Day 355: Enterprise, Observer Effect

Show: Star Trek; Enterprise

Episode Particulars: S4EP11, “Observer Effect”

 Summary: While investigating a planet, Tucker and Hoshi pick up a virus that starts affecting them rapidly and is highly contagious. With them safely quarantined in decon, Phlox starts working on a cure, but the prognosis isn’t good. What he and the rest of the crew aren’t aware of, however, is that their actions are being observed by two aliens (who have possessed the bodies of Malcolm and Mayweather, though they jump to other characters at times) who use the exposure to the virus to see if various species are ready for first contact. The older observer figures things will play out in one of two expected manners—everyone will die, or the infected will be killed to save the others. As so often happens in Star Trek, though, humans have a way of being surprising.

Standalone Thoughts: This is a very interesting episode, and I think I like it, mostly by virtue of the novelty of the material. It’s a neat mix of seeing things from the normal perspective of the Enterprise crew, and seeing them through the eyes of outsiders. It also gives the cast, but primarily Montgomery and Keating, the chance to play outside of their usual roles, which is fun to watch. Also, in a nice little touch, the more experienced entity tends to possess the established smart characters, and the younger one possesses the characters who tend to show a lot of compassion, so the actors still get a chance to show hints of their character’s personalities despite being possessed. Even though nothing much actually happens in this episode when you actually think about it, it’s paced in such a way that combined with the acting, you get a pretty good story.

Of course, it’s not a perfect episode, though my one big complaint is pretty minor compared to the issues I’ve had with other episodes. Specifically, we once again get evidence that Hoshi has Mary-Sue tendencies. Not only is she a black belt in Aikido, but we learn that she got kicked out of Starfleet because she found a loophole in the rules about gambling, but got to stay because they needed linguists. What makes it worse is that the Hoshi we’ve seen on the show doesn’t jive with the Hoshi we’re told about in this episode, so you get the worst of both worlds; informed attributes and Mary-Sue qualities. The episode was a prime opportunity to get a few character moments in for her and Tucker, but I wish they’d come up with something a bit more mundane for her.

That one thing aside, I’d say this is upper-tier Enterprise. It’s not on my list of all-time favorites, but it’s good storytelling and even has traces of classic sci-fi, so it’s a win-win all around. And it recharges my batteries for the next arc, which will hopefully be executed slightly better than the Vulcan arc was. If nothing else, I know there’s one element about it I’m going to like…

How it Relates to the Whole: Other than a reference to “Dear Doctor”, there’s no connection to anything else in Enterprise. As for Star Trek as a whole, not only do we get a reference to Cardassians, but I’m pretty sure the possessing species is a race we encounter in TOS, though I don’t think I’ve ever seen the episode in which they appear, so I can’t confirm this one hundred percent. The name definitely sounded familiar, though.

Other: *Just a single observation today; this episode contains another abrupt cut to commercial, like the teaser in “Daedalus”. Unlike in that episode, though, at least it ended on a dramatic note, even if there was no music to accompany it (which I think is why both cuts feel so abrupt).

Badass Malcolm Moment: I was kind of afraid I wouldn’t be able to do anything for this episode, because while Keating is onscreen for large periods of time, Malcolm’s personality has been replaced by the possessing entity, so it’s not really him. In fact, there’s only one scene where Malcolm’s not possessed. Fortunately, though, the writers slipped in something that allowed me to include an entry for this category. In the teaser, “Malcolm” and “Mayweather” are playing chess, and “Malcolm” makes the offhand comment that “I’m the ship’s champion. I win all the tournaments.” Given that it had been established that the entities are new to chess, I think it’s safe to say that the entity is talking about the real Malcolm here. Which means that Malcolm is really good at chess. Given his position as tactical officer (which means having to come up with and adapt to strategies), this makes a lot of sense, and I don’t know why I’m surprised by this. I am absolutely in favor of it, though.

After the Fact Update: Memory Alpha confirms that the possessing entities are the race I was thinking of. Hopefully the reveal of who they are is more exciting to others than it was to me.