Horizon Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Hmm, finally something of substance to involve Travis but really it doesn't seem to be ABOUT Travis, yes it deals with him 'coming home' to find he's a source of derision for his brother after their father dies and his brother assumes command of the cargo ship Horizon. So really it's just about Travis' loser brother who has serious command issues but when the ship is threatened does the forced character development come into play and he gives in and ok's Travis' upgrade to the ships weapons which proves their salvation.
I admit it was satisfying to see this much of Travis' life, it doesn't get much more real for a character to see where they come from, but it didn't really tell us much we couldn't infer already except for the revelation that Mayweather had in rebuked a life aboard a cargo freighter to join Starfleet and his father and brother begrudgingly accepted the decision and even secretly respected it. But that's it, his brother as I said is a jerk thrust into a position he's too arrogant to deserve but, as I also said, quickly learnt that to be a better Captain is to be more open to other's opinions and suggestions. Travis' mother doesn't add much but what you would expect from such a character. Nora doesn't add a lot either but to be a reminder of the innocence of his past aboard the Horizon.
And Travis, it was a shame he couldn't really do much more than asked, I admit his somber performance in Enterprise's "sweet spot" after learning of his father's death was quite convincing for what it was, but he quickly gets over it and shows little more emotion for the remainder of his story but to get a little irritated at his brother's attitude towards him.
The story on Enterprise I actually found a little more interesting, with T'Pol being convinced to go to movie night to watch "Frankenstein" only for her to believe the movie was an apt commentary on humanities fearful view of outsiders and that she should believe it be recommended viewing for all Vulcans who visit Earth ;)
So in rating, it seemed a good episode, even though there was more on offer it was nice to explore a bit more of Mayweather's character, it's just a shame I believe Anthony Montgomery isn't the best actor and can't convey much in the way of emotion. And the secondary plot was a refreshing change of tone away from the family drama on the Horizon. So it gets 6/10.
Remarkable foreshadowing: Travis suggests that families should be allowed to live on starships, a bemused Reed in reply recommends having a psychologist aboard as well.
Remarkable quote #1: "This Dr. Frankenstein, his technique is not dissimilar to a practice on B'Saari II." -Phlox
Remarkable quote #2: "Captain, I'm reading bio-signs on the planet. To quote Dr. Frankenstein, "It's alive." -T'Pol
Rating: 6 (Cameron)

The Breach Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

I had the misfortune of being incredibly tired when I started watching this episode, and by about the 30th minute I was close to unconciousness, that's not a commentary on the episode, just signs of another big weekend. Having just finished it off it just reinforced the message abut racism and the divide between peoples that takes centuries to heal, I suppose the relationship between the Denobulans and Antarans is most equitable with the long-running feud between Palestine and Israel. Once again in true Trek fashion this episode tries to show that bridges can be built if people are willing to give peace a chance, a message likely to fall on deaf ears sadly. Anyway, the episode seems fairly evenly divided between the conflict of Phlox and Hudak, a wounded Antaran rescued from a damaged ship in orbit of a planet from which Enterprise has been asked to rescue three Denobulan scientists from a planet whose society is on the brink of war. Meh, the conflict on the planet itself is irrelevant, maybe a little too much time was given to the rescue. I'm surprised as I've seen other episodes of any Star Trek series where such a storyline would be omitted almost entirely, maybe that would've worked in the episodes favor here. We just get scenes of Reed, Trip and Travis rappelling down caves, and arguing with the Denobulans, it didn't feel all that important or interesting to invest so much time in. On the other hand the story on Enterprise was much better, John Billingsley is particularly compelling in the role as Phlox revisits demons from his peoples, and his own past, while he tries to treat a fatally poisoned Antaran who refuses Phlox's treatments due to his own prejudice. Archer's bullying wasn't appreciated, we didn't really need his threatening of Phlox I thought as Hudak would eventually agree to the treatment anyway, so Archer's comment about how relieved he was not to have put Phlox in irons left a bad taste in my mouth.
Well, I liked it for that plot at least, the rescue of the annoying Denobulans could've been gone without, there was good interaction between the focal character of the episode and his patient, 5/10. Would've benefitted with a better side plot though.
Rating: 5 (Cameron)

