Day 358: Enterprise, The Aenar

Show: Star Trek; Enterprise

Episode Particulars: S4EP14, “The Aenar”

 Summary: While the tensions between the Andorians and the Tellarites have been resolved, the Enterprise wants to seek out and destroy the drone that caused all the trouble in the first place, to keep this from happening again. An analysis reveals that it’s remotely piloted by someone with telepathic abilities, and that the closest match to anything in Phlox’s database is Andorian (something the audience discovered at the very end of the previous episode). Shran, who stuck around to help find the drone, explains that there’s a subspecies of Andorians known as Aenar, who are telepathic, blind, albino, and pacifist. Archer and Shran head down to Andorian territory to try to find the Aenar and ask for their help, while Phlox, T’Pol, and Tucker build a device of their own that will hopefully disrupt the drone. And while all this is going on, a second drone becomes active, and both are given a new mission; destroy the Enterprise.

Standalone Thoughts: I feel like this episode exists solely to tie up the loose end of having the drone out there. The ending of “United” would have been a perfectly satisfying conclusion to the arc, and having the drone still be out there may actually have been a benefit, a potential threat that the new alliance would have to face in the finale. That’s not to say that this episode is bad, but it just feels like an entirely separate entity to the rest of the arc, since the Tellarites are gone and most of the material doesn’t actually focus on the drone, although it’s the element that most of the plot revolves around. Instead, the attention is more on the Aenar, who are a neat idea but aren’t explored as much as they could be. In fact, the whole episode has this feeling of being…not exactly rushed, but kind of perfunctory, a sort of “we need to get this done so we’ll do it as quickly and efficiently as possible”. It certainly gets the information out there, but there isn’t a real sense of stakes, and I think that’s why I mostly find the episode blah.

There’s still good to be had, obviously. All the visuals surrounding the Aenar, from the ice caves to their city to their costumes, are all very interesting and very often pretty. Jeffrey Combs does well given the thin material; one scene in particular, despite feeling a little abrupt, is still very well-handled thanks to his line deliveries. The few scenes with the Romulans have potential as well, though they’re tragically underdeveloped. Given more time, this all could have made for a good arc in its own right. Instead, it’s fine, but nothing to write home about.

Despite the lackluster conclusion, I still say this has been the best arc of Season Four so far. “United” did the bulk of the work, but it was so well-executed that it pulls the other two up with it, though of course having Jeffrey Combs as a throughline helps immensely. Whether or not the remaining arcs in this season follow this example, only time (and rewatches) will tell.

How it Relates to the Whole: In theory, this episode was laying some groundwork for future episodes involving Shran (there have been claims that he would have joined Enterprise as a permanent cast member, or at least a semi-regular, in Season Five). In practice, all that comes of the material involving the Aenar is a little reference to it in the last episode, which I don’t really count, as we’ll discuss when we get there. However, the material involving Tucker and T’Pol and the scene in the last minute or so of this episode actually leads directly to one of the plots in the arc that starts tomorrow, so it does, at least, have a little bit of relevance. How much relevance, though, we’ll have to discover together.

Other: *Another solo observation this time; one key moment during the climax feels like it once again took its cues from 2001: A Space Odyssey, though in a visual sense rather than a plot sense. Given that the scene they were (possibly) riffing on is my least favorite bit in that movie, that’s not exactly a compliment.

Badass Malcolm Moment: There’s not a lot to work with today; Malcolm doesn’t even get to do much in the way of tactical things. The best I’ve got is his willingness to speak out against Archer’s plan to visit the Aenar alone, especially since his reasoning is sound. I feel like this is the weakest entry I’ve ever had in this category (yes, I’m including the ones he doesn’t show up in in that assessment), but on the bright side, I’m pretty sure I’ll have more to work with shortly…