Problems
- Four days to reach the Klingon homeworld from Earth on a ship as slow as Enterprise puts the Klingon homeworld way too close to Earth.

Factoids
- Scott Bakula, who plays Captain Archer, is formerly of Quantum Leap. He has been quoted as being reluctant at first to play the lead in this show, but eventually the idea of playing the first captain of any Earth starship named Enterprise appealed to him after all.

Remarkable Scenes
- The human farmer shooting a Klingon.
- Archer and Trip admiring Enterprise.
- Trip bumping the shuttlepod into Enterprise, scratching the paint.
- Archer making a scene regarding the injured Klingon.
- Archer to T'Pol: "Volatile? You have no idea how much I'm restraining myself from knocking you on your ass."
- Reed and Travis expressing fear of the transporter.
- Cochrane: "Imagine it, thousands of inhabited planets at our fingertips. And we'll be able to explore those strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilizations. This engine will let us go boldly where no man has gone before."
- Phlox' absurd smile.
- The "sweet spot" scene.
- Hoshi trying to communicate with the Klingon.
- Trip's various reactions to the people on Rigel X.

My Review
Preliminary remark, I'm going to talk about the premise in part I and the plot of the pilot in part II. So here goes nothing. "Enterprise" - Perhaps the most controversial Star Trek series yet. There are many things about this show that are... different. First of all it's a prequel, taking place before TOS. It manages to present a convincing setting without looking too cheesy like the low budget TOS show did nor too much like TNG, DS9, or Voyager. The name of the series deviates as well, there's no "Star Trek" in it, which is annoying. I'm also slightly annoyed that they named it something so generic as "Enterprise." This creates a lot of confusion with TOS, and TNG. TOS was "the old" Enterprise. TNG was "the new" Enterprise. Is "Enterprise" supposed to be "the new old" Enterprise? The opening theme is a deviation too, no longer being a classical composition accompanied by special effects. Instead, it depicts various NASA accomplishments along with some selected Star Trek history. A lot of people complained about the new opening theme, but to be completely honest, I like it. Although I would have preferred the traditional style more. The opening themes of DS9 and Voyager were much better. (Voyager's was probably the better of the two, but I just liked DS9's more...) Anyway, enough of that. Broken Bow, Part I presents us with an interesting glimpse of the 22nd century. A lot of people complained about the behavior of the Vulcans, but I loved it. No, really! Remember back in Star Trek VIII: First Contact in the short scene in which we glimpse Cochrane confusing his new Vulcan friends with his music and other customs? I knew right from that moment that the road to friendship between humans and Vulcans would be shaky. I was hoping for this kind of conflict. In the future, a luddite-like McCoy still pokes at Spock. And in the distant future, people still make fun of Vulcans in a joking manner. Doesn't it at least stand to reason that at the developmental stage of the human-Vulcan relationship that the various insults might have been real and not sarcastic? I think so anyway. The only thing that really bothered me about this pilot episode was the introduction of two new alien species. You know, as a prequel, Enterprise really shouldn't introduce new alien species. Especially one as a main character! Don't get me wrong, I like Phlox. But if you think about it, is there any reason Phlox can't be of a species we already know about, like the Bolians? I would have loved Phlox as a Bolian! The potential for comedy would have been even higher! While the Suliban are convincing villains, as a prequel, I'm looking forward to Klingon first contact and the Earth Romulan wars as being the center of attention. Not new aliens. Anyway, considering all the initial bad press the show got from various sources, I think for the most part it turned out fairly well. It's not without its flaws though. Only time will tell if they can be ironed out.

Problems
- Picard in TNG: First Contact (the episode, not the movie) said that first contact with the Klingons was disastrous. Okay... Archer makes first contact with the Klingons in this episode and I can't say it was very disastrous. Obviously something is going to go wrong between Earth and Klingons sometime between now and TOS, but sure didn't happen during first contact!

Factoids
- The Suliban weapon did no damage to Archer whilst being transported.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer: "Even if it is Klang, we're going to have a tough time getting him out of there." Reed: "We could always try the transporting device." Archer: "We've risked too much to bring him back inside out."
- Enterprise stealing a Suliban ship.
- Reed: "They're called phase pistols. They have two settings. Stun and kill. It would be best not to confuse them."
- Trip scraping the hull of the Suliban superstructure, just like he scraped Enterprise in part one. ;)
- Archer and Trip disabling the Suliban superstructure.
- The fight inside the freaky room.
- Archer's reaction to being beamed up.

My Review
I'm really starting to like Silik. He reminds me of Scorpius from Farscape. He even calls the captain by his first name, Jon, the same way Scorpius does to Crichton. :) I wonder if the parallel is intentional. Part two wasn't as exciting as part one, mostly because what happened was largely predictable and some of it redundant. I did like more of the smaller details in part two though. We already got a little bit of the crew's aversion to the transporter when Reed and Travis discussed it in the previous episode. But I rather liked Archer's rather blatant statement of distrust of the transporter in this episode, claiming that it would bring back the user "inside out." A nice irony that Trip would be later forced to use the transporter to rescue Archer. I loved the look on Archer's face after having been transported. The symbolic meaning in Archer's dreams is finally clarified. In part one they didn't seem to serve much of a purpose. Now Archer is recalling his father's advice and applying it to try and quell his natural distrust of Vulcans and to command with no fear. I loved the scene when Henry Archer said "don't be afraid of the wind," showing a picture of T'Pol. The only thing I didn't like about this episode, besides the technical problem listed in the problems section and the things I complained about in part one was the highly inappropriate decontamination chamber scene. What can I say? That was just totally unnecessary. Overall though, I thought the pilot episode was quite good, much better than I thought it would be.

Problems
None

Factoids
- According to T'Pol, one out of every 43,000 planets supports intelligent life.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer: "Come on, Travis. We've got to find Mr. Reed something to blow up!"
- Phlox sharing his observations of humanity with Trip.
- Hoshi freaking out about the alien corpses.
- Archer second guessing himself and deciding to turn back and go back to that ship to investigate.
- The alien ship thoroughly kicking Enterprise's ass.
- Hoshi defeating the language barrier.