The Breach Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

The episode was a interesting one - certainly one of the better ones in the series, both the main plot and especially due to the acting of the main characters (the doctor and his patient, this week's guest). [Overall, Billingsley was sadly under-used in the series.]
There are a number of things that I didn't like - or rather, found annoying. [Not just the usual Mayweather "Ow! My leg - again!" incident - he'd be better off just staying in his pilot's seat rather than being *allowed* to go anywhere! :D] Mainly the misuse of various personnel - the fault of the writers, perhaps.
As the Chief Engineer, Tucker should have been on the alien transport vessel, along with some of his department, working with the alien crew to help repair the ship's warp core and engines. It would have been interesting to see them doing this - along with seeing the alien ship and crew and how they all got along. [Cooperating, in contrast to the tension in Sickbay.]
But no - he goes down to the planet on a caving expedition to rescue the Denobulan geologists... despite needing Mayweather to teach/guide him on climbing, and not knowing the likeliest place to search for them (Malcolm helped him with that). Couldn't they have found a geologist amongst the science department personnel on Enterprise? One who, as a geologist, would be more familiar with where to look for the Denobulans - as well as being, most likely, accomplished at caving/climbing? What about some of Malcolm's security department - if they're anything like most military forces, they'll have a spread of skills to cover mountain and arctic/jungle/desert warfare conditions. Wouldn't some of their personnel experienced in mountaineering/climbing have been of more use?
Their equipment doesn't seem to be very good. What about helmets for protection? Where the front part (covering the forehead) could generate the full spectrum of light (infra-red through ultraviolet) instead of that awkward looking shoulder/backpack lamp. Even suitable visors, to protect the eyes from dust, could have been sensitive to various wavelengths (IR through UV) to help them see in the dark (perhaps through being also able to act as night vision/image enhancers). A breather, again to protect from dust and/or hallucinogenic spores, etc, in the air. Even the mention of their suit/coverall being capable of generating power for their equipment through the wearer's movements. Any or all of these would have shown that their technology was more advanced than today's.
Even on board ship with the Antaran patient, some of the human crew could have helped Phlox with breaking down the preconceived notions of his patient. Since it's a major reason for their mission, wouldn't they be *interested* in seeing/meeting the aliens from the transport ship, regardless of their being crew or passengers? [It might have helped perk up the patients - all these "aliens" coming to visit them.]
A word from the captain could have resulted in their dropping by and telling the Antaran about human history from various perspectives and showing how clinging onto attitudes about other nationalities/cultures was (is!) counter-productive, etc. Hearing such varied stories would have appealed to the patient, if only due to his being a exomythologist. Hoshi might have dropped by to exchange language lessons. Most especially, T'Pol could have "shone" here with her Vulcan objectivity about other cultures, as well as pointing out the cultural benefits of their Medical Exchange Programme, of whom Phlox is a example...
So much missed opportunity to make the episode more compelling. And original.
Rating: 6 (James)

