Observer Effect

DVD, Enterprise S4 (Observer Effect)

A classic Trek episode, combining character development, a moral issue, and cleverly integrated prequel series delights that neither mess with canon, nor prove a disappointment! And all without resorting to explosions or fight scenes, which, admittedly, have their place, but are too often the deepest level this series attempts. Not so this time, as we meet the Organians for the first time (they who prevented war with the Klingons back in 'TOS,' or forward in this case!), a couple of observers waiting to see how humans would react to an incurable disease. A way to explore the Prime Directive before it's invented - by turning it on its head. Instead of the usual debate of later series' on whether the Federation/Starfleet has the right to interfere in a species' natural development, it's the humans who have this non-interference attitude applied to them. If there was one complaint, I would have liked them to say official first contact wouldn't be ready for a hundred years, rather than a thousand, since that is indeed how long it would be before Captain Kirk made their acquaintance, and, like Archer here, reasoned with these more advanced beings to make that interference (or was it, to do something to protect themselves…). It's an inspiring tale, and even though I remembered the story, I still found myself bemused at Travis suddenly becoming a genius chess player in the teaser! Yes, they got me, and it was almost as much surprise to see Travis having more than one line, so maybe I was still staggering from that initial shock - it took me a while before I realised this wasn't Travis, which made me smile!

How often did 'Enterprise' surprise me, or make me smile that I had been duped? Not so much as other Trek, that's for sure, but here the writing was very well fashioned to carry the weight of what is traditionally not the kind of Trek narrative this series attempted, and something that it so badly needed: issues and character. And both of these are served nicely, with this being a bottle show, taking place almost entirely on the ship (except for Hoshi's brave piloting of the shuttlepod into the launch bay for the first time ever). Hoshi's really come on since those early days when her main thrust was overcoming fear, an inspiring trait, but one that was never going to last forever as she became familiar with space travel and its foibles. Although this episode felt like it was from Season 1 or 2, the key difference is that she's now a fully capable member of the crew. What we learn in her and Trip's forced confinement (mirroring his and Reed's similar situation in 'Shuttlepod One'), are new facts about her, and that she wasn't the scaredy-cat good girl on Earth that she started out as on joining the NX-01 - she actually broke a superior's arm when at STC (presumably Starfleet Training Camp, or something like that), for upsetting her gambling ring! Not what we could ever have guessed about her before, and like Tom Paris, she was badly needed enough to be asked back on probation (the Captain even goes to another country to persuade her, just like Janeway with Paris).

Trip also gets to share memories, but that's not such a rare thing for him as his character had far more development than Hoshi's ever did. We're getting to know these people, and it feels strange, because such things were all but abandoned in Season 3, and Season 2 didn't always deal well enough with that side of things either. Probably because this series was designed to ape 'TOS' (maybe one reason it didn't survive to full term, just like 'TOS'), so the ensemble nature that most flatters the Trek style of writing and storytelling, was avoided. Intentions were good that it was to be something fresh, to escape the constraints, as they saw them, of the other Trek series', but what actually came about was certain characters being allowed to slip into the background, becoming less well used than even the recurring characters of 'DS9.' It was a tragic miscalculation, so it's with great delight I saw work like this being done with those I'm often complaining didn't get their dues. I can still argue that this wasn't much of an episode for Travis as he's pretty much only seen as a host for one of the Organians, but it's good to have Anthony Montgomery getting to play something different, even anything at all! He and Reed do a good job of turning on the oddness without going too far, which would alert their colleagues' suspicion.

Both creepy and funny was Travis' insistence on asking the very ill Trip and Hoshi all these questions about their illness and state of mind. The same could be said of Hoshi's delirious escape from Decon with Data-like ability to overcome security lock-outs (I was expecting forcefields to come down, but of course they didn't have them then), with the rationale that maths is just another language! I'm wondering why this skill didn't come to light earlier, as it's a great idea, makes perfect sense, and her a cooler character. It was also amusing when host Reed lets slip that the infected Klingons never even pleaded for mercy from their Captain, before covering it by saying that's how they would have behaved, being Klingon. You can see these beings are completely dispassionate, but without the Vulcan sense of duty and logical assistance. It's only because the Travis-hosted being is new to the job that he questions his co-observer's adherence to their strict rules of non-intervention. It's always a great pleasure when Trek casts get to act out of character, and even though I'd say this cast needed to be given more time to act in character generally (in other words, to become a cast with balanced screen time), it's still fun to see them as pawns for a higher power. It's a Trek staple, so it was right that 'Enterprise' should have its own variation. It shows you can redo stories over and over with each new series, because of new characters to try them with. They went for a prequel to get away from tropes (Holodeck malfunctions, Transporter accidents, etc), perhaps forgetting you lose some of the Trek style by doing that.

Phlox even gets a proper role, his skill as a doctor put to the ultimate test: a time limit in which to save his crewmembers' lives. It's not a fault with him that he fails, as he never gives up, and even when Archer sees there's nothing to be done, and he'll probably die, Phlox still reassures his Captain that there's time, and he'll continue his efforts. It's a wonderful moment, too, when he decides to remove the gloves of his EVA suit to work more effectively, which would expose him to the virus. He knows there's no cure as yet, but he's willing to risk his life if it will make a difference in his ability to treat his patients. So it's even more of a heroic moment when Archer forbids him, saying they'll still need a doctor, but he, as Captain, is expendable in this situation, and takes off his own gloves to better act as Phlox' hands. It's the kind of selfless act that Trek is made of, and something else that we don't always see from this Captain. Not because he isn't a hero, but because we don't often have these kinds of quieter dilemmas on the series. My estimation of him went up a notch, as it did when he pulls a Kirk, trying to talk round the Organians to show compassion. Like Phlox, he fails, and it's only because the Travis-alien has a different perspective than his older colleague and decides to help, that they are all saved, but he makes a good stab at it, and that's what counts.

What more is there to like? It was a joy to see the ship used so much, some atypical pairings (that's why Trip and Hoshi can reveal personal stories to each other, because they're so rarely seen together), cool moments, such as the sedated bodies of Trip and Hoshi rising up, or their dead bodies doing the same. All this and possibly the only reference to Cardassians on the series (the Organians mention them as being one of the races that destroyed their infected crewmates). How I wanted them to show up, because there are always ways around canon, and this could have been the episode for them, as the mind wipes would solve that problem. This episode showed what the series could do in regards to intelligent sci-fi, allowing its actors to act, and it was just a shame it had to be cancelled at the end of this season as who knows where it could have gone. We're not running around on planets or alien ships, this is more serious: dealing with an unstoppable threat, everyone doing their job to the best of their ability, sticking together and generally living up to the optimistic future that Trek propounds. It is inspiring, it is what 'Enterprise' has too often lacked, and even though it continues the Season 4 trend towards prequel setup (a good thing), it's in a more subtle style than recent episodes' cram-it-all-in approach - by the end, with the crew's minds wiped, it has no bearing on them, except for what they've been through, and sets up the Organians to go from observers to active participants in the galaxy by Kirk's time, stopping the Klingons and Federation from destroying each other. Not a bad legacy.

***

Fallen

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S7 (Fallen)

My over-riding feeling is how good it is to get back to this series. It's been too long! And back into the series we go right away, with this first episode of the season launching an assault on Anubis and his new weapon, getting closer to finding Vis Uban, the lost city of The Ancients (the city that is lost TO The Ancients, becomes the city OF the lost, due to the plague, becomes the city MADE lost so others couldn't find it, all in the course of the episode), though more like closer to not knowing, as it's all about them realising they were mistaken about the location Jonas came up with - his logic wasn't bad: look at the 'gate addresses O'Neill was given through his connection with Ancient technology, but instead of assuming they were in a random order, choose the last on the list. Only, as clever as this mental leap was for Jonas, it proves apparently incorrect. Still, a nice try, and good work from writers juggling a continuing story that was necessary to advance, yet also needed to be false so the true search for the lost city can take place in future (I'm still assuming it's going to be connected to 'Stargate Atlantis').

