{"id":3565,"date":"2023-11-09T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3565"},"modified":"2023-10-29T11:16:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T11:16:44","slug":"trekaday-117","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2023\/11\/09\/trekaday-117\/","title":{"rendered":"Trekaday #117: Cogenitor, Regeneration, First Flight, Bounty, The Expanse"},"content":{"rendered":"

ENT S02E22 Cogenitor <\/strong>(\"2). Archer meets that sitcom stock character, the more able version of himself, whose ship can get closer to astral phenomena, who has fancier sensors and who smoothly invites himself to dinner. Hanging a lantern on how undramatic these teasers are, Trip comments that nobody seems to be charging weapons. Deliciously, this benevolent counterpart is played by Tomalak himself, Andreas Katsulas \u2013 it\u2019s been too long \u2013 and pretty soon, Enterprise<\/em> is crawling with smooth-talking guests, with their liberal ideals, their photographic memories and their third sex, which gives the episode its title.<\/p>\n

Nothing seems to baffle Trip more than this feature of their biology (and \u2013 despite observing that two sexes is the universal norm \u2013 nothing baffles the guests more than Trip\u2019s bafflement). He refuses to let Phlox explain what\u2019s going on, but then starts asking everyone else on board to help him understand. I\u2019m more used to, and greatly prefer the enlightened crews of the Enterprise-D<\/em> or Voyager<\/em> who don\u2019t tend to sit in judgment (or who at least earnestly debate the ethics first). Trip\u2019s very twentieth century confusion is unimpressive, and of course it comes back to: in a few hours, the crew spots and tries to solve a systemic injustice which has existed for countless generations. \u201cI\u2019d expect this from a first year recruit,\u201d comments Archer, once everything has gone to hell, and it\u2019s hard to disagree. After years of watching a highly admirable crew work together to solve complex problems, it\u2019s simply not as engaging to watch a supposedly likeable screw-up flail around clumsily and then face no consequences for his clodhopping actions. Whether we agree with Travis\u2019s choices or not (and Archer\u2019s fairly baffling decision to refuse asylum) this is poor storytelling, lacking the moral dimension it\u2019s groping for. But it\u2019s nice to see an alien culture which feels like it makes sense, and the final squeeze of vinegar helps a little (although it also makes for a grimly neat and tidy ending). Malcolm\u2019s storyline doesn\u2019t end, it\u2019s simply abandoned. Travis and Hoshi are both MIA and we only see T\u2019Pol lying about her age and organising a film show.<\/p>\n

ENT S02E23 Regeneration <\/strong>(\"4.5). Having helped itself to the Ferengi, which were clearly first encountered by the Enterprise-D<\/em>, Enterprise<\/strong> now helps itself to the Borg, which were even more clearly first encountered by the Enterprise-D<\/em>. I\u2019m not 100% sure what \u201csweeps\u201d are, but I suspect they were happening around the time this aired. The scene in which the drones wake up and assimilate the hapless scientists is predictable, sure, but it\u2019s well-mounted by director David Livingston and it\u2019s more exciting than a lot of things which happen early on in Enterprise<\/strong> episodes. And I appreciate the patience of a story which spends this long on setting all this up, without needing to cut back to people with their names in the main titles.<\/p>\n

Once we do get to Archer, T\u2019Pol and so on, we essentially get a cover version of Q Who<\/em>, only this time the Borg are mysterious only to the characters and not to us. This show is so keen to portray the crew as different from the 24th century characters that it keeps erring on the side of showing them as doofuses. Having them clueless in the face of antagonists we know so well does not help correct this tendency \u2013 so it\u2019s gratifying when Archer realises that he\u2019s dealing with some serious shit and takes unusually brutal but effective action. Having Phlox infected with nanoprobes is a great turn, and what much of the rest of the episode is focused on. His dispassionate assessment of his own mortal plight is rather touching and Billingsley shows again why he\u2019s such an asset to this serious (Jolene Blalock has been rather underused lately).<\/p>\n

As much as this tries to tie in with First Contact<\/em>, it can\u2019t be easily squared with other televised Borg stories, which calls into question the very idea of a prequel series, plugging gaps in the lore. But I\u2019d much rather have a really exciting, well-told adventure that didn\u2019t mesh perfectly with existing continuity than a box-ticking exercise which was dramatically inert.<\/p>\n

