only one who was largely immune and saved the day. An interesting aspect of this episode: some of the lower ranks, namely Cutler and Novakovich, were given screen time. I also liked the few tantalizingly "bright" minutes at the beginning when the away team was joyous (but also criminally incautious) over their discovery.
Continuity & nitpicking: Attempting to appease Tucker, Archer says: "Starfleet sent us here to make contact with a silicon-based lifeform." Exactly such a lifeform, however, was later said to be completely unknown in TOS: "Devil in the Dark". How can Archer simply make up such a lifeform if none is known yet? Is he a visionary? -- Another question: what the devil happened to Novakovich? According to Dr. Phlox, he was going to recover at first, then he was going to die, and in the end he was suddenly fine again. This may be how the situation appeared to Phlox, nevertheless it didn't make much sense - especially since it didn't play much of a role: the problem that was facing the rest of the survey team was a different one. -- Even worse, Phlox explains Novakovich's toxication with the words "stray neutron", as if he were a physicist and not a physician. This is completely unnecessary bad science.
Remarkable quote: "Where No Dog Has Gone Before." (Tucker's comment regarding Porthos being the first survey team member to leave the shuttle).
Remarkable facts: Inaprovaline is already in use as a multipurpose medicine. -- T'Pol has been to 36 Minshara (sp.?) -class planets before. This is a nice homage to what will become Class M. -- Enterprise has a crew complement of 82.
Rating: 3

Unexpected Date not given: The reason for several system malfunctions turns out to be a cloaked Xyrillian vessel with power problems taking a ride in Enterprise's warp field. Trip Tucker transfers to the Xyrillians to help them with repairs, and he befriends the female engineer Ah'Len. After the Xyrillian ship has left, a nipple begins to grow on his arm. Dr. Phlox's surprising diagnosis is that Trip is pregnant. Enterprise discovers the Xyrillian ship which is now on the tail of a Klingon battlecruiser. The Klingon captain wants to kill the apparent parasites, but Archer and T'Pol manage to convince him to let the Xyrillians go in exchange for their holotechnology. Trip's child is implanted into a Xyrillian male host.

So "this is the first incident of a human male getting pregnant", according to T'Pol, if we do not count Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Junior". The episode could have turned out really rather silly, but fortunately the humor in "Unexpected" is subtle rather than slapstick. When Trip is astonished to learn about the pregnancy, when he suffers from mood swings, and when he shows his embarrassing condition to the Klingons, it can still be taken seriously. What I like too is that Tucker is anxious about the decompression phase and the unusual atmosphere on the Xyrillian ship. He is probably nervous about meeting the aliens too. Who would have thought Tucker to have a "brooding mother" aspect to his character? Here Enterprise proves itself different from Voyager once again: there is no intrepid Harry (no pun intended!) to save the day without breaking into a sweat. As with every episode so far, however, there were a couple of scary effects, such as when Trip was exposed to the Xyrillian atmosphere. I think we've had more than enough of that for now. What this episode showed very clearly is that T'Pol is a real bitch. Instead of trying to find out what really happened or even comforting him, she is full of preconceptions about human behavior in general and, in particular, Trip's alleged affair on the Xyrillian ship. For once, though, her attitude is a really nice contribution to the story.
The interior of the 'ship of the week' (Xyrillian) is really alien in every respect, for once. I especially enjoyed the idea of food growing all over the seemingly organic ship. It doesn't suit the series that its exterior is very much like the Species 8472 bioship, though. For such a small vessel I would expect a more compact shape, bioship or not. I only wonder how Trip can be of any help to them, considering how different the Xyrillian technology is. And why is Trip going to their ship all alone, when this is the first time Starfleet encounters these aliens? Talk about trusting behavior! And if their atmosphere needs a long and painful adaptation, why doesn't he simply take a spacesuit along? Why, why, WHY?
Continuity & nitpicking: Although the episode is overall pleasant, seemingly unimportant details give it a bad taste. First of all, we see a fully functional holodeck on the Xyrillian ship. Only the creation of interactive characters is not possible, but I see this as a rather small step until the functions will be the same as we know from TNG. This holotechnology may be okay if it remains a secret of the Xyrillians, a race we won't see again (which in this case may be explained by the fact that their ships are cloaked). There is, however, absolutely no way that the Klingons should get their hands on holotechnology as early as in the 22nd century, while the Federation will need no less than 213 years until the first lifelike holodeck will be installed aboard the Enterprise-D. Remember how excited Riker was about it in "Encounter at Farpoint"? Or Picard in "The Big Good-bye"? Or Lwaxana in "Manhunt"? It is even more implausible considering that we have never seen a holodeck on a Klingon ship even in the 24th century. We may make up excuses in that it was just a personal enjoyment of the Klingon captain that was never commonly accepted by the Klingons, or that his ship was destroyed and the holotechnology with it. But why should we try to excuse the carelessness of the producers who couldn't wait longer than four episodes to show us the most typical of all 24th century devices, woefully inappropriate within their self-imposed series premise? What bothered me too is that the Xyrillians had no problem adapting the device to the Klingon power grid, something that was always made out to be a big problem in, say, Voyager. So the impression is that their holodeck technology is even more advanced than the Federation's of the 24th century.
The other annoyance is the K't'inga-class battlecruiser, a design whose lifetime is now at least 225 years! The argument that Klingons are warriors and not engineers is a cheap excuse in my view. Warriors frequently need new weapons. Even the good old bat'leth may have been improved several times using new alloys, and the same should apply to ship hulls. The Klingons are not Hirogen, they want to win a battle and do not care much for the thrill of fighting a superior enemy with traditional hunting rituals. They are eager to get the new holotechnology, as they will also quickly adopt cloaking devices over 100 years later, but their ships always stay the same? [Note: We now know, however, that the inclusion of the K't'inga was due to a lack of production time, and that a new ship design had indeed been postulated. Since the rest of the review is an entertaining read, and, for posterity, the rest of it shall remain - to all intents and purposes - as it was written in 2001.] There's also the fact that Klingons are waging war all the time. They frequently need to replace ships, far more often than an organization dedicated to peaceful exploration. No one can tell me the Klingons wouldn't come up with new designs, if they need new ships anyway. Also, in TOS the Klingons were clearly on the same technological level as the Federation, which makes a lot of sense since it was supposed to reflect the Cold War in the real world. At that time, the Soviets and the Americans kept the balance of power by developing new horrible weapons and countermeasures almost in parallel. It doesn't seem that the Klingons were very busy developing anything new from 2151 to the end of the Cold War, if they are still using their old rust buckets from the distant past. Finally, in DS9: "Once More Unto the Breach" Kor mentions the old D5 cruiser. Since the TOS cruiser and the K't'inga are different ships but share the designation D7 (VOY: "Prophecy"), what in the world could a D5 be, if not a really different looking (older) ship?
Remarkable quote: "Three days. You were there only three days and you couldn't restrain yourself." (T'Pol)
Remarkable scene: The opener where gravity fails in Archer's shower is just too cute. 
Remarkable facts: Archer's quarters are on E-deck. -- Trip Tucker entered Starfleet 12 years ago. He has known Archer for 8 years, and, 4 years ago, Archer saved his life. The latter could refer to the training in spacesuits mentioned in "Strange New World".
Rating: 6

Terra Nova Date not given: Enterprise arrives at the site of the first extrasolar human colony with which contact was lost 70 years ago. The seemingly indigenous "Novans" are found living in caves, but they are actually humans who have forgotten about their origin over two generations after an asteroid had hit the planet and released lethal radiation. They take Reed as hostage and refuse to believe that they are actually the descendants of the colonists. Phlox treats one of them, an old woman called Nadet, against lung cancer, and she can be convinced that she is actually Bernadette, the daughter of a settler family. The Novans agree to release Reed and allow themselves to be relocated to a region of the planet that is not affected by the radiation.

This is the second - and perhaps worse - disappointment of the series so far, as it has even less original ideas than "Strange New World". As previous reviews (from colleagues who were lucky to view it directly) have already pointed out, "Terra Nova" is very reminiscent of VOY: "Friendship One", only that the victims are human rather than aliens, this time. I would like to add TOS: "This Side of Paradise" as well as TNG: "The Ensigns of Command" to the list, as they both deal with forgotten Earth colonies that were affected by radiation and whose inhabitants somehow managed to adapt. If we count all "re-discovered colony that is in trouble or needs to be relocated" plots, we end up with about a dozen episodes with pretty much the same idea. To be fair, though, Enterprise is just the right series to showcase a plot like this, but the idea is so exhausted that it would be better off without it. Hopefully it will be the last time we see such a story. I didn't care very much about the "underside" Novans who could easily have been just another set of "aliens of the week". I never expected a tearful reunion with humanity, but the level to which their problem was shown didn't strike me as very profound. Only Archer and T'Pol's discussion about how to help them was interesting in this respect. I don't quite understand how they suddenly seemed to switch sides in the course of their talk. First Archer is reluctant to relocate them by force as suggested by T'Pol. Then again, T'Pol has doubts about taking them to Earth, whereas Archer wants to bring them back at any cost, since it's their birth right as human beings. What I liked least about the episode was the completely unnecessary plot twist with the shuttle crash (we had enough of them on Voyager) and the rescue of the Novan who had fallen into the pit. This contributed hardly anything to the episode. I mean, what is this? Lassie? And how in the world could they salvage the shuttle from a depth of eight meters? This question remains unanswered, just like we weren't shown how Reed was freed and how the Novans were relocated. The episode ended abruptly with the usual captain's dinner and a few insignificant lines by Mayweather.
Technical stuff & continuity: It was a shock to hear that Enterprise has no more than two shuttles. As a starship without a transporter as a regular means of transportation, Enterprise would have to rely heavily on the shuttle pods, each of which can transport only six persons. And what about the cargo? I doubt that they would beam large amounts of food supplies. So what happens if one shuttle is defunct and the other one is on the way? -- I anticipated that the phase pistol would have more than just the stun and kill setting, too. Here it is used for cutting with a continuous beam. This alone is no error (after all, something like that would be even possible with a present-day laser), but I wonder in how far the phase pistol differs from a latter era phaser. Visually, there is no difference at all. -- A particularly troubling continuity error is that Terra Nova should be the only inhabitable planet within 20ly from Earth. This contradicts the idea that there is one in the Alpha Centauri system (4ly away), as mentioned a few times as a Federation planet (either a human colony or an alien civilization). There may be two possible explanations: Either Alpha Centauri was already known to the humans as the home of an alien civilization, and therefore it wasn't taken into account, or it was made inhabitable or terraformed later. In the latter case, however, it is unlikely that Zefram Cochrane ever lived there. -- Another strange thing is how the children of the Novans could inherit the obvious radiation poisoning from their parents (like Nadet). I would expect them to become like that after hundreds of years, but certainly not after two generations. Finally, there is a nitpicky error with the radiation which T'Pol gives as "800 millirad"; however the unit rad refers to a time-dependent dose and not an intensity, so it makes no sense at all. You'd think a Vulcan could speak science, surely.
Remarkable language: The Novans use some really strange terms (very reminiscent of the Vori in VOY: "Nemesis"), such as "before families" = ancestors, "skyship", "overside" = surface, "underside" = underground, "belly hollow" = hungry, "rotting" = dying, "shale" = lie.
Remarkable dialogue: "Terra Nova?" - "I'm surprised you've never heard of it." - "I'm not familiar with the early years of human space exploration." - "Really? Every school kid on Earth had to learn about the famous Vulcan expeditions." - "Name one." - "... ... History was never my best subject." (T'Pol, Archer, Tucker)
Remarkable fact: The most important thing we learn here is that Phlox is a Denobulan.
More remarkable facts: Terra Nova is the only inhabitable planet within a range of 20ly from Earth. The journey of the colony ship, the Conestoga, took 9 years. It was disassembled to form the foundation of the colony. After the first five years, contact was lost with the settlers. The reason is that an asteroid hit the planet and the dust cloud made communication impossible. Only the children survived the disaster and retreated to the caverns. That was 70 years ago.
Remarkable ship: The Conestoga fits well into the design lineage, and it resembles the conjectural S.S. Valiant as depicted in the Star Trek Encyclopedia I.
Rating: 2