On top of all this heavy plotting, they also had to reintroduce Daniel Jackson back (in his rightful place in the opening credits again!), into the fold, but in a way that didn't continue the super-powerful ascended version, but would make him human again. These TV shows do like to have people naked when they're cast out or thrown down or taken back, or whatever (I think of Odo in 'Broken Link,' Neo waking up in 'The Matrix,' or various 'Terminator' time-travelling, and probably others, too). I suppose it emphasises a character's vulnerability, and represents their complete lack of control or detachment from the past. In Daniel's case he doesn't even remember who he is, much less have any of the abilities or fore-knowledge, or whatever, that made him so mysterious and powerful last season. It's what they had to do, as you can't have an almost omniscient being as a main character on a par with others who are just human (or Jaffa, or… whatever Jonas was). It was only right that Jackson became a commoner again, and it also gives us the strongest part of the episode, as his friends first find him, then he finds himself. The conversations he has with each of his former friends makes up for the short interactions he had in last season's finale, and brings home what he means to them.

I enjoyed this first half of the story more than the action-focused second half, as it gave the characters licence to revel in their roles, to rediscover this group to the audience - even the SGC is nicely reintroduced by Jonas running around it excitedly, bumping into the recurring characters that populate it (looked like Director and Co-Producer Martin Wood he was talking to in the lift!), before taking us up to the Briefing Room. It's a joy to see these people again, and there's even some role reversal, as Jack finds himself explaining all the developments and what they mean, to Daniel, who has no clue, having to talk of things he found hard to swallow initially to the man who originally told him and is now sceptical. As well as being a good way to integrate Dr. Jackson again, it would also serve new viewers that hadn't followed every twist and turn. 'SG-1' was never the most easy series to watch casually, the unique names and words alone enough to fox a channel surfer, and even I, who've followed the series, need a glossary sometimes to remind myself of who, what and where! Although I felt there wasn't a cliffhanger ending last season, there's still a sense of time ticking down as Anubis must be dealt with, and the sooner the better. So we have an infiltration plan to send Jonas and Jackson aboard the master of evil's ship, while Teal'c gets Yu, he who I thought wouldn't be coming back, to rally the remaining System Lords' fleets. Of course, the old guy chooses treachery, although the only real loss is Jonas, captured in an escape attempt after he and Daniel have done what they needed to.

The security of Anubis is poor, where two humans (or whatever Jonas is), can beam up (sorry, 'Ring Transport'), to his ship without alerting anyone! But he's the usual megalomaniacal villain, overconfidence sure to be a weakness. It also seemed relatively easy for Jack and Sam to take the F-302 into the ship's vicinity to take out the weapon, or cause a diversion, but you can't fault the effects work, with a 'Star Wars' trench run almost the order of the day (in hindsight it seems less of a joke that O'Neill wanted to be called Red Leader!). And this episode does end on a cliffhanger, Jonas at the mercy of Anubis' torture chamber (a bit like Jack and Baal last season), about to have one of those spiky mind ball things used on him. If anything, the episode should have been called 'Lost' as that's the theme of it all: Daniel has lost his memory, it seems the lost city is even more lost, and the battle against Anubis, though successful in taking out his weapon, is pretty much lost thanks to Yu, and Jonas is most definitely lost to SG-1. Daniel crawling around in air vents is probably lost, too. I'd love to know the behind the scenes on all this; how the series came to return; why Michael Shanks stepped back aboard; how Corin Nemec felt, and whether he'd only expected one season in the role. Not that he's gone yet!

The trademark humour is in full force with O'Neill (becoming silver-haired, something that Daniel takes note of, or starts to!), relaxed and able to do all his usual stuff, not getting frustrated with Jackson (even when he keeps calling him Jim!), perhaps simply overwhelmed with good feelings having found the friend who had first been dead, then out of reach. I could have done with the whole episode concentrating on Daniel's adjustment to his old life, and that of his friends, of which we do get some touching beginnings (Share's spoken of, as is Charlie, O'Neill's dead son), but this being 'Stargate' people would have expected nothing less than an action-packed mission of some kind, even if it slightly detracts from the human drama. They got the usual trappings of the series in, too, with a race of simple villagers at the location of the planet that isn't the lost city of The Ancients, and the sets there were big and suitably impressive. We also touch base with everyone, even General Hammond getting to stretch his legs on the planet. For those that might have thought new 'gate addresses would start to become thin on the ground, we hear that only a quarter of those from O'Neill's Ancients' download have been investigated, meaning the series could run and run (it did). A promising start to the season.

***

Daedalus

DVD, Enterprise S4 (Daedalus)

Is this a 'TNG' episode? Is it a 'TOS' episode? I'm not sure, but it's definitely an episode that changes what it is as it goes along. Sometimes being unpredictable is a good thing, but in this case it piqued my expectations in such a way that I felt somewhat disappointed by the outcome. That is, I was, the first time I saw it. It's not that the episode has improved with age, but when you're not expecting much you tend to notice the good things more easily. It was appropriate to have a standalone story after all these multi-parters, so that's a good thing, but does it know what it's trying to achieve? My mind couldn't help but be drawn, for similar themes, to the analogy of 'The Visitor,' but that's one of the best of 'DS9,' even of Trek episodes in general, immediately doing 'Daedalus' a disservice by association with something far greater. A much more fitting analogy would be one of the many 'TNG' stories in which a dignitary or scientist would come aboard, the Enterprise hosting an event or scientific breakthrough for them, and things not being as they first seemed. The idea of a monster floating around the dark parts of the ship, although prevalent in all Trek series', is most of all a common device of 'TOS,' so that's where the relation to that series comes in (although I was also thinking of 'Juggernaut' from 'Voyager').

It begins with great interest, Trip eager to meet Emory Erickson, the man who invented the Transporter, he and his family close with that of Archer's from childhood, and a man who knew Zefram Cochrane personally (even mentioning his drinking habits, which had been lost to history by the 24th Century!). This is the man who inspired Trip to become an engineer (just as Cochrane was a big influence on Archer, who can't help but throw in the fact that he met him at least once!), and who now has designs on a new and revolutionary Transporter, the sub-quantum variety, that can do the business across the vastness of space, almost negating the need for starships. Hmm, sound familiar? Maybe the writers of 'Into Darkness' weren't so far off after all? Except they were, because, not only is it a pretty bad idea for Trek's universe, since starships are relied upon for much of the drama, but it's something that just isn't possible. Well, according to Emory Erickson, it's not, and won't be for even a thousand years. Then again, he was only a 22nd Century inventor, not privy to new advances of later centuries, so it's a little arrogant of him to think it impossible just because it isn't currently possible. Doesn't stop it being a ridiculous idea, but at least it was something that had been thought of before the film made it a reality (that's the difference, I suppose: old Trek says no, new Trek says yes!).

I thought Trip did a good job of keeping his awe in check, standing up to his hero as much as he could without seeming impolite, but Emory had a robust manipulative streak in his every nerve and sinew, even after one of Archer's men has been killed by the unknown anomaly (reminiscent of the ones in The Expanse that could turn you inside out), he wheedles Archer into helping this downtrodden old man who needs it so much. What the nature of Emory's illness is, I didn't feel came across at all - was it from his experimentation with his invention over the years that degenerated him so that his spine protrudes unnaturally? When Danica, his daughter, injects him revealing the state of his back, I originally began to think this was one of those typical monster stories where the scientist is the monster and is desperately needing to get somewhere he can carry out a procedure to reach a cure, but I was far wrong on that count, it's not Emory who's in trouble at all, it's his son, Quinn, lost fifteen years ago in trials for the newer Transporter. At least, I think it was the new version, as Emory says he himself was the first man to be transported, so his son wouldn't have gone missing if it had gone wrong then, only it's not always clear in the dialogue. He also mentions that other lives were lost, but again, it's unclear how, as he survived transport, and it can only have been other tests or this later version, to blame.

