Fringe Season Three

I finished the third season just before christmas day and now the chaos is dying down here are a few thoughts on this season of Fringe. Well to put simply this has been the best season of the show so far and not to spoil it is the best season of the series as it brings together the two universes that Walter helped to bring into conflict so long ago. We get the transfer of characters and continued development of alternate characters which quickly become as valued as the original lineup and it has to be said that those actors playing two roles really got to go to town.
The season kicks off with the episode "Olivia" and we see both versions of Agent Dunham and how the two universes deal with them, in our Universe she is accepted without any hesitation thanks in part to Peter and Olivia's change in romantic status so things were always going to be a little different. Things are taking an unexpected turn in the alternate universe, Olivia is being treated so that she believes she belongs there and will ultimately help that universe win the ongoing war. This element of the season continues for just seven episodes and we then go deep into the "machine" story and how Peter is the key to it's use but that in itself gives the characters and the viewers many questions that need answers. One of the great things about this season is how we many of the characters are presented to the us the viewers and how the reality really unfolds, no one is simply good or evil, everyone has reasons and most of them are not operating with all the facts. Season three unfolds in such a well constructed manner it takes the viewer along without revealing anything too soon and the pay off is all the better for it.

To be honest I don't think a favourite episode list is practical, it would be a little too long but maybe one or two episodes really hit the mark for my personal taste in scifi/drama.
Subject 13
A flashback episode back to the days of young Olivia and the drug trials, we learnt so much about her life and when her and Peter first met, wonderfully told story, great acting and so many great moments especially the revelation of how Walternate learnt of his sons location.
Entrada
The revelation of fauxlivia and the compromises made by all involved powers the episode and it's the tragedy that many of the people involved were beginning to realise nothing was as it seemed none more so than Broyles the commander of the Fringe division in the parallel universe. He ultimately acts according to his own morals and ethics and pays the price but without him things would not have turned out as they did, it isn't a surprise that Broyles is shown as honourable in both worlds.

The third season was critically acclaimed but it didn't fare well in the ratings yet it did get renewed for a fourth season, maybe overseas sales were good and other merchandising added to the overall return. It may be that someone at FOX really enjoyed the show and while it's timeslot wasn't good it also meant not a lot was expected from the show. Regardless we're rolling into the fourth season with one very big question to be answered, not where is Peter, not who is Peter just......

Fringe Season 1

Well I've started my Fringe rewatch and just finished the second season but for now here are a few thoughts on the first season. The debut season of the show really does benefit from a marathoning approach, it did get a little negative feedback for being a little monster of the week but when watched rapidly you don't get that feeling at all. Little bits of the mythology within every episode even those that are pretty much standalone are more easily spotted and merge with the whole.
The Blu-ray presentation is good but not spectacular however it's certainly the best that I've ever seen it or come to think of it heard it and the extras including commentaries, deleted scenes and behind/making of are a great bonus for a fan of Fringe.
Three Favourite Episodes

• Pilot
• The Road Not Taken
• There's More Than One of Everything

I didn't feel the need to skip any episodes of the first season during my rewatch infact since I hadn't seen them since they were broadcast on SKY1 there were elements from everyone that surprised me which certainly helped to keep them fresh. 

A special mention has to go to the Pilot episode which was everything a pilot should be, it was both a great story, well acted and packed a punch clearing indicating what Fringe was going to be about. The casting choices proved to be inspired and it's multi-national lineup probably gave the show a much wider global appeal which these days never hurts a show. It may seem strange but at least at the start of the show I was more pleased to see Mark Valley than anyone else having enjoyed his performances on other shows so despite how the story unfolded his presences was for me a bonus. As it turned out John Noble was a genius at playing Walter and anyone who acted opposite him had to bring their "A" game and they did just that.

Battlestar Galactica Rewatch ( Part 9)

Battlestar Galactica Rewatch ( Part 9)

The Man with Nine Lives

The fleet is pretty relaxed and some of the Viper pilots have been given leave to visit
the Rising Star where some of the luxuries can be obtained as well as being a flying casino.
On board one of the shuttles we meet Chameleon who is watching a video cast featuring
an interview with Starbuck who reveals he is an orphan after a Cylon raid on his community.
Chameleon seems to be a bit of a con-artist/grifter who has fled to the Rising Star and is being
chased down by three Nomen warriors who run across Boomer giving their prey time to
approach Starbuck and with the knowledge gained from the video cast lays the groundwork
for being Starbucks father and this taken to the Galactica.

