Rogue Planet

I can't believe somebody wrote an episode of a 'rogue planet' that apparently lost orbit and has no sun, is somehow M-class, and yet without that sun is somehow habitable at a reasonable temperature.

Last time I checked, the temperature of a planet is determined by it's distance from a heat/light source, ie a sun.

Without the sun, the planet would quickly freeze to a very(!) cold temperature.

Even with our planet still reliably in orbit, we still experience drastic temperature changes from day to night and season to season.

What the heck were they thinking?

I have to say I enjoyed this episode but I kept hearkening back to some scientific realities. It would seem that a planet that has gone rogue would just become a frozen sphere in space. If there is no sun to warm it, how could it sustain life. I supposed one could imagine that because there are elements of the supernatural at work here (at least a mind reading ability), we could assume that this planet is something out of a science fiction writer's imagination. All that aside, I did enjoy the whole business with the hunters and their relentless efforts to get enjoyment from their prey. Enter the Enterprise crew which gets in the way of their fun. Archer is chosen to try to change things because a poem by Yeats. This is mishmash. One last thing, why is it so easy to synthesize made to order stuff to solve problems. Phlox is almost too much of a good thing.

Enterprise encounters a 'rogue' planet separated from its solar system and Archer, T'Pol, Tucker and Reed decide to explore.

Not a strong episode aside from a bit of social commentary about people only caring about protecting a species they find appealing.

I'm no scientific expert but I struggle to accept the notion of that planet being the way it was depicted and Archer being written in such an irritating way after his first sight of the mysterious woman. The indigenous species on the planet evolved in a certain way to survive, but the amount of screen time dedicated to him soul searching, before a solution to the hunting problem is conveniently obtained, is not the most compelling. I wanted him to get off the planet and take the Enterprise somewhere more interesting.

I was close to skipping this one, but stuck with it to the end and regretted it.

I rather enjoyed it.

I had to dismiss the concept that a Rogue Planetoid would have not only a breathable "M-Class" atmosphere and temperature, but green plants without any Sunlight to make them green. But I suppose the "Greens" department didn't have time to paint them purple or whatever Colour plant life would have in such an environment.

What I enjoyed was the Archer plot that included a "Woman" from a poem he read, and the nature of who that woman really was. In my mind, it was a nod to Odo and the Shapeshifters from DS9, which was my Favourite part of that series.

And the fact that they kept the nature of these Rogue Inhabitants a mystery until the end of the episode. It was also a statement about people who will hunt endangered animals, with no thought to species survival. Even if the animals on our planet are not intelligent, we are the stewards of all life on earth, we have a poor record on how we deal with that stewardship. And today, we have leaders who don't seem to care about that, who would destroy our natural parks just for Profit and "Free Market" sake. They can't seem to get a grip on the fact that these are limited resources and should be respected and protected.

What I enjoyed was Archer's discovery of the issue and his tactful handling of the problem at hand.

While this is not a terrible episode, T_Maly's review spots some HUGE problems in the script for "Rogue Planet". The Enterprise finds a planet that isn't part of a solar system--yet it somehow is very Earthlike--with a breathable atmosphere and nice temperatures. This really doesn't make any sense at all.

When the landing party lands, they find some Eska hunters. They are apparently looking for a great delicacy--drayjin. They are supposed to be delicious so the humans tag along. However, a bit later Archer sees a drayjin...and it looks like a hot lady! It's obvious that the creature can assume various forms and is quite intelligent- -perhaps too intelligent to be hunted for food.

Apart from the scientific problems with the episode it's also a tad preachy. Overall, it's not exactly bad...but this isn't exactly a glowing endorsement.