Two Days and Two Nights (2)

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Two Days and Two Nights) (2)

Risa doesn't exactly have a storied history in the Trek world, nor does it really fit with Starfleet's ethos of hard work, discipline, self-control and self-denial. It's really the opposite of all that! But just as the Vulcans, that most stoic and restrained of races, need to mate every seven years, Starfleet crews need to let their hair down occasionally, and I'm sure they'd argue that 'embracing' all cultures is what the organisation is all about… Perhaps because Risa is opposite in the extreme to the locations we witness most often in Trek it never really feels more than an excuse for the more questionable freedoms Gene Roddenberry envisaged for his vision of the future, that were at odds with the 'perfection of humanity' theme he wanted to portray. It only (so far), appeared in three episodes, across three series' (with 'Shore Leave' of 'TOS' as a similar 'pleasure planet' story and the Paxau Resort holoprogram as the entry for 'Voyager'), and I'd have to mark this as the best. 'Captain's Holiday' was an attempt to iron out the last remaining impression of stuffiness from Jean-Luc Picard, in answer to Patrick Stewart's wish for more action and to win the girl in the stereotypical swashbuckling heroics of old. He went there hoping to read quietly, just as Archer does here, and both found more than they bargained for, even if the derring-do of the NX-01's Captain remained entirely in his hotel room. The return to Risa in 'DS9' ('Let He Who Is Without Sin…'), tried to be something more, as was typical of that series, but turned into another attempt at removing stuffiness, this time from the honourable Worf who saw Risa for what it was, but eventually came around to it from Dax' outgoing, cosmopolitan nature winning him over.

What is it about 'Two Days and Two Nights' that makes this the definitive Risa story? It helps that there are multiple plots going on, this being one of the rare Trek episodes to feature an A, B, C and D storyline, which can be refreshing, though inevitably most of them are slighter than we'd usually expect. Unquestionably the A-story is that of the Captain who just wants a quiet time with his dog - the Starfleet attitudes of restraint and self-sacrifice come through strongly in him as he doesn't even feel it's fair for him to go when half the crew will have to remain aboard, despite 'winning' the holiday by drawing lots. T'Pol is very strict on his attendance as she knows it's important for the Captain to take a break, as any good First Officer would, so it makes both of them look very good. It's telling how much Riker's impishness has infected me when I assumed the gift she'd sent down for him was going to be one of those infamous Horga'hns visitors are supposed to display if they want special attention (in fact we never see one, other than Archer's door control being in the shape of the souvenir). But T'Pol doesn't have the mischievous nature of the Enterprise-D's First Officer and instead has given her Captain a copy of 'The Teachings of Surak,' a lovely looking hardbound book, presumably an English translation since the title is in that language. Once again it's so nice to see real books in Trek rather than Kindle iPADDs!

While, like Scotty in 'TOS,' Archer's desire is to catch up on some reading, which seems a little strange for one usually such an action man (though perhaps a year in command of a starship has left him tired of physical pursuits), the others generally want to take advantage of every aspect of Risan life. Trip and Malcolm make their intentions very clear and are suitably punished by humiliation for their hedonistic tendencies; Travis indulges in his love of rock climbing (a trait we'd revisit, one of the few things we really knew about the character); and Hoshi tries out her linguistic skills. The thing that works about this episode is that, much like 'Voyager,' or some of the other modern series' (I know we can't really call them that now, but they're more modern than 'TOS'), it was a pleasure simply to spend time with the characters and see them in another setting. We've come to like them across the course of the season, so it's enjoyable to see a more comfortably entertaining episode, especially one slotted in between two stories of serious action and danger. And if Risa isn't exactly one of the greatest creations, it's still good to have connections to the wider Trek universe - the Risans wear those same circular emblems on their foreheads and the verdant landscape with its beautiful azure oceans are a relaxing change from all the technological constructions and blackness of space.

