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Star Trek Enterprise (ENT) Season 4 Guest Reviews

Season 1Season 2Season 3Season 4

 

Storm Front I/II

Synopsis

"Storm Front I/II"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

I had a whole review written up and clearly hit the wrong bloody button and it all vanished.

Anyway, just the important things, the 2-parter felt a bit like a rehash of "Star Trek: First Contact", a few plot elements felt the same, but other than that the story was an excuse to wrap up this boring Temporal Cold War, good riddance I say.

But the episode was dull and predictable, after a year of fighting to avert the destruction of Earth to prevent the formation of the Federation, presenting the same threat again immediately after preventing the threat from the Xindi was a mistake. No way was I now worried about the survival of the crew or the fate of the Federation, so the tension just wasn't there.

Being WW2 themed, again in early 20th century America, the settings were too familiar, the feeling was stale now, aside from Vosk, I didn't find any of the other characters interesting as well. They were for the most part a bunch of clichés spewing recycled dialogue pertaining to the sort of character they were. And even most of the dialogue on part of the crew of Enterprise was just exposition.

So not an enjoyable couple of episodes, certainly felt like a chore just so we can finally take a breather which will come in the next episode. As for these two episodes, nothing special, very underwhelming and untimely too.

Rating: 4 (Cameron)

 

Storm Front I/II

Synopsis

"Storm Front I/II"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Too many things in ENT made me sneer, seethe, wince, or groan - this was passable until I read Bernd's opinion on the Nazi era and the effect it has to him being German.

I am from Britain but I am not one of them tossers who mock the Germans over this war, or constantly refer about how we defeated the Luffwaffe etc etc etc. I am a Brit who has been on the receiving end of shit racism from my fellow Brits - because those who tend to have contempt for Germany tend to be white and have a longing for Britain's Empire - something I will say I am GLAD to see dead and buried.

So I relooked at this episode and hate it even more - its typical pious horseshit from the yanks who go on about Hitler and Co because its the "only war they ever won single handedly" and may get a few controversial pointers to hopefully make folk talk about ENT in a "better light".

Typical Vosk had to be in league with the Nazis - because they are the most advanced - bullshit. They did it because as Dean Devlin (ID4 scriptwriter) once said - "the only two villains we can do without offending anyone are aliens and Nazis".

If it were the US, or the UK, I can buy that as an original spin - but no the dismal duo went for the Nazis because possibly for controversy reasons, and a way of redeeming the US's failure for saving the Jews from the gas chambers by showing the useless US wiping out NAZIS!!

This like the series then descended into stupidity; the giant collider for time travel made from 40's tech (WTF), the Junkers fitted with disruptors, and to top it all off, the Enterprise flying over Washington - or wherever.

SINCE WHEN WAS THAT SHIP CAPABLE OF ATMOSPHERIC FLIGHT!?!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!?

The final insult was the pompous up his own arse Daniels saying "look the time lines are restored - its a marvelous sight to behold" like Jesus of Nazareth; I just wish someone punch him!

Waste of money, lifetime, and an insult to those who died during WW2!

Annotations

Rating: 0 (Chris)

 

Storm Front I/II

Synopsis

"Storm Front I/II"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Fucking hell! Enterprise does make shit sometimes ... but I wouldn't class this as entirely shit for one simple reason. Every reason why this episode is bad boils to one thing... there is basically one reason why both and I cannot stand this episodes: The Bad Guys are Nazis.

Okay, so here's why this is a bad thing in my opinion: Why? Why? Why? The USA did beat Germany in 1945, yes, it's a fact of history so why the hell are you stick creating TV shows featuring you beating them again. I am British and find this episode full of total disregard for history. The idea of Lenin being killed does not mean the Nazis are stronger, in fact I'd have thought that it would make them weaker. From a historical perspective I'd have thought after invading Poland the Nazis have may then been inclined to invade the weakened USSR thus making them even weaker. Okay maybe not but one death does not change that much history if it really was that one dimensional then almost every episode of Star Trek would feature evil aliens changing the timeline.

Okay, why else. Well it's bloody disrespectful to everyone who died in WWII. World War Two was an abomination for both sides, admittedly the Nazis did do awful things but so did every nation, what about the nuclear bombs dropped by the USA? Or the bombing of Dresden by the Brits? All countries did something and although the Nazis did the worse it does not mean they are stereotypically a bunch of evil genocidal maniacs. This episode uses the fact that the USA won to use it as an excuse to show them shooting Nazis all day long. This episode basically consisted of: dialogue, dialogue, kill Nazi, dialogue, dialogue, dialogue, kill Nazi, dialogue etc. The thing is that though notice the episode is "the Nazis rule all the world apart from half the US". What did the USA do exactly? Yes, without them the war would not have been won but let's face it - it wasn't exactly "USA were the best". The UK did more then them historically as did the USSR. Okay, so we have a giant US orientated "let's kill Nazis" for two hours plot basically.

The third issue is the aliens, the aliens are bad guys so which side do they choose to help: Nazis! Why? If you were a bunch of aliens from the future and you knew what happened in the future, who would you choose to get help from? The Nazis that you know will eventually lose or the Allies who will win and will make the first nuclear bomb. Yet, the aliens chose Nazis, why? So B&B could have Americans killing Nazis for two hours. This is shit guys.

Another issue - how the Nazis are portrayed, in part one they are pure evil with statements about how they get all the best food, how they shot a man in cold blood on camera and how they nastily interrogate Mayweather and Trip. Well, excuse me if I find this insulting but what about if the USA had taken over say, I don't know, Vietnam. The entire episode was dedicated to showing the Nazis as racist bastards - the USA are no bloody better. However I do concede the Nazi leaders and concept were racist but I get the feeling the common soldiers were a bit more different. The racist comment, well that could have been said by any man anywhere in the world at that time. The shooting a man in the head was too far and just aimed to make the Nazis look heartless. Part One was all about the bad guys being both aliens + Nazis which was pretty awful but part two made it clear the aliens were the enemies and the Nazi soldiers killed were just in the way (like it makes it any better).

Okay, so the rest of the story. The idea to have an alien changing time made sense and Vosk himself was a pretty good villain with nice lines and ideas but his motives were never perfectly clear. I like the majority of supporting cast although they did nothing except give us something to deter from the Nazi plot. The other characters did well, I liked Daniels's death and how he came back in the end and I think Archer is well handled by both writer and actor. He actually acts like a man who knows he's saved the world but knows he faces even tougher odds. Trip does well and I like his parts towards the end where he disbelieves its Archer. I thought Malcolm should have had more - he was interrogated nastily and Reed, T'Pol, Hoshi and Phlox did nothing spectacular. Silik ... what the hell was he doing there? I get the feeling Silik was added in because the story didn't fit two parts and his death was quite well handled because it was very brief, there wasn't a build up to it, heck, he died almost like a redshirt in some ways.

The plot worked consistently well and the ending was simple and effective. The effects were amazing and I liked the cliffhanger. Overall, bad Nazi plots but a nicely constructed story to start off the series but still nothing remarkable.

Rating: 4 (Darren Carver-Balsiger)

 

Home

Synopsis

"Home"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

This is pretty much what the Season should've started with, but I digress. Anyway it is a good character study of our main trio (Archer, Trip, T'Pol), Archer more so as he wrestles with the ramifications of his actions in the Expanse as he reflects on this with stock standard love interest number 101 Captain Hernandez, whom he confides in, expressing how he believes his naivety when starting his mission had compromised the safety of Earth and the ability of Starfleet to handle interstellar matters. On top of this his anger and the perception of his image as a hero following all the lines he crossed to save Earth. This is a welcome relief as many times before I've seen characters do such things and be unrepentant about their actions. Jack Bauer springs immediately to mind, however Bauer and Archer are different characters. Archer notes that he sees in Hernandez the person he was when he first set out, wide-eyed to explore the stars thinking it would be smooth sailing, but his time in the Expanse, dealings with the Suliban had clearly changed him and he admits as such.

Earlier Archer in a briefing had to deal with insinuations from Soval that he was negligent in dealing with the situation aboard the Selaya, not doing enough to help the Vulcans, understandably Archer gets pissed (again), and has an outburst, this at least is rectified later on when Soval admits that despite it all Archer's actions saved Earth, Vulcan and many other systems would've been encompassed by the Expanse and rendered uninhabitable, so Soval expresses his gratitude, hopefully this puts their feud to rest.

The secondary plot deals with Trip and T'Pol on Vulcan as T'Pol is presented with a problem as her mother's been dismissed from the Vulcan Science Academy due to T'Pol turning her back on the High Command, a compromise is offered where if she fulfills her obligations to her betrothed, Koss, her mother will be reinstated.

