Enterprise 0109 – Civilization

A test review done on November 14, 2001

LEAD-IN

SYNOPSIS

ANALYSIS

Civilization: How Many Hands in the Cookie Jar?

The Prime Directive apparently has Vulcan roots. While it’s clear that the Federation will adopt this standard sometime in the next hundred years or so, it’s cool that our intrepid crew is going to stumble about for a while. Ever since the original series implemented the Organian Peace Treaty, the Trek writers have managed to write themselves into a lot of straightjackets. How nice that the crew of Enterprise gets to tourist around in Bermuda shorts, Maui shirts, and socks with sandals.

One of the hallmarks of the history of Star Trek has been the Prime Directive. This albatross has constrained every captain since Kirk — though it must be said that Kirk’s adherence to the Prime Directive was very spotty at best. But what if… WHAT IF… the Prime Directive didn’t exist?

One of the fun things about the original series was knowing that Kirk was a young Captain still trying to ensure that he’d be getting some at every port of call. After the emasculated and effeminated captains the franchise has had in the past couple of decades, it’s a… well, let’s just say it’s a relief. No shipboard romance to create story difficulties that can’t be resolved. No locking himself in his readyroom with a good book. Nope, none of that. Love ’em and leave ’em Archer. He da man.

And how about Riaan? She fell for that “somebody was coming” routine without too much fluster. Maybe she’s been kissed before on stakeout.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, right. The Prime Directive.

While hesitant to reveal too much to Riaan, if only out of deference to the sense that T’Pol made earlier, Archer isn’t above having a Phase-pistol duel in a street filled with Prime Directivees. Nope. First things first, stop the bad guys. If we happen to end up with a world based on gangland Chicago as a result… well, that shouldn’t be a problem for at least a hundred years or so. Why worry?

One of the cool, yet distressing, things about Riaan was how calm she was with all of the strangeness going on around her. She barely batted a forehead ridge upon witnessing beam weapons and flying machines. Yeah, the transporter effect made her clutch, but it had already been a long day.

Still, like everyone else who didn’t happen to be Enterprise crew, it seems like there is more to Riaan than anyone knows.

The one very interesting twist was the discovery that the Suliban were connected to the mining operation (assuming the very Suliban-looking alien was, in fact, Suliban). No big deal was made of this, which was very un-Trek. It was more Babylon 5 than Trek — and that’s a nice change. Was Garos lying and was he in fact Suliban?

Big irk — once more using the transporter to save the day. For a machine that nobody wants to trust, it’s getting used quite a bit.

Smaller irk — someone’s got to give the big E some shield technology. If they’re going to be fighting ships with shields, better weapons, tractor beams, and who knows what else, a hunk of our crew in blue are going to find themselves spaced during one of these attacks. Starfleet might be proud that they can polarize the hull, but it doesn’t seem to be worth squat when it comes down to a fight.

Archer and T’Pol are beginning to forge an interesting relationship. Now that they no longer bristle to be in the same room as the other, they are beginning to dance their own dance. T’Pol’s suggestions, such as studying the planet from orbit, aren’t angrily dismissed out of hand. Instead, Archer moderates his space-cowboy approach. Instead of simply taking a ship down to the planet, they do some linguistic and cultural analysis. They land on the outskirts of a city. They wear disguises. And T’Pol isn’t openly defiant about it. Perhaps that Pon Farr bridge burning she did galvanized her own resolve to help the humans keep from being killed from their own good intentions.

Technobabble snafu — if Garos’ ship was in geo-synchronous orbit and the Enterprise was orbiting at five-hundred kilometers, then the ships should have been in sight of each other every ninety minutes or so.

OK… suspension of disbelief time. This is a list of constants that must be ignored:

– Accepting that the Captain, First Officer, Chief Engineer, and Chief Communications officer will all go down to an unknown situation together. That’s not going to change, so no sense fighting it.

– That the translation matrix mysteriously makes the user’s mouth move appropriately for the native language spoken.

– Porthos is confined to the Captain’s quarters and doesn’t just run around pooping all over the ship.