The Andorian Incident Date not given: Archer, T'Pol and Tucker are taken hostages by violent Andorians who have occupied the ancient Vulcan monastery of P'Jem. Their leader, Shran, claims that the Vulcans are spying on Andoria from there. When the Vulcan monks refuse to defend themselves, Tucker contacts the ship through an old Vulcan transmitter, and Reed beams down with a landing party. The Andorians retreat to the catacombs, where Archer discovers a gate to a modern outpost of the Vulcans. He allows the Andorians to leave with this information.

The episode title is far more suspenseful than the episode itself. Peaceful Vulcans and curious humans are taken hostage by violent Andorians. So far, so boring:, a conventional action plot that would suit a mediocre TV series like "McGyver", rather than Star Trek. Half of air time is dedicated to fighting; it gets exceptionally cruel when Archer is beaten up by the Andorians three - yes, three - times. There are no intelligent plot twists, hardly any good dialogues, and despite the simplicity of the situation it doesn't really make much sense at all. Why, for instance, does Reed have to beam down and blow up half of the monastery rather than simply having the four Andorians beamed up? No need to mention that I'm tired of dim lighting, people running around in caves and spooky effects. Not even the fact that the culture and the mutual relationship of two races from the TOS Universe are explored can make the episode any more interesting. On the contrary, anyone who expected some profound insight into, and careful development of the Andorians and Vulcans, or even tidbits for TOS fans, is left utterly disappointed after "The Andorian Incident". The way the Andorians and Vulcans are portrayed here is simply alienating (no pun intended, although it would have been great if it was). First of all, we have to keep in mind that only ten years later they would found the Federation together with humanity: something that seems very unlikely from what we see of them in the Enterprise Universe. Yet, the episode may not be all that detrimental to the Andorians - all we knew about these aliens was that they were blue-skinned and somewhat volatile - which they proved perfectly here. Jeffrey Combs as Shran, unlike in his previous roles on Star Trek, isn't offered a lot of potential here, considering that all he had to do was demonstrate the Andorian method of interrogation. Only his remark at the end: "We're in your debt", indicates that his character and the Andorian race in general will be further developed.
The turning point of the story - when the gate to the Vulcan spy station is discovered - was probably meant to give the whole dumb shooting and fighting a more profound background and allow several follow-up episodes in the tradition of the DS9 story arcs (The Dominion War, etc.). But from what I have seen here, I'm definitely not looking forward to more stories about two paranoid races struggling against each other. These are simply not the Vulcans I used to know. I would rather forget the last few minutes when their secret is discovered. I'm not saying that everything about Vulcans should be likeable, but the way they are gradually being defamed since the seventh season of DS9 is obnoxious. Paranoid, xenophobic and dishonest people who misuse an alleged religious sanctuary to hide a spy outpost, like a villain in a James Bond movie? This epidode takes it too far. This twist, that was supposed to make the episode more interesting, eventually completely ruined it. The worrying thing is that we can't simply forget about this episode, as was possible with "Strange New World" where nothing important happened anyway.
Captain Archer's behavior is irritating too. He hardly knows anything about the Vulcan-Andorian cultural relationship, and much less about the actual purpose of the Vulcan outpost. The Vulcans may keep unpleasant secrets, but they are Earth's only ally, and Archer is completely jeopardizing that. I simply cannot buy that his main intention was to reveal the truth for the sake of honesty, as Picard did it in a very similar situation in TNG: "The Pegasus". Archer never saw the Vulcans as friends (he also didn't try to defend them in his interrogation). In his opinion Andoria and Earth are suffering from the same problem, dominated and spied on by the Vulcans. Now he sees an opportunity to show the Vulcans their limits or even take revenge.
Nitpicking and continuity: If the Vulcans and Andorians are supposed to live in neighboring star systems, how and why could the Vulcans use a sensor array on a remote planet to spy on them? Also, why doesn't anyone of the human Enterprise crew know anything about the Andorians who are neighbors and rivals of the Vulcans, although Reed and Sato are shown to have permanent access to the Vulcan database? Finally, I knew this would come. The "transporting device" isn't only as fast as 200 years later, it can also transport at least three persons at once. Let's wait and see how many more will fit on the platform...
Remarkable quote: "So if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. No offense." (Archer, to the Vulcans)
Remarkable effect: The new Andorian make-up looks great. It is a careful improvement of what we have seen in TOS, and the moving antennae are a fabulous idea. Only the forehead ridges are completely unnecessary.
Remarkable building: The Vulcan monastery is actually the first Vulcan building we see in 35 years.
Remarkable facts: "Pinkskins" is what the Andorians call the humans at times. The Andorians group call themselves the "Andorian Imperial Guard". T'Pol calls their homeworld "Andoria", although "Andor" is generally accepted. There may be two different versions of which Andoria is the Vulcan name.
Rating: 2

Breaking the Ice Date not given: Reed and Mayweather examine the surface of a large comet that is being observed by a Vulcan ship, theTi'Mur. On Enterprise, it is discovered that T'Pol sent an encrypted message to the Vulcans. When he translates it, Tucker is embarrassed to see that it was private. T'Pol has to decide whether to stay on the ship or get married on Vulcan. In the meantime, Reed and Mayweather get into trouble when the comet rotates and its surface heats up because of a nearby star. A rift forms underneath their shuttlepod, and they can only be rescued when Archer asks the Vulcans to pull them out with their tractor beam. T'Pol decides to stay on the ship.