Cogenitor Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Oh my, what a disturbing episode, the bleakest by far which leaves an empty feeling inside. However this isn't for the worst and the direction taken in conveying such a feeling works in this episode's favor. It was very unsettling for the Vissians referring to the Cogenitor as 'it', and telling of how 'it' remains in a room with only one meal a day, Trip rightly equated the Cogenitor to a pet or less than, but did they justify his interference in the Vissian culture? Is what the Vissians do right considering the Cogenitor is capable of more? Its certainly an ethical dilemma, so I found I could understand both Trip and Archer's reactions to the situation.
A great episode in all, a somewhat controversial script which didn't shy away from that and took a dramatic turn in the end to show to the extreme the damage that could be done. I liked the script, I really liked the acting, especially from Bakula, I'm not going to comment on Archer's interference with other cultures up to this point in the show because I just am not as knowledgeable, but I don't think anything he's done was equitable to a conscious decision by Trip made on a whim which he had no right in making as T'Pol pointed out.
The Vissians themselves otherwise I have to problem with, of course there's Andreas Katsulas (RIP) who plays the captain of their vessel, and the couple who 'own' the Cogenitor at the time who make the point that it truly isn't Archer's place to judge their culture. But the Vissians are still a pleasant race which is refreshing as Trip mused when they weren't bombarded with weapons fire THIS time round...
Well I'm falling asleep so better wrap it up. Well it touched me in a way few other Trek episodes have, the ending may have been a bit much just to prove Archer's and T'Pol's point, but that's what had to have been done to leave a lasting impression, which I believe it did.
Rating: 8 (Cameron)

Regeneration Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Oh no, oh boy, oh here we go. Regeneration. The Borg, shit, we HAD ENOUGH OF THE BORG FROM VOYAGER!!! Grrrr...ok I got the way so I can finally give my two cents on this controversial and almost needless episode. So for them to pop up here again was...interesting to say the least.
Now thinking back to the film "First Contact", the idea that any Borg could've possibly survived the destruction of their sphere at the hands of the Enterprise was unthinkable but we have to live with that. The idea that the remnants of the sphere would lay undiscovered is unlikely, but in the century since the sphere crashed on Earth, I could understand exploration of the Arctic circle for wreckage no one knew was there took a back sea to the rebuilding of civilization, so I can live with that.
No one knowing about the Borg by the time Picard encounters them, eh...It didn't seem like Starfleet attained much information about the drones to research some kind of defense against, and of course, just like in "Acquisition", the mysterious antagonists didn't reveal their identity.
The problems I have though, well Phlox's magical resilience to the nanoprobes of course! Perhaps the Tarkaleans as well. We could nail that down to the nanoprobes being damaged after being frozen for so long. Oh the phase pistols, having so much effectiveness against the Borg, when in the 24th century only a few shots could be fired before they adapted, there was well more than half a dozen shots which managed to effect so much damage to disable a number of drones, unlikely.
But there are some things I found myself liking, for one thing the atmosphere created a better sense of suspension and tension far better than anything Voyager managed to do when they abused the Borg again and again, seeing this all unravel from a 22nd century point of view was nice too, instead of the usual terms of 'assimilation', 'collective' and such being bandied around, our crew have no idea what they're doing, yeah we do, but it the writing did present a more realistic interpretation of unfolding the events instead of the same old, same old.
But it does feel the same eventually, there's a few drones wandering in unison menacing the Starfleet officers on the Enterprise, as well as on the Borg-converted ship searching the same familiar looking corridors, awash in a green mist to deactivate a crucial piece of technology much like in "Dark Frontier". The mission succeeds in the nick of time before the away team is beamed back, and the Borg ship is destroyed with ease.
Plenty of homages and allusions to previous Borg-related instances, like Archer pointing out Cochrane's rendition of the 'real' events of first contact, Reed remarks on the strength of the Tarkalean-Drone's shields saying they might as well have been firing holographic bullets at them. The Ship is seen cutting into the hull in a circular manner, and of course, Archer mentions the subspace message telling of Earth's location would be recieved in the Delta Quadrant sometime in the 24th century. Phlox also mentions the Bynar as a species who utilised bio-mechanical implants.
And there's the issue of the paradox, I've talked about this extensively elsewhere and have theorised it's either a predestination paradox, a singular timeline with an altercation later in the timeline impacts on what came before, hence the future events occur then impact on the past. Or as I've recently thought out this emergence of the Borg into 2063 creates a second timeline, no not something so radical as Abrams-Trek, but the Borg emerging in 2063, then after being defrosted in 2153 gave away Earth's location gives reason to why a Borg ship was destroying Federation and Romulan colonies as was indicated in "The Neutral Zone". In the first timeline we can theorise the Borg were just doing reconnaissance work, took the outposts of both species for analysis and returned to the Delta Quadrant not finding anything worthy of assimilation, only to be conned later in "Q Who" into believing Humans had the ability to travel faster than they first imagined. In this new timeline initiated by the Borg giving away Earth's location, the Collective received the message, and that accounted for the lone Borg ship in the Neutral Zone analysing the Federation's technology in preparation for an attack. It all seems a bit moot now, but at least the events don't damage things too greatly in my mind.
Viewing it without all that in mind I still find myself excited by the episode, it had good direction, an engaging score, just a shame about the Borg, it seemed so unnecessary and so, so flawed. For the first time in a while the Borg actually were menacing and insidious, and intelligent, but they were still too easily bested by people 200 years behind the times, it's like taking a primitive musket, and using it to kill many people wearing kevlar vests, I just couldn't buy it.
Not much more I have to say on it, not the greatest of episodes, certainly not justification for using the Borg, I'm going to give it 4/10, it has problem of course, would've rather it not be made, but it was, I had to watch it, and judge what we were given, another action spectacle which would've been better off with different antagonists without the extra baggage that the Borg bring.
Rating: 4 (Cameron)

First Flight Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Well it's a pleasant enough episode giving a nice insight into the NX program's history and a little of Archer's personality, a more ridged one discovered which is complimented nicely with a convincing performance from Keith Carradine. I struggle to think of much more to say about it really. I liked it, it was a good episode which adequately showed a plausible precursor to Enterprises launch while adding some nice touches like Forrest still being a Commodore and the meeting of Commander Archer and Lieutenant Tucker. Some nice VFX and the design of the NX-Alpha and Beta ships were realistically modelled on Cochrane's 'Phoenix'. And that's really all I have to say, I struggle to think of more to add but that's really it, a nice exploration of Archer's character a little where he learns he needs to change his attitude if he ever wants to be Captain and we have seen that a little so far this series, and it also was a convincing storyline about the NX project's origins. 6/10.
Remarkable quote #1: "You remember what Buzz Aldrin said when he stepped onto the moon?" - "No." - "Nobody does. Because Armstrong went first." -Archer and Ruby
Remarkable quote #2: "When the first warp five starship is built, its captain won't be able to call home every time he needs to make a decision. He won't be able to turn to the Vulcans. Unless he decides to take one with him." -A.G. Robinson, to Archer
Rating: 6 (Cameron)

Bounty Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

For it half being T'Pol wearing next to nothing it's still an awfully boring episode, nothing special which I almost thought would've been more at home on an episode of Voyager, but only due to the continuity does it fit here. Even with the backstory of Archer being wanted by the Klingons, that really doesn't come into play much until the final few minutes, till then it's nothing but hearing about Sklaar's sad story about losing his freighter, but there wasn't much emotional resonance generated from that for me to care one bit. Archer does the usual routine trying to ply him from his decision through subterfuge and sympathy, but they combine to hatch a plan where the Tellarite gets his money from the Klingons, and Archer manages to escapes.
And of course, on Enterprise T'Pol is going through Pon Farr, complete exploitation of the character of course making maximum use of Jolene Blalock's body, she does play the part with credibility, but none of it served any kind of purpose than to have her writhing around in a hot sweat, not that I'd usually complain, but there are things on the Internet that can satiate such desires, don't lower the character to this point for no good reason at all.
So an all round bad episode for me I felt, the acting wasn't remarkable but from Blalock but like I said, her going through Pon Farr was nothing but unnecessary but for giving us an excuse to witness her sexuality taking over, I did at least find the scene's with Phlox attempting to rebuke her humorous. And Archer's plot being captured wasn't compelling or exciting. 1/10.
Rating: 1 (Cameron)

 

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