monkee reviews 'Bounty'
First Impression: Ack.
Credit where it's Due: I can say this much for 'Bounty.' The preview wasn't misleading, for a change. No – for once, the episode managed to live down to the UPN promo!
The Infamous Pig-Faced Tellarites: I didn't even like the A story! The Tellarites looked good, but they didn't behave the way I remember them behaving in TOS. In the beginning, Archer tells Tucker that they like to argue for sport, but the two we meet in this episode don't actually DO that!
A Bounty Hunter with a Heart of Gold: The Klingons have put a price on Archer's head after the events of 'Judgment,' and a Tellarite bounty hunter, a Captain Skalaar, captures him, hoping to turn him in for a substantial reward. As it turns out, though, Skalaar used to run freight, until the Klingons impounded his ship. He doesn't particularly want to be a bounty hunter – he's just trying to buy his ship back. The redeemable bad guy is a Star Trek staple, and it's a nice concept, but sometimes it's just not realistic at all! In real life, I expect the odds of running into a reluctant bounty hunter would be pretty low. Boba Fett would have turned Archer in without a second thought, or even a first one!
So, during the course of the episode, Archer bonds with his captor, just like he did in 'Canamar,' and is able to change his mind. And it was nice, and all, but it's just been done too many times before. And Skalaar didn't seem like a Tellarite at all! The Tellarite make-up and ships were fairly cool, but I really missed the expected personality. Bring back 'Journey to Babel's' Gav!
Enterprise's First Pon Farr Episode: Oh, brother. Here we go. I suppose it was too much to hope that the Berman and Braga behind 'Judgment,' 'Cogenitor,' 'The Breach,' and 'First Flight' were here to stay for good. What in the name of Kahless was THIS all about? T'Pring and Spock are rolling in their graves! No. Wait. They haven't been born yet. Well, you know what I mean. When Spock entered pon farr in 'Amok Time,' his blood fever was simmering just beneath the surface, ready to explode at any moment. His struggle to suppress it was what made it sexy as hell! T'Pol doesn't even try – she spends the entire episode panting, heaving, sweating, and draping herself all over anything that moves! Ugh. I don't know why the people who do this show can't grasp this simple concept – when it comes to lust and passion on television, less is almost always more. SUBTLETY, people!
Phlox? I mean, PHLOX? If you absolutely HAVE to do an episode like this, does it make any sense at all to drape her all over Phlox, with his weird wrinkled skin and his gnarly toenails? Maybe one of you younger guys out there could write and let me know if this appealed to you. It sure didn't do much for me!
Hungry Like a Wolf: And the story line culminates with three security men in spacesuits chasing her through the corridors in her underwear. For crying out loud – it was like a Duran, Duran video! I was laughing my head off! And I'm almost sure I wasn't supposed to be.
Fortunately, the whole incident can be arm-waved away, and that's just what I intend to do. Because T'Pol didn't enter pon farr naturally (she was infected by an 'unusual microbe' on a planetary survey), we can assume this wasn't a normal pon farr. Thank goodness. I hope if pon farr crops up again on this show, it can be done with a little more finesse. I'm not holding my breath, though.
Not Time? T'Pol tells Phlox that she had never experienced pon farr before, but hasn't it been established that she's 'older than anyone on the ship?' Sure, she's still on the younger side by Vulcan standards, but you'd think if she were, say, a hundred or so, she'd have gone through this before. See, THIS is the sort of thing I want to know. And what of her fiancé? Do they have a telepathic link, like Spock and T'Pring did? Did he sense her condition? Pon farr could be so interesting if they did it right. Sigh.
Reticent Denobulan Men: The most interesting thing we learn this week is that Denobulan men are kind of prudish. Phlox installed a CURTAIN in the decon chamber! Actually, this makes a lot of sense to me, because he's right – I can't believe everyone on that ship is comfortable stripping down to their skivvies with their shipmates after an away mission. T'Pol's behavior scares the daylights out of him, which provided the episodes most humorous moments.
Character Interactions: Archer and Skalaar's scenes were tolerable, if predictable. I enjoyed watching Phlox's discomfort in the decon chamber, but would rather have seen T'Pol in something other than Maxim-cover mode. I actually enjoyed watching Reed and Trip's reactions to the oddly-behaving T'Pol, and I was pleased that, in the end, they respected her privacy and didn't spill all to Archer when he asked, at least on-screen. I suppose it could always turn up as conversation over dinner or breakfast...
Archer Watch: "I'm sure you're not a bad person," Skalaar tells Archer, "just an unlucky one." But that's not true! He's the luckiest SOB in the galaxy! A bounty hunter with a heart of gold – what a stroke of serendipity! Well, he took advantage of the situation well enough, and made another new friend, although Skalaar won't promise to try to collect bounty on him again sometime. Nice touch, that, although I didn't really believe him.
'shipper Watch: I don't think Phlox and T'Pol have much of a future together, romantically, which is fine with me. I prefer their friendship. Reed/T'Pol is a possibility. I thought Keating did a good job showing how Reed was both affected and intimidated by T'Pol's actions. And yowza – did you see that LOOK T'Pol was giving Tucker while she scarfed down her veggies? (Apparently, pon farr gives you the munchies, although Spock didn't want the soup...) He didn't understand it at the time, but we did. I'll bet she wished she was stuck in decon with him instead. But that would just have been Voyager's 'Blood Fever' all over again. Oh, and even though they didn't have a single scene together, Archer/T'Pol was a factor this week, as her professional (and personal) concern for him was the only thing that managed to get through to her when she was in pon farr.
Best Lines:
"Apparently, they enjoy a good argument. It's considered a sport on their planet." "I've got an old girlfriend this guy might like to meet." (Archer and Trip)
"You can either be quiet, or spend the rest of this trip unconscious. Which do you prefer?" (Skalaar, to Archer, and what does it say about me that I was yelling 'Shoot him, shoot him!' at the screen?)
"It's a characteristic of Denobulan males – we are more inhibited than our women. It's led to some awkward moments. My starfleet physical was an experience I hope to never repeat." (Phlox, to T'Pol)
"There's no reason to be restrained by human morality." (T'Pol, to Phlox, who seemed restrained quite enough by Denobulan morality...)
"There's no such thing as an insignificant corner of Klingon space." (Skalaar, to Archer)
"Did you really think I wanted this engine fixed? You're taking me to be executed! DUH!" (Archer, to Skalaar. Okay, he didn't really say 'DUH,' but I'll bet he wanted to!)
"You have the cure. It is unethical for you to withhold it, Doctor." (T'Pol, to Phlox. Nice try, kiddo...)
Don't be frightened – I won't hurt you." "You're disturbing my serum!" (T'Pol and Phlox. Um – I'm not even going to touch that one!)
"I suppose you'll turn me over to the Klingons, and I'll be disemboweled by one of those nasty looking swords of theirs..." (Archer, to Skalaar, and what does it say about me that I was yelling 'Do it, do it!' at the screen?)
Rating: 6/10. It probably suffered more than it should have by appearing right after the far superior 'First Flight.' And I'll admit that my expectations were low, but they've been low before, and I've been able to change my mind. Not this time. The pon farr story was a travesty, and the first appearance of the Tellarites was a disappointment. Bleah.
Next Week: The Expanse. And a 'bold new direction' is given to the series. I'm going to try to keep an open mind. Maybe the introduction of a deadly new foe will limit T'Pol's underwear scenes...
Back to monkee's Enterprise reviews
Number: