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Star Trek Ent - Season 2

Star Trek Ent - 2x01 - Shockwave, Part II

Originally Aired: 2002-9-18

Synopsis:
With Enterprise held hostage and Archer mysteriously missing, the crew faces its biggest challenge yet. [DVD]

My Rating - 6

Fan Rating Average - 4.79

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 37 3 5 4 9 8 41 14 14 10 9

Problems
- Since when can Enterprise fire phase cannons at warp? Seems Reed fixed that problem. But it would have been nice to have some dialog explaining that he fixed it, instead of the rather tasteless beating he received instead.

Factoids
- When the Federation was destroyed, not only does Daniels' future cease to exist, but Future Guy's too.
- Future Guy is from the 28th century. In the 28th century, they could communicate through time, but not actually travel through time.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer and Daniels exploring a destroyed 31st century.
- Archer: "The Romulan Star Empire. What's that?" Daniels: "Maybe you shouldn't be reading that."
- T'Pol: "The Vulcan Science Directorate has determined that time travel is impossible." Silik: "Does Archer agree with that opinion?" T'Pol: "It's not an opinion." Silik: "Does Archer agree with that determination?"
- The dazed and confused T'Pol.
- Hoshi's experience in the shafts that house the EPS conduits.
- Archer to Silik: "I said you're an ugly bastard!"
- Archer's infamous gazelle speech: "When I was in my early twenties on a trip to east Africa, I saw a gazelle giving birth. It was truly amazing. Within minutes the baby was standing up. Standing up on its own. A few more minutes and it was walking, and before I knew it was running alongside its mother, moving away with the herd. Humans aren't like that, ambassador. We may come from the same planet as those gazelles, but we're pretty much helpless when we're born. It takes us months before we're able to crawl, almost a full years before we can walk. Our deep space mission isn't much different. We're going to stumble, make mistakes; I'm sure more than a few before we find out footing. But we're going to learn from those mistakes. That's what being human is all about. I'm sorry you can't see that."
- T'Pol referencing the events of P'Jem as evidence that like humans, Vulcans are not perfect and that Enterprise's mission should continue.
- T'Pol: "I still don't believe in time travel." Archer: "The hell you don't."

My Review
Little progress concerning the Temporal Cold War is given here. In fact, the events of this episode make guessing at who Silik's boss is even harder. If wiping out the Federation wipes out Future Guy, then I'm totally out of guesses. Sorry. It seems the Temporal Cold War is nothing but a series events like Voy: Relativity. Malicious person A starts messing with the timeline. Federation time traveler B corrects it. The main characters of the show suffer while this happens. Time Trek is most boring and I hope it doesn't last. I sincerely hope season two does something useful with the Temporal Cold War. In any case, part II of this episode was a disappointment. Besides not getting the Temporal Cold War conclusion I was expecting, the episode resorted to some of the tasteless trends established in season one. T'Pol gets tortured in revealing clothing, Hoshi loses her shirt, and Reed gets severely beaten. And I'm just not even gonna talk about Archer's rather embarrassing gazelle speech. The conclusion to this otherwise decent action episode seemed rather tasteless to me. An extra point for the episode not featuring a reset button though.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Tallifer on 2011-05-12 at 7:42pm:
    Archer's gazelle speech actually supported the Vulcans' argument: humans are still infants and need to crawl before they can walk or run on their own.
  • From Zorak on 2016-09-26 at 2:00pm:
    Yes! Thank you. You said it so I don't have to. The ending was ridiculous, especially the gazelle speech. I can't stand that kind of thing.

    One other thing I had a huge problem with is why they didn't arrest Silik. It's completely irrational to just send him on his way. Mind boggling even.

    Aside from the ending though, a decent episode as usual.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x02 - Carbon Creek

Originally Aired: 2002-9-25

Synopsis:
T'Pol's recollection of the Vulcans' first encounter with Humans conflicts with what Archer and Trip learned from history books. [DVD]

My Rating - 4

Fan Rating Average - 6.52

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 22 4 2 3 12 6 4 11 29 31 29

Problems
- Sputnik was launched in 1957. Velcro was invented in 1955. The episode was close at least. ;)

Factoids
- Trip confirms what Geordi said in Star Trek VIII: First Contact that a statue of Zefram Cochrane would be built in Bozeman Montanna.
- In the real world, Velcro was invented by a man named Mestral, which is also the name of the Vulcan who stayed on Earth.
- This episode was nominated for the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip wondering just how old T'Pol is.
- Mestral: "It's unfortunate that you'll be leaving these people without experiencing one thing they have to offer." Stron: "Such as alcohol, frozen fish sticks, the constant threat of nuclear annihilation?"
- Trip: "This is like finding out Neil Armstrong wasn't the first man to walk on the moon!" T'Pol: "Perhaps he wasn't."
- T'Pol winding up Archer and Trip over whether or not her story was true.

My Review
T'Pol's story is captivating, and the Vulcan actors do a superb job. The episode leaves you wondering if any of it is true, but like Voy: The Haunting of Deck Twelve, there's clear evidence that it is true shown in the final scene. Besides, I find it hard to believe T'Pol would lie when she said the incident was well documented on Vulcan. Unfortunately, these plots are poor recipes for episodes and seldom make good ones. I was pleasantly surprised that this episode didn't turn into another Voy: 11:59, which was totally irrelevant. But then again, an episode like this is something the writers can only get away with once a long while. It was done well and it was a nice change of pace, but we just don't watch Star Trek these kinds of stories.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Pete Miller on 2006-12-18 at 4:27pm:
    I wonder if after "I Love Lucy", they watched "Star Trek"? ;)

    Perhaps Quark, Rom, and Nog were on Earth at the same time as the Vulcan(s). (DS9: Little Green Men)
  • From Kethinov on 2008-08-05 at 9:17pm:
    DS9: Little Green Men took place ten years prior. This episode is set circa 1957 (the launch of Sputnik 1) whereas DS9: Little Green Men is set circa 1947 (the Roswell UFO incident).

    Moreover, being that this episode is set circa 1957, it would have been about ten years too early for Star Trek to be on the air too. ;)
  • From Edward on 2009-06-06 at 10:06am:
    I enjoyed this episode, but I thought it had one major problem. Vulcans come from a desert planet, and it has been made rather clear that hey have a range of complexions that would all be darker on average than the citizens of Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. With different looking hair and a darker skin tone, the stranded Vulcan crew would probably not have been very welcome in a small Pennsylvania town in the 1950's, and likely would have been treated like second class citizens. Even if there were no other minorities in the small town, they would have still noticed on television and through common discussion with the townsfolk that the humans were still primitive enough to be divided simply by skin color. This would definitely have changed their overall impression of humans by the end of the show (especially since one of them complemented the humans on how accepting of strangers they were).
  • From packman_jon on 2012-11-18 at 11:42pm:
    I enjoyed this one too. We've seen in Star Trek (TNG: First Contact) that humaniod warp-capable species will research pre-warp species before first contact is established. As with most non Season 4 episodes, it's not the prequel we get in Season 4, but still not bad.
  • From Dstyle on 2015-09-10 at 2:09pm:
    T'Mir: "Okay, Mestral, you may stay behind and live here on Earth among the humans. Just don't ever get sick and seek out medical attention. Especially if they'll need to find your heart or even take your pulse, since our hearts beat several hundred times a minute. And try not to ever get bruised. Or get a cut. Or go to a dentist. Shit, okay, maybe this actually a really bad idea after all."
  • From Zorak on 2016-09-26 at 5:26pm:
    I'm going to have to disagree with you whole heartedly on this one. This is exactly why I watch Star Trek. Star Trek does these kind of one-off stories better than any other franchise I've ever seen.

    This is easily my favorite episode of Enterprise so far. I love these kind of "fish out of water" stories and I can't think of anyone more entertaining to see in that role than Vulcans. I only wish this was a two-parter and didn't end so quickly. Hell, I could watch an entire series based on this premise.

    I only have one real complaint about it. I was floored when T'pol insinuated that it was just a story. The thought that this was all T'pol's attempt at levity brought this episode to an entirely new level for me. I was ready to call it one of my favorite episodes in all of Star Trek. Unfortunately, they decided to go with the touchy feely ending and have her pull out the purse, revealing that it wasn't just a story. Not a game changer, but it brought the episode down a peg.

    I do wonder if the end implied that it actually was T'pol and not her great grandmother. Just how old is she?

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Star Trek Ent - 2x03 - Minefield

Originally Aired: 2002-10-2

Synopsis:
Enterprise becomes disabled by an alien orbital mine while trapped in hostile Romulan territory. [DVD]

My Rating - 9

Fan Rating Average - 5.24

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 24 19 4 6 3 6 8 12 21 19 17

Problems
- In TOS: Balance of Terror, Kirk and Spock had a conversation that explicitly stated that cloaking technology is "theoretically possible," and heavily implied that it had never been observed. The Suliban cloaking devices in this show have already complicated this, but given the likely presumption that the Suliban technology probably comes from the future, that's not that big a deal. But here we see the Romulan cloaking device itself depicted 100 years too early, forcing us now to assume that Archer didn't make a very thorough report to Starfleet after this episode, causing knowledge of Romulan cloaking technology to fade into the mists of history as quite uncommon knowledge so as to explain how Kirk and Spock could be so ignorant about it 100 years later. Honestly, would it really have been so hard to do this episode without featuring a cloaking device?

Factoids
- Reed suffers from aquaphobia.

Remarkable Scenes
- Reed's uneasy breakfast with the captain.
- Archer to T'Pol regarding the landing site for the planet: "Find a volcano with a gentle slope, preferably one that's not erupting."
- Enterprise slamming into a mine.
- T'Pol regarding why the beacons weren't revealing anymore mines: "They were designed to penetrate Suliban cloaking devices." Archer shoots her a quick highly annoyed look. T'Pol quickly says: "I'll try shifting the phase variance."
- Reed's spacewalk on the hull, examining the mine.
- The Romulan ship decloaking before Reed's eyes and firing warning shots.
- Archer: "Our friends seem anxious for us to leave. We're going to break orbit, nice and slowly." Reed: "Understood. If plan to go to warp, sir, you'll let me know?" Archer: "I'll try to remember."
- The mine impaling Reed.
- Reed: "I would consider letting you amputate but if chef got hold of it, he'd be serving 'roast Reed' for Sunday dinner."
- Reed regarding the painkillers: "Please sir... may I have some more?"
- Archer and Reed chatting while attempting to disable the mine.
- Archer saving Reed.

My Review
Romulans at long last. It's annoying that they're shown with cloaking devices when they were regarded as something new in TOS: Balance of Terror, but the problem existed since the first episode when the writers decided to give the Suliban cloaking devices. It's at least plausible that the Romulan cloak was defeated during the Earth Romulan war, and that in TOS: Balance of Terror they designed a more perfect cloak just as was done in TNG: The Neutral Zone to warrant the various reactions to the cloak seen over time. Anyway, enough of that. Minefield was the best Enterprise episode so far, besides of course Vox Sola which is an exception. I was hoping since day one that Enterprise would document the Earth Romulan war. This incident could very well spell the beginning of the said war. Besides the cloaking oddities, which really aren't that bad a continuity problem, the writers were true to TOS' portrayal of the Romulans. Spock said that in TOS: Balance of Terror that that was the first time the Federation had ever seen a Romulan. As unlikely as this may sound, the writers stayed true to it. There was no visual communication between the Romulans and Enterprise. I was also happy that first contact with the Romulans happened in this manner. The Klingons have been abused since the first episode, but this is just the abrasive first contact I would have expected to see with the Romulans. (The Klingons likewise, but oh well.) Finally, the interaction between Archer and Reed in this episode was great. Reed's interaction with Trip in Ent: Shuttlepod One was funnier, yes, but on the whole I found this episode to be vastly more entertaining and the Archer / Reed interplay was one of the reasons. Overall, most excellent. I want to see more like this!

