Star Trek: Enterprise 1.26

Shockwave (Part 1)

A shuttlepod from the Enterprise is on its way to visit Paraagan II. Captain Archer, Commander Tucket, Subcommander T'Pol, Lieutenant Reed, and Lieutenant Sato are aboard the shuttlepod which approaching the surface when an explosion occurs. Everyone aboard the shuttlepod is okay but the mining colony that the shuttlepod was headed for is wiped out.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.25

Two Days and Two Nights

The Enterprise arrives at Risa. Several members of the crew (Captain Archer, Commander Tucker, Lieutenant Reed, Ensign Sato, and Ensign Mayweather) go down to the planet hoping for a little rest and relaxation. Their experiences vary but they all have very different experiences that they expected they would.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.21

Detained

Captain Archer and Ensign Mayweather are captured and thrown in a Tandaran detention facility. All the other detainees in the facility are Suliban. Archer and Mayweather are suspicious of the Suliban but soon learn that they are ordinary citizens and not members of the Suliban Cabal. Colonel Grat, commander of the detention facility, tries to get information out of Captain Archer. He is aware that Archer has had interactions with the Suliban in the past.

The detention facility is just one of many that hold Suliban citizens. Part of the inspiration for this episode is the internment camps in which Japanese-Americans (including George Takei) were forced to live during World War II. The concept of viewing citizens of foreign origin as potential threats still resonates today.

The Enterprise is contacted by Colonel Grat and informed of the situation. They are directed to head for Tandar Prime and given directions. They are not told where Archer and Mayweather are being held. They figure out where the transmission is coming from and trace it back to the planet where the detention facility is found. They beam down a communicator to Captain Archer and start to makes plans to get him out of there.

Colonel Grat finds out about the communicator and has his men rough up both Archer and Mayweather. Lieutenant Reed beams down, disguised as a Suliban, and well armed. Archer, Mayweather, Reed, and the Suliban prisoners overwhelm the guards and escape. The Suliban take off in spare ships that are conveniently found nearby.

Colonel Grat is played by Dean Stockwell, Scott Bakula's costar on Quantum Leap. He carries around a small device that resembles Ziggy, the device that his character on Quantum Leap carried around. I didn't detect any other nods to Quantum Leap.

I like the mysterious manner in which the episode opens. The story slowly unfolds. Grat tries to play like he is on the side of the good guys. I like how this episode opens up the possibilities. The Suliban have been the bad guys up to this point. Everything is a little more gray now that it is revealed that not all Suliban are part of the Cabal or fighting against it.

This episode is not perfect but it like it. I think I would have liked it more if it had been a little more nuanced. The Tandarans aren't very sympathetic. The Suliban (in this episode) are victims who learn to overcome oppression. The painting here was in broad brush strokes. By itself this isn't much of an episode but as a part of a bigger picture I think it works well enough.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.16

Shuttlepod One

Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed are on a mission in Shuttlepod One when their sensors and communications go down. They return to the spot where they left the Enterprise only to find nothing but debris from the Enterprise. They conclude that the Enterprise has been destroyed and start heading for the nearest starbase. They do not have enough energy to get there before the air in the shuttle runs out.

Commander Tucker insists on thinking positively about their chances of survival. Lieutenant Reed is much less optimistic about their odds of being found before they run out of oxygen. The two men soon start getting on one another's nerves. Lieutenant Reed has a dream that they are back on the the Enterprise. He comes very close to kissing T'Pol in the dream. The two men get very tipsy on a bottle of Kentucky bourbon. They turn down the heat to below freezing which they calculate will give them an additional 12 hours to breathe.

The Enterprise was not destroyed. They get back to the shuttle a couple hours before Tucker and Reed would have run out of air. The final scene is similar to Lieutenant Reed's dream with the exception that T'Pol shows no personal interest in Reed.