One of the best stories of the episode is Mayweather's, and we don't really see any of it! Truthfully, it's not Travis' exploits that make it work, though I like that they gave him something, but Phlox. We see something new about Denobulans: they must hibernate for a few days every year and this little holiday happens to synch up with the Doctor's needs. Only for T'Pol to be forced to wake him when Travis reacts badly to a Risan painkiller. Several things I like about this: the logic is thought out as to why Travis had to come back to the ship, when really it was just so they could wake Phlox and show his madcap state - he wanted his own Doctor, which is a fair excuse. Then there's the woken Phlox who is hilarious as a confused, bumbling and irritable man ripped from necessary slumber, and whom T'Pol eventually believes was a mistake to awaken ("Set a course for Regulus: maximum warp!"). I don't recall them ever exploring this hibernation on the series again, but it was such a great, comic idea, and is funny without making the characters look foolish or incompetent (not going to mention any other series'). Another good idea was to bring back Ensign Cutler as the medical stand-in. I suppose she's been having some training from the doc and, like Tom Paris, is competent enough to deal with minor issues. It does raise the question of why there's no one else on Phlox' staff, as you'd think even a single nurse would be appropriate given the constant danger the ship enters into! The USS Voyager had the excuse that a number of their crew were killed in the pilot, but Starfleet looks a little slapdash here not to include more than one in the medical department.

I would also say that Cutler is underused here, in contrast to her previous roles, and the part could have been any guest character for what it was. At the same time I appreciate what they were doing, attempting to set up recurring characters as the other Treks had, and giving us a sense of continuity with the crew. Rostov is another returning face after his stint as a crewman caught in the web of goo ('Vox Sola'), and interestingly actor Joseph Wills costarred in 'Voyager' episode 'Muse' with Kellie Waymire, so that's a Trek reunion. It's so sad that their plans for Cutler never came to fruition from the actress' early death (plus a regular role on another TV series), as it would have improved the series to see familiar faces and would have given them a chance to build up the background a bit. At the same time, we have to admit that even some of the main cast of the series were poorly developed, so maybe recurring characters wouldn't have fared well either? We'll never know, but characters like Cutler, had they continued, might have led to a more ensemble sense and inspired writing to encourage that, improving all the characters and making the series more whole. There was some attempt to add characters when the MACOs came in for Season 3, but even they were left mostly as stunt men and women rather than fully formed people, an oversight of the series.

We see a bit of local colour thanks to Trip and Reed's foray into a lively bar, and in Hoshi's engagement with the natives (the older couple she speaks to at a restaurant looked vaguely reminiscent of series writers Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens, though they obviously weren't!). I always love it when they speak alien languages and show subtitles, it adds to the realism. We even get a little Denobulan when Phlox is rudely awakened, though no translation. There's only one Doctor and there's only one translator! I also liked that the lads were continuing their friendship from 'Shuttlepod One,' Reed so much more relaxed than he used to be. I feel like they should have used the opportunity of the bar to show some other recognisable alien species', say a Lurian sitting on a barstool, or something along those lines. That would have been a great cameo for Mark Allen Shepherd, the Morn costume being designed for him (and he'd already had appearances in both 'TNG' and 'Voyager,' so it should have been full house!). 'Captain's Holiday' marked one of the very rare occasions in which Andorians were seen in the 24th Century, and while it wouldn't have worked to show the blue-skins, maybe they could have gone with other exotic species'. But to put it into context, this was the end of a long first season so they probably didn't have the time or budget to play, especially if it was only going to be background atmosphere. The two muggers that mug the mugs looked familiar when we see them in their true, bat-like form (some kind of personal holo-projector as used by Georgiou in 'DSC' to impersonate other races, or a natural ability?), a little Reman, but it may be that the faces were reused in other episodes.

One possible reference is that Keyla, Archer's neighbour, was a Trill, since she has spots that ripple down her sides, though they are much fainter than other examples we've seen. It's academic, however, as she turns out to be a Tandaran operative, the people that kept Archer and Mayweather captive in a detention camp for Suliban in 'Detained.' I'd forgotten what her story was and just enjoyed seeing the lovely Dey Young again, yet another returning Trek face, and one who'd been in both 'TNG' and 'DS9.' It doesn't quite hold true that if they ever wanted to cast Mysterious Woman With Secret Background they went to her, but both Arissa, the character she played in 'A Simple Investigation,' and Keyla, here, weren't what they appeared and were in fact secret operatives. Hannah Bates in 'The Masterpiece Society' was just a scientist, but it could be said that after that episode she became someone with a 'secret,' or at least different, background when she requested asylum and left the planet she came from, so there is some connection between all three characters which is fun to note. Keyla seems to be just another tourist and Archer is happy to be hospitable to her without behaving like his Chief Engineer and Armoury Officer and throwing himself at her. Good job he remained gentlemanly, as just like the 'women' they entertained, Keyla isn't an innocent. Her little dog may be full of cute, furry rage, and maybe that's what Porthos didn't like, but it could also have been that Archer's dog sensed she was up to no good?

