Plot – The teaser is so by the numbers and obvious and it is executed very predictably. If this is where Trek was at this point I’m pleased the Xindi arc was just around the corner.
Similarly predictable is how Archer, serving as Bounty to Shaklaar, eventually comes to work with him because of a series of hostile events against both of them, and then to admire him. By the end of this episode they have become quite the team. This is the person who came onto your Ship, shot you down and was attempting to use you as currency. And you’re bonding with him? The story attempts to suggest it is worth kidnap and potential murder to try and get a ship back to impress your brother. After the complex characterisation that was rife on DS9, this is a huge regression into pre-school material.
Archer has quite the habit of getting kidnapped. He must be more of a catch than even Kirk. I feel like he expresses more racial slurs than any other Trek Captain. Vulcans, Klingons, everyone is fair game.
Character – Putting two of the more interesting (but that is relative to this show) characters in decontamination together is probably the best thing you could do. Finally, some engaging culture clash that is dealt with respectfully. I really like the sweetness of Phlox admitting that Denubian men are more inhibited than the women.
Performance – People either get the performance style of Star Trek or they don’t and Jordan Lund who plays the Tellurite just hasn’t quite got the knack of making the expository dialogue sound natural like the best actors can. There are so pretty static line readings here that gut the ‘get to know you’ scenes of any chemistry. Robert O’Reilly shows up to show exactly how it should be done, full throttle.
Production – Remember when a ton of sexuality was added to Stargate Universe and people felt a little uncomfortable about the whole thing – it was like a franchise discovering that it could masturbate and going through puberty. Star Trek has never been afraid of a romantic (or even sexual in a very PG-13 way) angle but the decon chamber is the first stab at really trying to add that horny teenager angle to the franchise. Long, lustrous, sensual scenes of characters smearing gel into each other’s bodies. It’s trying to use medical science to disguise an attempt to sex up the series. It’s pretty awkward viewing because Trek has never really been about overt horniness.
How the sequences of T’Pol rampant on the Enterprise are filmed like something out of a horror movie (even the music is in on it) are horribly misjudged. Roxan Dawson (who directed this episode) was the last actress to portray a character going through the Pon Farr. She should know better than to portray feminine sexuality as something this overtly dangerous and frightening. Also, I would have preferred it if T’Pol would have awoken from the cycle far more confidently, rather than embarrassingly. This is a natural process that Vulcans go through and they should not be ashamed of it. Having a woman ashamed of her sexual prowess is similarly ill judged.
Worst moment – Spare me the thought of T’Pol telling Dr phlox what he is denying himself by refusing to have sex with her. I’ve only watched a handful of Enterprise episodes but it’s clear to me that the writers were tapping into the Seven of Nine sex appeal with this frosty Vulcan, which is rather a shame. Treating her as a dangerous sexual predator here isn’t redressing the gender politics that insulted women in TOS, it’s just really uncomfortable viewing. It’s a good thing that T’Pol wasn’t on DS9 or Voyager – Bashir, Paris or Kim would have just shrugged their shoulders and given her exactly what she wanted.
I wish they hadn’t done that – T’Pol in Pon Farr. Literally the most obvious thing they could have done with the character and the most exploitative. They probably thought they were being clever by locking her up with Phlox and watching the high jinks ensue but it really is the most excruciatingly awkward viewing. It’s difficult to believe that a woman directed this and went this far. ‘I’m hungry – I wasn’t talking about food.’ ‘You’re disturbing my serum!’ The dialogue is painful.
I thought the Pon Farr only affected Vulcan males?
A reason to watch this episode again – T’Pol on heat and Archer kidnapped – I’m sure the writers figured they were creating something sexy and exciting but the execution of both the script and the episode itself could not be more stale and stiff. If there was any fun in any of these ideas then it has been sucked out by the pedestrian direction and the predictable nature of the story. I feel like this is supposed to be a grand adventure in space…in a franchise that appears to have forgotten how to do the very thing that made it so engaging in the first place. I need to see a spectacular episode of Enterprise to believe that one really exists. The three I have seen so far have all been riddled with flaws.
Clue for tomorrow's episode:
https://www.theincomparable.com/randomtrek/
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