Civilization

The Enterprise finds three different phenomena to research: a supernova; three neutron stars; and a pre-industrial planet with 500 million people. T'Pol is against the exploration of the Akaali planet fearing cultural contamination, but when she scans the Minshara-class planet, she finds a powerful antimatter reactor hidden underground emitting neutrino. Archer, T'Pol, Trip and Hoshi use makeup to resemble the locals and travel to the planet. They meet the pharmacologist Riann and discover that several Akaali have been sick after the arrival of Garos, the owner of an antique shop. Their further investigation discloses that the aggressive race of the Malurians is exploring minerals in the underground, jeopardizing the health of the Akaalis.

In "Civilization", once again Archer uses curiosity against the logic of T'Pol, ignoring her wise advice. However, the menace of the Malurians justifies their action like sheriff and interference in the development of the planet. T'Pol also proves that is a great strategist, using the reactor to defeat the enemy. Archer acts like Captain Kirk, having a first and second contact through a brief romance with Riann. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Civilização" ("Civilization")

Now I know that not many people will agree with me but this is the type of episode that I like best.

We are shown an alien world that is both strange and familiar, plus some engaging guest actors and fascinating, not-quite-right historical sets and costumes that convey an alien civilisation at an earlier period of development than our own. This forms the backdrop for a story that we've probably seen hundreds of times before: villains from a more advanced race secretly extracting minerals from beneath the feet of the occupants, a female healer who notices that people are becoming sick and searches doggedly for the cause despite her limited scientific knowledge. Oh, and some light snogging for the Captain.

If it looks this good and moves at this brisk pace then I'm happy. Diane DiLascio who played the inquisitive Riann wore the medieval look very well and may have been recognisable for a brief role in Babylon 5. Wade Williams who played the exploitative villain Garos needs little introduction as he has appeared in just about every TV horror series of the last two decades. In this episode, the alien make up was understated to say the least but, as we have have learned before, you just can't have elaborate costumes and prosthetics in the same episode. At least not unless you want it to be followed by two boring-as-hell bottle shows in order to recoup the expenditure.

Now, I'll only say this once and once only (hopefully none of my kids will notice) but.......

........... Scott Bakula is a hell of a lot more sexy than William Shatner ever was. He's much taller, he has more hair, a better physique and ten times the acting range. I also understand he can actually sing. Yes, I just checked it out on YouTube compared to Shatner, Scott's a positive Pavarotti. When called upon to do a bit of smooching on screen there's just a chivalrous pressing of the lips but absolutely none of that lascivious Captain Kirk-style slobber. How the first Star Trek Captain would have survived in today's atmosphere of safe spaces and "intimacy co-ordinators", I've no idea.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.

Bill Shatner would feel right at home in "Civilization", an Enterprise segment that faithfully captures the feel and story line of a vintage Star Trek episode.

Interacting with a woman on a distant planet that is not as advanced as Earth gives Bakula an opportunity for romance with a charming alien. Actress Diane DiLascio is a demure beauty who I'm glad to see is working again several decades later, looking almost unchanged by the passage of time.

Bakula doesn't have much trouble defeating a heartless guy who is secretly stealing mineral wealth from the planet without caring about harming its inhabitants, and while hardly earthshaking the tale of Contact is effective using a familiar storyline.

... Voyagers computer processor?

The senior senior Trekker writes.

This is an interesting pre-prime directive ep.

Actually, until phasers and tractor beams were being used with abandon, nobody really noticed anything other than people getting sick.

The Enterprise visits this planet and tries to keep it low-key, but events beyond their control cause them to act openly.

I liked this planet, it should have been visited again. But the alien crook in this episode somehow got a hold of Voyagers computer processor (or, what the Da Vinci simulation referred to as "a woman in a box") and was using it as an antimatter reactor. Huh? What! Of course they re-dressed the prop a little bit, but it was basically the exact same thing.

In case you did not notice that the controller for Radio Controlled Spock in "Spock's brain" was actually the original communicator from "the cage", later seen in "the menagerie"...

Or that the cloaking device for the USS Pegasus was also a beacon used in the Voyager episode "Gravity" (with Tank Girl)...

Fun Game: in any Star Trek episode, identify the props and which episode or episodes they originally appeared in.

My favorite thing in almost all of the Star Trek series that I have collected on DVD over the years were the featurettes by Penny Juday, where she discusses the origin of various props, and how they were used in episode after episode.

So, what else would they use to make a portable antimatter reactor out of? It had to be something easily removed using a transporter or translocation device. So, "the woman in the box" it was...

Archer was fortunate with his choice of nosy alien to form an alliance with, I don't think he stepped over the prime directive, had it even been in effect at the time.

But the alien crooks were pieces of work. I hated their guts. Great work by Wade Williams, who had previously been seen as "Ray Pierce" from The X-Files, where he was a man slowly turning into metal.

Oh Yah... somebody suggested that it was unclear what these aliens were mining. Eh? Eh? At 32:50 into the episode they name the exact substance! It's the same stuff used by Spock to locate Kirk 2 sectors away on Rura-Penthe. T'Pol mentions another use for it. Of course, nobody discusses exactly what they are going to do with it, but that's beyond the scope of this episode.

But what is really interesting is that the planet the alien crook "Garos" is from is mentioned in the "Those Old Scientists" episode "The Changeling"...

One of my favorite 1st season Enterprise eps... and I always refer to the show as Enterprise, not Star Trek Enterprise. The renaming of the show was something ordered by the head of CBS at the time as an escalation between him and Rick Berman. Who should have stayed in charge of the Franchise.

Archer explores a planet with a pre-industrial society and discovers other visitors have taken already taken an interest.

This episode starts off strongly with a lot of build up and excitement to doing some proper exploration. Unfortunately it doesn't really continue with the same tone. It just evolves into a pretty run of the mill Star Trek episode where the crew go in costume to mingle with another humanoid race and get drawn into a bit of trouble.

As these type of episodes go, it is pretty good. One scene where Archer's universal translator fails is quite memorable and when the plot starts to unfold things do get relatively exciting. Arch definitely channels his inner Captain Kirk in this one during his interaction with the locals. No wonder T'Pol has a difficulty with this level cultural contamination. All with the best of intentions though.

Overall though I would describe it as a missed opportunity to see something different during these early years of Starfleet exploration.