While I had been way out on the type of story, it was Archer who comes across as way out as Captain. Despite his misgivings, he agrees to help Emory, and as Trip says, it does smack of him putting personal feelings above the safety of the ship. But we can understand this when it's an old friend of his that might be saved, it's just that he shouts at Trip and goes right ahead with everything against T'Pol's advice. It's one of those moments the Captain takes no heed of his crew (mind you, some of them don't even get a look-in - if you didn't know, you would never have realised that Travis is anything more than an extra, and I don't recall seeing Hoshi at all! I felt Phlox should have been at the Transporter during one point in the episode that he wasn't, and Reed's involvement was cursory, all in all a poor record once again!), and it makes him look like a man that brooks authority and ignores sense. Maybe Forrest was the only Admiral to be able to keep him in line? I was also unsure of how much Quinn was in control of himself, trapped in a semi-transported state. Did he go through the wall in the Shuttlebay to try and kill a Father he'd grown to hate for leaving him trapped for years, or, as we see when he's finally dematerialised, was he in fact completely disoriented, out of control and bearing no knowledge of what had happened?

Too many of these annoying little unanswered plot points give the episode a slightly lightweight feel, and with no real lesson learned either, I wasn't sure what to take away from the episode. I suppose it should be applauded for trying a more traditional, shipboard investigation story that the other series' did so often, but even though it's about someone it's important to know, further filling in details we've never had before, it didn't quite work. One thing I did appreciate, was that, like the 24th Century shows, they had a little character continuity going on, with T'Pol responding to recent events on Vulcan by showing some change in her beliefs, or at least considering the true teachings of Surak. Her Mother's death is mentioned again, and we also hear from Phlox that Pa'nar Syndrome is being cured all over her planet now that melding has lost its stigma, which is an encouraging development forwards to the Vulcan we know. I'm not sure what to make of Trip and T'Pol making space between them, as it seems she's telling him to stick to business from now on so she can study the Kir'Shara - is this to make us upset that they aren't choosing to return to closeness now that her marriage has been annulled? Soapy stories aren't a good fit on the series, so, like Spock and Uhura in the Abramsverse, it would be better this way, especially as she had excuses for her actions in Season 3 (being on drugs, losing emotional control due to them, and being in a hostile region with a dangerous mission, with only her human comrades to rely on).

I do sometimes wish that 'Enterprise' wouldn't rush into its opening theme music, and not for the reason most people might think, as I don't mind the theme tune (although it was better pre-Season 3), I just think it's necessary to establish something now and again, with this episode reminding me of my view by cutting off abruptly at nothing in particular: Emory's just been welcomed aboard and has a laugh at Archer's worry his new invention will see the end of his job. It wasn't exactly jarring, but it needed something more, maybe a few scenes between characters just to get the episode going. I can see that often a tight teaser suits this series as it tends to be more action-based than it's recent predecessors, but I miss what 'DS9' especially used to do so well, which was to vary the length of the opening so that sometimes you were so involved in the story you'd forgotten the episode proper hadn't started! It's not a big thing, and 'Enterprise' suffered with a slightly tighter episode length, so you can see why they wouldn't want to waste time, but I don't feel establishing scenes are a waste.

What did work was the gloomy lighting that permeated much of the ship when they're in The Barrens, an unsurprisingly barren region of space (just like the Nekrit Expanse, or 'The Void' of 'Voyager'). Usually so bright and metallic, the illumination is darkened into moody and oppressive, giving the bowels of the ship some menace, though you'd think in starless space they'd be keeping the lights on! Of course they needed power for the experiments (though Emory did promise Trip he'd be able to keep the lights on!). Something else I appreciated was talk of what being transported really means. It's an everyday tool in later Trek, and even then it had its mystery, its supporters and its detractors (Dr. McCoy for one). In this century the Transporter should be the ultimate symbol of incredible technological achievement, rivalled only by the Warp Drive (though that no doubt got its dues in the 21st Century). At first on the series it was used rarely and with trepidation, but by Season 2 it became fairly commonplace. For once, as they sit round the Captain's table, the characters discuss the concept that it may be killing and duplicating a person, though Erickson doesn't seem to hold much stock in this view, talking about it as if that's what people used to say about his invention. Trip points out that if true, he and his crewmates are all duplicates! This could be just a bit of fun, winking at the audience who have thought of all this, though you couldn't say it was official debunking of canon ideas, as it's only an offhand casual discussion.

More of that depth of thought was needed to make this a really good episode, but it does turn into something much simpler. At least it wasn't the scientist's dead wife he was trying to resurrect as that would have been even more cliched. What was missing were more scenes in which we gain attachment to the new characters and care about their plight. It felt a little too cold, not helped by Emory's unloveable manipulative ways, though even they never strayed far enough for us to despise him. You end up neither loving nor hating the story or the participants, and more was needed - things like Trip finally losing his cool when he recalls the death of his sister and shows he's come to terms with it when he says he'd never hurt anyone to try and get her back, when at one time, I feel, if he could have, he would. That's another reason for T'Pol's and his drawing apart - she doesn't need him anymore, and he doesn't need her, they've both got over the traumas of Season 3. Which is good, you don't want people in Trek constantly living in gloom and despair or anger and resentment (see 'Emissary'!). What touching scenes there were, were brief, but when Dani talks about her brother, or when Emory loses his son, there's something going on there.

Was the Sarajevo a Starfleet ship? If so, it was a design that looked quite different to what we're used to, and I'd have liked more information. But the episode didn't throw up a lot of questions or give many reasons to pay attention. I would have imagined the Transporter being something invented by a group of people rather than one man, but I wouldn't be surprised if Erickson just kept quiet about other people, as he didn't seem the sort to share glory. He was another of those stereotypical arrogant scientists, blind to all dangers for others, intent on one purpose. Yet I felt the role was well played, even if it didn't go far enough for us to like him or loathe him by the end, though that was the writing at fault. Did he really learn anything? To let go? Maybe, but the theme wasn't strong, and as an advert for returning to standalone episodes it didn't inspire. As a whole, a little interesting, but not enough - perhaps something big and bold was required, like Emory sacrificing himself for his son… Oh dear, there goes 'The Visitor' again! But it would have worked better to further ape that classic and wring the emotional side out of the story.

**

Banjo-Kazooie

N64, Banjo-Kazooie (1998), game

I haven't felt so excited playing a game for ages! A lot of games I play these days are almost a chore, continued for the sake of completism, but playing this was addictive and just made me want to keep on going - one of those where you have to tear yourself away and keep thinking about what you're going to do next. Unlike its Rare-made successors, 'Donkey Kong 64' and 'Banjo-Tooie,' which had vast, sprawling levels to get lost in, 'BK' features relatively compact, tightly designed spaces that are fairly packed with things to do, so for the most part you don't end up wandering the landscape desperate for some new task to uncover, unless you've done everything except for locating that last Jiggy or elusive piece of Honeycomb, but the beauty of the levels and style of graphics, not to mention the excellent sound effects and music make it a joy to exist in. If a game were rated solely on replayability, this would be one of the top games of all time, and it probably is the game I've completed most, this at least the 8th time (back in the day trying to fulfil the amazing N64 Magazine's Skill Club challenge of beating it in under four and a half hours, which I did, though this time it was 15:53:50, as I was collecting everything, and it had been a good few years since my last playthrough!), and even if it weren't rated on that, it's still one of the best, a classic of the genre from a games company in its heyday on the best games console I've ever played.

