ENT – Anomaly

Plot – Anomalies. I have made so many jokes at the expense of Voyager for the sheer wealth of anomalies that they stumbled across in the Delta Quadrant and how instead of high-tailing it away from them, Janeway would always want to investigate and delay their objective and get caught up in some kind of adventure within it. Each one would have different properties and force varied indignities upon the crew (one winds up giving Kes a false pregnancy). They cause nothing but trouble but the Trek side of Star Trek insists that they are studied rather than feared. The first two seasons of Enterprise aren’t immune but they don’t feel anywhere near as intrusive as they did in the Delta Quadrant. Perhaps that is because Janeway was supposed to be getting her crew home instead of wiping them all out. The teaser of Anomaly (handing the title over to a Trek trope is the sort of cheek I don’t expect to see on Enterprise) doesn’t waste any time getting the nub of the problem and has a lot of fun showing the various crew members reactions to the wibbly wobbly thing that works its way through the ship. There is a genuine sense of unease and excitement, which is mostly down to the direction, that allows us to sweep across the ship and seeing Phlox’s specimens getting excitement, dinner plates flying onto the ceiling and Archer’s coffee suspended in the air. I wasn’t sure what was going on at this point, but I was certainly intrigued.

We suddenly feel like we are in a brand-new region of space where some very twisted things are happening, where we know very little about the races that inhabit and have to be on the alert at all times. Suddenly Enterprise is in dangerous waters. I mean it always should have been but now it finally is.

Character – The question is this…which Archer do you prefer? The bland, slightly racist, underwhelming Captain Archer of the first two seasons or the ‘I’ve got the weight of the world on my shoulders’ grim Captain Archer of season three. I actually prefer the ‘I got through all that and now I’m healing’ Archer of season four but this is definitely a step in the right direction…even if it is just a baby step. He’s pretty mean at this point, desperate to save the Earth through any means necessary and lacking empathy for his crew. Prepare for many scenes this season of him hanging out on his own looking depressed. When Archer talks to one of the pirates he is essentially looking at himself in the future. A reasonable man trapped in an unreasonable region of space that turns you from explorer to hunter. I still question the idea of making a actor as lovely as Scott Bakula and handing him a character that turns him into a grumpy ass but he is certainly getting much more acting opportunities this season as his desperation ratchets up.

Finally, I have some praise for the Enterprise crew who all work together in a very clever, systematic way to try and capture the pirates that are attacking the ship. I often find this ship is crewed by monkeys (and the occasional specialist like Trip) and it’s great to see them working together so professionally.

Production – I have been known to deride the CGI on Enterprise (mostly when it gets too big for its boots and wants to be a movie and can only manage a subpar TV Movie standard) but there are some fine effects in this effort. Especially the items floating through the air when they investigate the derelict ship. The director pushes that along with some disorienting camera angles which makes the everyday items suspended look even more weird.

I need to take a moment to express my joy for the music in this episode. Enterprise. Late DS9, Voyager and Enterprise saw a brave move away from the Berman-blandness that wallpapered the franchise through so much of the nineties. Jay Chattaway landed on Trek during the musical mire but soon found his feet on the more militaristic episodes of DS9 (Go check out the destruction of the Defiant in The Changing Face of Evil) but on Enterprise he is given free reign to make the show as musically powerful as possible. The action sequences benefit no end because of it.

Best moment – I like how the episode takes a second to catch up with Reed and Trip and gives them a chance to air their thoughts on their situation. It’s looking pretty desperate already and without the emotional reaction it is just plot beats.

Enterprise heading into the huge iron ball hanging in space truly has a scale and ambition to its execution that impressed me. It reminded me of when the Enterprise D found the Dyson Sphere except this is played purely for chills.

The whole sequence of Archer shoving the Osaarian in the airlock made my skin crawl because it is such an unusual tactic for him and a chance to see how on the edge he is becoming. The simple truth is that Earth is in danger of total destruction and so Archer pretty much has carte blanche to behave however he wants to in order to ensure that that does not happen. This scene plays out initially with the prisoner calling his bluff but Archer lets this go on and on and the steely look in his eye suggests that he would have let him die had he not spilled his guts about the Xindi. I remember when Janeway was in this situation once and it did irreparable damage to her character because she was made to appear homicidal for no reason other than the fact that her ego was bruised. This scene takes Archer to a dark place and one I would like to see him touch upon more often. As a sadistic, murderous human unwilling to make compromises he is much more interesting than a dull old Starfleet Captain who keeps making daft choices.

I wish they hadn’t done that – Does it ever feel to you like they are going out of their way not to give Merriweather any lines. In scenes where he appears with several people he always speaks the least.

A reason to watch this episode again – Hold onto your hats people because I wont say this very often…but Anomaly is an episode of Enterprise that is ticking practically every box for great Star Trek; it has plenty of atmosphere, a fascinating region of space to explore, fine characterisation, moral questions, fun set pieces and suspense and wonder in spades. It’s the first attempt to push away from the tedium of series one and two and force the show to grow up and compete with the other Trek shows in the franchise. If Enterprise was always this good it would threaten to take second place in my affections. The drama keeps coming and scale swings between the intimate (Archer’s near murder) and the epic (the exploration of some pretty awesome technology). It’s superbly directed and acted, and for once the writing is supporting that. In terms of Trek this is very good, but as far as Enterprise goes this is the crème de la crème.

***** out of *****

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