No fan commentary yet.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x04 - Dead Stop

Originally Aired: 2002-10-9

Synopsis:
Enterprise docks with a mysterious high-tech space station which proves too good to be true. [DVD]

My Rating - 8

Fan Rating Average - 6.04

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 17 2 3 4 8 14 14 16 22 21 12

Problems
- So the station gets its processing power from people. All right. So where's it getting it's energy from?
- Rigelian fever sure is a lot more harmless in this century. (See TOS: Requiem for Methuselah)

Factoids
- The Enterprise computer is 3 decks high and is the most advanced in the fleet, and is three decks tall.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer and Trip surveying the damage from the last episode.
- Enterprise transmitting a distress call.
- Reed: "It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain." Phlox: " It's unethical to harm a patient. I can inflict as much pain as I like."
- Trip: "They've isolated every hull breach, every damaged system... I'll be damned. We scratched the hull right there a year ago. I bumped it with the inspection pod, remember?" Archer: "I thought I told you to have that repainted?"
- Trip and T'Pol playing with the replicator.
- The automated station repairing the ship section by section.
- The automated station repairing Reed.
- Trip and Reed being most embarrassingly beamed from the station to the Enterprise bridge.
- Hoshi describing a prank Travis pulled on her with strawberry jello.
- Phlox discovering that Travis' body is not really Travis.
- Archer and T'Pol recovering Travis and escaping the station, destroying it in the process.

My Review
Another above average offering from Enterprise. The story is fairly original, but the devil is in the details. The damage from last episode's minefield is still very much a problem. How often has Voyager suffered severe hull breaches only to repair them in short order a week later? And remember when the Jem'Hadar destroyed an entire pylon on Deep Space Nine? That was sure fixed fast. This episode is a reminder of just how low tech the 22nd century really is. The alien space station is of course an exception to this. It featured some amazing replicator technology. You've got to wonder what kind of power requirements a station like that would need in order to sustain the advanced bio computer and the advanced replicator. Personally, I don't think 200 liters of warp plasma will sustain all that technology for long. It would have been nice if we could get a look at the power source as well as the computer core. There's some other great continuity in this episode, besides last week's damage. I liked how Reed was still injured. I also liked the mentioning the scratch Trip made on the hull when he bumped it with the inspection pod in the first episode. I also liked Archer getting annoyed with his squeaky floor again. A Tellarite freighter responds to Archer's distress call, they were an alien species featured in TOS. Finally, Phlox says mentions Rigelian fever, which was featured in TOS: Requiem for Methuselah. Obviously by then it mutates into something more deadly. While the episode is not without its flaws, it was a pleasure to watch. It managed to retain almost as much excitement as Ent: Minefield. In fact, it almost felt like Ent: Minefield, Part II. I home we see more of this careful attention to continuity.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Wayne on 2009-07-23 at 8:27pm:
    Roxann Dawson did the voice of the station computer as well as directed this episode. I built a windows theme using Roxann's voice from this episode and "Dreadnought" from Voyager. I met Roxann at a Star Trek Convention and was a little bit in love with her (ok a lot in love with her.) She's is so tiny, pretty and sweet.
  • From Kethinov on 2009-07-23 at 8:54pm:
    That's one of the creepiest comments I've ever seen posted here, but I must admit it made me smile. :)
  • From TS on 2012-07-28 at 1:14am:
    This episode reminded me of the video for ZZ Top's "Rough Boy"

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Star Trek Ent - 2x05 - A Night in Sickbay

Originally Aired: 2002-10-16

Synopsis:
Archer spends a fretful night in sickbay with Porthos and Dr. Phlox. [DVD]

My Rating - 1

Fan Rating Average - 3.15

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 53 26 9 13 3 8 9 7 6 14 8

Problems
None

Factoids
- This episode is a candidate for my "Worst Episode of Enterprise Award."
- Phlox holds six degrees in interspecies veterinary medicine. He also holds degrees in dentistry, hematology, and botanical pharmacology, and psychiatry.
- This episode was nominated for the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

Remarkable Scenes
- T'Pol revealing the reason for the Kreetassans taking offense... again.
- Phlox: "Have you considered that your anger may encompass more than just Porthos and the Kreetassans?" Archer: "What?" Phlox: "How long has it been since you were intimate with a woman?" Archer: "What?" Phlox: "How long has it be--" Archer: "I heard you!"
- Archer to Phlox: "From what you're telling me, the closest thing your people have to pets are furry little things that go well with onions!"
- Archer discussing with Phlox his extended family.
- This episode features another huge Phlox smile at the end.

My Review
It was nice to see that Enterprise is still searching for spare parts to repair their minefield damage and it was nice to see Archer have to deal with his intolerance of other cultures. However, the problem with this episode is the sheer number of annoying scenes. They easily outnumber the good scenes. Some of these bad scenes include Phlox trimming his toenails and grooming his long tongue. That just wasn't necessary to see. The treadmill race between Archer and T'Pol. Why does Archer feel the need to engage in pissing contests with her so often? The bat scene with Phlox was just redundant. Yes, we got the point. Sleeping in sickbay with Phlox around creates distractions. Did we really need to see another one? Throughout the episode Archer ignored the Kreetassans, in favor of throwing his temper tantrums and ranting at his crew like a child. Archer dreaming of Porthos' death and of being intimate with T'Pol was in poor taste. The climax of absurdity came with Archer's "doing the breast I can" and "send me your lips" lines. Even the scene in which Archer finally apologizes to the Kreetassans was silly, though that one's not so bad compared to the rest. Ent: A Night in Sickbay has a few good scenes and quotes. And I did like the connection between this episode and Ent: Vox Sola, showing us the Kreetassans again. But the nonstop tastelessness in this episode ruins what little fun this episode had to offer. It's really not so bad if you like watching immaturity at its best, but you know what? This is Star Trek, not a teeny bopper film.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Pete Miller on 2007-01-07 at 11:40pm:
    Taken from your own FAQ's: "A rating of 0 means I think the episode is so bad that I have (usually, but not always) personally dropped it from Star Trek canon. Episodes rated zero often have incredible technical problems."

    While you certainly can and will rate these episodes according to your own opinions, I have to disagree with you on this one. Yes, the episode is in very poor taste. Yes, it is a huge waste of time. But I don't think it is a zero. A zero to me is an episode that is so awful that it shouldn't even be considered canon. Something like VOY: Threshold.

    This episode has some very good humor which should alone guarantee it a 1. There are no flagrant violations of canon, and while they have some sexual material, it isn't obscene in any way. Perhaps Enterprise is just trying to be more realistic as far as sexual tension goes. I rather like how open they are with it, as long as they don't have those awful decon scenes. TNG: The Naked Now was much more offensive and distasteful in my opinion, and it got a 4.

    Given, this episode has too many things like the Phlox toenail scene to be considered a good episode, but it is far from a zero IMHO.
  • From Matthew on 2007-09-02 at 1:55pm:
    Here's a problem with this episode. There's no such thing as an "autoimmune system". Dogs -- and humans for that matter -- have immune systems and when the immune system attacks itself, an autoimmune reaction or disorder occurs. Having an autoimmune immune system implies that the body has evolved a system explicitly designed for destroying itself, which makes absolutely no sense. And even if for some strange reason the dog does have an autoimmune system, its "collapsing", as stated by Dr Phlox, would be a good thing. Besides which, I can't even begin to imagine how some foreign pathogen is supposed to cause the breakdown of this non-existent system. The writers would have been far better off to invent something completely within the realm of science fiction for the Dog to fall ill with, like Klingon rabies or something.
  • From Abigail on 2009-02-22 at 2:40pm:
    I agree with you, Eric; the episode was HORRIBLE! I couldn't stand it! In need of an actual science fiction plot, anyone? And like you, I have never felt a need to see Phlox trim his toenails.
  • From Kethinov on 2009-10-09 at 7:51pm:
    Pete, you're right. I've revised my rating accordingly. It's a shame it took me almost three years to finally see your point. But point conceded.
  • From Pete on 2010-07-26 at 9:52pm:
    I'm just now going through and doing a rewatch of all the series; it's interesting to see some of the comments that have come in since I last read these reviews.

    I would be interested to know if you have changed any other of your ratings since you first did them. I have come to find that some episodes have aged well with me over time, while others (like this one) have only gotten worse in my mind. Cool to see that you adjusted this one to a 1, although I do agree with you that it is a very low "1".

    So far in my rewatch, I have really become sensitive to the overt sexualization of T'Pol. Sometimes it is too much to bear. I am all for casting hot women on this show, but it cheapens the character quite a bit to objectify her the way they do.
  • From Kethinov on 2010-07-26 at 11:34pm:
    Yes, Pete. Since I adjusted the rating (and review) of this episode in response to your comments, I have taken the time to do an audit of other episodes rated 0 to make sure that they're not actually more deserving of a 1.

    For example, as much as it pained me to do so, I also had to elevate DS9: Profit and Lace to a 1 for the same reason that this episode was elevated to a 1. I don't recall all the edits, but there were more than a few.

    If you stick around over the next year or two, all the reviews on the site will be adjusted, starting with TOS. I'll be adding new, higher quality screenshots, bringing over the "filler quotient" system from my Farscape reviews, and doing more extensive analyses in the reviews.

    I'll be averaging about one a day, so it may take a couple years. :)
  • From Jem Hadar on 2010-08-02 at 12:03am:
    Awesome!
  • From JRPoole on 2011-08-01 at 4:52pm:
    While I agree with most of your critiques of this episode, I tend to view it with the same lens I watch the obvious humor episodes, so I don't mind some of the more juvenile stuff. That said, the scene where Hoshi catches the bat is awful and the decontamination chamber as an excuse to get T'Pol in her lingerie and forcing sexual tension by having characters rub gel on each other is already tired.

    The best thing about this episode is that Archer is wrong. It's inexcusably bad judgement to take Porthos on an away mission at all, especially this one, with the Kreetassians, who've proven to have a truly alien culture and are easily offended. He then proceeds to have a virtual nervous breakdown because Porthos gets sick. I'm a pet lover, but Porthos is a dog. Would Archer have lost this much sleep over a sick crewman? We've seen episodes in the past where a captain's personal feelings--revenge, rivalry, etc.--lead them to make bad decisions. But we've never really seen a captain throw a tantrum act like such a child before. This episode works for me because it exposes one of the series weaknesses, Captain Archer himself, and explores it.

    I like Archer's informal style of command, but he's a goober, an even worse ambassador for humanity than that galactic douchebag James T. Kirk. He is one of the big disappointments about Enterprise to me thus far, but I might have to give the writers a little more credit than I have so far, at least when it comes to this character. Maybe he's supposed to come off like a rube.
  • From Hugo on 2017-08-28 at 5:04pm:
    I found Archer's attachment to the dog disturbing, but the episode was passable until about two thirds in...

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Star Trek Ent - 2x06 - Marauders

Originally Aired: 2002-10-30

Synopsis:
In need of fuel, Enterprise discovers a mining colony that is being controlled by Klingons who are bullying the inhabitants and hoarding their supplies. [DVD]

My Rating - 3

Fan Rating Average - 3.33

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 27 14 17 10 10 8 7 5 3 3 9

Problems
- Like Voy: Demon, the writers apparently don't know what deuterium is. It's a type of hydrogen. It can be extracted from anything, including from water! It's hardly a valuable commodity. There's no need to "mine" it. Again, the writers are confusing deuterium with dilithium.

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer: "There's a saying on my world. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime."
- Hoshi demonstrating how to hit a target. Oh the irony! ;)
- T'Pol: "Try to strike me." Travis hesitates. T'Pol: "You won't hurt me." Travis: "It's not you I'm worried about."
- Archer recalling the events of Broken Bow to encourage confidence in Tessic.
- The victory against the Klingons.

