Boldly going into a Trek I haven't seen before. Well, I have seen this episode before and while I don't remember it well I clearly liked it better this time. That or I am justifying it to myself since I am going to watch the rest of the show either way. This is very much the sex and shooting Star Trek and I don't mean that in a good way. I am not saying Trek should be always be about the nature of humanity and or crazy science fiction stuff, but it is often at its best when it has both that and some kinda of drama or action. Having Archer be racist against Vulcans as a thing he was raised with and then having him seemingly get over it in a single episode seemed pretty damn unrealistic. And finally before I get to my summary, an alien doctor? Really? It was hilarious on Futurama which came out two years BEFORE this show. Honestly though he seems like one of the more likable characters at this point though, so we shall see.
We open with a child Archer working on a model space ship being told by his father than Vulcans are only holding them back. Cut to thirty years later and a Klingon is fleeing some strange looking aliens through a corn field. He blows them up in a silo before being shot by a farmer for not dropping his weapon. Next we see Archer and Trip inspecting the Enterprise before being called down to Starfleet medical. Admiral Forrest and Ambassador Soval are discussing what to do with Klaang, the injured Klingon. Soval and his aide, Sub-commander T'Pol, don't seem to want the humans to get involved but Forrest decides to send Archer and the Enterprise to get Klaang home. Onboard Archer tells Trip that T'Pol will be joining them as science officer and they are both openly hostile to her when she joins them in the ready room. Cut to one of the odd looking aliens from the opening talking to a mysterious figure about some sort of evidence Klaang apparently has with him.
There is a long of messing around and Archer picks up a translator but they eventually get under way. On the way Klaang awakens but the translator can't do much to help. Suddenly invisible aliens show and while Archer manages to kill one they abduct Klaang. It seems the aliens are Suliban who have been modified. They manage to track back to the last place he was and land at a trade complex. After visiting some strippers they locate Klingons but are attacked by more Suliban and are taken prisoner. Other than Archer who is taken to a human woman who kisses him and then reveals she is Suliban actually. And that she is good and I guess also the one who kidnapped him? And she says she is not part of the Cabal, but honestly it doesn't matter since she dies about a minute later. But she does tell Archer that there is a temporal cold war going on and Klaang has evidence to stop a Klingon civil war or something. Also Archer gets shot and sedated by the doctor and T'Pol helps instead of giving up on his plan when she is left in charge. Also, seriously, Trip lets her take over?
They track Klaang to a gas giant and find a huge space station made of small ships inside. They get driven out of the area by armed pods but manage to capture one. Trip and Archer take the pod and manage to rescue Klaang but for no apparent reason Archer stays behind making his ship have to risk everything to come back for him. It serves him right when they use the still somewhat experimental transporter to get him on board. They take Klaang to his people and aren't killed for it so I guess it goes fine. Archer asks T'Pol to stay on as science officer as they are given and open ended mission of exploration and she says yes.
Review: Lots of action and some really dumb decisions by main characters. Not terrible to watch, but not much fun to go back and think about. Better than I remembered, but still a really weak start.
4 out of 10
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