Nomen Warriors

Apollo and Boomer are not convinced Chameleon is being truthful and a security check drives a
wedge between the three friends even though preliminary scans indicate a familial match.
The Nomen warriors go to the Galactica under the warrior recruitment drive and in doing so once
again chase down Chameleon but after a fire fight on one of the launch bays the good guys walk
away pretty much unscathed and even the "bad" guys are only singed.
We then find out from Cassiopeia that they are indeed father and son but it's kept a secret, maybe
being a good friend to Starbuck is better now then being a father.

A year ago she would do them both!

This is the first of two episodes that center around the Rising Star, it's good to have a different
setting within the fleet for the stories but it also highlights one of the equalities in the fleet.
We've seen there are thousands living in very poor conditions around the fleet, it's almost like
being in steerage on the old school ocean liners while around you well dressed and fed people
waste resources on fun and frivolity as well somehow operating within a financial structure that
couldn't work, cubits and other rare minerals would only have value if planets visited valued
precious metals etc.
Having Fred Astaire as Chameleon must have been marketing gold, a well known and respected
performer in a scifi show and he does an excellent job, it made it look effortless which is the mark
of a quality actor.
We also get the old bug bear of how you portray music and dance far into the future or in a
different culture, the tv producers of the day couldn't get away from the disco/new age vibe
and well it really hasn't aged well.
It was amusing to see a calculator being used by Starbuck to calculate odds when doing his
card counting, no doubt a state of the art piece of electronics back then but looked out of
place now and isn't that technically cheating:)
Great to see the female shuttle pilots which has been a long running theme although they did so
little you would have thought the computers could have handled the simple point A to point B
transfer between ships. I suppose credit to the producers for making the former social aider aka
hooker a serious med tech which maybe Joss Whedon took notice of when making the Companion
a respected part of his Firefly 'verse. However Sheba who got a great introduction to the show
continues her downward spiral becoming more of a whiny sidekick, pity.
I never quite understood how the Nomen came to be, granted they were from a very nasty part of
the colonies but I wouldn't have thought that level of physical change from the human norm would
have been possible without thousands of generations of adaptation but not to worry.
The final shoot out made use of a launch bay and unfortunately using the main pulse cannons on
a viper to shoot the Nomen down was a little over the top but the really bad idea was having them
survive, that was too pandering to the tv audience and regulators of the time.

Overall a decent episode, Fred really added some polish but the story shows more about the flaws
within the fleet than perhaps was intended at the time.
Wiki
IMDB

"Murder On The Rising Star"

Triad is back and it seems Apollo and Starbuck have a nemesis in Ortega who seems to play the
game with a lot of shall we say enthusiasm and passion. After taking beating on court the dynamic
duo win the game after Ortega is sent off for violent play, he then turns up dead and Starbuck was
witnessed fleeing from the scene.
Starbuck is questioned and his weapon tested, it matches the murder weapon and Starbuck is
put into the remnants of the legal system and it looks like all the evidence is against him and even
with Apollo acting as his advocate he looks to flee.
Apollo and Boomer investigate the murder and discover that Ortega make have had gambling debts
and that the eye witness was not who he claimed to be, this information leads them to others who
escaped the fall of colonies by bribing their way onto the Rising Star.
As the search narrows down to one individual named Karibdis a former associate of Baltar and
complicit in the Cylon invasion, Apollo uses Baltar as bait and to prevent his identity being revealed
Karibdis strikes but the events are recorded and played during the trial proving Starbucks innocence.

Box seats for the higher ups

Ortega played by Frank Ashmore

An interesting detective story set on the Rising Star and I suspect it rivalled any of the
more mainstream police/crime dramas during that era of American television.
Triad is a bit of a joke, ok it has some links to Basketball but without any of the rules
and regulations or logic but it maybe the only game in town, it wasn't much better in the
BSG remake but they did make it more of a team game which helped.
It was great to see Apollo as the lawyer, alas that skill came out of nowhere and again the
remake used  the same idea but fleshed it out with Apollo's heritage and his own education.
We do have the old guards are useless plot point, they were a little foolish but worse was
how Starbuck got to the launch bay and into a Viper and ready to go, surely it requires a
full compliment of crew to prep and ready a launch.
The use of Baltar and drawing on the fall of the colonies added a lot to the story as was
the slight misdirection, always good for a who done it to point in one direction and then
with a reveal point in a totally new direction.

