 |
|
Trip: Damn! Ah can't believe Dick
Clark still looks that young.
Archer: The portrait
in his attic has to be three hundred years old by now.
|
January 1, 2004: By Jove, another award! The other JuPiter
Station (the Janeway/Paris site) has given TripHammered
their Stellar award. I'm honored and quite flattered. Thanks!
January 7, 2004: We wrap up the ENT
Libs with Hoshi and Porthos. If you'd like to see Libs
for anyone else on the show, just ask.
January 14, 2004: Well, that was fun!
It's been a while since we had a really good "yell suggestions
back at the TV" episode. (Head Zealot: "Choose
someone to execute." evay: "T'Pol!" Head
Zealot: "Did you choose a crew member?" Archer: "I
choose myself." evay: "Yes! Then Trip can
be captain!" Head Zealot is in the brig. evay: "Throw
him in the airlock!")
I honestly thought I'd caught a blooper during
the firefight on the bridge, but I apparently confused Alas
Poor Yarrick with one of the other tall dark-haired mustard-jacketed
Zealots. Mal and the MACOs storm the bridge. Zealots get
shot. Somewhere in here Yarrick dives for the floor and pretends
to be shot. The Zealot at T'Pol's station does a Wallenda
over the railing. T'Pol is ducked down on the floor. Yarrick
has a phase pistol held loosely in his hand. Watch closely:she
takes it from him, he makes sure she has it, and he quickly
tucks his hand back in front of him! It looked like the
actor screwed up, but on about tenth viewing I realized which
Zealot was on the ground. Still, he was standing awfully
fast after the phasers stopped flying! Sloppy editing on
director Roxann Dawson's part.
Speaking of Dawson, she loves to film fights,
doesn't she? Mal got to pound the crap out of a Zealot and
one of the MACOs got to smack a bad guy around too. Malcolm
got quite a few good moments in this one, from winging his
juiceless weapon at the Zealot attacking him to the way his
face lit up when Archer tossed him the Boomstick.
 |
|
Fine. Ah'll go sit in my quarters and
catch up on my technical
journals. See if Ah come help you take back Engineering.
|
Solid show all around (despite the dearth of
Trip -- why wasn't he helping to take back Engineering?).
Effective use of the Expanse and the natives as a plot device.
I don't know if I buy the "organic explosives" bit,
but I'll let that slide. The guest star who played the Head
Zealot was creepy and compelling; you really believed people
would follow him -- partly out of faith, partly out of fear.
Excellent ending, just showing the consequences of the Zealots'
actions without needing to lecture.
I think Hoshi donated her allotment of lines
to Trav for this week's episode -- final score was Trav 4,
Hoshi 0.
Why didn't T'Pol just nerve-pinch the Zealot
at her station, instead of feebly jumping on his back and
girl-slapping him? A better question: why were the weapons
being activated from T'Pol's station? Why didn't the Head
Zealot have someone at Mal's console? (Because unlike the
captain and his logs, Malcolm knows enough to use a frelling
password to lock his board when he gets up from his chair.
Yeesh. This is the second invading commander to rifle through
Archer's logs. You'd think he'd at least name them "Chicken
Recipes" or something, to make them harder to find.)
We agreed that if either of us had been standing
there while Head Zealot wiped a whole bunch of critical data
about the Xindi, we would have lost it and strangled the
guy. However, I assume that Norton's UnErase still
exists in the 2150s.
Moogie thought this episode was so close to
representing actual religion as to cause trouble for TPTB.
My response is that Classic Trek used to be about pushing
envelopes and making daring statements about race, war, religion,
etc. Discuss amongst yourselves.
Recycled Trek Actor Checklist: Conor
O'Farrell (D'Jamat, the Head Zealot) was Buzaan in "Rogue
Planet" and Professor Jeff Carlson in DS9's "Little
Green Men." Gregory Wagrowski (Ceris, whichever
one that was) was Captain Solok (the jerky Vulcan captain)
in DS9's "Take
Me Out to the Holosuite." Kim Fitzgerald (redshirt)
was a production associate on VOY and DS9.
Food Chain intact. Screencaps Thursday or Friday.
I'll write up some of our MST3K comments for Malcolm as I
recall them.
January 16, 2004: Let me say at the outset that I'm not going
to get into any real analysis of the philosophical or religious
plotlines of "Chosen Realm," because it's personally
risky territory and I have no wish to offend my readers en
masse. There are many other reviewers providing thoughtful
commentary if you're looking for it.
 |
|
Did you just speak, Travis?...Nah, Ah
must be hearin' things.
|
Trip doesn't get many lines, so we'd better
make the most of what we've got. In the teaser, he notes
of their collected telemetry, "That should give T'Pol
plenty to chew on for a while." Is it me, or does he
look a little irritated, like he can't wait to get her off
his back or make her stop nagging?
Head Zealot: "I'd be honored to accept
your hospitality tonight...except that the fowl you've slaughtered
for this 'Marsala' is our sacred mascot, dairy products are
an abomination to the Makers, and I'm on Atkins so pasta
is out. This mead is
great, though." I mean, really! They have a religious
objection to bioscans, but Archer doesn't think they'd have
any food taboos?
The science vs. faith squabble between T'Pol
and Head Zealot is so wildly extreme it's not even fun. I
enjoy a good debate, but those two were almost literally
not even on the same planet for that discussion.
The Exploding Zealot takes out a chunk of the
hull on C deck. Archer starts giving orders to contain the
problem. Head Zealot calmly enters the bridge and says "Stop."
And Archer stops. Kirk and Janeway would have spun
around and bitten his head off. Picard and Sisko would have
ordered Worf to restrain him. (And then Worf would have tried
to bite his head off.) But none of them would have just stopped,
and given this psycho permission to take over the ship. And
he threatens to destroy the ship -- well, what the hell good
would that do him, then? I think Archer should have called
his bluff, or distracted him while Mal whipped out his personal
phase pistol and stunned him. Later, in the Armoury, the same
idiot thing happens -- the Zealot yells "Hold your fire!"
so he can come out and "surrender," and Archer stops
firing. Moron. I bet Mal was quietly pounding his head
against the ladder, wondering how he could get Trip to be
captain so they can take turns frightening the crap out of
prisoners during interrogation.
Trip balks at turning his wee bairns over to
the Zealots. Archer snarls, "Remember what's at stake,
why we're out here." I was getting bad "Similitude" flashbacks
-- yes, all else is subordinate to the Almighty Mission.
And it is, at that.
Then viva says:
May I just say that I didn't like
the way Archer grabbed Trip's arm in Engineering? I can't
imagine him doing that to anyone else. Reminds me of harried
parents in department stores grabbing little kids by the
arm and saying "ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?" Trip
had the right tone in his response, "Aye, Captain." ["Of
course I get it, you jerk. Just stop treating me like I'm
a stupid toddler."]
I agree -- Archer yanks Trip around and all
but throws him across the room. He does, at the end, give
Trip's arm a little squeeze, but I still think the captain
was having a Sim moment in the beginning. Maybe he was thinking
that Trip was going to go haring off and yell at the Zealots,
which could get Trip killed. Archer can't afford that. So
he's mostly about protecting the Almighty Mission, and then
has a flash of remembering the affection he once had for
Trip before the Great White Xindi Hunt.
How did Archer know ALL about the pregnant
woman and her husband's discomfort? What happened to doctor-patient
confidentiality? Not to mention that she talked an awful
lot -- I should say, revealed an awful lot -- for a cultist.
And Phlox sure got a lot of useful "impressions."
Nice followup to "Anomaly," noting
Captain de Sade's questioning methods. I'm a bit surprised
he even put it in the log.
That battle bridge in the nacelle is really
handy, isn't it?
I think Phlox stole Archer's lipstick this week.
I guess the captain was feeling too macho for his Maybelline.
Or maybe dead men don't wear Pink Pout.
Archer took a gamble with Alas Poor Yarrick. "Is
that the faith you were raised in?" What if he'd said
yes? And then shot Archer for having the temerity to return
from the dead? (Yes, yes, I know; short show, Trip becomes
captain.)
