Similitude

DVD, Enterprise S3 (Similitude)

Even when you know the unfolding story ahead, you can't fail to be saddened by the sight of Trip lying dead in a photon tube, and if you don't know what lies in front (or behind, in time terms), it's a suitably mysterious, sci-fi way to begin, and having seen the series finale it brings to mind Trip's ultimate fate. I should say I don't think of this as one of the best episodes of the series like some do, but it does rank up there with the better entries in Season 3. Cloning and the ethics of such things have been dealt with many times before, but what makes this different is that this is 'Enterprise,' the series not known for subtlety and thought-provoking stories, and that it takes an unrelenting point of view from Captain Archer because it comes in the middle of the only serialised season of Trek. Had it been written in Season 2 or 4 it might have been less controversial because Archer might not have been so driven. But he is driven to murder if you watch the story, although it becomes voluntary euthanasia. Archer was not the first captain to face such a dilemma, but he had the same reasoning as Janeway did in 'Tuvix.' In that, she ended Tuvix' life to bring back her two crewmen, against his will. In this, Archer is about to do the same for different stakes: he needs to save Earth.

We've already seen Archer breaching his morals, or coming very close to it, stretching the boundaries to ensure success of the mission. Because he needs Trip to get out of the field of metallic particles. And he needs to get out not only to save the ship, but to carry out his uncompromising mission to destroy the Xindi weapon. It becomes easier for him because Sim, the duplicate of Trip, also has the engineer's memories and values and sees that it's better to do what he can for someone else than to live out his remaining time, no matter how short, selfishly for his own pleasure. This doesn't rob the episode of controversy, but it does give it a bittersweet ending and keeps Archer from stepping over the line… so far.

It's so unlike the usual style of episodes the series did, and feels much more like the 24th Century series' and the difficult minefield of social issues that were sometimes addressed, so it must have been written by an old hand like Braga or Berman, right? Well, there's an old hand at the tiller in Levar Burton as Director, but it's new hand Manny Coto that claims credit for writing this one in a move that shows us the ability and vision he had for the series. He was the safe pair of hands to inherit the last Trek series before it died and it's so sad that he wasn't permitted to carry out his vision to absolute fulfilment. Nevertheless, it's episodes like this that foreshadowed his importance in improving the series and for that we should be grateful. If only they could get him to do the next 'Star Trek' series!

Technically, as well as narratively, the episode succeeds, with some very different visuals for Enterprise as magnetic space particles are attracted to the ship when, let's be honest, Trip shoots them into this region of space after tinkering with the engines. He has a spectacular injury scene in which he flies from the top of the engine (I love it whenever Trip actually climbs around the engine as it's so much more hands-on than the other series'), smacks into a side rail and slams to the floor amid explosions and debris, but it is his fault. He does save the ship in that moment so we can forgive him. Seeing all those particles sweep through the air, attracted to the hull is a beautiful effect, and we even have the two shuttlepods towing Enterprise. It was a close-run thing, but Travis almost had his big scene stolen, and even though Sim isn't allowed to go, Reed bizarrely appears to be the one in control of the mission when it clearly should have been coordinated by their best pilot, Travis. It was a no-brainer that Travis would be one of the pilots, but even then it seems like he's just been tossed a bone rather than it being his right! It's good that through all the lonely scenes Travis usually has on the bridge or at the cockpit in various episodes, at least he doesn't try to overact and draw attention from the camera.

The music is both beautiful and deathly sad throughout the episode and is a score I would love to hear in full without effects or dialogue as it's one of the best on the series. Generally the themes have been much more militaristic this season, in keeping with the new mood and mission, so this gentle, but stirring score excelled itself. Again, the idea of a fast-ageing baby had been done before - Odo has to deal with a Jem'Hadar infant in 'The Abandoned.' This time it's much more about the ethics and the necessity for speed, than dealing with the youth. Even so there are some nice moments with the child growing up to be Trip and they did a good job of finding young actors that you believed as Trip at different ages. The best was the young boy whom Archer has some serious talks with, the third iteration (after the baby and the very young boy), who looked, sounded and felt like Trip, and dealt with some heavy stuff in dialogue. I loved the thing with the remote-controlled ship from Archer's childhood and all that goes on in those scenes.

There were some things that didn't work quite so well, but they never detracted or distracted from the meat of the story. One of the main things I found myself wondering was why they needed Trip so desperately. I know he was the key person who'd come up with the engine modifications, and of course he's a friend and a great asset to the mission, but surely he has engineering staff that he confides in and uses. O'Brien always had underlings he was teaching what to do, and B'Elanna too, so it's something missing from this series that we don't get a feeling of camaraderie from the engineering crew. It seemed to come out of the blue that Phlox suddenly needed to grow another Trip to save the original. At least it keeps you guessing as to which one will die by the end, and although I'd seen it before I couldn't remember if they replaced him with the slightly alternate guy (like Harry Kim or O'Brien), or not.

There was also the business with T'Pol: I know she's working on the engines, and that's her priority, but it niggled a bit that it should be Reed that told Archer what's going on with the particles. T'Pol's the Science Officer, that's her job! As ever, I was also less than happy with T'Pol's comfort with physical contact. It's happened a lot this season with the neuropressure sessions, but now she even kisses Sim on the lips. I get that it was the nice thing to do to a condemned man and that she was so affected… but, wait! She shouldn't be showing she's affected… Grrr, the Vulcans undermined as a race once again! It's only my preference for and annoyance about the subversion of the true Vulcan ways, but fortunately it didn't take me out of the episode.

In all it's a touching episode. It may not be that original, but for the series it was one of its most affecting episodes, something that was usually passed over in exchange for fights and forehead aliens, action and angst. It's good that they could slow down a little (the crew were forced to!), and explore. Not space, but issues, and issues that could one day come up for real if technology and science continues at its current pace. I still believe it's wrong to take a life under any circumstances, even when it's given willingly, but for the sake of this situation it played out with enough nuances that is was a satisfying ending. Though even then I would have liked to see the argument rage more instead of Sim giving himself up. Archer's hands are clean, but for how long can he keep them that way when Earth is at stake, and the very future of the Federation yet to be?

***