|
|
|
ENTERPRISE |
Johnathan Archer - Scott Bakula Trip Tucker - Connor Trinneer T'Pol - Jolene Blalock Lt Reed - Dominic Keating Ensign Sato - Linda Park Dr Phlox - John Billingsley Ensign Mayweather - Anthony Montgomery 
OTHER SEASONS Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 OTHER STAR TREK SHOWS Star Trek The Next Generation Deep Space Nine Voyager OTHER TREKS THROUGH SPACE Babylon 5 The new Battlestar Galactica 
|
Storm Front - Part 1Following the assault on the Xindi secret weapon, the Enterprise finds itself back in time during World War 2, but this is a World War 2 where alien time agents from the future have given the Germans a technical advantage allowing them to create a foothold in the easter United States of America. Another time travel story for the STAR TREK franchise and it's nothing new since nazis have shown up in STAR TREK and VOYAGER already. This ship may be less capable of destroying the enemy precisely from orbit, relying instead on ground forces, but otherwise it's a real case of 'been here and done that'. TopStorm Front- Part 2Archer makes contact with his ship and a plan is hatched to stop the future aliens' plans for world domination, bringing the timeline back to where it ought to be. The story of the nazis in New York is finished off and there aren't any real surprises along the way. The big finale that is meant to be so tense is so predictable that it fails to raise any real tension at all. TopHomeThe Enterprise returns to the Earth of its own time and the crew are given heroes' welcomes. Well, most of them are. Captain Archer is forced to face a barrage of questions regarding his behaviour by the Vulcan representatives and Dr Phlox meets with some of the xenophobia that the Xindi attack has generated. Not since MFamily in THE NEXT GENERATION has the aftermath of a mission received such a detailed examination. Since the events of Season 3 were so traumatic a look at the effect on the crew is welcome. Less of a focus on just a few of them rather than all the crew might have been preferable and something a little less obvious would have been welcome, but this much attention to the inner life of the characters can only be a good thing. TopBorderlandDr Noonian Soong, the creator of the Data android, dabbled first in genetic engineering to improve the human race, something that is deemed completely illegal by the Federation. Some of his experiments, however, have come of age and they intend to wreak havoc. Soong is sprung from prison to accompany the Enterprise crew in recapturing these 'Augments', but can the not so good Doctor be trusted? It is nice to see Brent Spiner of THE NEXT GENERATION back in action and the fact that he is playing Soong and not his creation allows him a whole new character, and what a character. Soong is manipulative and sly, witty and sharp and a lot of fun to be around. Just don't turn your back on him. This is the first of a multipart story and so there is more room for the story to breathe and the internal politics of the Augments makes up some of the running time, though these events are much less fun than hanging around with Doctor Soong. TopCold Station 12The genetically enhanced Augments have taken over the biological research station where the worst plagues of all time are held for experimentation, but they need a security code to access the storage chamber where the thousands of other augmented embryos are stored. A tense standoff occurs between them and the crew of the Enterprise as they show just how willing to kill ordinary humans they are in the name of their cause. Sieges are, by their very nature, dramatic things. The conflict between the beseiged and those lying in wait, the conflict between the hostage takers and their victims, the tension and paranoia rising amongst the trapped. This kind of siege has been done many, many times in a thousand cop shows and others, but it still works well enough here thanks to the conflict between Soong's wish to carry out the raid with no death and the minimum of injury whilst Malik, the leader of the Augment 'children' is quite happy to do very nasty things to the humans to get what he wants. The growing tension between the two is nicely done by Brent Spiner and Alec Newman. The question of the value of life, though, is somewhat blurred since the crew of the Enterprise are unwilling to sacrifice a dozen or so hostages and keep the whole galaxy safe from the obviously hostile Augments and the leader of the scientists at the station sacrifices his colleague by refusing to give up the security code, but immediately does so when his friend Dr Phlox is threatened. Apparently, you only survive if you're someone's friend. TopThe AugmentsHaving escaped with the genetically altered embryos, Noonian Soong starts to work to remove the violent and antisocial tendencies to make them viable members of society. Malik, on the other hand, believes that the best way to ensure their safety is