United

DVD, Enterprise S4 (United)

If you're ever unsure of whether 'Enterprise' can hold up years after its production, just put this episode on! It has everything a great Trek episode needs, and while we weren't served up this level of rightness anywhere near as regularly as on the other Trek series', now and again they turned out a real gem like this. The characters are used effectively (even Travis and Hoshi!), there are space battles, cool ship designs, nice little links to Trek history, humour, action, mano-a-alieno duelling, and even a surprising cliffhanger that stayed with me ever since I first saw this episode almost a decade ago, to this moment when I saw it again: the pilot of the Romulan drone ship was none other than what appeared to be a white, blind Andorian! That really hit me on first viewing, and even though I know what it's all about now, it still makes for a visual to stick in the mind. We've never even seen a white Andorian before, and why would it be working for the Romulans? These and other questions would be dealt with in the third and final part of the trilogy.

Up until that ending I felt this could comfortably have been a two-parter, as all the conflict is resolved, the drone ship is left to limp back to its masters on Romulus, and all is right with the alliance. I wonder if it had originally been designed for two parts, but they were enjoying playing in the sandbox of Andorian culture so much that they stuck a third on the end? Once again, if people decry Trek's canon as two big an obstacle to work within, you only have to find a race like the Andorians, as they did in this series, one that hasn't been extensively explored, and you have free rein to delve right in there! And there are plenty of familiar races for which this could have, and could be, done even now! Even this series hadn't ice-picked their way into the caverns of Andorian life as much as it could have, and no doubt if Shran had joined the cast as was planned for Season 5, we'd have learnt so much more about his species, not to mention the Tellarites, who could have done with much development. That's not a criticism of this episode, just an observation that they were almost as close to a blank slate as an alien of the week. Here, however, both are used very well, and it's a thrill to see the fruits of Earth's, and in particular, Archer's labours: a combined fleet of Vulcan, Tellarite and Andorian ships join Enterprise during their skirmish with the drone vessel. Wow!

Setting the various races against each other and destabilising the quadrant may have been the Romulans' intention, but it had the opposite effect, binding those uncertain allies closer in an effort to smoke out the intruder that manipulated them. Adversity bonded them in a natural way, but only thanks to the tireless and selfless heroism of good Captain Archer. I would put some small question towards Scott Bakula's choices in this episode, as although the character comes across well, broadly speaking, I felt he was a little too shouty when he didn't need to be, and jovial when seriousness was called for. It's nitpicking, I know, but in such a strong episode I'd have liked everything to be perfect: when he's lecturing (quite rightly), Gral and Shran on the need to put aside their differences, to stop the threat, he ends up sounding like a school teacher warning that they're about to get detention, more than an experienced starship Captain, advising them to discard their personal feelings and get to the table. And as T'Pol tries warns him against taking the Tellarite's place against Shran in combat, he seemed to take things a little too lightly, as if he had a trick up his sleeve. Maybe he did? Was it always the plan to whip off Shran's antenna to humiliate rather than kill him? Which brings me to Travis' story - just how did his Dad deal with a similar challenge, as we were taken out of the scene before he revealed the punchline? I assume it was the same as Archer's solution, but if so, I'd have liked to see him thank Travis and Hoshi for finding the loophole, to make it clear it was their plan.

I must say I was surprised when Talas, Shran's chosen mate, actually dies from the graze inflicted from the phase pistol. I thought she was the woman he settles down with for the rest of his days and has children with, but it was not to be. What was to be, were Shran's best scenes of the series: a touching bedside reassurance for Talas from a man so often brutal in his movements and attitudes, a soldier whose pride in strength and honour are both his best and worst qualities at the same time. It was also touching to see him reiterate his friendship with Archer, they don't even do the 'You owe me!' recurring joke any more, as Shran openly calls him friend. I loved that scene in Archer's Ready Room with Shran looking at the illustrations of past Enterprises and asking if Archer had captained them all. It would be a sensible question to him, not knowing the history of Earth - but those images have gone down through real history, too, first shown in 'The Motion Picture,' and tying the NX-01 to the greater, rich tapestry of Enterprise lineage. They may have tied back to the very first Trek film, by focusing on those ever-present parts of Archer's background, but they also connected with the latest film of the time, 'Nemesis': Remans! It's such a disappointment to me that the aliens in the opening two-parter of the season were said not to be Remans, despite their very similar look, but it makes up for it somewhat by having real Reman heavies as part of the sinister and threatening presence of the Senator overseeing the drone ship's operation.

