Civilisation (2)

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Civilisation) (2)

Innocuous, innocent, inoffensive, but not quite the in thing. This is traditional Trek at its most simple, a visit to an alien world, a personal investment for the Captain, who mostly goes it alone, and a problem to solve. This is definitely the kind of story we'll never see again in modern Trek, but it also shows up the flaws of this particular formula: these are totally aliens of the week, never to be seen or heard from again (at least I thought they were, but doing my due diligence with the 'Star Trek Encyclopedia' I discovered that the villains of the week, the Malurians, were one of the races wiped out by the Nomad probe in 'TOS' - great continuity!). The scale, that was initially the vastness of a new planet and its new life and civilisation, to the extent that they wondered who they should hail on arrival (which makes a lot of sense when there's no collective authority for a planet), is quickly whittled down into a manageable coastal village, but even that proves a little too far outside budgetary constraints so we never get to see their docks or ocean, it all takes place in narrow, built-up streets. It's like some forgotten 'Voyager' episode from its second or third season, or something from 'TNG,' a one-off race we visit undercover and sort out some kind of issue in secret. I expect the only reason they didn't use the traditional 'matte painting of alien city' that showed up a number of times as different planets was because it wasn't made for the widescreen format! Perhaps I'm being a little unkind, and it is good to see the NX-01 crew visit a planet with Dr. Phlox' cosmetic surgery skills tested, the first such mission in Trek history, and far from the last. But as with 'Breaking The Ice' it unfortunately falls into the trap of the series.

That is the directionless, lackadaisical approach to both exploration and storytelling. This would have been an ideal situation from which to learn a lot of lessons on how to go about interaction with a pre-warp species. We hear from T'Pol the Vulcan protocol is to avoid contact until a culture develops warp drive, the foundation for Starfleet General Order Number One, otherwise known as the Prime Directive. Maybe it would have been too on the nose for Archer to create such a famous rule this early and with only this experience, but that's the trouble: they, or more specifically, he himself, solves the problem and happily heads on his way after kissing the alien woman of the week, like a prototype (and stereotype of), Captain Kirk. In that respect the episode is also true to traditional 'TOS,' a blending of the 24th Century style of manufactured sets for an alien world, and the 23rd Century's cowboy approach - he kisses the girl, gets involved with a punch up, has a firefight with marauding aliens, and all without getting his shirt ripped! If this had been a disaster from which the Captain could have learned valuable lessons, if it had taught him to rely more on his crew than going out on a limb on his own, the crew mostly sitting around in orbit with a bit of tech support now and again, like some kind of futuristic call centre, it could have been worthwhile. If it had been a hard lesson of not being able to singlehandedly save a species from the exploitation of another, more advanced race, with good teamwork and planning beating superior odds, this could have been really something. But it wasn't.

That doesn't mean it's a poor episode, I'd take this bland offering that feels like Trek, over 'DSC' any day, but it needed to be more than an old episode of 'Stargate SG-1' to stand out. It's fun the way the crew tease their Captain by suggesting there are only 'dull' spatial novelties on the agenda for today's exploration, before revealing a Minshara-class planet ripe for examination, but though it was a joke, the 'what have we found today?' discussion also came off as the series' lack of focus in what it was trying to achieve. They were showing the pioneers going out for the first time, and Archer is the type who wants to get involved, they're there instead of probes that Starfleet could have sent, but you'd think they'd have more of a plan than merely wandering the galaxy hoping to find something of interest. There is something pleasant about that, like when you go out for the day and choose to pop into this town or walk up this road, but these aren't day-trippers, they're Starfleet's finest, or at the very least, Starfleet's chosen, and they need to report back on their accomplishments: making alliances, learning the lay of the galactic political landscape, finding out where they can best be of service, expanding scientific knowledge. In these days of short seasons, total serialisation, and galaxy-ending threats, it's quaint to see such a small story play out, but then that's where the misconception lies: vast stories of epic proportion are less enjoyable because they're too big to identify with, whereas a personal little event has the potential to be much more ground-breaking, and is the kind of thing Trek used to do so well.

In this episode, though it does become slightly personal, it's in the wrong way: Archer didn't need to be on his own dealing with Riann the apothecary and solving the mystery with her, a guest star we discover little about, and he doesn't seem to learn anything from the experience that would guide him in future decisions. It's a bit like an episode of 'Quantum Leap,' when Trek works better as an ensemble. It's not like we get a B-story on the ship to cut away to and fill out one of the other characters, nor do we get to know more about Archer, either, so while it's a nice little adventure and he gets to do some good by defeating a band of infiltrators, it's all a bit too pat. He even chucks the Malurian leader his weapon back - what was to stop the man shooting him in bitterness of making a fool out of him? There needed to be more of a challenge, and part of that may have been the direction which would have benefited from a more dramatic style, particularly in the ship to ship encounter (I can't really call it a battle, the NX-01 is about to get its hull whipped until they use their noggins), which had little of the excitement we saw on earlier Treks. Archer starts out a bit naive in his eagerness to visit the planet and its people, with T'Pol saying they can't just turn up, they'd be recognisable as outsiders. All they do is add a couple of forehead ridges and think that's enough to blend in! Unfortunately for story logic, that's all it takes. What about the Akaali mannerisms, their customs, cultural differences and behaviour? It shouldn't be as simple to go undercover as they make out because otherwise these aliens aren't very alien.

That's another problem, it could just as well have been a time travel episode where they go back to an earlier human period for how close everything is to humanity. They have little trouble fitting in, no one questions them, and only Riann is suspicious because they go into the curio shop she's been watching. Garos, the villain, didn't strike me as the type to be patient enough to run a shop, either! How many hours of his day does he spend selling masks and nicknacks, while his real business is… was it mining something? I can't actually remember what was their whole purpose for being there, that's how forgettable this side of the story was. I did like that this is another alien who's never heard of Earth, similar to the Andorians, and showing what a low profile humans had at this point compared to how integral we'd be to the galaxy in a century or less, but with Archer sticking his nose into other people's business and setting right what once went wrong ('Quantum Leap' again!), he was sure to make a name for humanity in a way the Vulcans' more conservative, hands off approach took them a lot longer to establish themselves, or that's the impression I always get. The episode is more than a little reminiscent of 'The Andorian Incident' in other ways, too: just when I thought the cave set was taking a break this week they descend beneath Garos' shop, his cellar another cave redress, but again, nicely done with machinery integrated with the rock walls, and just like the Vulcan monastery there's a secret underground complex which the dishonest group have for nefarious purposes.

Where that episode was vital and tense, this is a lot less dangerous. The standout moment that is pretty much the only thing I ever remember about this episode is when Archer fights one of the Malurians and in the scuffle rips half his face off. That sounds as vicious as 'The Andorian Incident,' but this one is a lot more old-fashioned, even down to its cowboy film fight scenes. The Malurians look almost human, except for those little decorative forehead ridges, but it turns out they're much more alien in reality with a lizard-like skin from what we glimpse under the ripped face mask, a bit Jem'Hadar, and it's not something you see every day on Trek. Apart from that, it's not a very driven episode, mainly an excuse to pair Archer up with the guest female, and nothing wrong with that except it never leads to understanding or development for the characters. Riann doesn't even seem that amazed by the thought of alien beings flying through the stars, and you'd think someone so scientifically minded would have been aching for one little flight above her world. Archer should have allowed her one magical moment as reward for helping him (and not punching him out when he kissed her!), something to give the episode a sense of hope for this lady who will forever be left to wonder. She doesn't seem that bothered and Archer just carries on his way, off to the stars, an alien woman in every port. Not really, but it was all a bit unresolved for the Akaali.

At least the Captain isn't made to seem weak, I can give the episode credit for that, unless you consider his solo attitude to command, doing the bulk of it himself, as a weakness. I can understand why he'd want to keep contact down to a minimum, but the only reason T'Pol and Hoshi don't hang around is so that he can make friends with Riann, but I'd have much rather have seen his crew in on the action, maybe send Hoshi and T'Pol off on another part of the mission to track down other members of the Malurian gang just to give them something to do! I will say that at least all the crew were involved along the way, even though the bulk of the episode was Archer going it alone. Mayweather gets to perform some tactical manoeuvres when the Malurian ship shows up, but we don't really get a good sense of what he's doing. Phlox shows some interest and does his cosmetics, Reed is mainly there at his console, but Hoshi proves vital by assisting the translator to decipher the various languages (she's still the best bet when it comes to a Landing Party for her translation abilities, but she's also the best bet to be reticent about going!). It's great to hear alien voices again, something pretty unique to this series. We see the Communicator is actually the device that somehow translates both aliens for humans and humans for aliens (or is the 'mouthpiece' of the ship's software), and in a humorous moment Archer has to play for time when it malfunctions and he's not getting what Riann is saying. Little things like this and the idea of a sensor-protected chamber beneath the ground that shows up as nothing on sensors, worked, and it's also good to see familiar Trek tech showing up again - they'd already done a Holodeck in 'Unexpected,' now they mention the Malurians' 'fabrication device' (Replicator), energy shields and tractor beam.

It might be a little too early to be introducing such technology into the Trek universe when you think about it, because why would it take Starfleet so long to develop this stuff? The Malurians were clearly on the same level as the Vulcans, technologically, and yet they could be bested by inferior humans. I suppose that was the point, Archer had his morals and values and the energy to care about others being exploited so he's clearly being heroic here, but maybe it should have been tougher and that he couldn't have managed singlehanded? Granted, the Malurians were only a small contingent and they weren't expecting the least bit of resistance, so the element of surprise worked in his favour, but it needed more going on. At least Riann proved herself by thinking scientifically in the firefight on the street: she informs Archer the street lamp contains a flammable substance and he's able to set it off, blasting the unsuspecting Malurians into submission (there goes the neighbourhood, full-on shootout on a bustling street). But what damage was done by all this? They saved the village, perhaps even the whole world by decontaminating the water supply and warning the Malurians off, but what about all those scared villagers wondering what all this bizarre shooting was? Wouldn't they explore the villains' store and discover advanced tech since he was one of the weirdos, vanished away never to return? I like that they said the Vulcans would drop by now and again to check nothing untoward was happening, that shows a confidence in their willingness to protect the rights of pre-warp peoples, and sounds more like the Vulcans we used to know: responsible, ready to help, and just.

T'Pol is one such, and I was thinking how much things had changed on the ship from a few episodes ago when she was constantly at odds with everyone - here she seemed to be in command without dissent. And then Trip gets hotheaded and is practically insubordinate, refusing to allow the ship to leave without its Captain. This really worked as a scene because, although there is a level of trust between T'Pol and the crew, and specifically T'Pol and Trip, he would still be more prone to righteous indignation if he felt Archer was threatened. The difference now is that T'Pol is able to quickly placate him, reassuring him she has no intention of leaving the Captain behind, even if the alien was telling the truth, and he's dead. This is another turning point in the series for T'Pol's position aboard, and shows that she has the measure of her crew and Captain, she knows how to respond. That was probably the standout moment as it shows she can go along with their jokes (as she did at the beginning), but also has authority, and not just because of a Vulcan sense of superiority, as you feel that that has been dented through recent events (finding out her people had lied about P'Jem; discovering the honourable nature of the humans she works with; turning down two opportunities to leave). There was an ideal time for a Vulcan nerve pinch, when Riann threatens Archer and Trip with a crossbow, but she chooses to Phaser her instead. I wonder if her long hair as an Akaali was a wig or whether it was some kind of follicle growth stimulation? Possibly not, as we later see her with normal length hair and we don't know who cuts it on the Enterprise with Bolians not yet discovered (I imagine).

We do hear mention of Tellarites from the villain (though we'd have to wait until the penultimate episode of Season 2 to see them), and we do find out where clothing on the ship comes from: the Quartermaster! I don't think this position had been mentioned since 'TOS,' so it's good to know they weren't replicating everything in these days (or anything, for that matter!), where 'DSC' brought 24th Century tech to the 23rd, and made all eras boringly the same. One thing that series did quite well was in zooming in from orbit, something that is also done in this episode. It's less ostentatious, but done in a far less advanced time for such effects - they didn't even have drone cameras back when 'Enterprise' was being filmed so I'd love to know how they filmed the shots of the Akaali street from above. I'd also like to know how Archer knew where to take the unconscious Riann once she'd been stunned. Maybe it was in dialogue and I missed it? And Wade Williams (Garos), already had form for playing a bad guy in 'One' on 'Voyager,' as imagined by Seven of Nine. This has always been an uneven episode for me, the first time I saw it I didn't think much of it, the second time it went up in my estimation for the little details I mentioned, but seeing it now it has to be considered part of the decline from the opening salvo of episodes' greatness, not important enough on a larger scale, nor on the intimate, either. Perhaps if it had been set on an alien world we'd heard of (those Bolians, maybe?), it could have added to our knowledge of an existing race. It's important to show the universe is vast, so you need to have aliens of the week that you never, or rarely, encounter again, but in that case they need to be made not to look like throwaway races that don't really matter, and as much as Archer enjoyed this encounter, it is rather insubstantial, even if it is reassuringly comfortable.

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