to start a war between the Klingons and the Federation by dropping biological weapons on a Klingon colony. This leads the Enterprise into enemy space and Soong to take some decisions about his life. The stakes are upped after the claustrophobic tension of Cold Station 12. Nothing less than galactic war is threatened and Archer has to resort to some clever stratagems to keep the Augments from carrying out their plan. Soong and his 'family' have some clever ideas up their sleeves as well, keeping the plot rattling along and thoroughly entertaining. Only at the end when it steal whole scenes from STAR TREK II:THE WRATH OF KHAN and tacks on an ill-considered and pointless coda does it show the cracks. TopThe ForgeThe Earth embassy on Vulcan is blown up in a terrorist act. The Vulcans are quick to blame the Andorians, but a closer inspection shows that a small sect of their own people is probably responsible. T'Pol takes Archer into a scorching desert known as the Forge in search of the cult whilst the Enterprise crew find some very disturbing information as to the identity of the bomber. Internal Vulcan politics get an airing for a change in this story of terrorism. The actual explosion is well done and the investigation that follows is interesting enough, though it is nothing more than CSI:ENTERPRISE and the twists that come aren't really any surprise at all. The desert trek nicely evokes the heat, but the Vulcan cat that attacks is evidence of dodgy CGI syndrome and kept almost completely off the screen. This is clearly the set up for a logner story in which the cult members will explain their side of the story and the true extent of the conspiracy against them will become clear. TopAwakeningArcher and T'Pol are in the hands of the Vulcan cult who decide to remove their leader's katra (or spirit) from him by force. The Enterprise is ordered by the Vulcan High Command to leave orbit immediately or face attack and the truth behind the bombing's eventual aim ups the stakes considerably. Vulcan mysticism and mythology gets an examining in this ongoing story, but it is terribly static and talky. Only towards the end when the High Command start bombing the hell out of everyone does the story start to come to life, but by that point it's really hard to care. TopKir'SharaArcher and T'Pol head out to try and return the Kir'Shara to the Vulcan High Command in the hope of forestalling a war. That war, however, is already underway and the Enterprise is sitting between the front lines. After two rather dull set up episodes this story finally kicks into life with Andorians torturing Vulcans, space battles and fights in underground catacombs. It's a payoff that is far better than the story deserves, though its depiction of Vulcans is far removed from the emotion-free creatures that we have come to know. TopDaedalusThe inventor of the transporter (and a close friend of Archer's father) comes aboard the Enterprise to test out a new system that could make spaceships as obsolete as the Saturn V rocket. When the experiment goes wrong and takes one of Archer's men with it, the relationship is somewhat strained. The misuse of trust is the theme and its a heavy one that clearly came before the actual story, thus making the plot leaden, the pace slow and the whole experience somewhat dispiriting. ENTERPRISE may be the least impressive of the STAR TREK franchise shows, but even it has proved to be capable of so much more than this. TopObserver EffectTucker and Hoshi return from an away mission and develop a strange illness that derives from a silicon-based virus. As the Doctor and Archer fight to save their dying crewmen, it becomes clear that their actions are being observed by aliens who could save them all. How many times have aliens carried out experiments on the teams sent out into space by Starfleet. It's an old, old story and the fact that the observers here are the ones that are changed by the experiment rather than the crewmembers can't justify what is a blatant, and not very good, piece of plot recycling. TopBabel 1The Enterprise is on its way to a peace conference, transporting the Tellurite ambassador, when a distress call comes through from the Andorian delegation, their ship having just been attacked by a Tellurite ship. With Andorian survivors on board, the ship becomes a battleground for the two races, but could it be that someone else is causing the attacks to derail the peace process? Competing ambassadors on board the same ship and trying to kill each other. It's an old story that's been done far too often to add anything to the franchise, but the story moves along at a good pace and, though there are no surprises along the way that also means that there are no bad surprises either. TopUnitedTucker and Malcolm discover that the chameleon drone ship is being remotely piloted from elsewhere and set about damaging as many of the systems as they can before the owners kill them. On Enterprise, Andorian