monkee reviews 'The Forgotten'
First Impression: Nicely done. And all hail Mr. Connor Trinneer, for making a monkee cry.
Two Stories, Blended: Thanks to their stolen warp core, Enterprise makes it to the rendezvous with Degra, and Archer sets about trying to convince the Xindi that humanity is not his enemy after all. Meanwhile, Trip finally begins to truly grieve for his sister, a process precipitated by the loss of a young woman in engineering and the presence of Degra, the builder of the weapon, on the ship. In a lesser episode, these two plotlines might have been completely separate. Here, they are seamlessly blended together. Ultimately, Degra is convinced as much by Trip's anguish as he is by Archer's arguments. I couldn't even really say which was the A story, and which was the B story.
Convincing Degra: We'll start with this one, as it's the storyline that moved the main arc along. Archer planted a seed of doubt in Degra over the past few episodes, and Degra was intrigued enough to pursue it. The two of them are careful with each other; they are feeling each other out. The Xindi Sloth on the council is also present, but Degra is the one Archer is truly reaching. Archer shows them the three Xindi bodies from Detroit, but that's not really convincing enough, even with slight evidence of temporal anomalies. He has better luck when he shows them the body of the sphere builder from 'Harbinger.' This, they recognize as being the of same species as their mysterious 'she,' the informant who brought them together and told them of the human 'threat.' With a clinical explanation from Phlox, they have reason to accept Archer's working theory: that the sphere builders are trying to alter this region of space to make it compatible for themselves.
Although Degra is beginning to challenge what he's been told by the mysterious 'she,' the Sloth Xindi is still wary. I think he's coming around, though. Obviously, the Reptilian and Insectoid Xindi are going to be almost impossible to sway. Degra claims to be most concerned about the Aquatics. He says they are 'enigmatic,' but if they can be convinced, that will give them a majority within the council. He convinces Archer to make his case before the council, and gives him the coordinates to do so. Archer now has reason to trust Degra, too, since Degra arranged this meeting to begin with, and fired on (and ultimately was forced to destroy) a Reptilian ship that intercepted them.
Given that Degra was already starting to listen to what Archer was saying, these developments weren't completely unexpected. It was still nice, though. Archer and Degra are both challenging their preconceptions, and acknowledging that they've both made mistakes. I can't complain about that.
Anger and Acceptance: The heart of the episode for me, though, was Trip. Way back in 'The Expanse,' Reed told him that he should grieve for his sister as his sister, and not just one of seven million casualties. Trip lashed out at him because he wasn't ready to do that, and perhaps felt that his personal grief was insignificant given the scope of the tragedy. It was good advice, though, and now he's finally able to see that for himself. Enterprise repair crews have gradually been accessing part of the ship damaged when the Reptilian's attacked in 'Azati Prime,' and finally reached a section where they found the body of Crewman Jane Taylor, an engineer under Trip's command. Archer asks him to write to her family, and he struggles with the task. She was a young, likable woman with great potential, just like his sister Elizabeth. His numerous false starts on the letter bring back a lot of memories...and pain.
Another catalyst is Degra. It's Archer's duty to work with him, but when Trip sees him on the ship, all he can think about is the weapon that the man designed, and what it did. He's angry, bitter and confrontational. This is a good thing, though. It's nice to see someone bristle at Degra, and realistic. Degra, who already felt remorse for creating this destructive, deadly weapon, now gets to see the real repercussions.
Connor Trinneer: Wow! Somebody give this man an Emmy. For my money, he's the best actor on the show. When I see his work in 'Similitude,' and this episode...well, I'm hard-pressed to think of an example of better acting in television. I am very, very impressed. His scenes with Degra crackled with energy - they surprised me, and made me sit up straight and take notice. And his scene with T'Pol brought a tear to my eye.
The Ghost of Crewman Taylor: Trip dreams that he's gone to Crewman Taylor's damaged quarters and encountered her there. Her ghost gently chides him about his inability to write the letter to her parents. She tells him not to worry so much about the exact and proper words. She wants him to tell them what he knew of HER - her talents, her personality. 'Just remember me,' she implores. I really liked this woman. Now I'm sorry she's gone, too!
T'Pol's Recovery: T'Pol manages to keep a stiff upper lip on duty, but is still struggling with the after-effects of her Trellium addiction. She has more difficulty suppressing emotion. Phlox tells her that her addiction let the proverbial genie out of the bottle, and she may always have to deal with these residual emotions. Part of me is thinking, sarcastically 'Oh, how conveeeeenient,' and wondering why they didn't just make her character a species with emotion to begin with. Another part of me is relieved; at least now there's a reason for her behavior. In the first few seasons, she had no excuse for it! Finally, part of me is intrigued. Now that there IS a legitimate reason, it could be sort of interesting to watch a Vulcan struggle with emotions they don't necessarily want. We'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Character Interactions: I've mentioned the main interactions already: Archer and Degra, Trip and Degra, Trip and T'Pol. Phlox and Trip also had a nice scene together in which they negotiated exactly how much rest Phlox was going to order Trip to take. It fit in with what was going on, but offered a bit of lightness. Reed got a bit of action this week, too. There was a dangerous plasma leak that had to be repaired on the hull, and Reed volunteered to go assist Trip. His suit started overheating badly, and both Archer and Trip tried to order him back inside. He refused, and was nearly killed while completing the repair. He'll be all right, though.