This was another decent episode, not a lot of action but a more than adequate use of the crime genre
within the scifi framework.
Wiki
IMDB

Battlestar Galactica: Original Series Rewatch

So I grew up watching the "classic" Battlestar Galactica, seemed like it was often on telly especially on a Sunday afternoon when the family spent the day visiting my grandmother, almost a tradition in regards to how some shows got so much airtime despite having a limited number of episodes. However I was young so I may be looking back at that era with very very cloudy memories after all there was BJ and the Bear, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Incredible Hulk and a little later Buck Rogers to contend with not to mention stalwarts like Star Trek, Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Regardless the TV series and theatrical feature made an impression not only with the incredible special effects (For the time and budget) but also an epic story with from my young and inexperienced mind endless possibilities and wonders. I still have that bias towards flights of fancy but tempered with real world reality which is perhaps reflected amongst the scifi fanbase as a whole since we see more realism in characters and darker situations played out on tv and film.

So onto Battlestar Galactica which tells the tale of a human civilisation at war with an alien race of robots, the colonials as we come to know them interfered in a conflict between the robotic Cylons and another race and drew down their wrath. The ongoing war seems to have reached a stalemate and a peace treaty is close to being signed but a council member and architect of the plan has sold out the humans and the 12 Battlestars are led into a trap and one is known to escape intact. Faced with the lost of the 12 worlds the handful of survivors under the shadow of the Battlestar Galactica set sail across the galaxy towards an almost mythical 13th colony known as Earth but the Cylons are not far behind.

The story may not be exactly original and has it's roots in classic literature and it has religious overtones but it is compelling as the humans flee towards safety but come across worlds of humans lost to records and have to deal with attacks from the pursuing Cylons. All this set against a fleet with limited food, water and other supplies plus the issues raised within from military and political maneuvering which often leads to questions over the path the remnants of a great society are taking.

It would be easy to dismiss the classic Battlestar as just cheap and cheerful scifi which there was plenty of back in the day but all the elements are there to make a compelling and driven story of human survival on an individual and cultural level, the key is the real world social and economic realities which shape the way the story can be told, that is really the only difference between Glen A Larson's shows and Ronald D Moores.

Saga of a Star World

There are a number of versions of this story, the theatrical release which made a pretty penny in cinemas around the world and probably covered the bulk of the cost of the series if not putting into the black but also TV and DVD versions both complete and chopped into three one hour episodes. I remember watching the movie at my local flea pit as a youngster and watching it on television but for now the UK region 2 DVD boxset is my source for the show and it's presented as a 143 minute feature in a 4:3 ratio with stereo and 5.1 audio options. The overall picture quality is pretty poor to be honest but the audio is fine and well you have to make allowances for older shows put onto DVD although at least this wasn't a product of the video age so the masters are film based which has led to the upcoming Blu-ray releases of this feature.

The really important thing of course is that the story is sound and the acting is pretty solid with some good characters and casting and having Lorne Greene as Adama and Ray Milland as Sire Uri sets the standard, the addition of Lloyd Bridges and Wilfred Hyde-White add weight and help out the younger and more open styles from the likes of Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict. John Colicos as Baltar steals every scene and Jane Seymour once again proves she had talent after her Bond appearance and before her dominance of US family themed drama.

Saga of a Star World begins with the Battlestar fleet being ambushed and the exodus from the 12 colonies, under the protection of the Galactica a couple of hundred ships of all classes loaded to capacity with survivors flee the Cylons. Civil unrest is always a hairs breath away especially when the main food stores are found to be contaminated and certain wealthy individuals are hoarding resources, the ethical minefield is addressed as is the military/civilian dynamic. The question of hiding on a seemingly heaven sent world with food and fuel also offers an incentive to once again sue for peace but only really as a plot device, there is no quarter given from the robotic Cylons who see nothing but total annihilation of the humans as their goal.

Will the fleet reach Earth and perhaps more importantly does Earth actually exist, maybe it does as there are too many small colonies spotted around the projected course so there is hope for those that complete the journey across the stars.

