636. Breaking the IceFORMULA: Amok Time + Ensign Ro + Masks
WHY WE LIKE IT: The Vulcans' hidden agenda...
WHY WE DON'T: ...so long as it's hidden. When revealed, it's kind of lame.
REVIEW: Two stories jockey for attention in Breaking the Ice. I like it when an episode of Enterprise feels like an astronaut mission, and their discovery of a giant comet in the first story, does. Not only is the awe and wonder well played, but we have things like answering questions for grade schoolers and the snowman (no worse than playing golf on the moon) as well. The school lesson goes on too long (the toilet question particularly unnecessary), but I appreciate the effort anyway. I never quite buy the surface of the comet as a real place (something about the gravity, I think), but the danger at the end feels real enough. Jeers on the reuse of the shuttlepod falling into a crack from two episodes ago. Still, the rescue is well handled.
Showing up to keep an eye on the operation are the Vulcans. Their large ships are seen here for the first time, and they're a thing of beauty. Lovely colors and shapes. I like how sinister their motives always seem to be. Star Trek has been good at making the villains seem a little more sympathetic, so why not go the other way with the good guys? The awkward dinner reminded me of The Undiscovered Country, and T'Pol proved herself a fair psychologist (or sociologist at least) by once again playing on a culture's motivations (humans here, Klingons before).
It's a bit unfortunate that the Vulcans weren't really there to oversee Enterprise, but rather to take T'Pol home to her waiting fiancé, because that's definitely the weakest part of the episode. Why? Because there's little reason for her to stay aboard. She's plainly irritated and/or bored with the experience, and the last few episodes just haven't done enough to make her loyalty to Archer justifiable. She says her culture is more important than her mission on Enterprise, so where's the dilemma. It's like we never see the other half of the debate. So when she chooses to stay and eat some pecan pie, the symbol of her rebellion against Vulcan falls flat. Yes, the episode brings her and Trip closer, leading the way to getting to know her better, but we just don't. Not yet. So her decision leaves the viewer cold.
LESSON: Did you know Enterprise's chef grows his own vegetables in a hydroponics bay? That and recycle "waste" back into food.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: A quiet episode with a few good exploratory bits, but the T'Pol subplot is a big yawner.
Comments