"Breaking the Ice" is, overall, an enjoyable episode with a lot of fun and trivia. The children's drawings are a cute idea. But I bet even T'Pol is not as embarrassed about her somewhat crude portrait as Picard was about "Captain Picard Day". ;-) It is a bit of a distraction from the other events - and yet it is nice to see how the crew answers the children's questions. As opposed to Tucker who calls the question about the ship's toilets a "poop question" (imagine that word in TNG), at least Dr. Phlox seems to have quite a lot of fun telling the children of germs in space. His manner of speech again brings to mind the Voyager Doctor. Reed and Mayweather have their share of fun too when they build a snowman with pointed ears (although I do wonder how they could have done it without melting the snow with their hands), and Reed is happy to be given something to blow up, again. It is, however, a negative point that we see a very similar shuttle accident to the one that occurred in "Terra Nova", but this time it is an important part of the story.
It is also a sort of "collective character-building episode" for Archer, Tucker and T'Pol. I find Archer barely likeable in this episode. While he is, admittedly, in character, I find it hard to believe he could ever have come so far with his defiant attitude. He STILL takes any opportunity to showcase his animosity toward the Vulcans. His awkward attempts to "impress" (or whatever) the Vulcan captain with his nonchalant and obtrusive talking reminded me of the awful "Guess who's coming to dinner" scene from "Star Trek VI". His only concern seems to be showing the Vulcans that he doesn't need to be patronized even after he has learned that T'Pol's secret messages were anything but spy reports. Archer even hesitates to accept Vulcan help in the end, even though refusing it would mean the loss of two officers. Tucker (yes, the very same Tucker who LOVES the Vulcans) and T'Pol have to remind him that the Vulcans would expect exactly this sort of arrogance from him. On the other hand, I wonder if a Vulcan captain who was in need of human assistance would have lowered himself to ask for it, or accept it if it were offered. This, however, doesn't excuse Archer's behavior, especially taking into consideration his soft spot for everyone but the Vulcans, which even includes the brutal Andorians. In many respects this episode marks the departure point of Tucker's character from Archer's in terms of their previously shown like-minded opinions (their opinions were different only in "Fight or Flight" so far). Trip Tucker is both a more realistic and a more sensitive person here. He feels the need to apologize to T'Pol, although Archer is just as guilty of spying on her, if not more guilty since he is the captain. The fact that T'Pol seeks his advice gives the title "Breaking the Ice" a second meaning. Trip also vouches for accepting the help by the Vulcans, and he is interested in their technology. Although it was quite clear that the help would be accepted, even though Archer was still reluctant, I was glad that in the end he finally broke the ice too when he allowed the Vulcan ship to help.
Science and nitpicking: We finally learn how the protein resequencer (for food) and the biomatter resequencer (for waste) work, and it sounds a lot like the replicator in TNG which also works on a molecular basis. At least the device on Enterprise doesn't seem to be able to handle inorganic materials. -- I also wonder how a comet can have an acceleration of approximately 1G. Its density would have to be enormous for that. -- It is also strange that this should be the largest comet ever encountered by humans. There should be a couple of rocks of this size in the Oort belt at the outer rim of our solar system, that fortunately don't come close to the Sun or the planets. -- The mineral eisilium is unknown to Humans, but why have the Vulcans given it a Latin(ized) name? -- Another (minor) problem is why T'Pol is supposed to marry so late. According to the draft of Enterprise she is 65 years old. Spock was in his early 30's in TOS: "Amok Time", and even Tuvok who got married after his first Starfleet career, was under 40. So there must have been many deferments to T'Pol's marriage already.
Remarkable quote: "Your inexperience and your arrogance are your enemies, not us." (Capt. Vanik)
Remarkable facts: Dr. Phlox is from the star system Denobula Triaxa. Trip Tucker had three relationships prior to the episode (not sure if he counts in the one from "Unexpected" ;-)). T'Pol's fiancé is named Koss, and he's an architect.
Remarkable starship facts: The Ti'Mur is a Surak-class ship. It has a top speed of Warp 6.5. Captain Vanik has been in command of this ship for 15 years. He has been serving in the space program for 76 years altogether. Archer has once been to a Vulcan vessel, the Maymora-class ship Yarahla, headed by Captain Tok.
Rating: 5

Civilization July 31, 2151: When Enterprise discovers a planet with a pre-industrial culture, neutrino emissions from an antimatter generator don't fit into the image. Archer's away team breaks into the house with the generator, where they meet Riann who is investigating an illness spreading through the city. Shop owner Garos turns out to be a Malurian who is mining viridium, ruthlessly taking into account a contamination of the ground water with a toxic lubricant which is the cause of the illness. When Enterprise is threatened by a superior Malurian ship in orbit, T'Pol has the antimatter generator beamed up directly in front of the enemy ship and destroyed, thereby disabling their shields.