I liked T'Pol's quiet, implacable resistance
to Head Zealot's orders. I would have liked to see her be
a little more, uh, Vulcan in fighting back on the bridge,
but full credit for not just rolling over and doing what
he said (like some people I could mention), even if
they did have the bigger guns. (But they didn't shoot her
after she tried to leap on the Zealot who was firing torpedoes
-- tactically stupid. She's already shown that she's both
resistant and willing to attempt attack. Why not incapacitate
her? Or remove her from the Bridge? Or at the very least
tie her up? See, you stuff your brain too full of religious
claptrap and there's no room for IQ points.)
 |
|
Get your filthy hands off my armaments,
you bloody nutcase!
|
ENT MST3K, already in progress:
Head Zealot: Prepare to fire torpedoes!
evay (as Malcolm): No! Not the torpedoes! Get your
greasy paws off my weaponry!
{Archer opens a door to reveal Malcolm
sitting forlornly on a bunk. He leaps to his feet and his
face lights up as Archer tosses him a rifle.}
Malcolm: Captain!
wombat61 (as Malcolm): A gun? For me? Just what I always wanted, sir!
Archer: We're retaking the ship.
{Malcolm smirks nastily.}
evay (as Malcolm): Just you, me, and Betsy, eh, sir? Like shooting womprats
in Beggar's Canyon.
Archer: We need the MACOs.
{Malcolm's face falls somewhat.}
evay (as Malcolm): Wot, those bumbling idiots? Well, get the women,
then. At least they know how to hit a moving target.
{to the "infidel" Triannonians}
Archer: I'm powering down my weapons.
evay (as Malcolm, whining): But sir! We just got them back online!
Y'know, you Yanks are no bloody fun a'tall in a fight.
Pyrithian bat gets to kick some Zealot butt!
You go, girl!
Nice to see Mal take on some bad guys in hand-to-hand
and win. That little fight was well choreographed, for both
pairs of combatants. And Dawson didn't forget about how she
framed and filmed "Dawn," either,
since she made sure to get a shot of Mal's finer assets during
the battle.
When telling them he's rerouted command functions
and they no longer control weapons, Archer announces his
new location to the Zealots, who have made it clear that
suicide and homicide are viable options. Jeez, don't make
them waste precious minutes trying to figure out where you
are, Captain Mensa. That could be time which Mal and the
MACOs could use trying to retake the Bridge.
The mop on Archer's head masquerading as a
haircut was particularly sucky this week...
Moogie was startled to see that the new
head coach of the Knicks looked an awful lot like the Head
Zealot, minus the latex and face paint.
 |
|
Archer's new short haircut is really
bugging me.
|
January 21, 2004: Another really fun episode! We like Jeff Combs
(although he was looking a little peaked under the makeup).
Writer Chris Black ("The Catwalk") and director
David Livingston turn in a winning effort. I was so very
much hoping this was an actual "birth of the Federation" episode,
since Andorians are allegedly one of the founding races,
but Moogie (again) called the plot twist fifteen minutes
in.
A great show. Nice tension between Mal and
the Blue Meaness, especially with Mal being on the ball and
undoing her sabotage pronto! I liked the exchange between
Shran and Trip; you almost believed that Shran meant what
he was saying. Or who knows, maybe he did -- Shran's a good
complicated character, and hasn't been declared for one team
or the other. But he was not the most convincing faux Ferengi,
oddly enough (considering all the practice he's had).
The Andorians have turned out to be a great
species for ENT. We know just enough about them to let ENT
create stories as needed. They're warlike but not necessarily
war-loving, they have a code of honor but will plot for their
own ends, and you have no idea when they're lying. Plus they
have a fast ship and a really cool bridge.
The back-and-forth among the Xindi is necessary
filler, I guess. We were hoping to see Raijin again. I thought
the control center where Degra was overseeing the testing
looked vaguely like the Pointy-Haired Boss from Dilbert lording
over a row of cubicles.
When the "Previously on Enterprise" clip
rolled, I turned to Moogie and said "You know, I like
the recap, but doesn't that just cut two minutes off the
episode time?" Not to mention -- why recap, essentially,
the whole season so far? Is it in the hope of bringing new
viewers up to date, I guess?
Recycled Trek Actor Checklist: The Xindi
menagerie are all returning guests (to their same roles).
Although I understand one of the reptilians was rendered
on a new workstation.
Food Chain (hic) intact. I suppose I should
start a Bar Tab. More commentary Friday, probably, with screencaps.
I'm going to say tentatively no damage, but I'll check to
see if Trip got toasted when the Mean Green Blorp Machine
went through Engineering.
January 23, 2004: We're halfway through
the season and I haven't had one episode to recap in detail
yet. Good for Trip, I suppose, but not as amusing for TripHammered.
 |
|
Ruffles have that extra something...
|
Sort of interesting that a chunk of the material
from the recap was from "Twilight," which technically
didn't happen... And the music during that sequence -- what
the hell was that about? Completely bizarro fight music.
The Andorians have nice ships, but the thongs
on the outside of the uniforms are, um, an interesting fashion
statement. Kudos to the folks in back working the anntenae.
Moogie was concerned that the whole Xindi arc
would be over by the end of sweeps, since Degra said the
weapon could be ready in a month, but recall that Archer
FOOMed the prototype, so the Degradations may not have enough
info to figure out why it overheated. They may have to start
over with another prototype. Or, more likely, just barrel
ahead with the actual planet-killer.
On the other hand, why hasn't someone -- the
Reptilians seem to be fairly gung-ho -- dedicated a team
to tracking down Enterprise? They know the Terrans
are in the Expanse. They know we know about the weapon they're
building. Why are they letting the ship run around essentially
unhampered? Not that the Kemocite Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator
isn't a really frightening chunk of ordnance, but they don't
seem to be thinking in terms of strategy or tactics. Better
for the crew, less believable for the audience. Look, if
I'm an English major and I can outstrategize these
guys, Starfleet's Finest should be using them for Kleenex.
How can the flagship of the Fleet not have
backups of their most critical data? I'm sorry, I can't
overlook that. That's beyond bad writing, that's plain
stupid.
While maneuvering through the Blorp Jungle,
T'Pol tells Trav "Hard to port." Doesn't that give
him about 120 degrees of latitude in just where to
port he should be dodging? Does she mean tilt the ship or
go left? And not for anything, but as a Vulcan and a scientist,
she should automatically be more precise than "port."
Watch as Shran is walking through the ready
room -- his antennae duck under the beam so he doesn't brush
it.
I love the whole scene when Shran tries to
convince Archer that the Andorians are there purely to help.
He pulls out every Andorian-Vulcan conflict, plays on all
the history he can possibly make relevant, gives T'Pol a
few backhanded compliments, purrs, struts, vamps, and all
but pouts. Jeffrey Combs is so cool. (However, he sneers, "Where
is their [the Vulcans'] mighty fleet?" but then winds
up his big speech with "We're here to help you." Well,
you're only one ship. If the Imperial Guard really wanted
to help the Terrans and forge an alliance, they would have
sent at least a half-dozen vessels, don't you think?)
So Malcolm and T'Pol both want security teams
to accompany the Andorians through the ship, since they remember
last week's unsupervised aliens had a bad habit of exploding.
Archer waves them both off. At this point it's basically
in character for him -- as myst points out, "Archer
usually sides with the aliens he's never laid eyes on before
in his entire life, murmuring words of trust into his ears
while his officers look on in bewilderment." Why does
he have a senior staff if he doesn't listen to them? It's
so annoying -- because the show is so truncated for ad space,
they don't have narrative time to show an intelligent discussion
of options. They just have each character represent a different
viewpoint, and Archer gets the "right" one and
his officers look like dodos. (And then at the end, Malcolm
says to Archer, "You were right, sir. If I hadn't been
watching the Andorian officer..." as though it were Archer's idea
to keep an eye on them!)
T'Pol, either pull your belt up so it doesn't
slide off your bony hips or eat something so it has some
flesh to hang on....
I was extremely amused to see Trip with a hoagie
and Ruffles for lunch. The whole Mess Hall scene was great
(and this time Mal got the potty joke instead of Trip). I
mean, yes, the barbs flying back and forth with the Blue
Meaness were fun, but it's great to see these two just relax
around each other. "What's the situation in Engineering?" "Bad.
The armory?" "Worse." And no more needs to
be said.
Even with the slight subtle flirting going
on between Mal and the Blue Meaness, it was definitely more
of a fencing match between equals. He saw her as security
risk first, a tactical officer second, and perhaps a woman
after that. Which is quite refreshing, and sensible, and
a marvelous change from the cheese-sniffing Veezal. Malcolm
was fantastic this week -- suspicious when he should have
been, protective of his ship, stringing the Blue Meaness
along so he could find out what she was up to -- he was doing
his job and doing it well, which, oddly, we don't see so
much of on ENT!