My Review
This episode outlines Earth's first contact with the Axanar, a species we've heard of before in TOS (mentioned in TOS: Court Martial and in TOS: Whom Gods Destroy). I'm glad the writers didn't repeat the mistake here that they made with the Suliban and the Denobulans. Granted, nobody knows who was in that alien ship that almost tore Enterprise a new rear end, but I don't think that it's very important. Personally I think this episode belongs to Reed and especially to Hoshi. Reed was concerned that Enterprise would do poorly in a fight due to its primitive and improperly configured weaponry, and he was right. Hoshi was concerned that she'd have no grace under pressure, and she was right too... for a while anyway. It's kind of annoying that she doubted her ability right up to the point when Enterprise was about to be destroyed before finally showing some courage. But it was easily realistic and it was nice to watch her character evolve from a scared little girl to a confident young women in the course of a single episode. As a more general analysis, this episode does well to further elucidate the fact that Earth is hardly prepared for exploration. This mission would have hardly been worth a full hour on any other Star Trek show, so the writers are taking full advantage of Enterprise's weaknesses, for they are a strength in terms of writing for a prequel.

Problems
- Dr. Phlox talks of some "tropolysine" atoms in the pollen that were brought by the storm. Phlox says that they have an extra neutron which breaks down into a poison inside the body. This doesn't make any sense from a physics point of view though. A poison would be a complex molecular structure. Not a stray neutron or a single atom.

Factoids
- T'Pol has been to 36 Minshara class planets.
- This episode establishes that there are 82 crewmembers aboard Enterprise.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip: "Where no dog has gone before."
- The transporter accident.
- T'Pol using the Vulcan neck pinch for the first time.

My Review
A nice premise goes sour. First we had the introduction of a few interesting minor crewmembers, of which I especially liked Elizabeth Cutler, then the peaceful exploration of a new world. The episode lacked contention, but it was far more pleasant than the previous two which were relatively dark and dreary. But night falls and the episode turns into a generic horror story quickly. The whole thing looked to me like an excuse to get the characters down on the planet acting all crazy. And it's not as if we haven't seen this cliche several times over in TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager...

Problems
- This episode aggravates the holodeck invention date problem. See comments.

Factoids
- According to Archer, Trip's case is the first interspecies pregnancy involving a Human.
- According to T'Pol, Trip is the first human male to ever become pregnant.
- Randy Oglesby, who plays Trena'L in this episode, played Kir in Voy: Counterpoint, Silaran in DS9: The Darkness and the Light, the twins in DS9: Vortex, as well as one of Riva's chorus in TNG: Loud as a Whisper.

Remarkable Scenes
- The loss of gravity while Archer was taking a shower. :)
- Trip trying to adapt to the truly alien environment aboard the Xyrillian ship.
- T'Pol: "Three days. You were only there for three days and you couldn't restrain yourself."
- Trip defending himself against allegations of ungentlemanly behavior.
- Archer's less than perfect attempt at diplomacy with the Klingons regarding the Xyrillian ship.
- T'Pol using her knowledge of Klingon culture to diffuse the situation somewhat.
- The Klingons ridiculing Trip.
- Klingon, impressed by the holodeck: "I can see my house from here!"

My Review
Like Ent: Fight or Flight, this is another well thought out episode that uses the prequel premise well. We are shown a few annoying things though. For one, the Xyrillians are a new, made up race. Again, I'm wondering why it was necessary to introduce a new race rather than use one shown before. I am willing to cut a lot of slack in this case though seeing as how I'm at a loss to come up with a race anything like the Xyrillians previously featured that would have been appropriate for use here. I was also pleased at how alien the Xyrillians were. It was a most credible rare treat to show Trip having such a hard time adapting to the Xyrillian atmosphere. Unfortunately though, the episode is clouded a bit because we're shown a fully functional holodeck, sans interactive characters. We've seen technology this advanced as early as TAS, but that's still a very long way off. Granted, Enterprise did not acquire this technology. But the Klingons did. This episode, as well as the use of a holodeck on TAS both seem to contradict TNG, in which all the characters were amazed at the holodeck. This is only a minor inconsistency though. It's possible creating landscapes was nothing new by the 24th century, but creating people and interactive settings was. Then again, in Voy: Once Upon a Time, Janeway mentioned having played the Flotter program when she was a child. Given that she's middle aged, this connotes interactive holodeck technology being in widespread use at least twenty or thirty years before the first episode of TNG. It would seem TNG has been contradicted on three fronts now. We'll just have to accept that on TNG, holographic technology was "new to them," or that it made significant advances, warranting a renewed "wow" reaction. That said, this episode's story was quite amusing without becoming too silly. I love how Trip was forced to admit to Klingons that he was pregnant. It much reminded me of Spock's line in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: "Please, Captain. Not in front of the Klingons." (Which was a relatively nice scene in an otherwise abysmal movie.) The crew handles the situation as professionally as they can; I rather liked how arrogant and presumptuous T'Pol was in the beginning regarding Trip's alleged behavior. I also liked how she made up for it by using her superior knowledge of Klingon culture to assist in the diplomatic negotiations. She damn near cracked a joke at the end too with her little history book statistic. Suffice it to say, I liked T'Pol more in this episode than in previous ones. She's starting to show that, yeah, she's a stuffy annoying killjoy, but she can be cool at times.

Problems
- Archer tells us that at one time, all of Earth's colonies were within Earth's Solar System. Then an M class planet is discovered a mere 20 light years away and is selected for the first extrasolar colony. This planet was named Terra Nova and was colonized in 2078. This, however, contradicts what Harry Kim said in Voy: The 37s regarding early Earth colonies. Kim claimed that Mars was not colonized until 2103. It's very hard to rationalize this, because Archer specifically said Utopia Planitia had been built before Terra Nova was colonized in 2078. Maybe Utopia Planitia was built before the bulk of the actual Mars colony?
- Additionally, Alpha Centauri is closer than Terra Nova. Why wasn't it selected as Earth's first extrasolar colony? It was certainly colonized at some point, because Zefram Cochrane moved there some time during his lifetime...