The story would have made an average episode in every Star Trek series so far, and it's not different with Enterprise. Certain similarities to TNG: "Thine Own Self" (the episode where Data inadvertently contaminated a pre-industrial village) are quite obvious, as well as to the many TOS stories of advanced civilizations exploiting a primitive culture. So the basic idea is not original, but at least it is no shameless plot recycling. Anyway, the difference to the familiar stories of this kind could have been more pronounced. In the beginning, we learn that Vulcan has some sort of "Prime Directive" while Earth has none, we see how Hoshi has to analyze the alien language and program the universal translator, we are shown how Dr. Phlox acts as a make-up artist, and we notice the uncertainty of the landing party when they are amidst the native population. In the following, however, the episode shows the well-established pattern of storytelling in Star Trek. Instead of putting stress on technological problems, a cultural clash, ethical questions, everything that always makes Star Trek interesting and could have played a role here, it becomes a rather simple detective story with a two-dimensional villain. And even this plot is subordinated to Archer's and Riann's relationship which doesn't work out as well as it could. The character of Riann does not strike me as very interesting. Her anxiety about and curiosity for the alien technology and her affection to Archer is just not sufficient to make a good story, and besides that her contribution to the plot is rather marginal.
Science & technology stuff: How can sensors pick up voices from a planet's surface through the vacuum of space? While such a technology would have been problematic even in the 24th century (although I don't remember a particular occurrence), the "acoustic relays" used on Enterprise are just implausible. A technology that I liked in this episode was the transporter. After beaming it up from the surface, it was necessary to materialize the antimatter generator on the transporter platform first before it could be beamed out in space. For once, they have shown a really less advanced device. What was interesting too is that the alien look of the crew is seemingly just make-up and not (yet) some sort of plastic surgery. I only wonder why of all crew members Dr. Phlox should be an expert in this field. After all, he is a doctor, not a make-up artist.
Remarkable quote: "Starfleet could have sent a probe out here, to make maps and take pictures, but they didn't. They sent us - so that we could explore. With our own senses." (Archer)
Remarkable scene: When the translator fails and Archer hears Riann speak in her native language, he gives her a passionate kiss while trying to fix the translator. Although Riann seems to be pleased, he excuses his behavior. He claims that someone walked by and that he thought it would have been the best disguise to pretend they were a couple. Later, when Archer gives her a good-bye kiss, Riann ironically asks, "Is your translator broken again?" - obviously she is smarter than he thought.
Remarkable facts: The planet is named A'kali and is inhabited by roughly 500 million people. The lack of EM emissions is a clear sign of a pre-industrial culture. Garos, on the other hand, is from the Malurian system. This may be the same system in which Nomad will wipe out all life (TOS: "The Changeling") 100 years later. Garos says that he came to A'kali 18 months ago. He appears to know the Tellarites, and it sounds as if Tellarites are involved in his mining project (and that we will see them later in the series). :-)
Rating: 4

Fortunate Son Date not given: Enterprise assists the Earth freighter Fortunate with repairs after a Nausicaan attack. Matthew Ryan, who is in command after Captain Keene has been hurt, has captured a Nausicaan. He refuses to release his prisoner. After trapping four Enterprise crew members in a jettisoned cargo container, Ryan leaves the scene with the Fortunate, eager to take revenge on the Nausicaans. However, the Fortunate is soon outnumbered by Nausicaan ships. When Enterprise arrives, Archer tries to negotiate that the Fortunate may leave in exchange for the Nausicaan hostage. Eventually, it is "space boomer" Ensign Mayweather who can convince his former colleague Ryan that revenge is not the right way.

I like this episode which has a thrilling plot, a strong 22nd century background, lots of eye candy and a great deal of Trek spirit. "Fortunate Son" is the third key episode of the series, and it may be the beginning of another story arc. The question may occur why there is such a great difference in my ratings between "The Andorian Incident" and "Fortunate Son", both of which were very well received by most other viewers and rank next to "Broken Bow". The first reason is that "Fortunate Son" is much more entertaining, with its many turning points and changing places. It is a sophisticated plot, worthy of a Star Trek series. In contrast, I was simply bored by the static hostage situation which didn't see any advancement until the very end. "Fortunate Son" has its deal of shooting and beating too, but I can much rather accept it here because it has some effect and is not simply used to fill time or to show how evil the villain is. Another reason is that "The Andorian Incident" was about a pointless conflict between two xenophobic and paranoid species, the humans being more enlightened than any of them. I don't want to deny that such an intolerance may exist, but the way it was shown was simply obnoxious. This is completely different in "Fortunate Son" where there is a real reason for the aggression, something that the viewer can reproduce. It is an actual controversy for the viewer too, and not a simple finding that neither of two positions is the right one. Archer has to make a decision how to save the Fortunate and at the same time appease the Nausicaans, and so has the viewer. Although the situation is much more pressing here, this time he doesn't precipitate the matter, and he doesn't simply impose his opinion on the viewer, like he did in "The Andorian Incident". What gave me a bad taste of Archer's character there, he can compensate here.
What I like too is the wealth of information in this episode. We learn a great deal about the lives and the attitudes of people who have to stay on their ships for years without shore leave. It is only logical that they would become some sort of closed community, mistrustful and disdainful of outsiders. Travis Mayweather who grew up on a cargo ship but then decided to join Starfleet is the obvious exception. It is nice to see more of this underused character, although he has only two important scenes. Travis has a hard time with Ryan, who is an especially unpleasant member of his community. This is in part because he doesn't really want Starfleet's help, after all they could discover his Nausicaan prisoner. But there is more to it. At first, Mayweather and Ryan still understand each other, but then the difference between Starfleet and freighter crew member gradually becomes more and more obvious. Ryan is still impressed with Enterprise's technology, but then they talk about reasons why Travis went to Starfleet that Ryan doesn't understand. In the engine room, he claims that to him Warp 1.8 is more than sufficient, obviously defying Starfleet's arguments about getting a faster warp drive. In the mess hall, finally, Travis inadvertently finds his weak spot when he asks Ryan about his parents, not knowing that they were killed on the North Star, in an accident (or attack?) that seems to be well known. Ryan's reaction is that he accuses him of abandoning his people, and leaves Travis who is very touchy in this respect with a bad conscience. Fortunately Travis is able not only to save the Fortunate's crew but also to return the "favor" by pointing out that Ryan detracts from his people's cause if he is out for revenge.
Science & technology stuff: Now we have the confirmation. FTL communication between the ship and Earth is possible in real time. There is not the slightest delay when Archer and Admiral Forrest talk with each other. I am aware that TNG was very inconsistent about FTL communication speed (which was sometimes real-time and sometimes took hours), but this wouldn't have hindered the Enterprise producers to make at least a little concession to the 22nd century. The way it is, this technology is unnoticeably less advanced than what we know from the 24th century, just like propulsion, phasers and transporters are too.
Remarkable quote: "They say that, for a split second, you can actually feel yourself at both places at once." (Ryan, about the transporter)
Remarkable scene: While some children are playing hide-and-seek on the Fortunate, T'Pol finds one girl behind a hatch. When a boy asks her, "Have you seen Nadine?", she replies, "I'm sorry, I don't know which child is named Nadine." She just told him the truth. ;-)
Remarkable starships: The ECS Fortunate is a Class-Y freighter with eight cargo modules, a crew of 24 and a maximum speed of Warp 1.8. The ship Ensign Mayweather was on, the Horizon, is a smaller Class-J ship. His parents, his sister and her husband are still on the Horizon. Ryan, on the other hand, lost his family on the freighter North Star that was destroyed. It is not revealed if it was an accident, or if the North Star was attacked.
Remarkable facts: The Nausicaans are back, and they are as unpleasant as TNG: "Tapestry" has shown them. Their home planet is called Nausica.
Rating: 7