When you get right down to it the original Battlestar Galactica and it's premiere Saga of the Star World is bloody good science fiction, yes it still panders a little to the sensibilities of the US market and western society but there are a few twists and turns when keep you on your toes. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series because there are some good original stories on offer and of course a few of the regular themes transposed for scifi but nothing new there so not a criticism:)

Battlestar Galactica IMDB
Battlestar Galactica Wiki

The Ragtag Fugitive Podcast

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Finale

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 26
Season 4 Disk 6

Terra Prime
Paxton (Peter Weller) now in control of an asteroid/comet energy based tractor/pusher
device located on Mars threatens Starfleet command and holds off the Enterprise with
both Trip and T'Pol as hostages. A daring rescue mission is under taken and secrets
revealed on both ships, the final scenes are heart breaking and would have made
a very satisfactory series conclusion. I don't know if it's reassuring or not that the human
race continues to rehash the same old issues, race, creed, colour, gender, orientation
etc etc.

These Are the Voyages...
Ok lets get this out into the open, when this episode premiered on television I hated
it with a passion, it was a knife in the back to every single person who had supported
Enterprise by watching the show and a big F**K you from Rick and Brannon.

Deep Breath.
This is the first time I've rewatched this episode since that day so lets begin with a
few comments taken during the episode.
So the Enterprise is going to be moth balled after just ten years, maybe it wasn't
really built that well or more likely the new Warp 7 engines were incompatible and
with other developments a new generation of ships was logical. Of course it is only
fitting that the NX-01 Enterprise is used as a museum ship, she made her mark in
Starfleet and the birth of the Federation.
What The F**K is Riker doing here!
Hmmm, the Enterprise D rendering looks very nice and even Riker looks pretty good
in the Enterprise blue jumpsuits perhaps the best uniforms of any series and very fitting
that Jeffrey Combs gets one more Trek appearance.
Considering it's ten years later I'm surprised how little the cast has aged, T'Pol is the
only one that has definitely altered looking more open and relaxed which is more of a
state of mind considering the extended Vulcan lifespan, her boobs look smaller.
Were the Enterprise D holodecks that advanced in creating interactive forms of real
people based on profiles and anyother data the ship carried? I guess in TNG
Moriarty was a pinnacle of creativity but with the crew of the NX-01 where is the raw
data coming from, Klingon and Romulan security would have this level of snooping but
Starfleet?
Nice touch with Trip wanting the ship to be as good as possible at retirement, a nod to
Scotty repairing his Enterprise upon returning to spacedock.
What do you mean Tucker ain't coming back!
Blimey security seems to be pretty lax onboard the ship these days and that's the way
Trip ends his voyage amongst the stars, lame.
Loved the group chat prior to the speech commencement, one final wide wide smile
from Phlox and loved the hug, they've come a long way.
The final WTF moment, you f*****g bastards this isn't TNG it's Enterprise lets hear
the critical speech Archer has been prepping for which kick starts the Federation.

Damn, the three Enterprises and voice over, not so pissed now.

Extras
Enterprise Moments
Inside the Mirror Universe
Enterprise Secrets
Visual Effects Magic
That's a Wrap!
Links to the Legacy
Outtakes
Photo Gallery
Enterprise goes to the Dogs
Westmore's Aliens
Commentaries
Deleted Scenes

So what do I think now, well I still believe Rick and Brannon had the right to do the
finale but I also believe it should have been a thank you to the fans that kept the
show on the air and who gave even more support in the final season on UPN.
The idea of doing a TNG/Enterprise crossover via the holodeck has a lot of merit
but the series finale was not the time and place, it screamed disrespect to the cast
and crew maybe even more so than the viewers.

This is the end (for now) of my Enterprise viewing, I suspect I may still watch the odd
episode during my listening to the Previously in the Alpha Quadrant podcast but for now
it's been fun and the show proved even more entertaining the second time around.
I've only skipped one episode but there were a few I'd probably skip if I rewatch within
the next year or so but that's still an impressive percentage of watchable episodes.

May the journey never end.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 24

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 24
Season 4 Disk 4

United

The second episode of the three parter continues with the Andorians and Tellarites clashing onboard the Enterprise as the fiendish plot to turn worlds against each other is all too successful. Tripp and Malcolm still stuck on the alien ship continue to search for a means to escape and Archer is forced to engage in a honour duel to prevent the death of an ambassador.

