STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE 10/08/'03: "Impulse" (1 Viewer)

[Rex Bachmann]

episode title: "Impulse"
episode: #57
original airdate: October 8, 2003
writer: Jonathan Fernandez
story: Jonathan Fernandez & Terry Matalas
director: David Livingston
synopsis: "Boarding a damaged Vulcan vessel adrift in an asteroid field, Archer and his team discover that the remaining crew have mutated into violent, zombie-like creatures. When T'Pol begins to succumb to the mutation, the crew must fight their way out before they lose her forever."

Must be getting near to Hallowe'en.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Night of the living ... oh, hell, somebody fill in the blank:____.

(If it's a 2003 equivalent, sort-of "gift" like "Cat's Paw," I might relent.)

 

[Jason Seaver]

Hey, fair's fair. Two weeks ago, T'Pol was the only one immune. Good to see some sort of karmic balance here.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Zombie Vulcans. Okay.

Well, I don't see B&B in the story/writer area, so it might be fun.

 

[PhilipG]

It wasn't bad.

It dragged in the middle somewhat. But it would have made an excellent 30minute episode.

Archer's decision at the end, however, was ridiculous. It's not just the safety of his crew (inc. T'Pol) he's jeopardising, it's the fate of everyone on Earth! And he justifies this by saying he'd be less human for leaving her on a safe planet to be picked up at the end of the mission?! WTF?!

(edited to remove spoiler tags)

 

[Qui-Gon John]

Phil, you forget the first rule of Star Trek, you never leave behind or lose a main cast member except in the rarest of shake-ups, like Tasha Yar and Jadzia Dax.

 

[PhilipG]

Well, exactly, the precedent has been set twice!

Anyway it wouldn't mean losing her completely. Just for the duration of the mission into the Expanse, or until Phlox stumbles upon a cure. And the writers could easily have her dropped off on a planet, and then have her captured by the Xindi. Blalock would still be be available for the all-important "sexy torture scenes".

Picard would have left her. Kirk certainly would have (after he'd had his way with her anyway). Where's Ceti Alpha V when you need it?

(edited to remove spoiler tags)

 

[Will_B]

Anyone else play the activision games on which the whole "look" of this episode was based? It was nice to see them recreate the look of the games, from the sparks and flashing lighting right down to the metal beam over the hole in the corridor, and it was nice to see them doing new things, but the zombie element was a bit overdone.

Blayloc was good to watch as always.

 

[Greg_S_H]

It's actually been set thrice, if you count the one-episode-long marooning of the infected Janeway and Chakotay.

My vote is on Flight of the Vulcan Dead.

 

[Nelson Au]

I have not seen that video game, but the episode definitely had that feel to it, particularly when the Vulcans were coming after them at the end and they were in a shooting gallery, shooting each one as they came out to the bulkhead.

There were shades of Armageddon with the attempt by Mayweather and Tripp on the asteroid, and The Empire Strikes backs when flying through the asteroids. And shuttlepod 2 to the rescue at the end ala Star Wars. The effects for a TV show have definitely rivaled those films. These comparisons for me were not an issue.

There was good tension and I wasn't expecting this to be a "trapped and can't escape" kind of show. It was well done and an enjoyable hour. Blalock did a fine turn, particularly expressive in her performance on the shuttlepod prior to boarding the Seleya. Bakula finally had a chance to dial back that new Archer growl as he tried to focus T'Pol on finding an escape path. And there was a quiet moment for T'Pol to add a tad of background information on the early days of Vulcan to the MACO guy, expanding what Spock reveals on All Our Yesterdays.

Again a lot of good work on the asteroid field effects and the music. And a shade of TNG/DS9 with A/B stories concurrently playing out during the action. That was nice to see executed so well as each story was a separate plot, but contributed to the thrust of the main story. Maybe contrived as a means to keep Tripp from saving them, but it was not an issue for me.

Interesting how they are not consistent with which MACO team member they take. Likely a way to experiment with their use so they don't get locked into an actor(s) in case these guys don't work out.

My 2 cents, Nelson

 

[Kwang Suh]

Run of the mill plot. But great, great effects - the faraway shot of Enterprise entering the field was simply awesome. And fantastic music.

This episode was just an excuse to shoot things. On that level, it wasn't too bad. On the other hand, the zombie Vulcans were a bit much!

 

[Shane D]

I didnt undestand how letting go your emotions turned you into zombies, and im also tired of thier new 'action' filming. When it gets fast and furious, it seems like they throw away frames to make it even more speedy and jerky. To me thats just annoying, it distracts rather than adding anything to the action.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

I thought it was pretty good but it sure has a long way to go.
Smallville was much better.

Saw this today and you have to wonder who those cat suits are Really for. Not the character but for ratings and little teen boys.

From Braga....

Executive producer Brannon Braga called the choice to change T'Pol's costumes primarily a creative decision, yet costume designer Bob Blackman claimed, "There wasn't enough raw sex appeal."

Blackman, who spoke to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, said that an important shift for the newly redubbed Star Trek: Enterprise was to dress T'Pol, "the logic-loving, unemotional Vulcan portrayed by Jolene Blalock in as little as possible."

"The ratings dropped," Blackman observed. "If you want the show to run seven years, you have to think about demographics."

"Obviously, there's the ratings," Braga said, but he credited T'Pol's leaving the Vulcan high command with the impetus to change her outfits.