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer showing Nadet who she is with old photographs.
- Archer and T'Pol arguing about what to do about the colonists.
- The shuttlepod sinking into the ground on Terra Nova.

My Review
A real mixed bag. It was a good idea to show details regarding Earth's early extrasolar colonies, but they couldn't have done it in a worse way. This whole episode is more or less a rehash of Voy: Friendship One. And indeed smaller plot elements in this episode resemble numerous other episodes. Suffice it to say, this plot is hardly original. But at least it's appropriate. Unfortunately, the already weak plot strains the hell out of credibility. For one, there's the Alpha Centauri technical problem, which is documented in the problems section. Suffice it to say, Alpha Centauri would have made much more sense as a setting for Earth's first extrasolar colony. Then there's the timing. Also documented in the problems section, this episode contradicts Voy: The 37s regarding when Mars was colonized. All of the technical problems could have easily been avoided by simply not making Terra Nova Earth's first extrasolar colony and giving specific dates, but by making it one of many of Earth's first extrasolar colonies. In this respect, the plot could be viewed exactly the same way as intended, except in a more credible manner. There were a few details to redeem the episode, though. One thing I liked was that the Novans had a unique vocabulary, using strange terms much like the Vori from Voy: Nemesis. I was also quite fond of how patient Archer and his crew were with the rather uninformed Novans. I also liked T'Pol's objective opinion once again. Unfortunately, these details do little to enhance this rather ill conceived episode.

Problems
None

Factoids
- In this episode, the Andorian character Shran was played by Jeffrey Combs, who played Weyoun on DS9.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer and Tucker discovering an Andorian. Wow, the makeup on the Andorians is awesome!
- A Vulcan monk making a comment about how humans smell to T'Pol.
- Archer, committing a faux pas: "So if anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears. No offense."
- T'Pol's reason for not cuddling up with Archer: "The cold is preferable to the odor."
- Archer's performance with the Andorians.
- Hoshi and Reed's officer expressing fear of the transporter.
- Archer discovering the hidden Vulcan base.
- Shran to Archer: "We're in your debt."

My Review
Here's a small taste of the prequel we've been waiting for. A thoroughly underfeatured race from TOS, the Andorians, are given a bit of a backstory in this episode. Their reputation as being aggressive is upheld and they're not abused by being made into generic bad guys either. I'm not exactly happy that the Vulcans are turning out to be more and more evil, but it stands to reason that since the Andorians neighbor the Vulcans that these kinds of petty conflicts would ensue. Overall the episode was convincing. No major continuity issues this time. But the plot wasn't anything special. If it weren't for the plot twist at the end and the promise of some political intrigue as a result, I wouldn't have given this episode as high a rating. We've seen far too many hostage episodes before. I'm just glad this one had something of a purpose.

Problems
- Why does the comet have Earth-like gravity?

Factoids
- Trip has only been in three relationships. "They all went bust."

Remarkable Scenes
- The children's drawings.
- The discovery of and landing on the comet.
- Archer answering the 4th grade children's questions.
- Trip: "A poop question, sir?" I almost died laughing.
- Phlox talking too much on the recording.
- Travis and Reed building a snowman.
- The discovery that T'Pol's communications were personal, not malicious.
- Trip apologizing to T'Pol.
- Archer to T'Pol regarding Vanik: "Help me make him go away."
- Reed enhancing the snowman with Vulcan ears.
- Vanik's behavior at the dinner.
- Vanik: "Your inexperience and your arrogance are your enemies, not us."
- Trip advising T'Pol.
- The shuttlepod sinking into the ice.
- Trip trying unsuccessfully to use the grappler to retrieve the shuttlepod.
- Archer finally giving in and accepting the Vulcan ship's help.

My Review
And now for some hardcore character development. This episode was most successful because it didn't involve any alien conflict or phaser fights, but just chronicled the ship as they investigated a comet. Rarely do we get something so mundane in Star Trek done so well. I was worried that Vanik might end up having some silly hidden agenda and that T'Pol might be involved in some kind of Vulcan conspiracy, like was revealed at P'Jem last week. But thankfully I was wrong. Instead, we watch as Trip helps T'Pol bridge her cultural barriers. She accepts his advice to make her own decision instead of letting rigid Vulcan custom determine her marriage and her career. She even tries some of Trip's pecan pie in the final scene. Archer learns to back away from his Vulcan prejudice too when he accepts help from Vanik. I'm just glad Archer didn't ask Vanik a "poop question" at the dinner among is many attempts at small talk. And Reed... well, I think Reed's just happy he found something to blow up again. Although I think he (along with Travis) took just as much perverse pleasure in building the Vulcan snowman with the oversized ears too. One lingering question... why do shuttlepods seem to have a dangerous habit of sinking into whatever they land on? ;)

Problems
- Archer claims that they have traveled 78 light years. But the current date of the episode is July 31st, 2151. Given this date and comparing it to the date in the first episode, Enterprise couldn't have possibly traveled more than 40 light years from Earth.

Factoids
- This episode establishes that Earth has not yet adopted Vulcan's original version of what became the Prime Directive, their non interference policy.
- Garos is from the Malurian system which will be destroyed by Nomad in TOS: The Changeling.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer: "Starfleet could have sent a probe out here, to make maps and take pictures, but they didn't. They sent us, so that we could explore with our own senses."
- Archer discovering Garos.
- Archer kissing Riann as an excuse to fix his translator.
- Archer winning a fight!
- Trip beaming the reactor up then beaming it aft Enterprise so Reed could fire a torpedo at it to detonate the reactor, dropping the shields of the Malurian ship.

