monkee reviews 'Observer Effect'
First Impressions: Another solid bottle episode, but with an underlying premise that's beginning to get on my nerves.
Who Watches the Watchers? We do, actually. The episode opens in the messhall, with Reed and Mayweather playing chess. They both seem to be quite good at it, too - a little too good, in fact. We quickly learn that they are non-physical alien beings who are using Reed and Mayweather's bodies as hosts. They are observing the human crew of Enterprise as they approach a planet. The Observer in Reed's body - we'll call him 'The Old Pro' - has been in the observing business for a long time. He tells the rookie Observer in Mayweather's body - we'll call him 'Rookie' - that someone always dies on these missions. Many times, in fact, the whole crew dies. He cautions Rookie not to get emotionally attached to the subjects.
The Away Mission from Hell: Poor Trip and Hoshi. Not only did they have to sift through a Klingon garbage dump looking for salvageable items (they wisely opted NOT to salvage the old Klingon latrine - yuck!), now they're both sick! They both have a nasty cough. Trip passes out, and Hoshi has to pilot the shuttle back to Enterprise. Once they're in the decon chamber, Hoshi starts coughing, too, and throwing up.
Who knew there was a bathroom in the decon chamber? Well, I suppose it makes sense. It's always worth mentioning when a bathroom turns up on Star Trek, though. It's happened so few times that for decades we were forced to wonder how humans had evolved to the point where they no longer needed them...
It's the Quiet Ones You Have to Look Out For...Trip and Hoshi swap stories in the decon chamber. Both express admiration for the other's abilities, and talk about their days at STC (Starfleet Training Center?). We learn that sweet Hoshi actually got kicked out! She was running a floating poker game during off-hours: when her CO found out and objected, she accidentally broke his arm. Turns out she has a black belt in Aikido! Oh dear! They only let her back in, on probation, because they needed language specialists so desperately.
I'll bet Hoshi is a downright scary poker player. She's probably also good at chess!
I enjoyed these back stories, as well as Trip's reference to 'The Andromeda Strain,' an intense, creepy movie that I recommend if you haven't seen it. The book, by Michael Crichton, was even better.
Bad News: Whatever the Away Team has contracted isn't showing up on any scans, something Phlox says is a bad sign. Turns out he's right. Eventually, he discovers that it's a silicon-based virus, and it's spreading. There is no known treatment, so he'll have to devise one. Trip and Hoshi are running out of time, but Phlox vows to do the best he can.
Pithy Observations: Cleverly interspersed with the scenes among the 'real' crewmembers are the pithy observations of the two Observers. Old Pro always has the statistics on-hand. What percentage of the crews that he's observed ever identified the virus? How many found a cure? What steps do the crews usually take, and when? We learn that the Klingons didn't even let their infected crewmembers back on board - they blew up their shuttle in orbit. The Cardassians tended to theirs, but ultimately resorted to euthanasia when they couldn't find a cure. They are constantly mocking Archer's decisions, something I'd find amusing if I weren't so worried about Trip and Hoshi, my two favorite characters.
Okay, I guess it was a little funny. I mean, for all intents and purposes, the Observers were walking around saying 'Can you BELIEVE this guy? What an idiot!' Hee.
Not that these two are the brightest non-physical bulbs in the non-physical box, though! Maybe Rookie has an excuse, but you'd think Old Pro would have learned how to make observations with a bit more subtlety. They aren't making much of an effort to stay in character with their host bodies. 'Gee, how do you FEEL about having an incurable illness?' 'Oh, don't mind us, we're just...um...seeing how you're doing in there...' And when they can't get their answers in Reed and Mayweather's bodies, they just switch to other bodies instantaneously, appearing as T'Pol and Phlox, T'Pol and Archer, even Trip and Hoshi. You can always tell which Observer is which, though - a credit to the actors.
The Great Escape: As her illness progresses, Hoshi becomes increasingly delirious, lapsing into other languages (including Klingon, at one point), and determined to escape the decon chamber. She breaks the lock out code with ease, and starts stalking around the corridors wrapped in a blanket. The bridge crew quickly locks down the deck, repairing the quarantine breach, but it was a close call. Trip, who can barely walk, retrieves her before she can open an air lock. He has to physically restrain her, and it's a good thing she's so weak or he'd have surely wound up with a broken arm, or worse, too! You don't want to mess with an Aikido black belt!
A Quibble: They're in quarantine - shouldn't someone be keeping a closer eye on them? Let's hope it's a lesson they'll take away from the incident. Of course, Archer's going to have to Hoshi-proof the entire ship after this. "We can't risk Hoshi wandering off again," he tells Trip, "especially since it seems she can override every security safeguard on Enterprise."
