For those who are new to my episode reviews, you can find the post where I establish my point criteria here
Overview – Archer and his crew discover an unusually large comet and
decide to investigate and study it. While they are doing this, they make a
recording to send back to an elementary school on Earth. When a Vulcan ship
starts to tail the Enterprise, Archer becomes suspicious. When Trip intercepts
a coded message from the Vulcans to T’Pol, he gets Hoshi to decode it, and in
doing so he learns an unfortunate personal matter of hers. Malcolm and Travis
are sent to retrieve some core samples from the comet, and soon find themselves
in trouble. Now, Archer must decide whether he should ask the Vulcans for help
or try to rescue his crewmen alone.
Score: 7/10 – I have to admit that I like this
episode. It is by no means a heavy hitter, and though Reed and Mayweather are
in peril on the comet, there is really no reason to fear for their well-being,
so the threat level is relatively low here. What makes this episode interesting
is the glimpse and insight into the characters that we are still coming to
learn about. Keep in mind this was the next episode after the very tense
introduction to Shran in “The Andorian Incident”, so taking things down a
couple notches is fine. Almost every main character is given some added depth
here. While it initially seems that Travis and Malcolm in trouble on the comet
is the main story, it is quickly over-shadowed by the beginning of the
Trip-T’Pol arc. There is humor and a touch of home that comes from the letter
that the crew make for the elementary school in Kenmare, Ireland (which, if I
may add, was a nice touch to not have it to a school in the USA). Vanik is a
particularly unpleasant character, who seems to be bent on reinforcing Archer’s
reasons to dislike Vulcans. He is dismissive, patronizing, and just plain rude.
This makes it even more impactful when Archer is given a moment of truth as he
is forced to swallow his pride for the sake of his stranded crewmen. Overall,
this is a pleasant and light character-focused tale.
Relevance – 2 points. A point scored here for the
first mention of Koss, who is T’Pol’s fiancée. Koss will go on to play a very
significant role in T’Pol’s life and in the overall story. A second point is
being scored for the beginning of the T’Pol/Tucker relationship. This is
arguably the most compelling relationship that Enterprise has, and it all
begins here. Interestingly enough, it is a piece of pecan pie that seems to be
the catalyst, as Tucker suggest T’Pol try some for the sheer sake of enjoying
food. The end scene where see that T’Pol takes him up on that offer seems to
signal that something is in store for these two.
Continuity – 2 points. Character continuity is good
here. Archer continues to feel that he has to prove himself to the Vulcans by
going at a problem alone. T’Pol is understandably upset at Trip for reading her
communique, and Trip is understandably remorseful for doing so. When Phlox is
providing an answer to the school children, he is in full Phlox-form when he
jumps in with the answer and goes off on lengthy response that Archer has to
cut short. There is one little inconsistency that continues to not sit right
with me. While Vulcans are said to not have a particular interest in things
like comets, the comet is discovered to be rich in eisillium, a rare element. Why
the Vulcans do not mention this during the remainder of the episode seems odd
to me. I think that this would fall under the story continuity, and therefor I
can keep universe continuity intact.
Character Development – 3 points. The fact that we begin the
T’Pol/Tucker relationship by revealing that Trip is the only person to know
about T’Pol’s arranged marriage. The whole misunderstanding about the encrypted
message serves as a catalyst for these two. We also see some significant growth
as Archer is forced to ask the Vulcans to help rescue Travis and Malcolm from
the comet. This is not easy for Johnathan, and yet is an important first step
in him eventually accepting that the Vulcans are going to be important allies in
the future. As previously mentioned, almost everyone gets some attention here.
Travis has hardly ever seen snow, and has a blast building a snowman (complete
with pointy ears). Even Malcolm shows his lighter side by adding the nose as
well as making a joke about the lack of symmetry in the hole they blast on the
comet’s surface. If there is nothing else to be said about this episode, you
can say that it is character-driven.
Social Commentary – 2 points. This part was a little tricky
to nail down. I did think that there was something to be said about Tucker’s
sincere remorse over reading T’Pol’s message, and with Archer having to ask for
help from the Vulcans. T’Pol turned to Trip to discuss the things that were
troubling her. All of these lead to a theme about having to take that first
step in trusting someone. Trip betrayed the trust of T’Pol, and yet she still
found it within herself to trust him in seeking advice. Archer had to take the
proverbial leap of faith to trust the Vulcans, which led to the rescue of
Mayweather and Reed.
Cool Stuff – 2 points. I loved the snowman. Yes, I
said it, though no pun was intended by including a snowman in the “Cool Stuff”
section. I thought that was such a cool little part of the story. I also am
going to score a point for the scene where the crew is answering the questions
to the elementary class. I love that scene. It adds some humanity to everyone
involved, from Archer’s attempt to speak to children he cannot see, to Phlox’s
enthusiasm about germs, to Tucker’s dismay at having to answer a “poop
question”. It was really good stuff.
If you would like to check out my other episode reviews for Enterprise, simply click here.
If you would like to read an episode review from any of the Trek series, click the following link to get to the series catalog. If the episode you want reviewed has not been done yet, then feel free to request it in the comments and I will see what I can do.
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