My Review
An average episode with not much wrong with it other than one detail. It could have easily been done on any of the other Star Trek series. And if you think back to Star Trek IX: Insurrection, or episodes like it, it already has been. So I subtract a point for the episode not being very original. Other than that though, it was well done. I was pleased to see continuity with TOS: The Changeling, showing us a little about the Malurian culture destroyed in that episode. I can't say I mourn them as much now! It's remarkable that Earth doesn't have a non interference policy like the Vulcans do. Trip didn't even think it served much of a purpose! Another good point in the episode... Archer finally won a fist fight. ;)

Problems
- Travis says that even with a warp 3 engine that a 5 year trip at warp 1.8 would be cut down to 6 months. Close, but no cigar. The figure is actually closer to 12 months.

Factoids
- According to Travis, there are 3 more NX class ships on the drawing boards.

Remarkable Scenes
- The low gravity football scene.
- Ryan regarding the transporter: "They say that for a split second you can actually feel yourself in both places at once."
- T'Pol covering for the kid playing hide and seek.
- Ryan betraying the crew of Enterprise.
- Enterprise saving the Fortunate.

My Review
Another fairly good offering from Enterprise, using the prequel premise well. We're shown that fear of change extends well into the 22nd century. The "boomers" are quite set in their ways, for "warp 1.8 is good enough." We're shown that the boomers running cargo get attacked by pirates occasionally, in this case the Nausicaans. It makes sense that long periods of time alone would cause the boomers to develop their own (closed) culture and their unwillingness to receive help from their own people seems like a natural result of their isolation. I was pleased to see the episode make rather extensive use of Travis, a character I felt was being underused. I just hope his extensive experience in space starts to pay off some more, instead of constantly relying on T'Pol's Vulcan database.

Problems
- The explosive decompression featured in this episode was extremely unrealistic.

Factoids
- This episode establishes that several human religions are still in existence and in practice at this time, including Buddhism and Christianity.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer: "Looks like we could be having guests. Tell chef to prepare... something."
- Trip describing how the warp engines work.
- Daniels revealing himself.
- Archer: "Are you human?" Daniels: "More or less."
- T'Pol denying that time travel exists.
- Daniels making vague remarks about the future of Earth.
- Daniels' little walk through walls device.
- Silik confronting "Jon."

My Review
This is the first episode since the pilot which deals with this Temporal Cold War thing. Silik's return is a welcome one, and this episode introduces a new player in the Temporal Cold War, Daniels, who is apparently killed. This episode blurs the image of who's good and who's evil though in the Temporal Cold War. The man who Silik is working for wanted to see the Klingon Empire destroyed, but also wanted to save Enterprise here. My first instincts told me he was a Romulan from the future. But if this were the case, why would he want to save Enterprise? Daniels appeared to be a more advanced version of Captain Braxton and crew from Voy: Relativity, but again, it's hard to be sure of any of this. Cold Front was a sufficiently entertaining episode, but the ending was anticlimactic. This episode may be worth more points than I'm giving it, but it's hard to rate an episode whose ending raises more questions than it answers. And to be honest, I'm not sure if a Temporal Cold War is a particularly good idea for Enterprise. This is Star Trek, not Time Trek.

Problems
- Reed says that the phase cannons have a power output of 500 gigajoules. But that is a unit of energy, not power. Additionally, this number seems way too high when compared to TNG.

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer contacting Reed's parents.
- The alien ship attacking Enterprise.
- Archer: "Did your people run into as many hostile aliens when they first went into deep space?" T'Pol: "It was a different time." Archer: "How so?" T'Pol: "There were fewer warp capable species." Archer: "This ship just isn't equipped to handle some of the threats we're coming up against."
- Reed and Trip vowing to get the phase cannons online before Enterprise returns to Earth.
- Hoshi trying to figure out what Reed's favorite food is.
- Hoshi asking Reed what his favorite food is, only to have him accidentally take the question as an invitation to romance.
- Archer: "This time we won't be leaving before we're ready." Trip: "Are your ears a little pointier than usual?"
- Reed's test firing.
- Hoshi consulting the doctor about Reed's favorite food.
- Enterprise battling the alien ship, defeating it.
- The celebration at the end.

My Review
Preliminary remark, it's annoying that we're shown a hostile alien of the week that we've never seen before and will probably never see again. However, we aren't told their names. Maybe they were one of the many hostile aliens mentioned in previous Trek series but never shown. Regardless, it would have been a better idea to show the Klingons, Romulans, or even the Suliban, not introduce something new. With so many hostile aliens lurking about, it's a wonder that Earth wasn't wiped out years ago. Maybe the Vulcans protected it. Anyway, the basic idea of the episode is fascinating. I'm glad Reed's concerns in Ent: Broken Bow and in Ent: Fight or Flight about the ship being fairly defenseless are finally being addressed. In many ways, this was entirely Reed's episode. He got to blow some stuff up and he got to eat his favorite food! But I think the episode has a much more profound effect on Archer. At the beginning, he was very excited to make another first contact but as this soon leads to yet another conflict, Archer starts having his first real doubts about his mission and wonders if the Vulcans were right. It's interesting and quite consistent that the only person he could talk about this was Trip. Finally, I thought this musical score in this episode was way above average. If only this episode had featured a familiar alien to give us some valuable backstory, it would have been worth eight points.

Problems
- This episode's ethics are a problem.

Factoids
- Denobulans don't like to be touched.
- The Ferengi once visited the Valakian homeworld. This implies that the Ferengi have had warp drive just as long as humans, maybe longer.
- This episode establishes the annual Denobulan hibernation cycle. It lasts six days.

Remarkable Scenes
- Phlox watching the crowd react to the movie instead of watching the movie.
- Cutler displaying affection for Phlox.
- Hoshi learning Denobulan.
- Phlox discovering that the Valakian epidemic is genetic.
- T'Pol: "The Vulcans stayed to help Earth 90 years ago. We're still there."
- Archer: "Some day, my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine, something that tells us what we can and can't do out here, should and shouldn't do. But until somebody tells me that they have drafted that directive, I'm going to have to remind myself that we didn't come out here to play god."

My Review
I liked this episode, but I hated its ethics. The (future) Prime Directive is shown as a rather arbitrary standard in this episode. Help is refused to a species that goes into space for the sole purpose of seeking help from alien civilizations. Just because they don't have warp drive, they're regarded as unworthy or something. Well, a strict interpretation of the Vulcan (and seemingly Denobulan) non interference policy allows for Archer's actions to be correct. But we've seen even in the 24th century starship crews bending the rules for the greater good in exactly the fashion Archer refused to. There's that, and the events of this episode aren't at all consistent with the "to hell with a non interference policy" attitude taken in Ent: Civilization. What I really didn't like about this episode was how Phlox developed a cure but refused to share it with the Valakians. I 100% agree with Archer about not letting the Valakians have warp drive, but why not cure their freaking plague?! Because Dr. Phlox just arbitrarily decided to let the Valakians die off because he THINKS the Menk might evolve into a better species? Isn't this just a little racist? Isn't making this kind of decision for the Menk exactly the kind of interference the Prime Directive prohibits? Maybe not giving the Valakians the cure was within the bounds of the future Prime Directive, but the way it was shown here was needlessly cruel and wholly hypocritical.

Problems
- T'Pol says Klingons don't use escape pods. So exactly what did Worf use in DS9: Penumbra?

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Hoshi's target practice.
- Reed: "We can travel faster than the speed of light. You'd think we could find a cure for the common cold!"
- Hoshi, translating a console: "Something they call photon torpedoes?" Reed: "Photon torpedoes? Never heard of anything like that. What else?"
- Bu'Kah: "I've never seen your kind before, but you have made an enemy of the Klingon Empire!" Archer: "From what I've noticed, that's not hard to do."
- Hoshi's reaction to the Klingon galley.
- Hoshi and T'Pol stumbling on targs.
- Archer doing his Klingon homework.
- T'Pol, Reed, and Hoshi using the Klingon photon torpedoes to push the ship up in altitude.

My Review
A reasonably entertaining episode, but devoid of consequences, which is annoying. As Archer complains, why does his help always go unappreciated? Archer has helped Klingons three times now and received no gratitude. Did the war with the Klingons start because Earth kept being really nice guys around the Klingons? What we're shown hasn't been very credible so far.

Problems
None

Factoids
- This episode establishes that there are 15 phase pistols aboard Enterprise.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer teasing Trip about not going to Coridan.
- T'Pol passing Archer off as a steward.
- Shran declaring that he can't sleep at night knowing he still owes Archer for what he did for him.

My Review
This is a somewhat odd episode. Not only did the characters have to deal with the hostage situation on Coridan (a nice reference to TOS: Journey to Babel), but they also had to deal with the repercussions of the destruction of the P'Jem monetary due to the events of Ent: The Andorian Incident. Both situations seem to come to a head simultaneously. Unfortunately the two plots don't mingle very well. The primary plot seemed to be the hostage situation while the secondary plot seemed to be the aftermath of P'Jem when it should have been the opposite. Seems the writers couldn't make an interesting story out of just the aftermath, so they conjured up a reason for some generic action. The result is a kind of mash up that makes for a rather mediocre episode.

Problems
- Your hair and nails do not continue to grow when you die. Instead, the skin around the hair and nails desiccates and therefore shrinks.

Factoids
- Reed's attempt to attract Enterprise's attention in this episode is an homage to Spock's similar attempt in TOS: The Galileo Seven.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip and Reed picking on each other's heritage.
- Trip complaining about Reed's pessimism.
- Reed dreaming about T'Pol.
- Trip and Reed getting roaring drunk and discussing T'Pol.
- Trip and Reed blowing up the impulse engine in an attempt to attract Enterprise's attention.
- Trip trying to sacrifice himself to save Reed.

My Review
Like Ent: Dear Doctor, this episode is a mixed bag. I loved the episode, but some of the plot logic just didn't make any sense. Why didn't Enterprise retrieve Shuttlepod One immediately after the accident with the Tesnians instead of abandoning them to the asteroid field? Maybe the Tesnians couldn't survive on Enterprise very long and getting them back to Tesnia as soon as possible was the only way to keep them alive, but this is never explicitly stated, nor does Enterprise ever even contact shuttlepod one to explain the change of plans until well after they're underway! For this annoyance, I subtract points, but beyond this the episode is a lot of fun. Watching Trip and Reed pick at each other on that shuttle was some great humor, especially after they got drunk and started discussing T'Pol. With some more careful writing, this episode could have been above average easily. I'm also kind of annoyed that we never got to see the Tesnians.

Problems
None

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip: "Where'd you hear that?" Kov: "A Vulcan anthropologist told me he'd seen the ritual during an Earth expedition." Trip: "They're not trying to kill the quarterback. They're just trying to keep him from throwing the ball and running with it. It's only a game. Not a... fight to the death." Kov: "I see."
- T'Pol dreaming.
- The mind meld scene.
- Archer confronting Tolaris about his assault on T'Pol.

My Review
This episode outlines a Vulcan subculture, a group of Vulcans who embrace emotion and practice mind melds. So now we know of two 22nd century Vulcans. "Evil" Vulcans, who are logical and mostly kind, but arrogant and push hidden agendas. And emotional Vulcans, who tend to lose control, but practice mind melds and are a lot less arrogant for the most part. I think it's obvious that the Vulcans we come to know in the 23rd and 24th century end up being a hybrid of these two groups. Certainly by the 23rd and 24th century, mind melds are no longer a taboo. So there's that evidence at least. Well, while this episode is an interesting Vulcan introspection, it is little more. T'Pol's character is abused for the third time in a row... first a bondage scene, then Reed dreams about her and runs his mouth about her ass, and now she's mind raped. I wonder how much further the writers will take this crap. It's getting worse than Seven of Nine was.