You can argue that 'Super Mario 64' did it first, and the aforementioned platformers were bigger and more impressive, but what 'BK' lacks in magnitude it makes up for in beauty and gameplay. I was searching round Clanker's Cavern for ages trying to locate the last Jiggy, and it turned out to be just there on one of his teeth - it was my fault for not looking up there, not the game's for providing a ridiculous or contrived solution. And the half hour, or however long I spent, swimming back and forth wondering if I'd missed something, was all wiped out as soon as the Jiggy was found: rewards of the aural and visual kind are a potent draw in this game, spurring you on with humorous sound effects and a context-sensitive soundtrack that enthralled me when I first played this back in 1999. That I could run around a 3D environment was one thing, but that I could swim under the water and hear the music change as if you were hearing it from down there, was incredible, immersing you so much more than the old 2D platformers ever did.

The visuals are still thoroughly attractive to the modern eye, yes a bit blocky, but so colourful and generally such good work on the varied textures and themes in each environment that you never question you're walking on sand, or squelching across swampland or running through long grass with the accompanying dead rustle. And they expertly get around the limitations of cartridges not having enough space to feature FMV or digitised speech by giving characters sounds as voices, which is funny, fitting and suits the style, making it work better than if they were speaking in English, an example of constraint breeding creatively fulfilling innovation! The game mechanics are fairly standard: collect things, perform mini-games, follow a story, learn new moves, but it's all so perfectly put together. Playing Mr. Vile's games of eating the mushrooms in Bubblegloop Swamp genuinely got my heart rate up like I was under threat of my life in some first person shooter, knowing if I failed I'd be chomped (unless I could exit the room quick enough - they were very fair in what you could do).

Humour has been a hallmark of some great games, from point-and-click ('Secret of Monkey Island'), to platformers like this, but you forget little details like how Gruntilda always speaks in rhyme, or Kazooie is always at odds with everyone they meet! It's nice to see elements of a grander plan at Rare with ideas like the areas and items that were planned to link to the not-then-worked-out 'Banjo-Tooie' (Sharkfood Island on Treasure Trove Cove, the tomb in Gobi's Valley, the ice key cavern in Freezeezy Peak…), or Tiptup from 'Diddy Kong Racing' making a cameo appearance - you can see they had plans for a whole franchise with those characters, and it's a shame it never worked out, taking Conker (who could easily have been there in place of Nabnuts), down an entirely different (and needlessly unpleasant), road, and failing to get 'Tooie' to the same level of great gameplay as this first game displayed, the inventive connectivity ideas were cutting edge, pushing the boundaries, definitely ahead of their time (value added content now common thanks to downloadable levels, etc - back then, consoles weren't online, unless you were Japanese). But this game gets full marks for ambition and forward-thinking just the same.

Of all the levels, the only one I completely forgot was Rusty Bucket Bay, and it's probably the least enjoyable level, explaining my lack of memory. I think it has to do with the dark, dull colours, the industrial machinery and general air of rusting ugliness, in stark contrast to so much of the game's bright, naturalistic charms. I'm not saying it shouldn't have been created, as it's good to have a change of scenery (and as 'Banjo-Tooie' showed, it wasn't easy to come up with original level themes that weren't the standard fare of many a 2D platformer before them), but it was certainly less of a fun environment to play in, partly due to the restrictions placed on you with the oily water reducing your air just by swimming in it, and so your freedom also. Clanker's Cavern could almost fall into the same category, in that it was dark and dank, and a struggle to see, if playing on a bright day, though the novelty of exploring a huge mechanical marine creature made up for low light levels. In contrast, I think my favourite would be Treasure Trove Cove, its golden sandy beaches, open-plan layout, and incredible scale in all three dimensions made it an impressive location in which to be let loose after the simpler, and more compact, though nonetheless suitable training ground that was Mumbo's Mountain. Climbing to the top of the lighthouse was one thing, but actually being given the ability to fly might have marked the high point in the game's sense of freedom to explore and enjoy the environment that was not often equalled in other levels.

I wouldn't say the experience goes downhill after experiencing the Cove, but it would be hard to match the size and variety of actions to experiment with, and other levels, aside from perhaps Click Clock Wood (in a different way), tended to be smaller in ambition. Maybe they ran out of time or space on the cartridge, perhaps another reason that the sequel was already planned as they worked on this one, to be able to include ideas that couldn't make it into 'Banjo-Kazooie.' But I think the variety of themes worked well, and there wasn't the need to change into another creature on every level, giving the times that you did have that opportunity a greater sense of anticipation - it could have become an irritation if it had had to be done each and every time, especially as you were limited by the change rather than empowered, so with fewer changes it remained a novel idea. The Cavern began to test the player, making you swim deeper for longer than you might be comfortable with, and Bubblegloop Swamp continued the rising difficulty level by making much of the surface energy-sapping. This also had the disadvantage of limiting your sense of go-anywhere, do-anything, but there were plenty of puzzles and challenges packed in. In contrast, Freezeezy Peak returned to a greater impression of scope and freedom, if not on the scale of Cove, nonetheless very enjoyable. Perhaps Gobi's Valley was too much of an opposite to the icy landscape, but it was inevitable you'd get a desert theme, I suppose.

Click Clock Wood ended the standard levels on a high, literally, as you put into practice all the skills you'd honed to get there, and the unique approach of one level played through four different seasons, with all the problems or advantages each season brought, made a refreshing change. Autumn was my favourite part of that level, with the fluttering leaves and sound of rustling as you hurried about, making for an attractive landscape to explore. Even Gruntilda's lair was varied and interesting, and if I found all the Jiggy's easy to get (bar one - I just couldn't work out how to reach the final piece, high up above Click Clock Wood's entry area, until I remembered that Mumbo's magic extends outside of the world to some degree, and only the bee was needed!), it's probably because it all came back to me. Plus, you get a little cutscene showing where it is once you've hit the Grunty switch in each level. It was no less a feeling of achievement to conquer the game again, and may have been even more fun for the familiarity, though that can be a double-edged beak: you may think you know how to do something, which puts you on the wrong track, whereas coming to something fresh your thought process is different.

It was a stroke of genius to have the final battle take place as a board game testing your memory and how much attention you paid, with sound, picture and general questions, recalling the details Grunty's sister, Brentilda, gave you, as well as replaying some of the timed challenges - and when each wrong answer is a piece of energy gone, those challenges, where you can lose several, suddenly become tougher! It's typical of the game's humour that just when you think it's over, with a false ending scene of the characters relaxing, you have to go back and finish off your enemy. Not that it was that difficult (although it did take me two attempts!). The humour was generally good fun, but it was a little too much towards toilet humour sometimes, (literally in the case of Loggo, an actual toilet you have to flush yourself down when in pumpkin form!), though the much stronger level of later games (Conker), was yet to be seen, so it wasn't anything I was bothered by. While on the subject of flaws, I have to mention the camera, which could be dodgy sometimes, though that's a common problem in 3D games, and I rarely lost out due to a mistake due to losing my bearings. But it could be annoying.

