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DVD, Enterprise S3 (Countdown)

I expect it was always the plan: introduce a strong recurring character who could inject some conflict among the main cast, make him a likeable person, ernest in doing his duty and part of a code that he keeps to diligently. And then kill him off. I'm talking about Major Hayes, who bites the phaser blast in this episode, right before the end of the season, just like Lieutenant Carey in 'Voyager'! I was surprised the first time round, quite a shock that they'd let him be killed off, and though I knew about it this time around, I was surprised in a different way. He does go out semi-heroically, making himself last to be beamed back to Enterprise, but it also makes him look a little bit stupid in the way he gets caught: he walks round a corner, right into a Xindi-Reptilian, and before he's even got time to tackle the creature or shoot off his own weapon, he's been shot through the heart. The production of that particular bit lessened the moment because of the cramped little corridors aboard this massive weapon, a tiny little firefight with the usual pew-pewing sound of energy bolts all making it seem a bit weak. What was interesting about the way Hayes is killed is that he's seen to be shot while in transport, something which pretty much never happens - usually as soon as the beam starts to dematerialise, weapons fire goes right through (as happened to Worf in 'By Inferno's Light' on 'DS9'). Not saying it's a mistake, as this is 22nd Century technology, but it was an interesting effect, and sad that Hayes couldn't have gone out in a 'bigger' way, rather than as a glorified redshirt.

At least he was allowed the dignity of patching things up with Reed, initially disappointed that his man Hawkins didn't make it back from the mission to the Sphere. The important legacy he leaves is his conversation with Malcolm where he says that the MACOs now feel that they're all part of the same crew. I can't help but feel that we could have seen that transition from rivalry to cooperative respect better illustrated over the course of the season. It was bound up in the brinkmanship between Reed and Hayes, the underlying distrust and tension between them (Reed, admittedly being the main problem, feeling his toes were being stepped on), and that had been resolved in recent episodes after they'd let off steam in the fight and come to an understanding, finally crystallised in this episode. That's what Archer's decisions were all about at the start of the season: he brought the MACOs aboard knowing they might cause friction; he walked the very line of his moral compass; he even stepped over; here, he moves Hoshi against Phlox' wishes, but all, all in defence of his singular goal, his one purpose, to prevent the annihilation of Earth.

He managed to pull back some of that resolve that would later become standard operating procedure for the Starfleet and the Federation to come, in making allies where he could and using diplomatic means if possible, but at pretty much any cost he was going to stop the Xindi… and he almost has. I say almost because there's still one episode left to go, yet he, Trip and T'Pol were acting like it's a done deal. Admittedly, I like hearing them discuss the potential future and what it may hold, Archer looking forward to returning to their exploratory mission (the danger being that it could seem a little meaningless compared with the urgent mission they've been on for eight months), T'Pol considering officially joining Starfleet. She really should have, and worn the standard Starfleet uniform instead of her 'no reason, but for ratings' catsuits! It was too early for them to be dreaming of a future when the weapon is still out there, Hoshi might even have still been captive then, too. It wasn't a fault in the episode, I liked the scene, but it was a strangely calm moment in another action-oriented episode.

What did seem a mistake was the way in which Trip and T'Pol somehow come up with a plan to interfere with a Sphere, just by sitting in a room and arguing. T'Pol's emotional attitude continues to deeply irritate and I didn't think Jolene Blalock did a good job in this story, many of her lines coming out so woodenly (such as when she sees off Archer with Trip standing next to her). I don't know whether she was playing someone who was struggling to be in control, or someone who was, or was just tired, but I didn't relish most of her scenes. Hoshi, on the other hand, gets an integral role for once, as a prisoner of Dolim and the other Reptilians. Again, I felt her performance was slightly over the top when she's shouting at the Xindi, but apart from that, she was fine, even getting a heroic moment where she attempts to throw herself over a barrier into a chute in the middle of the weapon. If only this had been done in a way that showed her intent clearly, maybe if we could have seen in her eyes what she's going to do and thrill to the self-sacrificial action she was about to take. Then when one of the Xindi stops her it would have had the double impact of the last-ditch act itself, and the foiling of it to the Reptilians' advantage. They note how surprisingly strong-willed she is, and it's true - it is a surprise. Like the MACOs suddenly getting along fine, Hoshi's transition from scaredy-cat to confident translator could have been better narrated through the series, but that wasn't a fault of this episode, it had happened back in Season One or Two.

Why is it that all evil super-bases, especially the ones in space, have to have a deep shaft in their control room, ripe for falling into (and why did they have to use the gravity orientation gym equipment previously seen on the series as the holder for the mini-ball inside the control room?!)? The Xindi weapon is just like the Death Star in that regard, and not that only! The whole CGI sequence where the NX-01 shows up in the belly of an Aquatic ship and valiantly goes in all phasers phasering, was very much a tribute to the attack on the Death Star in the 'Star Wars' films - the look of the thing was different, it was like a cross between that huge, planet-destroying flying weapon, and a Borg Sphere. It was all very well done with some excellent battle sequences, and the CG Aquatics looked as good as ever. It was too convenient that they'd managed to come up with a translation system for humans in the very next episode after Archer needed Hoshi to do that job for him, since Hoshi wasn't available any more. In the grand scheme it's only a minor point, and the robotic voices were well realised. Another thing that was well realised was Degra's friend, Jannar, taking the dead man's place as Archer's Xindi confidant, talking of the future after the weapon has been destroyed. He was always one to be questioning the humans in a loud, aggressive way, but Degra's death has helped him come to terms with reason, so it shows that there is hope for a friendship between the Xindi and Earth, despite Degra's death.

The Reptilians, on the other claw, show their dastardly nature, including executing an Insectoid ship that shows doubts about their course of action - like Archer, Dolim is dedicated to his cause at any cost. At first, Dolim actually expresses suspicion of the Guardian that comes to him, for not getting the access code to the weapon (the reason they've got Hoshi on mental parasites - anything like Ceti Alpha Eels, by any chance? No ear related horror this time, though!). She claims the Guardians can't get such individual details, and this almost gives pause for thought - will Dolim turn to the good side and fight the Guardians? No, it turns out it was just his usual bad-tempered way, and despite that early sign of resistance to his paymasters, his faith is restored when anomalies sent from a nearby Sphere mean the weapon can escape the battle. What Enterprise had found out, though, is that there are four Spheres that likely control all the others, and, whaddayaknow, one of those just happens to be nearby…

So the scripting of the story could get some stick, but maybe they had to cram in a bit more or condense things a little as they found out around half or two-thirds of the way through the season that the usual twenty-six episodes had been reduced to twenty-four. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and Robert Duncan McNeill does a pretty good job with the directing, though it wasn't really a Director's kind of story - it was more a case of go here, do this, do that. The sets were generally good-looking, the Guardians interference was a new twist, and the CGI worked. The battle may not live up to the better starship rumbles of 'DS9' (even though it was made a few years after that groundbreaking series), but in 'Enterprise' terms it's about the biggest they'd ever done. Overacting doesn't spoil the twists and turns, and though it does point up things that make me ponder how much stronger the season could have been if better written, it's a solid penultimate episode (even if the title is another dud which makes me think of the famous Channel 4 afternoon quiz programme!).

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