ENT 3.14 "Strategem"
Great story. And, I think, excellently timed within the season. They're finally learning more and more about the weapon and they get something BIG done here. The capture of Degra and the creative means of interrogation, while possibly questionable legally speaking, is well presented and appropriately sci-fi.
I also really like the amount of foreshadowing going on here. Archer mentions a vicious attack by the Insectoids, rather reminiscent of the devastating attack that the ship faces a few episodes down the road. Likewise, Hoshi finds a reference to Azati Prime on Degra's ship, another nod to an upcoming ep. And while not directly intended as a foreshadow, seeing Regulan blood worms was nicely reminiscent of the Centauran Slugs in Trek2009.
ENT 3.15 "Harbinger"
And for the first time this year....I'm going to criticise the VFX. The bubbling convergence of anomalies in space looked just awful. Like, would've been shamefully bad in the TOS years awful. OH dear. And so unfortunate too, given how important a moment it is in the development of the Xindi/Sphere Builders story.
Definitely could've done without the halfassed B-plot in this episode though. Introducing a MACO romantic interest for Trip (who, apparently, is a popular singer in Israel) completely out of left field was a bit ridiculous, as was the whole T'Pol jealousy thing. Especially during the hand-to-hand combat training. Why the hell was T'Pol even there?! She was shown to be proficient in Vulcan martial arts a ways back in Marauders! Fortunately it at least allowed for the hilarious "just drop it" conversation between Malcolm and Trip
Fortunately I think the A-plot of the Sphere Builder was just gold. I like how I was made to dislike Archer as part of the story here--how he's changed so much from being an intrepid explorer into a real jerk who thinks he has a monopoly on 'the greater good' regardless of who gets involved.
Moreover, I love the idea of beings from a completely different type of reality that's wholly incompatible with our own. So much so that they begin to completely break down and decay when exposed to our universe; and presumably from the stuff that happened on the bridge early in the episode, the same would happen to us in their realm. Terrific stuff.
ENT 3.16 "Doctor's Orders"
Seriously? Haven't they played the 'aliens are immune to technobabble so they're the only ones around' card enough by this point?
Great story. And, I think, excellently timed within the season. They're finally learning more and more about the weapon and they get something BIG done here. The capture of Degra and the creative means of interrogation, while possibly questionable legally speaking, is well presented and appropriately sci-fi.
I also really like the amount of foreshadowing going on here. Archer mentions a vicious attack by the Insectoids, rather reminiscent of the devastating attack that the ship faces a few episodes down the road. Likewise, Hoshi finds a reference to Azati Prime on Degra's ship, another nod to an upcoming ep. And while not directly intended as a foreshadow, seeing Regulan blood worms was nicely reminiscent of the Centauran Slugs in Trek2009.
ENT 3.15 "Harbinger"
And for the first time this year....I'm going to criticise the VFX. The bubbling convergence of anomalies in space looked just awful. Like, would've been shamefully bad in the TOS years awful. OH dear. And so unfortunate too, given how important a moment it is in the development of the Xindi/Sphere Builders story.
Definitely could've done without the halfassed B-plot in this episode though. Introducing a MACO romantic interest for Trip (who, apparently, is a popular singer in Israel) completely out of left field was a bit ridiculous, as was the whole T'Pol jealousy thing. Especially during the hand-to-hand combat training. Why the hell was T'Pol even there?! She was shown to be proficient in Vulcan martial arts a ways back in Marauders! Fortunately it at least allowed for the hilarious "just drop it" conversation between Malcolm and Trip
Fortunately I think the A-plot of the Sphere Builder was just gold. I like how I was made to dislike Archer as part of the story here--how he's changed so much from being an intrepid explorer into a real jerk who thinks he has a monopoly on 'the greater good' regardless of who gets involved.
Moreover, I love the idea of beings from a completely different type of reality that's wholly incompatible with our own. So much so that they begin to completely break down and decay when exposed to our universe; and presumably from the stuff that happened on the bridge early in the episode, the same would happen to us in their realm. Terrific stuff.
ENT 3.16 "Doctor's Orders"
Seriously? Haven't they played the 'aliens are immune to technobabble so they're the only ones around' card enough by this point?
Good lord, I don't even know how to feel about it. The whole 'necessary' thing is one thing, but it absolutely makes my skin crawl to see the heroes being such villains here. I suppose that's the point though.
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