Precious Cargo

DVD, Enterprise S2 (Precious Cargo)

I've always considered this down there with the worst of 'Enterprise' episodes, and watching it again hasn't changed my mind, but when you have such low expectations you sometimes appreciate the good parts a little more. As such, I quite enjoyed it to begin with, it was more exciting than I remembered and the villains of the piece had a leathery depth to them that made them better than the average guest appearance. Whether it was the lead villain's false pleasantry (reminding me somewhat of Gul Dukat), or his partner's duping by Archer and T'Pol (very Kirk and Spock, I thought), the scenes with these aliens were the highlights, and we were even treated to a bit of fistfight in which the alien Captain shows that his race don't just look bony, as his face absorbs several blows from Trip.

With highlights inevitably come lowlights, and Trip's rescue of the ungrateful and annoying plank that was the Princess of Krios Prime, was definitely that. There was a feeling of 'The Original Series' story 'Elaan of Troyius' about it, even down to Trip teaching her a bit about good manners. That wasn't a great episode either, so it's no surprise that having a spoiled brat along for the ride didn't make for gripping TV, especially as Trip is so laid back - he even likes playing the mouth organ in his quarters when he's off-duty!

There are some early signs of the ruthlessness later shown by Archer in his treatment of the prisoner. He keeps him in the airlock (don't they have a brig yet?), and then performs an elaborate charade in which T'Pol (arriving in her regal robe, the attire we first meet her in during the pilot episode), is supposedly a harsh law-giver for the area that will kill crewmembers for minor infractions! Okay, so this is all a joke on the hapless alien, but it shows that Archer isn't above a bit of deception or threats to get what he wants, something that would be played out more and more with the Xindi arc next season.

Though the escape pod Trip and 'Her Majesty' escape in looks rather like a dustbin, the descent onto a 'Dagobah'-type planet had a believable feeling of dropping like a stone, and the planet set looked very real. Some nice camera angles throughout the episode use the widescreen well thanks to some wide-angle lenses, whether it's in the pod or the 'interrogation' room, and the camera spins round the bridge in the early action sequence - I especially like the moment the deputy alien tries to leave Enterprise and Reed shows up with a redshirt to cut him off diplomatically. I knew I recognised one of the aliens, and the name Leland Crooke rang a bell - he was a Vorta in a late 'DS9'. We also see the Universal Translator, this time in the form of a hand pad device with a communicator attached. The only real mystery of the episode is why the Princess looks so much like a Trill, with those spots going down her temples and neck, because there's no mystery in the story itself, and no depth - Trip isn't too anxious to prove himself a 'perfect gentleman' this time, which is all rather unrealistic given the circumstances. It all makes for an underwhelming experience, but not perhaps the absolute worst it could be.

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