Did Archer actually tell Shran about Lizzie?
I think the Andorians have a boatload of intel on the Terrans,
and if anything, Shran would have just maneuvered the conversation
so Archer of the Ales would admit what Shran already knew.
Note that Trip reveals very little of what he's feeling on
a personal level. "Lots of people lost family," he
demurs, and "Ah just want to make sure they don't get
the chance to finish what they started." It's a defense
mechanism, for himself rather than against Shran, I think.
I'd bet Trip hasn't talked to anyone at all about his feelings
since they left Terra, and probably very little beforehand.
I wonder if we'll ever see him actually unpack all that grief
and fear and anger and deal with it.
wombat61 was wondering if we still might
see a Birth of the Federation kind of ep at the end of the
season, with Enterprise screaming out of the Expanse
with a Xindi fleet on their tail, and they burst through
the barrier to find the Imperial Guard waiting to blow the
Xindi out of the sky. And then the Romulan War starts, and
the Vulcans join in for their own reasons, and possibly the
Tellarites, and out of that we have a larger alliance.
Maybe Archer's relationship with Shran is what
allows for the alliance between the species -- that could
be the important thing he does which affects history. Certainly
Shran wasn't happy about his orders to betray Archer and
crew. And we don't know, in the end, if it was Shran or the
Blue Meaness (which had been my guess) who sent the prototype
telemetry. I think Shran has a grudging respect for Archer,
or mebbe he's kind of masochistic and likes owing this guy
favors, and would rather have an ally than an enemy. Besides,
Archer stood up to the Vulcans, which puts him on the plus
side of Shran's ledger.
Next week is a repeat of "Twilight," and
a fresh Get Me Rewrite! here.
January 28, 2004: TrekToday reports that ENT will be moving to 9 pm Wednesdays, starting
March 10 and going at least through mid-April. I'll post a
reminder a week beforehand so nobody has a coronary thinking
they missed it. This is probably a good move, getting ENT
away from Smallville (Angel is not serious competition,
much as I loved Buffy), but it means I have to stay
up an hour later to update the site!
And after enjoying this
week's repeat of "Twilight" -- and tell your friends
and family to watch, too! It's an amazing episode -- we have
a new Get
Me Rewrite! The real novelty is that Trav has the opportunity
for lines in this one. (I did say opportunity...or
you could just continue the joke that he doesn't speak.)
February 4, 2004: I just want to say
that I think you folks did a wonderful job with "Get
Me Rewrite" this past week. We got a surprising breadth
of captions from what seemed to be a limited picture. Nice
job!
 |
|
Congratulations, sir. You made it through
an entire episode without acting like a spoiled arrogant
teenaged jerk once.
|
Okay, "Stratagem" just kicked butt.
I can't believe the crew (the writers!) came up with something
so ballsy and complicated and actually pulled it off. I was
extremely impressed. This is the kind of planning I was complaining
that Archer wasn't doing earlier. Janeway would pull off
a stunt like this. Kirk did, although not as elaborately.
The crew was urgent but not desperate.
Yes, yes, it's the Archer Show again, but it
was okay, because -- get this -- Archer was actually depending
on his crew, and asking advice of his senior staff, and then
(gasp) using that advice! Amazing! Everyone got a
little air time. Everyone got to be useful. Archer didn't
act like a jerk. T'Pol didn't pull a Janet Jackson. Not so
much of Trip, but he was doing Engineering work, at least.
Malcolm got to blow up a whole bunch of alien ship parts and shove
some Xindi prisoners around. (Those were some very happy
smirks.) Doctor Phloxenstein got to use his critters for
twisted medical jollies. Hoshi got to do stuff. Trav got
to do stuff, for pete's sake! Great direction, great editing,
great writing, even good acting from Bakula and Blalock.
Another winner! Think we can match last February's sweeps
for episode quality?
Although we are back to "Archer's best
when he's not being himself," I'll take that at this
point. I am starting to get a little tired of the inside-out
narratives, but so far they've served the plots. And the
teaser and first act did feel too much like the beginning
of "Twilight." Minor quibbles at best.
So how is this arc going to resolve? They blow
up this weapon, but what about the next? And the one after
that? The only solution is not to stop the weapons, but the
motive -- to convince the Xindi that the humans aren't a
threat. So who told the Xindi that we destroyed their homeworld?
Was it the insectoids, cooking up a story to foment civil
war and take over? Future Guy?
Moogie was unhappy because he felt that Starfleet
officers should not be engaging in such sweeping deceptions.
Anyone care to throw in their two cents?
No Recycled Trek Actors, since the guest cast
(Degra and Thalen) played these roles before. Food Chain (hic)
intact. I'm starting to wonder if Archer's going to need AA
when he gets back to Terra. (I was about to say "the
Alpha Quadrant"...) Photos and more commentary likely
Friday. No damage. I'm getting tempted to go back and recap
"The Xindi" if we don't get a serious Tripisode
soon.
 |
|
...so whaddya say, fellas? Ah'm not
askin' to die again or anything, just get my hands
a little dirty. You know, some fisticuffs with an alien
or somethin'. Besides that brain surgery, Ah've barely
gotten m'hair mussed since the premiere.
|
February 6, 2004: Okay, let me defend my sweetheart and
try to elaborate on his comment: he wasn't suggesting that
Archer politely ask Degra for the information, or airlock
it out of him. His thought was more that while the desperate
situation of Enterprise justifies desperate measures,
these are not tactics which should be used as SOP in peacetime. Secondo
me, I think that the NX-01's logs will be picked apart
for the next ten to twenty years as the Federation is created
and Starfleet is strengthened, and they figure out rules
and protocols and pitfalls. They'll see what Phlox did, and
use that to shape Starfleet Medical ethics (and promptly
ban a whole bunch of things like withholding the cure to
a genocidal plague). They'll look over Archer's actions,
and (besides proclaiming that dogs are no longer allowed
on starships) start establishing precedents for future captains.
Some things (Yossarian in the airlock) are
prohibited, and if the rule is broken, there'd better be
a damn good reason which will hold up at a board of inquiry.
Less violent but still nasty things (memory wipe of uncooperative
aliens) are only allowed if a situation meets certain criteria,
and has to be authorized under Rule Sigma-019§11 or
the "Uncovering Subversive Activities by Prosecuting
Alien Terrorists, Romulan Impostors and Other Traitors Act" or
some such. The elaborate setup and deception might be taught
in advanced tactics. But that entire scenario shouldn't be
in every captain's handbook. Bluffing is
fairly ordinary. Drugging an alien and setting up a flight
simulator and voice synthesizer to trick him into revealing
classified weapons information should be reserved for truly
extreme times -- as this is.
Having said all that, I think Archer and crew
did a damn fine job, especially with the double fake-out.
I was taken for the ride both times. I liked seeing all the
senior officers working here and there, doing their jobs,
contributing where it was appropriate. I loved that Archer
finally displayed a two-digit I.Q. and asked T'Pol for help
in setting up his backstory. And it was a good backstory,
using every scrap of information they've gleaned so far.
This is how a Starfleet crew -- even a primitive, bumbling,
mistake-making Starfleet crew -- should be doing their jobs.
You know, it doesn't help matters when not
only does ENT crib from other series, but it starts cribbing
from itself. There was a boatload of "Twilight" in
the first 15 minutes. I kept waiting for Archer to say there
were only six thousand Terrans left (again). I know, steal
from the best, but come on!
I liked the long teaser, a lot. It hooked me
immediately and held my interest. I actually forgot that
we hadn't seen the theme song yet.
Since ENT doesn't have shields, I keep double-taking
every time shields are mentioned. 'Fleet does know the technology
exists, they just don't have it for our ships. Or something.
Like the cloaking device. Actually I never got that either
-- why would we sign a treaty agreeing to let a major enemy
(or two, if you count the Klingons) keep their biggest tactical
advantage? I digress...
 |
|
Dude, the magic pellet is wide open!
The ghosts are on the lateral thrusters!
|
Okay, the readouts on the shuttle were totally
ripped off from Pac-Man,
I am not kidding.
Um, how would our intrepid crew know that (a)
XindiBugs have prison colonies rather than prisons or just
mass graves (b) XindiBug prisoners get serial
number tattoos? That must've been some letter Degra wrote
to his wife.
Speaking of whom, I like that we're seeing
Degra as a more rounded character, not a cardboard "good
individual of a bad race" like Xindi Rogers from "The
Shipment." He's bad for creating the Weapon, but loves
his wife and children. Clearly he feels he's acting in the
defense of his people against a horrible aggressor, but we
can see he's a man with a certain amount of honor and pride
who isn't warmongering. Under the right circumstances, maybe
he will defy the Bugs and Snakes on the Council and not FOOM
Terra. Randy Oglesby is doing a nice job with him too, and
plays
off Bakula well. When the bloodworm surfaces (heh) on Degra's
arm, and Archer casually tosses off "it'll work its
way out," you can see Degra's emotions warring on his
face: Do I trust him? Do I make myself vulnerable? Do I take
the lesser risk and keep this slug in my wrist? It's a nice
moment. (and Xindi blood is also red...file for future hmmm.)
I'm very impressed that Craftsman socket sets
from Sears are still being sold and used in the 2100s. There's
one on the wall just behind Archer as he digs up the bottle
of hooch.
Any particular reason why all the Xindi species
have to live on the same chunk of rock? Find a nice waterworld
for the XindiWhales, a jungle planet for the XindiSnakes,
and so on. If it's so hard for them to agree on anything,
why not split up? Obviously everyone has faster-than-light
propulsion and those nifty subspace vortices, so it's not
like they can't visit and trade.
Why didn't Archer ask how Degra learned
of the "human threat"? I should think that would
be an enormous part of the puzzle. If they find out who told
the Xindi about their planet being destroyed -- and when,
120 years ago or 400 years from now? -- they might find the
key to stopping the whole mess.
Cap'n does hand the bloodworm back to Phlox!
I thought it was a blood sample at first, but on second viewing,
knowing what's really going on, you can see it's the tube
with the worm.
I wonder if whatever force is pulling the strings
in this arc chose the Xindi because they're so crappy at
long-term thinking. Consider: they've just tested their prototype
planet-cracking weapon. Something went wrong, which they
haven't tracked down yet. A mysterious third-party ship was
snooping around the testing ground. The prototype vanished
and was destroyed (and I'm not even sure if we know if the
Xindi know what happened to the prototype). Do they chase
down the mystery ship and reduce it to bolts and girders?
Do they send a contingent of XindiBugs after "the Earth
vessel" to remove that obstacle? Do they keep a guard
on the testing ground to see if the mystery ship or the Terran
ship might come back? Noooooo! This is essentially the same
thing as having Archer hold the "right" opinion
and the other senior staff look like idiots just so that
all the options in a given situation can be aired -- the
Xindi do all the dumbest stuff, so that Enterprise can
get to where it needs to be. It's sloppy storytelling.
I liked the camera work in the briefing, except
the final moment when everyone's head swivels towards Archer
almost simultaneously. Unintentionally giggle-producing.
The whole briefing is fantastic, actually. This is the kind
of meeting we saw all the time in TNG, and it's immediately
obvious why: people get to talk, and share ideas, and troubleshoot
one another, without anyone looking foolish (see my previous
point). Why can't we see this more often? It doesn't have
to be a formal meeting; it can be the typical hallway chat.
It's just annoying to see bright people acting like cabbageheads
for the sake of plot advancement.
Phlox was channeling Yoda for a minute there
when talking about the graying effect of stress on Degra's
hair -- "and torture! Hmm? Yes, torture the hair gray
does!" (Personally, I think having an alien Onychophoran crawling
around my innards would certainly be sufficient to turn all my hair
gray.)
I really liked seeing the armed MACO standing
outside the simulator, just in case. Even Hayes is on the
ball this week.
"Engage" doesn't sound right coming
from the Big Chair if there isn't a bald Brit saying it....
I do have one question about the "three
years later" look -- Archer has long hair, but no beard?
We have no way of knowing if XindiApes have facial hair,
but humans do. If Archer the prisoner had access to something
which kept his beard nicely shaved, why didn't he cut his
hair? Or a guard's throat? Fortunately for our crew, the
Xindi just have no capacity for tactical reasoning. Degra
didn't even know, or wonder, about Archer's android-bottom cheeks.
While I tend to bitch about Bakula being wooden,
watching Archer writhe in unspeaking agony as Degra quietly
describes the probe's attack from his perspective was a beautiful
little piece of work. And his "thanks...gotcha" look
as the second ruse is revealed made me cheer. So kudos where
kudos is due.
February 8, 2004: A new link! Can I
say again how repeatedly surprised I am that TripHammered
is read so much across the pond? I'm very flattered. CultTVKingdom is
a U.K.-based site (unrelated to Cult TV magazine) with basic
but solid information on almost two dozen current and cancelled "cult" shows,
like Angel, Buffy, Firefly, Charmed, Jeremiah (I never
heard of that one), Sliders, Highlander, Dark Angel, The
X-Files, Roswell, and of course Enterprise. Brief
episode summaries, actor filmographies, promo photos, and
links to related sites. Easy to get around.
 |
|
Malcolm plots how many different ways
he can depose the captain and XO so that he and Trip
can take command.
|
February 11, 2004: Ironic that the episode
was called "Harbinger," which means "precursor" or "foreshadow," when
so much of the ep (nay, the series) happens out of the blue.
I loved the Malcolm/Hayes fight, but did you
notice that they had to go all the way back to the premiere
for the "Previously on Enterprise" scenes,
because there has been no tension between them in 14 episodes?
I think Hayes does have the right idea in that everyone could
use more training, but why didn't we see this as a running
D-plot? Little jabs at each other in the hallway, opening
or closing several eps with Mal sparring or mirrorboxing,
A MACO making a comment -- it takes so little, and the payoff
is so tremendous.
Other than that, the plotline was pretty good.
I did get tired of seeing Mal humiliated, but once he decided
to fight back, it was a thing of beauty. Dominic Keating
did an outstanding job from start to finish, with every twitch,
jaw clench, eye roll, shift, arm crossing, and snarl. The
camera work wasn't all that, but the two actors (and their
stunt doubles, of course) were great in pounding the tar
out of each other. And we got to see the Reed Walk™ and the
Flying Horizontal Tackle! So very cool.
I would have liked to hear more introspection
on Mal's part. What has he seen which has convinced him that
Hayes wants Security? What specific fears of Mal's are being
fed by Hayes's behavior? Does Hayes remind him of past bullies?
Other commanding officers? His father? Himself?
We don't need any more proof; the jury has
come back: Archer is clinically nuts if he thinks that the
MACOs have been tactically superior to 'Fleeters, in anything,
let alone taking out the Xindi which they were specifically
brought along to do. They may have more combat experience
against Terrans, but Malcolm's people (well, to be honest,
just Malcolm -- there haven't been all that many NPCs on
the ground) have had experience fighting non-Terrans, as
he pointed out. Each group could have learned from the other.
And maybe they will, or they could if someone running the
show had two IQ points to rub together and understood about
juggling multiple arcs, or character development.
So the Melting Molecules Alien is...a seriously
messed-up Suliban? One of Future Guy's race? (One and the
same?) Someone whose people were defeated by the Terrans
in X hundred years, and eliminating them now means the race
will survive in the future? The most fascinating part of
the show, in terms of advancing the Xindi arc, and it's the
last line. Captain de Sade returns to play psycho cop/good
cop, but that shouldn't faze Doctor Phloxenstein -- after
all, the man let his own "son" die a cold and lonely
death, so what's he worried about with this alien?
Recycled Trek Actor Checklist: Thomas
Kopache (the Melting Molecules Alien) was Tos in "Broken
Bow," an unnamed engineer in TNG's "Emergence" and
Mirok in "The
Next Phase," Kiran Taban in DS9's "Wrongs
Darker Than Death or Night" and "Ties
of Blood and Water," Vorsa in VOY's "The
Thaw," and an unnamed conn officer in Generations.
Trip took some minor damage, so I'll have a
screencap for that Friday or so. Food Chain intact.
I will not be discussing Trip and T'Pol. At
all. Do not ask. I am not interested.
 |
|
Trip: Ah said no.
Malcolm: Not even a small piece?
Trip (yelling): Ah don't like spam!
Malcolm: Shh, Commander, don't cause a fuss.
I'll have your spam. I love it. I'm having spam, spam,
spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, baked beans, spam, spam,
spam, and spam!
Trip: Chef said the baked beans
were off.
|
February 13, 2003: Apologies in advance
if my claws are bit sharp this week; it was just one of those
episodes.
I think the title should have been something
along the lines of "Territory," because that's
what was being fought over here: Mal and Hayes over Security,
Archer and the Melting Molecules Alien/Xindi over Terra.
The only thing "harbinged" was the MMA's final
line, letting us know he was more than he'd originally admitted.
The rest of the show was wrapping up stuff which was introduced
in the premiere and never went anywhere.
Trip commented that Malcolm and Hayes are a
lot alike, but here's the difference as I see it (and my
military readers are welcome to weigh in with their own comments):
Hayes is a soldier. Malcolm is from a career military family.
To Hayes, orders and training and advancement are purely
the job. He does a damn good job, and he enjoys it, but it's
a job. To the Reeds, the military (specifically the Royal
Navy) is a way of life. It's nearly a religion. It's a code
of ethics, a matter of honor and pride, a reflection on oneself
and one's bloodline. So when Mal interprets Hayes's brisk
manner and aggressive (or ambitious) tactics as a threat,
it's because the other career military people whom Mal has
seen act this way are out for blood. They aren't merely moving
up the ladder, they're waging a war of attrition on rivals
and their reputations. Hayes, on the other hand, is accustomed
to jockeying on the job and then sharing beer and pretzels
at the club after hours. When Mal takes his work maneuvers
personally, Hayes thinks Mal is being an overly sensitive
paranoid idiot. What does Hayes yell at Malcolm the first
time he pins the lieutenant? "Why won't you let me do
my job?" Not "Why are you getting in my way?" or "I'll
see you never do X again!" which Mal was likely expecting.
Of course, now that they've pounded the stuffing out of
each other, they'll get along just fine, instead of a continuing
sly one-upmanship like Quark and Odo used to do on DS9.
Listening to Archer's reasoning for agreeing
to Hayes's proposal, I am yet again struck by how much of
this expository, ground-laying, character-developing interpersonal
tension should have gone on in the first 12 episodes. Imagine
if we'd seen this training session (and just the first one,
not the whole plot) as the opening D-plotline instead of the
groping in "Extinction." Malcolm and Hayes could
have fought at cross-tactics when the Xindi came on board
to collect Faster Pussycat, thus actually supplying a reason why everyone was mowed down so quickly. They could have been
sniping at each other in "The Shipment," leading
Archer to be irritated with them for picking fights during
an away mission, which would have explained why he was such
a jerk (and then became so nice) to Xindi Rogers. Et cetera
et al, you get my point. Then when "Territory" rolls
around, it makes sense for them to be at each other's throats
in the halls, because we've seen three months of simmering.
Buuuuut I suppose we'd have to rehire the DS9 writing staff
for that kind of thinking, and they've moved on to bigger
and better things.
"Why not let them [the MACOs] pass on
some of that expertise?" Archer wonders. Malcolm licks
his lips, fidgets, blinks hard, and finally manages to look
the captain in the eye, with an expression which clearly
says Because you're a blithering numbskull, sir, and the
only reason I haven't killed you yet is that it's such a
nuisance to get bloodstains out of these uniforms. (That,
and his innate politeness won't let him murder his commanding
officer without giving Trip first dibs.) Archer babbles on, "Hayes
and his men [sic] have gone up against a few aliens on this
mission, including the Xindi. They've handled themselves
pretty well." Bull! Against whom did the MACOs do well?
Weak prisoners being poisoned by mining fumes? 18th-century
cowboys with six-shooters? We've seen what the MACOs do when
the Xindi show up: retreat. And get shot. Give me a break.
(Granted, Mal's kids haven't done so much better, but at
least they don't run away when faced with the primary
enemy they were imported to take out.)
Jeez, Trav got a lot of lines this week! And
Montgomery got to show off his ju-jitsu training (or so Dominic
Keating claims).
It's actually almost disturbing to hear him talk at this point -- I keep
expecting something to explode in his face or drop down from
the ceiling and possess him.
The SFX guys on Trek have spoken at conventions
about getting inspiration and materials for planets, nebulae,
explosions, etc. One guy who worked on TNG joked that he'd
come into work one day and found he'd stepped in a pile of
doggie doo, and his coworkers found the resulting texture
so cool they digitized it and started using it as a render
map, giving birth to "the dogs--t planet." Well,
here on ENT, we have the Pizza Anomaly. C'mon, a big bubbling
vaguely horizontal orange and yellow mess -- you're trying
to tell me they didn't come up with that over a Friday afternoon
lunch? (Maybe that's where Lysarian clone mozzarella come
from, and they're seeking vengeance. "Hallo. My name
is Inigo Mozzarella.
You grilled my father. Prrrepare to die.")
You know, I so hope Phlox scanned the inside
of the pod before Trip and Mal opened it to make sure the
atmosphere inside wasn't poisonous ("Nope, just some
dry ice; you'll be fine as long as you don't stick your head
in it for ten minutes.") and that Enterprise's
air won't kill the occupant. Or that said occupant isn't
a bony shrill stuck-up princess in
a dainty lavender gauze gown.
Director David Livingston must have been feeling
experimental for this ep, or maybe he was talking with Roxann
Dawson, because there are an awful lot of strange crane shots.
There didn't seem to be a purpose for shooting from so far
overhead most of the time. Kind of odd.
Phlox tells Archer that the MMA is awake but
in pain. "Thanks for softening him up for me," Captain
de Sade responds. "That saves me a trip to the airlock."
I'm not sure whether I think the MACO went
too far in bloodying Travis. They are training for hand-to-hand
combat, and learning how to save their lives. At some point
you have to learn to block a real punch, not a pulled one.
It is an exercise, but when I was taking a self-defense course
in college, the instructors had protective padding and we
were told to go full force. (I did get my nails inside the
face mask of one guy by accident and took a strip of skin
off his cheek, three days before he had to go to a wedding.
Sorry, Louis.)
I suppose I've been watching Trek too long
(or maybe just TV in general), but when a character announces
things like "I come from a transdimensional realm," I
immediately assume he's lying. And when Archer brings up
the Exploding Zealots' creation myth regarding the spheres'
Makers, I immediately assume he's wrong. These painfully
obvious deductions and bald statements are usually red herrings,
aren't they? I guess I was surprised to see so many people
in the audience taking these declarations at face value.
Lunch with Trip and Malcolm was wonderful,
but Trip's accent wandered away again. Still, two friends
supporting each other, concerned for each other, nagging
and needling and busting on each other -- these two are great.
I still say we could have stayed in the "Twilight" universe
and just watched these two run the show, so to speak, for
the remainder of the season. Note that when the security
team enters Engineering, the first thing Malcolm does is
rush over to Trip to check on him. MMA forgotten, Hayes forgotten
-- is Mister Tucker all right?
The MMA is...a genetically enhanced Suliban?
And they're testing him to see how he adapts to how the spheres
change the conditions of space? So, what, the Xindi or the
Suliban or Future Guy is planning on littering the AQ with
spheres and pizzaing the pre-Federation cultures out of existence?
(I think Frederic Brown had a similar idea in a short story
about the "first" Martians -- Terran children given "adaptine," mediTECH
which allowed them to adapt gradually but quickly to their
environment, so by the time the experiment was done, the
children were able to survive on Mars as "natives" and
they booted the unadapted Terrans off. It's a neat concept.
I could go with that.) He looks a little like Tosk,
too, doesn't he?
It was confusing when the MMA attacked
Phlox, though: he started by choking Phlox (meaning he's
solid) but knocked the doctor out by phasing through his
neck. He can climb the warp core ladder, but the phaser shots
go right through him. And we have no idea what he did to
Trip. Sort of like Dejaren the
Killer Hologram -- he could stick his hand into B'Elanna's
chest, but solidify just enough to grab her heart. How conveeeenient.
And what was he trying to accomplish up there on the warp
core anyway? Destabilize the warp field? Grab the coils?
Go back
in time?