This whole thing felt a little 'soapy' for my tastes, but even then it adds a new dimension to this relationship between the pair. They had toyed around the idea of a relationship midway through Season 3, now we can see though that there is a deeper connection between the pair. T'Pol's mother has the sense to recognise it, so thankfully she raises the issue sparing any scene's of feverish denial by either Trip of T'Pol once more, Connor Trinneer once again is great in this particular situation, the melancholy, the disillusionment in dealing with T'Pol accepting Koss's proposal of marriage was very believable and I would also say relatable on a level. Jolene Blalock again is wonderful, and gorgeous to boot as always.

As expected, sadly, Mayweather and Sato are reduced to nothing roles, whilst Reed and Phlox are at least put to use addressing this issue of xenophobia on Earth with aliens being targets of attacks by humans. I know this serves a purpose later on in the season, maybe it could've been done in a more tasteful fashion here though. But then again I doubt prejudice and racism can be done tastefully. Anyway.

So a very good character building episode, shame again as always the lesser characters haven't a lot to do, but there was a lot to deal with the main characters that not much could be conceded.

Rating: 7 (Cameron)

 

The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shira

Synopsis

"The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shira"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

I've been having trouble reviewing these mini-arcs of Season 4, which is strange considering I just reviewed a season-long arc, but I guess most of those episodes were a little more self-contained. In Season 4 though it's been hard to review the 'Augment-Trilogy' which is why as of yet a review of all three episodes hasn't been posted, but I may get around to that some other time when I have the chance to watch all three episodes which I recently did not. But I've just watched all three episodes of the Syrannite arc and here's the end result.

Well definitely a very entertaining few episodes with an interesting and satisfying plot, for a while it's been a mystery as to why Vulcans had been portrayed as such a cynical bunch of pricks, with a suspicious attitude to anyone whose ears weren't pointed and such. This new revelation about the Kir'Shara, the 'true' path of Surak being abandoned by the Vulcan Government over so many years, brings about an understanding, perhaps about why the decision was made to portray Vulcans has had been done for so long now in the series. This change, which makes it abundantly clear that Vulcan and her people will from now on be less aggressive and more trusting of other species and in particular humans, which is why we can see relationships like Kirk and Spock, Janeway and Tuvok, flourishing in the time to come.

But behind all that is the plot regarding the bombing of the Earth Embassy on Vulcan for which a group of radicals called Syrannites is blamed. Turns out though, in a twist not unlike in "The Undiscovered Country", that this is a set up, the High Command secretly behind the bombing which they would frame the Syrannites for, and in a further move, an attack on Andoria is prepared using falsified evidence that Andorians have developed technology based on Xindi weaponry (which makes for good continuity).

Now when looking at the whole three part story I guess it's easy to be satisfied, everything reaches it's conclusion in a satisfactory manner, all the characters seem fleshed out well enough. T'Pau, well I hadn't seen the episode of TOS she was in but there's little problem in including her here in this role, there's no reason to think she wouldn't have become a priestess later on in her life after serving in the Vulcan Government like someone in her position would eventually do. V'Las is a dick but that's expected I guess, he just spends the story snarling about 'insurgents' and getting pissed off, not the most imaginative interpretation of a character, but it's all that's needed. T'Pol's mother returns for a time only to die which is a bit of a shame considering T'Pol just sheds a solitary tear over it and admits she's not feeling so great about it after all.

Soval plays his greatest role yet which follows on nicely from the episode "Home" where he conceded he, along with all of Vulcan is indebted to Archer, which is why he goes to such pains to help them. Solid work by Gary Graham as always. But speaking of great pains this brings us to pretty much the most unnecessary appearance of Shran, while he's a figurehead Andorian who MUST be integrated into the plot once we get to the battle between Andorians and Vulcans, it was such a complete affront that he spends more screen time torturing Soval for information we already know as being true, and for what? He submits after Soval berates him a little for not believing him and makes a quip about Archer being in his debt again after he diverts fire Enterprise was under and that's it. It was such a waste of Jeff's talents to bring him in and perform the most obnoxious of actions that the character was capable of.

Archer's few scenes with Surak were nice, but could've been more interesting I'd think, instead of Surak just making vague remarks about the downfall of Vulcan society and (offscreen) revealing exposition about V'Las's intentions to attack Andoria, which were CONVENIENTLY shared with him by the previous host to his katra, meh.

But the final arc, well the third episode just padded out quite a bit to reach the conclusion. As I said the torture scenes of Soval were completely unnecessary, T'Pau curing T'Pol's Pa'Naar syndrome was quite convenient and almost didn't seem too much of a concern as the last thing I remember really worrying about when it came to T'Pol's state of mind was her Trellium-D addiction, it's a shame her having problems with Pa'Naar syndrome weren't elaborated on in preparation for this episode so we could remember why it was such a problem in the first place and why a cure was needed. T'Pol's capture and Archer's mission to rescue her too felt very pointless and just an excuse to fill time as everyone ends up at the High Command anyway. And more fortunes of fate arise as Koss manages to have transponder codes to allow T'Pau and Archer to beam into the High Command, yeah right.

And the final revelation with Romulan interference in the war between Vulcan and Andoria raises questions. Well, I guess we can just theorise that Vulcan attacking and conquering Andoria, and then reunifying with Romulus was the ultimate goal, I would hope this is referenced again (I'm not certain if it is or not), as even though it clearly doesn't work, it was still an interesting plot development and some closure would be needed.

So to rating I'd probably in all give it a 8/10. I didn't particularly like "The Forge" all that much, that would probably get a 6, "Awakening" gets 8 and "Kir'Shara" 6 as well.

Annotations

Rating: 8 (Cameron)

 

Daedalus

Synopsis

"Daedalus"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

I've never been a big fan of this episode, with the exception of the commentary on the transporter from the view of a more well, real world perspective I suppose you would say given the way the characters talk about it (especially Emory but I'll get to that in a moment), it didn't feel much like a Star Trek episode at all. There's a couple of mentions about the Kir'Shara and its influence on Vulcan society, the stigma of Pa'Naar syndrome being removed again owing to mind melds being so apparently commonplace by later on in the chronology.

But only a very few things really bother me with this episode, as I said, Bill Cobbs's performance wasn't very good, there's few times he really convinces me as his performance seemed so lacking in passion at times considering he's lost his son for 15 years and never really seemed to have shed a tear or make any more impassioned statements about the situation. His character's dialogue with the daughter character of Danica too felt forced and just ripped out of the 'Conflicted dialogue 101' playbook. Emory himself, I expected a lot from the character, the inventor of the transporter, and sadly all that there is to show is just a cynical old man in a wheelchair.

And the plot was just the same sort of fare taken from one of the many 'stranger/friend hiding a secret from the crew' episodes of TNG, so even though like most of this 4th season, this episode does when deal with more TOS topics, this one failed to make much of an impact thanks to the very generic story and underwhelming acting (in my opinion). It's not an episode I am ever in much of a hurry to watch again.

Rating: 4 (Cameron)

 

Observer Effect

Synopsis

"Observer Effect"

Date not given: A pair of Organian 'observers', possessing Trip and Mayweather (and later, other crewmembers) witness the crew's reaction to Trip and Hoshi's infection with a fatal disease brought back from an away mission. Following the death of Hoshi and Trip from the disease, one of the observers breaks with long-standing protocol of observers by reversing the effects of the disease. Convinced the humans are worthy, the Organians discuss plans for a first-contact.

Commentary

This is the kind of dull, bottle show you can expect after the somewhat epic three-parter Syrannite Arc, just a shame it happened to have been done twice now, with Daedalus airing the week before. Regardless, it's a similar premise done with other episodes of Trek, but this one differs in its presentation of the alien outsiders, right from the opening teaser making it clear that all is not what it seems. But watching the pair stalk the corridors repeating rhetoric about upholding their directive or criticism their inaction in light of the suffering of others got a bit tiresome, and it's not really until the last 15 minutes or so that the episode kicks into gear. The slight bit of backstory with Hoshi as a illegal-poker soliciting pimp who broke a CO's arm is rather odd, I'm sure it was supposed to be funny, but it's not like we knew anything ELSE about the lovely Ms. Sato beforehand to find such a revelation shocking at all, oh and her sudden ability to over-ride every security system because 'math is just another language', was frankly, ludicrous.

