Title :
E2
Series :
Rating :
Overall Ep :
73
First Aired :
5 May 2004
Stardate :
Unknown
Director :
Year :
Writers :
Season Ep :
YATI :
T'Pol uses the transporter to beam out engine parts from the other NX-01. We're talking about working components with an awful lot of energy going through them. We're talking about using a transporter in one fast-moving ship to beam out something from another fast-moving ship. Yet not only was the transport a complete success, their removal caused no apparent damage at either end - no explosions from leaking plasma, etc. Okay so this isn't impossible, but how likely does it sound?
The writers have been careful to hide T'Pol's exact age from us, but we do know that whilst she is probably the oldest person on Enterprise, she is not excessively old - she's certainly far less than a hundred if "The Seventh" is anything to go by. Yet in this episode we see her 100 years older, and she looks ancient! Sarek looked like a Human in his 30s when he was over a hundred, and only looked in his 50s or so more than a century after that. Do Vulcan females live shorter lives than the males, or is there some reason T'Pol ages faster than normal - the Trellium maybe?
The aliens in the nebula are using the same type of ship which attacked Enterprise in "Silent Enemy". Yet they name the aliens as Corvallens, which we have seen in TNG and which look nothing like the "Silent Enemy" aliens.
Great Moment :
T'Pol talking to old T'Pol.
Body Count :
Unknown; probably some of the aliens died during the battle, but we don't know for sure.
Factoid :
The NX-02 is named in this episode; the Columbia, a nice reference to the space shuttle of the same name.
Plotline
Enterprise reaches the nebula and finds large numbers of hostile ships waiting inside. As Archer prepares to try and blast his way through they are hailed by another ship - the NX-01! It appears that Archer's attempt failed, and caused Enterprise to be thrown back in time by 100 years. Now the descendants of the original crew are back to lend a hand with the Xindi.
Analysis
There's nothing really wrong with this episode, though it's a little sad that it is so unoriginal - there are shades of both "Yesterday's Enterprise" and of "Children of Time" here. The cast do a pretty good job, especially Jolene Blalock, and the story makes a fair degree of sense. The time travel elements don't really hold up to logic, but then Star Trek stories with time travel never do so that's hardly an original complaint.
Really my only complaint here is that it seems like a pretty odd time to have a 'filler' episode which doesn't contribute to the main story arc.