This episode is for the most part focused on Tucker and Reed. I believe this is the most screen time that Lieutenant Reed has received in any on the episodes I have watched this time around. There are a few scenes that take place on the Enterprise before the men are rescued but they are brief. There wasn't any suspense as to whether the men would get rescued on not. Obviously they would. The episode was about seeing what happened Reed and Tucker when the chips are down. This is not my favorite episode but I like it and consider it to be worthy of inclusion in a selective re-watch of this season.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.15

Shadows of P’Jem

The monastery at P’Jem is attacked by the Andorians. No one is injured but the Vulcan High Command blames Captain Archer because of his actions in 1.07 (The Andorian Incident). Archer’s superiors refuse to take action against him. The Vulcans decide to recall T’Pol without explanation but it is implicitly clear that she is being blamed for his actions at P’Jem.

Archer and T’Pol take a shuttlepod and head down to the surface of the one inhabited planet in the Coridan system. They are attacked and taken hostage by a group of local insurgents. The insurgents think that T’Pol is the Captain. Archer tries to convince them otherwise but they aren’t buying it. T’Pol plays along with the insurgents beliefs about her rank.

Tucker tries a rescue mission after the Enterprise gets ransom demands from the insurgents and a visit from the Vulcans who are there to pick up T’Pol. Trip and Reed travel to the surface of the planet and run into Shran and another Andorian. They are the same Andorians who were last seen in 1.07. The Coridan system is a front of sorts in the war between the Vulcans and the Andorians. The Andorians are aligned with the insurgents but Shran wants to clear the debt he feels he owes to Archer.

The Vulcans show up on the surface of the planet in the midst of the Human/Andorian rescue mission. Archer and T'Pol are rescued but T'Pol is injured when she places herself in the line of fire while defending Sopek, the Vulcan leader. Archer manages to convince the Vulcans to let T'Pol stay on the Enterprise for now.

I like this episode but I'm not crazy about it. It felt a bit forced in places. I like the conflict between the Vulcans and the Andorians and how the humans are caught in the middle, strictly aligned with neither group. Sopek gave in to Archer's reasoning a little too easily for my tastes. I do like the reasoning for why Shran and his lieutenant and there to help the humans. There are also some light moments that I enjoyed quite a bit.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.13

Dear Doctor

Doctor Phlox gets the spotlight. The episode is framed by a letter he is composing to Dr. Lucas, a human doctor who as part of the interspecies exchange program is serving on Dr. Phlox home world of Denobula. The episode opens with a number of vignettes that show what Dr. Phlox life on the Enterprise is like and introduce a possible love interest, Crewman Elizabeth Cutler.

The main story of this episode gets rolling when the Enterprise encounters a ship drifting in space. Aboard are two Valakian men. They are sick and need help, but it isn't just them it is their entire people on their home planet of Valakis. Captain Archer confers with T'Pol and decides that they should step in and see what they can do to help.

Dr. Phlox quickly discovers after they arrive that there isn't just one humanoid species on Valakis but 2, the Valakian and the Menk. The Menk are considered to be inferior by the Valakians but unlike the Valakians they are not experiencing an epidemic. Dr Phlox, Ensign Sato, and Crewman Cutler have interactions with the Menk which open their eyes to some facts that the Valakians did not share with them. The Menk are treated as second class citizens, forced to live where the Valakians allow them to live. Despite these facts the Menk prove to be more intelligent then the Valakians give them credit for being.

Captain Archer starts to get pressure from the Valakians for more help, specifically they want warp drive technology. They claim that with it they could find someone who could help them. Archer is skeptical about giving them the technology which they are requesting. In a conversation with T'Pol he makes note of the parallels to the relationship between the Vulcans and humanity over the past 90 years.

Dr. Phlox finds a cure but advises against Captain Archer giving it to the Valakians. He reveals his findings about the Menk. They are more intelligent than they appear. He questions whether it is right to interfere in the development of this planet and makes comparisons to the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens of Earth, 35000 years ago. Captain Archer ultimately decides to give the Valakians something but not everything. He doesn't give them the knowledge to create warp engines or the cure for the disease. He does give them medicine that will help to delay the effects of the plague.