A solid and entertaining episode, once again Shran is a delight and Archer pulls the proverbial rabbit out of the hat to defuse the situation and earn more respect from the Andorians and Tellarites.

The Aenar

The discovery of the pilot leads the Enterprise back to Andorian and a meeting with a secretive offshoot who are highly telepathic. Shran bonds with the young Aenar "Jhamel" who agrees to operate the device which they hope will allow them to access the remote systems of the alien starship. Once again we get some excellent work down fleshing out one of the first Trek alien races, the Aenar being a good addition without seeming to be too silly or desperate.  

The consequences of Archer's actions strengthen the bonds between him and Shran and by extension cements maybe the first real agreements between the Andorians and Tellarites two of the founding members of the Federation.

Affliction

Phlox is kidnapped whilst on Earth and it seems that someone in Starfleet may have helped to facilitate the abduction. We get more twists and turns as it turns out the Klingons are behind the kidnapping and a shadowy organisation within Starfleet who quote Section 31 of the charter have an operative on board the Enterprise and is ordered to prevent the ship from rescuing Phlox.

Affliction is the first half of a two part Klingon centric story which ultimately attempts to provide a reasonable explanation of why some Klingons have ridges and others as in TOS were smooth. In that regard I think it succeeded and the use of the human augment DNA just ties everything together.

Divergence

The Klingon story concludes with Phlox and his new friend searching for an antidote to the augmented DNA while avoiding being killed by the Klingon who sponsored these experiments who now needs to show results before the fleet arrives and bombards the planet from orbit.

Enterprise agrees to aid the research and has to fight off Klingons ships in the provess but it still takes a desperate hail mary pass to bring the events to a satisfying conclusion at least to most of the parties involved.

The Klingons in Enterprise have been done well, prosthetics are spot on as you would expect and the mannerisms and attitudes refined from years of TNG and DS9, all these factors add to the real quality in these two episodes. Of course not everyone is happy with the explanation of more human looking Klingons and others not able just to ignore it as being a product of the TV market at the time.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 23

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 23
Season 4 Disk 3

Kir'Shara
The Enterprise warns the Andorians via Shran about the impending invasion but the
High Command through V'Las will not back down and the ship gets caught in a
shooting war. Meanwhile on Vulcan T'Pau, Archer and T'Pol find the writings of
Surak and venture forth with the goal to face down the Vulcan leadership with proof
that the Vulcans have moved off the path of logic and peace.
This was an excellent episode, I really did like the Vulcan story despite some issues
with it's timeline but T'Pau was a good call back to the original series and the clash
of Starships looked great.

Daedalus
Emory Erickson the creator of the human transporter technology visits the ship with
the aim to test a long range system which may make ships obsolete, you know like the
Stargate. However he has another reason for being there, he intends to co-opt the ship
to attempt to find his son lost in a transporter accident no matter what the consequences
for the Enterprise and her crew.
I wasn't fond of this episode even with echoes of the TOS The Ultimate Computer.
I thought Archer especially acted just plain wrong, he should haver slammed the door
on this experiment once he learnt of it and doubly so with the death of a crewman.

Observer Effect
Two alien beings possess bodies of the crew and observe them as they struggle with an
infection which threatens the lives of Tripp and Hoshi. The aliens view this as some sort
of test and how each visitor to this infected world reveals truths about them and maybe
just maybe a species may prove itself worthy of being contacted.
I really enjoyed this episode because of the call back to the original series and The Errand
of Mercy, I honestly think Enterprise was at it's best mining the lore of TOS and revealing
new things about existing aliens.

Babel One
A high level meeting between the Andorians and Tellarites is being held on Babel One and
the Enterprise is bringing the Tellarite Ambassador but they find Shran in the wreckage of his
warship and he claims it was attacked by Tellarites.
This is the background to a trilogy of episodes dealing with an external threat to the stability
of this part of the galaxy by provoking a war between species, we see once again the humans
being the convergence point and again building on the groundwork laid by TOS.
Excellent episode and a great start to this three part story.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 22

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 22
Season 4 Disk 2

Cold Station 12
The Augments and Soong raid Cold Station 12 for the remaining unborn children
of the Eugenic wars but delays mean a stand off with the Enterprise and they resort
to cold blooded murder even of their own.
We see the true colours of the "superior" human when they turn on each other and
their "father", ultimately they moral of the story is underlined, twice.