Cold Front Date not given: Enterprise is visited by a group of pilgrims who are going to watch a neutron burst from a protostar which is a spiritual experience to them. Among them is the surgically altered Suliban Silik on a mission to prevent a cascade reaction in the warp reactor that would have otherwise destroyed the ship. To Archer's surprise, Enterprise Crewman Daniels turns out to be a time traveler from the 31st century, and he demands that Silik be stopped. Archer reluctantly agrees. Silik, however, apparently kills Daniels and manages to escape, leaving Archer with the question what he was really going to accomplish.

"Have you learned how it works?" - "Not a chance." Scully and Mulder (sorry, T'Pol and Archer) obviously refer to the alien clock in the end, but the same applies to whole "Temporal Cold War" spy story. Archer has no idea who is fighting whom and why, neither has the viewer. We don't know what specifically is Silik's mission and what is Daniels doing on the ship; we can't be sure who of them is really the bad guy this time. Maybe Daniels is not even dead, considering that it doesn't look like he is blown to pieces by Silik's weapon, but rather erased like a hologram (Tucker was sure he was dead, though). Usually Star Trek episodes have tied together some loose ends when the 45 minutes are over, but it is quite the opposite here. I'm not glad about that. I'm not even able to rate this drama based on criteria like plot advancement and logic, because this doesn't play much of a role (yet) and it would depend on a later episode if all this makes sense at all. The way it is, the characters stumble through an unfinished plot. It is obvious that the Temporal Cold War is a large story arc of the kind we have seen on DS9 for the first and last time in Star Trek. But I don't think that this would require open endings like in "Cold Front" and, a bit less pronounced, with another story arc in "The Andorian Incident". Even the DS9 Final Chapter had at least weak episode conclusions, and the episodes were aired in direct sequence. Considering that it will be several weeks until the whole story is continued (not to mention the Christmas break), to me it is like trying to catch up with a book I stopped reading weeks ago. With a book, I can at least be sure that there will be a conclusion.
Rather than the spy story, a couple of tidbits made the episode interesting. Tucker's talking about the warp core (after he didn't get the opportunity in "Breaking the Ice") was cute, as was Mayweather's careful occupation of the captain's chair and Reed's worries about his armory. What I liked too is how the alien ship docked to lateral docking hatches of Enterprise (well, although the interface was coincidentally compatible again). The scene when the airlock of the shuttlebay was opened was a highlight, although I doubt that Archer would stand a chance against an explosive decompression. It is also remarkable that, for the first time in Star Trek, human religions are mentioned as still existent. Dr. Phlox says he has been to a Tibetan monastery and that he has attended a mass at St. Peter's Square.
Treknology: "Gravimetric field displacement manifold" is probably the worst technobabble in a long time, I would have guessed anything but never that it could denote the warp reactor. What does the matter/antimatter reactor have to do with a gravimetric field? The following discussion about the positrons and how they are constrained, on the other hand, was quite fitting.
Remarkable quote: "Tell the chef to prepare... something." (Archer)
Remarkable facts: Engineering is located on C-deck. The Enterprise database has 50,000 movies, among them such masterpieces like "Night of the Killer Androids". At the time of this episode, Enterprise has been under way for four months, three weeks and six days.
Rating: 5

Silent Enemy September 1, 2151: Archer is worried about his reserved armory officer who will soon celebrate his birthday, and he assigns Hoshi to find out Reed's favorite food. When Enterprise is attacked and boarded by unidentified aliens, Archer orders the ship to head back to Jupiter Station to have the phase cannons installed. The engineering team around Reed and Archer tries to get the phase cannons online even sooner. In a test shot they inadvertently overload the weapon. When the aliens return and firing at nominal power doesn't help, they reproduce the overload and force the enemy ship to retreat. The captain surprises Reed with his favorite, a pineapple tart.