Anyway, the episode plods along till the token sickbay scene, where Archer puts his life on the line for the sake of his crew, his EV gloves and helmet to assist Phlox (who remained in the suit) in working on Trip and Sato, something which surprises the Organians and encourages the more sensitive one to help out. Scott Bakula is actually pretty good in the scene where he encourages the virtues of 'empathy' and 'compassion' be practised by the Organians, reminiscent of Kirk in TOS, talking down God-like beings and fascist Governments for treating people wrong. The Organians of course take note and discuss opening contact with Humans, a nod to "Errand of Mercy", and Archer suggests a beacon be placed upon the planet so no one encounters the virus again. Nothing so much seemed wrong with the episode, it just felt like they could've tried other ways to salute TOS without resorting to another cliché of aliens studying the crew.

Annotations

Rating: 4 (Cameron)

 

Observer Effect

Synopsis

"Observer Effect"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Gawd.

The initial beginning of this was clever, seeing Reed and Mayweather playing chess like pros, and the deep conversation they had.

Then we discover low and behold they are possessed once again by aliens. Once, yeah, twice, okay, three times, getting old - but Trek seems to do it so many times the idea is not just utterly worn out its vapour thin.

Anyway, basically a pair of Organians (from TOS: "Errand of Mercy") are here to observe the latest lab rats who have gone in orbit over a planet that contains a deadly silicon virus to see how they react to the events that unfold. That being that said virus will kill any who come into contact with it - anyone who is carbon based.

As expected Hoshi and Trip go down, are infected and are basically doomed, and despite the best efforts, Phlox and Archer cannot save them - and in a bold act of "humanity" Archer risks his life to save the pair - which he fails and thus becomes infected and will too die.

It is then that one of the Organians explains their intentions via an unusual scene. The other Organian explains that they should not intervene in the events that are unfolding, for it as been done for centuries, and that by this method of cruelty will they find a race smart enough for them to make first contact.

The teaser and the idea is excellent - aliens of an invisible immense intelligence using a method of possession to understand beings they may have to make contact with, and thankfully they do not decent into wondering what this human trait called "love" is, or understanding the joy of food.

However two things here make me choke.

The first is the reason the Organians in the end help save the people (come now they need them for next week) because of Archer's compassion, his humanity against hopelessness. The staggering fact is that no other race has done this in 10,000 years!! Only man is the ONLY race that shows care for the dying!? That only humans show compassion!?! A handful of races I can buy, but 10,000 years is a phenomenally long time, unless they are saying that only a handful of beings visit this place in that time at all. Even so, to say that only man bothered is galling.

If that is the case, does that mean that every alien out there is that mono-minded? Only humanity can save the day? That we are the ONLY SPECIES that CARES!??!?! So are we to believe that every alien race is a cold blooded ruthless inconsiderate breed that would leave their kind to die? That its our "compassion" and "humanity" that draws all that, that forges the Federation? Just think about this - its an utterly racists narrow minded opinion on alien life. Its as offensive as believing all Asians are smart and cruel, black people are daft, and white people are superior.

Even so the notion of humanity being the only beings to care, to make aliens regard this as a new concept is rubbish. After all compassion comes from protecting young, loved ones, family - unless all other life has no such thing.

The second is the method of contact. If the Organians are capable of overtaking aliens to the extent of erasing minds, and controlling their bodies, then can they not read THEIR MINDS?!?!? Why go through this blatant act of cruelty, deceit, and murder? Many Trekkies will say that "it's their way of contact - they are aliens" but honestly - would you want to meet an alien race who for you to get to know and share their time means that someone has to suffer and die? That they allow this virus to flourish here just to see how people would react? It's like seeing your family being tortured and you doing your utmost to save them only to discover its part of an interview for a job. Would you think highly of the firm involved?

2/10 for its teaser and the overall idea - alas executed very, very badly with narrow-mindedness and blatant racism.

Rating: 2 (Chris S)

 

Babel One/United/The Aenar

Synopsis

"Babel One/United/The Aenar"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Again, I'm doing all three parts in the one review just to keep it simple.

Well, if there was anything to epitomize the potential for story-telling Enterprise had, or indeed if Enterprise had a film of its own, it was most definitely represented in this 3-part epic.

With relations between the 4 main species of the series, the 4 core members of the Federation being the centrepiece of the plot it certainly made this one of the most iconic collection of Star Trek episodes throughout all five series. The story is simple but most effective, Tellarites and Andorians are due to meet for a peace conference at the neutral venue of Babel, however this is interrupted by a Romulan ship masquerading as various others through holographic trickery attempting to destabilise the possible peace the talks hope to achieve. Through Archer, the Andorians and Tellarites achieve peace, and the Vulcans even step into assist.

Babel One adequately introduces everything that is to come, from the opening scene of Hoshi and Archer in mock argument to prepare him to deal with the Tellarite delegation whose people appreciate a quick wit in arguments (Porthos's reaction to Hoshi pointing out Tellarites eat dogs was priceless), to another welcome appearance of Jeffrey Combs as Shran (reintroducing the lovely Talas as well), to the attack of the drone ship and the revelation the attacks by Andorian and Tellarite vessels were staged to pit the species against each other, this episode does boast excitement. Not much in the way of crucial development but it was only the first part leading into one of the best Enterprise episodes. "Babel One" was everything it needed to be, so it gets 7/10.

"United" takes what has been introduced and improves even more, following Trip and Reed's frantic efforts to escape the Drone vessel, Archer continuing to try and mediate between Gral and Shran to keep the peace, and the success culminating in a joint operation where ships from all 4 powers link to create a sensor network to find the drone ship. Even the plot on Romulus isn't so uninteresting as thankfully the experienced character actor Brian Thompson is on hand to play Valdore, who even though isn't given a lot of work with still manages to convey a depth to the character. And I'm sure his imposing voice as something to do with that as well. And relations between the sparring worlds of Andoria and Tellar Prime are brought to a symbolic end with Gral and Shran agreeing to sit in peace and discuss what the future holds. Another well written episode with the perfect balance between eye candy and an encapsulating story to keep you hooked from start to finish, 9/10.

Which makes "The Aenar" almost like an unnecessary component to the story. By the end of the previous episode the peace has been reached as promised in "Babel One", the Romulan ship had warped off, limping back home to Romulus perhaps. Getting into "The Aenar" felt like a distraction as the direction for the previous 2 episodes had felt so seamless, now we're detracting, warping off to Andoria to meet a whole new species of Andorians who are telepathic and one of them left one day and was kidnapped by Romulans and her sister wants to help Archer and Shran find him to put a stop to the attacks using a neural interface that was only just built in a matter of days onboard Enterprise and Shran feels something for the young Aenar as the pair practically instantly connect and eventually 2 drone ships intercept Enterprise piloted by the Aenar who destroys both ships before being killed himself by Valdore...ugh, you get the idea. On top of that new storyline there's also a new revelation back on Enterprise with Trip and T'Pol's relationship deteriorating to the point where Trip requests a transfer to Columbia. It wasn't enough for me to dislike the episode, but there can be too much of a good thing and "The Aenar" may have worked better as a separate episode to have allowed some adequate preparation for the new revelations that come to light, so the majority of the story feels slightly rushed, 5/10.

There's nothing incredible negative I can find about these collection of episodes at all, "The Aenar" does leave a little bit of an empty feeling which is a shame, but certainly nothing to weigh it down so much that it still cannot be appreciated as some of the best material to air under the 'Star Trek' banner. Collectively it gets 9/10.

Annotations

Rating: 9 (Cameron)

 

Divergence

Synopsis

"Divergence"

Date not given: In a daring maneuver Trip is transferred from Columbia to Enterprise where he averts the disaster by performing a cold start of the warp reactor while Columbia is maintaining the warp field. While the Klingon fleet under the command of Fleet Admiral Krell is approaching to eradicate the infected colony, Phlox is struggling to devise a cure for the viral infection, supported by the Klingon scientist Antaak. When they find a remedy that would actually take away the superior abilities from the Klingon Augments, they decide not to tell General K'Vagh who oversees their work. With little time left until the fleet arrives the last four healthy Klingons agree to test four different strains of the antivirus that Phlox has developed of which three are lethal and only one provides a cure. Time ultimately runs out when the Klingons attack and Enterprise and Columbia are being fired on too, against Krell's agreement with Section 31. Archer beams down and allows Phlox to inject the antivirus in his body to speed up the procedure. Then Antaak beams the virus into the Klingon lead ship, forcing Krell and his men to stand down to be healed. The cured Klingons retain their flat foreheads and are said to pass them on to their children.

Commentary

I am not a big fan of Enterprise but the visual effects in the episode are outstanding. The scene where Trip is going from Columbia to Enterprise at Warp 5 with just a cable connecting them and Columbia inverted and 50 meters from Enterprise was the best visual effects in the entire 4 years in my opinion. Not to mention when we finally after 40 years find out the secret of the Klingon genetic changes between TOS and TNG, it's about time.