It's good to see that Valdore has his superiors to bow and scrape to (not that he does), and that the Senate is mentioned, and that we're allowed to see out of the window of the drone relay 'bridge' now that we're in on the secret that it isn't the actual drone-board location. And the Senator even gives us a Jolan Tru to be done with, too! I loved seeing the Romulan text come up on screen as Malcolm and Trip try to take control, but more than that, I loved the whole ambience of the sequence, with the Romulan addressing them each individually as he tries, as usual, to manipulate events out of his control, by pulling the strings to make people do as he commands. Or so he thought - as Reed said, Trip's good at fixing things, he's good at blowing things up, and that's exactly what he did to save them, giving us our first (as far as I can remember), self-destruct of a Phase Pistol. I was starting to wonder why the Romulans didn't just self-destruct their own ship as it was about to fall into enemy hands and it sounded like they had others, but even that little question was quickly answered: the destruct system was being repaired. Although… if you're going to be picky you could point out that this is usually the most hardy and (ironically), indestructible part of a ship, since it has to be able to work even after vast damage. And just as the artificial gravity is usually the last system to go, so too is the self-destruct. But then this isn't a Federation ship, and it ain't the 24th Century, so I'll give them credit for even mentioning the fact.

The calm, familiar way Valdore talks with these trespassing strangers was off-balancing, and more chilling since you know with the slightest advantage he'd flush them out or leave them to die of radiation poisoning without compunction. It made me think of 'Civil Defence' on 'DS9' where the computer activates booby traps and takes over the station. They do spend the whole episode aboard, but it's only a B- or C-plot, but being trapped on a remotely operated ship could easily have been the main story of an episode. But that's the delight of this episode: so much to like, and not at the expense of character. T'Pol gets less than usual, but continues to display a more appropriate level of Vulcan restraint than she used to, while also friendly concern for Archer. Phlox has to break the bad news to Shran. Hoshi and Travis work together to find a loophole in the rules of the Andorian duel (odd that the woman on the bridge at the station in front of Travis didn't even look up when he called across to Hoshi - he didn't say a name, so she should have looked up as he called from behind her!). Travis also came up with the sensor net plan to track the drone ship, one of the more unlikely moments - when did he come up with this? I wondered why he stared so intently at his controls every week, now we know: he formulates plans! This time he was listened to, for once. It's more something T'Pol would propose, but I wouldn't penalise their use of a character so often sidelined, and it was interesting to note the similarity between this and 'Redemption II' when such a strategy was also used against the Romulans!

If we're talking about good character scenes, none are better served than Shran. He reaffirms his and Archer's historic friendship, grieves over his dead mate, and battles the Captain in the Ushaan, ultimately shaking the hand of his racial enemy, the Tellarites, and helping to usher in a new era of peace, brokered by Archer. When he enters the conference room, claiming he only wants to talk, the tension can be felt as he stalks round the table at which the killer of his mate sits, like a tiger with its claws just below the surface. Knowing he's not the sort of person to talk, but one to take action, we're just waiting for him to do something, and it's a very well choreographed scene. So we see many sides to this Andorian, beyond what we've seen before, and he only goes up in our estimation. As does the Captain - he takes a risky course of action, gambling that if he is killed by Shran the alliance will continue as Starfleet won't withdraw from it. The actual duel itself looked real, and in the finest tradition of Starfleet officers, such as Kirk taking on Spock, or Worf taking on Duras. It looked like Archer was really sliced up there, too, not just a ceremonial little cut, strategically placed on the cheek to look scarred without the nastiness of deep damage - Shran digs into his leg, and you can see later, on the bridge, he's still got a slight limp. That's the difference with this episode, though: it has and deals with repercussions. It ripples down through history, taking in the future of ships named Enterprise, and the whole Federation itself.

It gets the surface jazz on target with a nifty and breathtaking aerobatic display from the drone ship, and is excellently directed by regular master, David Livingston, who injects urgency even into the static talky scenes by circling the speakers and keeping things moving visually without resorting to shaky-cam overdrive. What more? Oh, there's a great shot of the NX-01's bow as it sails majestically into frame above the helpless forms of Reed and Tucker, and the episode has a number of moments that almost make you want to cheer - that mini-fleet of allied ships that warps into the area before warping off after the drone, is just one of them! The Romulans also mention their distant brothers, which threw me for a second as I'm sure Spock was unfamiliar with them being related when it was first revealed in 'TOS,' but, just as V'Las knew of and wanted reunification, it can be explained away as only the top members of each species knowing the truth. Leaving aside unification, though, this is all about uniting. The episode could have begun with the title 'Disunited' as they're about as far from proving an effective partnership as can be, but in true and time-honoured Trek tradition, by the end of the episode, its title says it all, and the pride, vengeance, anger and bitterness has been turned around into a force for good and cooperation. On my 1000th blog post I included a list of my top 'Enterprise' episodes, but I mistakenly put 'Babel One' down when I meant this one - this is my fourth favourite episode of the series, without a doubt.

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