Watch this episode to learn more about Malcolm Reed than he would ever tell us in his whole life. In fact, everyone save Mayweather has a decent share of screen time and a few nice lines, like never before in this series and long ago in Voyager. It's B-plot and trivia time, whereas the main plot is much like a combination of "Broken Bow", "Fight or Flight" and a bit of "Cold Front" too. It is a déjà vu especially when the aliens crawl through the ship and when their device in the launch bay is found. Moreover, as threatening these aliens-of-the-week are in this episode, as insignificant they will be in the scope of the whole series. Considering that they only contribute to the enemy inflation in the 22nd century, I wonder why the authors didn't simply give the Suliban another appearance for this purpose or the evil aliens from "Fight or Flight", or perhaps the Romulans. I like the typical 22nd century aspects of the "superior hostile alien" theme in "Silent Enemy" though. Like in the three other episodes too, the Enterprise crew don't just pull a Treknological solution out of the hat, but really learn how to operate their ship and their weapons in particular.
The perhaps best scene is when Hoshi talks to Reed about his food preferences in the mess hall, and to him it sounds as if she were asking him out. I somehow knew that it would turn out this way, and this made it even funnier. Although everyone gets something to do this time, the most interesting character development is again conceded to Archer. At the beginning, he is excited as usual to meet another alien race, but this soon turns into the first serious doubts about the mission. He even accepts Vulcan help for the first time. Archer is rather late with that in my opinion. Anyway, when he visits Tucker in engineering, Archer admits that the ship (and maybe the crew too) was not yet ready to go out into space, and that he rushed that. It is obvious that his long-time friend is the only person who he could talk to about that. I just imagine how it would have turned out if he had confided in T'Pol. ;-)
Treknology & Nitpicking: The most blatant problem is with the weapon energy which seems way too high at 500 gigajoules, compared to figures of the 24th century. Moreover, the 500 gigajoules are called "*power* output". Some basic physics lessons for the writers should be obligatory! Considering this huge amount of energy (which would be released in at most a few seconds, yielding a power in the 100 gigawatt region), the phase cannons are quite small. I like the whole engineering and armory sets very much, though. In one scene there is a pipe labeled "liquid helium" which is obviously a part of a cooling system, although not explicitly mentioned. What I don't like is that, once again, Enterprise encounters a cool and advanced enemy ship. If the vicinity of Earth is so full of superior (potential) enemies, it is a miracle that Earth hasn't been conquered long ago, much less that Earth may become a major player in space within only ten years. Finally, there is a minor problem with the crew count. In "Strange New World", it was 82, Daniels left in "Cold Front", but now the crew consists of 81 humans, one Vulcan and one Denobulan (plus one dog). Maybe the figure was supposed to include only the human crew in "Strange New World".
Remarkable dialogues: "Maybe they checked us out and decided we were not very interesting." - "Us - not interesting?" (Mayweather and Reed), "This time we won't be leaving before we're ready." - "Are your ears a little pointier than usual?" (Archer and Tucker)
Remarkable facts: Enterprise drops two subspace amplifiers, Echo 1 and Echo 2, and prepares to launch another one, probably closer to Earth, in the end. Enterprise is designed to have three phase cannons, two facing forward and one aft. Duval, a friend of Archer's and Tucker's, has been promoted to command the Shenandoah. Tucker's (ex?) girl-friend lives in Pensacola.
Facts about Malcolm Reed: Malcolm's parents currently stay in Kota Baharu, Malaysia. His relatives include a sister, an uncle and two spinster aunts. Grandfather Reed served in the Royal Navy. Malcolm suffers from allergies to dust mites, oak, pollen, tropical grasses and various plant enzymes, including bromelin which is found in pineapples which happen to be his favorite fruit.
Rating: 6

Dear Doctor Date not given: A pre-warp vessel with an ill crew is found adrift in space. The Valakians have left their planet in the hope of contacting an advanced civilization that could find a cure against the illness that is spreading on their homeworld. The Enterprise crew is surprised to learn that there is a second humanoid species on the same planet, the Menk, who are not affected by the illness which is actually a genetic defect of the Valakians. Dr. Phlox is about to develop a cure, but he expresses his doubts about interfering with the evolution on this planet that would doom the Valakians to extinction and give the Menk the opportunity to evolve further. Archer finally agrees with him and refuses to cure the Valakians or give them warp technology.