Annotations

Rating: 10 (Kyle)

 

Bound

Synopsis

"Bound"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

What rubbish. I recall something similar happening on an episode of Stargate SG-1 with a female Goa'uld arriving on the base and with the use of pheromones turning all the men into her slaves and even then episode seemed more plausible than this nonsense. There's just so much crap present it makes the eye-candy null and void. An Orion merchant offers Archer a business deal which involves him also accepting three Orion Slave girls as gifts. Predictably they cause all the guys on the ship to collectively lose their mental capacity leading to the most brainless instances of violence and stupidity where either the men are brawling or turn into drones under the control of these women. Their presence anyway was all part of a plan to lure Enterprise into a trap, where it's revealed, in the most pointless plot twist in the galaxy, that the women are in the positions of power in Orion society. Not that I would downplay the abilities of women to be in a position of power, but to me this revelation was just set up for T'Pol to make the quip near the episodes end that even Orion society has positive attributes. Now not only was the set up stupid, but completely meaningless. The Orions, whilst iconic hadn't really featured much in Star Trek beyond some cameos in TOS, they never appeared apart from a passing reference here and there in DS9, so what was the point of bringing this aspect of their civilisation to light? THERE WAS NONE.

So no, along with that there was little to redeem this episode, it suffered greatly from the pitfalls of lazy, generic storytelling. The supporting character of the week has a function but Kelby was disposable as it was. I guess at least the fact he had featured a couple of episodes beforehand helped in that he had some motivation behind his actions, even if he had to be basically hypnotised into his actions, leaving him completely unaccountable. The good old 'feedback pulse' makes another appearance in which it manages to disable to Orion ship preparing to tow Enterprise to its doom. The 'psychic bond' between Trip and T'Pol also was a cheap way to both allow for Trip to save the day, and to make sure the pair stayed together and Trip wouldn't return to Columbia.

Just a very bad episode which threw any every opportunity to try and do something interesting with the Orions for once, but it didn't and went even worse thanks to lazy storytelling, so it gets 2/10.

Rating: 2 (Cameron)

 

Bound

Synopsis

"Bound"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

The only good thing about this episode is seeing the adorable Cyia Batten in a skimpy outfit. There, I said it.

I honestly can't believe that this travesty was able to make it to air in the 21st century! Admittedly, Star Trek was pretty sexist to begin with but that's mostly because The Original Series was made in the 1960s. Apart from maybe one or two episodes in early TNG (although I certainly can't think of any off the top of my head), it's largely overcome that. Modern Star Trek certainly isn't offensive in that way.

This episode actually seems like a step backward from even some of the more blatant sexist stuff that TOS did! First, the idea that women need to use some sort of pheromone to have positions of power? Okay, I can get that some cultures are different but the Orions are just odd. That culture was originally hyper-macho, much like the Klingons (although the Klingons have even been much more progressive with regards to gender starting with DS9). Now we find out that the men are actually slaves? The only point of that was to set T'Pol up with that stupid quip at the end of the show.

Unlike some others, I can understand why the women allow themselves to be sold. It's a form of conquest by deception. Basically, that's their way of taking over alien civilizations. Honestly, it would work pretty effectively since their victims would not know that they are being conquered. That seems to be what the episode is intending with the revelation at the end.

The Trip/T'Pol immunity thing doesn't really make any sense either. It's obviously in there because the writers need someone to save the day. I can understand why T'Pol might have some resistance since she's both Vulcan and female... but Trip? Human men cheat on their partners all the time so why should he be special? Given how sexist the rest of this episode is, I would have let T'Pol be the hero in this one.

Another major problem here is that the Orion women's pheromones make no sense. If they're meant to eliminate competition, why aren't the women making each other sick? How could a species possibly evolve pheromones that only affect alien women?

I'm giving this one a 1. The episode itself is trash but it's still fun to see the Orion women in those skimpy outfits!

Annotations

Rating: 1 (Daniel)

 

In a Mirror, Darkly I/II

Synopsis

"In a Mirror, Darkly I/II"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

After the catastrophe that was "Emperor's New Cloak" the thought of another Alternate Universe episode seemed ridiculous, however, "In a Mirror Darkly" is able to improve and be entertaining. The episode takes place entirely in the Mirror Universe with absolutely no involvement from "our" universe than the stolen USS Defiant (out of curiosity, is there a reason they chose that name for the ship other than to confuse all us DS9 fans for a minute?) The episode is especially intriguing since for the first time we get a very good look at the Terran Empire in its prime and packed to the brim with backstabbing, conspiracy, and some more backstabbing.

The biggest problem with the episode for me was the overload of gimmicks: Alternate universe + time travel + evil alien lurking through ship + indestructible vessel = enough minor plot lines to make 6 or 7 other Enterprise episodes. However, all and all it was an overall entertaining episode full of excitement, but most importantly awesome Terran Empire and MACO patches and symbols.

Nitpicking: One of the long standing problems with the Alternate Universe is how different everything is and yet somehow the same people still exist. This problem reaches its maximum limit when at the beginning of the episode the Vulcans show up on April 5th, 2063. What are the odds that with all the differences they would show up at the same place on the same day in both universes?

Annotations

Rating: 6 (Tim Roberts)

 

In a Mirror, Darkly I/II

Synopsis

"In a Mirror, Darkly I/II"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Anybody who really knows me knows I hate ENT, but you may ask why I'm reviewing an episode from it in that case. It's because I found one that I liked, hell, I loved it. It had sparse amounts of errors and problems, but it had some pretty dumb plot lines such as the Defiant ending up 100 years before its time. However, it was incredibly fun to mix a TOS ship with an ENT plotline in the mirror universe. we know there's going to be destruction, we know there's going to be death, and best of all, just about anything goes cause nobody cares about the mirror universe. The episode includes some good fight scenes, several space battles in which we get to see the Constitution class pulverize ENT ships (those like me who did not like the ships will enjoy these scenes), we get to see all of our favorite devices brought back from TOS, and we get to see what the TOS weapons can really do with CGI effects. On a side note, the CGI of the Defiant looks rather videogameish several times. The episode keeps you watching with a treachery fueled what-will-happen-next. Everyone I've met has liked it on some level, whether its the mirror universe or seeing the TOS revived and revamped for awhile.

Annotations

Rating: 9 (Hanzou)

 

In a Mirror Darkly I

Synopsis

"In a Mirror Darkly I"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Ah the Mirror Universe back where it belongs, I had only seen a few of the offerings from Deep Space Nine's ventures into the Mirror Universe and have always been let down as we were given nothing more than a bunch of anti-heroes with different hair cuts and '5 o'clock shadows' as an alternative to our heroes in the regular universe, and the direction of the MU in DS9 really was counterproductive to what "Mirror, Mirror" tried to convey. As unimaginative as it was to just have simply 'evil' counterparts to Spock, Kirk, Bones and so on, the way the format was changed in DS9 to allow our regular crews MU counterparts to still be heroes to a degree was boring. The end of the Terran Empire's dominance too also robbed some degree of interest in what potential the story had. One of the things I would've loved to have seen in TNG was to have had a mirror Picard, Mirror Enterprise-D and Mirror Federation, but the way DS9 went all that potential was thrown away.

So "In a Mirror Darkly" gives us what we truly want and more. Yes, we have our crew of Enterprise in suitably evil roles, Archer is the first officer of Forrest and soon mutinies to take command of the ship. Reed is a MACO who invents the agony booth, Phlox is a sadistic torturer, Tucker is still Chief Engineer but left crippled and scarred from Delta Ray bombardment. Hoshi is Captain's Woman, T'Pol is still science officer, but subject to Archer's jeers for her Vulcan heritage.

Everything is also predictably turned on its head, from the opening scene it's made clear we're not in the regular universe, with the "First Contact" scene from the film of the same name re-enacted but for Cochrane killing one of the Vulcans and the group of Bozeman residents boarding the T'Plana Hath. There's also that riveting opening montage with it's visions of warfare, that iconic sword plunged through an image of Earth which sent chills up my spine, and that amazing score.

The story also plays out very well, soon enough we understand the Federation in this universe is suffering at the hands of a rebellion and that Archer has a plan to turn the tide. The relationships between the characters are also well presented, Forrest and Archer getting into heated arguments over the direction of their mission, also the insinuations of Hoshi once being with Archer but then with Forrest adding an interesting little angle though it isn't incredibly relevant. T'Pol and Trip's relationship also interestingly mirrored in which the two have had sex but only for T'Pol's benefit as she underwent Pon farr.

And as is the theme plenty of references to TOS, as mentioned Tucker getting hit by Delta Radiation much like Pike did, the Tholians making a reappearance, and the Defiant from "The Tholian Web" popping up. The science behind it sounds ludicrous as to how the Defiant was able to shift between universes, but when an episode is this entertaining I really didn't care. It had the perfect mixture of the camp humour that was suited well to the tone, character development and interaction, and story to be considered such a good episode.

Rating: 9 (Cameron)

 

In a Mirror Darkly II

Synopsis

"In a Mirror Darkly II"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Well where part one just set up the larger story about Archer's mission to get to the Defiant and battling against Forrest, part two focuses more on the interpersonal relationships, bringing in all the backstabbing and conspiring the Mirror Universe is known for. This again is to the episodes benefit as it's such great writing and the cast are given the chance to really challenge themselves even if some of them don't have as much to do as in part One (Reed, Trip). Scott Bakula in particular did a great job, it was certainly unexpected for him to have been haunted by an imaginary doppelganger of his counterpart from the 'regular universe', but I think the presentation did it's job correctly in recognising the internal conflict of Mirror Archer to try and realise his potential after learning of the great man his counterpart had become. And there's some funny moments with the other characters, in an effort to win Phlox over into joining their group intent on stopping Archer, T'Pol and Soval ask him to consider the rewards for saving the Emperor whom Arch would kill, such rewards involving numerous concubines. ;)

The Defiant itself was an awesome sight, having not seeing the remastered episodes of TOS, and only being subjected to the butchery that was the Enterprise in JJ Abrams's "Star Trek" this was my first impression of the classic Constitution class design being rendered with modern special effects and it doesn't disappoint. Flying side by side with the Avenger for instance you can see the design lineage is there from the compact, prototypical design of the NX-Class to the streamlined, perfected design of the Constitution class.

On the inside as well, the attention to detail was amazing, it was only a shame we didn't get to see Engineering :(

So a very satisfying conclusion, was nice to see an intricate plot follow on from the excellent first episode. 8/10.

Rating: 8 (Cameron)

 

In a Mirror, Darkly I/II

Synopsis

"In a Mirror, Darkly I/II"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Like some of the hardcore fans, I've never really approved of Enterprise, nor have I really enjoyed it much over the run of its years. Mainstream television, which Enterprise unfortunately is, always tends to use gimmicks and gags to keep fans watching, with a few meaningful episodes in between to keep anyone intellectual interested. But for once, one of the most notorious gimmicks in the Star Trek universe turns out to be among the most entertaining episodes in the series.

Whoever decided to put some extra effort into this episode deserves a medal, because they certainly went all out with it. And they did their research too. They stuck in everything that fans of the series really never got to see much of after the original series. The Tholians, Gorn, the Type 2 TOS phaser and inevitably full blown original series tech make appearances, all done remarkably well and looking brilliant. They even remembered the dagger, and featured it in a fight scene. Even better, we get to see what the vaporization effect of an original series phaser looks like. Even some age old questions like aft torpedoes and what the Tholians have below their heads are answered after nearly forty years of speculation. And not one answer makes me regret that I asked either.

The acting is superb for one, with Archer's edgy nervous personality and the rebellious immature way to other, more bloodthirsty members of the crew act. It actually comes off as dead serious rather than some random effort on the part of the cast to act evil. Especially Archer's part, where Bakula somehow manages to pull off the insecure, unsure and near lunatic firebrand rebel. The scene where Archer practically has a nervous breakdown on the bridge during the battle really made the mirror version work for me.

Though the other characters have at most a few supporting lines, they all come across as believable, at the very least. The Main Universe doppelganger was an annoying quirk though, and entirely unneeded.

While I'm at it, I might as well condemn the intimate scenes as well for their pointlessness. But at least they fit the tone. Pretty much the same for the skimpy outfits. As for character flaws, Phlox seems to be an attempt to come across as humorously sadistic, but ultimately proves uninteresting. Hoshi shows very little skill a barley any ambition until the end of the episode, where the ending just seems to be thrown together for a Shamalan-esque twist. One that was easily predictable too.

What's more is that the Terran Empire comes off as something more resembling the British Empire and other civilizations that sparked around the gunpowder age. Granted, few of them weren't (that) fascist, but it's much better that the stereotypical Anti-democracy Nazi Empire that pops up every so often. Everything is crafted from lines and the opening of the first episode, so even a complete newcomer to Star Trek understands that this is not the "real" universe and can quickly understand its history. Dialogue makes references to mirror history, and even says the direct opposite of some of the more idealistic lines from the various series (though mostly they're references the Enterprise). The whole thing is given a very dark tone, and gets a bit of depth. For the record, picking the best quotes out of this pool of entertaining dialogue is impossible.

And, oddly enough, things in the normal series that looked out of place in the Star Trek universe feel like they belong in this one. The set's militaristic feel, the rather sparse lighting and the dark palette of colors used in Enterprise finally works for the better in this episode.

The battle scenes are exhilarating, to say the most, and entertaining to say the least. The old weapon sound effects sound great and feel right even while the Defiant fires off a heavy array of CGI. None of the CGI looks more obvious than it ever looks on Enterprise, and the Defiant is very well crafted with a shiny-but-dull look to the hull that brings back to old whitish-grey model from the original series. The Tholian vessels look good, with a pleasing color scene and much more sensible web spinner weapon. As opposed to the dreadfully slow one from the original series.

Last of all, the improvised original series technology such as the plasma relay core (or whatever it's supposed to be called) and massive Jefferies Tubes may not fit in all that well with the design scheme we're familiar with; they look like they could be at least semi plausible. The (semi) redesign of the Gorn and Tholians really cleans up anything that looked hokie or simply stupid about the original costumes. We get to see the rest of a Tholian, which looks remarkably alien compared to the very common Latex Foreheadians seen every time a new race is introduced. The Gorn looks very reptilian and has movement similar to that of snake rather than the movement of tortoise that we saw out of the original one. The dragonlike face and yellow eyes that have some form of iris surrounding its pupil is a welcome improvement over the compound eyes on the original. I'm not a fan of the Tholian screeches though. Or the simply stupid way it explodes into shards. I'd think a creature would break into larger pieces or at the very most shatter to the floor- not simply explode.

No other mirror universe episode compares to it, and it's certainly one of the highlights of the Enterprise series, if nothing else. When it's brought up, the mirror universe aspect of it tends to turn people off, along with excuse to bring TOS into Enterprise. Among the handful of mirror universe episodes, this one stands out as the one time they took it seriously, and didn't simply use it as a plot gimmick. It's surprisingly well done, and as someone who's had a very negative opinion of the series from the start, I can say a thoroughly enjoyed this episode. A brilliant homage to the original series.

Annotations

Rating: 8 (Hanzou)

 

Demons/Terra Prime

Synopsis

"Demons/Terra Prime"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Appropriately the final episode of Enterprise (in my mind, I'll have A LOT to say about "These Are the Voyages") returns to the most fundamental story point of the series since it's inception, the coming together of the Federation, and Earth's experience taking its first steps into space.

From the very beginning I felt Enterprise was never the series it was meant to be, not till Season 4 did it begin to resemble what people wanted and expected.

So "Demons/Terra Prime" does well to just return to exactly what the show was about. A group of xenophobe's threatening Starfleet and all aliens on Earth could've turned out to be poorly executed, but I thought Peter Weller was exceptional in the role of a flawed fanatic, he had some great lines and sadly one could see someone so charismatic rising to power and being in that situation. Paxton using a the idea of a Human-Vulcan hybrid do discourage interaction with other aliens, a bit far-fetched I felt. Certainly heartless too, his ideas about humanity becoming extinct were nonsense, and I never like being subject to lunatics being in the position of power over our heroes. One, because it makes it all the easier to hate such a character which doesn't make for the most compelling viewing, and two, because I would want something a little more original than his simple ideals. He must've been subject to Colonel Green's speeches day in, day out growing up as a child on the moon.

The plot of the baby though worked out alright in the end thanks to Trinneer and Blalock, even John Billingsley was convincing portraying the grief of Phlox after learning there was no saving the child. And kudos to the aforementioned pair of actors, for the very short time the characters had with the child, they were convincing, and it was amusing to see T'Pol talking to the baby in the typical, proper Vulcan manner.

