Borderland

There is no end to the problems that show up for Enterprise. Arik Soong (Brent Spiner) is the mega-geneticist who has caused untold destruction in the universe. Millions have died because of his engineering. He is being held in prison because he is beyond genius in the most evil way. Now, some of the products of his work, augments, young people who have been given superhuman strengths and intellects, have taken their powers and are ready to become a force. They capture a Klingon war bird, killing the entire crew and jettisoning them into space. The now have the vehicle to start their destructive plans. They have the goal of being reunited with their "father" Soong. Together, they feel they can rule the universe. They have it in for earth because they were rejected by the planet in their infancy. If they have a weakness, it's an internal power struggle. They still have the weaknesses of jealousy and arrogance.

The Klingons are preparing for war against the Starfleet after the attack of two enhanced humans to a Bird of Prey that was stolen and the dead bodies of the crew launched to the space. The Starfleet command assigns Captain Archer to capture the Augments that they believe that have been created by the imprisoned genetic engineer Dr. Soong to prevent the imminent war. The Enterprise heads to the borderland with Dr. Soong on board but nine crew-member including T'Pol are captured by the Orion Syndicate to be sold in a market slave. Captain Archer and Dr. Soong are beamed to the location to rescue the group. Meanwhile, there is a dispute for the leadership of the Augments between the leader Raakin and the ambitious and rebel Malik.

"Borderline" is an engaging episode of Enterprise and it is great to see Brent "Data" Spinner in the role of a dangerous villain that is a sort of combination of Hitler and God. Let's see how Captain Archer and his crew will deal with the powerful and skilled beings. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Fronteira' ("Frontier")

Dr. Arik Soong (Brent Spiner...again) has been in prison for doing bad things...making 'augments'. While they never say it, they seem like the same sorts of beings that caused war on Earth and from which the dreaded Kahn was a member. However, they are willing to let him out of prison, at least temporarily, because some of Soong's 'children' have grown into psychopaths who murdered a Klingon crew and stole their ship. The big question is why would Soony help them?!

On the way to apparently get these renegades, pirates from Orion kidnap a bunch of crew from Enterprise and Archer goes with Soong to the Orion home world to rescue them. Again, you wonder why they trust Soong. And, after Soony does EXACTLY what the audience expects, the Captain and his crew seem pretty stupid--like they have no plan or idea what to do.

While this episode is interesting, the stupidity of the Enterprise crew makes this all seem a bit contrived and disappointing. As a result, it's all very weak.

Star Trek: Enterprise's Augments trilogy is a highlight in the many episodes of Star Trek. The three Episodes "Boarderland", "Cold Station 12" and "The Augments" are among my all-time favorites. The trilogy combines 2 elements of lore that fans will love: The Eugenics Wars and Brent Spiner. Spiner steals the show in all three episodes. Basic plot of this episode: A group of genetically enhanced humans left over from the Eugenics Wars take over a Klingon ship. With war looming over the horizon, the STARSHIP ENTERPRISE takes Aurik Soong (Brent Spiner), the man who activated the embryos of these humans, to try and stop them.

If you're new to Star Trek, definitely catch this trilogy first

It's too bad my whole review can't just consist of that word over and over -- and honestly, it wouldn't be fair: the first scene of Brent Spiner is awesomely promising -- the man has such great presence ... then the rest of the episode completely fails to deliver on that promise, although a lot of things happen, usually with a lot of people explaining to each other why we should care. Young people in tight black clothing is quite the fetching visual as well.

But I'll ask again: where is the Star Trek? Yes, yes, this episode is essentially filling in details of things mentioned in TOS, but so what? These stories should matter in themselves. I'm glad some people are enjoying them, but I'm still waiting for the Enterprise episode that really works, on a Star Trek level, on its own terms.