My Review
This is a decent episode, but it drowns under the weight of that rather nasty technical problem regarding how the authors don't have the slightest clue what deuterium is and some mildly poor writing. The technical problem is documented in the problems section, so I won't get into that. The Klingons are shown rather out of character here. They put up an amazingly weak fight. They fall for simple tricks and when told to leave and never come back, that's exactly what they do. This logical problem could have been solved if the Enterprise crewmembers taught the colonists more sophisticated ways to defend themselves, but it seems the writers have just as much a taste for guerrilla warfare as they do for misusing the term deuterium. ;) On the other hand, this episode contributes positively to continuity. Repeated incidents like this one could very easily get the Klingons pissed off enough at Earth to start a war. So it's a mixed bag. Not all that great, but not all that bad either.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Tallifer on 2011-05-13 at 7:14pm:
    The climactic fight was horrible. These were fully armed Klingons and yet no one died: not much of a lesson for the Klingons. (Perhaps T'pol wisely advised them that killing any Klingons would only instigate a bloood fued, but I never saw that mentioned.)
  • From belvedere_hedon on 2012-08-17 at 4:51pm:
    Deuterium is a form of hydrogen, but it cannot be separated chemically and (at least on earth) it is found in very low concentrations in naturally occurring hydrogen sources (i.e. water). Purifying deuterium is energy intensive with modern technology, and it is not unreasonable to assume that refining it would be a self-sustaining service as it would provide a fuel for fusion reactors in a remote part of the galaxy. Indeed, much of our justification for establishing permanent presence on the moon is that it would provide a valuable source of deuterium to fuel space exploration since the natural concentrations are higher there, and the lower gravity makes sending it into orbit cheaper.
  • From Roger on 2015-05-22 at 8:13am:
    Was this the first episode that established that Klingons have transporter technology? The Klingons were mischaracterized as utter wimps. And why didn't they just beam back down behind Archer and Company at the end and open fire? Or just drop a photon torpedo on the camp before they departed! Instead of just leaving with their tails between their legs.

    This episode was like "Magnificent 7" in outer space. Not that that in itself was bad, but the writing was really poor, in that they couldn't find a better way to defeat the Klingons that didn't make the Klingons look like utter wimps.

    And as already noted, the fight scene was not credible. Very bad shooting, even after practicing - I thought I was watching an old "A-Team" episode! And T'Pol as Rambo wasn't idiotic - why fight hand to hand when you have phase pistols, presumably with a stun setting? I find politically correct Trek to be very annoying...

    One of the hallmarks of good Trek is believeability. There is not much to be found in this episode, including the deuterium mining issue. The premise was good, but bad writing killed it. I'll be generous and give it a 2.
  • From Dstyle on 2015-09-09 at 11:00am:
    As I've been reading the comments on these second generation Star Trek reviews, I regularly see someone (or a few someones) complain about "politically correct" Trek, and I'm always left wondering what the hell they're talking about. The original 1960s Star Trek, with their pluralistic, multi-cultural crew (including a real live woman! On the bridge! With her lady parts and everything!) was pretty damn "politically correct" for it's time. In this instance, Roger is upset because a lady is doing martial arts, I guess because ladies doing anything besides being quiet, demure, and obedient is some sort of betrayal of Star Trek core principles. Let me reiterate this point, because it really boggles my mind: commenters like Roger consider T'Pol (T'POL!) to be "politically correct" and problematic. Well, don't worry, Roger, the show still objectifies the hell out of her! She's basically T and A that sometimes talks! The fragile masculinity of your like-minded male Star Trek fans is in no danger of being threatened, trust me!

    It was particularly interesting to me to see that comment by Roger on this episode, because as I watched the episode I was thinking about how Star Trek consistently casts almost exclusively white actors in supporting roles. Any time they encounter an alien species, they're almost always white people with some sort of forehead prosthetics. The implication is that "white" is a default race and that any other race, alien or human, is just a variation of whiteness. Even the Klingon captain in this episode--the only Klingon with any significant lines, mind you--is played by white actor Roberson Dean! As with any science fiction series (or any show, for that matter, but it especially holds true for science fiction), you can learn a lot about the contemporary culture and climate by paying attention to things like this, and as such the various second generation Star Trek series reflect the racial milieu of 90s and 00s America. It's interesting to see, and, in my opinion, Star Trek is getting increasingly less progressive as the series of shows run their course, largely because they're being less intentional about their representations of these kinds of issues.
  • From Zorak on 2016-09-28 at 8:16pm:
    This was by far and away my least favorite episode of Enterprise so far. I don't even want to get into the specifics. This is the writers telling us, the audience, that they have no respect for our intelligence. Utterly predictable down to no one getting hurt (including Klingons), the "Home Alone" style tactics, and the Klingons deciding they would never be back. So completely cliché and predictable that I knew exactly how the rest of the episode would play out within the first 10 minutes. They should be ashamed to have made this.
  • From Hugo on 2017-09-14 at 1:15am:
    Reasonably entertaining, but what stops the Klingons from a) just shooting at the camp from space, or b) come back with reinforcements?
  • From President Obummer on 2020-01-21 at 5:58am:
    Terrible episode, two big problems aside from all the deuterium science:
    1. The miners would not have just let these murderers go, 5 (plus 3 in battle) of their friends and family were massacred, nobody seems to care?
    2. Klingons live for battle, the miners putting up a fight would give them more incentive to come back.
    Just terrible...

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Star Trek Ent - 2x07 - The Seventh

Originally Aired: 2002-11-6

Synopsis:
T'Pol is is dispatched by the Vulcan High Command to capture a fugitive that has eluded their authorities for nearly two decades. [DVD]

My Rating - 2

Fan Rating Average - 3.66

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 19 13 8 11 13 6 7 5 6 4 5

Problems
None

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- T'Pol's vague behavior when she tells Archer about her impending mission.
- Tucker having trouble being the acting captain.
- The Vulcan captain confusedly informing "Captain Archer" of the recent water polo scores.

My Review
A meager plot. There are only two redeeming qualities in this episode. It's a nice character building piece between Archer an T'Pol and it was very well acted all across. Jolene Blalock's portrayal of a Vulcan whose emotions are bleeding into the surface was quite good. I guess there are a few other, minor things to redeem the episode too. We don't get to watch another atrocious decon scene, even though it was hinted at. And Mayweather isn't totally ignored. What's annoying is that we're shown yet another wayward Vulcan plot. There would seem to be three types of Vulcans in the 22nd century. Right wing, emotionless, arrogant Vulcans like Soval, left wing, emotional, unstable Vulcans, like the people from Ent: Fusion or this episode, and those that fall somewhere in between like V'Lar from Ent: Fallen Hero or more recently, T'Pol. It seems the lefty righty extremist types die off by the 23rd century. Personally, I'd like to see stories explaining how they die off, not more stories demonstrating that this social structure exists. There's been enough of them.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Nick on 2011-08-25 at 1:14am:
    I noticed that you seem to dislike pretty much any Vulcan episode. You gave low ratings to Andorian Incident, as well as Carbon Creek, which are two most amazing episodes of Enterprise! Yet you gave high ratings to episodes dealing with Cold War and the future guy. I am wondering why... I find the Vulcan story line a lot more entertaining and convincing than the future guy crap. But to each their own...
  • From Zorak on 2016-09-29 at 12:23am:
    The third bad episode in a row. What a shame. This season started off so strongly too. I hope it picks back up again. Though this one was not as bad as the last two, it wasn't much better either.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x08 - The Communicator

Originally Aired: 2002-11-13

Synopsis:
Reed and Archer retrieve a communicator left behind on an alien planet, but are captured in the process. [DVD]

My Rating - 3

Fan Rating Average - 4.84

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 13 4 5 12 5 8 7 18 5 7 5

Problems
None

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Reed: "Captain, my carelessness was inexcusable. I'm prepared for whatever reprimand you feel is appropriate." Archer: "How about 30 years in the brig? Or maybe a good flogging?"
- Trip accidentally cloaking his arm.
- The aliens examining the humans, astonished at their alien physiology.
- T'Pol, Trip, and Travis rescuing Archer and Reed.

My Review
Another fairly unremarkable episode. It was a good idea in the sense that Archer learns another lesson about contaminating cultures, but even that is starting to get a bit old. I suppose it felt so old in this episode because it was only discussed in a limited capacity. An episode with less violence and paranoia and more discussion about consequences for these types of actions would have been a better episode. Even then, we've seen enough of it already. TNG did it to death, for example. Instead though, we got Archer and Reed getting beaten up again and a firefight in the end. Not exactly true to the spirit of Star Trek. T'Pol even admits in the end that they damaged this alien culture. And for what? So Archer could be taught a lesson he's already learned? Well, perhaps I'm wrong. Given the events of this episode, seems he hasn't learned it yet!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Roger on 2015-06-14 at 6:59pm:
    I thought this episode was entertaining andpretty good overall, for seeing how the Prime Directive had evolved. It had some problems though. The firefight at the end was one of them, it was not believable. The military-trained aliens were such bad shots, while the marksmanship of the Enterprise party had improved greatly since "Marauders". And this was another episode plagued by what I will call "transporter phobia" - once they had located Archer and Reed in their cell why couldn't they just beam them up?
  • From Zorak on 2016-09-29 at 11:48am:
    I completely agree with your review on this one. I'm guessing this run of the last 4 episodes is where this show started to lose it's fan base. How could they think this was good Star Trek?

    The episode even started out alright (despite the premise relying entirely on Archers incompetence [i.e. high level technology goes in normal pockets] and his failure to ever learn his lesson), but then eventually devolves into another excruciatingly unrealistic shootout at the O.K. Corral.

    If I didn't know from having read articles in the past, as well as a comment you left for me in a season 1 episode that the writing gets a lot better later on, I'd be seriously considering giving up on this show.

    It's a shame. I really do like the characters in this show, with the exception of Archer (the worst captain ever!). I hope they turn this around soon.
  • From Subcommander O'bummer on 2023-02-21 at 3:20am:
    Come on Zorak, Archer has to be a bad captain, there was no training or experience for what does, and before that he was just a test pilot! It is to be expected that he could not compare to Picard or Janeway and the others.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x09 - Singularity

Originally Aired: 2002-11-20

Synopsis:
On a "typical" day on Enterprise, the crew finds their routine tasks turn into uncharacteristically strange obsessions over trivial matters. [DVD]

My Rating - 4

Fan Rating Average - 4.93

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 12 3 4 19 7 14 9 11 8 8 7

Problems
None

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- The crew starting to obsess over trivialities.
- Reed's various obnoxious alert sounds.
- Hoshi freaking out at people.
- Everybody starting to freak out.
- T'Pol waking up Archer.
- Archer piloting while T'Pol determines the course corrections.

My Review
We've seen it all before. TOS: The Naked Time, TNG: The Naked Now, DS9: Dramatis Personae, Voy: Bliss and even Ent: Strange New World. There've been far too many "the crew is acting strangely..." episodes. Hell, the whole flying between the stars thing reminded me a lot of Voy: Scientific Method too. Suffice it to say, the writers seem to lack originality. Fortunately, aside from the fact that the episode is unoriginal, it is genuinely entertaining and funny. I enjoyed watching Archer obsess over writing the preface to his father's biography, Trip obsessing over redesigning the captain's chair, Reed obsessing over his "Reed alert" which may be the precursor to the "red alert" ;), Hoshi obsessing over food, and Phlox obsessing over Travis' "medical condition." It's yet another cliche that T'Pol, as a Vulcan, is immune to the radiation's effects, but I'll let that one go. The episode may not be spectacular, but it's an improvement over the last four episodes anyway.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Zorak on 2016-09-29 at 4:50pm:
    Definitely agree with your assessment on this one. A marked improvement over the last 4 episodes, but a weak episode none the less.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x10 - Vanishing Point

Originally Aired: 2002-11-27

Synopsis:
Following her first experience in the transporter, a series of eerie events leads Hoshi to question whether she is the same person. [DVD]

My Rating - 1

Fan Rating Average - 4.85

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 9 5 5 11 14 10 7 6 5 6 9

Problems
None that aren't dreamed up by Hoshi.

Factoids
- This is the first time Trip and Hoshi use the transporter.
- We get to see Hoshi's father in this episode.

Remarkable Scenes
- Just one scene after Phlox tries to give Hoshi a sedative, Trip says: "If I were you, I'd ask the doc for a sedative. Nothing like crawling into bed." Hoshi: "You men are all alike."

My Review
It was all a dream! My least favorite plot device. In a way though, the "it was all a dream" plot device saved the episode from a zero. Hoshi's dream made less and less sense as it went on, to the point where I was getting ready to write a big rant about all the technical problems. Fortunately, I don't have to do that, because it was just a dream. The actual episode lasted no longer than a few minutes though, so even if all the technical problems aren't really technical problems, stripping them away doesn't leave much an episode afterward. Linda Park did an excellent job playing Hoshi in this episode, especially considering the poor material she was given to work with. But this can't save the episode from its dismal premise.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Pete Miller on 2007-01-27 at 4:09pm:
    I agree about the "it was all a dream" thing. Deus ex Machina and all its similar plot devices are for lazy writers who are trying to make it seem like a character is really in serious jeopardy. Probably so they could put some snippets up on the preview for "next week on UPN" and make people think Hoshi could get written off.

