Dawn

DVD, Enterprise S2 (Dawn)

This was touted at the time as the 21st Century, widescreen version of 'Arena,' one of the most fondly remembered 'TOS' episodes, but the Arkonians aren't the Gorn, and, though it pains me to say it, Trip is no Captain Kirk. The main thing is this wasn't treated as an opportunity to learn something new about him, it was just an attempt at an action story, failing to add a dimension to what is a fairly standard plot - two enemies trapped in an inhospitable environment, fighting each other and/or trying to survive. The high watermark for this plot is 'The Ascent' from 'DS9,' and there are slight similarities between the two, in that Trip and the alien have to work together to carry the transmitter high enough to get a message out, but it's not a patch on that great story, and the parallels only drag it down.

I think the main problem is that rather than go outside for a location shoot and the conditions that would have been difficult to control (though they'd already pulled off a similar locale for 'Desert Crossing' last season), it's all done on a soundstage, and no matter how good the rocks and sand are, they aren't going to convince as the great outdoors - you don't get many long shots or look down on them from high up or see them silhouetted against the sky because there isn't one, and it subconsciously makes a difference. There is some good lighting, the close ups of the Arkonian at night with the fire lighting up one side are very good, and the makeup design is excellent. But still, they don't have a strong personality and were definitely not the modern equivalent of the Gorn - though that creation could be laughable, it was also unforgettable, and these aliens seemed a bit generic.

It didn't help that their motivation was xenophobia, which didn't really explain the extreme reaction of the shuttle pilot to shoot at Trip without warning or provocation and though he all but apologises at the end, there seems little basis for T'Pol to compliment Archer on achieving more diplomatically with the race in one day than the Vulcans managed in a century. That part was interesting as it showed the Vulcans didn't always have success when they landed and tried to guide newly warp-capable species and there was a nice ending, from Trip recounting many of his adventures as he sinks into unconsciousness, to T'Pol's compliment to Archer and Trip finally being able to communicate with his antagonist, but it made me think more about 'Unexpected' the episode where he gets pregnant, mentioned as one of his memories, and how much better that was as an entertaining experience. I have to ask myself how entertaining this was in comparison, and it doesn't hold up well.

The fight scenes were well done, brutal and well-directed by returning hand Roxann Dawson, there was some degree of danger at first when it is down to Trip's ingenuity to protect him from a monstrous-looking unknown alien packing a phaser, but quickly loses that momentum. Not having the UT to make sense of the alien's speech added drama, and was playing to the limitations of the series, but overall it comes out as more of 'The Enemy' ('TNG'), than 'The Ascent' on the scale of 'stranded on a planet' stories. Gregg Henry also played Gallatin, one of the Son'a in 'Star Trek: Insurrection'.

**