Well, this is interesting. When I first heard about these last two eps, I immediately assumed I would love "Daedalus" and that "Observer Effect" would just be passable. In fact, it turned out the opposite is true. While "Daedalus" is obviously more important to the story, "OE" was just brilliantly done, in a number of ways.
It's the second ep written by the Reeves-Stevens team, and they did not dissapoint. FINALLY we get to see some of the lesser characters actually doing something, instead of just sitting at their little console, pressing buttons. Unfortunately, the only problem with this is that, for much of the episode, it wasn't actually Reed and Mayweather. It was the actors, playing "possessed." Ah well, I guess I shouldn't complain. At least they got some airtime.
What was cool about the non-physical aliens is that, no matter whose bodies they entered, you almost immediately understood which was which. They were essentially the narrators of a story about the values of Humanity. This is the type of story Star Trek does best.
And luckily, the actors all did a pretty good job with the material they were handed. Even Hoshi sounded like a real person again. That hasn't happened in ages. Speaking of which, the one thing that seemed slightly off in the whole episode was the story Hoshi told about breaking someone's arm... That really doesn't sound like something Hoshi would have done... but I guess I shouldn't complain too much. It's about time we learned something more about this chick anyway. LOVED the scene with her tapping into the computers and walking around the ship in panic mode. The Reeves-Stevens seem to always have the more original "action". In the Vulcan ep, it was the bomb sequence with Reed and Maywheather. Now with this. It's always nice to have a scene with danger that doesn't feel like you've seen it already.
This is really only the second episode this season where every member of the main cast really had something to do beyond just tapping buttons or something, and I have to say it was effective. I actually got a little teary-eyed during the scene when people started dying, and I don't think that's happened for a couple seasons now. I kept wanting to see Archer just break down over Trip's dead body, but I guess that would have been a bit much.
And, of course, we fulfill that prequel-esque aspect to the show by revealing that the aliens are the Organians of TOS, and this encounter with the Enterprise crew (whose memories of the meeting have been erased) will eventually lead their species to meeting another Enterprise crew. Yay! Yet another prequel-ep where the name-dropping doesn't interfere with the story, or its effect. And one that you don't have to be "in on the joke" to enjoy.
So this was a breath of fresh air, to say the least. It gets an A from me. Next week, we begin the big Andorian/Tellerite/Romulan arc. To be honest, this last ep makes me wish we would have more standalones again, but it should be nice to have Shran and Lt. Talas back. Bring on the Romulans!
It's the second ep written by the Reeves-Stevens team, and they did not dissapoint. FINALLY we get to see some of the lesser characters actually doing something, instead of just sitting at their little console, pressing buttons. Unfortunately, the only problem with this is that, for much of the episode, it wasn't actually Reed and Mayweather. It was the actors, playing "possessed." Ah well, I guess I shouldn't complain. At least they got some airtime.
What was cool about the non-physical aliens is that, no matter whose bodies they entered, you almost immediately understood which was which. They were essentially the narrators of a story about the values of Humanity. This is the type of story Star Trek does best.
And luckily, the actors all did a pretty good job with the material they were handed. Even Hoshi sounded like a real person again. That hasn't happened in ages. Speaking of which, the one thing that seemed slightly off in the whole episode was the story Hoshi told about breaking someone's arm... That really doesn't sound like something Hoshi would have done... but I guess I shouldn't complain too much. It's about time we learned something more about this chick anyway. LOVED the scene with her tapping into the computers and walking around the ship in panic mode. The Reeves-Stevens seem to always have the more original "action". In the Vulcan ep, it was the bomb sequence with Reed and Maywheather. Now with this. It's always nice to have a scene with danger that doesn't feel like you've seen it already.
This is really only the second episode this season where every member of the main cast really had something to do beyond just tapping buttons or something, and I have to say it was effective. I actually got a little teary-eyed during the scene when people started dying, and I don't think that's happened for a couple seasons now. I kept wanting to see Archer just break down over Trip's dead body, but I guess that would have been a bit much.
And, of course, we fulfill that prequel-esque aspect to the show by revealing that the aliens are the Organians of TOS, and this encounter with the Enterprise crew (whose memories of the meeting have been erased) will eventually lead their species to meeting another Enterprise crew. Yay! Yet another prequel-ep where the name-dropping doesn't interfere with the story, or its effect. And one that you don't have to be "in on the joke" to enjoy.
So this was a breath of fresh air, to say the least. It gets an A from me. Next week, we begin the big Andorian/Tellerite/Romulan arc. To be honest, this last ep makes me wish we would have more standalones again, but it should be nice to have Shran and Lt. Talas back. Bring on the Romulans!
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