    Even though it was dreamed up, this made me remember the annoying problems of TNG: The Next Phase. Specifically that Hoshi/Ro/Geordi can pass through things but don't fall through the floor.
  • From Mitchell on 2012-12-19 at 7:54am:
    This episode feels a lot like a combo of TNG: The Next Phase and TNG: Remember Me. Weird transporter invisibility coupled with a fake dream world.
  • From Zorak on 2016-10-01 at 11:04am:
    Without doubt another very poor episode. I'll focus on the one little thing that I actually liked. It amused me how insistently the episode kept writing Cyrus Ramsey into Star Trek history and legend, only to have him also be a figment of Hoshi's imagination/dream.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x11 - Precious Cargo

Originally Aired: 2002-12-11

Synopsis:
Trip rescues an exotic alien woman from her kidnappers, but ends up on an unexpected romantic adventure. [DVD]

My Rating - 4

Fan Rating Average - 3.28

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 33 12 8 4 10 7 6 7 5 5 5

Problems
- Archer suggests that the Retellians should dock in Enterprise's launch bay so that Enterprise can take them to their destination quite a bit faster. But how exactly was the alien ship supposed to at all fit in Enterpise's launch bay? It was almost as big as Enterprise herself!

Factoids
- Kaitaama is a Kriosian. Her race was last featured in TNG: The Perfect Mate.
- Trip once owned a car.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip trying to get the Universal Translator to work.
- The evil Archer and evil T'Pol scene.
- Trip's fight with Goff.

My Review
Remember TNG: The Perfect Mate? It's likely Kaitaama in this episode is one of those very rare empathic Kriosian females. But it seems Kaitaama was already married. It's interesting to see that while Trip finds her attractive, he doesn't at all fall for her immediately, like he would with an unbonded equivalent. Eventually, they start to hit it off though. Still, you've got to wonder why the Retellians stole her if she's already married. Not that they seemed very bright, though. Anyway, this episode is your rather generic abduction / hostage situation plot. It's rather annoying that there's a handy M class planet immediately available for Trip and Kaitaama to land on when they steal the escape pod. Other than that, the episode is another improvement over the not so good episodes season 2 has been serving up lately.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Abigail on 2009-02-25 at 10:02pm:
    The plot was a mediocre, but I can handle that. What I cannot take is all the stereotyping. Why is “Enterprise” incapable of giving us a respectable female character? We have Hoshi, who is brilliant, yet constantly panics and second-guesses herself. [Interesting that she’s the linguist. Apparently even in the distant future, the math and sciences will continue to be male-dominated.] Apart from Hoshi, all we have is T’Pol, whom I cannot really classify or define. The episode “Precious Cargo” adds to my outrage by giving us the rich, spoiled brat who looks down upon the “lower class” male, yet depends upon him 100% for her own survival. The two bicker constantly but then somehow discover their deep passion for each other. All feminist rage aside, it is, at the very least, an old cliché.

    On a side note, what was with Trip having to remove his uniform due to a wound? This is not TOS; the shirt need not get ripped.
  • From Inga on 2015-01-30 at 2:45pm:
    I also found Kaitaama's personality a bit annoying. Also, another civilisation that developed high heels :D
  • From Zorak on 2016-10-01 at 2:38pm:
    Despite this being a rather cliché story we've all seen done before, I found the episode pretty charming. The actress who played Kaitaama did a good job portraying her character. Although this commoner/princess dynamic has been done many times, it reminded me most specifically of Lonestar and Princess Vespa from Spaceballs.

    All in all an enjoyable episode, though not a great one. The Archer/T'pol stuff was a bit ridiculous. As it was played off as humor though, Archers antics didn't bother me quite as much as they usually do.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x12 - The Catwalk

Originally Aired: 2002-12-18

Synopsis:
When a deadly radioactive storm threatens Enterprise, the entire crew must take refuge for eight days in a small maintenance shaft. [DVD]

My Rating - 5

Fan Rating Average - 4.83

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 18 6 2 13 2 10 13 13 8 7 8

Problems
- How are you to see through a window something approaching you at warp speed? Assumedly, the storm would be outrunning the light it emits!

Factoids
- We finally get to see Chef in this episode. But only from the chest down...
- The population of Denobula consists of 12 billion people, all living on one continent.
- T'Pol once participated in the kas-wahn ritual in which she was taken to the desert and left to survive for ten days.
- Enterprise has traveled over 100 light years from Earth.

Remarkable Scenes
- Alien Captain: "Once we're aboard, I suggest you go to warp 7 immediately." Archer: "Our top speed is warp 5."
- Reed mentioning that cadets used to call the EV simulator the "vomitorium."
- Archer: "You know, there is a bright side to all of this." T'Pol: "Really?" Archer: "It's bringing the crew closer together. If you forget about the storm outside, this is almost like going on a camping trip." T'Pol: "Perhaps we can sing a few songs later."

My Review
And another improvement in the writing. Ent: The Catwalk is the most original story since Ent: Minefield and Ent: Dead Stop. I liked that there are plenty of natural phenomena in the galaxy that can endanger Enterprise. Without shields and without a top speed of faster than warp 5, we see how vulnerable the ship really is compared to even TOS standards. There was good continuity with TOS: The Naked Time regarding how long it takes to cold start a warp engine. The warp engine trivia was good all around in fact. I enjoyed seeing the catwalk itself. A nicely constructed set. I wonder if the planet they were planning to explore in this episode was the planet Trip discovered in the last episode. The descriptions sound about the same. Would have been nice to insert a line of dialog confirming this. The alien takeover wasn't exactly original, but well played. I liked how the alien enemy captain guy had read Archer's logs. I also liked how Archer faked his attempt to destroy the ship so as to convince the aliens to leave. A question remains regarding why the aliens didn't come back when Enterprise very clearly changed course after the aliens disembarked. However, their sensors could have been fooled. That would have been another nice one liner to have in the episode. Overall, pretty average stuff, but it's certainly above Enterprise's average lately!

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Edward on 2009-06-18 at 1:29pm:
    I think it actually would be possible to see the storm from a distance. You are forgetting that although the storm is traveling at warp, it still takes 8 days for it to pass while traveling at warp... it is huge. They wouldn't be able to look at the current location of the storm front, but they could possibly be looking at its past location.

    A bigger problem is that the alien captain read Archer's ship log. First I find it unlikely that Archer wouldn't encrypt the file, and second I find it unlikely that Captain Archer wouldn't mention somewhere that they are hiding on the ship. Just in case something goes wrong and everyone dies in the storm, he would want to leave behind a record of what happened for Star Fleet (It sounds as if the the Vulcan crew that died in that previous storm left behind a record of the events that occurred).
  • From rpeh on 2010-07-20 at 11:21am:
    Problem: Why is the doctor so worried about evacuating his creatures from Sickbay? They established at the start that people could survive there. Why doesn't he just wait out the storm there with his pets and not worry about the storage space?
  • From John on 2013-03-27 at 12:31am:
    rpeh: The doctor needs to be where the crew is in order to treat injuries, particularly if they expect to be in there for weeks at a time. He also can't leave his animals there on their own, as it's been established that he needs to feed them regularly.

    I'm guessing there's no fully shielded pathway between the catwalks and sickbay, which explains why he is there.
  • From Inga on 2015-03-31 at 3:28am:
    Archer's bluffing reminded me of Corbomite Maneuver. I wonder if it was intentional
  • From Dstyle on 2015-09-16 at 1:33pm:
    Star Trek loves thinking in two dimensional space. That storm looks pretty flat. Couldn't Enterprise just fly straight up and fly over it?
  • From Zorak on 2016-10-01 at 3:37pm:
    It's been a long time getting from there to here (har har), but enterprise is finally good again. Maybe I've been a bit desensitized by Enterprises long draught, but this seemed like an even better then average Star trek episode. I really enjoyed this one. Well written, well acted, mostly logical plot, exciting and just downright entertaining. It's about time.

    I hope they can keep up this pace from now on.
  • From FH on 2023-08-17 at 3:35am:
    Concerning Edward's remark: "They wouldn't be able to look at the current location of the storm front, but they could possibly be looking at its past location." - nope, at least assuming the storm travels in a straight line toward Enterprise and does not vary its speed, then no matter how far back you go, the light of the storm would always arrive only after the storm. That's what it means for the storm to travel at warp speed, i.e. faster than light. It is faster than the light it emits. It will always outrun the light it has emitted on any point of its journey.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x13 - Dawn

Originally Aired: 2003-1-8

Synopsis:
Trip is fired upon by a territorial alien and forced to land on the night side of a moon. [DVD]

My Rating - 6

Fan Rating Average - 5.73

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 6 5 2 3 5 10 13 29 7 5 4

Problems
- T'Pol takes temperature measurements in Fahrenheit.

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip beginning to communicate with Zho'Kaan.
- Zho'Kaan healing Trip's scratch wound with his spit. An interesting ability.
- Trip regarding talking to Zho'Kaan: "It's like talking to Porthos!"
- Trip doing his best, despite the language barrier, to attempt to cooperate with Zho'Kaan, only to have Zho'Kaan attack him again.
- Zho'Kaan finally starting to cooperate with Trip.
- Trip recalling the interesting things that happened to him on his mission.
- Archer: "I guess we won't be adding the Arkonians to our list of friends." T'Pol: "The encounter was less volatile than I expected. You managed to establish better relations in a single day than the Vulcans have in a century."
- Trip finally being able to talk with Zho'Kaan with the aid of a translator in sickbay.

My Review
Well, they should have just named the episode Enemy Mine to complete the plagiarism! The alien makeup was similar to the movie, the premise was similar to the movie, and the plot was similar to the movie! Keeping the review a little more confined to Star Trek, the episode was also a bit like TNG: The Enemy. Despite the lack of originality, this was a very nice episode. Trip's compassion for his would be sparring partner is commendable. I like how he threw away his weapon, which started a fight, then after he barely won the fight he threw away his weapon again! Even when Trip had the ability to escape, he stayed to make sure that Zho'Kaan would be all right. This episode nicely demonstrates human compassion. Perhaps the lack of human compassion is why the Vulcans never established good relations with the Arkonians in the past. ;) While maybe not so original, the episode was most true to the spirit of Star Trek; nicely above average.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Dstyle on 2015-09-16 at 9:00am:
    The dashing Starfleet officer, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a reptilian alien in a desert landscape: seems like a pretty clear homage to Kirk fighting the Gorn.
  • From Nick on 2017-06-03 at 2:50am:
    I don't believe T'Pol (or Archer) specify units for the temperature readings. Furthermore, I submit that their dialog suggests a centigrade measurement:

    T'POL: At night, it can drop to five or even ten degrees below zero.
    ARCHER: Doesn't sound so bad.

    -5C is tolerable and certainly survivable (about 20F). I'd say that "doesn't sound so bad" given the circumstances. I would not say that about -5F.

    Which means that the planet will exceed 300F using the day!!! That is certainly cause for alarm!

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Star Trek Ent - 2x14 - Stigma

Originally Aired: 2003-2-5

Synopsis:
T'Pol's standing on Enterprise is threatened when it is learned that she has contracted a deadly disease. [DVD]

My Rating - 6

Fan Rating Average - 4.36

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 17 10 3 9 4 2 10 9 7 6 6

Problems
- Only a small minority of Vulcans can perform mind melds? This can't be right...

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer and Trip meeting Phlox' second wife Feezal. She finishes the scene with one of those big Denobulan smiles.
- Phlox and T'Pol being questioned by the Vulcan doctors.
- Archer finding out about T'Pol's illness.
- Trip fighting off advances from Phlox' second wife.
- Archer approaching the Vulcan doctors demanding a hearing.
- Trip talking to Phlox about Feezal's advances.
- Dr. Yuris revealing how T'Pol contracted her disease to the other doctors.