If occasionally off-colour humour and an imperfect camera are the only complaints you can level at a game, you're onto a winner in my book (yes, I found all Cheato's hiding places). If I'm really picky I could also say it was disappointing that you can't go back and play the board game (it should have been a bonus to play with Brentilda whenever you wanted), or beat Grunty again, after you've won, as the cauldron just spits you straight to the end scene again with them all relaxing on a desert island (and if you have all the Jiggy's, you see the secret places). And what was that other cauldron in Grunty's chambers for, the one that looked like a warp cauldron, but didn't have a pairing? Was it another 'Tooie' thing? But this is all churlishness, and the truth is, the attention to detail was superb - for example, if you pressed quick enough and at the right time on the game selection screen, instead of the usual thumbs-up animation, something more dramatic would happen (mine was file 1, so Banjo's bed flips up and shoots him through the window!). And of course all the now-standard character animations when you leave them standing still were among myriad details to enjoy. Add to that so many wonderful sound effects that give you a buzz when you've achieved or collected something. The only downside is that it's a finite experience, with a total number of items to collect, places to see and creatures to interact with. That's why 'Banjo-Tooie' was so anticipated, and why, even now, knowing it's flaws, I want to go and play that one again, too(ie)…

*****

Doomsday

DVD, Smallville S8 (Doomsday)

Not a very satisfying end to the season, with everyone either dead or not talking, or vanished. They always like to finish on a cliffhanger, but this was more of a cliff slide, as things happened throughout the episode that would go on to need paying off. And it all ends with the missing purple globe that burst its way out of Tess Mercer's secret safe, returning to the grounds of the Luthor Mansion for Tess to witness the appearance of a man, presumably Zod as a 'Z'-like symbol is burned onto the lawn. So they've dealt with Doomsday (in a suitably unfinished way so he could be brought back quite easily), and now they're just going back to Zod? I don't know for sure it is Zod, who last plagued Clark in, was it Season 6? Back then he took the form of Lex, inhabiting Clark's nemesis until he was defeated… somehow, I can't remember exactly. The episode promised to be more imaginative at the start, but didn't really live up to it, although they did get some feeling into the story between characters, that isn't always successfully done. There were also some depressing moments between characters, but you can't have everything.

The Justice League (as it doesn't ever seem to call itself), is back to help Clark in his hour of need, after he's been informed by guy from the future that gave him a magic ring, which was destroyed, and so he came back to give him another one, in the future Clark's now dead. Because he couldn't defeat Doomsday, it was too much for him. I don't know why, as all the monster does to him is punch him repeatedly through walls (leaving not a bruise on his complexion, just some stylish blood trickles to show he's been injured, just not in the spot he was punched!), and all he had to do was grab the fiend, jump really hard into a deep tunnel and have the JLA set off an explosion that could bury it. Chloe sort of asks how he got out, but he says he just did before the blast. If Doomsday is a Kryptonian, though, he should have the same reflexes and speed, if not better. So it was all rather weak and off screen, which wasn't right for a storyline that had been leading up to this point all season. I will say this: Doomsday's look was excellent, and we get to see it in this episode quite clearly. Like a cross between the Jem'Hadar of 'DS9' and the Uruk-Hai of 'The Lord of The Rings' films, it was big and grey and slimy black, so they did a good job there.

The moral of the story, that Clark learns, is humanity's rottenness - Oliver believed he put humans on a pedestal, that's why he wanted to save Davis Bloome, although I thought it was more about his desire for his Kryptonian heritage not to muck up Earth any more than it already had. Either way, it gets to Clark again, and he decides it's best to no longer live as a human, 'Clark Kent is dead' he says melodramatically. Does this mean he puts on the red underpants and cloak and starts flying around? Of course not, this is the end of the season, not the end of the entire series! He just walks sadly, but resolutely, out of Chloe's life, just at her most devastated, having lost Jimmy, who was killed by the human portion of Doomsday, which is where we come back to the logic of Clark's no longer believing in humanity. I mean, it's not like he hasn't seen evil people do evil things before, right? …Right? Oh, only every week. But it's another death on his conscience, and what's more it's the death of a regular, so it 'means' something. Except I'm not convinced it does...

As soon as the future guy came back to warn Clark of his fate (which is confusing enough on its own as how could his future have changed while he was there, or did, um, what… there's no answer for time travel plots, they've simply got you over a barrel, so there's no point fighting, you just have to go with it), you start to think about the possibilities of time travel. Clark planned to use the future ring to send the monster there and have the future people beat it up because they have future tools and stuff, not to mention future Clark (or do they?), so that's not a bad idea. But he has to go and split Davis into two, using the handy Black Kryptonite he saved in his little box. And then it's Davis that does as much evil by murdering Jimmy and attempting to murder Chloe, and the plan goes awry because, like Bilbo Baggins, Lois stumbled upon a mysterious ring after fighting Gollum, sorry, Tess, and puts it on, vanishing into the future. As soon as that happened anything could be undone, I thought, because at some point Clark's going to have to go to the future, or Lois will come back, or something, and Jimmy's probably going to survive. I could be wrong, I didn't keep up with the cast list back in the day, but that's my feeling.

It wasn't the best time for Clark to walk out on Chloe, having just lost Jimmy, Lois missing, and Davis dead, and only a horrible memory to her (she's repaid by Jimmy's kind words that she's as much a hero as Clark, doing what she did, losing what she's lost). But then she's always got Oliver Queen, who gave her the watchtower job, who's not really speaking to Clark as they disagreed over saving or killing Davis, and, in a slightly repugnant turnaround, Oliver's twisted moral code is proven apparently correct, since Jimmy died because Clark didn't kill Davis when he could have. While we're on the subject, I didn't mind the JLA coming back, they've always hovered in the background ever since they were first created, but where were Aquaman and Cyborg? Why only Black Canary and Impulse, as they call him? They looked a little forlorn and out of place in their bizarre costumes, when as part of a big team they might have blended in better. There was some definite double-crossing, with their loyalty and belief in Queen's way stronger than to Clark's, and some double-teaming too, with Lois and Jimmy working together having both broken into Tess' office. Does she not have CCTV? It was hard to swallow that, now that Davis and Clark need to meet, suddenly everyone knows where they are and can even track them on some kind of radar!

All this stuff wasn't as much of a muddle as some season finales have been, so I couldn't say I didn't enjoy it to some extent. It wasn't the best of the season, or the worst, it felt more like a continuation that you should just jump right into Season 9 with. Maybe that's what viewers wanted back then, simply the reassurance that their programme was to return. Maybe the budget had suffered (Jimmy's secret hideaway that he had been doing up for Chloe's wedding present looked remarkably like Oliver's secret hideaway!), I don't know, but if so, it might have been better for the series as there were some nice conversations between characters: Clark continuing his disguised voice talk with Lois worked really well as it did before, as did Jimmy finally learning Clark's secret, even if the actual reveal was pretty weak: he finds a Kryptonite dart in Clark's back, pulls it out and sees a cut on his face disappear. Very low-key, but it's his wonder and the way his whole face lights up as everything dawns on him, that makes it work. Lois has a less than friendly confrontation with her boss, Tess, ending in a fight after Tess was, what, going to kill her? I'm not sure, it was a bit odd, but I think it's safe to say that as long as Mercer is head of the Daily Planet, Lois isn't going to work there. Except on this series it would be perfectly natural for Lois to go back and work for her with little problem as that's the kind of ridiculousness that I've had to learn to accept from this series in order to keep watching it.

At one point in the episode I did think they were going to keep their Davis and eat it too, as the Black Kryptonite idea could have worked. But it didn't, although the person who could be Zod could have been mistaken for being Davis. Was that intentional? It's all could, could, could, at the moment. One other point I would make: if Clark thought he was going to die, I think he'd do more than write a goodbye note for Lois to publish. He would have gone to see his still living Mum, and talk to her about what he had to do, but since leaving the series Martha almost never gets mentioned, though it wasn't that long ago he was on the phone to her. Maybe he did find the time to visit, but we didn't get to see it. It would have given the situation more gravity if there had been a last supper moment, although it would have been undone by the surprise hijacking of the mission by Oliver and his people. I think the episode lived up to the standards of the season. It was a bit bloody in places, with both Jimmy and Davis skewering each other, things played out okay, if largely depressing by the end, but I suppose that was inevitable. It wasn't a bad watch, and I was looking forward to the time of Doomsday, even if Davis' psychological problems were played out for too long, and things like the purple orb seemed to be thrown into the last episodes as an afterthought. But it was good, fine, entertaining enough with occasional episodes that reached above the low bar of the series. Only two seasons to go.

