Season 1
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 1-2]
Broken Bow
Shown 7th January 2002 [Monday]
This is the newest series in the Star Trek franchise, though notably the name lacks the Trek prefix. It is set 95 years after the events in the movie First Contact . This episode tells of the human race's first encounter with Klingons. A Klingon courier (with TNG facial features) lands on Earth, pursued by flat-boned humanoid aliens. The aliens are destroyed but the Klingon is seriously injured. Earth's Vulcan Ambassador (Gary Graham - Alien Nation ) advises that the Klingon be allowed an honorable death, and then the Vulcans will take the corpse to Kronos.
The heroic Captain Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) uses humanity over logic and diplomacy. He decides that Earth's first starship (the Enterprise) can spend its maiden voyage taking the living Klingon home. Of note, Archer is the Enterprise's Captain and also the son of the ship's designer - a clear case of nepotism of ever there was one.
Archer gets his crew sorted out for the voyage. In a step away from Trek tradition, the humans actually have personality. For example, Captain Archer actually resents Vulcans for the way they treat his species. This makes for potential conflict when his crew is joined by the babelicious T'Pol ( Jolene Blalock ). Her characterisation is not stiff like Spock or Tuvok, perhaps owing more to Mark Lenard's portrayal of Spock's father. She is the Science Officer, a tad predictable when you consider how much this show is inspired to TOS.
The rest of the crew includes an alien doctor (a cross between Neelix and the HoloDoc). Ethnicity-wise there is an oriental woman translator and a token black man.
Before the Enterprise sets off there is a dedication ceremony. We get a vidclip of James Cromwell, 32 years previously. Apparently in the sixty years after First Contact he did not age a day! Also odd is the fact that the Enterprise is owned by Starfleet, operating out of San Francisco, even though this is set long before the Federation is established.
The Enterprise is ambushed by more of the aliens, and they have to take a detour on their trip to meet with a woman named Sarin ( Melinda Clarke ). While searching for her they go to a non-human stripper bar, which is pretty inferior to the Cantina scene in Star Wars IV: A New Hope . In best Star Trek tradition, the Captain himself leads the away mission.
Back aboard the ship, T'Pol the Vulcan babe and Trip the square-jawed Yank hero type strip to their skivvies and smear each other with grease. This is a blatant T&A scene, but there is no sexual tension between them. A great opportunity for character development has gone to waste.
The climax has all the stuff we know to expect from Trek: phasers set to stun, transporter beams, reversing the polarity of something - this time it is actually a set of magnets!
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 3]
Fight Or Flight
Shown 14th January 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise detects a distress beacon and discovers a wrecked ship. A bunch of redshirts board the wreck and wander around in space-suits. Yes, the new show has tried for a certain amount of gritty realism.
The boarding party discover mutilated corpses hung up by their feet. Also stolen from the film Predator is the unknown villains' motivation: they kill for trivial reasons, though this is closer to harvesting rhino-horn than it is to blood-sports.
The other surprising thing about this episode, compared to Trek, is the amount of emotional reaction the humans have. Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) is a seething mass of emotions, especially compared with the previous Trek Captains. The translator woman falls apart, and the climax of the episode requires her to grow a spine in order to save the entire crew from being horribly killed.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 4]
Strange New World
Shown 21st January 2002 [Monday]
Enterprise discovers an apparently uninhabited M-Class world. Much to T'Pol's objections (and all common sense) Captain Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) and a small band of buddies take a shuttle down for a brief holiday. The thing about this show is, because of the uniforms (and the fact we cannot recognise all the regular cast yet) we do not know who the redshirts are ...
The holiday soon turns into the camping trip from hell. Surprise, surprise.
The Away Team take shelter in a cave, but there seems to be some creatures lurking deep inside it. The crew follow standard procedure for this kind of TV show: they split up in order to let the creatures pick them off one by one.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 5]
Unexpected
Shown 28th January 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise has problems with some electronic systems. It turns out that the source of the problems is a nearby alien vessel, with a damaged engine. Trip the Enterprise Chief Engineer travels to the alien ship to repair it. The aliens may be oxygen-breathing humanoids who live in Earth gravity, but they have fully-scaled skin as opposed to just some putty on their noses!
After the Enterprise and the aliens part company, it seems that one of the Enterprise crew is pregnant by an alien. T'Pol the Vulcan babe seems almost jealous!
The Enterprise hunts down the alien vessel, but the Klingons are there.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 6]
Terra Nova
Shown 4th February 2002 [Monday]
Enterprise arrives at a remote planet where a human colony was established seventy years previously. However, there is no sign of any colony now. It seems that some terrible planetary disaster befell the planet.
The Away Team discovers a race of humanoids who hate humans. Typical Trek aliens, the humanoids are just actors with face-paint. Are they the descendants of the original colonists?
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 7]
The Andorian Incident
Shown 11th February 2002 [Monday]
This is the best episode so far, and certainly the closest to Star Trek: The Original Series . The ending is surprisingly cynical for a Trek show. Of note, the director was Roxanne Biggs-Dawson , of all people.
The Enterprise stops by a remote planet to visit a Vulcan monastery. However, Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) and T'Pol get captured by aliens with blue skin and antennae. Yes, the Andorians - often touted as the silliest aliens in Trek - are back. Jeffrey Combs ( The Frighteners ) plays their leader, Shran. He has played every other species, and he is still instantly recognisable.
The Vulcans themselves appear to be acting very illogically. T'Pol displays her superhuman strength, by hogging the blanket when she bunks up with Captain Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ).
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 8]
Breaking the Ice
Shown 18th February 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise detects a comet - the largest that humans have ever seen. They fly closer in order to investigate. The comet contains an important mineral, too deep to get a transporter lock on it, so they land a shuttle on it to drill.
A Vulcan ship appears, and keeps an eye on Enterprise's activities.
Meanwhile, Trip Tucker the square-jawed yank is trying to thaw T'Pol's frosty exterior. He discovers that she has received a secret letter from the Vulcan ship. He confronts her, and she later confides in him on a personal matter.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 9]
Civilization
Shown 25th February 2002 [Monday]
Voyager detects an inhabited M-Class world, so the Enterprise crew fly closer to take a look. The planet has a medieval-level society. Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) decides to break the Vulcan non-interference protocol and send an Away Team down. Luckily the Enterprise's scanners can focus on an individual face from orbit!
An anti-matter reactor is detected in one of the cities. Archer beams down to investigate, along with T'Pol, the translator and the redneck engineer dude. The aliens differ from humans only insofar as having two cranial ridges. In her new garb, T'Pol is breathtakingly attractive.
Archer and company discover that the reactor is inside a trader's building. The local apothecary, a babe who Archer takes a liking to, has deduced that an inexplicable local epidemic is linked to the place. Archer must defeat the alien interlopers and kiss the girl, just like in the good old-fashioned Kirk stories!
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 10]
Fortunate Son
Shown 4th March 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise is contacted by Admiral Forrest ( Vaughn Armstrong ), who orders them to assist an Earth freighter that has been attacked by Nausican pirates.
The freighter crew are used to doing things by themselves, and are thus somewhat prone to vigilante justice. Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) finds himself between the spacers and the pirates ...
The director is Levar Burton ( Star Trek: TNG ).
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 11]
Cold Front
Shown 11th March 2002 [Monday]
Enterprise meets an alien transport ship, taking pilgrims to see an astronomical phenomenon. Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) decides to invite the pilgrims to visit his ship, and they accept. One of them is secretly the villainous pseulopod leader from the pilot episode!
Yes, this episode returns us to the story arc about the temporal cold war. The phony pilgrim actually saves the ship for some strange reason. This makes Archer's position a lot more confusing, because a time-traveller working for the other side is aboard the Enterprise, hunting the pseulopod.
The director is Robert Duncan MacNeil ( Star Trek: VGR ).
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 12]
Silent Enemy
Shown 18th March 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise encounters an unknown alien vessel, which stalks and repeatedly attacks them. The Engineer and Malcolm the Weapons guy decide to build and install three phaser cannons.
Meanwhile, since Malcolm's birthday is coming up Captain Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) plans a surprise celebration. However, Malcolm is something of a reclusive workaholic and therefore nobody knows what his favourite food is. Hoshi the translator girl is assigned this difficult task.
Guy Siner ( Babylon 5, Season 5 ) guest-stars as Malcolm's father.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 13]
Dear Doctor
Shown 25th March 2002 [Monday]
This episode centres around Doctor Phlox, and shows the crew from his point of view. It explores his friendships with Hoshi the translator girl and the xeno-biologist girl. We see the differences between his society and theirs. His people do not have films because they found Real Life more interesting, so when he goes to the cinema he watches the audience! The Doctor himself narrates the episode as a voice-mail to a friend.
The Enterprise encounters a sub-light ship from a species that is dying of an unknown epidemic. They live alongside a different species which is untouched by the illness.
The aliens request that Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) share warp technology with them. He is put in the same position that the Vulcans were in when they first reached Earth. The Doctor has to make a choice as well.
Archer mentions that there is not yet a Doctrine to tell him when he cannot intervene or interfere.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 14]
Sleeping Dogs
Shown 1st April 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise detects a crippled alien ship slowly being sucked into the heart of a gas giant. T'Pol takes a shuttle down to investigate. Hoshi the translator volunteers, and Malcolm tags along despite having a cold.
The ship turns out to be Klingon. The crew have been poisoned, but still pose a potential threat to the away team. Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) must retrieve the away team and get the Klingons to trust him.
Vaughn Armstrong is listed as a guest-star. Since the Starfleet Admiral does not appear, Vaughn must play the Klingon Captain. This must be the episode he filmed in December 2001, just before he attended the Enterprise event in Dublin.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 15]
Shadows of P'Jem
Shown 8th April 2002 [Monday]
This is a sequel to the episode The Andorian Incident, written by long-time Trek Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Admiral Forrest ( Vaughn Armstrong ) contacts Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) and tells him that because of the Andorians' actions, the Vulcans have decided to recall T'Pol from her assignment on the Enterprise. A Vulcan ship will arrive to collect her within 48 hours.
Archer and T'Pol take a shuttle down to a friendly alien planet. They are kidnapped and help to ransom by alien rebels. This is apparently a new species, but the set is so dark that their face-putty is not visible. How cheap!
Archer and T'Pol end up in a compromising situation, but there is no sexual tension between them. Meanwhile, Trip and Malcolm attempt a rescue. They bump into some old acquaintances, including Shran (Jeffrey Combs - The Frighteners )!
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 16]
Shuttlepod One
Shown 15th April 2002 [Monday]
This is a nice example of a bottle show, self-contained with no guest-stars. It was written by Berman and Braga, but is surprisingly good.
Trip and Malcolm return to the rendezvous point in a shuttle. However, Enterprise is gone and all they find is wreckage. Yes, it looks like Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) and the other gimps are all dead. That is the good news. The bad news is, the two survivors do not have enough power or oxygen to get to safety.
This is a good character-based episode. The two start to get on each others' nerves once the seriousness of their situation. There is a debate on the merits of Science Fiction over classics such as Ulysses - though the Odyssey is a Speculative Fiction tale. Malcolm records his logs, and a letter to his parents.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 17]
Fusion
Shown 22nd April 2002 [Monday]
Enterprise is contacted by Admiral Forrest ( Vaughn Armstrong ), who tells them to make contact with a Vulcan ship.
The Vulcans are a breakaway sect who are trying to master their emotions, rather than repressing them. They have been exploring space for eight years, and have been trying to make the Ponn Farr happen more often than every seven years ... but there is no sign of any female Vulcans aboard their ship!
Also on the mating front, T'Pol befriends a male Vulcan. He persuades her to go a night without meditating, and she has a dream. The story allows hints of the dark passions that Vulcans harbour, but unfortunately it also casts T'Pol as a frigid damsel-in-distress!
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 18]
Rogue Planet
Shown 29th April 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise discovers a planet that is drifting through deep space. The landing party discovers a trio of hunters - Keith Szarabajka ( Angel ), Conor O'Farrell ( Dark Skies ) and Eric Pierpoint ( Alien Nation ). They are after an unmentioned species of Big Game.
