monkee reviews 'Shockwave'
First Impression: Wow!
Disaster: Archer, Trip, Reed and T'Pol head down to visit a mining colony. Its mining operations leave an explosive layer of gases in the atmosphere, so the away team has to be especially careful with shuttle protocols. "It wouldn't be very polite to ignite their atmosphere," Archer quips. Seconds later, though, that's exactly what they apparently do. As the teaser ends, we see the planet's atmosphere vaporize completely.
Wow! There hasn't been a Trek teaser this shocking since TNG's 'Cause and Effect!'
The intensity continues into the first act, as, back in sickbay, the crew responds to the tragedy. Reed swears fervently that he followed the protocols to the letter, while Archer keeps asking what's happened to the colonists, even though Sato's already told him that they've been incinerated. Their distress is evident and very moving – there was some outstanding acting in this scene. I wanted to cry myself.
Meanwhile, Back on Earth: The 'Command Council' decides to accept the recommendation of Ambassador Soval and the Vulcans that Enterprise's mission be cancelled for a decade or so, until the humans are more prepared to handle the intricacies of deep space exploration. This begs the question: Why are the humans so willing to be pushed around by the Vulcans, anyway? Are they that intimidated by them, or is what Mayweather heard true? Do the people back on Earth really believe that Enterprise is doing more harm than good? I would really like to know more about Earth in this time period. I hope ENT does an Earth-based episode next season.
What I found interesting was the crew's reaction to the end of the mission. Archer was (initially) resigned, Tucker was angry, and Mayweather was uncertain about his future. "After a year on Enterprise," he tells Sato, "the thought of a cargo ship is pretty unappealing." Others, like Phlox and Sato, anticipate no problems with the transition, at least not at this early stage. Which is not to say that they don't feel loyalty to their ship and its Captain. "Anyone who tries to badmouth Captain Archer in front of me," Sato proclaims, "is going to get an earful, in any language they want." Nice.
Archer Angst: Even though Reed is certain the shuttle's warp plasma conduits were shut down and properly sealed, there's no escaping the conclusion that they must, somehow, have been responsible for what happened. That's a heavy load for any captain to bear. Archer responds the way Janeway might have – by becoming agitated, despondent, and guilt-ridden, which strikes me as very realistic, if not completely logical. For me, the most moving scene in the episode was the one in which Archer is sitting in his quarters, scrolling stone-faced through the list, and photographs, of the colonists.
Disturbing Imagery: That list reminded me of the photographs and paragraphs that many newspapers ran on some of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The number of victims was similar as well, which, coupled with the shot of the battered skyscrapers at the end, gave the episode a poignant emotional resonance.
Past Prologue: The plot thickens when Archer goes to bed on Enterprise, then finds himself, seconds later, back in his apartment on Earth, the night before the events of 'Broken Bow.' He's not alone, either. Porthos is there, but, more importantly, so is Daniels, the time-traveling 'crewman,' who initially told Archer about the temporal cold war in 'Cold Front.' Daniels had been pretty definitively killed in that episode, but I guess he's found a temporal way around that. Or maybe we've somehow conquered death in the 31st century <g>. He tells Archer that history never recorded the accident at the mining colony, and it wasn't supposed to happen. Archer is skeptical, and frankly finds the whole concept of time travel difficult to accept, but he listens as Daniels tells him how to prove that Enterprise was not responsible for the explosion. Apparently, it's important that Enterprise's mission continue.
(In retrospect, I'm not sure why Daniels couldn't just go back in time and prevent the tragedy. I don't want to think about it, though. Time travel gives me a headache.)
We're still as much in the dark about this temporal cold war as Archer is. Who IS Daniels, and can we really trust him? Who is the shadowy figure controlling the shape-shifting Suliban, and what is his agenda? I'll be interested to see how all of this turns out. If you're going to do story arcs on a Trek series, time travel might not be the easiest way to go about it. It'll either be great, or it'll turn into a convoluted mess! So far, the quality of the major episodes in the arc – 'Broken Bow', 'Cold Front', and 'Shockwave' – has been encouraging.
The Raid: With Daniel's help (and a little too much technobabble for my taste), Enterprise discovers that a cloaked Suliban ship attached a cloaked plasma stream generating device to the shuttle, which is what caused the disaster. They raid the Suliban ship to retrieve three discs that will prove this to Starfleet and the Vulcans.
Archer, Trip and T'Pol conduct the raid, and do it well. They're getting to be a good team – I loved watching them in action! I liked the special effects in this sequence, too, with Suliban dropping like flies off the ceiling whenever the away team tossed a 'stun grenade.'
The factions in this temporal cold war sure are getting reckless, aren't they? I know Archer agreed only to look at the specs on the Suliban ship, but Daniels is still giving them a hell of a lot of information that they haven't earned. They can detect at least one type of cloaked ship, now – the implications are staggering.
Future Imperfect: Yowza, what a cliffhanger! One of the best ever, almost as good as TNG's 'Best of Both Worlds,' or VOY's 'Scorpion.' After the raid, the Suliban pursue Enterprise with many ships – their mission, handed down from the 'mysterious future guy,' is to get Archer. With his ship and crew threatened, Archer agrees to go with them. He never gets there, though, because Daniels, informed that Archer isn't 'supposed' to do this, pulls him into the 31st century instead. Thinking that Archer has reneged on the deal, the Suliban ships all target Enterprise's warp core. Meanwhile, back in the future, something has gone terribly wrong. When Daniels pulls Archer into his own timeline, he finds that it has changed. His world has been devastated due to some sort of temporal interference. And with all of the temporal equipment destroyed, Archer is now stranded there with him.
It's going to be a LONG wait until September! I'm reasonably sure that the Enterprise will quickly get out of its current predicament (although with a time travel episode, you never know!), but what are Archer and Daniels going to do in that ruined city? Can't wait to find out!
The only thing I'm a little nervous about is that dreaded reset button. I'm not going to be a happy monkee if they pull a 'Year of Hell' on us, and no one remembers any of this. And I know this sounds a little cold, but those colonists should stay dead. These humans need to see that things can get ugly and difficult out there.
Character Interactions: Ah, this is what I like to see – character interactions that aren't forced. There were some very nice scenes with Archer and T'Pol. I enjoyed her efforts to figure him out and 'cheer him up' in his quarters, particularly the way they tossed the water polo ball back and forth as they conversed. They worked smoothly together during the raid, too. And unlike Chakotay in 'The Void,' T'Pol didn't hesitate to consult the ship's doctor when she was concerned about her captain's mental state. In this case, however, Phlox correctly and gently pointed out that Archer's response was appropriate for a human. I also enjoyed Sato and Mayweather's conversation about life after Enterprise. Reed had an amusing scene, too, when he so clearly wanted to check out the rest of Daniel's database. Well, who wouldn't be tempted? And I loved Trip and Phlox's scene in sickbay, when Trip good-naturedly (well, sort of) tells Phlox that his chirpy optimism is getting old fast!
Archer Watch: I loved everything about Archer this week! Here's a Trek Captain that could really grow on me! For the first time, I feel like he truly comprehends the burdens of his position. His initial response to the tragedy was very realistic. Of course he'd be desperate, angry, and finally numb. As Phlox so sensibly observes, that's part of being human. And he eventually begins to rally a bit, by reaching out – first to Porthos (never underestimate the therapeutic power of a pet), and then, in his own way, to T'Pol. When confronted by Daniels, he's understandably skeptical. "That's a load of crap and you know it!" he says. Indeed. That's what part of me shouts every time one of these time travel episodes airs. (I still love 'em, though!) But he listens, and he keeps an open mind, something that's critical in a starship captain. And when the Suliban demand that he turn himself over to them, he does it for his ship and crew. The scene on the bridge, when he issues his last orders before he leaves, is my favorite Archer scene so far in the series. He said the exact right thing to everyone. He reminded T'Pol to keep an open mind, and told everyone else, but especially Trip, to give her their full support. He kept his tone light, and I loved his final admonishment on what not to feed Porthos!
'Shipper Watch: It really wasn't that kind of episode, and I didn't notice anything overt.
Directions in Continuity: Is it me, or are we seeing a DS9 philosophy on arcs rather than a VOY one? I know it's a difficult call to make. Story arcs are so much more satisfying to the viewer, but you make a definite sacrifice when people tuning in mid-series, or later in syndication, can't figure out what's going on. Hopefully, they'll be able to find a happy medium.
Best Lines:
"We're making history with every light year." (Archer, to Trip – looks like a tag line to me!)
"Sir, I tried to explain. There is nothing left. No buildings. No trees. No People." (Sato, to Archer)
"We came here to meet these people, to learn something about them – not to kill them." (Archer, to the Admiral)
"It would be unnatural for the Captain to be unaffected by grief under these circumstances. It's...human nature." (Phlox, to T'Pol)
"People back home think we're doing nothing out here but getting into trouble." (Mayweather, to Sato)
"You know, this has got to be the first time a Vulcan has ever tried to cheer up a human." (Archer, to T'Pol)
"It'll be Soval's crowning achievement! They'll probably give the son of a bitch some gaudy medal, and then cart him off to wherever they send bitter old Vulcans to retire." (Trip, to Phlox)
"You have to find something good in everybody, don't you? I gotta admit, that's one of your 'unique qualities' that drives me CRAZY!" (Trip, to Phlox)
"Come on, Porthos. Time for bed. Porthos – up!" (Archer, to Porthos. I'm not gonna touch that one!:)
"Can't you ever give a straight answer?" "Depends on the question." (Archer and Daniels)
"It's hard enough trying to fathom all this without having my science officer – a colleague who I trust, and rely on – the person who got me to stop feeling sorry for myself – accuse me of being a hallucinating madman!" (Archer, to T'Pol)
"Remember, no cheese!" (Archer, to Sato, regarding Porthos care)
"It's targeting our warp core. They're all targeting our warp core." (Reed, to T'Pol)
"You don't understand. All our equipment – the time portals – they've been destroyed. Everything's been destroyed. There's no way to send you back." (Daniels, to Archer)
Rating: 9.5/10. Awesome. Enterprise ends its first season on a high note!
Next Week: A summer of repeats! Have a good one, and I'll see you next September! I'm hoping to review the season as a whole sometime in the next few weeks, so check back!
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