Day 292: Enterprise, Desert Crossing

Show: Star Trek; Enterprise

Episode Particulars: S1EP23, “Desert Crossing”

 Summary: After the Enterprise helps fix his ship, an alien named Zobral (Clancy Brown) invites Captain Archer to visit his home planet as a show of gratitude. Archer agrees, and brings Tucker along for the ride. The visit is initially pleasant, and then Archer is informed by T’Pol that Zobral is thought of as a terrorist by the planet’s official government. Zobral admits that he and several other groups are fighting against a corrupt government and that he deliberately sought Archer out because he had heard of his battle prowess. Before Archer can respond to any of this, the camp is bombarded, and he and Tucker escape into the desert. So now instead of facing armies, they’ll be battling heatstroke. I’m not sure which one they’d ultimately prefer.

Standalone Thoughts: I feel like this episode wanted to go in one direction, but wasn’t sure what to do with it, so they had to scramble for something else to fill the time instead. The supposed conflict of the piece is that Zobral wants Archer to take his side in a war, having lured Archer in on false pretenses while also having a false impression of Archer’s accomplishments. But once this is established, it winds up being mostly ignored. It comes up here or there in various conversations, but very little is actually done about it. Instead, the bulk of the episode is taken up with a “Man vs. Nature” conflict as Archer and Tucker battle the heat. And while I like a good survival story, it feels like a distraction from what the real issue should be. As a result, the whole episode feels a little off, not in a wholly bad way but in a way that makes it feel a little incomplete.

Other than that, I’m not sure what there is to say about this episode. Clancy Brown has a lot of presence, which is all to the good, although his accent sounds more and more stereotypically French the longer he talks. The first ten minutes of Zobral offering hospitality and showing Archer and Tucker some of his culture is decent, plus it has an extended ball-playing scene that is perfectly serviceable eyecandy for the ladies (though I’m a suit girl myself). Some of the desert shots look nice, though I don’t think that’s a difficult trick to pull off if you know what you’re doing. And that’s about all I’ve got. The whole thing is about on par with the rest of Season One, but probably less important to watch. I don’t think you’d regret watching it, but it’s not going to be anything special, either.

How it Relates to the Whole: The whole conflict with Zobral never comes up again, but we do get continuity nods to “Detained” and “Silent Enemy”, another foreshadowing of the Prime Directive, and a reminder that Enterprise is on its way to Risa, which will be paid off (for better or for worse) in the next episode. Not the most necessary of material, I’ll grant you…

Other: *Look at the buggy driving on the ground in this shot;

It’s a) incongruous to the rest of the setting, and b) looks like something out of Mad Max. Given that we never see them up close, it just seems like an odd, pointless detail to add.

*It’s somewhat amusing to me that even on other planets, ball games are still divided into “shirts” and “skins”. Apparently some things really are universal.

*As soon as it’s determined Archer and Tucker might be in trouble, Malcolm says he’ll go down in a shuttlepod to rescue them. When T’Pol pointedly asks “In the middle of an assault?” Malcolm gets a look on his face (that doesn’t quite have the same effect in screencaps, hence my not showing it to you) that I’m pretty sure is actually supposed to mean “you have a point”, but which has just enough of a smile that makes me wonder if he’s not thinking “Don’t worry, I can take them.” Unfortunately, it’s not clear enough for me to peg that as his best moment of the episode. Which means the honor had to go to…

Badass Malcolm Moment: When informed that there’s a narrow gap in a sensor grid that’s only open for a minute, Malcolm immediately demands all relevant information. The idea that he could do it is dismissed immediately, and he curtly responds that he’s “a quick study”. The continuation of that conversation ultimately implies that someone else piloted the shuttlepod through the grid, but please notice that when we finally do see the shuttlepod, Malcolm’s the one flying it. All I’m saying is I completely believe him when he says he learns things quickly.