Enterprise 04 Mar 03

[myrdden]

Plot

Archer and Malcolm are accused of espionage on a pre-Warp planet.


Thoughts...

At first I was a bit ticked off as the plot summary sounded suspicously similar to the previous episode. Then I thought, "Here we go again...Archer and Tripp trapped and wrongfully accused..now Archer and Malcolm are trapped and wrongfully accused. Next week it'll be Archer and T'Pol trapped and..." At this rate Archer will have been trapped with pretty much the whole crew by the end of season three! But I digress...

The actual story wasn't too bad. It was definitely an homage to TOS episode with the Iotians but it was handled reasonably well. The episode had good pacing and decent dialogue. Archer's admission that the Vulcans were right in the way they approached Earth in the beginning wasn't overly insightful, but it did broaden his character a bit. The small dialogue between Archer and T'Pol at the end seemed fitting and foreshadows more of the underlying ideas of the future Federation.

That being said, the sub-plot with Tripp (since there seems to be no one else on the ship) while somewhat humourous revealed that the writers are not beyond using technology as a "deus ex machina". I have a difficult time believing that they still have the Suliban Pod that they captured from the first episode. Apparently they have so much room and resources on Enterprise that they can store this craft for almost two years! That really strained the credibility of the plot since the vessel came equipped with a cloaking device that allowed a rescue team to get Archer and Malcolm without being really seen.

All in all, the episode wasn't too bad (except for the Suliban ship).

My rating: 6/10 - the Suliban solution soured the plot too much for me.

 

[rangerjohn]

Either this is a rerun or they have really run out of ideas. They used that pod just that way in a previous episode. I believe it was in season two.

 

[IceBear]

Rerun from earlier in the season (or late last season actually). They really should have picked a different one considering the previous episode.

IceBear

 

[myrdden]

A re-run? Huh...must have missed that somewhere up the line.

Move along...nothing to see...

Myrdden

 

[Mark CMG]

A re-run? Huh...must have missed that somewhere up the line.

Move along...nothing to see...

Myrdden

It was one of the more hotly debated episodes, IIRC, and probably well worth discussing again in light of the episodes that have come since and the discussions we have had in the meantime.

 

[orbitalfreak]

It was one of the more hotly debated episodes, IIRC, and probably well worth discussing again in light of the episodes that have come since and the discussions we have had in the meantime.

I think this is the original thread on the show.

Missed it tonight, but at least it was a re-run.

 

[Mark CMG]

I think this is the original thread on the show.

Missed it tonight, but at least it was a re-run.

Rereading the old thread, it wasn't as "hotly" debated as I remember. Nevertheless, I think it is an episode where they picked a good subject to handle and then fell short of how to wrap it up.

It's one of those episodes where they seemed to want to introduce technology that we've never specifically seen rather than rely on the limitations of the times. Honestly, I really like this one right up until they say, "Ya know what? We've got that old Suliban pod just lying around in the hold. How come we've never used this before even though we shouldn't have any real understanding of it?"

I could just never believe that if they got ahold of that tech they wouldn't either high-tail it back home to disect and reproduce it, or be forced by the Vulcans to hand it over to them for analysis. It's simply too powerful a device to just ignore and have "lying around" without serious consideration. It's a huge answer to so many of the problems that plague them.

Granted in their future there will be treaties against the use of cloaking technology, but in their times, being so vulnerable, why the heck wouldn't they immediately try to develop it so they could peacefully explore the galaxy with minimal danger?

 

[Darius101]

I agree with you that they wouldn't have had it just sitting in the Hold. It would have been transported to the Vulcan Science Academy or to HQ for R&D to take apart. That Cloaking tech sounds important doesn't it.

I liked the episode as well up to the point when Tripp tell Archer we should use the stomach ache approach to try to escape and Archer shoots it down without trying it.
Same with using the Cloaking ship (i kept thinking close the dam door maybe that is why it doesn't work.

They also had an interesting touch there at the end showing Tripps hand with the invisible hole in it.

Darius

 

[Orius]

Rerun from earlier in the season (or late last season actually). They really should have picked a different one considering the previous episode.

It's on now here, and yes, it's a rerun fro earlier this season.

 

[Orius]

Plot

Archer and Malcolm are accused of espionage on a pre-Warp planet.


Thoughts...



The actual story wasn't too bad. It was definitely an homage to TOS episode with the Iotians but it was handled reasonably well. The episode had good pacing and decent dialogue. Archer's admission that the Vulcans were right in the way they approached Earth in the beginning wasn't overly insightful, but it did broaden his character a bit.

Speaking of Iotians, doesn't anyone else find it funny that Archer and Malcolm go through all the trouble to retrieve the communicator, yet in the original "Piece of the Action", no one seems concerned about McCoy leaving his behind? "A Piece of the Action" was TOS episode that established PD. And both worlds seem to have equivalent technology levels.

Anyway, I'm guessing from this episode that Archer respects the Vulcans' views about cultural contamination and understands it. I think later Starfleet captains however, might not share the same views, and causes enough problems for the PD to be established.