Day 319: Enterprise, Bounty

Show: Star Trek; Enterprise

Episode Particulars: S2EP25, “Bounty”

 Summary: While investigating an uninhabited planet, the Enterprise is contacted by a small Tellarite ship. The captain, Skalaar (Jordan Lund), offers his services as a tour guide, only to kidnap the captain when they take him up on it. It turns out that Skalaar is a bounty hunter, here to bring Archer back to the Klingons after what happened at the end of “Judgment”. But since he’s taking on bounties to earn back his beloved ship instead of just being greedy, Archer thinks he may be able to appeal to Skalaar’s softer side to avoid falling back into Klingon hands. Meanwhile, T’Pol and Phlox are stuck in decon together after picking up a microbe on the surface. Unfortunately, the microbe mixes with T’Pol’s biochemistry in such a way that it simulates the sensations Vulcans get during Pon Farr, aka their mating cycle. This plot is mostly supposed to be dramatic, but there’s at least a small hint of comedy in there as well. Which could be a bad thing, but mostly works here; at least it makes that plot interesting to watch.

Standalone Thoughts: While I do appreciate the fact that this episode contains a surprise followup to “Judgment”, the actual content of the episode is pretty hit or miss. Archer’s plot is basically a rehash of “Canamar”, but not as good because Archer doesn’t have to play-act. It also contains the “reluctant bad guy” trope, which can work in some stories but just gives off the “we’ve seen this all before” vibe this time around. T’Pol’s story is the stronger of the two, though I understand completely why it was relegated to a subplot; unless you went the straight comedy route (or ripped off “Amok Time”), it would be impossible to fill an entire episode with Pon Farr shenanigans. That being said, this plot is also somewhat predictable, it’s just executed more effectively and acted with more verve—I’m betting Blalock relished a chance to chew the scenery a little. Overall, my opinion on this episode fluctuates between saying it’s closer to Season One quality or placing it in the ranks of the “blah” episodes from the middle of this season. Happily, I don’t think I’m going to have the same problem with the last episode of the season…

How it Relates to the Whole: In addition to being a semi-sequel to “Judgment”, the episode also gives us our first glimpse (in this series, anyway) of a Tellarite. While I’m uncertain if we’ll be seeing Skalaar again, we’ll definitely encounter Tellarites a few more times. As for the T’Pol subplot, I don’t think any of it is ultimately relevant to later events, though it obviously involves a classic piece of Vulcan lore and makes subtle reference to something brought up in “Shuttlepod One”. And finally, two of the elements from this episode (being stuck in Decon for a long period and irrationally trying to escape, an interaction between Malcolm and T’Pol) will show up in slightly different forms in two separate episodes. I don’t know if that’s a case of plot recycling or just sheer coincidence.

Other: *Another single today. Phlox assures T’Pol that he won’t tell anyone about her Pon Farr, specifically saying “I’d never violate a patient’s privacy.” Your actions in “Silent Enemy” disagree with you slightly there, Phlox. And no, I will not be letting that one go no matter how many episodes pass.

Badass Malcolm Moment: Once again, I have to give it to the fact that when he’s in charge of the bridge and something goes wrong, he immediately springs into action and does everything that’s appropriate for the situation. I’m almost sad that they weren’t able to follow Skalaar’s ship immediately, leaving the away teams on the planet; Malcolm in the captain’s chair is such a rare sight that I’d support any possibility of extending his time there.