"The main thing is, it was believable that this change was happening," Braga added.

"I always want things to be more interesting, more unique," Blackman said, recalling how he enjoyed "de-Borgifying" Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager.

"It was all based on how you keep it looking very sensual and keep the young boys around," he said.


SAD!!!


And zap2it.com

Season three also meant a makeover for Blalock, who spent the first two seasons with her blond hair tucked under a short, dark wig and her hourglass figure poured into a drab, high-necked cat suit. The wig is longer and lighter, and the cat suits now come in brighter colors and have plunging necklines -- but aren't any easier to wear.

"The blue one is the least comfortable," she says, "because it's not a stretchy material. It doesn't have a lot of give. Once you're strapped in, you're strapped in."

During filming, Blalock usually has her back zipper undone. "That's just so I can use the restroom without having to ask permission," she says.

Because, in the future, women would certainly choose to wear skintight cat suits. "Yes, of course," Blalock says with a laugh. "The liberated woman, at least. It's just the male viewers. It's the boys."

While earlier seasons hinted at sexual tension between the emotionally controlled T'Pol and the easygoing Archer, producers have shifted that focus to T'Pol and Enterprise's chief engineer, southerner "Trip" Tucker (Connor Trinneer) -- as evidenced by the topless (if discreet) mutual-massage scene in the season premiere.

Blalock laughs at the thought. "They write it, I do it. I don't see it, personally. T'Pol's a Vulcan -- how could she have a relationship? And he's so emotional. My goodness, he's like a nut case. So how are this nut case and this person who has her stuff together going to find common ground? Maybe that's the basis.

"We'll find out, because I'm not sure how that's going to evolve."

 

[TheLongshot]

I didnt undestand how letting go your emotions turned you into zombies

It was more like they suffered brain damage. It was a little bothersome that they did basically treat them like zombies, and not have them communicate. How else could they coordinate themselves? It was a combination of not being consistant with their inteligence level.

Jason

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Not bad. If they were supposed to be so paranoid how could they all be working together to try and kill Archer et al?

Archers decision seemed strange. Surely the could just use Trillium D in the critical areas like engineering and the nacelles. You could even do the the bridge and have T'pol confined to quarters till a cure is found. Then they could have other story lines feeding off her confinement.

 

[Tony Whalen]

I didnt undestand how letting go your emotions turned you into zombies

Well, as Jason said above, it was a matter of brain damage. Their neural pathways (or whatever the term Phlox used) were corrupted. I can accept that. It just happens to be that the first thing to go on the Vulcans is their emotional control. And the thought of a shipload of insane Vulcans...man! MY only nit-pick was that the Vulcans didn't seem to display typical Vulcanoid strength-levels. They were speedy as all get out, yes..but why weren't they considerably stronger than the humans? (That goes for T'Pol as well...)


Personally, I enjoyed the episode. I wasn't expecting something to keep me on the edge of my seat most of the time. But it did just that.

The asteroid field was awesome (and I can't believe it's already been compared to Star Wars...Lucas didn't create the idea of an asteroid field folks! Sheesh) ...as were some of the new shots. And the two massive asteroids slamming into each other as Trip and Merryweather sped away was too cool.

I *love* that they've made the Trellium-D (or whatever it's called) dangerous to someone. I was concerned that their plans to line the hull with this stuff would negate the whole point of this mysterious "Delphic Expanse"...but they found a way to keep that plot-bit active. Well done.

I enjoyed this quite a bit.

... and if anyone talked during a movie as much as Phlox does, I'm sorry, but I'd have to mutilate them.

So far, Season 3 is a huge improvement. (Except for the whole theme-song thing...)

 

[PhilipG]

... and if anyone talked during a movie as much as Phlox does, I'm sorry, but I'd have to mutilate them.

I'd have kicked him out my HT faster than you can say Joe Six Pack. Trip too.

The other Starfleet personnel (extras) in that room were simply not realistic. It's like they were completely deaf. Unless they're all crawling sycophants who don't want to shush their superior officers...

 

[Nelson Au]

Re: insane Vulcans, yeah I can agree it looked a little on the extreme side.

I like that they may have explained what in the Delphic Expanse had caused that earlier Vulcan crew to go mad and bodies go inside out as was shown in the last episode from last season. The only thing the Trillium-D did was make them crazy as they tried to use it to protect the hull so the spacial anomolies will not make their bodies go inside out.

 

[Anthony Hom]

this episode, which was clued from the season 2 finale, was that bit that looked like Event Horizon. This episode plays out the same way. They come upon a ship which has an effect on the crew. They are stuck on it until the end and they have to blow it up, and one crew member gets affected (Sam Neill in EH, Blalock in En), not to mention a dream sequence at the end. The same nightmare happened at the end of Event Horizon. I guess the writers are once again paying "Homage" to a film.

Lets not forget the other "homages", like that escape at the end is taken from Star Wars, not to mention that scene in Raijin where they break through the airlock is the exact scene from Star Wars ANH when the break into airlock at the opening.
Also, didn't the zombies walking through the ship was another "homage" to every borg episode in which they did the same thing.

Can't these writers find something original to do? "Homages" are supposed to be subtle, these stand out like a sore thumb.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Can't these writers find something original to do? "Homages" are supposed to be subtle, these stand out like a sore thumb.

I think they are writing each episode with their handy Science Fiction cliche' workbook.

A little bit of this. A little big of that...