The Augments
Fleeing to an area of space called the Briar Patch with the intent of providing a secure
location to raise the next generation of Augments causes conflict between Soong and
Malik. To give them time they decide to attack a Klingon colony and provoke a war
between Earth and the Klingons using biogenic weapons.
A fitting conclusion to the Augment arc, it built on what we knew about the Eugenic
Wars and added in some Soong who paved the way for advanced artificial life, some
very nice writing.

The Forge
The Earth embassy on Vulcan is bombed and the finger is pointed at a sect who claim
to follow the path of Surak. Seeking justice T'Pol and Archer enter the Forge to seek
out this sect and discover that the High Command have blood on their hands and maybe
the answer for Vulcan is to be found in the deep desert.
An excellent Vulcan story despite my own reservations that they could be so different to
the Vulcans of the TOS era.

Awakening
Archer and T'Pol discover the Syrranites thanks to the information gleamed from Arev.
What they find confirms the High Command have been less than honest with Starfleet
and that they intended to strike at Andoria despite a peace treaty and they are even
willing to use tactical weapons against Vulcans on Vulcan.
Questionable Vulcan actions aside this was a good story and of course T'Pau
( Kara Zediker )  was a very nice addition linking the two eras. It's a shame stories
like this and others from the fourth seasons were not the core of the series from day 1,
so much lore/cannon to be exploited and built upon without affecting TNG etc.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 21

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 21
Season 4 Disk 1

Storm Front Part I & II
Archer wakes up in 1944 a world where the Nazis swept across Europe and took a very
strong foothold in the Americas helped by alien technology provided by a faction fighting
the Temporal Cold War. Daniels critically injured through temporal conflicts offers what he
can to the crew of the Enterprise and together along with Silik (nothing can kill that guy)
they attempt to defeat the aliens and right what went wrong which will reset the timeline.
The show made great use of standing backlot sets and the costuming department as well
a few familiar guest actors and while wrapping up the temporal cold war seemed a little
pat maybe it would be something relatively simple to cause it to collapse in upon itself.

Home
T'Pol returns to Vulcan to visit her mother and she takes Trip along for the ride, well you
know what I mean. Her mother T'Les played by Joanna Cassidy  isn't too happy with
having a human guest but we learn she lost her post thanks to the "scandal" of T'Pol and
the destruction of the monastery.
Meanwhile back on Earth and undercurrent of bigotry has broken out against aliens and
Phlox experiences a distasteful interaction with such men and Archer to has debrief with
Starfleet Command and the Vulcans whilst baring his soul to the new Captain of the
Columbia played by Ada Maris.
A mixed bag but an interesting look at the planet Vulcan more of which we'll see later
in the season and the seeds for the human first backlash.

Borderland
Human augments hijack a Klingon bird of prey and in response the man who helped create
them Dr Arik Soong played by Brent Spiner  is placed on board the Enterprise to search
them out. Upon entering the Borderlands the ship is raided by Orions and a number of crew
taken to be sold as slaves and Soong agrees to help.
However he refuses to help the ship search for his "children" but that is solved when the bird of
prey attacks them and Soong escapes leading his own towards their future and past.
An excellent opener to a three episode mini-arc dealing with augmented humans whose
brethren were responsible for the Eugenics and third world wars and a fantastic role for Brent.

A very strong opening for the final season of Enterprise, ok maybe space Nazis are a little
cliched but the time travel/alternate reality worked well for the show. We got a very good
look at Vulcan as well which is going to pay off and of course the first part of the Eugenic
storyline and introduction of Soong, again big bucket of pay off.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 20

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 20
Season 3 Disk 6

E²
A dangerous short cut leads to a temporal fracture which throws the Enterprise back
over a century and eventually the two ships once again meet each other, the descendants
of the original crew failed to stop the Xindi attack but offer their help to but ultimately are
willing to sacrifice the original Enterprise.
A top notch episode with time travel and cause and effect in play which all seem to be side
stepped these days with the alternate timeline/dimension but here it's good old fashioned
cause and effect. There is a lot of humour and drama to be had as we discover who paired
with who and the advances in technology and new aliens on board the old ship but it's
T'Pol whose still alive who holds the key to the future despite the misgivings of her own son.

The Council
Archer finally gets to address the Xindi council and offers up the evidence they have
gathered from both the attacks on Earth and the sphere builders, some of the council
are willing to listen but others are too eager to embrace the promises made by the builders
and the power that they belive will come with it. As Archer pleads with the Council a strike
team is sent to a sphere to gather more evidence but before any resolution is reached Degra
becomes the victim of his own beliefs.
Another very good episode as the story builds to it's conclusion, everything is being
ramped up as the Xindi begin to doubt the word of the sphere builders but the Reptilians
and Insectoids the most aggressive of the species break away, no doubt in their mind.

Countdown
Hoshi is tortured by the Reptilians in the hopes she will be able to break the encryption
on the weapon which would allow it to be launched without the consensus required but
a rescue mission is launched with the MACO's
suffering casualties. The friendly Xindi finally throw in with the humans and engage the
Rep/Insect fleet but the sphere builders interfere creating anomalies which cause devastation
amongst the allies. Again another solid episode with spectacular space combat and one on
one fighting as the MACO's storm the weapon but as with all good stories the bad guys
escape and we go down to the wire.

Zero Hour
Archer and a few of his crew on board Degra's former ship chase down the weapon
and are joined by Shran and his warship, once again Archers decisions to do the right
thing is paying off in spades but they are all still relying on the ENterprise to destory the
focal sphere in the network. If they can destory Sphere 41 then the whole chain will collapse
and maybe the Expanse will cease to be but the risk is huge, wait too long and everyone on
board the ship will be dead. Meanwhile Daniels pays Archer a visit and shows him the birth
of the Federation which requires Archer to be part of it's inception but he fails to convince
Archer not to sacrifice his life in the attempt to destroy the weapon.
When the dust settles the Enterprise is returned to Earth via one of the Aquatic ships to be
told that Archer did not survive but upon approaching the Earth they find a sky void of
satellites and communications and then a shuttle is attacked by prop drive fighters, something
has disrupted the timeline.

What an absolutely fantastic batch of episodes to wrap up the Xindi story arc, it has been
a wonderful example of serialised story telling and while there were one or two clunkers
mostly when trying to do a standalone episode everyone involved should be proud of the
work they have done.

Disk 7
Lots of Extras

The Xindi Saga Begins
Enterprise Moments
Connor Trinneer (Profile)
Roxann Dawson (A Day in the Life)
Outtakes
Behind the Camera (Marvin Rush)
Enterprise Secrets
Commentaries
Deleted Scenes

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 17

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 17
Season 3 Disk 3

North Star
Enterprise and the wild western.
I skipped it.

Similitude
An accident leaves Tripp close to death but Phlox grows a clone with the intent
to harvest the required material but the Clone ( Sim ) is as real as Tripp ever was
and truth be told actually a bit better. A very deep episode with dark overtones
which asks a lot of questions, wasn't sure I was going to enjoy re-watching it but it
still holds up.

Carpenter Street
Daniels informs Archer than the Xindi are back in Earth's past working on a
bio weapon which was supposedly abandoned by their council.
Archer and T'Pol go back in time and track down the Xindi and prevent the
release of the weapon, maybe the Vulcan high command are wrong about
time travel. A pretty good time travel episode although at first it looks more like
the 70's but hookers have never really been known for top shelf styling and plenty of
older cars still on the road. Amusing that Archer wouldn't hit the guy when still bound,
he'll get over that:)

Chosen Realm
A religious faction take over the Enterprise intent on using it's weapons
to fight a war on their homeworld and are prepared to kill themselves and anyone
else to achieve their "righteous" goal. I always have trouble with this type of story,
that sort of blind dogma is so hard to understand as is the lengths the characters
are willing to go to and justify. A more evolved story when compared to the TOS
episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 16

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 16
Season 3 Disk 2

Impulse
The Enterprise find the Vulcan ship Seleya adrift in an asteroid field, the remnants of
her crew driven mad by the Trellium D, T'Pol slowly succumbs to it's effects driving
her to paranoia. Vulcan zombies in space, ok maybe that's not fair but that's what we
got and what a shame they could not have raided the ships tech.

