Day 313: Enterprise, Judgment

Show: Star Trek; Enterprise

Episode Particulars: S2EP19, “Judgment”

 Summary: Archer has been hauled up before a Klingon tribunal for what they perceive as him encouraging rebellion in the Empire. He’s been assigned a Klingon advocate, Kolos (familiar face from DS9 J.G. Hertzler), but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to do him all that much good. Still, Kolos is willing to fight for the right to let Archer tell his side of the story, which is more than you might expect. And unfortunately, I’ll have to leave the summary at that; this is definitely an episode that’s easier to watch than describe.

Standalone Thoughts: This is another very solid episode, partially because it’s willing to try new things. For a start, most of the main characters besides Archer only appear sporadically, making this unquestionably an Archer story. Secondly, it throws in just a tiny bit of Rashomon, and while it’s clearly using the technique for a reason other than “everybody has different perspectives on things”, it’s still a nice reference. Third, it actively calls out the fact that the Klingons have been Flanderized as obsessed with nothing but honor and fighting, and it’s always a pleasant surprise when media shows that it’s self-aware. Finally, we actually spend very little time on the Enterprise sets, which gives the episode a different feel. Add them all together, and you’ve got a pretty neat story.

This is, of course, aided and abetted by some other details. Acting wise, Bakula is fine, but the real star of the show, perhaps unsurprisingly, is Hertzler. He does admittedly play Kolos similarly to Martok, but if you liked Martok’s character, you’ll have nothing to complain about here. I also think the sets and lighting for the Klingon sets do a great job of giving us atmosphere, even if it’s a little too dim at times. Then there’s the fact that if you’re a Star Trek buff, the episode has a lot of little nods to canon (see next section), something that’s generally fun to spot. In short, even if it’s not an essential episode, it almost feels like one at times, and that alone makes it worth a look.

How it Relates to the Whole: I don’t believe the events of this episode come up again, but it’s still a relevant episode, because it’s a treasure trove of Star Trek lore. There are several references to the events of previous Enterprise episodes (though not, sadly, to “Canamar”), and there are even more references to later Trek events, including both TNG and The Undiscovered Country. Throw in a role for J.G. Hertzler and you’ve basically alluded to every (at the time) Trek incarnation except Voyager. And personally, that’s just fine by me.

Other: *This episode is very tight, with not much in the way of extraneous material. So I’ve got nothing to add to this section this time around.

Badass Malcolm Moment: I know I should probably point to the fact that Malcolm can apparently modify a torpedo in eleven minutes or less, but I like his actions at the end of the episode much more. Sure, he doesn’t do anything particularly impressive, and it wasn’t his idea, but if things had gone wrong, he would have been the only member of the crew besides Archer to bear the consequences. There’s a certain, dare I say, honor in being willing to take that risk.