ENT: Rogue Planet

         If I read a story summary of this episode I would have no problem agreeing that it sounds like a perfectly valid episode of Star Trek. Unfortunately ENT managed to find a way to bumble through so badly that it ends up being pretty bad overall. First of all why are there plants on this dark rogue planet? Being a rogue planet means it has no star so there is not going to be enough light to allow plants to grow. I don't hate the idea of life on the surface assuming you can accept that the planet is internally hot enough for a comfortable surface. I really wish they had it turn out that the psychic slug people were also evil or something, but that would have actually been interesting. Instead it goes full anti-hunting from the crew who spend lots of time mocking Vulcans for not eating meat.
         We open with the discovery of a rogue planet in the deeps of space, and surprisingly there is already a spacecraft on the surface. Archer leads an away team down and they are quickly ambushed by a group of hunters. Luckily it turns out they aren't what is being hunted and the crew are invited back to camp. They all hang out and discuss their differences over the ethics of hunting and Malcolm is eager to join in. They all camp out for the night but Archer stays up later than the rest of them and is lured into the woods by a female voice and catches a glimpse of a fleeing worman. Nobody believes him the next day and the hunt begins again but one of the hunters is badly injured by a wraith, apparently their prey. The man is taken to Phlox who can easily treat him but finds evidence that the creature who attacked him was a psychic shapeshifter. Archer gets lured into the woods again and this time talks to the woman who tells him she is in danger but disappears when T'Pol arrives. Archer decides the lady he loves is no trick and the hunters are hunting her so he has Phlox make a chemical that will make the wraiths undetectable to the hunters sensors so he gives it to her and they leave.

         Review: There are a bunch of ways this episode could have been interesting but they managed to carefully avoid just about all of them. Having Archer be hella dumb about something and then turn out to be right just makes the writers seem extra stupid.

3 out of 10