I really liked watching Malcolm during the
all-out fight with Hayes. Once he gets his groove, he's relaxed,
confident, cocky, free of any doubts. Whatever his father
or his past has done to him, in these moments he's purely
on top. He knows exactly what he can do. (Which is why he
was so pissed about shooting badly, because he knows he
can do better.) Unfortunately, the stunt doubles were not
quite as fun to watch, being so obviously stunt doubles,
but what can ya do. And, let us not forget, our favorite
armoury officer ain't a half-bad engineer either -- he was
able to come up with a way to take out the MMA when Trip
was unconscious (and, mysteriously, all the Engineering staff
was missing). Hayes, who is only a soldier, and has very
little experience of wearing multiple hats on a small starship,
couldn't have contributed anything.
At the end, after the MMA has been clobbered,
Malcolm and Hayes are standing next to each other, having
worked together well. They look at the bad guy, then look
at each other, then look back to the bad guy. Moogie
says "And now they start fighting again."
Archer dresses the combatants down. First of
all, if he's telling them not to act like five-year-olds,
why is he scolding them as if they're seven? Janeway told
off Paris
and Kim much better. And secondly, what was with his
bizarre posture? In the beginning of the scene he's shoved
himself into the corner, right hand awkwardly jammed into
his armpit. Was it chilly in the ready room? He was trying
to give himself neuropressure? (Which would mean either it's
really not as intimate as we've been led on to believe, or
Viacom
just broke another decency standard.)
February 18, 2003: Okay, that was good.
I didn't see the end coming.
A fairly broad lift of VOY's "One," with
a little "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (Shatner's
version), a little Sixth
Sense, and a healthy dollop of "the First can't
have corporeal form so pay attention to who isn't touching
anything" from Buffy. Definitely will rewatch
more carefully. That did take all the wind out of the sails
of my "T'Pol's a flaming moron" rant, though...
Breezy and Windy were great this week -- hitting
all the marks, the little leap over the camera, running,
barking, pawing, jumping on Archer. It's nice to see professionals
at work. Kudos to the dogs and the trainers.
We knew we couldn't have a discussion about
Denobulans without some mention of their marriages, but it
was a small one. I liked the societal details; it was interesting
to hear how they've turned lack of space into a happy community
rather than turning on one another.
 |
|
T'Pol: If you collapse, Mister
Phloxo, I am not carrying you up there on my
shoulders.
Phlox: That's hardly the behavior of a loyal
colleague.
T'Pol: Loyal my skinny Vulcan butt, I'm a figment
of your delusion!
Phlox: Well, if I dreamed you up, you ought to be
nicer to
me, don't you think?
T'Pol: Just throw the stupid ring into the core
already.
Phlox: Or Porthosum will bite my finger off trying
to get it?
T'Pol: There'd be less risk of that
if you'd washed your hands after eating that cheese
popcorn.
|
Letters? Apparently they can get some communication
through to the Expanse....
I wonder how many people picked up on the repeated
thought that Trip is willing to sacrifice himself for the
mission, or that in Phlox's delusion Gremlin T'Pol thought
Trip was essentially expendable. I'm willing to consider
that Phlox was basically dreaming out loud and was repeating
Trip's statement, since Phlox insisted that he wasn't ready
to wake Trip up to kill him yet, but how does that tie back
to "Similitude"? Phlox turned his back on his "son" to
save Trip. Archer and Phlox conspired to commit murder to
keep Trip alive because Archer felt that without Trip the
mission could not succeed. Trip patently does not feel that
way. Did anyone tell him exactly what Archer said? What Phlox
did? What was Trip told about Sim?
I loved the shot just before Phlox attempts
to start the warp engines -- the camera angle makes them
look like frantic hobbits, staring up the edge of Mount
Doom. And director Roxann Dawson borrowed a page out of castmate
Robbie McNeill's book and did a brief slow-closing-in shot
on Phlox and Gremlin T'Pol in the galley.
As Phlox is stalking through the cargo bay,
holding a phase pistol and a flashlight, and passes the yellow
barrels, did anyone else wonder if the Snot Monster from "Vox
Sola" was going to be curled up in the corner? (Dawson
directed that one too!)
Nice pass-the-buck squabble between Phlox and
Gremlin T'Pol -- "You're a scientist!" "You
have a dozen degrees!" "I'm a doctor, not an engineer!" "Well,
there's the database, go RTFM!"
Trav is silenced again. Hoshi has a latex moment
(which was pretty creepy and cool). Mal will be so proud
to hear Phlox armed himself immediately and remembered
how to transfer power to the hull plating.
Obviously no Recycled Trek Actors. Food Chain
intact. More commentary Friday.
 |
|
Look, nothin' personal, but...the last
time Ah was in a coma, you and Doctor Mengele over
there went kinda pyscho. Ah'm not sure Ah trust you
two to put me under again. Ah might wake up to find
you wiped out a 200-year-old
civilization to save me or somethin'.
|
February 20, 2004: Another misplaced Halloween
episode! Although if they'd run this around "Impulse" we
would all have been complaining about recycling plots too
quickly, so...
We see very little of our boy this episode,
but as often happens he steals whatever scene he's in. I
was so busy chuckling
over his focus on food at the end that I never noticed he
didn't even acknowledge (Gremlin) T'Pol behind him.
Silent Trav was completely silent this week
-- the only time his lips moved, Phlox was VOing a flashback.
At least Hoshi
got to have some fun with latex.
Kudos to Bakula, or perhaps his woodenness
came in handy: he absolutely did not flinch when the dog
licked
his face.
Say what you want about comparing Talaxian anatomy to Denobulan,
but at least Neelix's
toenails didn't come around the corner a minute before
he did. (Although Phlox's shoes aren't excessively long --
does he have retractable tarsal claws?)
Okay, let's think about this: the crew is told
they're going to be in comas for four days. Why does every
single person remain in uniform, and lie down on top of the covers of their bunks? Wouldn't you think at least
someone would change into pajamas? Also, humans can go about
nine days without food, but only two or three days without
water. In "One," the crew was in stasis, and therefore
TECHnically didn't need food or water -- but the ENT crew
is just unconscious. In "Waking
Moments," Holodoc spoke of having to feed the crew
intravenously after less than 48 hours. Why doesn't Phlox
have the same concerns?
Regarding resisting comas: Look, not for anything, but it
wasn't like they had a choice. Anyone who stayed awake would die.
Period. Not "go insane and maybe you can handle it and
maybe you can't." Why would anyone argue once the decision
was made? Either they're going through the LSD Pizza
Space in comas or they're going around it awake. Those
are the options. Separately, I find that bit of mediTECH
hard to swallow -- it would make more sense to say that people
would go insane -- but it's less difficult than, say, Vulcan
neuropressure.
Quite a bit of lipstick for Trip and Mal in the briefing
scene. Someone needs to tell Makeup to dial back the pink
already.
Do Denobulans sleep or not?
In "Two Days and Two Nights," Phlox
says that they hibernate, but doesn't actually say they don't
sleep. Gremlin T'Pol talking about Phlox getting some sleep
could just be delusional babbling. I ask because if he does
sleep, how does Trip expect him to check whateveritwas
in Engineering
every two hours?
Why was Phlox nekkid? Did
he forget to get dressed? Another sweeps stunt? You'd think
it would
be a little drafty walking
around like that -- and what happened to "male Denobulan
body shyness"? Was it supposed to reflect that he was
unraveling? Or a clue that he actually was alone on the ship?
I added that line to the Drinking
Game as a gag; I didn't
expect it to happen for real!
 |
|
"Do Not Eat"? How did Dawson get into
my kitchen for a prop?
|
The pellet with the
poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from
the palace has the brew that is true. Reading it on the screen,
that's not so hard, is it? :D
Gremlin T'Pol wears red (or at first pomegranate) the entire
time. A little Sixth Sense nod?
The ship has seven decks? Why did I always think it only
had five?...
John Billingsley does a
great job playing "Scared Phlox," pitching
his voice a solid octave higher than normal, overemphasizing
the usual rising-and-falling cadence he uses, the twitching
and gasping. Even if the character is slowly becoming a sociopath,
the actor's got chops.
I know, now, that Gremlin T'Pol of course couldn't touch
anything in Engineering or actually help Phlox, but it's
excruciating to watch her being stupid, and I'm not the only
one who thought it was painful rather than funny. Blalock
mugs nicely; she's just not cut out to be a Vulcan.
February 25, 2004: When I saw "story
by André Bormanis and Mike Sussman" I knew we'd
be in for a damn good ride, and so we were. Taut, interesting,
great character interactions, nice followups, good performances
almost all around, and the only skin we saw was the captain
coming out of the shower.