Problems
None

Factoids
- Hunting went out of style on Earth over 100 years ago according to Archer.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer: "Do Vulcan captains have their portraits hanging at the high command?" T'Pol: "Vulcans are revered for their accomplishments, not for the way they look." Tucker: "Except for the really important ones who get mummified."
- Reed: "Follow me." Archer: "Why don't you let me play captain for a while, Malcolm?"
- T'Pol to Archer: "With respect, captain, I wonder if you would be so determined to find this apparition if it were a scantily clad man?"

My Review
A painfully slow plot. This episode has the honor of being the first Star Trek episode I've ever fallen asleep to during my first viewing. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that the setting is so dark and that very little actually happens. I was also disappointed that this episode was so much of a rehash. We've seen too many shape shifters before. Hell, we've even seen shape shifters living on a rogue planet before, when Sisko first visited the Founders' homeworld! We've also been told in DS9: Treachery, Faith, and the Great River that the Founders were hunted. So, let's recap. Founders: 1. live on a rogue planet, 2. are shape shifters, 3. are hunted. The aliens of this episode: 1. live on a rogue planet, 2. are shape shifters, 3. are hunted. Throw in the fact that the hunters in this episode have a similar moral structure to the Hirogen, and the rehash-o-meter starts going through the roof! Ranting of rehashes aside, I thought the episode was morally correct. I found the whole hunt as distasteful as the crew of Enterprise and I was glad they found a way to sabotage the hunt without actually attacking the hunters directly. It was a clever solution.

Problems
- The whole premise is a rather annoying continuity problem. See comments.

Factoids
- There are only 172 rules of acquisition at this time.
- Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun, Brunt, Shran) and Ethan Phillips (Neelix) play Ferengi characters in this episode.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer getting beat up by the Ferengi...
- Archer regarding Vulcans: "They're really not all that interesting once you get to know them."
- Archer: "Trust me, she's got no sense of humor, she's always complaining..."
- T'Pol: "There are times I wish Vulcans hadn't learned to repress their violent tendencies."
- The Ferengi pulling a gun on the the retractable medical scanner bed as it approached him.
- The Ferengi talking to Porthos.
- Trip being hit by a Ferengi whip. Nice reference to TNG: The Last Outpost.
- Archer and Trip putting on a shwo for the Ferengi.
- T'Pol picking on Archer for the things he said about her to the Ferengi.
- Rules of Acquisition; 6. Never allow family to stand in the way of profit. 23. Nothing is more important than your health, except for your money. 45. Expand or die. ?. A man is only worth the sum of his possessions.

My Review
I suppose it was only a matter of time before something like this had to happen. Well, I'm not going to rant about how this episode tramples all over continuity like a fanatic at a convention, because with some rationalization it's not so bad. With some more careful writing, it could have even been a great episode. I liked the detail showing the Ferengi whip, and I liked how Archer seems to have scared them all the way back to their homeworld. Knowing the Ferengi, who are driven by fear more than other species, they probably avoided Earth's corner of the galaxy for a long time and once the Federation was formed they probably avoided that too until contact became absolutely necessary in TNG: The Last Outpost. That said, I'm not happy that the writers decided the Ferengi needed a cameo and that they did it in such a careless manner. In order to rationalize this episode, we're forced to believe that these Ferengi were a very long way away from home and that records concerning this incident were not kept in very good detail. Both are distinct possibilities, so I'm just going to leave it at that. Continuity does suffer because of this episode though, and I've forced to mark it down thusly. When you stop caring about such things though and watch the episode for its raw merits, what you find is that its marvelously hilarious. Watch this episode to find the basis for Quark's future "Vulcan Love Slave" holosuite program. ;)

Problems
- This episode further aggravates the holodeck invention date problem. See comments.

Factoids
- René Auberjonois, who played Odo on DS9, plays Ezral in this episode.

Remarkable Scenes
- T'Pol reminding Trip of his encounter on the Xyrillian ship.
- Trip: "What if she gets hurt? What are you going to do then, program up a holographic doctor?" Ah, if only Trip could see Voyager. ;)

My Review
A rehash of DS9: Shadowplay regarding living one's life in a holographic world, with a bit of DS9: Progress. Ezral is a lot like Mullibok. And the treatment of Liana is a lot like Vina from TOS: The Cage, or Kes on Voyager. I think the rehash-o-meter is going through the roof again! As a result, we have a most unremarkable episode. In some ways, annoying too. Ent: Unexpected aggravated the holodeck invention date problem enough, but this episode contributes to it even more. Not only do we have Trip experiencing a holographic system, but he's experiencing a holographic system with holographic people, along with his entire crew! That, and they get a long hard look at the technology too. Finally, unlike Ent: Unexpected, this episode doesn't even have an excuse to show this kind of plot. Like Ent: Civilization, it could have been done on any other Trek series much more appropriately. Given all these problems and the horribly slow plot, I must declare this episode as the second biggest disappointment of the show.

Problems
- This isn't the first case of this, but I wonder how an alien nursery rhyme translated by the universal translator retains its rhyme.
- Enterprise is 5.2 light years away from the prison, but reaches it in only a few days. That would have required a speed of a lot faster than warp 5.
- So the shuttlepods have phase cannons now?

Factoids
- Dean Stockwell who plays Colonel Grat in this episode is old friend of Scott Bakula (Captain Archer). The two friends starred on Quantum Leap for many years.
- The Suliban homeworld became uninhabitable 300 years ago.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip: "A Vulcan lawyer? We'd be better off getting the electric chair."
- Colonel Grat interrogating Archer about the Cobal and the Temporal Cold War.
- T'Pol toying with Colonel Grat.
- Reed to Travis: "You look worse than I do."
- Reed's boyish smile as he destroys the door.
- The shuttlepod strafing the prison.

