Fight or Flight

This episode has a whole lot of filler, a lot of it focused on Hoshi's self-doubt and utter lack of self-confidence. Boy, can she whine! I'm okay with a little bit of it but it felt like half this episode is listening to her ramble on about how she doesn't belong out here. This, mixed with the heavy-handed slug metaphor used to represent Hoshi's situation makes for an all too forgettable episode.

Captain Archer seems to act very similar to Captain Kirk thus far: Emotional, inquisitive, and has a bit of a temper. The rest of the crew seems solid, although we don't know much about Reed thus far and I'm interested to know a little more about his backstory. Dr. Phlox is my favorite character through the first few episodes: witty, optimistic, with a child-like curiosity.

Hopefully this is the last episode centered around Hoshi's insecurities. I'm not sure if I can handle much more of that.

The story is decent and back to the basics of Star Trek. The series is still at the point of getting to know the characters, so that will probably be the primary focus early in season one. Unfortunately, it is already clear that the representation of women in this series is taking some huge steps back from Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager.

After seeing some very strong female characters in the previous two Star Trek series (Captain Janeway, 7 of 9, Torres, Jadzia Dax, Kira, etc.), Enterprise appears ready to go back to the weak female characters (with the possible exception of Uhura) in the original series. Yes, Enterprise does take place prior to the events of the original series, but it is still set in the future and one would hope that female characters would be depicted in a much more positive light.

With all the males being characterized as brave and curious adventure seekers, T'Pol has been limited to being a killjoy. Hoshi is whining and complaining about everything, even the location of her room, is on a space mission in spite of being claustrophobic, and is unsure about her own profession. She is given some confidence but only after the encouragement of male characters. Her screaming upon boarding the alien ship was more appropriate for a teen slasher film then for a Star Trek series.

For its time, the original series had some fairly positive and strong women. The Next Generation took that a step further and Deep Space Nine and Voyager did an excellent job of it. Hopefully, as Enterprise evolves, it will get back on that trend.

After two weeks in space, the only contact of the Enterprise's crew has been with a dying worm. Lieutenant Malcolm Reed is trying to align the scanners of the defense system with the support of Ensign Travis Mayweather; Dr. Phlox is researching a slug and a bat that have been brought aboard; Ensign Hoshi Sato is bored and feeling upset for the slug. When Enterprise sees a spacecraft adrift in space, Captain Jonathan Archer decides to go on board with Reed and Hoshi to contact the crew, but they find fifteen dead crewman. Sub-Commander T'Pol advises to leave the place for the safety of the Enterprise and crew. After an argument with T'Pol about code of behavior. Captain Archer decides to return to the craft with Dr. Phlox, Ensign Hoshi and the engineer Reed, and make contact with the planet of the crewman. Dr. Phlox finds that a component of the body of the aliens has been drained by the killers, and they are surprised by the spaceship that has killed the crew. When the situation is dramatic and critical, Hoshi contacts another craft from the breed that had been murdered, the Axanar.

"Fight or Flight" is a reasonable episode of Enterprise with a greater participation of the insecure Hoshi. T'Pol is more restraint by Captain Archer, but her advices are sensate and wise, contrasting with the impulsive Captain Archer. The preoccupation with the slug is silly, and the attitude of leaving the worm in another planet is irresponsible with the environment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Luta ou Fuga" ("Fight or Runaway")

The Enterprise moves through space and nothing much is happening. Some specimens have been brought on board, but there has been no contact with sentient beings. Hoshi is complaining endlessly and Tripp is champing at the bit to get into some action. Malcolm says that the weapons systems are still not calibrated properly. Tests reveal that he is right, leaving them with imprecise defenses. The come upon a ship, seemingly dead in space. There are life forms on board. T'Pol is intent on Archer doing things by the book, but he is like Kirk, emotional and curious. The ship contains the bodies of an alien race. They are strung up by their feet, dead, and fluids are being drained from their bodies. T'Pol talks Archer into getting out of there, but afterward he is biting through nails, knowing that someone is responsible and they aren't intervening. Back to the ship and a confrontation. Hoshi's role is extremely important as she translates and speaks to get a ship to ally with them. Pretty good first regular episode.

This is not a particularly great episode because it mostly focuses on Hoshi--and she is a particularly weak and hard to like character. Having her being a bit uncertain would have worked but having her being THAT indecisive and filled with neuroses was NOT a good thing at all. At every turn, she's annoying the audience with her stupid fears. One minute she's afraid she'll be space sick, another she's upset her cabin faces the wrong direction, another she's worried about going into a confined space and another she's worried about her linguistic skills during a first contact. I felt like yelling 'man up' or something like it during so much of the show. On a planet with billions of people, couldn't they have come up with someone more qualified, less stupid and more capable than this mess of a woman?! Plus, I am sure a lot of women cringed to see such a weak female leading character and she's nothing like any of the much more capable and less annoying guys!

The purpose of the episode is to show Hoshi evolving very quickly (and a bit TOO quickly) to become more confident on the ship. While an interesting episode in most ways, she isn't. Perhaps she'll get better--I'll have to revisit this in future episodes.