The switch from coy guest to interrogator with a creepy amount of knowledge on the Suliban was scary, and as if to prove he was superior to Trip and Reed once again (as if he needed to), Archer makes good on Reed's wish that he'd brought his scanner and aimed it at her, uncovering her true genetics as Tandaran. There was some good, if overly subtle continuity across this season. I do think they could have done with more overt Suliban and Temporal Cold War stories, but they mixed in a few plots that connected and we get another connection here to 'Detained' (as well as 'Acquisition' when Reed mentions the time Trip saved the ship in his underwear!), which was also an important factor in previous episode, 'Desert Crossing.' I suppose it was all an important reminder of the danger the Suliban posed, because, much like the Klingons, they'd pretty much been left behind as the Enterprise explored new worlds for much of the time. They'd be integral to the season finale so it was necessary to give the audience a reminder, only if they'd been a larger part of the season we wouldn't have needed to be reminded, so they definitely went a little too far towards the episodic than was suitable for the series' and season's main arc - perhaps they could have dropped a couple of the less successful stories, like 'Vox Sola,' 'Rogue Planet' and 'Fusion,' in exchange for a few more essential episodes? Not that they knew which would work well and which wouldn't, this is all with hindsight, of course.

Keyla's questions on where the Suliban came from and where they live, were pertinent, but more important is the issue of what their goal is. I'm not sure that was ever answered satisfactorily since the TCW was never entirely explained, another failing of the series. We know that the Suliban were really just willing tools selected by Future Guy, part of a faction of a war in the future which we may never learn about (and if we do, it's almost sure to be stupid, judging by the sorry comic book fantasy standards of modern Trek!), but the true motivations and purposes always remained cloudy. And that's really the same thing to be said for this episode. It's no great moral story, not a thrilling adventure, and it doesn't have a real resolution, it's just a chance for us to spend time with the characters. Keyla escapes after drugging Archer and we never find out the extent of Tandaran plans against the Suliban. Not that the Tandarans were a very interesting race, they were more like a substandard version of the fascistic Cardassians, and unlike that classic race didn't even look visually interesting, but it was quite something that they suddenly show up in the form of this operative who's there as a honey trap to bleed all the Suliban juice out of Archer, as it gives the galaxy an impression of interconnectedness instead of the Tandarans merely being another race of the week who we moved on from. They needed to play up things like that, but the series never really got going on semi-serialisation in the way that 'DS9' and parts of 'Voyager' did so well.

If there is no real resolution, I suppose there is at least a kind of ironic one where everyone's tightlipped about exactly what happened on their hols, discussing events only in generalities as they take the Shuttlepod back, and all for different reasons. The greatest irony is that only Hoshi, the one most intent on visiting the planet for cultural reasons and as a sort of working holiday to flex her linguistic muscles, had the most enjoyable time - Ravis, the guy who hooks up with her, didn't turn out to be a scoundrel or a crook. His facial design looked rather like a Napean (from 'Eye of The Beholder'), a race I'm always keen to see reappear, with that diamond-shaped extrusion on the forehead, though Ravis' was much shallower and his home planet was almost impossible to say so he couldn't have been one (unless that's what they call themselves in their own language). The cultural details were fascinating, such as the speed of their speech changing its meaning. It's also quite something that Risa lies as far out as humans have ever been before, although I did wonder about that, because we know the cargo ships have been striking out into space for decades, so Archer could have meant generally speaking.

One other reality of the production was its Director being the man who went to the planet on its last appearance in Trek, Michael Dorn. The Worf actor had directed Trek before with three episodes of 'DS9' (somewhat surprising he never did it on his home series, 'TNG'), and they were all great episodes. This happens to be another good one for 'Enterprise' which means every episode he directed worked. That can be put down to getting good scripts, but it seems to me that, like many Trek actors, Dorn's style worked well for the franchise and I wonder why he never did another one. Though he wasn't a flashy Director, he seemed to allow the story to breathe and even threw in the occasional shot that was different, such as Archer's blurry point of view after he's been scratched by Keyla's poisoned nail and sinks to the floor. The depiction of Risa itself looked somewhat artificial, perhaps the matte was CGI rather than a more realistic photo-real painting, but then that fits with Risa's artificial character, and the colours still looked gorgeous and inviting. Certainly the best Risa episode to date. Although deleted scenes can't be considered canon, the one on the DVD for this episode does at least fill in a plot detail that they paid for the trip with dilithium which the Risans were happy to accept.

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