monkee reviews 'The Aenar'
First Impressions: Entertaining, with a lot of nice detail. A good end to another good arc in Enterprise's very best season.
Trouble on Romulus: The Romulans, Senator Vrax and Admiral Valdore, are still at odds. The drone marauder was supposed to stir up trouble in the region, and instead an alliance has formed. Valdore assures Vrax that it will all work out. A second drone ship is ready to be launched. Together, the two ships will make it their first priority to destroy that meddling Starship Enterprise. The alliance will surely fall apart without the humans. Privately, the Romulan doctor, Nijil, tells Valdore that the twitchy albino Andorian pilot is probably not up to the task. He's been given too many stimulants already, and is suffering from severe mental fatigue. The strain will probably kill him. Valdore doesn't care as long as Enterprise is destroyed first. Nijil is appalled, but Valdore tells him that he is a soldier and not a scientist, and he must follow orders. Valdore also reveals that he and Vrax were once good friends, until Valdore questioned the Romulan strategy of conquest-at-all-costs. This resulted in his expulsion from the Council. He won't make the same mistake again, and cautions Nijil to toe the line, too, if he values his career.
I found this back-story interesting. It gives the Romulan characters more dimension, and also offers some new perspective on the Romulans as a whole. I am impressed by how much we learn about the Romulans in this arc, and all without any of the Enterprise regulars coming face-to-face with them!
Joint Mission: Enterprise takes the Tellarites home, but Shran offers to stay to help track the marauder. They've analyzed the data that they have, and T'Pol reports that the marauder was operated remotely by 'telepresence.' The pilot would have to be a powerful telepath. They have some DNA, but there is no match for it in the database. The closest match to the genome is...Andorian. Shran has it analyzed by his government, and discovers that the pattern belongs to an Andorian subspecies, the Aenar. They are blind cave dwellers that live on the far north of the planet. Up until fifty years ago, they were considered a myth, but they have now been proven to exist. Only a handful of Andorians have ever seen them, though. They are extremely secretive. They are also pacifists, or at least they were. Archer sets a course for Andoria. When they arrive there, he and Shran go together to seek the Aenar and get some answers. Reed wants them to take some MACOs, but Shran says the Aenar will never trust them if they do. Archer agrees. They bundle up in cold weather gear and beam down. Once they get past the shielding, and into the Aenar compound, they are out of transporter and communication range.
Blue Andoria: Shran is happy to be back on the ice of Andoria again. As he and Archer walk through a system of ice caves searching for the Aenar complex, he talks about his planet. Andorian cities are built underground to take advantage of geothermal energy – Shran was fifteen before he even saw the sun. They encounter a swarm of 'ice spores,' worm-like creatures who burrow quickly through the ice, and can seriously burn both blue and pink skin – Archer and Shran successfully avoid them! Shran, however, is still slightly off-kilter from losing one of his antennae. He loses his balance and falls down a cliff, impaling his leg on what looks like a stalagmite, or a piece of ice. It's a bad injury and he's losing a lot of blood. Fortunately, some Aenar appear. Archer asks for their help with Shran, and they bring them to their compound and heal him.
Well, that settles it. I now have a favorite Trek planet – Andoria! It's a stunningly beautiful place – all that bright snow and ice, nothing but white and cold blue everywhere! Many moons, some of them ringed, loom in the sky. It's gorgeous! And again, we get a lot of nice information about Andorian and Aenar culture.
The Aenar: The Aenar are not, in fact, twitchy at all. The Aenar pilot that the Romulans have is only twitchy from all the stimulants he's been given. The rest of them are quiet, thoughtful and dignified. They're blind without appearing to be blind, and can meet people's eyes and tell what color things are – there's an explanation for that, but one of them tells Shran that she barely understands it herself. They're also very polite, and do not read minds without permission. They have no hierarchy, but one of them, Lissan, is chosen to be 'The Speaker' for the duration of their stay. To save time and foster trust, Archer allows her to read his mind. She is disturbed by the clear evidence that it was an Aenar who caused so much death and destruction. She tells them that an Aenar named Gareb went missing about a year ago. They had assumed he was dead, but had never found a body. Lissan says he would never willingly engage in violence, so she assumes he has been abducted and is being forced to participate. Archer asks for the Aenar's help to find him. Enterprise has designed a telepresence piloting system that they hope will be able to interact with and disable the Romulan's system, but they need an Aenar pilot.
The Hazards of Mixing Romance and Vocation: Meanwhile, back on Enterprise, Trip and T'Pol are working together on the new piloting system. Trip tries to talk to T'Pol about his recent near-death experience and what went through his mind, but she either doesn't want to get into it, or he's not being clear enough – he still has strong feelings for her. Eventually, however, that becomes clear to everyone. As the only partial telepath on board, T'Pol decides she must risk being the one to test the system. Her reasoning is sound, but Trip fights her on it. When she develops synaptic trouble during the test, he orders it stopped. She says she'll rest briefly and try again, and Trip can't even get Phlox to stop her. She is doing what she has to. Trip realizes he's wearing his heart on his sleeve. Phlox understands, but says there's no known cure for what ails him – love is universally untreatable.
When T'Pol tries to talk to him about it, he says his concerns are strictly professional. It's not clear if he desperately wants to believe it, or if he is instead trying to hurt her.
If this sounds far more complex than your usual Trek romance scene, it's because it is. It was nicely done, and with some nuance, for a change. Trinneer gets most of the credit for that, but Blalock and Billingsley both helped, too.
Parallels: There was some clever editing here. A scene in which Nijil apologizes to Gareb as he straps him into the piloting chair and injects him with a hypospray is immediately followed by the scene in which Trip looks on in concern as the piloting helmet is pulled over T'Pol's head. Nice.
Jhamel: A young Aenar woman approaches Shran as he's recovering from his injury. She has a natural curiosity about 'blue skins' and other planets, and asks him some questions. Then she apologizes for having accidentally read his thoughts earlier. "It's never been all that hard to figure out what I'm thinking," he tells her. She has recently lost someone, too – Gareb is her brother. She has nightmares in which he is locked up, in pain, and calling out to her.
It's impossible not to like this woman. Just typing this now, I realize who she reminds me of. She reminds me Voyager's Kes – she has the exact same curiosity, intelligence, softness and compassion, and she, too, has not seen much of the sun. Shran feels an instant affinity with her, even though he is still grieving deeply for Talas.
Eventually, word comes down from the Aenar. They will not help Enterprise find Gareb. They feel the human's intentions are good, but won't risk getting involved if any violence is possible. Jhamel, however, will not abandon her brother, and decides to go. At first, the Aenar try to stop her. But when she allows them access to her thoughts, they understand that she is following her heart and let her go.
A Different Kind of Courage: Shran is angry with the Aenar when they refuse to help. The Andorians have a martial culture, and it shows in everything Shran does. Last week, he told Archer that he had to go through with the challenge because no one would ever willingly follow him into battle again if he didn't. The Aenar's pacifist mindset irritates him, because it means they are unwilling to defend the planet both sub-species share. But then there's Jhamel.
Once they are aboard Enterprise, she tests the piloting system under Phlox and Shran's watchful eyes. At first, everything goes extremely well. Jhamel even finds the experience strangely enjoyable. Then she, too, develops synaptic difficulties and has to stop. Any further attempts, Phlox says, would just be too dangerous. Jhamel and Shran have a quiet conversation, and she admits that she feels like a failure. Shran vehemently disagrees. He finds much to admire in her quiet kind of courage. "I'm a commander in the Imperial Guard," he tells her, "and I'd be afraid to go anywhere near that thing!" He thinks she makes it look easy to be strong. She tells him that Talas was a fortunate woman.
Awww...
Round Two: The Romulan drones are at it again. They destroy a Starfleet cargo vessel, the Ticonderoga. By the time Enterprise gets there, all that's left are some floating bodies and bits of debris. One of the drones intercepts Enterprise, appearing as a Tellarite freighter, and the shooting begins. The other drone arrives, appearing as an Andorian cruiser, and now Enterprise is outnumbered. During the attack, Jhamel senses her brother's presence. She insists on trying again, claiming that she can reach Gareb and make him stop. Shran convinces Phlox to let her try.
Gareb's Last Stand: She does reach him, telepathically. He can't believe it at first – the Romulans had told him that all of the other Aenar were dead. He is in despair about what he has been made to do – all the violence and death he has been indirectly responsible for. She tells him that none of it was his fault, and he can put an end to it now. He breaks off the attack on Enterprise, and makes the two drone ships target each other. The Romulans try to stop him by threatening him with a weapon. "Remember me, Jhamel," he tells his sister. Valdore kills him, but it's too late – the two drone ships have successfully destroyed each other. Jhamel feels her link to her brother break and knows what has happened. They disconnect her from the piloting system and she weeps in Shran's arms.