Of course "Hatchery" brings to mind
the understated eloquence of TOS's "Obsession," and
pays it due homage without being a ripoff. We've had "the
captain's lost his/her marbles" episodes on the other
series, to be certain, but this is only the third time which
I can recall when a captain was justifiably threatened with
being relieved of command (VOY's "Year
of Hell" being the third). Archer was creepily effective
in channeling Willard,
letting the baby CGI bugs crawl up and down his arms and
shoulders. He actually seemed mostly sane except for his
need to take care of the infants -- his reasons were arguable
-- which made it all the worse.
And Archer wasn't all wrong, was he? This is
one of the Great Trek Ideals, showing how we can be compassionate
when dealing with children (like VOY's "Parturition" and "Innocence"),
even when they are the children of our enemies. In another
episode, if Archer wasn't on XindiCrack, this could have
been the beginning of the end of the conflict, when they
see we aren't as ruthless as rumor has it.
 |
|
Trip: Oh, man, bugs! Ah hate bugs. Even CGI bugs. And now they're crawlin'
all over the captain. Ah'm gettin' the screamin' meemies
just lookin' at 'im.
Malcolm: Well, stun him.
Trip: Hey, that's not a bad
idea!
Malcolm: ... to chase the vermin off?
Trip: Oh, yeah, well. That too.
|
Trip had fantastic scenes with everyone. There
isn't an actor on the cast who doesn't do their best work
with Trinneer. Trip's anguish over violating his loyalty
to an old friend, the immediate and increasing realization
that the captain is unraveling, checking himself against
his other most trusted friend, standing up to the captain's
irrationality with unhappiness and dignity -- he was a marvel
to behold. (And I bet Mal gave him a standing ovation for
not letting Archer talk him into doing anything stupid, but
merely sighing and shooting him.)
I was pleased to see the Malcolm-Hayes followup,
and extremely pleased that they had not resolved
their quarrel. It's dismayingly typical of Trek to drop in
and out of that kind of fight, and to see that they still
had issues with one another was refreshingly realistic. It
was equally good to watch them slowly work towards understanding
each other -- precisely the kind of gradual D-plot character
growth which I've been begging for. Mal realized the video
games -- sorry, the simulations were worthwhile and apologized
for being hasty; Hayes admitted that all the tacsims in the
galaxy couldn't prepare him for the reality of space travel.
And speaking of Hayes, this continues to support
my theory about why he and Mal aren't getting along. Hayes
is a soldier. Soldiers follow orders, with very rare exceptions.
Even the head soldier isn't supposed to think too much beyond
orders. Malcolm is an officer. He is supposed to think.
He should be questioning egregiously strange commands which
put the crew at unnecessary risk. Malcolm does understand
and love the chain of command, but he doesn't worship it
blindly. We don't know if Hayes can unbend enough to understand
the Starfleet way. He thinks he can, but I think Malcolm
made the right decision in not trusting Hayes to join the
mutiny. Will Malcolm have to pay later for not trusting the
Major? Will it be thrown back in his face, or used as a taunt
or a plea? Depends on who's writing the script.
Keating turned in an excellent performance,
steely but nuanced. Blalock was fine except for the first
scene in her quarters with Trip, when she paced agitatedly
and repeatedly raised her voice. Steven Culp (Hayes) was
solid and believable. Good direction from franchise newbie
Michael Grossman. Bormanis kept the script well grounded
and Sussman does amazing dialogue.
Damn, Travis put his training to work! He attacked
Hayes! I love it! And Hoshi stood up to the Major too! (Not
that we'd expect less than loyalty from the other senior
officers, but she was able to get a line out of it.)
Why do the "Previously on Enterprise" clips
continue to reference "Twilight"? Not that I didn't
love it, but in this timeline it didn't happen.
Perhaps a little too much lipstick on Malcolm
in the video game scene, but all right otherwise. Bakula's
hair person is having a field day playing with the gray and
brown dyes. He's aging! He's recovering! He's fifty! He's
forty! Quick, cut it even closer to his skull! Now fluff
it forward!
No damage. Food Chain intact. No Recycled Trek
Actors, just MACOs whom we've seen before. More commentary
Friday as usual. Oh, admit it, someday you'll miss reading
that.
February 27, 2004: I apologize for the lousy photo quality of
the last few weeks. The generous and kind Lee of Phasers.net was
very gracious in getting me a few screencaps. Go check out
his funny new page, Counting
the MACOs.
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Ah told you if you started talkin'
about baby gazelles again that Ah'd stun you into next
week. It's
for your own good, Cap'n.
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You know what? I don't care if "Twilight" didn't
happen in this timeline and therefore shouldn't be part of
the previews; I get such joy out of seeing Captain Tucker
again that they can make it part of the preview every week.
I was a little off: in TOS's "Turnabout
Intruder," Janice Lester in Kirk's body was relieved
of duty for aberrant behavior. I'm not 100% sure that counts,
but it's not completely irrelevant to the discussion. As
I recall, the crew notices the captain is acting weirdly
(Scotty says memorably, "I've seen the captain feverish,
sick, drunk, delirious, terrified, overjoyed, boiling mad.
But up to now, I have never seen him red-faced with hysteria.")
and when Spock questions what's going on, the captain accuses
him of mutiny.
I think it's a little specious for Archer to
claim he recognizes the ship design of the varying Xindi
species. Maybe "it doesn't look like the Xindi ships
we've seen before," which would make sense without sounding
stupid or arrogant.
"Put a team together," Archer tells
Malcolm. "And make sure you jam as many of the senior
officers as you can manage into one pod, thereby exposing
the chain of command to the most possible risk." I'm
beginning to agree with Riker about not letting the captain
lead away missions.
Anybody else think the bulbous grapevines of
eggs were going to sprout face-huggers?
Or that the babies would start chawing on Archer when they
hatched?
It was nice to hear Malcolm mention his father
in a positive context -- he sounded amused rather than revolted
when recalling his father's bug collecting. I could see two
anal-retentives fussing over exactly how a wing should lie,
where to place each specimen for best viewing, precise taxonomy,
etc.
I enjoyed seeing all the exchanges of speaking
looks and double-takes between crewmembers, conveying bewilderment,
disbelief, discomfort, amazement, fear, and resignation.
Grossman got a lot of nice performance details out of the
cast. And T'Pol's dryly astonished line in Sickbay --"Do
you plan to hold a funeral?" -- was just classic.
Trip tells T'Pol and Malcolm that restoring
the Xindi reactor will take a third of Enterprise's
anti-matter. "That's not going to leave much for our
torpedoes," muses Lieutenant Trigger-Happy, "...never
mind our engines," he adds graciously for Trip's benefit.
Priorities in order.
"Humans don't throw morality out the window
when things start getting a little tough," Archer preaches
pompously. Audience members across the country snarf and
sputter and wait for Captain de Sade's nose to grow, or lightning
to strike him.... Actually, I was waiting for T'Pol to trot
out the "good of the many" argument at this point.
She knows all kinds of Vulcan Fu, but not one of their basic
proverbs?
Poor Archer. Even his war stories pale in comparison
to the other captains -- Janeway was fighting Cardassians
first-hand, Sisko lost his wife to the Borg and a lot of
friends to the Dominion, Picard was tortured by Cardassians
and assimilated, Kirk was, well, Captain Kirk, and
Archer only has a story about his great-grandfather. Of course,
when he gets home he could tell stories about "when
I was in the Delphic Expanse hunting Xindi," but they'll
have an R rating.
I was carefully watching the scene where Archer
gets dressed, because during the first run-through I wasn't
sure if he put on socks. I'm fairly sure he did; he had enough
time while he was sitting down. But it was amusing to think
that he was so messed in the head that he'd put on his uniform
and forgotten socks.
T'Pol's been skipping her Valium again. When
will Blalock figure out that Vulcans don't raise their voices
in upset? Or quaver, rasp, or, um, gee, show emotions? Sigh.
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Ah, I know what you're thinking, you
berk. You're thinking, "Did he fire six torpedoes
or only five?" Now, to tell you the truth, I've
forgotten myself in all this excitement. But being
as this is the starship Enterprise, the most
powerful ship in the fleet, and will blast your vessel
into atoms, you've got to ask yourself a question: "Do
I feel lucky?" Well, do you, prat?
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Malcolm did an excellent job in command: crisp,
calm, decisive, attempt disability before destruction. He
would have done the Intrepid proud. May still, someday.