Small Archer Quibble: That looked like a pretty critical repair - as in the ship would probably have blown up if they'd failed! Reed was willing to take the risk, and I don't think Archer had any business trying to stop him. He was willing to attack, rob, and endanger an innocent ship last week - why stop Reed in the middle of a critical repair? He's got to be ready and willing to sacrifice his friends, too, if necessary. I don't think this was supposed to be a major issue, though, so I'll let it slide. There's only so much you can address in one episode.
Archer Watch: He was fine this week - an able leader doing what he had to in order to reach his 'enemy.' He kept his cool with Trip, and kept his eye on the big picture. He even gave a stirring speech, I suppose, although I mostly just found it tiresome since he upset me so much in 'Damage.' Like I said, they're going to have to work hard to make me like this man again!
'shipper Watch: Trip finally opens up to someone about his sister, and it's T'Pol. What a lovely scene this was! And it was, hands down, their most intimate and personal conversation ever. Forget the decon gel, the casual sex, and the neuro-pressure sessions - NOW they've formed a real bond. This is a Trip and T'Pol I could get behind, as a pairing. Very nice indeed!
If this were a different kind of show, you could also read plenty into both Archer and Trip ordering Reed to get himself out of danger. It would be interesting, but the show's writers have made it clear that it's not going to be an option. Not in this series anyway. I guess they just aren't ready to commit to a homosexual character or two. It's time for Trek to take that step, but so far it's a no go.
Mayweather Watch: I forgot this section last week! Sorry about that! He even had a decent scene in 'Damage,' too - his little scene with Hoshi. Alas, though, not this week. This week, once again, he was all but invisible. Ah, well. Has he even had a sizable part in an episode this season? I can't think of any. Poor Anthony Montgomery - he gets even less screen time than Garrett Wang did on Voyager!
Best Lines:
"I don't have time. We're full of holes. The only thing keeping us floating is a stolen warp core. And I've got to write this letter..." (Trip, to T'Pol, explaining why sleep is not an option for him)
"Remind me never to buy a used car from you." (Trip, to Phlox, after they negotiate a four-hour sleep period)
"We're destined to form an alliance to stop them. But if you destroy us, that'll never happen. You'll be condemning your own race to extinction." (Archer, to Degra)
"You're not real. You don't have to call me Sir." (Trip, to Crewman Taylor's ghost)
"I assume you were watching the attack. Calculating the blast yields. You must have been pretty excited. That beam cut one hell of a swath through Florida. That's the name of one of the places you destroyed. Florida." (Trip, to Degra)
"Did you actually see the cities burning? The houses? The people being vaporized? I had a sister there." (Trip, to Degra)
"I hope he'll be all right." (Degra, to Archer, regarding injured Reed)
"What's one more dead human to you? You had no problem killing seven million of us, but seven million and one is more than you can stomach?" (Trip, to Degra)
"I never expected to meet anyone who suffered because of what I'd done. At the time, I thought the attack was necessary to save my people." (Degra, to Archer)
"I know. Believe it or not, we've had this conversation before." (Archer, to Degra)
"Erasing your memory probably wasn't the best way to earn your trust." "Probably not." (Archer and Degra)
"Enterprise was designed to be a ship of exploration." "If we're successful, it will be again." (Archer and Degra. And wouldn't that be nice?)
"The Reptilians are Xindi. You are asking me to attack my own people!" (Degra, to Archer)
"They would have contacted the council and exposed our alliance. I had no choice." (Degra, to Archer, explaining why he destroyed the Reptilian ship)
"I've spent the last nine months trying to pretend she was just another victim, but she's my sister, T'Pol - my baby sister." (Trip, crying, to T'Pol) (*sniff*)
"I envy you Vulcans." "You think that a loss of a colleague, or friend, doesn't affect us? It does. But if we give in to those emotions, they overwhelm us. You're the ones to be envied." (Trip and T'Pol)
"I didn't want to face the fact that someone so young and full of potential...could just be gone." (Trip, in his letter to Taylor's parents)
"Goodbye, Elizabeth." (Trip, to Elizabeth's picture, after he finishes the letter)
Rating: 9/10. Another excellent episode. And Trinneer gets a 10.
Next Week: Oooooh! Enterprise encounters another Enterprise, and this one is full of their offspring! T'Pol's son looks a little like Trip to me, but we'll see. And who is that little Denobulan child running around? What fun! Gotta love May sweeps!
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