Vox Sola

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Vox Sola)

A happy ending, sweet violin music, and good-natured conversations between characters (such as Trip cheering Archer up by watching water polo with him, and T'Pol indirectly complimenting Hoshi at her lowest ebb), the episode will not be remembered for those reasons. It will forever be known as the one with the gunge creature, that wraps up the Captain and others in a white slimy web. Not to say the effects, both physical and CGI weren't well produced, but they looked quite different and the web material looked a bit too much like cling-film or plastic wrap (which it probably was).

The episode was ably directed by Roxann Dawson ('Voyager's B'Elanna Torres), and featured the first appearance by the Kreetassens, who would reappear in Season Two, again causing more trouble than they were worth. Vaughn Armstrong must have been kept busy in the first season of 'Enterprise'. He's already playing a recurring character in Admiral Forrest, he also played a Klingon, and I'm not sure he didn't have another role as well, and now he gets to be the lead Kreetassen too! The producers must have really liked him (or he charged a reasonable rate!). I think he was great as the Admiral, giving a stern, but reassuring face through to 'that' season (but we won't go into that now). But as good as he is, his voice is a little too distinctive, and while the elaborate designs of Michael Westmore expertly disguise any face, a voice comes through too well. So maybe this was one too many for the man, though I can't fault his performance.

Credit should be given for making sure everyone in the cast got a good scene, and there was even time for an ethical quandary when Phlox stands his ground in insisting that Reed doesn't harm the creature. It's the 'Star Trek' difference. The intentions were good, but this ensemble attitude wasn't a big success. It was down to the scenes being a bit forced or slow. Take Mayweather's conversation with the Kreetassen, or Reed testing out the forcefield. It's not that they aren't worth having, but they don't exhibit the fast and slick writing from the first half of the season. It's as if Berman and Braga were already becoming tired with these characters. There should have been a greater sense of urgency, and more character dialogue or revelations. T'Pol and Hoshi clearing the air was an example of the kind of thing that was needed more.

Creepy stories have been done a lot this season, so I can understand them not wanting to repeat themselves, but maybe they should have tried to recreate the tension of 'Voyager's 'Macroscosm', a similar tale where a creature or creatures begin to spread through the ship. There was no mystery here, and too soon it became a task for sitting at a computer screen to resolve the problem instead of the more hands-on style that this series promised would make it different to the other Trek's.

I'll admit this was one of the handful of episodes I never saw on original run, so I don't have the memories and attachment I do to the ones I've seen. But still, it shows a worrying step backward for a series that started so well. On the other hand, there's got to be some episodes in a season that don't live up to the others, and money tends to get tight towards the end of the season. So I give them the benefit of the doubt. Not sure why this should be the episode to get the DVD commentary, however.

**