The plot of Mayweather and Gannet, ugh, I really didn't like this and was bored watching it. Once more Anthony Montgomery's passionless performance hindered this almost useless sub-plot, his corny lines when later steering the shuttlepod weren't helping. Gannet was only just introduced, so the tension between them felt so artificial, the whole thing could've been thrown away for all I care, but at least with this sub-plot, Reed meeting up with his Section 31 pal again, and Hoshi taking command of Enterprise, every cast member has a role to contribute which I can appreciate even if it was flawed in parts.

Even the supporting characters are still given a small amount of depth, Harris being a former member of Terra Prime wasn't really needed but it was appropriate in that he symbolised a part of humanity willing to 'exorcise it's demons' as he put it. Paxton has a lot of talk about, his inspirations, his ambitions, certainly his opinion, half of it nothing but grandiose, maniacal monologuing but as I said, Weller was quite convincing in the role, he wasn't just given a stock villain to portray, someone for Archer to just shoot and go home, but a solid character.

Gannet though, her flip-flopping, triple-crossing whatever was really dull and pointless and annoying.

The resolution doesn't come as much of a shock though, Paxton's taken down, Earth is safe, and Archer gives a very inspirational speech which encourages the conference to go ahead. Phlox tells Trip who in turn tells T'Pol that human and Vulcan genomes aren't as incompatible as he thought and the two species would be able to mate successfully. While this comes as no shock thanks to a certain character by the name of Spock is well known, it is an inconsistency as Trip and T'Pol already had a run in with their own hybrid son, Lorian, in the Season 3 episode "E2", I guess no one remembered them after all ;)

So for rating, I didn't find either episode to be earth-shattering though I did enjoy the subject matter and appreciated the ensemble performances, "Demons" gets 7, as does "Terra Prime".

Annotations

Rating: 7 (Cameron)

 

Terra Prime

Synopsis

"Terra Prime"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Many regard this as the proper end to Star Trek: Enterprise, and in hindsight and through the miraculous technology of repeats, I agree and will review this episode and the overall series as such.

I know of "These are the Voyage", but I have a different view on that, and like many, do not regard THAT as the end of Enterprise.

Cameron's brilliant review sums up very much this episode - I wholeheartedly agree about Mayweather and his annoying "humour", his betrayal by his "love" and the thin pathetic 'kiss and make-up' is equal in naffness, again said villain having a super weapon to hold the 'universe' to ransom whilst spinning his spiel, and our heroes the only ones ever capable of saving the day, the only ones in the AREA (as usual), and succeeding with little incident or loss.

Even worse the scenes on Mars reminds me too much of Babylon Five's "Endgame" episode. Even down to the coats they wear!

What just saves it are a few elements - Phlox's grief to the loss of the Vulcan child hybrid claiming to belong to Trip and T'Pol is moving, and the acting from the trio involved is good. Everyone gets to play a part which is also respectful. I also rate Mr Weller's acting, he made the villain of the piece convincing and malevolent without descending into pantomime. The final scene where the various aliens Archer and co have met over the years starting to form the foundations of the Federation we will come to know is the crowning achievement. Its not brilliant but it does the decent job of concluding what Enterprise was suppose to be about - the beginnings of the Federation and Star Fleet.

As a finale, it sums up the entire series of Enterprise - that it was a half arsed show. The first two seasons were a chore - they may have introduced Shran, Andorians, Tellarites, had a few CGI moments, and tried to show a naive crew exploring space, but it was limp and dull. Considering the level of technology involved in creating the NX class and that man was ALREADY exploring the stars, I expected a more experienced crew at the helm of this. Them acting like novices did not convince.

The third season's arrival made matters worse - it became propaganda for the US war on terrorism, fighting an enemy WE have never heard of before who inflicted devastation of such biblical proportions on Earth, to go off all alone to find them and as Trip puts it "Make them pay" a la USA with Al-Quaida. Yes, the US did get Mr Bin Laden in the end, but looking at this story arch in the aftermath of that, makes it far more pathetic. Its like watching Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - its so out of date in its treatment of "the enemy powers" or communists that its just embarrassing and irrelevant. If that was not bad enough, they then had our heroes arriving on an alternate Earth with once again Nazis to fight(!!!)

The final season got Enterprise back on track, and reminded us what the show was about - the beginning of Star Fleet et al. However despite their best attempts what with episodes covering the Klingon Forehead issue, the Romulans, the Augments AKA Kahn, and "In a Mirror, Darkly", it was way too late. Like SeaQuest 2032, the series got the formula right but by then no one cared - like here.

Lots say that Enterprise is an insult to the franchise, but I disagree. Like with DS9 and Voyager, the ideas are sound, but delivered badly. Here, we could have seen how warp drive was made standard, how transporters were introduced and perfected, shields invented, charters drawn up and so on and so forth - think about it, its a really good idea. To be honest, Enterprise has the strongest plotline of all - how it ALL came to pass. Technically, it could not fail for all the resources were there.

There were some good ideas too; the Boomers, the Orion society, and a more wild frontier. This with the yet to be born Star Fleet and UFP could have thrown up some interesting ideas. The CGI was crisp, and the overall series did have purpose. In addition, they did not delve into the Holodeck, or fart about that much compared to DS9, TNG, and Voyager (e.g. dressing up as women, Fair Haven, being a soprano, trying to be more human etc).

Alas instead, like in my review of "Broken Bow", its the same shit served up differently: typical best starship afloat in the right place at the right time with the right crew to save the day. The NX class was out manoeuvred, outclassed, and even outgunned, but SOMEHOW it manage to succeed in whatever it did. The fact that its based on the Akira Class - despite the BS reasons from its designer - shows how much thought they had put into the show. It looked too hi-tech, and considering that they had ILM on their payroll, I expected something a lot more innovative.

As for the crew, they are again by the numbers - Archer the invincible 'charismatic' leader, but really is an idiotic, stupid, inept typical commanding buffoon who without him all would die, and to be honest came across as a combination of Janeway, Chakotay, and Sisko - diplomat to start with then the threats follow. He is a nobody; how he becomes a great explorer beggars belief.

Then there is the rest of the posse; Reed the so-called security officer who is as gung-ho as a whelk; Charles "Trip" Tucker the 3rd who despite being the chief engineer is ALWAYS the centre of EVERY PLOT in the series; Travis Mayweather the TOKEN BLACK character who is this "great pilot" but all he ever does is sit at his console like a naughty schoolboy and does F*** all; Phlox the token weirdo alien well described as a cross between Neelix and Tuvok but becomes a sort of alien witch doctor with a morality streak too nauseating to stomach; and finally T'Pol & Hoshi; intelligent eye-candy whose sole purpose was to be not one but two versions of Seven of Nine - that, being smart, sexy, and at some point to either wear very little or getting naked for the lads.

Finally the series; it dragged, with little freshness, and had ideas seen before in other shows, multiplied by binary fission. AGAIN the same repetitive plots (hostage situation, earth style politics, spoilt ladies need rescuing) AGAIN time travel for stories reverted at the last minute, AGAIN boring ideas. Toss then into the mix things that we have NEVER heard of before like THIS very crew, the Temporal Cold War, the Suliban, the Xindi and their attack; add contradicting material e.g. Photonic (sic) Torpedoes, Phase Cannons, the Borg, the D7, and 'Stealth technology' and the end result was that the entire series was doomed from the start.

What a shame.

Like I said, a good idea but served so half arsed. 5/10

Annotations

Rating: 5 (Chris S)

 

These Are The Voyages

Synopsis

"These Are The Voyages"

Date not given: During the events of TNG: "The Pegasus", Riker spends his time in a holodeck recreation of the NX-01's final mission for some guidance.

Commentary

Since the days of The Next Generation, I have looked forward to each upcoming new episode of Star Trek. Being a natural optimist, I often felt that no matter how bad or poorly thought out the idea might seem, that it could be a good episode. This episode, however, was the exception. I remember reading about how Riker and Troi were going to return for a cameo and a picture in a magazine that was the holodeck door and the caption "the final scene of the final episode of Star Trek Enterprise" and thinking nothing positive. And those lowly expectations were mostly met.

It's been over a year since this episode aired, and I have come to the conclusion that the events that Riker 'witnessed' on the holodeck were non-canon. Trip did not die in such a stupid stunt, Shran was not reduced from Military Officer to... whatever you would use to describe him, and during the gap from "Demons" to "These are the Voyages...", Hoshi and Mayweather got promoted at least twice, Trip and T'Pol's relationship either continued or it ended. My personal theory is that Riker interacted with a fictional crew that was filled with historical inaccuracies to make the holonovel more exciting.

The only thing in this episode that was worth watching was the closing segment with the three ships, and hearing the three captains recite the 'Space... the final frontier' speech. That's the reason for the one star.

