Plot – ‘If we weren’t out there stirring up trouble, 7 million people might still be alive’ What a fascinating statement for Enterprise to make, especially when it started with such typical Roddenberry ideals. Then 9/11 hit and it started looking at this universe in a completely different way. Whilst Star Trek will always promote the positive side of space exploration, it is great that the least gutsy incarnation of the show asks one of the darkest questions about the consequences of boldly going where no man has gone before.
The opening scenes (despite some ropey CGI that hasn’t aged as well as it might) features the crew of Enterprise arriving on Earth to a hero’s welcome after a season away and having saved the planet from annihilation in the meantime. How nice to see a crew actually getting some serious recognition after the work they have done and the effort they have been to to save anybody. It’s easy to forget how bold it was to take the series away from all the usual Alpha Quadrant locations for an entire season and to have an extended arc play out across 26 episodes. It’s Enterprise’s greatest achievement and so should be congratulated here. I wish they had spent a little more money on the shot of Archer addressing the crowd, however. It takes you out of the moment to be quite that away of how badly he has been superimposed onto a CGI backdrop.
This is not an entirely original conceit since TNG did a similar thing after the events of The Best of Both Worlds with Family but I would say taking a breath to catch up with all of these characters in familiar territory is the perfect decision at this point in the show. The difference between the two is quite obvious; this is more necessary than Family (which offered upheaval but only for two episodes and not twenty-seven) but the characters in TNG are far more vivid and so the material is far more affecting. It’s still a very worthwhile exercise and I think they pull it off with a relative amount of style, it’s just not quite as gripping as it’s progenitor.
How interesting for the Xindi attack to cause an element of xenophobia on Earth and what a very post 9/11 stance for the show to take. I would say that DS9 handled this same theme far more effectively in Homefront/Paradise Lost when the threat of a Dominion attack left people in high places paranoid and making poor choices to do what they think they need to do to protect the Earth. This is racism, plain and simple and it’s ugly and bare. For Star Trek, it’s new territory and it’s handled perhaps a little too violently. You can make a point without ramming it down the audience throat. I’m pleased this is a thread that isn’t forgotten though. It becomes the ultimate mission statement for the series in the final two parter at the end of this season. That hate is unnecessary and that we can all get along if we work together and explore our differences in a positive way. It’s what leads to the United Federation of Planets and everything they stand for. ‘People are looking for someone to blame and they don’t care who it is’ is not the most sophisticated of writing but it does reveal something ugly about humanity that is worth exposing. The prejudice extends to the Vulcan plotline with some aspersions being cast on human society by T’Pol’s mother.
Character – The cutest idea on offer is T’Pol bringing Trip home to meet the folks. His smile at the offer she makes to take him to Vulcan speaks volumes and I love how instantly unwelcome her mother makes him feel whilst still extending courtesy. It has all the hallmarks of a daytime soap when T’Pol’s former fiancé is brought into the equation and she has to deal with the fallout of that decision and try and figure out what her relationship with Tucker is. T’Pol learns that because of her actions and her absence that her mother has taken the fall for her ‘criminal’ actions. The Vulcans might want to appear to be a superior race but they as capable of injustice, of corruption and of acting out as anybody else. They just hide it behind meditation and smiles. The ending of this story is dramatically unsatisfying but in a way that makes perfect sense. Sometimes you have to put your feelings aside and do what is right. T’Pol and Trip are made for each other, anyone can see that but in order to do what is best for her family she decides to go through the wedding. There’s so much more to be said here and it is only a matter of time.
Phlox taking more luggage with him than the vainest of women feels perfectly in character and I love how some of them are chirruping and barking.
Archer is a complex character, for sure. I’m not sure he’s never particularly likable, which is problematic but at least he is flawed in a way that is worth talking about rather than just an empty douchebag. He’s trying to hide away from all the hero worship and adoration being thrown his way because he feels that he has failed his mission to the 30 odd officers who didn’t come back from the Delphic Expanse. He feels he lost something in the Expanse, the explorer that he used to be and when he sees eager young captains waiting in the wings now he only sees naïve youngsters waiting to learn the same lessons as he has.
Production – I know how much I hate the title music by how quickly and desperately I scramble for my mouse to skip the intro on Netflix. All the others shows and I have to debate whether to let the titles play through (because I like them all to varying degrees) but with Enterprise it is a definite skip with as much haste as possible.
With a manifest of locations to bring to life, Allan Kroeker does a fine job of making Home feel ambitious in scope. Detailed sets and lighting add a touch of authenticism to Vulcan and beautiful location work makes Archer and Hernandez’s jolly mountaineering a visually stunning experience.
Best moment – I don’t recall ever seeing first hand a new starship being built around characters talking. It’s an intriguing peek at what happens behind the scenes before these shups look all shiny and new. I also really like the board of officials who ask questions about some of the decisions that Archer made in the Delphic Expanse. We often hear about potential consequences to breaking the rules back in Starfleet Command but rarely get to see it close up like this. It exposes the one of my least favourite aspects of Archer’s character (his blazing anger when it comes to the cold logic of Vulcans questioning his command) but in this case he is entirely justified in losing his cool. Season three saw him face some impossible choices and acquit himself well, even if the results weren’t always pretty. He deserves praise for navigating through some of those situations and not criticism of his leadership abilities.
Phlox’s face puff. Now that’s just cool. I wish he had call to do that more often.
A reason to watch this episode again – Home is a delicately balanced character episode that juggles consequences from the previous season and sets up themes for the year ahead whilst also exploring the most interesting characters on this show coming home. It’s telling that Hoshi, Mayweather and Reed get nothing to do this week, while Trip, T’Pol, Archer and Phlox all get a wealth of examination. If Enterprise had started with characterisation this constructive, imagine where it would have been in season four? I was impressed by much of the material, even though I could see that it wasn’t as good as the best character tales of all the other Trek series in the franchise. Archer has never been more approachable as he is wrapped in self-doubt, T’Pol realises the consequences of her actions on board Enterprise and Phlox learns that Earth might not be the safest place for aliens anymore. This is all healthy material for this show.
**** out of *****
Clue for tomorrow's episode:
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