My Review
This episode gives us some nice background on the Suliban race, as well as a possible explanation for their extinction in the 23rd and 24th centuries. Since their homeworld became uninhabitable 300 years ago, they're nomadic, and they're being discriminated against en masse, I imagine that mass genocide might have wiped out most of their race. Now all that's left is to find out why the Denobulans are extinct in the 23rd and 24th centuries. ;) In any case, it seems not all Suliban are members of the Cabal, which is understandable. It seems Enterprise has meddled in the affairs of another sovereign alien species, but at least it was for a good cause. Racial discrimination sucks. Which reminds me, I love the scene when Travis got accused of being racist against Suliban. There's a certain irony to that scene. Travis, a man whose race was discriminated against hundreds of years ago, now is accused of repeating the mistakes his ancestors fought against. Obviously, Travis wasn't being a racist, but I still found the scene ironic. I also enjoyed seeing Travis take a more active role after he'd been thoroughly underused in the last several episodes. Overall, I'm glad to see an episode that isn't below average for the first time in a long while.

Problems
None

Factoids
- This episode is the winner of my "Best Episode of Enterprise Award" and is therefore a candidate for my "Best Episode Ever Award."
- "Vox Sola" means "solitary voice" in Latin.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip trying to cheer up Archer about the bad first contact.
- Travis: "Why don't you stay for the movie tonight?" Reed: "What's playing?" Travis: "Uh... 'Wages of Fear'. Classic foreign film." Reed: "Hmm." Travis: "You'll like it. Things blow up." Reed: "Hmm. Sounds fun."
- Trip: "I wouldn't want to be taking a swim if the gravity plating went offline." Archer: "No... no." I wonder if he's remembering his issues with the shower in Ent: Unexpected. ;)
- The alien creature capturing crewmembers, including Archer and Trip.
- Reed's EM emitters injuring the captured crew.
- The captured crew reading each other's thoughts.
- Phlox fighting for the rights of the severed tentacle.
- Travis answering the hail from the Kreetassans.
- Travis finding out why the Kreetassans were offended.
- Trip: "When Zefram Cochrane talked about new life and new civilization, do you think this is what he meant?"
- Reed testing his forcefield.
- Hoshi communicating with the life form.
- The crew visiting the life form's homeworld, returning it to its home.

My Review
This isn't the start of the war with the Klingons that we've been waiting for, or the start of the war with the Romulans that we've been waiting for, or anything that we've been waiting for, for that matter. But Vox Sola has a special charm to it. This episode was exceptional from start to finish. It's not filled with cliches or recycled plots; this episode is totally original and a perfect fit for Enterprise. It begins when Hoshi fails to communicate adequately with the Kreetassans. They storm off the ship for some unknown reason, and nobody gives it a second thought. But when the web aliens of this episode start gobbling up crewmen, they decide to contact the Kreetassans again and see if they know anything about the web aliens.

Because of circumstances, it's up to an underused character, Travis, to bridge the cultural barrier and make up for old mistakes. Normally, it would have been better to show Hoshi doing this, but I was pleased that Travis was given a chance to shine here. And shine he did. His solitary dealings with the Kreetassans in this episode was probably his best scene yet on the show. In fact, not a single character in this episode is neglected. Phlox gets to play the humanitarian, fighting for tentacle rights. Reed gets to play with gadgets and new technology, Archer and Tucker get several nice scenes depicting friendship and camaraderie, and Hoshi and T'Pol get several nice scenes showing contention and eventually the resolution of their differences as they work together to decipher the language of the web aliens.

But what I liked most about this episode was the web aliens themselves. Never have we seen a more unique alien on Star Trek. And it was the perfect opportunity to get the Enterprise crew thinking outside the box. I liked how well everyone worked together. Reed built the first prototype forcefield, T'Pol helped Hoshi decrypt the mathematical portions of the web alien language, and Hoshi reprogrammed the universal translator to adapt it to the alien language. The scene when Hoshi stood behind Reed's forcefield and tried her best to communicate with the web aliens, going from a hostile demeanor to an understanding in just a few minutes was the high point of the episode.

Then the scene when we watch as Enterprise returns the aliens to their home world was as symbolically impressive as it was visually impressive. Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the episode's unusually beautiful scoring, which was way above average. The whole episode was true to the spirit of Star Trek more so than most others and a pleasure to watch. I've read a lot of other reviews of this episode and I've got to say that Vox Sola is highly underrated.

Problems
None

Factoids
- This episode establishes that the phase cannons can't be fired at warp. Reed thinks the problem can be solved later though.

Remarkable Scenes
- T'Pol's expression of concern in the teaser.
- V'Lar's strange behavior when boarding Enterprise.
- Trip insinuating that Reed enjoys space battles.
- Archer deciding to outrun the Mazarite ships.
- V'Lar explaining that Earth's World War III was the reason for her mistrust of humans.
- Archer: "Archer to Engineering." Trip: "Please tell me you're ready to slow down." Archer: "Sorry Trip, but we need a little more speed." Trip: "I don't know how much more I can give you!" Archer: "It's called a warp five engine!" Trip: "On paper!"
- Enterprise reaching warp 5.
- The Enterprise crew putting on a performance for the Mazarites.
- V'Lar regarding Archer and T'Pol: "I sense a great bond between you. A bond of trust and respect. But also a bond of friendship. I think it bodes well for the future relations of our two peoples."

My Review
A nicely entertaining action episode with another embedded Vulcan mystery. But unlike episodes like Ent: Breaking the Ice, we get valuable insight into why Vulcans distrust humans so much. It's humanity's history. Having barely survived a global war, Vulcans offer their assistance but remain skeptical that Earth has really learned from its mistakes. Even the nicest Vulcan we've met so far, V'Lar, has trouble trusting humans. But alas, she does. Her giving into her preconceptions symbolizes the "bond of friendship" that humans and Vulcans will one day have.

Problems
- So in Ent: Detained, shuttlepods had phase cannons. Now they have plasma cannons?