***

Kir'Shara

DVD, Enterprise S4 (Kir'Shara)

Oh dear, my reservations can't help but be exposed once again. You just have to grit your teeth and let… the Vulcans'… behaviour… pass! If I wrote as much as I feel on the subject I could easily fill up my reviews with angry remonstrances on the subject, but I console myself with the notion that with this episode the venerable race were at last set on the correct path to their future. I suppose there's always the argument to be made that 'Enterprise' is part of a different continuity, the Abramsverse, perhaps, as the Vulcans in those films display the same levels of annoying expression, and they have no excuse since that's the 23rd Century! But officially it's not, and I don't like to excise 'Enterprise' from the Prime timeline canon (ugh, that sounds terrible, doesn't it - why did they have to turn Trek into a comic book by splitting it into multiple universes?), as it's great to see how so many integral events well before the Trek I most enjoy intermeshed to create the future, and I'm genuinely grateful the series was made, even if it ended prematurely and mistaken choices were made. They were willing to address their mistakes, however, and the Vulcans' are altered, or repaired, back to the teachings they'd begun to forget. It makes me wonder what the series could have been like if the makers had been even more daring with the portrayal of one of the founding races, perhaps having them completely unrestrained, intergalactic warlords that Earth had to subdue. Only that would have been too much of a stretch as we saw in 'First Contact' that they were the ones that initiated Earth's emergence into the outside universe.

I don't like to go on about it (really, I don't), but there was much necessary repair work to do. Robert Foxworth was not the man to play a Vulcan, but how much was down to his interpretation of the role and how much was the writing or direction, I don't know. His almost insanely emotive, grimacing, ranting, displaying every negative mood under the sun; his laughably evil version of a villain the low point of this trilogy, and I was very disappointed in his performance across the board, which is a shame as he was so good as the similarly evil or misguided Admiral Leighton in 'DS9.' But we never really understood V'Las' motivations or saw him as a three-dimensional character. He was no Dukat, that's for sure, even given the revelation at the end that he was indeed working with the Romulans, even though he wasn't one of them as I'd hoped, as this would have been an answer to my criticism of his portrayal. It was fantastic that the Romulans were involved, true to form and the established history, and readying their grasp in line with their growing interest in galactic affairs. It's one of those fabulous setup scenes that explains in small part, but tantalises in greater, giving viewers real food for thought and behind the scenes access that the main characters aren't yet privileged to be a party to. But whether the Romulan's talk of reunification between them and the Vulcans was merely talk to manipulate V'Las or a genuine desire, we'll never know.

If V'Las failed as a character, there were others that worked out just fine. Kara Zediker's T'Pau was at her best in this episode, proving a more Vulcan-like Vulcan than all the others, bar Soval; a hope and comfort to T'Pol, a good person to have in a fight (she should be rechristened T'POW!), and a leader for her people. It wasn't as simple as taking the reins of power, but it appears she's part of the ruling system with Minister Kuvak at the end. I wish she could have become an ongoing part of the series, but add that to the many on the list of 'if only there'd been a Season 5…' She wasn't the only character that improves - Soval continues to inveigle himself into the affections of humanity, assisting Trip in the best interests of his people, as he sees it, the stakes no less than war between Vulcan and Andor, with Earth sure to be dragged in. He's the sort of person whose efforts for the greater good the Federation would be founded upon. He's hard put to it here, finding himself on the wrong end of a torture chamber, though I'd question whether there is a right end, as Shran might attest - like Garak in 'The Die is Cast' not wanting to torture Odo, Shran's discomfort is evident. Soval's release of emotional containment under the Andorian device is a classic arena for a spine-tingling scene, but as in the previous episode, sadly, the series' baseline Vulcan persona is such that this grand unveiling of a Vulcan's core isn't as shocking and incredible as it should be, but even saying that, Gary Graham does a good job, assisted by the everyday greatness of Jeffrey Combs.

Shran makes even the off-the-wall V'Las look like a true Vulcan, but his reactiveness suits the race and character, which makes all the difference. It was always a plus point if an episode featured Shran, and extra points go to the writing for bringing him in in a sensible way, using his connection to the Xindi weapon, the prototype of which he tried to steal last season. It's good to see the ramifications of the Xindi on the Vulcans, we even see recorded footage of the destructive power of this armed and fully operational Xindi weapon, which the Vulcans erroneously believe the Andorians have readied, perhaps the last effect of the Xindi on the series - and such power would have had an effect on even allied races as they fear the attack on Earth could happen to them, or give another race the arms advantage. Two other characters I was especially pleased to see again, for different reasons were the Vulcan Priest, and Koss, T'Pol's husband by betrothal. The Priest, played by Jack Donner, was previously in the same role in 'Home' to marry T'Pol and Koss, but I forgot to mention him in my review - why so important? Because, amazingly, he'd played a Romulan in 'Balance of Terror' way back in Trek's very first season, and now he was back playing (kind of), a member of the same race in the final (to date), season of Trek on TV! A fantastic achievement, how many can say the same? It was very special to see, and fitting that he should be the one to relieve Archer of Surak's katra.

Koss I never really liked, but even he gets an endearing scene at the end - it was his transport codes that helped Archer and T'Pol reach the government building, but most importantly he frees her from her duty of marriage, a moment of great self-sacrifice that enlarges him greatly and closes out his contribution to the series nicely. T'Pol may have gone through a terrible loss with the death of her Mother, T'Les, but this episode is also an important turning point for her - not only is she freed from the unwanted marriage (though considering her age of seventy or so, I begin to question why she hadn't gone through it many years before, or doesn't the blood fever occur until the mental bonding has been consummated?), a big enough change for her character in itself, but she's also freed from the effects of a dodgy mind meld, Pa'nar Syndrome, from Season 1's 'Fusion,' something else that had held her back from accepting such 'mystical' things, and another reason she'd found not to trust the Syrrannites. T'Pau is the great healer who fixes the neural imbalance, bringing together a Vulcan of the divergent modern ways with the original teachings of Surak. If T'Pol doesn't immediately jump on the bandwagon with T'Pau that's not to say it didn't affect her deeply - just as in Christianity, ministering to the needs of people without payment in loyalty or commitment to the cause, is the most effective way of getting them to see what it's all about, and gives T'Pol reason to see the transformative power of the teachings her race had almost abandoned in favour of hard science.

It would be interesting to see her beliefs change as a result of her interactions with T'Pau, just as they have with her interactions with Archer, for example regarding time travel. Her and Archer's friendship has come a long way since that frosty start in which both saw the other as a necessary evil or obstacle to be overcome. She shows great concern for him, even though she finds it hard to believe the strange circumstances they find themselves in, or the evidence in front of her eyes, her deep-rooted position of disbelief in the soul, or katra, being so strong. But that doesn't stop her from doing everything she can to help Archer, and he in his turn puts the future of Vulcan at risk for her: after finding the Ark of the Covenant, or its equivalent, in the fabled Kir'Shara which contains the original writings of Surak, against T'Pau's wishes to get it to the capital immediately, he chooses to first rescue T'Pol from the security team that had been sent by V'Las to track down these 'terrorists.' I can't see Sisko or Picard putting the possible fate of a nation in jeopardy for one person, though Kirk would have done, and probably Janeway, but I couldn't help feeling it was a little foolhardy. But that's the way Archer is, people are more important than great destinies to him, and T'Pol was something more than that.