Oh, the Pathos! Phlox has Trip heavily sedate both himself and Hoshi. Trip does it reluctantly - he can't help but wonder if either of them will ever wake up again. Poor Trip! Poor Hoshi! These scenes tugged at the old heartstrings, they did!
Trouble in Observer Paradise: Rookie is starting to question the mission. "We came here to observe their response to the unexpected," he tells Old Pro, "not to watch them suffer." To argue unobserved, they inhabit the bodies of Trip and Hoshi. Old Pro, the jaded, is determined to stick to protocol, but Rookie, the fresh-faced idealist, thinks what they're doing is wrong.
Phlox Figures it Out: Out of the corner of his eye, Phlox sees on the monitor (apparently he WAS monitoring them, albeit poorly) that his patients, both of whom have been given enough sedative to drop a horse, are up and talking. Oops! He scans them and discovers that they are not what they appear to be. Before he can fully sound the alarm, however, he is intercepted by the Observers, now inhabiting the bodies of Archer and T'Pol. Since they're going to wipe his memory anyway, they tell him who they really are. Rookie admits that they could help Trip and Hoshi, but Old Pro says they won't. Phlox the compassionate doctor chides them for their callousness, but to no avail.
A Desperate Act of Compassion: Phlox has devised a cure, but are they too late? He and Archer (the real Archer, if you're keeping a scorecard) don environmental suits and carry Trip and Hoshi to sickbay. Hoshi is no longer breathing. In order to revive her, one of them has to remove their gloves and expose himself to the virus. Archer does it, rightly asserting that the ship needs a doctor more than a Captain under the present circumstances. They desperately try to save Hoshi while the two Observers watch on a monitor in disbelief. According to Old Pro, none of the species they've observed have ever gone to such lengths. They fail, and she dies - a wrenching moment for Archer and Phlox. They hurry to try and save Trip, but the cure that Phlox devised doesn't work either. Trip is still alive, but he won't be for long. Phlox heads for the bridge, where he'll be able to work more efficiently without the suit. Archer stays behind because he now has the virus, too. He contacts T'Pol to turn over command of the ship and to tell her goodbye. He promises that he'll let her know if Trip regains consciousness.
Alas, though, Trip is too far gone. Archer places his hand on his friend's chest as he wheezes out his last breath. *Sob*
Rookie can't stand it anymore. He switches over to Trip's now-dead body and tells Archer how much he admires him. This, understandably, scares the bejeezus out of the poor sick Captain, especially when Hoshi's corpse also sits up in the biobed and starts talking. They identify themselves as...Organians! Bonus! What a cool connection to the Original Series. I didn't see that coming!
Archer, to his credit, adapts to the new situation with alacrity, and soon the three of them are engaged in a fierce debate. Old Pro is still plugging the protocol line, while Rookie argues on the human crew's behalf. This sounds like a perfect opportunity for one of Archer's sanctimonious speeches, doesn't it?
Sanctimonious Speeches Save the Day: Indeed! And I shouldn't make fun, because the Organians deserve a sanctimonious speech. Phlox and Archer are both right - their behavior is appalling. Instead of warning space travelers about the virus on the planet, the Organians let them be infected so they can study them like rats. This has been going on for centuries, too - you would think they would have learned enough about other species' responses to the unexpected in all those years. Apparently not, though, because they clearly still needed a lesson in compassion. "Maybe you've evolved into beings with abilities I can't comprehend, but you've paid a hell of a price. You've lost compassion and empathy - things that give life meaning." Archer challenges them to do more than observe - he thinks they should experience compassion for themselves by restoring Trip and Hoshi's lives, and by discontinuing their observation protocols. The two Organians exchange a thoughtful look...
...and then, naturally, all is right with the universe once again. The crew's memories have been modified. They still remember the incident, but not the Organians. Phlox can't explain why the treatment suddenly worked on Trip, or how it 'spilled over' and worked on Hoshi and Archer as well. Archer says Starfleet Medical will surely figure it out someday, and meanwhile he puts a warning buoy in orbit around the planet, so no one else will come into contact with the virus. Old Pro and Rookie have one last conversation in their human hosts. Rookie says he's looking forward to the repercussions of his actions. "After ten thousand years, the rules need to change," he says. Old Pro grumpily asserts that those pesky humans have been a bad influence on him.
Sigh. I have two problems with the episode. I'll address the second one below, but the first one is this: too many Star Trek episodes suggest that humans are inherently superior to everyone else they encounter in their travels. It's ludicrous! I can accept that an extremely advanced species might occasionally lose their way, and their compassion, but every single one of them? Give me a break! One would think that a species capable of that much evolution would pick up a whole lot of wisdom along the way. In addition, the humans are apparently superior to ALL of the other species the Organians have observed! This is the first time, in all those centuries, that a species showed so much compassion. Argh!