ENT S02E24 First Flight <\/strong>(\"3.5). Here\u2019s some speculative cutting-edge science which hasn\u2019t dated too badly. Dark matter is almost certainly a thing, and still a mysterious one, which makes it a good topic for an story. Alas, rather in the vein of Carbon Creek<\/em>, the bulk of this episode isn\u2019t about bombarding an exotic nebula with made-up particles, but in the manner of Deep Space Nine<\/strong>, a long shuttle journey is used as a pretext for Archer to reminisce about an old friend who has just died unexpectedly. Once again, the supporting cast isn\u2019t simply in the background, they\u2019re completely absent, as this episode is laser-focused on whether or not Archer has the, er, \u201cright stuff\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to wring much tension or suspense about much of what happens because of the flashback structure, so this is going be highly dependent on how interesting the details are and how richly realised the characters are. Sadly, this is mainly people reciting technobabble at each other or spelling out the subtext for the hard of feeling. That said the Mission Control\/experimental flight\/pushing the engineering limits is a pretty solid premise, working as well here as it does in Apollo 13<\/em>, or the opening of Top Gun Maverick<\/em>, to pick just two examples. The pilot error\/lousy engine debate in the bar degenerates into fisticuffs, further cementing Archer\u2019s position as the least enlightened captain the franchise has ever centred.<\/p>\n

Maybe not surprisingly, it\u2019s the framing story \u2013 where we don\u2019t know the ending \u2013 which is most successful, as once again Jolene Blalock shows her immense class, gently probing Archer for more details as her understanding and appreciation of his efforts slowly grows. Remember that Berman and Braga\u2019s concept for Season 1 of Enterprise<\/strong> was basically going to be twenty-six episodes of this. Might have been more effective in that context.<\/p>\n

ENT S02E25 Bounty <\/strong>(\"1.5). A particularly sixties looking alien teddy bear makes off with Archer and MVP T\u2019Pol is stuck in quarantine (and in her scanties) after an away mission. It seems he is still wanted by the Klingons after the events of Judgment<\/em> and there\u2019s a price on his head. His bonding with his captor is all pretty routine but Jordan Lund manages to carve out something like a character under all that latex and fur, even if the ending can be seen coming from a light year away.<\/p>\n

The combination of tactile gel application (seriously, have they never heard of showers in the twenty-second century?) and T\u2019Pol\u2019s premature Pon Farr makes the usually fairly pervy decon scenes look like the something out of the Red Shoe Diaries<\/em>, and although played perfectly by Blalock and Billingsley, the shooting makes it clear that this is another laughable attempt to \u201ckeep the dads watching\u201d, something which no previous series ever worried about (much). Roxann Dawson handles the tense pursuit of an escaping T\u2019Pol rather better. But T\u2019Pol\u2019s absence from the bridge doesn\u2019t affect the main plot at all, so it\u2019s hard to escape the conclusion that the only point of this plotline was to have Blalock writhing around half-dressed. It\u2019s also very weird that T\u2019Pol claims never to have been through Pon Farr before. It\u2019s supposed to happen every seven years. Has she been an adult for less time than that? Surely not. Archer\u2019s oral skills would leave Houdini reeling.<\/p>\n

ENT S02E26 The Expanse <\/strong>(\"3). If you can overlook the crummy video game-style effects, this dialogue-free teaser does have some impact, depicting as it does a weird alien ship which carves a metres-wide swathe of destruction across populated areas of planet Earth. Wow. After the titles we\u2019re back to the pursuit of Archer by the Klingons which feels rather like letting the air out of the balloon. And there\u2019s a feeling that the production team doesn\u2019t trust either of these potentially massive plotlines, because now, only about five minutes into the episode, the Suliban are back and have abducted Archer.<\/p>\n

After a set-to with the Klingons and an awful lot of rather arid debating, Archer is allowed to use the info from the future and is despatched to the Delphic Expanse in pursuit of the death-dealing Xindi. T\u2019Pol has to decide whether to stay onboard, and helpfully Phlox is there to spell out the nature of her dilemma, just in case we can\u2019t figure it out for ourselves. Archer doesn\u2019t even bother to pick out a new science officer \u2013 partly because he doesn\u2019t know the name of anybody else on board, partly because he (and I) know she isn\u2019t really going to be dropped off on Vulcan. Trip\u2019s thick-eared bloodlust is yet another stain on what\u2019s rapidly becoming my least favourite regular character in the franchise. And this one doesn\u2019t end, it just stops. To be continued\u2026 Archer on the bridge in a cardi is not a good look for him.<\/p>\n

Enterprise S2 overview<\/strong><\/p>\n