In many ways the story is similar to the Farscape S1 ep Bone To Be Wild . However, Farscape did it much better. The sets are very dimly-lit, and the Guest-Stars (an excellent trio of veteran actors) are concealed in darkness and make-up. What a Waste!
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 19]
Acquisition
Shown 6th May 2002 [Monday]
The episode starts with Enterprise dead in space. She is boarded by a group of familiar-looking big-eared aliens led by Ethan Philips ( Star Trek: Voyager ). Yes, this is the Ferengi episode!
The first part of the episode is reasonable enough. The Ferengi, including Jeffrey Combs ( The Frighteners ) and Clint Howard, explore the ship. The dialogue is in Ferengi, without subtitles, which works quite well. For some reason the Ferengi become physically attracted to T'Pol.
This is more or less the standard Die Hard episode. The story is, predictably, by Berman and Braga. Trip the redneck engineer has to outsmart the invaders.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 20]
Oasis
Shown 13th May 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise encounters a crash-landed ship which hosts a colony ruled by Rene Auberjonais ( DS9 ). As in the episode of Stargate SG-1 where he had a similar role, the Earthlings become suspicious of his secret ...
This episode has certain similarities with Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 5] Unexpected.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 21]
Detained
Shown 20th May 2002 [Monday]
Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) is held prisoner by his old co-star Dean Stockwell ( Battlestar Galactica ), who thinks he might be friends with the pseudo-pods.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 22]
Vox Sola
Shown 27th May 2002 [Monday]
Enterprise makes contact with an alien species, but they unintentionally offend the aliens. Vaughn Armstrong guest-stars as the alien Captain.
When the aliens leave they unintentionally infect Enterprise with a strange alien lifeform. The alien invader, like the Borg, tries to assimilate several crew members. It is nice to see crew who are not series regulars, though they could easily be regarded as Redshirts ...
This episode allows the supporting characters - specifically Hoshi, but also Malcolm and Meriweather the black guy - to better define themselves.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 23]
Fallen Hero
Shown 3rd June 2002 [Monday]
Enterprise is hailed by Admiral Forrest ( Vaughn Armstrong ), who has them take a detour to collect a Vulcan Ambassador ( Fionulla O'Flanagan ).
The Ambassador is the one who inspired T'Pol to become a space explorer. It is nice to see a Vulcan who is not the cliched stereotype. She gives good arguments for the Vulcan refusal to help Earth technologically.
The plot itself concerns, surprise surprise, the Vulcans' interfering in another society.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 24]
Desert Crossing
Shown 10th June 2002 [Monday]
Still en route to Risa, Enterprise answers a distress beacon. Clancy Brown ( Highlander ) invites Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) and Trip to enjoy a few hours of hospitality with his tribe of desert nomads.
As per usual, the friendly aliens have something to hide. Things turn bad for our heroes.
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 25]
Two Days And Two Nights
Shown 17th June 2002 [Monday]
The Enterprise finally gets to the pleasure-planet Risa. The senior crew all take a holiday, except for T'Pol who stays aboard. Captain Archer (Scott Bakula - Quantum Leap ) wants some peace and quiet, Trip and Malcolm want to meet some alien babes, and Hoshi the translator wants to learn an alien language. The black guy goes rock-climbing, and the Doctor hibernates. Is this a recipe for disaster?
As you can probably predict, nothing goes as planned. Archer gets an unwelcome reminder about the temporal Cold War, while Trip and Malcolm discover that the humanoid females so prevalent in the other Trek series are mysteriously missing!
Enterprise [Season 1, Episode 26]
Shockwave (1)
Shown 24th June 2002 [Monday]
Enterprise visits an alien colony. However, the Enterprise shuttlecraft accidentally creates a natural disaster. The political ramifications, according to Admiral Forrest ( Vaughn Armstrong ) are that Enterprise is recalled to base and Starfleet will be put back twenty years.
Of course, there is more to this than it seems. The series' tiny effort at a plot arc, the Temporal Cold War, gets another mention.
The end is a cliff-hanger. We will have to wait until next Season to see what happens ...