I did have some problems with the whole sequence of the Vulcans giving chase. For one thing it made them look terribly stupid - they're easily fooled by those they pursue, for example taking metallic weapons with them (slightly scaled down versions of the Lirpas we saw in 'TOS'!), so they attract the lightning of The Forge. It's also incredibly difficult to reconcile Archer having the ability to fight off even one uninjured Vulcan, let alone a posse of them, even with the fighting skills of his two female companions - these are supposed to be not just Vulcans, but high level security, and yet they blunder around, get knocked about, and yes, Archer and his small team do have to retreat at first, they can't take on that much strength, but even with the element of surprise, and even considering the possibility that Surak's katra could influence Archer's fighting ability, to be able to defeat a Vulcan who's three times his power should be all but impossible! Look at Kirk, one of the best fighters ever, and he could only hold off Spock for a short time ('This Side of Paradise'), and Spock was only half-Vulcan! Surak was a peacemaker anyway, so I don't know what combat skill he could impart to make Archer so skilful, as was Syrran, whom the Captain received memories from.

Not to say there weren't some good visuals in the fight scenes, with Vulcans flipping back up onto their feet and high-kicking quality from T'Pau and T'Pol (able to show off some of her martial arts ability that we first saw in 'Marauders'). But still, I can't get past that these are supposedly the best trained of all Vulcans in security matters, and there are a lot of them, and they're on home territory - maybe that's it and, like Superman, they aren't super strong on their home planet? But I'm reaching, here. Why would they even be carrying ceremonial weapons? It was still an exciting sequence, even if it didn't do justice to the Vulcans, and we had an interesting little titbit from the leader who didn't kill T'Pol because he served under her at Tomed - though this couldn't have been the famed Tomed Incident which came much later, and caused the Romulans' isolationism until 'TNG,' it's fascinating to hear that T'Pol was at that place, and indeed, fascinating to hear anything of her time as a soldier. We don't often get to hear of her backstory ('The Seventh' being the most revealing), perhaps they were keeping it vague so future stories could reveal more, but that was not to be.

One thing I can accept, with reservations, is Archer performing nerve pinches (and on Vulcans, too!). Precedent, however regrettably, had been set on 'TNG' when Picard appeared to take out, I think it was Tim Russ, before he became a Vulcan, so you can't really argue with it, and have to assume that it's not so much strength as knowledge and accuracy that play their part in a good nerve pinch (Picard had melded with Sarek, so once again there's a mental explanation to be had). In that, I most certainly can buy Surak's influence, giving Archer the exact knowledge to be able to perform it (Data was able to do it as well, but he was also able to perfectly mimic people, as with Dr. Crusher's dance steps, so nothing there to discount my theory). It may be that nerve pinches, lirpas and mind melds were being thrown around too much, and perhaps the series was straying too far into mimicry and over-reliance on canon, but you have to remember that this was the big Vulcan story, the last Vulcan-specific story, I believe, so they were all in. And I think, for the most part, leaving aside the infuriating lack of control displayed by Vulcans, or their calm, measured tones being abandoned for exasperation, surprise or outrage, this trilogy worked. It might even be better than the Augments trilogy as that had higher ups and lower downs than this did. I would also rank this episode the best of the trilogy, in large part for bringing Shran back ("That's two he owes me!" - still keeping score!), and making the stakes believably high without being ridiculous.

It's also safe to say that the Enterprise was better used in this part, and the story was more balanced, with Trip allowed to develop his skills as a leader - uneasy lies the head, as he finds when he has to make the big decisions. Archer would have been proud (though sadly, we didn't get to hear what he thought of Trip's actions, or what Starfleet thought of his disregarding their instructions, though I'm sure the Vulcans helped smooth things over). Malcolm and Trip's friendship was another little character piece to be addressed, Reed comfortable in questioning his friend's plan, which he would have been unlikely to do if it had been Archer's, or at least, he'd have been more deferential. Regardless, he still does what he's told, with no loss of peace between the two. Reed would have made a good First Officer serving under Trip, and their debate makes me think of Picard and Riker if those two had been a lot less experienced. It's hard for Trip to make the tough calls and come out smelling of roses, but if it wasn't for what happened on Vulcan with Archer and T'Pol successfully changing the High Commands view of the situation (which reminded me of Dax and Kira in 'The Siege' - avoiding the patrols of an ally-turned-enemy to bring new information to their leaders, and infiltrating the political centre of the planet disguised in robes!), his efforts might not have paid off.

Still, Trip showed promise as a Captain, the Kir'Shara is revealed (at first I thought it odd that Surak's time would have holo-technology, but then you realise that they had interstellar capability since some left to become Romulans, so holograms aren't a stretch), and the High Command, a thorn in Earth's side for so many years, is dissolved (a shame the series ended as this new Vulcan attitude would have released the floodgates for Starfleet exploration). With it may go some of the power of the Vulcans on the galactic stage, as their smothering tendencies, couched in policing the quadrant, would likely have diminished, setting in motion a new era that would see the gradual rise of the Federation. I'm not sure if this all equates to the United Nations after World War II, or the situation with China becoming dominant in today's world, but what it does demonstrate is a shift in the situation, both physically and politically. And that's a fascinating thing that 'TNG' and 'DS9' did a lot of, and something that could have been totally absorbing had we been able to see it play out over several seasons of the until the day when the Federation formed. It's so sad that, though we had the chance to see aspects of this formation play out across other major races in the course of Season 4, we never got to see the birth of perhaps the most important turning point in Trek history. I wonder if 'Enterprise' had stayed within the seven year boundary, whether they would have continued in real time and so not arrived at the Federation until a film, or skipped ahead, as the finale did, to get us there sooner?

Other questions I couldn't help but ask: if Surak's true teachings have been sequestered away in the Kir'Shara for so long, are they known at all, or had they been watered down and manipulated over centuries until the Vulcans had reached the point at which we find them in the series? And, just as with T'Les not transferring her katra into T'Pol, why wasn't Syrran's katra ported to Archer with Surak's, since he retains some of the man's memories? Maybe a mind can only hold one katra at a time? I felt the meld of T'Pol and T'Pau another missed opportunity - I wanted to hear them speak the same words and give a stronger sense of the power of this event, especially as T'Pol's last experience was such a negative one, but they quickly cut away and we don't see the effect it has on her. They leave us with a question as pertinent as the Klingon forehead debate: why does the first Romulan we see on the series have the 'V' forehead, which is missing in 'TOS'? Is it the same genetic tinkering explanation we'd learn of the Klingons this season? I'm not sure this is a compliment, but there things that reminded me of 'Star Trek Nemesis,' the good parts of that film: lavish robes, plush governmental surroundings and political machinations. I loved seeing the inside of the Vulcan architecture, as much as the outside, and we were fortunate to get a sense of the circular structure of the city for the first time, something originally conceived in 'The Animated Series,' which, while not itself canon, I'm glad to see become canon. And this episode has the distinction of being one of only three to begin with a 'K.' Okay, fact gun off.

***

Awakening

DVD, Enterprise S4 (Awakening)

What almost ruins a perfectly good story is the portrayal, behaviour and attitude of the Vulcans. I've said it so many times, but I have to say it again because this is such a Vulcan-centric episode and trilogy, in which things of great importance to their culture and place in the galaxy are explored. But it's so difficult to get past Vulcans that are angry, irritated, greedy for destruction, petulant, short-tempered, raising their voices. They're a telepathic race, that fact is integral to the episode, yet they're touching each other on multiple occasions with no effect than if they were human. There's even a tearful death scene in which T'Pol's Mother dies after the attack on the sanctuary! This would all be fine if it were any other race - they're acting more like Andorians, their worst enemy, and with all this lack of respect for the established culture that dates back over two thousand years, it really does become a thorn in my side as I try to enjoy the story. The purpose of this trilogy, as I understand it, was to reposition the Vulcans towards the race we know from the other series', and I could just about accept that, except those who would bring about the change, the Syrrannites, act as emotionally and unrestrained as their fellow Vulcans. Perhaps the new awakening is more about broader themes of peace-loving and rejecting violence than keeping emotions in check? Or much more study was needed for them to develop into the repressed race we recognise. Whatever the reason, (for misguided 'dramatic purposes'), they become like any other villainous leader and his followers or detractors.

