monkee reviews 'The Andorian Incident"
First Impression: Best episode yet! Well-conceived (maybe), well acted, and wonderfully directed by Roxann Dawson.
As Time Goes By: Just a word about my reviews, first. In time, I'm sure I will become less biased, and more critical. For now, however, I'm just enjoying this too much, and I'm willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt until everything shakes out. I have been an ardent Trek fan since the early 70's, and this show is appealing to my deep-rooted affection for the entire franchise. Look at tonight's episode it had a Vulcan monastery! It had Andorians! They even mentioned IDIC, for crying out loud! I'm going to like an episode for that sort of thing, alone. And this episode went beyond that appeal, and did many other things right, too. In these early episodes, they seem to be setting the stage for much more. If they follow up, the series is going to be great. If they don't, it could be trouble. Time will tell.
This episode was a nice combination of action and character development. The events on the planet surface unfolded in an intriguing way, giving us plenty of insight into the Vulcan/Human dynamic of this era. I also liked a lot of the details, including the way Archer figured out what was on the other side of the stone face. Once again, a conversation with T'Pol encourages Archer to think outside the box, or at least make an effort to come up with a slightly less violent plan than letting Reed beam in and start blasting. We even got a surprise ending! Okay, so it wasn't that big a surprise there were plenty of hints for the discerning viewer. But still, we couldn't be absolutely sure until the end. A straightforward ending would have been disappointing, but it's not like that hasn't happened before!
Imperfect Humans: The humans in this series are constantly commenting on other alien's features (the Andorian's antennae, the Vulcan's ears), which is immature and unenlightened even by today's standards. And Archer claims that the Vulcans are arrogant, yet he's frequently too dismissive of their philosophies. Don't get me wrong I think this is a GOOD thing. In fact, my biggest fear is that it's completely unintentional on the part of the writers. I would love to see the humans on this crew begin to grow out of some of these flaws during the course of the series.
Who's Arrogant Now? Archer's holier-than-thou outrage when the Vulcan's duplicity was uncovered mystified me. Humans have had an alliance, of sorts, with the Vulcans for a hundred years! Don't they deserve the benefit of the doubt? Even a small one? For all Archer knows, the Andorians could be plotting to take over the entire quadrant. They could even be engaged in, or supporting, terrorist activities. Certainly the individuals we saw here weren't very nice they leered suggestively at T'Pol, and even threatened to behead the hostages. The Vulcans could have a darned good REASON for spying on them. How does he know they don't? Did he ask them? T'Pol goes along with him, so I guess we're supposed to assume that the Vulcans are in the wrong, here, but are we sure? Can we even be sure of T'Pol? Maybe she knew about the array all along.
Vulcan Espionage? That was a hell of a sensor array! Why do they need it? What are they doing with it? The Vulcan's disregard for the treaty contradicts what we know about their honor and their honesty. There has to be a logical reason behind it there just HAS to be! Maybe I'm being overly optimistic (I do have that tendency), but I'm convinced that there's more going on here than meets the eye, and that these events will be followed up on later. At least I hope so! My opinion of this episode will go down if they aren't.
Meanwhile, back on Enterprise...I thought Reed did a terrific job in command. "I don't take orders from a comm voice," indeed. And he seems to be the only crewmember, so far, to question the landing party procedures (or lack thereof). Sato didn't have a whole lot to do this week, since Andorians apparently speak flawless English <g>, but I'm glad she wasn't the only crewmember to balk at the transporter.
On the other hand, perhaps the security officers should be made of sterner stuff! 'Aw, do we hafta? I don't wanna!' I'd like to see Worf get a hold of this wienie
Blanket Talk: It's only the sixth episode, and they've already got Archer and T'Pol sharing a blanket! Seven YEARS of Voyager, and I never got to see Janeway and Chakotay share one! Humph! Seriously, though, at least their close proximity enabled them to have a more meaningful conversation than they might normally have had. I enjoyed this scene because it brought out a basic difference between the two species, with T'Pol arguing for non-violence, and Archer arguing for 'a little bit of violence.'
Humans you STINK! I got a kick out of T'Pol's revelation that she needs a nasal suppressant in order to work with humans. It seems only fair after all the smelly Klingon jokes we've been subjected to in recent years, not to mention the Bolian toilet humor. It was a little rude of T'Pol to say it to Archer's face, but she's been listening to the humans complain about Klingon odor for nine weeks now!
The Andorians: I love the new look! The moving antennae were a lot of fun. They did a nice job of keeping the Andorians consistent with our limited knowledge of them from TOS. And Jeffrey Combs rocked he was just born to play Shran! I hope to see the Andorians again!
Plot Holes: Well, the episode wasn't perfect. There were, in fact, plot holes big enough to fly a shuttle through. I tend not to notice these things, but they've been pointed out to me, and I'd be remiss not to mention them.
Those were the major offenders. Granted, it's sloppy, but I thought the episode's good points more than made up for the inaccuracies. For example...
Character Interactions: I mentioned the Archer/T'Pol blanket scene already. I also liked the way Archer and Tucker worked wordlessly together in the beginning, trying to jump the one Andorian they'd spotted. And I also liked that, despite giving T'Pol a hard time, they did believe her when she said something seemed wrong. My favorite scene in the episode, however, was the Phlox/T'Pol conversation in the mess hall. More alien bonding, just like last week! Phlox admits that he sometimes feels out of place, but also gets T'Pol to see that the Vulcans and Humans may be closer together than she thinks in terms of their appreciation of diversity. Great stuff!
'Shipper Watch: Archer and T'Pol shared a blanket! They must be in love! They're certainly starting up with the innuendo early in this series, aren't they? There are already A/T and T/Tu sites popping up on the internet. Personally, I love the innuendo, so long as that's all it is, for now. It's fun, it's harmless, but it's too soon! Besides, I'm a jaded J/Cer. I won't get fooled again!
Archer Watch: Well, he sure got the cr*p knocked out of him, didn't he? I think we're going to see a more action-oriented Captain than we have in recent years. I'm okay with that it sounds like fun. As I mentioned previously, I thought he came up with a clever plan, and I think he made a good effort to work with the Vulcans, up until the end. I don't know what to make of the ending. I very much want his decision to hand over those scans to the Andorians to be WRONG. I want his actions to come back and bite him in the butt this time. I'll be disappointed if they don't, because I didn't care for his superior attitude. He may not like the Vulcans, but he could have at least looked into why they felt the sensor array was necessary.
Best Lines:
"You call that agitated?" (Tucker, to T'Pol, referring to the Vulcan elder)
"Now THESE guys are agitated!" (Tucker, to himself, referring to the Andorians)
"If anyone has a suggestion, I'm all ears. (pause) No offense." (Archer, to the Vulcans)
"For people without emotion, you sure have a flair for the dramatic." (Tucker, to the Vulcans)
"Fellas..." (Trip, greeting the Vulcan honored dead)
"I admire your ethics, but right now a LITTLE violence might help." (Archer, to T'Pol)
"Phew! I don't think those robes have been washed since the time of Sarek!" (Archer, play-acting for the Andorians)
Rating: I'm going to go out on a limb here and give this a 9/10. I loved it, despite the plot holes. And I'm hoping there was more to the ending than meets the eye. If there wasn't, I may change my mind later.
Next Week: The close-up look at the comet will be fun, but the preview really didn't tell us much about the actual plot of the episode. According to TV Guide, however, T'Pol has a secret...Should be fun!
Postscript: The Official Jeffrey Combs Fanclub announced today that Jeffrey Combs has signed on to do another Enterprise episode as 'Shran.' Woo-hoooo! Maybe I'll get my wish! And a good, recurring character could only help the series!
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