Enterprise 2002-10-09 (1 Viewer)

[Francois Caron]

We may be in for a good run of episodes at this time. This week's episode has a decent storyline and some interesting elements. And unlike previous episodes, this one doesn't preach anything in particular.
Briefly (no spoilers), this episode follows last week's minefield disaster. The Enterprise has a gaping hole on the left side of the saucer section, compromising its warp capability. It'll take a few years for the ship to get back home at reduced speed.
So against their own arrogant tendencies, they actually *gasp!* ask for help from anyone who can hear them! Oh the humiliation!
They manage to hobble to an unknown spacedock where their damages will be repaired in record time in exchange for a rather small payment. While everyone is thrilled about this, the captain has a few reservations about this agreement. If it sounds too good to be true...
This one is worth watching. Enjoy!

 

[Jack Briggs]

I'll hold you to your word, Francois! The HTF Trek Mafia will be watching.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

uuh, this episode was pretty neat, but lord did anyone see the previews for next week? Wow!

It seems like
T'Pol really gets around!

 

[Everlasting Gobstopper]

Let me be the first to say: if only Mayweather had stayed dead... really, he has no purpose on the show.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

he has no purpose on the show

no kidding!

 

[Everlasting Gobstopper]

Yeah, when Hoshi was talking about "another one of his practical jokes" I was left scratching my head. Looks like they tried to give him some sort of character trait other than "boomer" post mortem.

 

[Martin Fontaine]

Francois: What station do you watch this on? I watch mine on Space on Sundays, I know it plays on UPN on Wednesday but I don't have that one. You said before that it airs on tuesdays also somewhere else. Which channel is that?

 

[Greg_S_H]

With the exception of a dry spell of a couple weeks last year (where I literally was only watching to see the Next On segment at the end), I suspect I like this show better than many of you do. As such, I've enjoyed the second season so far.
Tonight's was pretty good. I missed the first few minutes, so I didn't see the credits. Whoever was responsible for the art direction/cinematography did a bang-up job. Granted, the station wasn't necessarily anything we haven't seen before, but it looked pretty sharp, and the exterior shots of the armatures in operation were nice. Nice use of color when Archer's face was lit up yellow, and the shot from behind the viewscreen was interesting.
This episode seemed to be a statement of a newfound commitment to continuity. Besides carrying over Enterprise's damage and Malcolm's injury, there were several references to episodes past: the scratch Trip put on the hull in the pilot episode, the alien corpses in the second episode, and I believe the doctor referred to events that happened in a past episode (the Risa shore leave episode? I couldn't remember the incident specifically). I hope this continues.
The mention of the alien corpses did weaken the ending a bit. The human batteries powering the Matrix ( ) were arrayed a little too similarly to said aliens. There probably could have been a better solution to the station's operation. Also, I was a bit surprised Archer left the others for dead. I think certain other Trek captains would have tried to save them, "scrambled" brains or no. I'm not saying I disagree with the decision, though. Fact is, I was wondering if putting the entire ship at risk to save Mayweather was wise.
Anyway, an enjoyable episode. I was looking away and thus missed much of the Next On, but I imagine it won't sit well with those opposed to Trek T&A.

 

[Jeremy Illingworth]

, I was a bit surprised Archer left the others for dead

Me too. I thought it was funny when Maybeary asked about the others and the doctor said that most of them had too much brain damage to be saved. Just most? So we don't care about the ones who could have been saved?

jeremy

 

[Nelson Au]

I like the attempt at a creepy ending. Maybe the station owners will come back and get their "payment" for services rendered.

I guess Malcom and Trip got out of the doghouse pretty fast to save Mayweather. Onless they are grounded after they left the station.

While Archer agreed to the terms of the repairs, it seemed to me a bit bad to go and destroy the station after they repaired the ship. Will the ship be perfect now? Or will the repairs go bad now that they reniged on the deal. Of course what they did to Mayweather was a bad thing from the human's point fo view. But I can't help but wonder if Archer's actions will have reprocussions.

Nelson

 

[Scooter]

The episode was directed by Belana (sp) Roxan Dawson from Voyager. And yeah..she did a REALLY nice job!

Am I the only one who saw the ending as the beginings of The Borg?

 

[Jeffrey_Scotts]

Scooter:

Am I the only one who saw the ending as the beginings of The Borg?

Yes, in fact I thought that from nearly mid espisode due to the way it felt. The computer reminded me of the "that does not compute" from the old star trek show where Kirk was talking with that thing they beamed aboard (sorry forget name of episode). The end certainly felt like we were getting a glimpse into the orgin of the Borg. They had yet to perfect thier transformation and were selective about whom they converted. Maybe they didn't start with whole collectives at first and slowly progressed with each generation/revision of Borg? Anyway, this could be a direction they are going, it does have a certain appeal I must admidt and I haven't cared for most of Enterprise so that's high praise from me.
Jeffrey

 

[Jason Seaver]

Not bad, but not much better than not bad. Again, it's a show where what happens in the hour would take up ten minutes of "Farscape", slowly paced enough to make all the little incongruities obvious (and featuring the teaser that doesn't). It does feature some very nice effects and a neat idea or two, but seems to do the absolute minimum it can with them. Ms. Dawson's workmanlike direction didn't help much; I never really got an ominous feeling off the station until the last shot. It's a very by-the-numbers script, too - I can't think of anything really surprising.

Am I the only one who saw the ending as the beginings of The Borg?

I certainly saw it as Borg-like, but aside from the Borg having been around a while, this wasn't really their M.O. I like that Archer and company don't always get an explanation about who their foes are and what they want, though - it makes the galaxy seem like a bigger, more dangerous place than it is in TNG (and, to an extent, TOS).

 

[Daniel Kikin]

I was a bit surprised Archer left the others for dead

I was also surprised when Archer left the rest for dead, but considering that the station was attacking Enterprise and the condition of all the other bodies, it made sense.

 

[Mike Broadman]

They are really playing up Archer's ultra-care for dead crew members. It's very reminiscent of Janeway.

The Borg thing had crossed my mind, but I believe the Borg are actually from the Delta quadrant. I really hope they don't try to make everything about something we've already seen. I do like the idea of just having mysterious stuff lying around, as well as the ominous yet obvious ending where
the station is repairing itself

 

[Francois Caron]

Francois: What station do you watch this on? I watch mine on Space on Sundays, I know it plays on UPN on Wednesday but I don't have that one. You said before that it airs on tuesdays also somewhere else. Which channel is that?

It plays on Edmonton's A-Channel on Tuesday nights at 8 PM Mountain time or 10 PM Eastern time. On Bell ExpressVu, you can find them on channel 222. They're included in the English language locals package. If you've only subscribed to the French language locals package, you can add a ton of English channels, including A-Channel, for just a few extra bucks per month (the "Partout au Canada" selection for $3.95 I believe).

The show also plays on Wednesday nights on City-TV I believe (can't remember which channel), but you need to subscribe to the US Networks package to get that one. It's not part of the English locals package which I always found a bit strange considering they're a broadcast station.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Well, hold on to your seats: It was the first episode that I'd be willing to call "good," though with some serious caveats. And it's the first episode of either this or the inaugural season that truly had me interested in what would happen in the next act.

The attempt at conveying the "creepiness" of the repair station could have been more effective, however.

This episode had a very TOS-ish feel to it.

However, if I were the captain of Earth's most advanced spacecraft, far out there in the interstellar wilderness, I'd be a bit reticent to turn my starship over to an alien, automated repair station. I'd swallow my pride and radio for help from the Vulcans. I mean, we're talking about an unknown technology here. It's this thing about taking the universe for granted that irks me about this show and its much-maligned predecessor.

So that's how I assess what I believe to be the best episode of Enterprise thus far.

 

[Roberto Carlo]

Well, hold on to your seats: It was the first episode that I'd be willing to call "good," though with some serious caveats. And it's the first episode of either this or the inaugural season that truly had me interested in what would happen in the next act.

That's remarkable. Just as I read your posting, I saw a pig fly past my window.

 

[BradG]

I loved this episode - still can't believe that there are so many people being critical of it.

I thought Roxann's direction was great, the story was very intriguing as well. Kind of a soylent Green type of idea, with people being used to run the repair station.

This is the type of story that I have been hoping we would be getting. There are plenty of unknowns that Kirk and Co. encountered in their time...and this is way before that. I agree that it had a TOS feel to it...and that's a GOOD thing.

 

[Dan Paolozza]

I thought this episode was good, too. It looks like the show is progressing, even if not fast enough for some.

Two things bothered me, one already mentioned. They could have creeped-up the station a bit more.

I thought the "sore thumb" was Hoshi's little sniffles while in front of Maryweather's body. Aside from being a forced character tidbit, it was totally unconvincing.

I liked that Archer just got his man back and blew out of there like there was no tomorrow. No magic, save-everyone, happy-happy solution in the last 8 minutes. They just bit the bullet and did what they had time for - getting the hell out.

I've always been able to forgive the seemingly "mindless curiosity" that is often necessary for Trek plots. It's common to every series, and not something I get hung up on (and I'm not assuming you're hung up on it, Jack).