Star Trek Enterprise (Season 2c)

Season 2b - Season 2d

The frustrating thing about Enterprise continues to be the way it invents new facts that negate older stories that—in timeline—have yet to occur. That, and this show tries too hard to be about something without really having as much to say as the old shows did. It isn’t that the era in which the show aired had less worrisome cultural issues to deal with. They just fail to be as provocative (and at the same time as subtle) as the original.

Episode 39: “Dawn”

Trek has done this story before (TNG season 3 episode 7 “The Enemy” and season 5 episode 2 “Darmok”). It is also a retelling of the movie “Enemy Mine.” I think Darmok is by far the most interesting of all these versions.

Episode 40: “Stigma”

The series makes a very clumsy attempt to comment on homosexuality and the AIDS epidemic using Vulcan mind-melding as a metaphor. This is clumsy because the series makes a mistake it repeatedly falls prey to as a “prequel” series. The implication is that “mind-melding” is a fringe aspect of being Vulkan, unlike the ubiquitous ability it was in earlier (later?) Trek. Added to that, the ability to share thoughts is an inadequate metaphor for homosexuality.

In the end, this episode condemns a society unwilling to help sick people due to a judgmental attitude toward the activity that leads to the sickness. That would seem like a bit of a disconnect, but it is sadly true to life. Helping sick people and trying to reduce risks with lifestyle changes should be two different things. Too many people are willing to dehumanize and condemn from a position of moral superiority.

None of that truth makes the clumsiness of this episode any better.

Episode 41: “Cease Fire”

Enterprise does a good job of telling an action story. That is something where newness with better production values and modern sensibilities in TV storytelling help the show. Captain Archer is being developed as a character on the side of right over and against any loyalties to race or society. That is an admirable quality, but one wonders how much trouble that will win him. As this episode demonstrates, most people sacrifice right and truth in favor of tribe everyday.

Episode 42: “Future Tense”

This is one of those time-travel stories where we are left wondering why it even remained in the timeline. At least they didn’t do the trope where events caused this episode to never happen.

Episode 43: “Canamar”

Basically an “escape the ever more complicated trap” episode. But since this is Trek, they do a fairly good job of hinting that corruption is causing a lot of innocent people to suffer needlessly to increase the benefit of corporate types.

Episode 44: “The Crossing”

A story in the vein of “The Thing” where you can’t trust anyone; and also a sort of the possession narrative. The suspense is somewhat effective, and the hints at a different perspective on the life we live is interesting, but ultimately doesn’t really explore much.

Episode 45: “Judgement”

This is an effective courtroom drama. When presented with a system that has become completely corrupt, Archer again stands up for truth and right. We are surprised (again) to discover completely new facts about the species we have known over the course of centuries of story-lines. It seems Enterprise wants to claim that Klingons were once more like Earth when it came to justice and truth. The corruption of the warmongering government is a new development. Forgetting for a moment the way this runs counter to everything we have seen before, it is a good cautionary tale for us, lest we allow our leaders to deny all the principles and ethics upon which we were founded.