There is also a more personal subplot involving Crewman Cutler and Doctor Phlox. She seems to have a crush on him. He isn't sure how to respond. The Doctor reveals that he already has 3 wives. Crewman Cutler isn't hoping to become his 4th wife but she wants to keep things open between them. There is no resolution to this subplot. They are still on friendly terms when the episode ends. Crewman Cutler appears in two other episodes, both of which are 1st season episodes but neither of which is on my short list. The actress who played Crewman Cutler died in 2003.

There is an oblique nod to the Prime Directive which doesn't exist at this point in time. Captain Archer is the one who brings it up while he is talking to Dr. Phlox.

The episode opens with Dr. Phlox entering sick bay and turning on the light and closes with him leaving sick bay and turning off the lights.

I can see why this made a list of essential episodes. It has the hallmarks of an original series episode. There is a moral quandry with no easy answer. How much is enough? How can you stand by and do nothing while others are suffering? It is interesting to note that the bigger problem, the one that seems to get more attention on the episode, is the epidemic that is ravaging the Valakian population. The treatment of the Menk at the hands of the Valakians is relegated to a second class status in the same way that the Menk are. A case could certainly be made that this is the more important issue.

This is an excellent episode.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.11

Cold Front

The Enterprise encounters a ship carrying Borothan pilgrims in area of space where stars form, a stellar nursery. They are there to observe the Great Plume of Agosoria. The pilgrims are peaceful and Archer invites them to come aboard the Enterprise. As the Enterprise approaches the best spot from which to watch the Great Plume they begin to experience some turbulence due to a plasma storm. There is a cascade of anti-matter which almost destroys the Enterprise. When Tucker and his engineering team examine the engines they discover that someone intentionally damaged the engines. If the engines had not been damaged then the anti-matter cascade would have destroyed the Enterprise.

Tucker continues to try and figure out who might have sabotaged the engines. Archer is approached by Daniels, a member of the crew who reveals that he isn't actually a member of Star Fleet but is a time traveler from the 31st century. He knows who sabotaged the engine. It was Silik, the Suliban from the 26th century whom Archer encountered in 1.01 (Broken Bow). Silik got aboard the Enterprise in this episode disguised as a pilgrim. Daniels is a representative of an organization that opposes Silik and the shadowy figure from whom he takes his orders in the temporal cold war.

Daniels has equipment that he wants to hook into the Enterprise to help him locate and capture Silik. Archer reluctantly agrees. He lets Tucker and T'Pol in on what is going on. They have a hard time believing what he is telling them. Archer is approached by Silik while Tucker and T'Pol are working with Daniels. Silik tries to convince Archer that he is the good guy and Daniels is the dangerous one. Archer doesn't believe him. Silik stuns Archer and heads to engineering after learning that Daniels is there.

Silik and Daniels fight and Silik seems to disintegrate Daniels. Archer recovers and chases down Silik but the Suliban escapes from the Enterprise on to his own ship. The episode ends with Archer ordering Daniels quarters sealed up until further notice.

This episode opens up a world of possibilities. I remember being very excited by it when it first aired. Daniels and Silik will return but not immediately. It is a little unclear in retrospect why Silik was on the Enterprise in the first place. He saved it but why? He tried to capture some of Daniels devices but Archer prevented him from taking them with him. I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the Temporal Cold War episodes but I'm not certain that they will satisfy me.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.07

The Andorian Incident

Captain Archer, Trip and T'Pol visit P'Jem, a Vulcan monastery. They quickly learn that the monks have some unwanted visitors, Andorians. The Andorians claim that the Vulcans have violated their treaty with Andoria by placing long range sensors within the monastery. The Vulcans deny the claim. Captain Archer is forcefully interrogated by the Andorians but he doesn't know anything.

Lieutenant Reed tries contacting Captain Archer. The Andorians smash his communicator along with the others. The Andorians continue to search the monastery while the humans and Vulcans are locked up. The Vulcans take this opportunity to reveal to Archer, Trip, and T'Pol a secret passage to the catacombs. One of the Vulcans leads Trip into the catacombs to an old communicator, the only one in the monastery. Trip is able to fix the communicator and he contacts the Enterprise.