Yet there were clear moments in which licence to express emotion were lost or lessened because of their generally heightened attitude. The mind meld scene in which T'Pau tries to remove Surak's katra from Archer's mind, is a prime example: look back at 'TOS,' or 'Voyager' - when a meld took place often the Vulcan in question would begin to show the character of the creature or person he was melding with, taking on the speech pattern, displaying greater levels of emotion, generally acting their hearts out! But because the level of restraint is so low, we get none of that, and with it, much of the mysteriousness is weakened. I also felt Archer should have been increasingly reminiscent of Vulcans in his demeanour, choice of words and stance (a la McCoy in 'Star Trek III'). A lost opportunity for a truly great episode that reached the heights of those other Vulcan-heavy episodes in other series'. The position Archer's given through Surak, as bearer of his soul, is a strong one, helping to cement the Captain in Trek lore in the same manner as Picard, or Sisko, or any of the other great Captains. They all have their first contacts and their boldly going, but I get the feeling it's not until they've gone through some kind of mystical, defining experience that they become legendary figures greater than mere starship Captains. Picard was Arbiter of Succession to the Klingons, and had a deep personal connection to the Borg. With Sisko it was another ritualistic position in an alien culture, Emissary to the Bajorans. Even Janeway became a legend through her share of formative unexplained experiences, though she was more of a straightforward Borg-beater.

So for Archer, leaving aside all his firsts, this was a defining role for him to play on the galactic stage, enhancing his role in history and making him confront things he'd never considered before, like the possibility of the soul, and other such strong themes that Trek likes to tackle or at least throw open to question. I'm not sure I can say those themes are tackled here, it's more a case of T'Pol expressing disbelief and wonderment, with little time for the big questions as attack is imminent and something important and lost must be found quickly (it would have been the greatest embarrassment if T'Pau had dropped the Kir'Shara in the bombardment!). If this had been a 'TNG' episode, perhaps even a 'DS9' it could easily have been all about Archer's reaction to having a katra in his mind, let alone that of the greatest historical Vulcan figure of all time. This could have been 'Rapture' for 'Enterprise,' but sadly, that was never the style of the series, it was always more concerned with the next fight or skirmish, which is ironic considering that these space battles usually come off as weak and underpowered in comparison to the other series' thanks to their place on the weapons development timeline.

Criticism of 'Enterprise's devotion to pace and action my be a little unfair as it set out to be the 'TOS' of the modern era, and it has many a good action episode. This isn't one of them, but in fact that's a positive in this case as it's more about the political ramifications both from the ruling class (a meritocracy, we learn, V'Las rose to power because he was most qualified), and those under the Syrrannite banner. We learn, for instance, that Arev, the Vulcan who helped Archer and T'Pol traverse the dangers of The Forge, was actually the Syrran, leader of the movement back towards Surak's teachings. There's a lot of discussion between various characters, and though the cloud of false Vulcan portrayal hangs heavily over these scenes, it remains engaging enough for the story to mean something. It's also wonderful to see Soval reveal himself a staunch supporter of humanity, and in talking to Trip, who's left in charge of the NX-01, we find out he was stationed on Earth for thirty years. The best exchange in the episode is that in which Trip tells him he hid his affinity for humanity well, which he takes as a compliment! Scenes like this show how different Vulcans are. They are super cool, but they hide it with natural modesty or lack of need to brag. They have so many skills and abilities that humans lack, yet they are happy to serve, and only display these skills when required. It is the essence of being Vulcan. It was a pleasure to see Soval's assistance when he's so often taken a hard line against Archer and his crew, with Trip in particular, being the outspoken type he is, getting angry at him many a time.

I can't say so much for the crew of the Enterprise. They don't feature greatly, and the characters that are usually shortchanged, another disappointment inherent in the series' DNA to match Vulcan emotionalism, remain the same - Travis gets a line, Hoshi gets a line, Dr. Phlox doesn't even appear… It's not really detracting from the story, it's more an overarching problem for the series as a whole, which even the well-regarded Season 4 couldn't fix entirely. To be fair, Travis gets more than a line, piloting a Shuttlepod in an unsuccessful rescue attempt, it's just that he's doing what he always does. T'Pol, too, isn't particularly well served, getting upset with her Mother, following Archer around like a nurse to mop his brow, and generally not showing why she came, a non-typical response to death not helping (though the lack of a passing on of T'Les' katra to her daughter could be as a result of the knowledge not being widely known or practiced). With all these criticisms it sounds like I didn't like the episode, but somehow I was able to bypass what didn't work for me, and see past to the greater scope of the story. The possibility of the Vulcans starting interstellar war with the Andorians; Earth's position in all this; Archer conversing with Surak (even he seemed a little emotional, but he had the excuse of being the Father of it all, and was alive long, long ago when his race really were bloodthirstier than Klingons, and more ruthless than Romulans), the vision of devastating war as the Time of Awakening dawned… I suppose there's a strong parallel between then and now, as the Vulcans are creeping back to those ways of arrogance and strong emotions; prideful, not wanting humanity's boldness to outstrip them.

The episode itself doesn't feature these ideas strongly, and I'm digging here, but it's often the case with 'Enterprise' that the viewer has to do the work, sometimes for little reward. At times you feel canon (or lack of it in regard to the Vulcans), is all that's on screen, others that they're trying too hard to be different from established continuity (such as the Xindi mission - I did like the reference to it in the Vulcans' suspicions that Andorians may be developing their own weapon based on Xindi technology), but I feel they've hit a fine balance this season. We've never been this much entrenched in and around Vulcan before, we see their cities of beautiful sun-drenched architecture, the NX-01 lazily gliding over a red planetscape, and the episode's visuals whether CGI or set, are varied and attractive - I especially liked the curved tabletop display V'Las and his fellow ministers viewed. Design did come across a little in the 'Star Wars' mould of the prequels with fine interiors and clean, white technology, but you could also say the prequels had a lot to thank 'TNG' for in style.

The destruction of the Syrrannites and their sanctuary should have been horrific and shocking, but V'Las is such a hammy villain, angry and vicious (for a Vulcan), it's just a scene of threat to the main characters running through caves. TV trying to do big ideas can often fail to live up to them, although CGI brings more possibilities, ability to show rather than tell doesn't mean ability to present an idea better, necessarily. I wasn't shocked by V'Las' actions as I should have been, on reflection, but the episode did succeed in leaving us with a cliffhanger that makes you want to see the concluding part - I can't remember if V'Las is actually an agent of Romulus and this is the first real stirring of Romulan manipulation on the galactic scene, something that comes to fruition later in the season, but if it wasn't, it should have been! I liked the episode on the whole, a little surprisingly given my main reservations, so well done to Director Roxann Dawson for keeping my attention. Hopefully the third part is equally successful in giving me enough to ignore or dampen my problems. A couple of actors returned to Trek for this one, most notably Bruce Gray as Surak (only the second person ever to play the role, after Barry Atwater introduced it in 'TOS'), he'd played Admiral Chekote in both 'DS9' and 'TNG.' And John Rubinstein was in 'Voyager' and a first season 'Enterprise,' here the dissenting voice of Minister Kuvak. It's worth noting this is the first appearance of the great T'Pau since she presided over Spock and Kirk's battle to the death in 'Amok Time,' a brilliant idea to bring in young versions of long-lived characters from 'TOS,' and something you'd think they'd have done more (Flint anyone?), so all eras were nicely represented!

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