Shran insists on killing the Tellurite ambassador in revenge for the death of his lover and Archer decidest hat the only way to save the tentative alliance is to take on the Andorian himself. For once ENTERPRISE lives up to its remit of showing the early years of the Federation as the first few hostile races come together in a fragile, fractious, but ultimately hopeful alliance in the face of the alien threat. This is what the show was supposed to be doing and this is what gives this story the edge over many of the others. Even the side story with Trip and Malcolm trapped on the alien drone is fun and the episode tops off with a twist in its tail. TopThe AenarThe alien drone is being piloted by a subspecies of Andorian known as Aenar. Archer and Shran travel to the homeland of the Aenar to try and gain help in ending the threat, but the pacifistic people refuse. The abducted pilot, however, has a sister and she wishes to help, help that will be sorely needed as Enterprise has been targeted not by one, but two drones. The three part stroy is concluded in satisfactory, though slightly disappointing, manner. The stand out is the trip to the wastes of Andoria. The subterranean city is a wonder to behold, something that this show has been systematically lacking. Heroic sacrifices follow in standard STAR TREK fashion and it all ends well for most people, but htere is a sense that this was an opportunity that wasn't quite seized. TopAfflictionDr Phlox is kidnapped by Klingons in order to tackle a plague that is threatening to wipe them out as a species unless a cure can be found. Archer goes off in pursuit, but finds himself slowed down by both members of his own crew and Klingon sabotage, leaving the ship unable to slow down below warp 5. The Enterprise is about to be joined by the Columbia, making it officially a Starfleet, but the rest of the plot is farily straightforward and not very interesting. The betrayal by Reed is an interesting twist, or would be if Dominic Keating were in the slightest bit believable in the role. The sabotage by the Klingons is simply tacked on to create a threat to the Enterprise for a cliffhanger finale. TopDivergenceDr Phlox is being tortured for his refusal to help create Klingon augments. Instead, he continues to work towards a cure. Together, the Enterprise and Columbia go deep into Klingon territory to get their missing crewmate back. The rescue of the Enterprise from its technical problems is an exciting sequence that shows what ENTERPRISE can do when it really puts its mind to it. The one drawback is that Reed is let out of the brig in order to handle a crewmember transfer at warp speed, something that he is apparently needed for. He does not, however, actually do anything rather than stand there and tell Tucker that he is doing well. Whilst the rest of the scene goes well, the audience is left wondering why the cable doesn't have some sort of motor for getting someone across quicker. Even releasing the cable with Tucker attached and reeling him in would have worked better. TopBoundCaptain Archer is gifted with three Orion slave girls following a successful negotiation. The effect that they have on the male members of the crew is dramatic and puts the Enterprise at risk. Only T'Pol and Tucker seem unaffected. Wow, Orion slave girls don't wear very much. Their presence and lack of clothing generates the necessary heat to make this story believable, though it is ridiculous that Phlox doesn't pick up on the pheremones earlier and surely the girls could be quarantined and the air filtered. Considering the known effects, why does Archer leave a bunch of men guarding the girls and why doesn't T'Pol take over when it is clear that the Captain is compromised? Thus, it is the distracting effect of the green girls that makes the episode work when not much else does. TopIn A Mirror Darkly- Part 1The Terran Empire is in trouble. An alliance of rebels, including the Vulcans, are enjoying big successes against the Imperial fleet. On board the Enterprise, First Officer Archer convinces Captain Forester to enter Tholian space in search of a ship that is reputed to have come from another universe, a universe that is 100 years in advance technologically. A ship like that could give the Empire the edge over the rebels, but the Tholians are unlikely to let it go without a fight. ENTERPRISE does a mirror universe episode (see also ) and uses footage from STAR TREK:FIRST CONTACT to explain the point at which the two universes diverged so drastically. It is always fun to see the alternative characters in these episodes and that is the case here. Archer is an angry, ambitious man willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead, T'Pol is frightened of the racism that is shown to her race, Phlox enjoys the inflicting of pain with the help of Reed, Tucker is embittered by the radiation injuries his exposure to the engines has given him whilst Hoshi prefers bed-hopping