Lietenant Reed beams down with a couple armed crewmen and helps to deal with the Andorians. The fight ends with the reveal that the monks were lying. There is a long range sensor in operation at P'Jem. Archer has T'Pol gather data on the long range sensor and then hands is over to Shran, the leader of the Andorians. The way Archer sees it the Vulcans are the ones in wrong and the only way to set things right is to level the playing field. Shran thanks Archer and leaves.

This is the first of many appearances for Shran, but only two in the first season. The other first season episode to feature an Andorian element is 1.15 (Shadows of P'Jem) which I think I will need to add to my list of episodes to watch. There is just one episode in the second season and two in third season that involve the Andorians but there are several episodes in the fourth season.

This episode felt like one from the original series in a number of ways. The captain and crew unknowingly and with the best of intentions stumble into a conflict. They are forced to take a side even though they are supposed to be there as impartial observers.

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit. From what I can see it plants seeds that will blossom in future episodes. Is it perfect? No, but it works on a number of levels that appeal to me.

Star Trek: Enterprise 1.01

Broken Bow

Part 1

Captain Jeffrey Archer, commander of the Starship Enterprise (NX-01), takes up the task of returning KLaang, a wounded Klingon to the Klingon home world of Qo'noS. The Enterprise has recently been outfitted with a new engine which can travel at speeds up to warp 4.5. Archer's father designed the engine but up humanity has been held back from using it by Vulcans up until now.

Archer has to scramble to pull together the crew for the Enterprise. In addition to those he selected he is also forced to accept a Vulcan observer, T'Pol. Once they are on their way the ship is boarded by a team of aliens who abduct Klaang. One of the aliens is killed. It is a Suliban who has been genetically altered.

The Enterprise changes course and heads for Rigel 10 after learning from T'Pol that the abducted Klingon had been on Rigel 10 immediately before coming to Earth. Several of the crew descend to Rigel 10 to look for clues.

Part 2

Archer, T'Pol, Hoshi, and Tucker are captured by a group of Suliban. Archer is pulled aside to talk to Sarin, the leader of the Suliban group. She is not allied with the Suliban who captured Klaang. She tells Archer about the temporal cold war. She tells him about how the Suliban are interfering in the ruling order of the Klingon Empire. Klaang was carrying valuable information about the Suliban interference. They start to head back to the shuttle craft but are attacked by Suliban.

Archer is wounded and Sarin is killed but they make it back to the shuttle craft. T'Pol takes command, which ruffles more than a few feathers. Once they are back aboard the Enterprise the Captain is taken to sick bay and sedated while he heals from the wound. T'Pol and Tucker were infected with some sort of spore. Dr. Phlox makes them dress in skimpy clothing and rub gel on one another until the remains of the spores are gone.

T'Pol and Tucker get dressed in more appropriate attire and modify the sensors of the Enterprise to track the trajectory of the Suliban ship that boarded the Enterprise. The trail leads the Enterprise to a gas giant where they find a large number of small ships docked together. This seems to be the Suliban headquarters. They capture a small Suliban craft and use it to infiltrate the conglomeration of ships. They locate Kraang and head back to the small craft. Archer gets separated from Tucker and Kraang, who make it back to the Enterprise.

Archer sets off a device that causes the small ships to disconnect from one another. He then goes exploring and encounters Silik, the Suliban behind the capture of Kraang. The two men fight and Archer seems doomed when the Enterprise swoops in and uses the transporter to bean him aboard. This is significant because at this point in the Star Trek universe transporters are not used to transport living creatures.

...

This is at least my third time viewing this two-part story. I saw it when it first aired in 2001. I watched most if not all of the first season of Enterprise when it first aired. I enjoyed it but (for reasons that I do not recall) I did not pick up watching the show again when season two debuted. In late 2010, about 7 years ago I watched this story again. According to my notes from that time I watched it online on CBS web site. I didn't watch any more episodes of Enterprise at that time. Now I am trying to go back and watch some selected episodes from all 4 seasons. Who knows how far I will get.

I enjoyed the show this time around. It isn't perfect but I like it. I want to watch more.