Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Exile
DVD, Enterprise S3 (Exile)
If only this hadn't been a Hoshi episode. I've got nothing against her, and in actual fact I say that because I want more good stories for her, because this is another one that falls short of the intense narrative or deep character that Trek should aspire to. It's the second episode, after 'Rajiin' not to go far enough, and the story is a little limp. There are revelations and there's a certain fairytale charm to it, along the lines of 'The Beauty and The Beast,' but far from being a clever or insightful peering into what makes Hoshi tick, it's so much more of a surface tale that fails to break into something that would mean something. Like O'Brien in the war years on 'DS9' we hear that Sato often feels isolated from everyone. I couldn't help thinking that was because the writers didn't give her enough fulfilling scenes after the first season. It's also mentioned about her fears and how she conquered them, a little family history, a few scraps here and there about her. But always about her, not looking into her as a person, and that's what causes the episode to feel bland.
The B-story is more engaging, but only partially, even then. We do get the information about the huge number of Spheres across the Expanse, Archer also suggesting they were put there to create the Expanse itself. A little early for such major developments? Maybe, but one useful advance is the ability to detect where anomalies are likely to occur, since they only appear where different Sphere's beams intersect, so they should be able to avoid the devastating effects from now on. I enjoyed the unpredictability of them, and they continue to be visually arresting in this episode, with the stair-ladder in Engineering flipping over on itself. The only effect that didn't work was the explosion of a deck on the NX-01, which didn't look too good. Otherwise, the effects looked great, the ship majestically gliding over camera, and the cloaking field of the Spheres looks amazing once again, this time the shuttlepod going through.
Do the Spheres have their own gravity? They must do, because in an awkward spot for Archer and Trip, their pod starts off into space after a malfunction, and they have to shoot the faulty jet to bring it back down. It still seems more likely that it would bounce off the Sphere when coming down again rather than sliding to a halt in front of them. I liked seeing them walk on the surface of the Sphere, but that whole investigation could have been the greater part of the episode, and there was little joy in cutting back to the lonely abode of Tarquin. It was a bit of an error in judgement for the Captain to allow a member of his crew to stay behind with this alien. Not only had he shown he was capable of entering her mind (as he did in the creepy opening - he asks her not to be afraid then fills all the monitors with images of her frightened face!), but it was a condition of his helping them that she remain with him. It certainly wasn't appropriate. Maybe they could have compromised and had another character accompany her, say, Travis, who doesn't get even a single line in the episode.
If there had been someone else for Tarquin to play games with it would have given the story somewhere to go - threatening the life of Travis, playing mind games with him and Hoshi so they no longer know what's real or not, but the story was very 'vanilla.' An old alien, at least 400 years old in fact, wanting a new companion. There wasn't even the expected twist that he needed someone so he could live longer, sucking out their life force. It had been done before, but because there was barely any threat on this occasion, it weakens the episode. The castle set was nice, like a more lavish version of the medieval castles of 'TOS,' but Hoshi didn't really pack for a draughty old building! It was hardly standard issue away mission gear, what with skimpy clothes and heels. And going to the alien's room (where he's using his telepathy to find out about the Xindi for them), entering, upon his invitation, then agreeing to sit down and take part in a telepathic procedure was hardly 'staying on her toes' as Archer had ordered. Downright foolhardy, she should have kept her distance.
If only the book she translated had had some bearing on the episode, like it was the last remnants of his species' history, or revealed the mystery of his family, or anything, then the ending where he makes a final telepathic visit to Hoshi's quarters to ask if she enjoyed the book, might have had some poignancy. I have no problem with mystery and not having all the answers, but all we eventually found out about Tarquin was that he was an exile (could have got that from the title, right?), because of his powers of telepathy. We never know how he came to be on that planet or who built the castle. There was no sinister secret he was hiding, other than he intended to keep Hoshi there. It might not have been the best idea to threaten him with smashing his telepathic device. He could have been in the last years of his life, just wanting someone to be with him through that time, so he wouldn't have needed it any more.
His appearance was the only properly successful part of his character, though he did look a little too much like a Xindi, or maybe it was a cross between a Xindi-Reptilian and Lieutenant Barclay as a spider! The actor's muffled voice under all the prosthetics didn't enhance the character, drawn attention to in the way we see him human in some scenes (looking very much like a member of Section 31!). Generally I thought the direction from Roxann Dawson was good, it was the script that was at fault. The telepathic experience was okay, flashing images up from various past episodes, though not as effective a scene as a similar one from 'Random Thoughts' on 'Voyager.' One of the best moments was when we see Archer in a mirror, darkly, so you immediately pick up that something's wrong, and this isn't really the Captain. More of that was needed to provoke Hoshi and scare her into submission. It really could have been a delving into her deepest fears and how she's learned to triumph over them, which could have been a very strong theme for her. As it is, only the impetus for the continuing story, in that they are given the location of a Xindi colony that's constructing part of the weapon to destroy Earth, gives the episode any purpose.
**
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment