ENT – Judgment

Plot – Rip off or homage? There is always such a fine line. This is the courtroom scenes from Star Trek VI elongated into a whole episode and the parallels are in your face and unconcealed. Does that make this unoriginal? I guess so. Does it matter? Only if you’re concerned with making comparisons (I know, I know…I do it a lot). Judgement does stand up on its own two legs and dares to make a TV episode as cinematic as a movie. That’s an impressive achievement. Not only that but it serves to bridge the gap between Enterprise and TNG by including pleasing continuity episodes that bolster not only this episode but the series as a whole (because it invites further clever uses of the Trek back catalogue). The use of Duras

Judgment features one of those Trek stand-bys where the teaser makes a great deal of promise. Archer pleads not guilty to conspiring against the Klingon Empire but would could have happened for them to think that he has? The structure of the episode, with in-built flashbacks to piece the puzzle together, means that this isn’t your usual static Trek courtroom show but an episode of Enterprise that is being told in quite an imaginative way.

Character – This is a much better use of Archer than what the audience is used to at this point. He can, at times, be seen as the least effective of the Captain’s due to some inexplicably stupid decisions and behaviour the verges on irrational and biased. By taking out of his normal environment and forcing him to be the one to defend his actions and his species he is given space to be smart, erudite and eloquent. It’s a look that suits him. At the mercy of the Klingon justice systems he has to seek out allies, understand his captors and try and figure out a defence that they will understand. His relationship with his consul is a delightful one because (for once) there is no subterfuge involved. They are both intelligent, honourable men working in the same direction. It’s a shame that Archer couldn’t see more of Kolos. He could have been this shows equivalent of Martok.

Performance – Sometimes it seems that there is a very small pool of actors in the Trek canon pool when certain reliable actors show up again and again (I’m sure we all have our favourites – I’m especially sweet on James Sloyan) but sometimes it feels like the huge body of actors that exist in America aren’t being given opportunities because of it. That’s one argument. The other is that J.G. Hertzler is such a proven commodity to the franchise that to not use him would be a crime. He took what could have been a forgettable role (the original appearance of General Martok) and turned it into one of the most nuanced Klingons that I have ever met. His voice is instantly recognisable in a different Klingon role and his look is strikingly unlike what we are used to but the gravitas, shade and entertainment value are all still there.

Production – Remember that debate I was having about the use of CGI in Enterprise and how it can sometimes overstretch itself and attempt visuals that were beyond the current level of technology at the time? Well scrap all that because the pan across Kronos is something else, a spectacular CGI effort that brings the Klingon home world to life like never before. Sometimes Enterprise is over ambitious but sometimes they get it just right and when they do it is some of the most arresting effects the franchise has ever put out.

The ice caves look impressive in themselves but there is no attempt made to make it look frosty or cold enough for smoke to leave the actors mouths.

If Star Trek is to continue to do trial episodes well into the noughties then at least they bothered to make this one a little energetic and visually interesting. Naturally a Klingon trial consists of a growling jury banging staffs and making a whole bunch of noise. I’m starting to wonder with Klingons that they make so much noise because if they didn’t nobody would notice them.

Best moment – I love the scene where Kolos (Hertzler in fine form) accuses Archer of being little more than a nuisance and hardly worth any attention. I’ve often felt that way myself.

Worst moment – It irritates me that the Klingon Empire can be realised so well here and yet Enterprise has failed to deliver an original species of their own that are so vivid and detailed. If you can do it with a race that is well established, why not with the ones unique to this show.

I wish they hadn’t done that – In order to tell a riveting episode of Enterprise in season two the writer has to jettison the entire Enterprise crew (aside from some cameos). That speaks volumes. I think Mayweather gets a handful of lines. Who the hell is this guy? I kid you not we get closer to Kolos and learn more about his backstory and go on an arc with this character more in one episode than some the regulars on this show do in four years.

To have a story set around a Klingon trial is enough to invite comparisons with The Undiscovered Country but to then move the action to Rura Penthe is a direct steal of the movies plot. One can be forgiven but both feels like selling out to Trek fans who love the movies.

A reason to watch this episode again – There is a fresh visual style and dramatic structure to Judgment that is very refreshing in the sea of mediocrity that is Enterprise season two. It’s proof that even in the darkest of times for the franchise that fine pieces of work can emerge. Judgment is an episode for all of you with a Klingon obsession; it’s beautifully steeped in Klingon history and continuity. It’s also a clever narrative that promises a lot and goes a long way to delivering that by refusing to give you all the answers outright and having Archer on trial for crimes yet undisclosed. That way we can spend the episode finding out what he has done. Compare that to DS9’s Rules of Engagement which spells out Worf’s crime from the start and thus loses all sense of mystery and suspense. Archer is on top form here and is given some great lines and how the episode panders to the fans whilst forging its own path through this latest of iteration of Trek deserves respect. Had it been entirely original it might have secured full points but since it is borrowing so heavily from a cinematic source…

**** out of *****

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