monkee reviews 'Harbinger'
First Impression: Yikes! Three stories all jumbled together, and I didn't much like ANY of them!
[Warning: This review is going to sound like it was written by someone who is sick and somewhat delirious, because it was. Shouldn't be too big a problem, though, since the episode itself seemed like it was written by someone who was sick and somewhat delirious...]
Enunciation, People! I hate to start my review with a rant, but it can't be helped. I couldn't understand the last line of the episode you know, the alien's dying words? I must have replayed that line a half dozen times, and STILL I couldn't make it out. Did he say 'When the Xindi destroy Earth' or 'When the Xindi destroyED Earth?' Pretty critical distinction, there! (It was 'destroy,' apparently.) And what's going to happen when the Xindi destroy Earth? Darned if I could tell! (The alien's people will prevail. Apparently.) This is a vital line of dialog. It's the climax of the episode! The audience is supposed to say "Oooooooh!" not "Huh?" I had to go read Michelle Erica Green's plot summary to find out what the guy said. And I'm glad she could tell, or I'd still be perplexed!
I don't know. Maybe I need my ears checked, but still I'd think you'd want a line of dialog that crucial to be a little clearer.
This week, I'm just going to jump right into the analysis. We'll start with what I guess was supposed to be the A-story...
A (Story) is for Alien: By far the most bizarre of the story lines, this turned the Xindi arc into a whole new ballgame. Enterprise discovers a huge mass of bubbly confusion en route to the Xindi weapon. It's a convergence of spatial anomalies, equidistant from five of the spheres. An inhabited planet used to be at the heart of it, but now there are no life signs. There is, however, a pod floating inside it, which Enterprise recovers with their grapplers. It contains a humanoid alien who is hooked up to tubes and circuitry, which are collecting biometric data from him and transmitting them elsewhere.
When Phlox examines him he discovers that a) the alien is from another trans-dimensional realm, and b) he's dying. At first, the alien claims that he was a prisoner, and agreed to be part of an 'experiment' in order to get his freedom. Archer speculates that he is a test subject, sent by someone to monitor the conditions in the expanse a 22nd century canary in a coal mine. Later, though, he attacks Phlox and tries to destroy the ship by plunging his hand into the warp core (he can walk through walls and stuff) to disrupt the magnetic containment. We've discussed his dying words already. They amounted to 'In your face, Archer!'
So, we have a new threat, apparently, from a hitherto unknown enemy who might well be at the heart of the entire Xindi conflict. Someone told the Xindi that Earth would destroy them was it this species? And what is THEIR motive? Curiouser and curiouser. I guess I was hoping there was a tighter solution to the mess that somehow the temporal cold war, the Suliban, the Klingons, the Romulans and the Vulcans were tied in. We'll just have to wait and see, but I think the writers had better be careful now. The plot of this arc is getting pretty convoluted.
B (Story) is for Bonking: Bonking, yes. It's a sweeps month, after all. T'Pol must be naked and there must be bonking! T'Pol observes the mutual interest and attraction between Trip and Corporal Amanda Cole, a beautiful, kick-ass MACO, and it makes her jealous. Oh, she SAYS she isn't jealous, but she is, and Trip calls her on it.
Hmmmm. A jealous Vulcan. Most illogical. But then, we already knew that T'Pol is not your typical Vulcan. Even before she joined Enterprise's crew, she had an interest in exploring emotion remember her reaction to the jazz in San Francisco? She has much more in common with the V'tosh Ka'tur (the group of Vulcans who have been shunned and stigmatized for exploring emotion 'Fusion') than with regular Vulcans. I just wish they'd acknowledge this difference more definitively on the show. And if T'Pol is going to explore emotion, there should be some negative repercussions for her. Vulcans don't suppress their emotions just to be ornery and superior (although sometimes it sure seems that way!) they do it because they've found that emotion is actually dangerous to themselves and their society. 'Exploring emotion' should occasionally land T'Pol in sickbay, or something.
But I digress. Trip calls her on the jealousy thing, and tries to get her to admit she's attracted to him. She turns the tables on him by bringing up Sim ('Similitude'), and forces him to admit that, okay; he's a little attracted to HER. Then she jumps on him. No, really! She lunges at him, kisses him, drops her robe, and the screen fades to black. Trip looks more like a deer trapped in the headlights than anything else, poor guy!
The Morning After: When the two meet in the mess hall the next day, Trip awkwardly brings up 'what happened last night,' and T'Pol coldly thanks him for 'facilitating her exploration of human sexuality.' OUCH! That's GOT to hurt a guy! And I think it does hurt Trip, who sincerely has feelings for her. But he plays along, and agrees with her that it won't happen again. They also agree that their neuro-pressure sessions can continue.
Sigh. I guess I was hoping that the first official sex between two Enterprise regulars would be, I don't know, more meaningful? Silly me. The problem is that T'Pol's denial makes her look terrible she's using and hurting the more likeable character, and the audience is left wishing he'd taken up with Amanda instead. T'Pol's insistence that the sex was meaningless turns it into not much more than a sweeps month ploy. And even worse, the cavalier way in which she brings up Sim, just to get under Trip's skin, was disrespectful and really made me angry.
On the Other Hand...and here's the thing. T'Pol IS in denial. She really was jealous; she really does have feelings for Trip; and she was damned relieved that he wanted to continue the neuro-pressure sessions. And that's the only reason this episode didn't turn me off of Trip/T'Pol for life. I see potential for the future for these two. Since T'Pol is new and inexperienced with emotion, perhaps we'll have to forgive her for not being able to recognize and acknowledge them honestly in herself. 'Thank you for facilitating my exploration of human sexuality?' In a pig's eye, T'Pol! One of these days, she's going to realize that she sees more in Trip than opportunity, and THAT will be an interesting episode.
C (Story) is for Childish Squabbling: Enterprise is on its way to the Xindi weapon, and the ultimate showdown is imminent. MACO leader Major Hayes suggests some extra training for Enterprise security and the senior staff, and Archer agrees. Reed bristles he's always felt that Hayes wanted to take over ship's security, and now he's convinced. The two try to resist and undermine each other constantly, both in private and in the training sessions. Reed is the major offender, but Hayes is guilty, too. Their antipathy culminates in a fistfight that spills into Enterprise's corridors, and is only broken up by a security alert.
Wouldn't you like to think that two senior officers on Earth's first starship could behave a bit more professionally? This monkee has young children and is very familiar with childish squabbling, but at least my kids have the excuse of being CHILDREN! Argh! I wanted to knock their heads together! If you're going to have two characters behaving like this, there must be better justification for it than a stupid clash of egos! When Picard and his brother wrestled in the mud, there was a lot more to it than appeared on the surface. Not in this case. This was just an idiotic macho fistfight. And it made Reed look horrible he's a Lieutenant and a senior officer; he should have been bigger than this.
I'll give them both credit for snapping out of it and working professionally together when they had to, though. They really are very much alike, as Amanda and Trip observed. Hopefully, they'll stop posturing and become the extremely effective partners that they have the potential to be. Perhaps the well-deserved dressing down they got from Archer will spur that on.
So there you have it, the A, B and C story lines. They were connected to each other, but not very smoothly. The pace and the mood of the scenes kept changing, the plot thickened a bit too much, and it made the episode disconcerting to watch. There were bits and pieces that I enjoyed, but as a whole, it was disappointing on many levels.
Moving on...
Continuity: Whoa! Mayday! Mayday! Pull back! You know, normally I adore continuity, but this episode required a substantial 'previously on Enterprise' clip at the beginning, and any episodes that follow this will need one about five minutes long! The Xindi arc is starting to get even more convoluted than the Dominion War arc on DS9. The addition of a whole new alien threat into the Xindi situation is just going to make matters worse. I hope they can find a way to tie this all neatly together soon.
Amanda Cole: She's confident, she's kind, she's a top-notch MACO. I really liked her! I'll bet most everyone did. Why not make her a regular? We could use another woman regular on this show! T'Pol is over-used, and we hardly ever see Sato. And there's even a good reason to keep her coming back. Since T'Pol was just using Trip to explore human sexuality, and it isn't going to happen again, he's a free man, right? I think he should go for it Amanda rocks!
Character Interactions: Trip's interactions with both of the women were wonderful to watch. He really is a sweetheart, and Trinneer is doing a great job with the role. I also enjoyed Trip's scene in the mess hall with Reed. Their friendship is becoming one of the best relationships on the show. They show each other sympathy when needed, but tease each other mercilessly, too. While I can't say I enjoyed most of the Reed/Hayes interactions, I did enjoy the scene in engineering when they finally stopped squabbling. And the scene in Archer's office was priceless, and featured the episode's very best line more on that later. There was a nice bit of conflict going on between Phlox and Archer this week, too with Phlox arguing for compassion for the alien, and Archer needing to 'bend ethics' to get some answers. Sato and Mayweather even got a bit of action in the training session scenes. I saw Sato fling her MACO sparring partner to the ground you go, girl!
Archer Watch: Archer was fine this week. He dealt with the alien as well as anyone could. And he dealt with Reed and Hayes exactly, word for word, the way I would have. Yes, indeed the phrase 'like a couple of five year-olds' would have figured prominently in my tirade, too, if they were standing in front of me!
