Extinction

DVD, Enterprise S3 (Extinction)

First thoughts were a terrific opening, but one I remembered wrongly as being right in there with Archer and his crewmates running away from MACOs having been infected before the story started. I quickly realised I was wrong, so it became about waiting to see how Archer and co. would be assimilated/genetically altered. That part worked well, with he and the others suddenly changing, T'Pol caught in the middle. Her inability to stay calm shames the Vulcan race, as I can imagine how Tuvok or Spock would have reacted under the same circumstances, and it wouldn't have been by looking scared or losing focus. It's one of those things that I hate about New Vulcans (or should that be Old Vulcans), but in this case I'll give them the benefit of the doubt - it could have been the fault of the mutagen that T'Pol's body had rejected. She was afforded the chance to show off some Vulcan strength later, when the Unnamed Aliens attack her and the others in the tunnel. I also allowed for her struggle with Hoshi, since Sato and the other two had been changed internally as well as externally, and likely had improved muscle power.

I'm not sure how ethical it was for T'Pol's DNA to be bandied about like a commodity, without her permission, even though I'm sure she'd have given it. Even so, that's the kind of thing that should have been raised as an issue - maybe she had second thoughts about allowing her DNA to be used in the serum and given to those aliens? The ending did achieve a modicum of poignancy, with Archer showing he hasn't lost all perspective since entering the Expanse, and made me think of 'The Inner Light' from 'TNG.' I wouldn't rate this one up near that story, but the same sentiment came out of it: that of preserving a long-dead culture, only this race's solution was very different. I liked Archer's show of grace towards the race that had taken over his body, not wanting to eradicate all chance of their people ever returning by keeping a vial of the mutagen. But even so, he wasn't going to allow it to be used, so it was really only a gesture. It also made me think of the remains of the Caretaker on 'Voyager' being put away for storage as if they might one day come back to it.

The story was a straight up sci-fi tale, all about a race procreating by altering the DNA of other species, bringing to mind 'Voyager' story 'Ashes To Ashes,' though in that version they reanimated the dead. It came to feel inconsequential due to it not having a strong connection to the ongoing Xindi arc, but it's good for them to have a break after those first two episodes, and deal with something important. The issue at hand wasn't really explored, in favour of a lot of chasing through the jungle, which was handled well by a confident return for Levar Burton in the Big Chair. I liked little things about it, such as Travis being in the other Big Chair, and having a little command experience, although as usual his input sadly didn't amount to much. I always enjoy seeing different people left in charge, but it would have been better if Trip had been absent, trying to track down the Captain and T'Pol, when the aliens attacked. There was no B-story, and it could have been an examination of how Travis dealt with the pressure of two ships.

I wanted to see another boarding raid, but that's happened a lot so far this season, so I can see why they found an alternative this time. The aliens were pretty cool with their Roman armour and sail-like ships, the CGI at its usual high standard in the space shots. Less so when it came to the bustling planet, shots looking like a model with little fake people wandering around, something that they often fell down on in Trek - matte paintings forever! I will say that the images of the contemporary city in its rundown state worked better, as did Archer and the others shown to be scampering away. T'Pol had plenty of action, and the story went along at a steady pace, though the sympathy for the race's plight never came to anything because they looked so ugly and annoying in their movements. Credit to the actors for undergoing the makeup and completely altering their body language and voices, as it must have been a challenge - it gives us an idea of what Bakula, Park and Keating might have been like had they played non-human characters permanently.

One mistake I thought I saw was to do with T'Pol's outfit. When she leaves the command centre to go to the bridge she's wearing one uniform pale blue in colour, but on the bridge she sports a white one - just the wrong colour for rolling around on a dirty planet! The neuropressure scene appeared superficial, but became the key to saving them thanks to the peaches Trip brought. That was okay, but came across as too obvious. Also, I didn't get the information they were talking about, and whether it was related to the preceding episode or was a ship they'd encountered in between episodes - it simply wasn't made clear enough. I couldn't help but enjoy it, but I also couldn't help feeling it was inconsequential, like one of those Season 2 episodes that has no bearing on anything. Thankfully it was more action-packed than that and gave some of the actors a workout, so slightly weaker than the opening two, but still pretty good, and an indication that the series aimed to be consistently exciting, and more dangerous, the flamethrowers being an example of a weapon not generally seen in Trek.

There was a dedication at the end of the episode 'In Memory of Jerry Fleck' who was on the production team on the directing side, and died, presumably, during this episode.

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