Exile
Hoshi is contacted by a powerful telepathic being who offers to help them search
for the Xindi in exchange for a little company during his work. Hoshi agrees while
the ship goes to investigate a Sphere but Tarquin isn't going to take no for an
answer when he asks her to stay forever.
The Sphere story was ok and Hoshi needs some good screen time but this story
was a little weak and doesn't do her justice.

The Shipment
The source of the mineral used to power the Xindi weapon is discovered thanks
in part to Tarquin and Archer learns that the people responsible for creating it
were unaware of it's intended use. During a strained conversation a trust is built
leading the human and the Xindi to co-operate with the goal to prevent the
weapons use. This was a good episode in terms of removing some of the
demonising of the Xindi, yes we know they are being setup but it's good for
the crew to discover that fact.

Twilight
Archer is injured as an anomaly ripples though out the ship and his brain is
infected by some sort of dimensional parasite which removes his short term
memory. Twilight is a cracking episode, we see the effects of the failure of
the ship under T'Pols command to stop the Xindi and the remnants of our
race living in fear on an alien world. Yes the reset button is convenient but
it's a diverting episode and does add a little to the overall arc without being
critical in it's telling.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 15

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 15
Season 3 Disk 1

The Xindi
The Enterprise pays a visit to a penal colony to talk to a Xindi inmate but things
go wrong when the Captain is held captive and the crew lineup as a new workforce
for the mine. This was a solid start to the third season, we got to see the new MACO's
in action who prove to be a valuable addition to the crew and find a lead to the
homeworld of the Xindi.

Anomaly
Spatial anomalies disrupt the starship as the Expanse shows itself to be every bit as
dangerous as the crew were led to believe. A derelict ship is discovered but the
Enterprise is then attacked by another ship who steal supplies and other tech from
her. It's the chase that eventually leads to the discovery of a giant sphere hidden
within a folded area of space.
Another good episode, lots of action and Archer has to start asking himself how
far will he go to finish his mission.

Extinction
The Enterprise visits a world known to have been host to some Xindi but the landing
party are exposed to some sort of virus which mutates them into another humanoid
life form, one that is automatically exterminated by another race who fear the spread
of this contagion. A standalone episode which is pretty much average, nothing really
new with the story except to indicate how good Phlox is but always nice to see T'pol
getting down and dirty in the oh so tight outfit.

Rajin
A visit to a trading world has Archer returning with a freed pleasure slave much to his
own surprise, he treats her right but is she all that she appears to be.
Now Firefly really did this story better but Nikita Ager as Rajin played the role well
and pretty much had everyone fooled until she met T'Pol and her alien mind powers:)
Rajin was a lot of fun, worked well and gives the Xindi a lot more depth and menace.

The opening four episodes of the third season are very strong, three solid arc episodes
and a standalone is a good spread, it's going to be a good season.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 14

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 14
Season 2 Disk 7

Bounty
Archer is captured by a Tellarite bounty hunter and has to make his escape
before being handed back to the Klingons. Meanwhile T'Pol is going though
Pon Farr brought on by a contagion and she is locked in decon with Phlox,
gel and hormones ahoy.
I'm not totally happy with a Vulcan female going through Pon Farr and the
gel/decon scenes tend to be a little cringe worthy, nice bounty hunter story
but embarrassingly bad how easily Archer was taken.

The Expanse
A surprise attack on the Earth leaves millions dead and the temporal cold
war really impacts on this part of the galaxy, Enterprise heads towards an
area of space known as the Expanse normally avoided by space faring
races but that is where the instigators of the attack reside. The Klingons
throw a wrench into the plans as Durass is keen to regain his honour.
An excellent season finale, the Klingon arc has been nicely handled and the
temporal war is now serious. I can't help but think the gouge in the Earth would
have been more fitting in Iowa or the Enterprise (2009) built in Florida.

Extras
Enterprise Moments
Jolene Blalock
Levar Burton
Enterprise Secrets
Outtakes
Insights: A Night in Sickbay
Shooting Future Tense
Commentaries
Deleted Scenes

Season 2 wasn't really a step up for the series, it wasn't a backwards step either but
maybe feels less than because you expect more from the second year. That said a
lot of the groundwork has now been laid down which allows the uber arc driven
third season to grow as there is less time for one off character/action pieces.
A nice bunch of extras on the final disk especially the interview with Jolene and Levar.
Roll on the Xindi.