Proving Ground

DVD, Enterprise S3 (Proving Ground)

Everyone's favourite blue-skins return for the next stage of the Xindi saga. Why should the Andorians, even captained by Commander Shran, want to risk the dangers of the Expanse just to hunt down and assist the Enterprise? That's the question hanging over the episode until you begin to see that even this prototype weapon the Xindi are testing would be a valuable asset for any race to own. Shran was likely chosen for his acquaintance and history with Archer. So far they've been taking turns in giving each other favours, and while Shran claims he would go to any length to repay one, his ulterior motives eventually become apparent. But Archer wasn't the type to be fooled so easily. He did seem shocked that Shran would turn traitor and put his orders above the desperate need of Archer's mission, but it was more shock at betrayal, than surprise. We find out that he collected a little more telemetry from the Andorians than they realised, getting the activation codes to the weapon and doing a Kirk-like thing of threatening a dangerous course of action. It's amazing that Archer sets himself up to defend the Vulcans by preventing Shran from keeping the weapon, considering his stance on that race, but over the years, possibly thanks to his interactions with T'Pol, he no longer hates them enough to wish them such malice.

What Shran says about the Vulcans not even sparing one officer for the mission against the Xindi, even with their fleet of ships, is true, and wouldn't it have been great if Shran really had been there to join them as an ally until the end of the season, jointly working together to neutralise the Xindi threat. It almost happened - if there had been a Season 5 Shran was likely to become a cast member, or at the least appear on a much more regular basis, but alas, it was not to be. Though Season 4 featured him a number of times (and I think Molly Brink was back as Lieutenant Talas), this was the single episode for him this season, just as with Season 2. I don't think they should have used the race as sparingly as they did, though they made up for it with a proper multi-episode arc in Season 4.

We see a fair bit of the Andorian ship which is a first for Trek, and while the external design has never wowed me and doesn't have an iconic shape like most of the main Trek races (Borg cube, Cardassian ankh, Ferengi crescent, Romulan and Klingon birds), the internal schematics were most interesting with those low ceilings and a fairly Starfleet layout, like an advance on the NX-01 towards the technology of 'TOS'. Shran's ship, the Kumari, is much faster than Enterprise, has forcefields and tractor beams (hey, I thought they weren't meant to exist in the 22nd Century, or was that just for humans?), and superior systems all round. It helped round out the race a bit to get to know another of them, this time Reed having assistance from Talas. But we also learn more of Shran from his conversation with Trip about his elder brother and his sympathies for Trip's sibling loss. I liked hearing Trip talk without a vengeful attitude in true Trek tradition. It's not like he's given up those thoughts, he admits that, but he knows their mission is greater than any personal revenge. It's what was needed after his character became so altered at the beginning of the season, but with T'Pol's calming influence he's come a long way.

I had wondered if the lost database in the previous episode would be mentioned, but we're told that a third of it has been recovered from the memory banks, though this does throw more danger into their immediate situation when they have to get through an anomaly field - just when you thought we'd dealt with them and they weren't a threat any more we get the most spectacular damage as waves rip right through the ship. The directing was good with a few shots standing out to me, one being a view of the Xindi council from inside the Aquatic's tank, and the other a fast-moving shot from one end of the engine room to the other. The humorously framed introduction with Shran's antennae visually poking out of Archer's head was inspired - maybe that would have been a better introduction for him instead of showing the audience him aboard his own ship first? The episode as a whole wasn't as dynamic as the early Season 3 episodes were and they do seem to have lost a bit of steam lately by concentrating on unrelated matters and turning into a more traditional Trek season. But that's good, you want some variety, and this was the episode to put them back on track, while recapping the events so far.

There are a couple of small gestures that come through nicely for the NX-01 crew: one being the failure of the prototype which Archer suspects was down to Gralik the Xindi-Arboreal they met in 'The Shipment' who promised to help them in some way. The other is secretly transmitted data on the Xindi prototype from the Andorian ship, though whether it was from Shran or Talas in small payment for their deceit is unknown. Most likely Shran as she wouldn't have done something like that off the top of her head, I suspect, and Reed wasn't there to get the full impact of the moment. I would have liked a scene where Talas realises she's been tricked and that Reed wasn't as open and naive as she thought, although it was more to do with Archer keeping tabs on the Andorian telemetry that saved the day. It's fun to hear the Royal Navy mentioned again, and that Reed's Father had been disappointed in his choice of career, as well as Reed being the third generation to serve. One thing that's been missing from recent episodes is a strong MACO presence as if they've almost been forgotten. I'd have thought the animosity between Reed and Hayes would have been slowly sizzling up, but it hasn't been shown.

So the Andorians come from Andoria, right? That's what one of them says in this episode, but I always thought it was called Andor. Maybe it's interchangeable like Qo'Nos and Kling. We also have Andorian ale because it would be a bit difficult to get Romulan ale at this time in history (though they look the same)! I was at first put out when they were talking about how the NX-01 could catch up at some point before they left the Expanse as I had it in my head that they were talking about the barrier around the Expanse, which didn't make sense as the NX-01 has been travelling for so long they couldn't be near the edge of the Expanse so quickly, but I realised they were talking about the anomaly field, so it did make sense. I could have done with a shot of Andorians bundling out of their cargo bay as the Xindi weapon is activated, like when Geordi La Forge has to evacuate Engineering and barrel-rolls under the door, as that would have made for a more exciting finish, but that's how I felt about the episode as a whole. Good in parts, and I always award extra marks whenever Jeffrey Combs is featured, but not one of the best of the season. I do appreciate them finding a way to touch on these parts that had made up the series even though they were so far removed from their old exploring days (as Reed notes), but I'd like a bit more of the relentless danger again now. And once again, T'Pol's wardrobe gets more scene changes than Hoshi, Travis or Phlox (who's completely absent), have scenes!

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