This vexes me so much. I am a monkee of reason, and this assumption of superiority defies logic. And the way it seems to mirror the real world makes me uncomfortable. In the United States these days, there's a vague, underlying, pervasive assumption that Americans are superior to most every one else on the planet. Oh, no one actually says that, but I look around and suspect that many people believe it. It's every bit as ludicrous in reality as it is on Star Trek, is all I'm saying. And I better shut up, or I'll be getting angry emails from people who believe it and resent my implying otherwise!
And I digress, anyway. The bottom line is that this premise makes the episode too much like many others. Silly advanced beings learn a lesson from the noble humans. Been there, done that.
Character Interactions: Which is not to say there wasn't a lot of good in the episode. Splendid character interactions are a case in point. You don't notice it while it's happening, but every single cast member gets at least one or two really good scenes. It makes you wonder why they can't do this more often! True, a lot of the scenes were of the characters being possessed by the two Observers, but it was still refreshing to see Montgomery, Billingsley, and Parks get so much dialog. In terms of the regular characters, Trip and Hoshi get the most development - a lot of really nice detail, especially about Hoshi's past. Archer and Phlox's sickbay scene was another standout.
Archer Watch: He was an admirable Captain this week. I have no complaints. He took the proper steps to protect his crew, yet still went all out to save Trip and Hoshi. His decision to expose himself to the virus rather than Phlox was one of logic rather than martyrdom for once. And let's face it, no one gives a sanctimonious speech as well as Archer does. Except for James T. Kirk, of course. And maybe Picard. And come to think of it, Janeway was pretty good at it, too...
Mayweather Watch: Woo hoo! The man finally gets some substantial screen time! He plays Rookie quite well, but therein lies the second problem, for me, with this episode. Playing the fresh-faced Rookie was hardly a stretch for Anthony Montgomery, now, was it? Rookie had pretty much the exact same personality as Mayweather! How much more interesting would it have been to have the laid back Mayweather be Old Pro, and protocol-happy Reed be Rookie? It sure would have been more fun for the viewer, and I can't help but think Montgomery and Keating would have preferred it, too. It was a wasted opportunity for them to play against type.
'shipper Watch: Trip and Hoshi's relationship is platonic, but their friendly affection is very appealing. I loved watching them bond under pressure. Trip and T'Pol get a nod, too. T'Pol isn't wearing her heart on her sleeve, but she's obviously distressed, and her desire to speak to Trip before he died was significant. I wonder what she would have said. For the Archer/T'Pol diehards out there, their goodbye via the monitor screen was touching. And Archer doesn't want his ship to go to anyone else when he dies. Awww.
Best Lines:
"Chess is so predictable. I'm surprised anyone bothers to play it." (monkee, to her husband, just to aggravate him)
"Chess is so predictable. I'm surprised anyone bothers to play it." (Rookie, to Old Pro)
"But somebody always dies?" "Always." (Rookie and Old Pro)
"Hold on. You ran a floating poker game at STC?" (Trip, to Hoshi)
"I remember Exobiology 101, Captain. Humans are carbon-based. Our immune system can't fight silicon." (Trip, to Archer)
"I have no idea what you're saying, but you can't break the lock-out code." "Math is just another language." (Trip and delirious Hoshi, right before she breaks the lock-out code)
"Yeah, she's full of surprises today." (Trip, to Archer and Phlox, regarding Hoshi)
"I'm just wondering if either of us will ever wake up again." (Trip, to Archer and Phlox, after being ordered to sedate himself and Hoshi - *sniff*)
"No wonder you erase memories - your behavior is appalling." (Phlox, to the Observers)
"All this would have happened whether we were here or not. We are not responsible." "Maybe we should be." (Old Pro and Rookie)
"Our encounter with the virus was an accident, one that you could have prevented." "Then how would we ever learn about you?" "Ask us!" (Archer, Old Pro, Archer)
"We're much more advance than humans." "Not from where I'm standing!" (Old Pro and Archer)
"You realize what you've done - we'll never be able to observe any other species encounter this virus." "Good!" (Old Pro and Rookie)
"These humans have not been a good influence on you. I would not encourage further encounters." (Old Pro, to Rookie)
"I'm going to recommend that we prepare for first contact." "At the rate they're progressing, that will barely give us five thousand years." "Then we better get started." (Rookie, Old Pro, Rookie)
THE Best Line:
"Sweet dreams, Houdini." (Trip, affectionately, to Hoshi, as he sedates her)
Rating: Nice pathos and interesting character interactions bring it up to an 8.5/10.
Next Week: Shran and scantily clad Andorian babes - a little something for everyone! I'm looking forward to it!
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