[TV] Enterprise 12-03

[ChaoZ]

Great conclusion to a great story arc.



Spoilers...




I was surprised at how emotional the Administrator got and how none of the others were willing to make him step down because of it.

The evolution of the vulcans surely is an interesting thing.


That Andorian torture device was really cool as well, the actor that played the ambassador did an good job acting out different emotions.

The Romulan thing at the end kinda surprised me. I don't like how the writers feel compelled to throw something in at the last 30 seconds just to make a dramatic conclusion.

[D.A.Lewis]

I hope the next episode is a three parter. So far both multi=parters have been great. Hard to believe Spinner was on almost a month ago. BTW, the actor who played the Vulcan ambassador used to have his own show in the late 80's: Alien Nation.

And I agree, the very ending was cheap.

[Odin]

the actor who played the Vulcan ambassador used to have his own show in the late 80's: Alien Nation.

OH! I wondered why he looked so familiar. Alien Nation was a pretty decent show (the original theatrical movie wasn't bad either.)

I agree that this was an excellent episode. I don't think the emotionalism of the Administrator was that incongruous - after all, he was the leader of the cultural movement that turned farthest away from Surak's teachings. Also, when somebody is that respected (as we learned in one of the two prior episodes that he was) it's naturally going to be hard for people close to him to decide that he's really gone off the deep end. Several of them probably even agreed with him.

Overall, it had a good story, good acting, a nice space battle (the scene where the Vulcan ships warped in was pretty cool) and brought the trilogy (as well as the T'Pol marriage issue) to a decent resolution. I have to admit, I'm a sucker for the "oooh" twist at the end of the episode. I think I actually said "wow" or something to that effect when I realized the shadowy figure was a Romulan (which I think was about 1.5 seconds before he stepped into full view). Granted, I'd have preferred if they'd been creative enough to foreshadow it - hint at something wierd, drop little tidbits that make us thing something (preferably something incorrect) is going on, then WHAM smack us with what's really happening. But honestly, after watching Star Trek for the last thirty years I just don't expect the level of depth and complexity that you get from a Babylon 5. I'd enjoy it, but I don't even notice anymore that it's absent (with rare exceptions). When I do notice it, it tends to be in odd places. Tonight, for instance, it was when Archer used the Vulcan nerve pinch. My immediate reaction was "I bet he doesn't get to keep that in future episodes. What a shame." They have an opportunity to really grow Archer's character here - show some lasting effects from having carried around the minds of the greatest Vulcan philosopher and leader in their world's history as well as the leader of the movement that restored his teachings to a culture that had begun to foresake them. Having a nerve pinch that sometimes worked would be cool. Having him demonstrate a well-ordered mind. Having him be a better leader in some ways - and yet having that offset by conflicting emotions and possibly even deeper effects that manifest later in the series - bringing on a dark side or something. Hell, almost anything would give the characters in this series more depth, and Archer's as good a place to start as any.

But I'm not expecting it. I'm sure the nerve pinch is gone (I was half expecting him to try it on somebody at the end and have it fail, but they did the Romulan thing instead) and I don't imagine there will be any real lasting effect of Archer's bond with Surak.

Still a pretty good show, though.

Sith

[D.A.Lewis]

If Manny Cota is the head writer on the series then I wouldn't be surprised if they has some Archer/Surak continuity. Manny had it with Odyssey 5. Now that I think about it the neck pinch is a cool power. I'm surprised it hasn't come up in (non Star Trek) role playing games.

And now, after 4 years, the whole Vulcan/ Earth hostility thing makes sense. But I give that credit to the current show's writers and not the previous ones.