Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 6

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 6

Season 1 Disk 6

Detained
Archer and Mayweather are taken prisoner after entering a restricted area of space
and "detained" in what amounts to an internment camp for Suliban civilians. All seems
well with their captors who promise a quick release after this "misunderstanding" but
eventually their own paranoia drives Archer to understanding the plight of these
prisoners and a break out is arranged.
Detained brought together Scott and Dean Stockwell who worked together for years
on Quantum Leap, it was great to see them together but that aside this story was more
of a object lesson in the pitfalls of social injustice disguised as compassion.

Vox Sola
An alien life form invades the ship and envelops a number of the crew bringing together
their minds and it seems it's not a creature of instinct and it may have a language.
Weak episode all round, nothing I really want to promote as being stand out.

Fallen Hero
The Vulcans request that the Enterprise picks up a Vulcan ambassador and then
rendezvous with another starship but complications arise when it seems she has
abused her position and elements of the government chase the Enterprise down.
This is a good episode both for showing the ship and crew working at their best and
for developing the Vulcans via T'Pol and V'lar ( Fionnula Flanagan ).

Desert Crossing
Clancy Brown chews up the scenery as Zobral the trader who takes aid from the
Enterprise and offers his hospitality in return. Of course there are ulterior motives
and it's revealed that he wants Archer's help to overthrow in his eyes a corrupt
regional government. Archer and Trip are then caught in the middle as both sides
trade punches in the desert.
This is a fun episode thanks to Clancy but the overall story doesn't work very well,
you have to accept too much to make it work.

Star Trek Marathon

Star Trek Marathon

It's been a long time coming but I have finally started my marathon re-watch
of the original series of Star Trek, I bought the Blu-ray boxset last Christmas
so it's been patiently gathering dust for longer than it deserves. The main reason
was the backlog of current shows I wanted to get through before committing to
Trek for the best part of 3 months allowing for the reduced broadcast output
over the summer.
So here we are, Star Trek The Original Series on Blu-ray with the enhanced
video and audio and without any doubts this is the blueprint to taking a vintage
piece of television and updating it for both the existing and modern audiences.
There will be spoilers:)

Season 1 Disc 1

Where No Man Has Gone Before 
The second pilot is significantly different to how the series proper was presented
but as a stepping stone it's ideal, the story of sacrifice and megalomania had to
come with deaths and bloodshed and thus losing central characters.
A few of the Trek novels have explained away the barrier at the edge of the galaxy
but as with most scifi entertainment you still have ignore a few things or ruin your
enjoyment such as sublight travel time scale.
A very nice reference to Carol Marcus later used in StarTrek II and III.

The Man Trap
On a routine medical mission Bones runs into an old flame but all is not as it seems
as each man who looks upon her sees his own version oh her physical form, it's a
defence mechanism of the creature and when crewmen begin to die the hunt is on.
This isn't a bad opening to the series, a few deaths and some quite dark elements
along with the immediate chemistry between Kirk and Bones.

Charlie X
The sole survivor of a crashed space ship around 18 years previously is given to the
Enterprise to return to a human colony world but there are questions as to how he
survived by himself on a world known to be almost devoid of edible vegitation.
Charlie is vague but like any teenager short of temper and patience and soon his
abilities are revealed and he attempts to take over the ship leading to numerous
one on one confrontations with the Captain.
Again a solid episode with plenty to do for the whole cast even if Kirk does get
to show off a little:)

The Naked Time
A visit to a reseatch station on a dying world by the Enterprise discovers all members
of the facility are dead and despite safety suits the contagion/virus is passed back to
the ship driving people to distraction. Each infected person acts differently but you ain't
seen or heard anything as Riley sings old Irish songs and Sulu swashbuckles and gleams
all over the ship. Kirk's admission of the limits imposed by being Captain and in service
to the ship is quite moving  and so early on hints at a lot more depth to the character.

Extras
Preview Trailers
Starfleet Access Episode
Spacelife: Transporting Star Trek into the 21st Century.