Day 275: Enterprise, The Andorian Incident

Show: Star Trek; Enterprise

Episode Particulars: S1EP6, “The Andorian Incident”

 Summary: While looking over the Vulcan star charts, Archer discovers a Vulcan monastery known as P’Jem along the Enterprise’s current heading and decides he wants to check it out. He, Tucker, and a reluctant T’Pol head down for a visit, only to get more than they bargained for. The monastery has been invaded by a group of Andorians, and their leader (Jeffrey Combs) is convinced that the arrival of the Enterprise means that he’s correct in his suspicions that the Vulcans are up to no good. Soon the away team finds themselves in a hostage situation, but Archer and Tucker, at least, are prepared to fight back. Trying to get the Vulcans to help them out is probably going to be the bigger challenge here.

Standalone Thoughts: Well, hello there, Jeffrey Combs. Nice to see you again. Especially since you’re playing a role completely different from either Brunt or Weyoun, thus proving that you have range. I’m very much looking forward to seeing you around more often.

A pleasantly familiar face aside, this is a very good episode, probably the best one I’ve seen so far (though I will perhaps admit to being biased…see the last section of this review). The teaser is short but interesting for once, there’s a good mix of action, tension, and discussion, and the whole thing is just very well-paced. There’s also the little matter of the ending, which doesn’t go quite the way you expect it to on multiple levels. Once again, Enterprise is trying to show us that this isn’t the Star Trek we’re used to, and I approve of the way they went about it.

Really, I might consider skipping straight to this episode after “Fight or Flight”. As I said, the other episodes aren’t bad, but this one offers more of a feeling of momentum and actually serves a purpose (see next section). You can come back to the others if you feel like it, but this way, you can get some reassurance that the show does know what it’s doing. It just needs a little more time to find its way.

How it Relates to the Whole: In addition to introducing us to the recurring character of Shran (although he hasn’t been officially named yet), the events of this episode will have consequences later on this season. Depending on what happens in the interim, this may be the first time an episode follows up on a plot point. We’ll all have to wait and see, though.

Other: *Some of the shots in the sanctuary have an oddly grainy look about them (see my header), but since it’s not consistent, I don’t think it was a deliberate choice. It does make me wonder if something was going wrong inside the camera, though.

*Hoshi winds up being in charge of beaming people down this episode, which makes even less sense than when Malcolm did it in “Strange New World”. At least I was able to find a slim justification for his doing it; I can come up with no such explanation for Hoshi. Though if someone who likes Hoshi as much as I like Malcolm wants to take a crack at it, feel free.

Badass Malcolm Moment: As I said when I first announced this section, I was going to have to stretch sometimes to come up with material. Not today. Every single appearance of Malcolm is amazing, from his initial concern over the lack of response from the away team to the sly remark he makes at the very end of the episode. But since I should probably try to limit myself, I’ll pick the moment when he knows for a fact that the away team has been taken hostage. He jumps into action immediately, demanding information on the Andorians and getting a shuttlepod prepped for rescue. When questioned about this, he responds “I don’t take orders from a comm voice, Ensign, not unless that voice belongs to the Captain.” in a tone that brooks no argument. Decisive, determined, and quick-thinking…it’s no surprise he’s my favorite after a performance like that.