Maybe that's why they showed the "Twilight" clip.
Notice he even smirks before ordering torpedoes to
be fired. Truly, this man loves his job.
Moogie was disappointed at how the MACOs failed
to fight back, or even put up any kind of coherent defense.
I know it makes the 'Fleeters look good, but the MACOs are
supposed to be the elite of the elite. They should not have
fallen for a grenade. They should not have let Trip and Mal
get off a quip before stunning. I will say it's consistent;
almost all we've seen of the MACOs is that they're lousy
shots and run away. Maybe Malcolm is right about the simulation
training being insufficient preparation for real space service.
I know that in this instance the 'Fleet uniform
which T'Pol nabbed was not supposed to fit her, but Wardrobe
did the same thing to Blalock in "Twilight." Linda
Park's uniforms are nicely tailored, so it's not like they
don't know how. What gives?
Wow, Trip and the NPC leapt onto that transporter
pad with hardly a second glance, didn't they? That got to
be conveniently safe pretty quickly.
When Trip goes down to stun Archer in the hatchery, a baby
XindiBug skitters by. Watch Trip's face -- ew! ew! bugs! They
continue, and he sees another. eeewwwww! Dammit! (Frankly,
watching the little buggers skitter all over Archer, I was
going "ew!" myself.)
Regarding Archer getting marked, or "reverse-imprinted," by
the eggs: What would have happened once they were all hatched
and safe? Would the imprinting have worn off, or would Archer
have stayed to fuss over them? Or called for a Xindi ship
and then in his delusion decided that the Xindi weren't going
to be good enough parents, and booted them out to care for
the babies himself? wombat61 posited:
More likely would be (actually in keeping
with Archer's misplaced trusting nature) a falsely optimistic
idea that
the arriving Xindi would be absolutely and unconditionally
grateful to the Humans. On the other hand, if one were
to push the insect analogy as hard as it could go, some
colony insects react to other creatures by the scent. If
the babies are continuing to "slather" him with
Xindi parental/ Xindi nest chemicals, he might have been
recognized as a fellow "caretaker." Then again,
they might have just cut him up and fed him to the children
-- too big a risk to take, just like [the Terrans] sending
a distress signal, or letting the Xindi ship get away.
We did see a little of this right before he relieved Malcolm;
he thought that if they'd just explained the situation to
the arriving Xindi, they would take the babies. After all,
if Archer were another insectoid Xindi, that's pretty much
what would happen. (My grandfather was like this too. He
was convinced if you just explained to someone what
they were doing wrong, they would stop it. Never mind that "what
they were doing wrong" could be, like, you know, not
being able to find a job. I loved Papá but sometimes
he just didn't get it.)
I wish we could have seen Archer give more at the end. The
little arm-punch seemed very stiff, rather awkward, almost
formal. I would think a good friend would give Trip's arm
a squeeze, or rest his hand on Trip's shoulder -- something
with longer contact, to indicate an emotional connection,
or affection. You know, a gesture which would reflect on
Archer's part the friendship they're supposed to have? Trinneer
is friggin' amazing, managing to carry that alleged relationship
entirely by himself. You could read in the undercurrents
of every scene how hard he was struggling with the idea that
his friend was unreachable and his captain was going
bonkers. "You're asking me to betray him," he told
T'Pol -- you betray a friend, you mutiny against
a CO. Once Malcolm was swayed, he had no doubts, because
it was all professional. Trip had to get over the hurdle
of going against someone he really cares about. And listen
to how gentle his voice is when he calls up to the ship to
have Phlox standing by -- "Got a patient for him." His
heart is really aching.
Speaking of Trinneer's wonderful performance,
Archer4Trip pointed out a detail which I missed in the last
scene: Trip
comes into the captain's quarters and speaks for a few moments
before sitting. down. Watch his right hand -- he can't stop
clenching and unclenching it. It's a nervous gesture which
very subtly shows how upset he is about what he had to do.
Whether it was Trinneer's idea or the director's, it was
a marvelous
touch.
February 29, 2004: It's a clean sweep! 11
Oscars for Lord of the Rings, including Best Picture
and Best Director! Congratulations!
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T'Pol channels Picard on the Stargazer,
but lacking a shirt to tug down (and having too much
hair), she fails to come up with a miraculous saving-their-butts
maneuver worthy of being named after her.
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March 3, 2004: Damn. Daaaaamn.
It took the other modern Trek series three season to hit
their stride, and ENT is right on time. Wow. Okay, several
times I was making a joke and it promptly happened (T'Pol: "I'll
be in the Ready Room." evay: "Crying my
eyes out." -- Wait, I was joking! Archer approaches
the weapon cradle. evay: And it's gone. -- Wait, I was
just kidding!), but that was sort of cool. This was a damn
fine episode.
Manny Coto finally starts penance for his last
two episodes (and B&B for the last two seasons) with
this sizzler. Slightly strange camera angles but we'll let
it go. I loved loved loved the cut-the-narration fades
-- we know Trip and Trav get out safely, we don't need to
see it, cut to the chase -- and diving right in and out of
the story with no opener and no finish. Very cool storytelling.
Speaking of penance -- whoa! Allofasudden Archer
grows a brain and a conscience and pops in the retractable
spine? Did he get visited by the three Ghosts of Oz Christmas?
Why can't we have this Archer every week? This was really
impressive. He remembered who died, and WHY, and at long
last tries to offer up something in exchange.
How odd, but not incomprehensible, that once
Archer made the decision to go on the suicide mission, he
was...almost normal. Buoyant, amused, relaxed, charming.
He realized that there were no more consequences which he
could do anything about, and that released him from concern
or fear. Chilling to watch. Good job by Bakula. Let's give
the man credit when he gets it right!
Continuity out the wazoo, for everyone. Trav
and Hoshi not only get lines, they get to do their jobs.
I guess, thinking about it, we did get a decent amount of
foreshadowing for the trans-dimensional Sphere Builder aliens
-- I'm just going to call them the Tesseracts,
because it's easier to type -- reshaping the Expanse to fit
their species. We were guessing that the Xindi were being
manipulated from the future. We pretty much knew the Terrans
did not blow up the new Xindi homeworld. So why does it feel
so contrived? Is it the time-travel aspect? If Daniels can
yank Archer out of his ship, why doesn't he just grab Degra
and the Council? They could talk to future Xindi and not
need Archer at all. And does this fantastic cliff-hanger
mean Archer will be off the ship for several episodes? (No
wonder the next one is called "Damage.")
Trip was wonderful as XO and de facto counselor.
Gentle and supportive but firm, acknowledging grief but not
letting it overwhelm him. I wish we'd had more time to see,
for example, Trip saying his final goodbye to his captain
and friend, because that would have really made us wonder
if Archer was getting back.
See, the problem with T'Pol having been an
emotional flake for most of the season is that now, when
she needs to display her emotions to make a point, she just
comes across as being typically-for-T'Pol whiny and hysterical.
There's no oomph to it. Could she be in love with Archer?
Sure, why not, I'll buy that. Actually I don't care. Which
is sad, because we should care. But she's worn out her welcome,
and I only like about a third of Archer's multiple personalities
(like whichever one was in control this week), so watching
her dissolve into a pointy-eared puddle does nothing for
me. (Memo to Makeup: the ear appliances looked very bad in
the Ready Room scene.)
T'Pol is officially never allowed to take command
of Enterprise again. She's a worse driver than Troi.
Okay, seriously, she folds in crisis. Repeatedly. She gets
the ship and the starboard nacelle FOOMs in fear. (It's the
warp engine equivalent of soiling one's pants.) The Bridge
explodes and she just sits there, frozen with indecision.
And because she just had several weepy-woman scenes, it adds
another layer to her tharn incompetency: is she locked up
because she's on emotional overload, or because she's just
a lousy leader in the crunch? Not like either way it's a
good reflection on her. Captain Tucker knew what to do. Harrumph.
Holy catfish I can't believe the ship got beaten
to bits! I'm going to assume that something stops the attack
at the beginning of the next episode, because the XindiSnakes
would not allow them to limp off.
Food Chain just barely intact. No new Recycled
Trek Actors. Some damage. More comments later.
March 5, 2004: Sorry if there's a lot
of Archer commentary this week on a Trip-centric site, but
as has happened almost all season, our boy is not the focus
of the episode.
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