Mayweather Watch: Mayweather held his own with his MACO sparring partner for a while, but was ultimately bested. He handled it better than Reed did, apparently taking it in the spirit in which it was intended. "Good match," he told his partner. Way to be a good sport, Travis! It was nice to see the man get something to do.
'shipper Watch: Trip and T'Pol isn't very appealing as a pairing if this is the best the writers can do. I'm not dismissing them yet, though. If T'Pol begins to acknowledge some deeper feelings for Trip, it could get interesting quickly. If she doesn't, Trip/Cole will be fine with me. Actually Cole and ANYONE would be fine with me. There was a little nod to the slash fans this week, too, as Reed jokingly suggests that Trip perform neuro-pressure on him. Hee.
Dialog: I've criticized a lot about this episode, and deservedly so. I have to admit, though, that it contained some of the best dialog of the series. This is tied in with the extensive character interactions, and how well these people have come to know each other, for better or for worse. In both the B and C stories, lines of dialog are repeated by both participants in a conversation. It was clever, and I liked it a lot!
Best Lines:
"Nothing wrong with the unexpected." "No, with a little warning..." (Trip and Amanda, after she kisses him)
"Consider that a little warning...for next time." (Amanda, to Trip)
"You were looking at his hands when you should have been looking at his eyes." (Hayes, to Mayweather)
"You were looking at my hands when you should have been looking at my eyes." (Reed, later, to Hayes)
"You're hard to miss." (T'Pol and Reed, at different times, to Trip, regarding his developing 'friendship' with Amanda)
"Captain, this man is dying a painful death. To keep him conscious is unethical." (Phlox, to Archer)
"Until I get the answers I need, we're going to have to bend a few ethics." (Archer, to Phlox)
"What's not to like? He's a gentleman, great to be around and he has very nice arms." (Amanda, to T'Pol) (monkee's note his ARMS? He has nice ARMS? Ooooo-kay, Amanda, whatever turns you on...)
"Ow!" (Amanda, after T'Pol presses a neuro-pressure point a bit too hard. Apparently she doesn't like the way Amanda is talking about Trip's arms...)
"Just drop it!" (Reed, to Trip, as they discuss the merits of the MACO's training sessions)
"Look, for the last time, there's nothing going on with any of us. BETWEEN any of us." (Trip, to Reed, regarding his 'friendships' with Amanda and T'Pol)
"I guess this Vulcan neuro-pressure isn't all that intimate after all. In that case, I have a nasty little pain right..." (Reed, to Trip)
"Just drop it!" (Trip, to Reed)
"You know, your voice is tensing up. It's a dead giveaway." "I wasn't aware that you were a vocal expert." "I don't need to be an expert to read you." (Trip, T'Pol, Trip)
"Sim told me. Standing right there." "What the hell was he doing in your room?" (T'Pol and Trip)
"Your voice is tensing up." "Oh, so now youre the vocal expert." "I don't need to be an expert to read you." (T'Pol, Trip, T'Pol)
"What just happened here? Did we...? Are we...?" (Trip, to T'Pol)
"No, I'm not getting emotional! I just don't like being compared to a lab rat!" (Trip, to T'Pol)
"The last thing I need to hear is that two of my senior officers have been admitted to sickbay because they've suddenly regressed to the level of five year-olds! Settle it. That's an order!" (Archer, to Reed and Hayes)
"There's no problem, Captain." "It's settled, Sir." (Reed and Hayes, to Archer)
"When the Xindi destroy Earth, we will prevail." (the alien, to Archer. I think.)
THE Best Line:
"Think we're dismissed?" (Reed, to Hayes, after Archer has stormed out of the room in disgust)
Rating: 7.5/10. The alien complication was confusing, the Trip/T'Pol thing was a big disappointment, and the Reed/Hayes bickering was just annoying. Nice character interactions and snappy dialog bring it up a notch, though, and Amanda rocked!
A 7.5/10 in a sweeps month? That's awful! With cancellation rumors flying, they can't afford any duds. Still, it's the first dud in quite a while, so let's hope it was an aberration. They've been doing so well!
Next Week: As Voyager passes through a dangerous nebula, the crew must be put into stasis in order to survive. The only crewmember who can withstand the radiation is Seven-of-Nine, who remains conscious to monitor her shipmates and take care of the ship. She begins to show disturbing signs of insanity, though...
No. Wait. Wrong show. Same plot, though, with Phlox playing the role of Seven, and Enterprise playing the role of Voyager. Will 'Doctor's Orders' be a complete rehash of Voyager's 'One?' We'll find out! I know that, for one thing, there will be a dog involved this time I think Porthos gets to stay conscious, too. That in itself is enough of a reason for me to watch! See you next week.
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