The Enterprise Incident

DVD, Star Trek S3 (The Enterprise Incident)

I have mixed feelings on this one. I like the idea of the elaborate deception to get aboard and nick a cloaking device. I love having Kirk be the first in a long line of Starfleeters to 'go alien'. And I love Chapel's reaction on finding Kirk is alive. I like seeing more Romulans, and is that the first appearance of the blue Romulan Ale? I like to see the bridge crew laughing together, and Scotty's desperate attempts to get the cloaking device working.

But I also find the episode very slow. And the Romulan Commander is a bit of a dolt not to guess that Spock would have more than a passing allegiance to the Federation and his Captain. It makes her look very weak and stupid. But it's clear she's not, being in charge of a starship. I also miss the original Bird of Prey, as it seems like they're just trying to save money by reusing the Klingon ship. Surely they would still have had the earlier Romulan ship available?

It's an episode that is a collection of interesting pieces rather than a satisfying story. About the sum of its parts, rather than more. And I wish they'd made it clearer that the Federation wanted to study the cloaking device rather than reproduce it to use in their ships, because you can't imagine them using the device most of the time.

I guessed as soon as Kirk decided to nip into the Neutral Zone that it was all an act, an elaborate ploy of some kind. Still it would have been interesting to have them defy Starfleet orders because Kirk was in a bad mood! At least Mr. Leslie gets another mention by name. It's not that I don't like the episode, I just found it interesting to watch rather than engrossing, and the weakest of the four we've seen this season.

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