Silent Enemy

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Silent Enemy)

One side is a story that points out that not all first contacts are friendly ones, and some aliens don't wish to talk. Whether they found Enterprise a threat to their space or were simply violent aggressors, they cause some concern, and show up more teething problems for the ship, this time in the weaponry department.

The other side to the episode is Hoshi's mission from Archer to track down Reed's favourite food. In the research we get to see his parents, his Father clearly unhappy with his son's choice of career, and a fascinating insight that the British Navy still serves. A shame we never got to meet them again. And we see his best friend who looks like he's serving on some Starfleet ship with some kind of insignia, so there must be others that aren't starships like NX-01, since we know this is the first proper starship and the next one doesn't come along for a while. There are references to Jupiter Station again (I think it's seen in Voyager's 'Lifeline').

The aliens are weird, though humanoid, and the ship looks flashy, but that we don't learn anything about them makes the episode feel a little unfinished. If it weren't for the character moments, like Reed and Trip working together, and the spooky attack, it would have come across as a bit of a flat episode. The two stories are at odds with each other, with some humour in moments followed by moody alien attacks, but it leaves a smile on your face at the end, and that's what matters.

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