Annotations

Rating: 1 (Jason Feagans)

 

These Are The Voyages

Synopsis

"These Are The Voyages"

Stardate 47457.1: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Let me begin by saying that I am probably what one could consider a stereotypical female. I am less concerned with special effects and minutiae than I am with character development and relationships. Star Trek has always been a fond memory for me - it was one of the biggest bonding experiences my father and I shared (watching reruns of the original series and TNG) and more than that simply a fascinating universe to explore.

Enterprise, to me, was by far the best written and best acted of all of the Star Trek series, even if it was "less Star Trek" than previous incarnations. The show had a rocky start, but improved steadily, resulting in an absolutely stellar (oh yes, I know I'm funny) fourth season.

In my opinion "These Are The Voyages" was a let down of the greatest sort. Aside from the somewhat insulting framing of the series (I said goodbye to TNG a long time ago, why not give me an episode just for Enterprise?), I really feel like this episode just couldn't satisfy me me emotionally - not the way previous Star Trek finales had. Over the course of four season I, like many people, had grown to care for these characters. I was involved in their world, and I wanted the best for them. This isn't to say I lie awake at night imagining how the series "should" have ended, I simply mean that if B&B really wanted to create a "Valentine" for Star Trek fans, they should have given us some kind of satisfaction. Why kill Trip? My sister and I tuned in faithfully every week waiting to see when Trip and T'Pol would come to some kind of resolution - perhaps not the noblest of causes, but it was ours. We may only be two, but I wouldn't be surprised if many of Enterprise's female fans tuned in for a similar reason (although I'm sure some, like my mother, watched in the hopes of catching Bakula with his shirt off). I felt betrayed. As a woman in what you could call male space, I felt like the elements that made the series interesting to me were being deemed unimportant. It's not that I'm arrogant enough to assume all women are as stereotypically feminine in their interests as me, but surely I'm not alone in this? Besides, after the Orion slave girls disaster, I'm sure you'll forgive me for being a little sensitive.

The bottom line is that what should have been a fond farewell to a great series was marred by insensitivity, bad writing and a fundamental disrespect for the final televised installment in Star Trek. How sad.

Rating: 0 (Kira P-M)

 

These Are The Voyages

Synopsis

"These Are The Voyages"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

First I would like to say that although it is bad, it's not quite as bad as some people say it is. My friend almost had nervous breakdown after seeing it. It was a good concept, but its execution was sloppy, careless and not properly thought through. The reasons why it failed, in my opinion, are as follows. First, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis were too old to pull it off. It should have been on the Enterprise-E instead of the D. I know that it would not have been as fitting, but visually it would have worked much better. Second, maybe we should have heard the speech. Third, Riker should not have been as heavily involved in the plot as he was. Fourth, Tucker's death was fine, it is the way that it was done. They could have killed him off just as heroically on Rigel X. And lastly, at least some of the characters should have been promoted, even it was only making a Hoshi a lieutenant, that was unrealistic and unsatisfying. Some people like to think of "Terra Prime" as the finale, and to be honest I can understand why. Still, I suppose it could have been worse.

Annotations

Rating: 2 (Craig L Flint)

 

These Are The Voyages

Synopsis

"These Are The Voyages"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Hrm. What a controversial episode! I am personally torn over this one. Most fans hated it and I also admit that it was fairly stupid and not well thought out. It is a shame that after an excellent fourth season, B&B had to butt in and write one last lousy piece of pulp. As if episodes like VOY: "Threshold" and ENT: "Harbinger" were not bad enough.

I will save all of my Nitpicking for the main body of this review: First, why did no one get a promotion in 10 years? Why is Enterprise already being retired?? Why not actually SHOW us one of those "warp 7 beauties" and establish in canon that they are Daedalus class ships? What a great opportunity gone wasted. Did the events we see actually take place exactly as we saw it, or did the holodeck have to make up some of the stuff? I find that this story ties in with TNG: "The Pegasus" sloppily at best. In the TNG episode, Riker did not decide to tell Picard about the cloaking device until he was on the bridge after being on the Pegasus, not on the holodeck watching Archer give a speech.

Unlike many fans, I actually liked the idea behind this episode. It was just executed very poorly. And it should have not been the series finale. If TPTB used this idea for a regular episode (which apparently was planned if Enterprise was to be renewed for a fifth season) then I would have not been opposed. Trip would have not died and it probably would not have taken place several years after "Terra Prime." So what if it was more of a TNG episode than a ENT episode, that would have been fine with me as long as it was not a series finale.

Just as a side note: Season 4 was a very good season, probably one of the best in the entire franchise! It is a shame the show had to be canceled, but at least it had one good season before ending. From what I heard was being planned, season 5 would have been fantastic and it makes me want to cry that it was never made.

Rating: 3 (Chris)

 

These Are The Voyages

Synopsis

"These Are The Voyages"

Stardate 47457.1: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

WTF is this shit? I can't think of anything with less of a plot, save a few c-grade TV movies. I've been a fan of Star Trek my whole life, and unlike most Trekkies, I saw the value in Enterprise. I hated that they couldn't have come up with a more original name, but that was just about my only problem with the show. As for this episode in particular... I almost cried when I saw it. NOTHING happens in this episode. Nothing. After watching it I sat there for a good half hour trying to figure out what the heck the story was here. Not only was Riker's problem pre-solved in Pegasus' story, making his predicament here irrelevant, but there is absolutely nothing in the holodeck program that could possibly inspire someone about choosing between current and past loyalties. Maybe if it had been a holodeck documentary on Malcolm's Section 31 past conflicting with Archer, but they saved that story for the season 4 Klingon mini-arc, so, moot point. To be honest, I felt like I was watching a bad fan-made internet episode. Why did Jonathan Frakes ever agree to doing this travesty? I can only hope J.J. Abrams is contracted to make the next TV show. God thank CBS for buying into Star Trek.

Annotations

Rating: 0 (dylan riley)

 

These Are The Voyages

Synopsis

"These Are The Voyages"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

I must take a different approach to this episode than most people because I actually saw this as quite a fulfilling end not to Enterprise.....but Star Trek as a whole. When the episode aired, the fate of Trek seemed ambiguous. Will it die? Seemed so, or at least, it would be gone for a good long while.

Where this episode excelled was mixing the ENT situation with that of the TNG situation. Was it appropriate to use TNG characters viewing the events as a holodeck simulation? Yes...I think, again if only because this was the end of televised Star Trek. To simply make it an Enterprise story would have been a missed opportunity.

Where this episode failed was the rushed, somewhat nonsensical story. Trip dying seemed to be there "just because", and unfortunately it really didn't seem to have much to do with anything else going on with ENT.

While I can see frustrations about this episode, I can't understand knocking it because they went outside the box and gave us a different perspective. People knocked ENT for four years because it was "more of the same", and the minute they get a little unique....everyone is up in arms.

Annotations

Rating: 7 (Mark Mendel)

 

These Are The Voyages

Synopsis

"These Are The Voyages"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Well, after just 4 short years it comes down to THIS? I don't even know where to begin. I took notes while watching this abomination of an episode, so I might as well go off them.

First scene we're supposed to believe the year's now 2161, gee, considering none of the crew looked to have aged a day there's no discernible difference, fine T'Pol and Hoshi's hair is a bit longer but that's all. You're telling my Berman and Braga that neither Mayweather, Sato or Reed were deserved of a promotion at any time? There was at least a sensible explanation for Harry Kim never getting that deserved promotion that eluded him for 7 years in the Delta Quadrant as the chain of command would become too top heavy (though I don't believe that TOO much), but for neither these characters to have been bumped up beyond Ensign, it's completely unfathomable.

Speaking of age, well, get a load of Frakes and Sirtis, the idea of the episode is that it's based during the events of TNG episode "The Pegasus", well there's two problems with that. I'll get to the second later, but the first was certainly the idea that Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis could legitimately be portraying even younger versions of their characters was clearly too far a leap of faith. I could accept that if Riker were in the holodeck reviewing the NX-01's final mission while he was musing over taking command of the Titan before "Star Trek Nemesis", I would have less of a problem, but placing the episode in the latter days of TNG was a mistake. Deanna's accent too was incredibly distracting, it was as if she were trying too hard to force BOTH an American and British accent into her dialogue and it was incredibly distracting.

