This is clearly ENT's attempt to have an episode like Family from TNG and it is pretty well deserved at this point. It is also an opportunity to show how the various characters deal with what the went through, to show how humanity is reacting to what happened, and even to make the Vulcans seem a bit more reasonable again. I really appreciated the scene where the Vulcan ambassador thanks Archer for what he did, something we are told earlier in the episode isn't something Vulcans do so it makes the gesture even more meaningful. I am not sure where they are going with T'Pols marriage, and that is a good thing. I called her and Trip hooking up early first season and I don't object to their relationship, but it is nice to see something unexpected happening as well. Giving Archer some actual personal interests other than just being obsessed with water polo was cool too. Not sure if his romance is going to continue, but it makes him more of a person.
We open with the crew of Enterprise being honored in San Francisco for saving earth. After Archer meets up with Erika Hernandez, captain of the Columbia NX-02 and apparently a former love interest. Trip and T'Pol discuss shore leave options and eventually agree to go to Vulcan together. Back to Archer and he is being chewed out by the Vulcan ambassador for not doing more to save the vulcans driven mad by trillium in the expanse. Trip and T'Pol arrive on vulcan and T'Pol is surprised to find her mother not at work. Her mother is also clearly surprised, and not in a good way, that she brought a human with her. Trip though gets to work fixing stuff for her and being his usual helpful self. We soon learn T'Pols mother wants her to marry the man she was betrothed to as a child named Voss. Archer and Hernandez head out rock climbing together and we see he isn't taking the changes he has gone through well. Phlox, Malcolm and Tucker head to a bar where Phlox is confronted by a racist human and the other two jump to his defense, but he stops the fight by puffing up his face. T'Pol learns from Voss that her mother actually lost her job because of T'Pol. Later while visiting a lava field with Trip she tells him she is going to marry Voss. Now it is her mother who comes to Trip and asks if he has told T'Pol that he loves her, but he can't do it. After a nightmare about the Xindi and some freaking out Archer kisses Hernandez and seems to calm down a bit. Back at Starfeelt they complete his debriefing after which the Vulcan ambassador pulls him aside for a heartfelt thank you. We close with the beginning of T'Pol's marriage to Voss.
Review: Not much action of science fiction, but exactly the kind of character building this show has suffered for the lack of which is good to see. Bonus point for making the Vulcans into more reasonable people.
6 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment