Shadows of P'Jem (2)

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Shadows of P'Jem) (2)

Along with the Temporal Cold War, galactic politics was one of the two main themes of the series (unless you count exploration as a theme). They hadn't learned from their encounter at P'Jem and so they visit another sensitive location: Coridan, friend of Vulcan. The only Coridanite that ever stuck in my head was the Ambassador from the end of Season 4, an ugly, lumpy creature with mechanical augmentation, and just like the race seen here in this episode, the look of them is forgettable. That's the trouble with this episode itself, we don't get to learn about the Coridanites, their culture, anything about them, other than things aren't going particularly smoothly on the planet, with some factions believing their government is nothing more than a puppet of the Vulcans. The story turns into something less promising than the political and racial intrigue suggests, with most of the action taking place in some dark, dingy rebel compound, a ramshackle fort of tin shacks at night. It's not exactly the most attractive introduction to a species that dates back (or forward), to 'TOS' not becoming members of the Federation until a hundred-plus years after the time of this episode. You can see why, if this instability continued, especially if the Vulcans are the element that divides them, as the Federation's requirements were for a unified planet and the Vulcans were the cornerstone of the organisation so it would have taken decades and generations to overcome the reservations on both sides.

That story on its own could have made for compelling drama, but the story prefers to think small and make it all about T'Pol's imminent transfer (the fourth time she's had the opportunity of departing the ship?), rather than delve deep into the politics of the region. Diplomatic visits to the government of a planet weren't exactly in keeping with the series' style, while kidnap, rescue missions and fights were, due to the pared down, more simplistic approach they took to this era than the 24th Century. If I sound down on the episode I don't mean to be, it's simply that this one never lingers in my memory. I know it's the beginning of Shran and the Andorians becoming recurring characters (he even gets his aide, Tholos, back from 'The Andorian Incident'), and I remember Archer and T'Pol being tied up and wriggling around trying to free their bonds. And that it takes place on some dark, if impressively large, set. It's just that there's not a lot more to it, and I didn't even realise (until recently), that Coridan appeared in the series. Somehow it should have been trumpeted more, they could have been setting up various named and known planets like this for an ongoing saga. Like the Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, and all the other major races we saw develop in the 24th Century, this feels like one of those establishing stories that would be referred back to in later seasons, that meant something in the grand scheme.

In reality, just like the TCW, the politics and races weren't fully developed in favour of a more basic return to planet of the week status. We did get much more of the Vulcans, though far from the coolly dispassionate race we knew, and the Klingons, but mainly two-dimensional moustache-twirling villainy than anything deeper. The Andorians came closest to true development because they were a memorably designed species that had never been explored, so simply by having them feature in multiple episodes we learnt more about them. But races like the Coridanites, Tholians and Orions could have been so much more, and episodes like this could have been putting in the groundwork towards that eventual soaring of the many story threads, as 'DS9' did so expertly. It's true that they eventually did make good on the early promise, with Season 4 a very pleasing collection of more in-depth cultural and political stories, but that was from a new guy in charge who saw the potential of the era and began to play with it, as ever a tragedy that the series wasn't permitted to last the distance into Seasons 5, 6 or 7. All that being said, though I'm disappointed in the wasted potential of the episode, it does work well as a personal story for T'Pol, and is rather moving in the way that any lingering doubts as to her rightful place on the ship are wiped away.

She's to be the scapegoat for the Vulcans' humiliating exposure of P'Jem, their secret observatory uncovered by Archer and crew earlier in the season. Now we learn the Andorians have bombarded the planet, after thoughtfully warning the inhabitants to get out of there. That could have escalated into a full-scale war if the Vulcans had had a fleet of ships in the area, I can imagine (even if, as Trip says to the Coridan rebel, they aren't warmongers, despite their other faults), but the Andorians had something of the righteous in their actions, the Vulcans going against a treaty by having this spy post. I found it telling that, after the immediate concern of whether the monks and their surveillance brethren made it off alive, T'Pol is just as concerned about the relics there. This shows how important artefacts are to the race, even if such materialism isn't logical. It shows they have their idiosyncrasies, if nothing else. It also shows that they were either arrogant in assuming the pesky Andorians would never discover the observatory, or willing to take risks over storing priceless relics in a location that could turn into a war zone if they were found out. They were treating the Andorian threat incredibly seriously that they'd go to that level of detail for the cover. I like that the Vulcans' unease over the Andorians led to humans becoming a third party between the two through Archer's actions and the strange honour pact that grows up between he and Shran, and this in turn develops into humanity's position as mediator and the glue that brings various races together, ultimately leading to the Federation!

For her part, T'Pol has helped to make this glue happen, thanks to her knowledge and experience of her people and how they think and react as opposed to how humans do. Far from her being a liability in the eyes of the Vulcan authorities, she is an important part of how Archer was able to operate, and it's incredible that he went from hating all Vulcans for holding his Father's work back, to grudgingly allowing a Vulcan representative aboard if that was the only way to ensure they got the go-ahead, to actively wanting T'Pol to stay, seeing her as the window on her people, the guide they need in a galaxy brimming with the unknown. I never thought about it before, but she's the Neelix of this series! I'm sure Neelix would have been deeply proud and honoured to consider himself an archetype to be followed by the Vulcans ('Mr. Vulcan!'), but T'Pol, had she lived long enough and travelled far enough to meet the Talaxian, would probably not have been as impressed. But it's true, her understanding of familiar races (to us, the viewers, or them, the Vulcans), was essential to the efficacy of the mission out into space. If the NX-01 had merely come equipped with a Vulcan encyclopaedia which can be imagined how dry and lacking essential details of the kind humans need it would have been, they'd probably have run into a lot more trouble than with an expert alongside to explain the nuances of life in the stars (I do wonder what it would have been like with a replacement Vulcan for a couple of episodes - might have made for some drama).

She was essential, and though we who have seen the series from beginning to end know how unique she was, we're only starting to understand where she stands among Vulcans as one who could do what others couldn't. Or wouldn't. Dr. Phlox pays her a great compliment upon hearing of her coming transfer, by saying she isn't the first Vulcan to serve on human ships, there have been others, but she's the only one who's been able to stick it out longer than a few weeks. If she hadn't had that curiosity or been drawn to the strange mix of human foibles and abilities that mark us out as so different to her people, she had several prior opportunities to exit the ship. It's strange that she was on Earth with the Vulcan Consulate, yet hadn't developed that interest within her. I don't think we know how long she was on the planet before she was selected for the NX-01, perhaps she requested the position on Earth all along, whether she knew she had an affinity for humans or whether it was a subconscious attraction to the species. It may even have been that she was simply given her assignment to the Consulate and while on Earth began to develop an interest secretly within her mind. It seems most likely she was chosen to keep Archer on a leash because outwardly she was sceptical of humans' place in space, was a skilled member of her race, and so was trusted and believed in as one who would do whatever was needed for Vulcan interests while she was aboard Enterprise. If so, they didn't know her well enough, or she didn't know herself well enough because she quickly found a loyalty to this impassioned Captain and his well-meaning crew, perhaps something of the maternal instinct also swaying her, seeing herself as a logically necessary guide for their inexperience.

However these things came to be, she goes from completely cold and resisting, there to do a job, to being integrated with the crew. And it's beautiful that they were able to achieve this in only half a season. I am surprised more people didn't complain, as they did with the Maquis in 'Voyager,' that it all happened too quickly and there should have been more conflict, etc. But, just as with the Maquis, which people seem to forget, there was still room for conflict there. The Maquis were used sparingly, but there were tensions, and resolutions were needed over time, and just because T'Pol was a stolid, card-carrying member of the NX-01, doesn't mean she never gave any opposition. Like any good First Officer she was there to balance out the Captain, and it worked very well that he had a Vulcan in that position because Archer is such a charismatic, upbeat good guy that it would have been easy for any crewmember to be pulled along in his optimistic, jolly wake. He needed T'Pol to question him sometimes, and maybe he understood that and saw it as one of the many abilities she brought to his crew. So he can't understand when she won't fight the Vulcan High Command's decision to play sour grapes and reassign her. As we see from grumpy, outraged Soval (are we sure he's a Vulcan? He could sure use some quality time with Surak!), and his demands of Admiral Forrest, they couldn't do anything to punish the Captain by replacing him, so they do the next best thing and pull T'Pol out of there as the only power they really have.

Forrest deserves some credit here. He's no Admiral Ross, but he is a solid, dependable soul. Previously he'd been a little more giving to the Vulcan way of thinking, but it gets to the point here where he puts his proverbial foot down and stands up for Enterprise and Archer, not backing down in the face of Soval's snarling rebukes. He's right, P'Jem and the situation there was volatile before Starfleet even got involved. Notice how he says Starfleet, and not Archer or the Enterprise. It's a simple difference that says we, all of Starfleet, are invested in that ship. We don't just have one ship, we don't just have one crew or Captain, we are an organisation, when sometimes it can seem as if the NX-01 is the whole of Starfleet. But he takes the responsibility as a whole, widening the issue while the Vulcans seek to narrow it down to the interference at the monastery. We know for sure Starfleet does have other starships (if not Warp 5 vessels), since Soval says all joint fleet operations between Earth and Vulcan will be suspended. I'd love to know more about these operations as I had no idea they existed. It's one of those things you just want more information on, maybe an episode in which the NX-01 joins such a fleet for a joint op. But just as I'm not sure how much ongoing Vulcan diplomatic issues were going to be part of stories, they often didn't follow up on some fascinating potential for expanding the view of what the era was like. They were on a TV budget, it's true, but sometimes you wish they had thought in a wider sense, just as 'DS9' did.

The Vulcans are often shown to be petty in this series, and recalling T'Pol for her part in their unmasking of P'Jem goes to the heights of that emotion. Like Archer, I don't know why she didn't put up a fight for her position. It may have been that she knew she was there on borrowed time and had no say in the matter, and being logical, if there was no action she could take, in her eyes, then the only logical course was inaction (as Tuvok once said). It may be that she didn't wish to cause Archer any more grief by taking a stand on his side, which might have inflamed the Vulcans against him even more than mild distaste. She has family back on Vulcan, it's likely she didn't wish disgrace to fall on them - whatever the reasons, they were selfless, and only when things are cleverly twisted around and the path of least resistance becomes remaining aboard does she deign not to follow the course that seemed unavoidable. She has Archer, and Phlox, to thank for this amazing turnaround. Well, that and the fact that she performed a courageous act of leaping in the way of a Coridanite plasma bullet to take a shot for Sopek, Captain of the Vulcan ship sent to bring her home. In 'The Andorian Incident' we had Bruce French, a familiar Trek face for his other roles, and in this second Andorian story (if it can be called that), it's Gregory Itzin, a great actor who'd been in 'DS9' and 'Voyager' and would appear once more in this series before the end as a human.

I've always liked Itzin, not as much as some of the better known Trek actors (Tractors? They do mention an alien tractor in this episode, but I thought they were referring to farm machinery…), like Jeffrey Combs, but he was terrific as an alien that puts Dax on trial in 'Dax,' and very good in the Morn episode late in that series ('Who Mourns For Morn'), so I'm well disposed towards him. He is playing a Vulcan here, and he does fall into the same traps of most actors that took on the race in 'Enterprise' (to be fair they were probably instructed to be that way), where they have to allow traces of irritation, disdain and other emotional reactions to filter through in their performance, whereas I prefer the clamped-down logical approach. He is one of the better examples, and his role is worked into the story expertly, culminating in his tacit indication he will put in a good word for T'Pol for saving his life - getting a Vulcan to admit something like that to a human is almost like another race gushing with praise and admiration in comparison. The story really turns on this being realistic, and he does go from irritability with the annoying humans, to thoughtfulness at T'Pol's action (Trip puts on his most whiny, drawly accent possible as if to antagonise him when you'd think he could have been a touch more diplomatic as his Captain and First Officer's lives were relying on him - he was probably like that because of his embarrassment and irritation at having to admit something like that to the Vulcans, just as they reacted in the same way about P'Jem!).

There's something mildly comical about this slightly portly Vulcan Captain and his team of two, who go down to the rebel compound in order to extract the captive Archer and T'Pol. Perhaps Trip was right, and they didn't mind if T'Pol got killed in the attempt, as that would solve a few problems, but I don't think so because, although Vulcans aren't supposed to be proud, they know themselves to be right and they don't waste time or deal in finesse, they just blast a wall in and start shooting. I think Sopek believed this was the most direct and immediate way to ensure success, and since he'd been given orders to bring T'Pol back, that's exactly what he was going to do. When he shows… concern is overstating it for a Vulcan, but certainly interest in T'Pol's medical wellbeing at the end, I don't think it's entirely for the reason of needing to fulfil his mission, but that he respects her for taking the bullet for him. I would also like to believe the reason he himself went into the fray when it would seem illogical for the most important member of the crew to be involved in a dangerous rescue mission, was partly his wish to see it through to the best of his ability, befitting the Vulcan mindset, and also because he would feel he was the most experienced person to be in command there. And it is somewhat funny to see who knows how many rebels taken on by just three Vulcans in their shiny silver battle suits and hulking rifles or mortars, and just get stuck in when you'd think a more clandestine approach would have been more the Vulcan style!

Not that there's anything to laugh about in terms of the Vulcans' resolve and ability, they clearly mean business, but it's like it's as much a mission to map a planetoid or attend a diplomatic function as retrieve captives, and that attitude is one of the things I love about the race. Swift, decisive action as the logical response? I buy it, and I buy Sopek's experience in such matters because the Vulcans can be ruthless when necessary ('The Vulcan Hello' should get a mention again here for accuracy of the Vulcan psyche). I do wish there had been a slightly grander scope - the compound was a good size and it's great to see the Vulcans come rushing in during the Andorian rescue attempt (Shran risking his good relations with the rebels since Andorians are on their side against the Vulcan-backed government of the planet), three different sides having a firefight, with humans also in the mix. For efficiency I can imagine the Vulcans only sending three, and it shows how little they esteem their opponents, but only two Andorians? And the biggest miss for me is not having a team of Starfleet Security accompanying Trip and Reed. Reed, as you'd expect is totally up for going down and rescuing his superiors, but he almost rushes into a booby trap, and only Shran stopped them from getting themselves killed by going to the abandoned Shuttlepod. They could have had a redshirt killed when approaching the 'pod which would have made things more real, or even if he was only injured it would show how dangerous this faction was, but they tended to shy away from regular death, strangely, perhaps wishing to avoid the trope from 'TOS.'

What I'm saying was I wanted a big three-way firefight like we'd never seen before - usually on Trek it's a couple of Starfleet versus a couple of aliens, and this was the stage upon which to set a huge battle. Not that the fighting is the most interesting part of the episode, far from it, the heart definitely comes from T'Pol and her adoption into the crew, and that it's spoken aloud. At the same time why not have a massive barney with energy rifles and pistols? I could have done without Sopek making grimaces as he fired or ducked, but forgetting little niggles like this, or the scale, it's pretty well put together and was a great way to reintroduce Shran into the mix, setting him up to be a recurring character, potentially, along with Silik, Future Guy and Cutler. He'd be the only one to last through all the seasons, sadly, but Combs is really spot on here, his conscience shown to be a major motivating factor in his actions and gaining him respect from Archer. He simply doesn't like being indebted to anyone, especially a 'pink skin,' and things look good. So they really dropped the ball in Season 2 taking so long to bring him back, and then only in one episode (though that season drops the ball in a lot of ways and almost killed the series).

I can't help feeling that in some ways this episode was a missed opportunity. As I said, Coridan could have become a name if we'd learned about their culture and coloured in their people, but we don't get to experience any of that, neither in this episode or others, preferring aliens of the week most of the time, which isn't bad in itself, but you need consolidation and development of races. And we don't get to see a crack team led by Malcolm. And it's all very gloomy and dark. But these are the only problems I have, and it's nice to see plenty of humour (Archer teasing Trip in their private meal together is the kind of thing they needed to do more of between characters as it works well, but got somewhat lost for a while; the question of whether the Coridanites had got the right hostages, asked by Reed or Trip, was funny as they call the Captain 'her,' confusing the crew!), and some well done action - the orbital skirmish between a Shuttlepod and a Coridan vessel was hardly 'Star Trek: Insurrection,' but they got the light source swinging around the cockpit right and really sold it, plus I always love a good happening in a planet's atmosphere - I wish we could have seen more than one distant shot of the T-shaped Coridan ship, however, as it's not enough for me. Another wonderful shot is of the NX-01 gliding through space as we come around to the Ready Room porthole to see Archer looking out. It's the kind of motion control shot that had been done on 'DS9' and 'Voyager' as CGI became more powerful, and would later be used effectively in 'DSC' (yes, something good to say about it!).

It still niggles that the Coridanites looked so different to the memorable example in Season 4 and I wish they could have explained it as having more than one species on the planet. The ones shown here were completely forgettable and not one of Michael Westmore's finest creations. Not that they were bad, just bland, in keeping with their lack of development. In an episode full of familiar Trek faces (Vaughn Armstrong, Gary Graham, Gregory Itzin, Jeffrey Combs! - what a guest list!), the two named characters of Coridan, Traeg of the rebels and Chancellor Kalev were also both on their second and final roles in Trek. Jeff Kober (the former), had played a similar role on 'Voyager' in 'Repentance,' and Barbara Tarbuck (the latter), who died in 2016, had appeared in 'TNG,' so it was quite the day for Trek credits connoisseurs, the likes of which we may never see again as it's now rare for actors from previous Trek to appear in the modern films or the Kurtzman-era TV shows (ugh, so sad to have to call it that! I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he can't write Trek, that's for sure), the Trek repertory permanently disbanded. Once again it proves what a pleasure it is to revisit 'Enterprise' during such an unstable period of the franchise today, even if some are calling it a Second Golden Age. Quantity, but not quality seems to be the guiding principle now, ironic given that they make individually much shorter seasons and less episodes, yet 'Enterprise' could knock out twenty-plus a year, mostly with aplomb.

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