My Review
This episode demonstrates more clearly than any other the vast differences in social structure on Vulcan compared to that of TOS and later. The two most shocking differences are the insinuation that mind melds can only be performed by certain Vulcans and not any Vulcan, and that the right wing Vulcans are practicing eugenics. I've said before that we've seen enough proof that the Vulcans are different than in the other shows. In a way, I found this episode redundant too. But it was also a nice idea, to show that T'Pol has incurred consequences due to the events of Ent: Fusion. This episode is also very clearly an AIDS allegory. Why find a cure when you can just let the infected die off? The disease is only transmitted by "undesirable" people anyway... Sound familiar? Despite my disagreements with the way Vulcans are being shown on Enterprise, this ended up being a nice episode. And at least the writers are being consistent with their portrayal of Vulcans. I just hope they finally get around showing us what changes them by TOS sometime soon. On a lighter note, the Denobulan subplot was much more successful. Phlox' second wife was just hilarious. I wonder how many times Trip (or Archer) has said the words "perfect gentlemen" on the show now? ;)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Inga on 2015-04-02 at 8:02am:
    Well I, on the other hand, have some beef with the Denobulan subplot. I know it was played for humour, but Feezal's behaviour was appalling at times. She was simply harassing Trip. If it doesn't seem this way to you, reverse the roles - a Denobulan male getting himself all over Hoshi. I'm really tired of the notion that men always want sex with women, unless they are ugly or married...
  • From Dstyle on 2015-09-23 at 4:47pm:
    A very timely parable about the AIDS epidemic... if by "timely" you mean it is possible to somehow put this episode on a Trek timeship and send it back to the mid-1980s.

    Remember that episode of TNG where Riker falls for a member of an androgynous race who secretly identifies as female, and (spoiler) she is outed, persecuted, and forced into a mind-resequencing "rehabilitation" program? Well, that came out in the early 1990s, during the era of DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell, when it could be devastating to a person's career and livelihood to be outed as gay. If you read the comments about that episode on this site or any other Star Trek fan site, that episode had a very real impact on changing people's minds and hearts by making them reexamine their own taught prejudices toward gay people. It addressed and challenged the contemporary cultural climate in a way only science fiction can.

    That's what this episode perhaps could have been in the 1980s. In 2003? It just feels like a story that didn't really need to be told. It's a parable with no payout; a parallel with no punch.

    The "only this small percentage of Vulcans can do mind melds" thing is also really odd, and I'm pretty sure it can't be true. I assume that it's supposed to correlate to "only gays get AIDS," which is of course also untrue.

    A better B-plot might have saved the episode, but instead we're stuck with Trip fighting off Phlox's wife's inappropriate advances. No means no, lady!
  • From Zorak on 2016-10-01 at 10:35pm:
    I mostly agree with your review and especially with the assessment of Dstyle that this was an incredibly dated parable. Enterprise is just beating a dead horse. Further, I agree with you completely that the portrayal of Vulcans on Enterprise has been unfortunate. They seem to be using the Vulcans as a foil to play against the superior nature of humans, embodied by Archer the savior who is always right and can do no wrong.

    If one can set aside those annoyances though, this was another good episode. They didn't really start getting heavy handed until close to the end anyway, so it was enjoyable.

    Certainly the highlight was Phlox's wife. She was great. I only wish they would have portrayed Trip as a little wiser than he is. How is it not obvious to him that Phlox would view this differently then a human husband would? There's no excuse for him (or Reed) to have no clue that Phlox's culture has a different outlook on these things. It makes the situation less believable when Trip acts so oblivious.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x15 - Cease Fire

Originally Aired: 2003-2-12

Synopsis:
When a military conflict erupts between the Vulcans and Andorians, Archer is brought in as negotiator. [DVD]

My Rating - 7

Fan Rating Average - 4.9

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 39 4 4 15 3 3 11 14 16 25 11

Problems
None

Factoids
- Suzie Plakson, who plays Tarah in this episode, played Alexander's mother in TNG and the female Q on Voyager.

Remarkable Scenes
- Archer: "Maybe we're not out here just to scan comets and meet new species. Maybe we're out here to prove that humanity is ready to join a much larger community."
- Archer: "No offense but my ears are less likely to draw fire than yours." Soval: "What is their fixation with our ears?" T'Pol: "I believe they're envious."
- Soval laying into T'Pol for not having left Enterprise.
- Soval getting shot.
- Archer wins a fight! Against a girl...
- Trip placing Enterprise between the Vulcan and Andorian ships.
- Shran: "Join me in a drink. To our mutual dissatisfaction."
- Shran: "I think he likes you, pinkskin." Archer: "I wouldn't go that far."

My Review
Easily the best of the Andorian episodes so far, Ent: The Andorian Incident and Ent: Shadows of P'Jem both had annoying qualities to them which sort of wrecked the chance for some insight into the most canonically neglected Andorian culture. This episode doesn't repeat that mistake. We're given some fascinating trivia regarding the history of the Vulcan and Andorian people. Apparently, the Andorians colonized a planet in the Vulcan planetary system! I rather liked T'Pol's comment about what Earth would do if the Klingon Empire annexed Pluto. ;) It was a good point. And a hard conflict to resolve. I was glad to see that this episode made progress, but didn't totally resolve the conflict. Logically such a conflict should take time to resolve. The episode had a shot at being profound, but the writers decided to waste a great deal of time on the worthless hostage situation. Why does every Andorian episode have to have Vulcans and Andorians shooting at each other? Fortunately it was toned down this time, but not in time to do some real laying down the groundwork for the Federation. Maybe in another episode. Another nice quality is that Shran is becoming more and more a likable character. After only three episodes, I'm already starting to like him just as much as Weyoun from DS9, who was also played by Jeffrey Combs. The actor is just fantastic at playing characters that have a dark side. Finally, Trip placing Enterprise between the Vulcan and Andorian ships before they went to battle was just perfect practically and symbolically.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2010-09-01 at 9:10pm:
    I find it strange that a treaty between the Vuncans and the Andorians should be known by an Earth calendar year.

    Also, why would Andorians refer to humans as "pink skins" when we clearly come in many varieties? If any one color should strike them as the most common, it would be brown, wouldn't it? The vast majority of us are brown and even the races we call "white" or "black" tend to still be some pale or dark shade of brown. I would think this commonality is what an alien would pick up on, since he wouldn't share our historical baggage with regard to intra-species racial differences.
  • From Tallifer on 2011-05-14 at 5:04am:
    "Pink skins" makes perfect sense. Shran's first humans were the very pink Archer, Tucker and Reed. Maybe if he had first encountered Sisko, Bashir and Geordi?
  • From -_Name_- on 2013-07-04 at 12:58pm:
    This episode was pretty predictable and unimaginative. The only thing that saved it was Shran, who is indeed turning into a pretty great character... perhaps on the darker side of the moral spectrum, but by no means some cartoonish, one-dimensional villain...
  • From Dstyle on 2015-09-18 at 1:52pm:
    I'm with Jadzia on this one: I cringed every time the Andorians referred to humans as "the pink skins." Okay, okay, Star Trek, I get it: "white" is the default color of humans and anything else is just a variation on whiteness. Very enlightened writing, Enterprise writers!
  • From Urdomen on 2022-03-04 at 6:31pm:
    I must say I found it pretty jarring that the only Andorian woman we see in the entire episode is the one who ends up betraying Shran and, in extension, the peace talks. Even more so since she is dressed up with focus on sexual attractiveness (the cleavage I could have lived with, but high heeled shoes on a battle field?), and being leader's confidante.
    Seems to me the message is: Never trust an attractive woman in a position of power, for she will use her womanly wiles to manipulate and scheme.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x16 - Future Tense

Originally Aired: 2003-2-19

Synopsis:
Enterprise finds a small craft adrift in space that contains what appears to be a human corpse, one the Suliban and the Tholians both try to retrieve. [DVD]

My Rating - 7

Fan Rating Average - 6.15

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 12 0 2 1 4 14 10 14 17 9 11

Problems
- Reed takes temperature measurements in Fahrenheit.

Factoids
- At one time the Denobulans believed that they were the only intelligent life in the galaxy.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip and Reed discovering that the ship is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside... literally. :)
- Reed: "This gives space exploration a whole new meaning!"
- Phlox discovering that the dead pilot is actually a hybrid of several species, including human and Vulcan.
- Archer: "If a human and a Vulcan did have a child, I wonder if he'd have pointed ears?"
- The Tholians!
- Trip and Reed getting stuck in a time loop.
- Enterprise battling the Suliban.
- The Tholians battling the Suliban.
- Time repeating for Archer and Reed.
- Archer regarding the Vulcan High Command: "I wonder if they'll believe that humans and Vulcans will be swapping chromosomes one day?" T'Pol: "They're more likely to believe in time travel."

My Review
Ent: Future Tense is yet another Temporal Cold War episode which depicts conflict and action without much explanation. Reminds me a bit of Ent: Cold Front. This episode is quite a bit more successful though. The object of the plot itself was most original. The ship itself and the body inside were fascinating. The Temporal Cold War is further aggravated by the appearance of the Tholians. Despite my lack of appreciation of the Temporal Cold War in general, this was a really great use of the Tholians. TOS: The Tholian Web utterly failed to show us anything of significance when it introduced the Tholians. This episode is a continuity goldmine concerning them, and manages not to create any problems too! As exciting as the episode is, I'm only annoyed that we learn nothing new about the Temporal Cold War other than that the Tholians may be working for one of the factions and that they're opposed to the Suliban. So this episode ends up being a grand, albeit exciting, waste of time from a developmental standpoint.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Pete on 2010-08-03 at 10:07pm:
    Not only does Enterprise now have phasers, but apparently they are capable of being fired at warp now too! Sloppy writing...
  • From Shamin Asaikar on 2012-11-30 at 11:29pm:
    Archer: The vulans?
    T'Pol: 600,000 km

    (That means they are 2 seconds away at warp 1!)

    10 seconds later, its 200,000 and Archer asks Travis to take them out of warp!
  • From -_Name_- on 2013-07-04 at 1:30pm:
    a grand (and elaborate) "waste of time" is right... it would've been a better episode if it was just about the mysterious ship/corpse and didn't get into the temporal cold war stuff, because as kethinov mentions, it really didn't explain or progress a thing... in the end, the ship disappeared and everyone went home... a very annoying TV reset button...
  • From bf on 2013-11-17 at 9:35am:
    Did anyone else notice that the metal cover which connects the pod to "larger on the inside" part of the ship was covered in "TARDIS Blue" paint... a nod of the head to Dr. Who.
  • From Dstyle on 2015-09-21 at 3:12pm:
    These temporal cold war episodes remind me of when I used to watch X Files on TV back in high school. Amid the various monster of the week episodes ran a narrative thread about a conspiracy Mulder is unraveling concerning his sister, who he remembers being abducted by aliens when they were children. I thought of these episodes as "Smoking Man" episodes, and the temporal cold war reminds me of them: at first they seemed cool and intriguing, but as the show wore on they never lived up to their initial potential and I'd find myself wanting another monster of the week.
  • From hugo on 2018-01-08 at 4:38pm:
    Pretty good episode, I would say!
    But... How did the Suliban get into the docking bay in the beginning?

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Star Trek Ent - 2x17 - Canamar

Originally Aired: 2003-2-26

Synopsis:
Archer and Tucker are mistakenly arrested and placed on a prisoner transport vessel bound for the penal colony Canamar. [DVD]

My Rating - 5

Fan Rating Average - 4.99

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 9 7 5 4 8 12 9 7 6 13 2

Problems
None

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- The prison ship coup.
- Archer passing himself off as the smuggler he was accused of to gain the prisoners' trust.
- Zoumas talking Trip's ear off.
- Kuroda: "I may not know how to fly this ship, but I am sure I can figure out how to crash it!"
- Trip defeating the Nausicaan.
- Archer shooting off his mouth to the Enolian official.

My Review
An episode much like TNG: Gambit, Archer gains the trust of Kuroda in much the same way Picard gained the trust of his captors. We get another dose of fighting and guns, Archer gets beaten up again, though he does manage to do fairly well in a fight this time. It's remarkable that the episode doesn't really have a B plot. The two settings were largely contributing to the same plot. The "Enterprise chases the prison transport" plot though was rather dull and predictable. What little surprise it had to offer, it spoiled by having T'Pol ask Reed about the armaments of the ship that was about to dock with the prison transport. Personally, I thought the scene when Archer blew off the Enolian official was too short. Archer's anger was understandable, but a longer scene would have been a better scene. In addition, the fight between Archer and Kuroda went on far too long. And I was kind of looking forward to watching that prison transport break up in the atmosphere. I wonder why they didn't show it? Maybe because of the Columbia disaster? In any case, this episode was more original than most, but the ending was somewhat anticlimactic.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From peterwolf on 2012-08-25 at 3:31pm:
    Hmmh!
    I liked this episode, because the characters were more credible than on average in Star Trek and the fiction and science are closer to our age. No ridiculous magic Q-style! Kuroda´s biography was told in an efficient way, so one could understand his actions. Of course, he was a criminal like the more biased Nausicaans, who are always the bad guys. However, the guy was funny too, remember, when he says "thanks" to Trip! Even if you do not rate such stories high, I would like to have more of that stuff for the sake of continuity (Nausicaans) and development of the Star Trek universe. Also, the humor, e.g. Trip and the talkative prisoner, was well integrated into the story.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x18 - The Crossing

Originally Aired: 2003-4-2

Synopsis:
Enterprise is swallowed by an otherworldly vessel occupied by noncorporeal creatures who seek to trade consciousnesses with the crew members. [DVD]

My Rating - 3

Fan Rating Average - 4.6

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 8 1 4 19 14 11 5 12 3 4 4

Problems
None

Factoids
- Enterprise is 150 light years from Earth.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip being disembodied.
- Reed: "Are you a female?" Crewman: "Sir?" Reed: "Your gender, you are a female, correct?" Crewman: "Last time I checked." Reed: "I am a male." Crewman: "I'm aware of that Lieutenant." Reed: "There seem to be a number of anatomical differences."
- Reed coming on to T'Pol.
- Reed to T'Pol: "Would you mind taking off your clothing? I'd like to learn more about your anatomy."
- Rostov being possessed.
- Trip slugging Travis.

My Review
It's remarkable how suspicious Archer is of the wisp aliens at first. As harmless as they looked, Archer just seemed so xenophobic about it all. This is all excused of course because of the fact that Archer's instincts were correct. It annoyed me that when T'Pol found out the aliens' true intentions, Archer doesn't try to reason with the aliens, but instead exploits their weaknesses and destroys them. Maybe this is better for continuity and maybe this is more realistic for the 22nd century, but it was hardly in the spirit of Star Trek. The ethics are almost as questionable as is shown in Ent: Dear Doctor. There's a decent helping of humor in this episode and the plot advances well. I enjoyed the reuse of the catwalk and I found the episode genuinely entertaining up until that seemingly Enterprise patented anticlimactic ending. Another disappointment.

No fan commentary yet.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x19 - Judgment

Originally Aired: 2003-4-9

Synopsis:
Archer stands accused before a Klingon tribunal of conspiring against the Empire, and faces a lifetime sentence on Rura Penthe. [DVD]

My Rating - 4

Fan Rating Average - 4.86

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 11 11 12 5 7 4 9 7 6 7 14

Problems
None

Factoids
- J. G. Hertzler who plays Kolos in this episode played Martok on DS9.

Remarkable Scenes
- Duras telling his colored story.
- Archer telling the real story.
- Kolos telling Archer that not all Klingons are warriors, complaining about the new trend among young people.

My Review
A fairly unremarkable episode, but interesting. It's a shameless blatant rip off of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and DS9: Rules of Engagement. It also tried to generate some ratings by using J. G. Hertzler to play Kolos. But I don't really care about any of these things. What I enjoyed about the story was that we got to see some of the origins of the Klingon warrior culture. Obviously, Klingons were always warriors. But I like how Kolos described the difference in generations and how the acquisition of honor has somewhat depreciated over time. For this insight into Klingon culture, I give the episode extra points. So yeah, the general plot may have been ripped off, the seemingly important detail of exactly how Archer fell into the hands of the Klingons was omitted, and resolution was rather convenient, but at least they weren't mining "deuterium" at Rura Penthe. ;)

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Shawn on 2011-05-16 at 10:35pm:
    Judgment does not fall short, in fact shows that there is a rw= of why there is not an apocliptic war with the the Klingons.
  • From peterwolf on 2012-08-26 at 4:20pm:
    Yes ripoff and sort of rerun!
    But I rather think of a homage. In fact, I like very much the way Hertzler plays the Klingon characters. He is just an old grump with a good heart! Interesting how he stands for some "archaic" Klingon society, in which science and laws were valued much higher than in the later Klingon Empire. Seemingly, the formal code of honour that caused a thousand conflicts for Worf had overtaken the Empire already. So I think Hertzler can show us the essence of what a Klingon should be like.
  • From Nightwish on 2015-07-11 at 9:12pm:
    The prosecutor was played by the same actor that played Neroon in Babylon 5, who has a very interesting voice for these kinds of roles.
  • From Zorak on 2016-10-02 at 2:48pm:
    Kolos was ok. Other than that, I thought this was a pretty poor episode. Not just poor, but pointless. This episode not only doesn't move any plot or character development forward, it contributes to the stagnation and impotence of the Klingons. The first era of contact between the Klingons and Humans was supposed to be explosive. Instead it is meandering and boring.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x20 - Horizon

Originally Aired: 2003-4-16

Synopsis:
While Enterprise investigates a planetary phenomenon, Mayweather takes the opportunity to visit the cargo ship where he was born and raised. [DVD]

My Rating - 5

Fan Rating Average - 4.65

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 6 3 5 5 19 14 7 5 4 4 3

Problems
- The ship travels almost 30 light years in a matter of days. Maybe a couple weeks. This would require a speed of a lot faster than warp 5!
- Nora says the Horizon is low on deuterium... surely she meant dilithium.

Factoids
- There was a time, before Starfleet was chartered, when Archer considered serving on a cargo ship.
- According to Trip, Zefram Cochrane designed the cargo ships like the J class cargo ships himself.
- This episode establishes that Enterprise has visited 22 inhabited planets and traveled 150 light years in 18 months.

Remarkable Scenes
- Travis hanging out at the sweet spot.
- Travis: "Starfleet really ought to think about putting families on starships." Reed: "You must be joking!" Mayweather : "No one would ever get homesick." Reed : "Yes... well they'd better post a psychologist on board. Because I'd need one if my parents were roaming the corridors."
- Archer joining Travis at the sweet spot.
- Archer telling Travis about the letter of recommendation he got from Travis' father.
- The Horizon being attacked.
- T'Pol's reaction to the movie.
- The Horizon battling the aliens.

My Review
Ent: Horizon is a good episode, worthy of the series. Unfortunately, it's nearly identical to Ent: Fortunate Son. Some of the nuances of the rehash could have been avoided. For one, I would have preferred Travis' father had not died and instead of a sibling conflict we could see a father son conflict. That would have been more interesting in my opinion. Most importantly this episode features yet another stubborn leader who refuses help and yet another alien attack on a cargo ship. This is beginning to strain credibility. Are all cargo ship captains stubborn luddites who are under constant attack by pirates? The episode's basic premise could have been made into something better if the writers had decided to write a bit more original story. Instead, we're shown a pretty blatant rehash that only a year ago was a pretty nicely original idea.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From OmicronThetaDeltaPhi on 2015-10-27 at 3:08am:
    One thing I really liked about "Horizon" is how genuine and complex the conflict between Travis and Paul was. Paul felt like a three-dimensional human being, while Ryan (from "Fortunate Son") was nothing more than a caricature of a stubborn jerk.


    So I can easily forgive the recycled plot, because the "copy" is far better written then the original.
  • From Zorak on 2016-10-03 at 5:06pm:
    T'pols reaction to Frankenstein was amusing. Aside from that, I could barely sit through this episode. Travis, who I've liked until now, seems to have come down with Archer-syndrome. Where no matter how wrong and out of line you are, circumstances will always play out to justify your actions.

    I wanted his brother to shove him out of an airlock. Interfering with his run of the ship like that. He was completely out of line.

    The attitude of Starfleet/Archer is always right, and everyone else is always wrong. It is by far the thing about Enterprise that annoys me most.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x21 - The Breach

Originally Aired: 2003-4-23

Synopsis:
Enterprise is asked to evacuate a group of Denobulan geologists from a world that has been taken over by a militant faction. [DVD]

My Rating - 7

Fan Rating Average - 5.2

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 13 2 3 2 6 17 10 8 8 7 6

Problems
None

Factoids
- The Denobulans and the Antareans fought a series of wars, which ended 300 years ago.

Remarkable Scenes
- Phlox feeding a tribble to one of his pets...
- Phlox finally breaking after his patient's constant insults.
- Trip and Reed encountering the Denobulan scientists.
- Phlox confronting the Antarean, answering his questions, making the case for anti racism.
- Trip: "If you don't start moving in the next five seconds, I'm gonna take my phase pistol and shoot you in the ass!"
- The Denobulans climbing the slope with ease, using some kind of natural sticky hands or some such.

My Review
Dr. Phlox steals the show in this episode. The backstory we get on the Denobulans and the Antareans is fascinating and the moral dilemma Phlox' character faces regarding his patient's racism is captivating. This obviously is not the first episode to tackle racism in Star Trek, but it does it in an interesting way. The war between the two species was long over. Three centuries had passed, but the hate was still prevalent. You shake your head during the scene when Phlox loses his patients with his patient, but I much enjoyed when Phlox revealed to T'Pol that his shame wasn't due to his outburst but due to the racism his people still feel. After Phlox' bad ethics displayed in Ent: Dear Doctor, I was sure Phlox would end up being racist, just like the rest of his people. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that not only did he not share those beliefs, but he'd worked to spread the message of anti racism to his children. I was also pleased to see Phlox' message got through to his patient by the end. The racism is beginning to die. The secondary (?) plot with Trip, Reed, and Travis was less successful. Once again, Travis contributes the least, being put out of commission early. It's as if the writers just personally hate the guy. There were a few funny moments with the Denobulans, but ultimately, and I think Captain Archer would agree with me, the climb took way too long. Instead of all the climbing, a better episode would have focused more on showing us a little about this alien culture whose planet was the setting. They weren't sufficiently elaborated upon. As a result, a fairly profound episode is reduced to above average. Still a great ep, but not as good as it could have been.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Tallifer on 2011-05-14 at 3:03pm:
    Mountain and cave climbing are two of the easiest and most boring ways for producers to pad any episode or movie. (And car chases, fortunately only Star Trek: Nemesis subjected us to that one)
  • From Dstyle on 2015-10-05 at 4:19pm:
    Centuries ago, before this episode occurred, humans discovered that the best way to explore caves was to do so while wearing a helmet, preferably with a light source attached, so that your head would be protected and the direction you are looking would always be illuminated. Shame that hard-learned lesson didn't get passed down to the twenty-second century.
  • From Zorak on 2016-10-04 at 5:43pm:
    I'm just going to have to respectfully disagree with this review. I think this was one of the worst episodes they've done. Cheesy, utterly predictable from the start, cliché and the stalest and most overused of all social messages. Star Trek is at it's best when it goes outside the box and shows us something new or at least has it's own spin on something. This was a tired old rehash that could have been (and has been) done on any/every other show.
  • From Subcommander T'Obummer on 2023-02-23 at 11:27am:
    I gotta say, 28m dead sounds like a lot, but for an interstellar conflict between who knows how many planets? And then 300 years later the guy wants to refuse treatment and die for it? I don't think so. I mean we had wars on earth where single nations had that many dead.
    Voyager did this story much better.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x22 - Cogenitor

Originally Aired: 2003-4-30

Synopsis:
Enterprise encounters a race called the Vissians who feature a third sex of "cogenitors" who are treated as second-class citizens. [DVD]

My Rating - 9

Fan Rating Average - 6.24

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 16 3 4 5 6 6 8 24 16 21 18

Problems
None

Factoids
- At this time, Earth has only discovered 92 naturally occurring elements.

Remarkable Scenes
- Trip asking T'Pol her age again when she admitted that in another 100 years she'd probably still be around.
- Trip discussing the cogenitor with Phlox.
- Phlox: "I imagine the cogenitor provides an enzyme, which facilitates conception." Trip: "What do you mean by provides?" Phlox: "Well, first the female has to..." Trip: "No... no, no. Don't tell me. I don't think I wanna know." Phlox: "Oh well. Hmm. I have pictures!"
- Trip: "They treat her like a pet. Kept in her room, not taught to read or write, no name. Porthos has a name!"
- Reed's cheese scene.
- Trip teaching the cogenitor to read.
- Archer: "I might have expected something like this from a first year recruit, but not you. You did exactly what I'd do? If that's true then I've done a pretty lousy job setting an example around here. You're a senior officer on this ship, you're privy to the moral challenges I've had to face. You know I've wrestled with the fine line between doing what I think is right and interfering with other species. So don't tell me you know what I would have done when I don't even know what I would have done!"
- Archer revealing to Trip that the cogenitor killed itself.