"Dear Doctor" has everything a good Trek episode needs. Especially the A-plot and B-plot are tied together very well. This means a great deal because the ethical dilemma Archer and Phlox are facing goes along with a cultural clash that is nicely represented by the Doctor's and Crewman Cutler's relationship. We have a good deal of character development, in particular we learn a lot about Dr. Phlox and the Denobulans - and, quite surprisingly, a lot about humans too. What I also appreciate, and if only for a change, is the diary-like way of storytelling that reminds me a lot of TNG: "Data's Day" (and which was probably supposed to be just like that). "Dear Doctor" definitely belongs into the "typical 22nd century" category like about half of all Enterprise episodes and it builds a bridge to the time of TNG like no other Enterprise episode before. The whole story would be a pleasure to watch - if only there were logic instead of the swift decision "we are not here to play god", and better science. The more as I think about it, the more annoying it becomes in retrospect.
My first problem is with the obvious allusion that the Valakian dilemma should be the origin of the Prime Directive. The Prime Directive was always meant to protect civilizations that were little advanced and would have been impaired if they had learned of "gods" who were able to travel at warp speed and other miraculous things (just like the Mintakans in TNG: "Who Watches the Watchers"). In a broader sense, the non-interference would apply to all alien civilizations that didn't seek contact or ask for help, be they warp-capable or not (just like the Malcorians in TNG: "First Contact" and even the Klingons in TNG: "Redemption"). Neither reason to "protect" the inhabitants from Starfleet's interference applies here. On the contrary, the Valakians have gone into space for the only purpose to contact aliens and ultimately obtain exactly the help that Archer and Phlox deny them. Of all people who have received or will receive help from Starfleet, the Valakians should not be worthy of it only because they are a few decades behind an arbitrary standard? The attitude that Starfleet shouldn't determine the destiny of the planet is extremely hypocritical, and it doesn't even apply here. As the incentive for the familiar Prime Directive the situation of the Valakians just doesn't work out. Well, at times TNG was hypocritical too. I'm thinking of the crew's behavior when they watched in awe how an entire planet died in TNG: "Homeward", only to obey the words of a law, instead of rescuing at least a few of its inhabitants. On the other hand, wouldn't the TNG crew have helped any other civilization, be it warp-capable or just about to develop warp, that asked for help in a crisis, be it man-made or natural?
In "Dear Doctor", the fact that there are two intelligent humanoid races on the same planet obviously serves only as an excuse of Archer's and Phlox' sick attitude. If they wouldn't let one half of the population die, they would deny the other half, namely the Menk, their so-called "natural evolution". Evolution, however, is anything but an automatic, self-sustaining process. I am not an expert in genetics, but I am quite sure that there is nothing like "bad genes" that may be responsible for a species to become extinct, at least not if the population is large enough, which is obviously the case here. We know from Earth's natural history that species become either dominant or extinct because of changes in their environment that they can cope with or not, respectively. The only explanation I may have for the "bad genes" would be that the Valakians tampered with them or unconsciously obtained them through a war with nuclear weapons. The question may occur if Archer might have helped if the Valakians had been responsible for their misery themselves, because then he wouldn't have interfered with a "natural" process - how paradoxical and cynical! There is also no point in stating that it was predestined that another species, namely the Menk, was to become dominant. Actually, no one could have predicted whether the Neandertaler or the Cro Magnon human would survive, even if one had known of the climate changes to come. Ironically, it is stated in the episode itself that the development on the planet and therefore ultimately the evolution would be a matter of coincidences, but even this doesn't change anything about Phlox' opinion that the Menk are supposed to survive while the Valakians are not. Finally, and that's a statement I ran across lately, biologists say that there will probably be no evolution at all since we are dealing with a world-wide population of humans, as opposed to isolated groups and habitats. Special genetic markers that could lay the foundation of evolution would always average out. Well, this would invalidate quite a few other Star Trek episodes too. But overall, the twisted ethics along with bad science ruins this episode.
Phlox is annoying here in any respect. In the B-plot he is obviously playing with Ensign Cutler's feelings. We learn that he is married (with three women and two other men), but he doesn't bother to tell Cutler. On the contrary, he consults Hoshi and T'Pol about it as if he meant it seriously, but actually his only interest is to study human emotions. My feelings were a little bad about that already in the previous episodes, but this time he has gone too far. On the other hand, it's definitely a fitting contribution to the main theme of the episode, "Their culture is different. It's their way." That is how he still defends the Valakians when Hoshi criticizes their treatment of the apparently less intelligent Menk. It seems he is impartial about the situation on the planet. But then he finds out that the Menk have the "better genes", and he decides that he should let the Valakians be extinguished in their favor. His stance is totally misunderstood Darwinism and almost racism. The Prime Directive is on the way, but as good as it may prove later, I think it has the worst possible start if it is based on one doctor's personal ethics. The episode could have easily been the best of the first season, if it had not been for Phlox.
Remarkable quote: "Some day, my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine, something that tells us what we can and can't do out here, should and shouldn't do. But until somebody tells me that they have drafted that directive, I'm going to have to remind myself that we didn't come out here to play god." (Archer)
Remarkable facts: The crew are watching "For Whom the Bell Tolls" with Ingrid Bergman (and even Trip has to weep). Dr. Phlox writes to Dr. Lucas, a human doctor who is working with the Denobulans. Denobulans use to have marriages with three men and three women. They need little rest, except for their hibernation cycle.
Rating: 3

Sleeping Dogs Date not given: Enterprise finds a disabled vessel in the atmosphere of a gas giant that turns out to be a Klingon ship. All of the crew are infected with a virus, except for the female warrior Bu'kaH who steals the shuttlepod, leaving T'Pol, Sato and Reed trapped on the ship that continues to sink in the atmosphere. Bu'kaH refuses to help retrieve the officers and the ship which has descended too far to reach it with a shuttlepod. In a last effort before the hull is getting crushed, Reed explodes photon torpedoes below the ship whose shockwave lift it to a safe altitude. The Klingons are anything but grateful for the help, and Archer orders to leave the scene before their reinforcements arrive.

There is nothing very impressive about the episode which merely shows some well-known plot ingredients along with some nice character interaction. At first, it looks like a remake of "Fight or Flight", only with Klingons this time. Hoshi Sato is a bit more self-confident here, and in this respect it may be good that the situation mirrors the one of the early episode. I also enjoy that T'Pol warms up a bit in this episode (although she would deny that). First she shows Sato a meditation technique, and in the end she more or less lies, only to spend more time in the decontamination chamber (which, as she says, is pleasant because of the missing smell). The Klingons are just like they were in "Broken Bow" and "Unexpected" too, meaning that they are not really allowed to play a role themselves, but are represented by details that are known from TNG, like targs and gagh, and by T'Pol's second-hand information. I think it would have been much better for continuity if the Klingons had remained more of a mystery. Alternatively, it would have been a much better drama if they had been given the opportunity to speak more for themselves. The Enterprise Klingons are presented in a similar fashion as the Voyager Klingons and not like in the good old days of TNG and DS9 when their culture lived and was not only cited.
Remarkable ship: After the awful K't'inga-class cruiser we see a reasonably different Klingon ship. It may have been clumsier, though. What I can't quite understand is that T'Pol or anyone else doesn't even recognize this ship as Klingon, even if the class is not certain. Provided that the Vulcan database is available all the time (as it seems to be in "The Andorian Incident"), I also wonder why Reed, for instance, didn't bother to study what little the Vulcans know about their technology. I certainly would have done so.
Rating: 4

 

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