It’s nice to see that after the year long Xindi arc that this show isn’t just skipping back to the standalones of seasons one and two but tackling trilogies instead. As discussed in Borderland, this is perhaps a step too far with this particular story (there are plenty of diversions from the narrative which excising could have cut down an entire episode) but its refreshing that Enterprise refuses to cosy back up to its original, fairly tedious, approach and instead give its stories the time to explore the themes in detail.
The missing equipment turning out to be missing incubators is both obvious and still a shock because you realise that they are about to start propagating their species.
Character – I want to applaud Enterprise for taking the time to characterise a guest character and furnishing him with as much time as they do with Soong here but would that be the case if he wasn’t being played by Brent Spiner? Isn’t it true that Hoshi and Merriweather have vanished into the ether again for several weeks and couldn’t they do with some of this screen time to remind us that they are still alive? Soong wants to punish his children for turning on each other’s but the truth is he left them to fend for themselves at the more formative part of their lives, at the point where they most needed guidance. He is responsible for their lives and he didn’t direct them in a less aggressive manner and so much of this is his responsibility. Soong is such a fine character because at heart he is still a Doctor and one with a conscience and so whilst he might want to play rogue and threaten and cajole, he really isn’t up to it when his captives refuse to capitulate to his demands. He feels that he is doing all of this for a just reason, that is what drives him. But he refuses to get his hands dirty in order to do it.
Production – Is it my imagination or have they learnt how to light this show in HD in the third and fourth seasons as well, in a way that was severely lacking in the first two years? Everything feels more atmospheric and moodier. The Klingon ship is especially well done in that regard, before it would often be painted in fiery hues but now it is a gothic masterpiece of hidden spaces and picking out the people in shocking beams of light. The CG shot of Soong standing amongst the embryos though, that needs some more work. I’ve seen CSO in 70s Doctor Who that looks more convincing than that.
Watch as the Klingon ship sneaks up behind the Denobulan medical carrier. It’s not often you can the effects work menacing on this show but this surely qualifies. It’s better that it is done in complete silence. I was also impressed with the medical facility inside the moon. It has the wow factor that simply docking with a space station or landing on a planet wouldn’t. The effects work on Enterprise might not have the scale of the height of the Dominion War or the panache of some of Voyager’s clashes with the Borg but I find they pour their money into some very artistic and unusual shots that expose what you can do with CGI if you are thinking outside the box.
Best moment – What’s so gripping about the sequence where Dr is killed is how Soong contacts Enterprise all piss and vinegar pretending that he is going to hurt the good Doctor if Archer doesn’t do what he wants to do. That’s regular, vanilla old Enterprise from season one. That would be the tension, Archer would capitulate and the episode would be over. Cold Station 12 seems to know that and deliberately trips up the audience by having Malik choose this moment to step out of his father’s shadow, commit torture publicly and force us to watch a man die in horrific agony while he does so. It’s an unprecedented step on this show, brutal and uncomfortable to watch. It reminded me of DS9 when it stuck its fingers up at the Trek franchise and what fans expect of it. It’s the first, courageous indication that Enterprise is stepping out of the shadow of its former self (even the Xindi arc, as gripping as it could be, was bolstered mostly by comic book action) and emerging as a show to really pay attention to. A grisly murder where everybody is characterised brilliantly so you can see how this has spiralled out of control and people have made really poor judgement.
Worst moment – Enterprise still hasn’t got the nuts to torture one of their own in the same way. Phlox is put in the same chamber but is released Scott free as though he never expected to be hurt. Not quite as brave as DS9 then. They would have had Phlox bleeding from every orifice. I can remember in DS9’s first three parter they had Kira tortured and beaten in the second episode.
I wish they hadn’t done that – All the best scenes in this episode feature Soong and his children and yet the show cuts back to Enterprise and it is the literal version of ‘I wish they hadn’t done that.’ I’m not sure at what point the show is no longer the show and it abandons its crew entirely and focuses on a core group that is more captivating but at this point I certainly wouldn’t object.
A reason to watch this episode again – Violent, daring and uncompromising, Cold Station 12 is the highpoint of this trilogy of stories and the only one of the three to marry up an exciting plot with an equal amount of scintillating character work. I know I bang on about characters all the time but I maintain that without that we are just watching empty action, spaceships careening about and people spouting technobabble. It’s the very thing that sews all this together and adds a punch of genuine involvement. It feels more like ‘The Adventures of Soong’ than Enterprise at times but given he is far more compelling to watch than all but about two of our regular characters that isn’t really a bad thing. If Enterprise was delivering dramatic, well-acted, fiercely directed drama such as this in its final season then why on Earth did the axe fall? A shame it wasn’t being aired on HBO where ratings didn’t matter but the quality of the work did. The sad truth is that it is quite obvious where the Augments trilogy is going to end at this point in order for Enterprise to get back on track. It has to put all these toys back in the box in the third episode, which is a crying shame because the show is starting to swim about in dirty waters and is all the better for it. One of the shows best episodes and it barely features any of the regulars. Hmm.
****1/2 out of *****
Clue for the next episode:
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