My Review
And Enterprise chalks up another winner. Multigender species is something Star Trek hasn't really covered, so the episode is refreshingly original. This episode was a joy to watch from start to finish. There are many quotable dialogs, more than I've marked. Nearly all the dialog was nicely pointed, showing intelligent writing. There were a few unnecessary details though. Similar to Ent: The Breach's climbing scenes, Archer's piloting extravaganza seemed to go on too long. We probably could have done without Reed's promiscuous behavior too. Finally, Trip seemed way too obsessed with the cogenitor. His constant changing of the subject in conversation got a bit tiresome. But these flaws are extremely minor. Archer's and Reed's more than positive first contact intensifies the magnitude of the effect Trip's actions had on relations. And while I probably wouldn't have been so hard on Trip if I were Archer, I can understand his reaction. Even if I don't agree with it. It's easier to understand Trip's position. The way the cogenitor was being treated most certainly looked like sexism. But then again, as the Vissian Engineer pointed out, and as T'Pol did in Ent: Broken Bow it's easy to incorrectly judge a culture which you don't understand. This makes the viewer come to his own conclusion. Were the Vissians practicing discrimination? Or were the humans making unfounded assumptions? These kinds of moral issues are exactly what make Star Trek so great.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Hkelukka on 2008-01-29 at 3:50pm:
    I think archers whole argument imploder the second the cogenitor asked for political asylum. It became obvious that the starfleet of the day was not in the business of being a humanitarian, it was in the business of doing what archer wants. It is okay to stop a species from hunting another if the hunted gives Archer a vision of the girl of his wet dreams. But its not okay to grant political sanctuary to a creature who is kept solely as a sexual object with no rights and no education and when that person asks to be protected against his/her abusers she gets turned away as a indifferent "its not our problem, we just want the technology" and when that person then proceeds to kill him/herself archer gets angry at the one person in his/her entire lifetime to show compassion to him/her.

    Personally i love this episode but archers charade about morality and all that made me see red. If i was Trip i would have decked archer by that speech even if i was to be cour martialed and shot.
  • From Bob on 2009-07-03 at 11:34am:
    Archer's decision was correct and followed the not yet constructed prime directive. The third gender makes up only 3% of the Vissian population. Imagine the effect on their population growth if this third gender did not spend all of its time aiding in reproduction. Human concepts of morality are not universal, and obviously a culture that obtained warp drive 1000 years prior to humans has carefully weighed its options, and humans have no right to judge and try to change their culture after meeting them for 3 days.
  • From carsonist on 2010-06-18 at 5:51pm:
    I'm rather amazed no one seems to agree with Trip on this one. The cogenitors are slaves, pure and simple. The fact that they're necessary to reproduce doesn't mean they should be enslaved. Surely if there were only two sexes, and there were only three percent women, we'd object to treating them as property?

    Just because it's a different culture doesn't mean they can't be wrong.
  • From Pete on 2010-08-05 at 9:45pm:
    The message that this episode seemed to promote was offensive to me. "Preserving culture is more important than basic human rights" seemed to be the gist of it.

    Star Trek, and science fiction in general, has always been about allegory. To me, this episode was a defense of American slavery, radical Islam, and any other "culture" that impinges on human rights.

    And to top it all off, Archer berates Tripp at the end to try and make him feel guilty for a suicide that could have been completely avoided had Archer saved the congenitor from a lifetime of slavery.

    This episode was not thoughtful. It was not a discussion of "moral issues". The only character who even wanted to have a discussion about any moral issues was Tripp--portrayed as the naive, impulsive, stereotypical southerner, whose white knighting was quickly scoffed at by every other character on the show. Not what I have come to expect from Star Trek, but indeed, everything that I have come to expect from Bermaga.
  • From Jadzia Guinan Smith on 2010-09-02 at 1:32am:
    I agree with the other commenters who found Archer's lecture troubling. It's fine to acknowledge the difficulties of navigating first contact situations and respecting alien cultures that present moral dilemmas, but why must he insist that those moral dilemmas shouldn't even exist? And to do it self-righteously, as though he had the moral high ground? It was painful.

    By the way, taking a stance against the enslavement of a sentient being is not a species-specific "human" cultural preference. It's one of those few moral issues that really are universal. It really pisses me off when the yahoos that write this stuff dispose of these "human rights" questions with the tautological response that the relevant person is "not human." That's a cop out. This is about the rights of SENTIENTS. It would be much more interesting if the characters had the minimal sophistication to engage the question at that level.

    It's true that a complex question developed with all its nuance intact can't be resolved in one episode. I think I speak for a lot of Tfans when I say that I would MUCH rather have an intellectually and morally satisfying LOOK into an issue and live with the lack of its resolution. I think Star Trek at its best does explore ideas that are too difficult to answer in an hour. To paraphrase what T'Pol once said to Hoshi: "if I hold you to a higher standard, Star Trek, it's because I think you're capable of achieving it."

    By the way, why did T'Pol keep referring to the cogenitor as "she" after noting the error on Trip's part? It seems out of character. I think she stick to "the cogenitor" if not "it." This is really sloppy writing.

    I would give this episode a 9 for addresing a very tantalizing topic but a 3 for executing it poorly. Final average = 6.
  • From siukong on 2011-01-31 at 4:06pm:
    I agree that the cogenitor was having its rights as a sentient violated, but I also think that granting it asylum was the less ethical choice.

    Sure, the Vissians are friendly to other species, but how do they treat each other? Have they had a past history of equality movements (between males and females, or between some other categorization)? How often do they reproduce, and what are the specifics of their reproductive cycle? If the cogenitors reproduced less often, would the population crash? Have the cogenitors always been such a minority, and have they always had such mental capabilities (maybe they had very small brains at one point)?

    My point is that knowing so little about their society, granting the cogenitor asylum could have had many unforeseen repercussions. Perhaps doing so would have led to a backlash, with the cogenitors becoming even more oppressed. Perhaps there was already an equality movement in its infancy and this would have quashed it for another few decades. Perhaps it would have led to civil war, and the deaths of millions or perhaps even extinction. Would the freedom of one individual be worth the suffering of many?

    I think by the time Archer had returned things had developed such that both alternatives were not particularly "moral" choices. If I had been in Trip's position I would have been much more gentle with the situation once it was apparent that the cogenitor's mental potential was the same as the other Vissians. Share the cognitive scans with them, and have an exchange on the relevant social history of both humans and Vissians (perhaps both could educate one another about gender politics). They seem like a enlightened, rational and compassionate species and would probably be open to a dialogue about it which could possibly nudge them towards change. Change rarely happens overnight (apart from revolutions, which are often chaotic and violent), so it would be necessary to overlook the inequality in the short-term in an effort to improve it in the long-term and on a broad scale.
  • From Tallifer on 2011-05-14 at 5:37pm:
    I could understand the cold cruelty of T'pol, but Archer's passionate (!) defense of chattel slavery was infuriating. The writers also completely failed when they portrayed Tucker meekly accepting responsibility for the suicide: it is clear to any of us viewers that Archer was the one who could have prevented the suicide.

    If the episode had portrayed the cogenitor in a more positive light, like a happy sentient puppy, it could have been argued that slavery was just another role in their society. But from the first scene in the dining room, it was clear that the cogenitor was dejected and hopeless. She was filled with joy and life once Trip intervened.
  • From -_Name_- on 2013-07-04 at 2:33pm:
    I have another factoid for your enjoyment:

    The Enterprise Motion Picture Library has "The Bride of Chaotica" in its Science Fiction database! Nice little throwback to Voyager. (pause frame at 29:03)

    - - -

    This was a rather stunning and unexpected episode... I'm not even sure what to add to the discussion. It *is* a little troubling that the episode seems to steer the viewer into cultural relativism... The message does seem to be: "don't do what compassion clearly tells you to do, b/c there may be things you don't understand and unforeseen consequences." On a gut level I have to disagree with this, but the interesting thing about this episode is that it is not entirely clear cut, at least not in this case...

    As others have pointed out, there may be an almost biological necessity to this morally iffy situation... I'm reminded a little of how the males of cats and some other species have barbed penises (to make sure the sexual act is completed once initiated) and basically have to force the female into submission (the sexual struggle being one means of selecting for stronger genes). It seems cruel and unnecessary but this is what evolutionary adaptation has arrived at in some cases - it's what's required for the perpetuation of some species.

    The analogy isn't by any means perfect, but nevertheless... That the cogenitors make up such a tiny percentage of the population and are necessary for the propagation of the species does make one pause, the biological issue does complicate the moral one.

    The one thing I would've liked was more uncertainty and inner conflict on Archer's part... This very complicated issue gets a a very simplistic and unambiguous last word. Trip obviously questions his assumptions by the end of the episode, and it would've been nice if Archer did the same, at least a little bit.
  • From OmicronthetaDeltaPhi on 2015-11-01 at 1:22am:
    It would have been a much better episode, easily worthy of a "10", if it somehow hinted at Vissian reproduction actually being dependent on cogenitor discrimination.

    For example, after Trip taught the cogenitor to read, the Vissians could have told him that stimulating the cogenitor's brain in this manner destroyed its reproductive abilities. Naturally neither Trip nor Archer would believe them, but then Phlox would come in and confirm it.

    Now *that* could have been a truly incredible episode. And it could serve as a nice "Prelude to the Prime Directive" background story, too.
  • From Zorak on 2016-10-04 at 7:36pm:
    Though it was a somewhat predictable episode (you could tell from the second they showed a side view of the progenitor sitting at the table that the entire episode would be about "it"), it didn't quite go in the ultimate direction I expected. I expected Archer to impose his will on these people like he always does.

    It seems lately that the writers have decided to keep the same theme of imposing Archers will on the galaxy, but injecting it into other characters. First Travis, then Phlox and Trip, and now entirely Trip.

    If anything this makes Archer look like even more of a twat as they've now turned him into a complete hypocrite. He basically chewed out Trip for acting exactly like Archer himself acts in every previous episode.

    I did not like this episode. By the end though, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. The writers simply shouldn't try tackling an issue they are completely unable to do any justice for, as they so often do.

    The only real saving grace for this episode is that it didn't end on the typical grandstanding "happy go lucky, we are Archer, savior of the universe and all knowing guiding hand of all things righteous and good, all hail the great and holy Archer and praise be his name, Amen" ending we often get with these ridiculous morality plays the writers insist on.

    Have I mentioned I don't like Archer?

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Star Trek Ent - 2x23 - Regeneration

Originally Aired: 2003-5-7

Synopsis:
An arctic research team discovers debris from an alien vessel, buried in a glacier along with the bodies of two cybernetically enhanced humanoids. [DVD]

My Rating - 3

Fan Rating Average - 5.64

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 18 7 5 3 3 13 9 11 11 15 18

Problems
- The transport the Borg assimilated is said to have left Earth at warp 3.9, yet reaches Enterprise in an impossibly short time at that speed.
- The Borg adapt to the phase pistols on Enterprise, but on the Borg ship, the phase pistols still worked for a while. Not a very efficient collective.

Factoids
- The wreckage found in Antarctica is left over from Star Trek VIII: First Contact.

Remarkable Scenes
- Phlox telling Reed about the Bynars.
- Archer telling T'Pol about Zefram Cochrane's story about the Borg.
- Archer decompressing the hatch the assimilated Tarkaleans were in.
- Archer: "Sounds to me like we've only postponed the invasion until... what? The 24th century?"

My Review
This episode at first would seem to heavily aggravate the Borg's apparent inconsistent portrayal on Star Trek. But I'm a little more forgiving. Consider Seven of Nine's past. By the time of TNG, there was a group of people who defied Starfleet by searching for the Borg, who were only rumored to exist at that time. This episode could in fact provide the necessary background information for where Seven of Nine's parents got their wild ideas. There are two questions to answer if we're to buy into this rationalization. Why did Picard and more importantly Data know nothing about them? It's at least possible that even after the events of this episode, Starfleet lacked any interest in these aliens. Cochrane's statements about the Borg were largely considered ridiculous both before and after this episode. It's likely that officially this episode was considered an isolated incident, and that a connection was never drawn by Starfleet. It was up to minority groups like Seven of Nine's parents, to draw these connections. The second question to answer is what happened to the Borg wreckage and the detailed medical scans of the bodies? Given that the Borg never showed up again until the 24th century, neither the the data nor the wreckage was of any use. I wouldn't be surprised if it never got any recognition outside the scientific minority that Seven of Nine's parents belonged to. Yes, this episode is annoying, to put it mildly. And it would have been nice if the writers payed better attention to continuity, by supporting these rationalizations in the episode. But like Ent: Acquisition, it's not a devastating blow to continuity. No, Enterprise does not exist in a new timeline. No, these types of episodes are not impossible to rationalize. Yes, this was a reasonably entertaining episode, but I do hope this trend stops before it really does become a problem.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Rob on 2008-05-01 at 7:24pm:
    About the possible conundrum's caused by this and other "past history" episodes: There is a theory I read re: quantum-particle mechanics related to possible time travel that goes something like this (assuming for a second you could actually time travel to the past at all) - that it would not be possible to alter history (in 'real time' from your persepective) even if you went back in time to change something (like killing your own grandfather before your parent's birth, for instance) because the effects cannot occur until after the moment when the traveler left for the past. Now whether you would become a condundrum (still existing even though your parents would disappear from history) or whether you'd just vanish at that instant is another argument all together.

    In other words, these Borg and all information pertaining to them could not exist in the past until after Picard and the Enterprise-E followed the Borg back in time and returned. Until that moment, nothing that occurred in this episode could have been recorded as having happened (during the time frame of Best of Both Worlds for example) however, once the Ent-E returned, a look through their historical database would suddenly reveal this information even though no one would have seen it before because it wasn't until this point that it 'actually' occurred. The effects of the Enterprise/Borg's influence in the past could not be noted until the point when the actors in the past returned to a point in time after they originally left for the past.

    It's headache inducing and esoteric and I still don't quite grasp how all of this would work practically in the 'real world' (math is my weak point) but the theory could explain away why no one would have known about this episode's details until far into the future (after ST: First Contact and the return of the Ent-E to a point after they left for the past).

    Hopefully this makes just enough sense that you can see my point!
  • From EvanT on 2011-06-24 at 3:55pm:
    You could assume that all the materials from the sphere and the computers from the outpost were used to augment that shuttle the Borg used (too convenient, granted, but plausible)

    However, what I consider far more interesting is how this episode changes the character of Q. There you have humanity in the 24th century, oblivious of a cybernetic threat that has just discovered the existence of Earth (or is about to), and Q comes along and conveniently sends the Enterprise-D to get a glimpse of the Borg. Q doesn't look as obnoxious as he did when "Q Who?" originally aired, does he (and Picard's suspicions about Q's intent get validated after all)

    I DID hate the thing where the nanoprobes were susceptible to O-radiation. If a 22nd century doctor could discover this, I'd imagine Dr. Crusher or the Doctor would have known about this as well (these WERE 24th century drones, after all).
  • From Mitchell on 2013-10-18 at 8:08pm:
    I love the score in this particular episode, the music is just brilliant.
  • From Roger on 2015-07-23 at 1:58pm:
    Yes, it was an entertaining episode, but as Kethinov observed it really messed up continuity.

    First off, it seems that Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E did a really lousy job of cleaning up after the destruction of the Borg sphere in ST VIII. Pretty sloppy work, considering all the concern about preserving the time line in the movie.

    Next issue: so the debris from the sphere is able to make it through re-entry, crash in the arctic with some intact borg, flash frozen and ready to be revived? Since when are the Borg able to re-animate themselves - this never happened in either TNG or First Contact.

    These problems could have been avoided by better writing...say some Borg sphere debris is discovered floating in space, gets brought aboard for study and some nanites manage to infect a human who then starts the assimilation ball rolling...maybe not as dramatic though.

    The rate of assimilation seems to be inconsistent with the movie. Ensign Hawk got assimilated pretty quick (a matter of minutes) in the deflector dish scene.

    A minor point was that Reed and Archer got more phase pistol shots aboard the Borg shop, whereas on Enterprise security got fewer before the Borg adapted.

    Well, at least the transporter worked well in this episode. Why don't they use it more? Maybe we need a dramatic transporter malfunction with a 'red shirt' to make the technology look a little more risky...
  • From Urdomen on 2022-03-10 at 4:10pm:
    The beginning of the episode with the research team in the Arctic circle encountering a strange, alien life form that defies known scientific limits, wakes up and starts attacking the researchers, seems to me like a homage to The Thing (from Another World).
    Would have loved to see Borg nanoprobes react to a piece of hot wire.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x24 - First Flight

Originally Aired: 2003-5-14

Synopsis:
While Enterprise is investigating a nebula, Archer hears that A.G. Robinson, his old rival in the early days of the NX test program, has died. [DVD]

My Rating - 5

Fan Rating Average - 4.75

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 19 4 20 2 7 14 6 12 10 12 9

Problems
None

Factoids
- Given Archer's statements in this episode and that Archer met Trip 10 years prior to Ent: Unexpected, we can assume that Robinson broke the warp 2 barrier in 2141, warp 3 was broken some time between 2142 and 2144, and that construction of Enterprise started sometime between 2147 and 2149.
- Trip stands for "triple" because Trip is Charles Tucker III.

Remarkable Scenes
- T'Pol imposing herself on Archer's mission into the dark matter nebula. :)
- Archer: "You remember what Buzz Aldrin said when he stepped on the moon?" Ruby: "No." Archer: "Nobody does. Because Armstrong went first."
- The warp 2 test and the destruction of the NX-Apha.
- The flashback to when Archer and Trip first met.
- T'Pol: "I suppose we'll never know who would have won." Wow, was that T'Pol making a joke about all the fights Archer loses?
- The launch of the NX-Beta.

My Review
An unremarkable episode in terms of the sci fi plot, but a good story in terms of the history lesson. The details we got on the early NX program were fascinating and I most of all enjoyed seeing Archer meet Trip for the first time. The story manages to convince and entertain without resorting to the rather common retconning we've seen lately. I'm only a little annoyed that Robinson had to die meaninglessly before we were told this story. It's also a bit strange that T'Pol endeavored to cheer Archer up in this episode instead of another character.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Tallifer on 2011-05-15 at 6:05am:
    I rate this one 10/10 simply because this type of story is why Enterprise was initially interesting to me. In fact I dislike very much the countless episodes where the prequel Starfleet encounters alien civilizations close at hand yet totally unknown to the 24th century and sometimes more powerful (for example the Suliban).

    This kind of Earth-centred, early exploration stuff seems more like that which would preface Kirk.
  • From Mitchell on 2013-06-07 at 6:53am:
    My issue with this episode is the idea that Earth got Warp 2 so late. Where did the engines in all these freighters we've seen come from? Add to that the speed which they seem to go from Warp 2 to Warp 5 seems out of sync.
  • From Dstyle on 2015-09-29 at 4:27pm:
    Mt. McKinley! Geez, this show sometimes. I have family and friends in Alaska, and I've never met anyone who has ever been to Denali who called it "Mt. McKinley"--especially climbers. When speaking about Denali/Mt. McKinley, the name you choose to use is a political choice, so I guess I'm not surprised that this show picked the white imperialist name over the centuries-old native name, since I assume there aren't anymore First Nations people to complain about it in Star Trek's "utopian" future. Such a small detail in the show, but such a telling one nonetheless, as it strikes me as the kind of detail Roddenberry would have delighted in getting right.
  • From peterwolf on 2015-12-12 at 5:48pm:
    What a strange coincidence: on August 29, 2015 the mountain, formerly known as Mt. Mckinley, has officially been named "Denali". It is hard to believe that no climber ever referred to this mountain as "McKinley" when all maps and literature used this name, in particular the international publications. Interestingly, the mountain was called under Russian rule for some time "„Bolschaja Gora“ (Большая Гора), which was nearly a direct translation of "Denali", meaning the "High" or "Big". Does it help the First Nations to ignore the historical facts? I would rather celebrate that the mountain regained its rightful name instead of somehow twisting the historical facts.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x25 - Bounty

Originally Aired: 2003-5-14

Synopsis:
A Tellarite bounty hunter captures Archer intending to turn him over to the Klingons for a substantial reward. [DVD]

My Rating - 3

Fan Rating Average - 4.59

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 17 6 2 7 10 6 8 3 10 9 5

Problems
- Archer uses a Klingon escape pod in this episode. Yet in Ent: Sleeping Dogs T'Pol said Klingons don't use them.

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- The Tellarite's appearance.
- Archer won a fistfight! Against a Klingon!
- Enterprise defeating the Klingon ship.

My Review
This episode is good and bad at the same time. On one hand, I like the fact that relations with the Klingon Empire have finally soured after Ent: Judgment and this episode. I also like how the Tellarites, a future Federation member, have been introduced and are depicted to be on relatively good terms with Earth. On the other hand, the whole secondary plot concerning T'Pol's unscheduled Pon Farr was just unnecessary and totally obnoxious. I'm really getting tired with 1. the decon chamber being used for sex appeal and 2. the inappropriate use of T'Pol's character. I really hope this stops, along with the annoying retconning.

No fan commentary yet.

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Star Trek Ent - 2x26 - The Expanse

Originally Aired: 2003-5-21

Synopsis:
When a probe from an unknown alien source unleashes a devastating assault upon Earth, Enterprise is recalled, then sent to search for the perpetrators. [DVD]

My Rating - 4

Fan Rating Average - 5.91

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 14 1 2 2 4 5 20 8 10 12 11

Problems
- The date in the last episode was given to be March 21st and the date given in this episode when they reach Earth is April 24th. The idea that Enterprise could have traveled 150 light years in one month is rather ridiculous. Maybe their exploration was in a spiral pattern?
- How stupid could the Xindi possibly be? Gee, let's test our prototype on Earth directly, so they have a chance to exact a retaliatory mission against us before the final version of the weapon is completed!

Factoids
- Photon torpedoes were first used on a starship in this episode.

Remarkable Scenes
- The probe cutting a swath through Florida.
- Archer speaking with Future Guy.
- Earth ships coming to Archer's rescue when Duras attacked. Nice to see there are other Earth ships.
- The Vulcan "doctor" questioning Archer.
- Trip and Reed examining the damage first hand.
- Reed: "Photonic torpedoes. Their range is over fifty times greater than our conventional torpedoes. And they have a variable yield. They can knock the comm array off a shuttle pod without scratching the hull, or they can put a three kilometer crater into an asteroid."
- Archer and Trip discussing T'Pol and their mission.
- Duras: "Surrender, or be destroyed!" Archer: "Go to hell!"
- Enterprise destroying Duras' ship.

My Review
Hoo boy. Now here's an episode to get the opinions flaring. The obvious question was as to why the Klingons or the Romulans weren't the ones who attacked Earth. Duras and his crusade against Archer seemed to play little importance in this episode, as if the writers wanted to wrap up that whole Klingon thing so they could focus on this "expanse" storyline. It would seem that the writers were more interested in following in the tradition of Ent: Shockwave and Ent: Broken Bow by making this season finale further complicate the Temporal Cold War. Now Archer is taking orders (in a sense) from Future Guy! It would seem that the writers would much rather take Enterprise in a "bold new direction" than stay true to the prequel they created. Two seasons have gone by and we've seen only one episode dealing with the Romulans and only a smattering of episodes dealing with the Klingons. No war has been declared and it doesn't look like much more time is going to be spent on the Klingons at all, much less the Romulans. This is depressing to say the least. Maybe the Xindi will be interesting and maybe the Temporal Cold War will stop sucking, but I'm getting the feeling that this new arc they're developing is nothing but filler.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From fan ive on 2009-12-25 at 9:58pm:
    about your second problem. after testing that weapon on earth humans didn't know to who to retaliate and the xindi were probably well aware of that. so if it isn't to that future guy humans wouldn't know who attacked them.
  • From Rick on 2013-12-10 at 2:12pm:
    on your first problem: travis said in "horizon" they travelled 150 light years. I think he literally meant that is their total distance travelled, not how far from earth they are. I think this is pretty obvious that they are not traveling in a straight line away from earth and they have turned around many times. Think about it, they just met up with the horizon five episodes ago and that ship can only go 1.8. So they are not that far from earth when they received the message

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