Azati Prime

DVD, Enterprise S3 (Azati Prime)

One of the more interesting episodes of the season, but not so much for the story as for it's all-so-rare and oh-so-brief depiction of a future 400 years beyond Archer's time. I remember being so excited to see that, even though it was just him and Daniels in a corridor: it's… it's… the Enterprise-J! How mind-blowingly exciting is that? A view of an important battle in the 26th Century, which mentions the Federation, the Sphere Builders and various species that are part of the Federation (including the Klingons, and more pertinently, the Xindi themselves!). Whether this is a future that would still come to pass after Archer's involvement is unsure, but I like to think that the Enterprise-J (I love writing that!), would still be built and this is more of a persuasion of Archer by Daniels about what the future holds for both species if Archer can be diplomatic with the Xindi, rather than a threat of what's to come if he fails. But Archer's not in diplomatic mood - this whole mission has forced him to become the kind of man that gets things done and he's stepped back from diplomacy, the degree to which he was diplomatic, which was not especially, but he was always willing to listen and learn. Now, with his head in the fire, so to speak, now is the time Daniels springs this on him! Wouldn't it have been better to bring this up before this whole trouble started, but then there is no 'before' when you have beings from the future meddling in the past. This seems to indicate that certain people who believe 'Enterprise' to be set in a different timeline to all the other Trek series', are correct.

They aren't, in fact. It's been stated from various high-up sources that 'Enterprise' was part of the same timeline as the others, even if certain things don't make perfect sense, but this is TV, when does any series make perfect sense and logic? Then again, the way T'Pol's acting this could be some weird alternate universe, she's so emotional. Either it's the cumulative effect of her journey through the expanse, or there's the little problem of drug addiction which is yet to come out. It's still one of the things that irritates me in an episode which is otherwise quite good, although not so good that I didn't feel detached from it and cool about it at times. I don't quite know why, but I can remember moments when I felt pride in the characters and in the production values which did make me care again: when Travis volunteers for the suicide mission to pilot the Insectoid shuttle they picked up, into the oceans of Azati Prime to blow up the full-sized weapon being completed there, and then Trip argues that he should be the one to go, until the Captain makes the final decision: he'll go, leaving T'Pol in command. I'd have preferred some kind of formal handing over ceremony to his First Officer, rather than a speech in which he says he's not going to make a speech, but I did like the line about being prouder than any captain that's likely to sit in this chair.

I took that as a reference to all the other Enterprise's to follow, too, since the J is on his mind. I have to say a little more about that scene. It was annoying to only be allowed to see the one corridor, even if they did have the image of the ship on a wall, but it's like giving us chocolate, but only letting us see inside the wrapper and not get to eat any. It's always been one of those scenes that makes me wish for a series set at that time in the Federation's history, and it would be so satisfying to come full circle and revisit this extension of the Enterprise line. Maybe if the series had continued and if the Temporal Cold War arc hadn't been so summarily concluded, we might, just might, have had more visits into the 26th Century, so far in advance of even the 24th Century-set series'! The J, just from the schematic (and images from Doug Drexler, or whoever created them, that I've seen of it), is a beautiful creation, keeping the Starfleet aesthetic, but appearing even more futuristic with those slight and sharp nacelles. I'd love to see more of the 26th Century, or even the 25th, but for this series that would have to do.

The story is much more of an ensemble piece with everyone's skills being called into action, the crew seen to be doing their best in the midst of destructive battle - the scars and explosions over the hull couldn't have been done quite like that in the days of model work, so CGI starships did give us new visual treats in that sense. As a whole, the budget for CGI must have been large for this episode as we get ships plummeting into water (not unprecedented, as Tom Paris took a shuttle into an ocean planet in 'Thirty Days', and it looks like this will be something in the new film, 'Star Trek Into Darkness,' too), but it did look good, and we get to see the huge weapon underwater with myriad vessels all around. It was more like 'Sea Quest' than 'Star Trek'!

I think one of the pieces that worked better than perhaps he ever has so far, is Degra's role. He shows guilt at his race's plans and he's willing to listen when Archer's captured and demands to see him (despite not realising they've met before as those memories were wiped), as well as outrage at the way he's treated by Dolim and the other Reptilians. Archer's scenes in the prison dungeon are some of the better moments as he tries to get the Reptilian angry, or convince Degra and the other Xindi-Humanoid of his intentions. There's a shocking moment early on that doesn't help his cause: when he wipes out a small communications outpost. He doesn't even consider sending a team of MACOs down to secure the place, just orders a torpedo or two to be dropped and regrets it, but still goes through with it. It's the same decision made by Degra, but on a larger scale when he and the Xindi-Primate discuss the ramifications of their actions in using the super-weapon, and it is quite chilling. It makes his decision to pilot the suicide mission a choice borne of guilt rather than heroism or duty, and that makes things more complicated, not necessarily in a good way.

Watching this I had mixed feelings about it, disagreeing with certain character choices, but also being impressed with the stint in the future, tying the arc more tightly into the Temporal Cold War. But it remains pretty good thanks to plenty of spectacle and a better feel for the crew as a whole. The stakes never quite feel as high as they're portrayed, but compare this with a pedestrian Season 2 episode without any direction and you soon realise this type of storytelling was an improvement, at least for this series. It's directed most dramatically by stalwart Allan Kroeker, who was responsible for some of the best episodes of 'DS9' and 'Voyager,' with some stylish shots during Archer's interrogation, or T'Pol's stomp to the shuttlepod, and features stunts, engine room destruction, Archer put through some real damage, and a group of people working away on their starship as they should be. I'd have liked 'To Be Continued…' at the end to signify a 'proper' two-parter, but you can't have everything, and while this falsely professes to have everything, but the kitchen sink, it does keep up the bargain with the viewer to the extent that you want to see what happens next, which equals success.

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