Dead Stop

DVD, Enterprise S2 (Dead Stop)

A continuation from last week's encounter with a Romulan mine, the episode flirts with continuity in more ways than one. On top of the major work needed by the NX-01 and Reed, the pilot episode is referenced by the scratch Trip made on the hull in his inspection back then, something for only the most observant to note. The squeak in the Captain's floor is also fixed by the mysterious repair station and 'Fight Or Flight' is brought to mind during Hoshi's visit to the dead Travis and in the mystery behind the computer.

Hoshi has a nice scene in which she gets a bit upset at the seeming death of her friend, something the series didn't often do (or do well). The question is why they chose Travis to add to their network of alien brains, T'Pol would be a more likely candidate for brain power - was it a way to give the helmsman some much-needed lines? As it is he's mostly onscreen as a corpse which means he gets as much to do as usual! A few facts are revealed, such as his age (26), a peek into his quarters, and that he has a sister. His parents must be alive too, as an attempt is made to contact them. I began to wonder what was going to happen to all the other aliens aboard the dying station, but that question was answered by Phlox. The doctor seems less alien every time we see him, with none of the quirks that endeared him to us in Season 1. It's a shame his character has been stripped of the unique curiosity and such that he started with. He's just one of several characters to be under-exploited so far.

The episode is rife with little nudges to those interested in the greater universe. We get to see a replicator device for the first time (though T'Pol trumps that, having seen one on a Tarkalean vessel before - must be what they used to make their tea!), the Tellarites debut, but only on a bad audio channel, and Jupiter station is mentioned (later home to Dr. Zimmerman, most famously). Porthos is seen briefly for the first time, and Klingons were among the aliens used for brainpower (again, a strange choice), though I couldn't make out any other familiar races. Roxann Dawson does a fine job of directing, and as in the 'Voyager' episode 'Dreadnought' she lends her voice to the dispassionate, but dangerous computer. The set design is clean and bright, very Bespin from 'Star Wars', and the CGI was especially worthy of praise, whether it was the space shots or close-ups of the repair work going on behind crewmembers relaxing in the station, the 3D, blue schematic of the ship particularly attractive. I would question the computer's intelligence level since it could scan so powerfully, but didn't detect explosives in the warp plasma containers and didn't tap into the crew's secret conversations, but there's a chilling end once the Enterprise has left and the machine arms begin working again to repair themselves.

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