652. Desert CrossingFORMULA: Final Mission + Attached
WHY WE LIKE IT: Authentic location work.
WHY WE DON'T: Too little political depth to make its point.
REVIEW: A second chance at Risa falls apart when Enterprise changes course to help a ship in need (it's Enterprise's Metebelis 3), which turns into an invitation to the opposite kind of planet - a desert world. The ebullient Zobral is an interesting character, generous though "easily offended", and while he has a hidden agenda, he's nonetheless a man of honor. When he turns out to be an enemy of the state (oops!), the Palestinian allegory becomes clear, though as we'll see, the show is fuzzy about what it's trying to say there.
Some may say that the hospitality portion of the story goes on too long, but I've come to expect Enterprise to make situations seem more authentic by lingering on the details. After an elaborate meal and intriguing conversation, Trip and Archer are invited to play a sport not unlike lacrosse, and play it they do. It has little to do with the plot, but it makes this culture, this invitation, this location, seem real. Nice desert wear on the boys, too.
After the bombardment starts, Archer gets to prove himself as an outdoorsman again (I like this aspect of the character a lot) by crossing the desert with the less abled Trip (he's a little goofy and useless, as usual). The survival story is good and again, authentic, with good bits like Archer phasering water clean, but it lingers on moments too. I might have sacrificed the "playing geography" scene for a little more background on the planet's political situation to inform Archer's unproven comments at the end about Zobral's cause being just.
I do like how Enterprise's reputation is starting to precede it, with the escaped Suliban from Detained exaggerating their story and turning Archer into a superhuman warrior all too willing to wage war on the unjust. Zobral at least realizes his mistake and fixes that mistake after a little posturing from T'Pol and Reed. His enemies, however, barely get above the status of faceless threat.
LESSON: Never accept an invitation before you know where the party is held.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Great location work and an authentic first contact story suffers a little from under-explained stakes.
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