Fight or Flight

The first regular episode of "Enterprise" after the 2-part pilot wonderfully sets up the key elements of a Gene Roddenberry adventure: the varied personalities of the crew (as typified by their cute quirks) and the central humanistic issues of in this case Exploration and dealing with other species encountered in the vast universe. The central theme is First Contact.

As suggested in the segment's title, the first conflict comes between Scott representing the human impulses of curiosity and wanting to be of assistance (including the foolhardiness that goes with them) versus Blalock and her Vulcan rationality that counters Scott at every turn. When they discover a ghost space ship, with 15 crew members having been murdered and being scavenged by the unseen bad guys for their precious bodily fluids, Blalock at first gets Scott to accept the choice of Flight, rather than stick around and potentially Fight with the predatory aliens.

Berman and Braga's screenplay puts Linda Park, ship's communications officer, on the spot -she must overcome her natural timidity and literally save the day by making positive contact with a commander of an arriving ship who represents the victims' race, as the bad guy aliens return to the scene of the crime and are poised to annihilate Enterprise and its crew. Story ends on a terrifically positive, poignant note.

Watching this episode some 24 years later, I realized why I was so enamored of this series in the first place!

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 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.

During the first couple of weeks of exploration the Enterprise comes across another ship and makes a nasty discovery.

I found this episode to be on par with the first. The plot isn't as exciting but it does cover a few more themes. The nature of exploration and the inherent danger that goes along with it. Also fear and self doubt are big factors in how some of the characters are portrayed, particularly Ensign Hoshi.

It's understandable that some may find Hoshi difficult to tolerate during this episode, however I do quite like this perspective on a Star Trek character. For so many years we are presented with characters who do extraordinary things on a weekly basis that take supreme skill and confidence levels. In this instance, we witness someone who has ability but no confidence and gets completely overwhelmed by situations. I found it refreshing. Things do get resolved in a rather silly way at the end, but I suppose we can't have everything.

Other characters get a bit more screen time. Phlox has some decent moments, but his slug analogy does get old quickly. Trip gives us the opposite side of the coin to Hoshi with his desperation to get off the ship and explore dangerous environments.

Archer and T'Pol continue to clash in their methods of space exploration, this time codes of behaviour is one of what feels will be many slanging matches between the two on board Enterprise. There is only so long that dynamic can go on before it gets a bit tiresome. This type of thing worked with Spock and Bones in the original series because they had excellent chemistry and Kirk's overarching authority had a perfect blend of logic and humanity.

Despite Enterprise's many detractors I haven't felt like switching off yet.

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.