as a means of advancement. The Tholian that is revealed here is very nicely created, using what is known of them from the original series enhanced by today's CGI. This is one of the few times that ENTERPRISE has been able to use known aliens effectively since this is the mirror universe and still allows Kirk to know nothing about them in his timeline. It's also a nice touch to have all the credits altered to reflect events in the mirror universe timeline, including a classical theme that shows what a mistake the theme song has been all along. TopIn A Mirror Darkly- Part 2Now that the USS Defiant from the alternate universe is in Archer's hands, he sets out to use it to further his own ambitions beyond anything that he could have imagined, but there are forces ranged against him within his own camp that are as formidable as any external threat the ship might face. The action is over pretty quickly and the story moves onto the plots and counterplots that riddle the ship as the few remaining crewmembers form new and shifting alliances as they move ever closer to Earth and a face off against the forces of the Emperor himself. This gives full rein to the characters and the intrigue and is actually far more fun than anything that has happened to the ship in its normal space equivalent. Perhaps the rest of the show could remain set here. Pretty smart ending too. TopDemonsAt a ceremony to launch the start of treaty discussions that might lead to a Federation of Planets, a dying woman gives T'Pol a vial with hair in it. The hair comes from a baby that appears to be the offspring of T'Pol and Tucker. How this is possible is a question that is dwarfed only by what plans Terra Prime, an anti-alien resistance movement have for the child. So you have an organisation that hates aliens and is using a child created from T'Pol and Tucker's DNA. Who then are the only two people that you don't send in undercover? No, Archer sends in the prospective parents who are inevitably recognised instantly and taken prisoner. Peter Weller (ROBOCOP himself) is the bad guy, so it comes as no surprise that this is not a single episode story. As a result, it's hardly satisfying. TopTerra PrimeTerra Prime has control of the anti-comet array on Mars and has threatened to destroy Starfleet HQ unless every non-human leaves the system. Archer leads a small team in to gain control of the array whilst Enterprise prepares to destroy it from the skies. This story has been so busy building itself up to the climax that it actually forgets to provide that climax. There is an impressive sequence with a shuttlepod sneaking down to Mars in the tail of a crashing comet, but when it comes to the end, everything is rushed and rather unimpressive. What does work is the story of the baby created out of T'Pol and Tucker's DNA. It's not really clear why the leader of the xenophobes thought the image of a small, helpless baby would strike the fear of aliens into humanity, but the baby's fate is tragic and gives Jolene Blalock and Connor Trinneer some real emotions to work with. This episode contains much of the best and worst of the series, but it gets by, which is a lot less than it should have achieved. TopThese Are The Voyages...Ten years after it first set out from Earth to explore the galaxy and make new friends, Enterprise is coming home for the last time to mark the inauguration of an interstellar alliance. Then an old friend asks for help and one final mission is undertaken, unaware that the future is watching. This final episode of ENTERPRISE gives the show a slap in the face at the final moment by taking the focus off the crew of the first Enterprise and bringing in the crew of the third, and possibly most popular. The framing device of having Commander Riker agonising over a decision he has to take about whether to go to his commanding officer over a Starfleet secret (The Pegasus in STAR TREK:THE NEXT GENERATION's seventh season) and searching for guidance in a holodeck recording of the original Enterprise's last mission is trite and hardly convincing to anyone familiar with the earlier (or later depending on how you want to look at it) series. This is simply an excuse to bring back Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis as Riker an Deanna Troi, both looking markedly older than they appeared in the original episode. By having to work in enough of the framing device to make it worthwhile having the guest stars, the main storyline is reduced to something simple and even that has to be manipulated to create a wholly unconvincing moment of crisis that leads to an abrupt tragedy. The characters involved act wholly out of character and they have enough experience to have acted in a completely different way as they did so throughout the series. ENTERPRISE has always been the least loved of the STAR TREK shows, but at the last even the makers lost their faith in it. Top |
|
|
|
If this page was useful to you please sign our 