Factoids
- Clancy Brown who plays Zobral in this episode played the Kurgan in the Highlander film.
- It's been said that three of the extras seen in engineering in this episode are sailors from the real life United States Aircraft Carrier Enterprise.
- There are eight major components to a warp engine.

Remarkable Scenes
- Enterprise's trip to Risa being interrupted... again!
- Archer citing the events of Ent: Silent Enemy as the only time he ever seriously thought about turning back to Earth.
- The Geskana match.
- Archer and Trip crossing the desert.
- T'Pol, Reed, and Zobral rescuing Archer and Trip.
- Archer: "The irony is I have a feeling his cause is worth fighting for."

My Review
I loved the guest star Zobral in this episode. Magnificent actor who played his part very well. This episode features great continuity with Ent: Detained too. I loved how Zobral heard things about Archer from the Suliban who escaped their imprisonment thanks to Archer. Zobral said he heard that Archer was an explorer who was also a great warrior and as a result of this impression he wants to enlist Archer and his crew into his fight by any means necessary. Archer is finally learning that there are consequences for his actions. It's interesting that even after his ordeal, Archer remains sympathetic to Zobral's cause, even if he doesn't agree with his methods. Not only is Archer learning there are consequences for his actions, he's learning that the Vulcan non interference policy makes a lot of sense. Maybe the episode was yet another annoying rehash of the Enterprise crew gets involved in an alien conflict plot, but this episode used it well. We got some real character development for Archer and Trip, and the desert scenery was a nice change of pace. I especially liked the Geskana match.

Problems
- In TOS: Amok Time, the Vulcan Pon Farr was regarded as something no non Vulcan may ever know of. But everyone on Enterprise seems to know about it. It's been mentioned in several episodes. They even joke about it in this one. It can be forgiven in TNG, DS9, and Voyager episodes because the events of TOS: Amok Time would be fairly well known by then, thanks to Kirk. So, if the Pon Farr is common knowledge in Enterprise, why is it the secret no one may ever know of in TOS?

Factoids
- Dr. Phlox usually hibernates six days per year, but two is enough.
- Hoshi learned 38 languages before she left Earth. She knows about 40 now.
- Earth is 90 light years from Risa. This is the farthest any human has ever traveled, according to Archer.

Remarkable Scenes
- Tucker: "Malcolm and I plan to uh... broaden our cultural horizons." Hoshi: "Is that all you two think about?"
- Keyla: "You should always listen to your science officer." Archer: "She'd be the first to agree with you."
- Hoshi speaking in Risian.
- Keyla: "I wouldn't be surprised if they're naming schools after you back on your world." Archer: "Archer Elementary. Has a nice ring to it!"
- Tucker: "I saved the captain's life." Alien women: "I thought you were the captain." Tucker, pointing to Reed: "We rotate. He's captain next week."
- Travis: "Have you ever been to an alien hospital?" T'Pol: "Yes. In San Francisco."
- Cutler waking up Phlox.
- A disoriented Phlox trying perhaps not so successfully to treat Mayweather.
- Archer discovering that Keyla was actually a Tandaran spy. (The race from Ent: Detained)
- Phlox very quickly falling back asleep after having treated Travis.
- The awkward conversation at the end.

My Review
So the crew of the Enterprise finally gets a chance to experience Risa. Aside from featuring very nice continuity, the episode is filled with irony. Trip and Reed go looking for women and find themselves mugged. Archer goes looking for a woman and finds himself interrogated and drugged. And Hoshi, the only person not looking for a companion, (she even expressed disgust at the entire idea...) ends up finding one and having a great time. It's also kind of funny how Mayweather should suddenly need expert medical attention from Phlox right as Phlox decides he needs to hibernate. In fact, Phlox' very brief scenes in this episode were probably the best parts. In the end, there's a scene with Archer, Trip, Reed, and Hoshi all in a shuttlepod together having an awkward conversation about the "good time" they had. Archer, Trip, and Reed are covering for their naivety, while Hoshi is covering for her arrogance. None of them spent the time as they expected to. ;)

Problems
None

Factoids
- This episode establishes that Daniels comes from the 31st century.

Remarkable Scenes
- The shuttlepod igniting the atmosphere of the mining colony.
- The resulting confusion after the shockwave.
- Reed denying pilot error at all costs.
- Archer announcing the mission's been canceled.
- T'Pol trying to cheer up Archer.
- Trip venting to Phlox.
- Archer waking up in San Francisco in his past.
- Daniels revealing that the explosion at the mining colony wasn't caused by Enterprise.
- Archer confusing Trip with technobabble.
- Enterprise revealing a cloaked Suliban vessel.
- Archer, T'Pol, and Trip performing their heist.
- The shuttlepod ripping away its docking interface.
- T'Pol: "As I've told you, the Vulcan Science Directorate has concluded that time travel is impossible."
- Trip regarding the Suliban ships: "It looks like we're in a swarm of cloaked bees!"

My Review
At first it looks like the crew of Enterprise made a major mistake costing the lives of thousands of innocent colonists. But as it turns out, Enterprise didn't cause the shockwave, but a cloaked Suliban vessel toying with the timeline did. The Temporal Cold War arc comes to a head here. Archer's "noble sacrifice" and departure of the ship, only to have Daniels interfere, Enterprise attacked, and Earth's future devastated leave us with a major cliffhanger. Personally, I'm not so fond of the Temporal Cold War arc, but at least it was well used here. I'm hoping part II finally gives us some progress after a total lack of progress in the previous episodes dealing with this arc. One thing I liked a lot about this episode was the running fear, uncertainty, and doubt concerning Enterprise's mission after the shockwave that ignited the mining colony's atmosphere. The cancellation of Enterprise's mission could easily spell disaster for all of humanity. Which brings up another point. Is this Temporal Cold War intended to be an excuse to alter continuity permanently? Is Enterprise the start of a new Trek timeline set in a parallel universe? I sincerely hope the answers to these questions is no.