Anyway, it's revealed that the Enterprise has found the Pegasus in the asteroid field and is on the way to recover it, Riker confides in Troi there's a secret he's keeping from Picard about the Pegasus but is unsure how to proceed, so Troi suggested he review a 'historical file' chronicling the final mission of the NX-01, and to interact with the crew as well as they may shed light on his dilemma, Troi suggests he take on the role of Chef as 'APPARENTLY' everyone confided in Chef about their personal issues. Well we sure as hell never saw THAT on the show, we never saw Chef's face let along him having any deep, meaningful, enlightening conversations with the crew. If anyone was the confidant aboard the ship it was Phlox, but no. Berman and Braga were just content to be completely oblivious of the 3 years of storytelling they put together in order to try and make their script make any sense whatsoever, but it makes no sense.

At least the mission of the NX-01 was interesting, the idea of the signing of the Federation charter, (or whatever the hell it was thanks to the ridiculously vague piece of dialogue Troi uses to describe the Charter signed by Archer and the representatives of other worlds) was the next logical step to take following the gathering of such representatives and Archer's speech motivating they work together to form an organisation, so at least one part of the plot which sadly remained in the background was sound and expected of Enterprise.

So Riker manipulates his way through the holodeck program, pausing and editing everything together like an evil puppet-master, which was a most depressing thing to witness as it completely removed the central characters of this series from any position of prominence and importance in this story. Hell, these aren't even the actual characters, they're just soul-less holograms. How the hell am I suppose to truly connect to these computer created representations when they're just artificial doppelgangers? I couldn't which makes things later on all the more difficult.

Shran pops up though, that's at least something. He had apparently faked his death a few years before but resurfaces to ask Archer to aid him in recovering his daughter. Well Jhamel from "The Aenar" got a reference which is good continuity, and his daughter's cute, but the rescue and the tediously long and boring shootout weren't very exciting, and were just an excuse to get somewhere I couldn't believe they would go but did anyway.

The scene where Troi and Riker tour the Enterprise had a couple of notable moments, one it was amusing for Troi to assume the doors opened automatically as is the case on the Enterprise-D, and then the most moronic moment where she all but tells the audience that Trip will die before the episode's finished. Way to ruin any possible tension to come you idiots Berman and Braga.

The comment about decommissioning the NX-01 after just 10 years seems rather stupid, modern aircraft carriers serve for many decades, the idea that Starfleet's flagship would be mothballed after just 10 years is ridiculous, again, poor writing which makes no sense, only cobbled together to try and pull our heartstrings, it didn't work.

So Riker tells Troi in confidence that the Pegasus was an experimental Starfleet vessel equipped with a cloaking device, which violated the Treaty of Algeron with the Romulans which forbids Starfleet from developing cloaking technology, and he reveals that this is why he's running the program, to try and decide if he should tell Picard the truth, or remain sworn to secrecy under the orders of his former commanding officer.

Yeah, this is the second thing completely wrong with basing the episode during the events of "The Pegasus", I had watched this terrible finale before "The Pegasus" and noticed that nowhere in the latter episode did it seem like Riker had the time or the inclination to be frolicking around on the holodeck while the Enterprise was searching amongst the asteroids for the Pegasus. He was too busy tip toe-ing a fine line between Pressman and Picard, or fighting with Worf in the holodeck, or helping with the search for the Pegasus. He didn't need to be in the holodeck mulling over his decision to tell Picard, and he only revealed the true nature of the Pegasus because the Enterprise was trapped in the asteroid and the inter-phasic cloaking device from the Pegasus was the only means of escape. But again, Berman must've had a severe case of amnesia when penning this episode.

Trip's death. Oh Boy. This was such a hastily put together convoluted mess of a scene, as if they decided that morning that he would be killed off and they just asked the actors to ad-lib the scene, because it looks so unprofessional. And was written in exactly the same way. After 10 years on Enterprise, 4 of those we saw when the ship was boarded by all manner of hostile aliens, from the Xindi, the Triannons, Klingons and Osaarians, hell, even the Ferengi, what was so dangerous about these nameless aliens of the week that he felt they were so dangerous he had to KILL HIMSELF in order to take them out? Where the hell were Security? Where were the MACOs? It was made clear over the intercom there were intruders on board...It's like the episode "Chosen Realm", Archer was in a precarious position where his crew were threatened but instead of concocting a reason to get near a power conduit and pretend it's a comm system that needs adjusting (How dumb were these aliens? Seriously.) he played it cool and devised a ruse to escape the situation. And even in the aftermath nothing satisfies, Trip dies off screen anyway, and Bakula and Blalock really didn't show much more emotion in the scene they shared together in character reflecting on Trip's death. I KNOW these actors were capable of so much more, and the one opportunity this episode had to be to get me emotionally invested, they simply failed. I don't blame the actors though, this is just poor direction. T'Pol's shown emotion, she was told she would have to live with her emotions by her future self in "E2", she shed a tear over the death of her mother, she was clearly moved by the death of her and Trip's cloned child, but here she only acts with a little melancholy and Archer casually shrugs it off, spouting catch phrases in an attempt to cheer her up and get her to move past the situation. It's incredibly disappointing for the two characters who meant the most to Trip and vice versa, couldn't convince me they were truly mourning his death.

And following on from that, in the most inept display of editing, we have a scene of Riker, posing as Chef, talking with Trip, seriously, this scene could've taken place before Trip's 'death' and it wouldn't have made no difference. Such a pointless scene anyway. Trip only tells Chef (Riker) that he'll do the right thing, wow, I'm sure Deanna could've told him that, I'm pretty damn sure he didn't need ANYONE to tell him he'd do the right thing because in 'The Pegasus' he volunteered the information of the Pegasus willingly and in a crunch! How could Brannon and Braga have omitted this most important plot point? I wish I knew.

And the final scene, Archer's preparing to give his anticipated speech before the signing of the charter, and what happens? Riker cuts his speech off.

Quite prophetic I thought, after an amazing season (4) where Manny Coto took charge and turned Enterprise into the show it was meant to be, B&B return at the last minute to write this abomination which I don't even consider canon. For my mind (and Manny Coto's) "Demons/Terra Prime" is the final episode of Enterprise. Trip and T'Pol reconciled their relationship after the death of Elizabeth, Mayweather and Hoshi got deserved promotions, Enterprise wasn't scrapped after 10 years of pioneering, I could go on but would rather not.

All I can say in conclusion is that this episode IS a travesty, the principle cast were relegated to supporting roles in favor of two characters from another Trek series which had an immense amount of exposure as it was (not too mention the appearances of Troi in "Star Trek: Voyager"). It wasn't fair at all that this wasn't their episode, "All Good Things" allowed every member of Picard's crew to play a part, even bringing back Tasha Yar, "What You Leave Behind" did the same, everyone had their role in ending the Dominion War, everyone had their story to conclude. "Endgame" was an immense let down but even then the crew of Voyager still achieved their goal of getting home. "'These Are the Voyages" just presents us with some holograms spouting pre-programmed dialogue from a computer script, all for the benefit of a clearly overweight and aged Riker for the time the episode was supposed to be set in, so he can come to a decision he only came to in a crunch in the first place. Poor storytelling, complete disrespect for the cast who were unlucky to only be a part of this series for 4 years when more unworthy series' last even longer, an unimpressive, so-called 'finale'. A waste of time. I will never watch it again.

0/10.

Annotations

Rating: 0 (Cameron)

 

These Are The Voyages

Synopsis

"These Are The Voyages"

Date not given: Synopsis in main ENT listing

Commentary

Well, this TNG episode is definitely different. After last week's "Parallels" I was looking forward to this episode but for some reason it seems to not concentrate on Troi & Deanna but instead on those Enterprise characters. I found this episode does nothing and I hope it doesn't spoil next week's "The Pegasus"... oh hang on, this is an Enterprise episode, isn't it (ignore my last paragraph).

What the hell has happened to Enterprise. Really, the TNG storyline fails as two fattening actors pretend to go on a stupid holodeck program in which they casually destroy the majority of the storyline and just when we're about to here about the founding of the Federation, he cuts it off. I want to strange B & B right now. So instantly the Enterprise plot has failed - Shran? Ranks? These errors have been discussed by everyone and Cameron sums up every reason why this episode sucks.

The only two decent scenes were the foundation of the Federation and the aftermath of Trip's death. Why did he die that like? I understand that its more realistic but really - there's other ways and he's been in tougher situations then that. Did the writers feel the need to kill someone off, well it should have been Hoshi, Mayweather or Reed - you don't kill off one of the three most important characters like that.

"These Are The Voyages" is summed up much better by Bernd & Cameron but I just wanted to say that I hate it to as an insult to both Enterprise and TNG. It sucked, "Terra Prime" will forever be the last Enterprise episode and this can fit in smugly between "Parallels" & "The Pegasus" (just so I can hate it even more!). One word - shit, an insult to all of Star Trek.

Rating: 1 (Darren Carver - Balsiger)

 


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