Wow! This scene packed a heavy emotional punch! The bond between the two siblings was powerful and seeing Shran witness it made it even more intense. Kudos all around!
The Last Goodbye? Enterprise returns to Andoria to bring Jhamel and Shran home. Jhamel is mourning, of course, but she is also grateful to Archer. If she hadn't come, her brother would have died alone. Shran tells his favorite pink-skin to stay out of trouble. When an Andorian commander loses a ship, he's not given a new one anytime soon. He doesn't think he'll be seeing Archer for a while.
For us, the faithful Enterprise viewers, that may translate into never. I don't read spoilers, so I don't know if this was Shran's final appearance or not. If it was, I'm going to miss him something awful! He was one of the highlights of the series for me! Thank you, Jeffrey Combs, for creating such a complex, wonderful character.
Trip's Bombshell: Think the episode is over? So did I! It's not, though. Trip goes to see Archer. He requests a transfer to the Columbia! He thinks he can be helpful in getting the new starship out and about. When Archer presses him, he admits there's more to it than that. He hadn't calibrated the piloting system properly, and feels it contributed to Jhamel's synaptic difficulties. Although Phlox said that wasn't the case, Trip knows in his heart that his feelings for T'Pol are interfering with his concentration. Without mentioning T'Pol, Trip insists on the transfer. Archer asks him, as a friend to say, but Trip's mind is made up. Archer reluctantly approves the transfer.
I didn't see that coming. It should be interesting to see how it plays out.
Character Interactions: Archer and Shran are always fun to watch, and they had the episode's funniest exchange, as you'll see below. Shran and Jhamel's scenes, however, were the highlight for me. They formed a believable close friendship in just a few scenes. Jhamel and Gareb, even though they were never actually together, made their brother-sister bond felt, and when that bond was torn apart, it was wrenching. I also enjoyed the exchange between the two Romulans, Valdore and Nijil, in which they discuss political prudence on Romulus.
'shipper Watch: Trip and T'Pol's interactions, on the other hand, were somewhat dysfunctional. Trip wasn't expressing himself well to her, and she wasn't making enough of an effort to hear what he was saying so badly. They were just like a real couple! I liked it. I like them together. I hope it works out before the end of the series.
And I liked Shran and Jhamel. Perhaps they'll form the first inter-subspecies Andorian-Aenar union. We'll probably never know, though. Pity.
Archer Watch: He was a good captain this week. He handled first contact with the Aenar well. Maybe it helped that Porthos wasn't there to pee on any sacred ice walls, or something. I thought he also handled Trip well – he pushed for him to stay, but knew when to let go.
Mayweather Watch: Um...did I see Mayweather? I must have. But the bottom line is that he did nothing memorable this week. Ah, well.
Best Lines:
"The Vulcans say that the desert teaches men the meaning of endurance, but it's the ice that forges real strength." (Shran, to Archer)
"Is conquest really the best course for our people?" (Valdore, to the Romulan Council. A good example of what NOT to say to the Romulan Council!)
"I think you are letting your feelings impact your work." "My work is as good as it's ever been. As for my feelings – they're purely professional." (T'Pol and Trip, who's fooling no one!)
"Forget it, Captain. They've never even helped defend their own world. We're wasting our time." (Shran, to Archer, regarding the Aenar)
"What's it like, your ship?" "Warm." (Jhamel and Archer)
"What am I going to do?" "This is one ailment that is universally untreatable. You'll have to suffer through it." (Trip and Phlox, regarding this thing called love.)
"It's hard to be strong." "You make it look easy. Keep being strong – for me." (Jhamel and Shran)
"Talas was a fortunate woman." "I was the fortunate one." (Jhamel and Shran)
"Remember me, Jhamel." (Gareb, to Jhamel, just before he makes his final stand.)
"Let's just see what the future brings. Stay out of trouble, pink skin." (Shran, to Archer)
"Captain, as a friend, I'm asking you. Let me do this." "It's your career, Trip. But as a friend, I'm asking you to stay." (Trip and Archer)
THE Best Line:
"You have an interesting mind, Captain. Many facets...some of those facets are in conflict." "THAT explains a lot!" (Lissan and Shran, to Archer)
Rating: Blue ice, a ringed moon, brother-sister bonds, Trip/T'Pol angst, and more birth-of-the-federation. It's all good. 9/10.
Next Week: Trip leaves. T'Pol is sad. And someone on the ship makes Archer grumpier than usual. Stay tuned...
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