Breaking the Ice

A writing team noted for their work later on "Mad Men" contributes a subtly engrossing story in which the focus shifts to Jolene Blalock and her Vulcan culture. She remains an enigmatic character and the way that issues and feelings are presented tangentially is far different from the TV soap operatics one might expect.

The series' main theme of exploration is maintained as the Enterprise encounter a very large comet and sends a pod to get a core sample of a rare mineral. There's a bit of derring-do and suspense as retrieving the pod and its crew becomes dangerous, but the show is about human versus Vulcan behavior, not action-movie gimmicks.

A stoic (almost to the point of satire) Vulcan commander of a starship is monitoring our heroes for unspecified reasons, and he's well-played by William Utay, known for his long run on the soap "Days of Our Lives".

Not a lot happens in Breaking the Ice but it is a fairly good vehicle for getting to know the crew better while Reed and Mayweather mess about on the surface of an ice comet and Captain Archer attempts to host a dinner with the even more frosty Vulcan.

It opens with a delightful sequence in which the crew answer some questions from a group of schoolchildren about life aboard the Enterprise. This is a very well written piece. Leaving aside the obvious embarrassing poo questions, my favourite reply is Captain Archer's when talking about onboard romantic relationships. He explains that if two people really like each other.....ahem......they have plenty of places to go and look at the stars. Scott Bakula has such a lot of charm it sometimes looks as if he is having difficult achieving the appropriate level of distance that is required of a Captain.

The Vulcan ship's Commander who claims not to have been spying on the Enterprise is played by William Utay. Extremely well know for hundreds of appearances on the TV series Days of Our Lives, he is not a Science Fiction regular at all but gives a faultless performance in this rather odious role. In fact, so memorable was he that it is a surprise to look back and see that he appeared in just this one episode.

The two lads on the surface of the comet are supposed to be on a dangerous and serious scientific mission. Not only do they mess about building a snowman but they never bloody well stop talking. I know we are supposed to be getting to know the crew at this stage but perhaps they shouldn't be introduced to us as such a pair of naughty schoolboys. Anyone worrying too much about the lack of accurate science in their Sci Fi is probably watching the wrong show, but even Bruce Willis's execrable film Armageddon showed a better understanding of the physics involved in landing on a comet.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.

As we know, the biggest thing in Archer's craw is the Vulcan empire. Even though he is a brave explorer and incredibly knowledgeable, he gets no respect from the Vulcans. Their underlying humorlessness drives him crazy. That which he finds startling and exciting causes the Vulcans to turn up their noses. Earth creatures are like ants to them. It may be that because their race was once violent and lacking in calm, they find the earthlings to be quite without merit. In this one, an enormous comet is discovered and Archer sends two crew members to do a little mining of an interesting ore found on this floating piece of ice. The Vulcans seem to be overseeing their every move. Why do they do this if the humans are so insignificant. T'Pol has a problem that she must solve. She is met with disdain by the Vulcan ship's commander. Archer is forced to make a decision based on expediency, and it leads to some soul searching. There is a good deal of learning going on in the Enterprise crew.

The Enterprise finds an iced comet with the rare mineral Eisilium in its core. Captain Archer sends Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Ensign Travis Mayweather in the shuttlepod to collect samples 20 m beneath the crust using a portable drilling rig. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is observed by a Vulcan ship and the Vulcan Captain Vanik believes the humans are arrogant and prideful. When the Enterprise discovers an encrypted message from the Vulcan ship to T'Pol, Ensign Hoshi Sato gives the translation of the message to Trip, and he sees that it is a personal letter. The ashamed Commander seeks T-Pol and asks her to forgive him. Later she calls him to discuss the subject. When the drilling team is trapped in a hole in the comet, Captain Archer accepts the offer of help of the Vulcan vessel.

"Breaking the Ice" is the best title of an episode that I have recently seen. This title is related to every situation disclosed in this episode: refer to the surface of the comet; refers to the relationship of T'Pol and Trip, and also to humans and Vulcans. The wise T'Pol has lesson of human free will and uses it to define her destiny. I believe the respect among the humans in the Enterprise and T'Pol will increase. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Quebrando o Gelo" ("Breaking the Ice")

The Enterprise crew investigate a large comet whilst being observed by a Vulcan ship.

This episode is mainly about character development, particularly T'Pol and it includes some insight into the relationship between Humans and Vulcans. It has a heavy use of symbolism with its ice theme and pecan pie scene. Nothing of real note actually happens other than a revelation about T'Pol's personal life, which does make her character a bit more interesting from here on.

There is (I hope) one good scene at the beginning where the crew are communicating with Earth children by answering questions about space exploration and the day-to-day functioning of a starship. If this is intentionally awkward, then well done to the crew for making it seem quite authentic.

It isn't a bad episode but it does rely on you having some interest in the characters. I've still got an open mind that the characters will develop in an interesting way, so I am willing to invest the time. It is worth watching though for continuity purposes regarding T'Pol's character.