monkee reviews 'Fight or Flight'
First Impressions: Two things. One – I adore Hoshi Sato, and Two – uh…excuse me? You're not really going to leave that poor slug on a whole new PLANET are you? Hello? Hello?
Hoshi Sato: At first, I was torn about Hoshi Sato. On the one hand, there's an overly sensitive feminist inside of me thinking 'Oh, sure – they made the WOMAN the scaredy cat. How typical.' I mean, couldn't they have made her the space boomer, and made Mayweather the screamer? On the other hand, though, maybe it's just no big deal. Besides, I thought her actions on the alien ship were completely understandable. I think that when one sees 15 dead, green alien corpses hanging upside-down on hooks as a noisy alien contraption pumps fluids out of them, screaming and hyperventilating would be a perfectly natural response. I find that I can relate to Sato. I am nothing like Major Kira or Captain Janeway – but Sato is someone I can really understand. I think that's true of a lot of people, and I'm glad they've chosen to show this in at least one character. When we do venture out into space, we may stumble into some pretty strange stuff. It may not be everyone's cup of tea! But you know what? Sato is going to be just fine. (In fact, she's probably going to fare a whole lot better than 'Sluggo,' but more on that later…) I think she's just having a few growing pains. Sometimes people choose a career and don't really understand what they're getting into, and Sato's having an early reality check. What's going to pull her though all of this is her passion for her work. This is what I love best about Sato – the obvious joy she finds in linguistics. "Every inhabited world that we come to is going to be filled with language," she tells Phlox. I think that when she finally got through to the Axanar, it was a pivotal moment for her. She truly knows now what she's doing out there.
Linda Parks: She's a wonderful actress. She had a whole gamut of emotions to run through in this episode, and she did it beautifully. I loved the awkward foot-dragging in her scenes with Archer, her open vulnerability with Phlox and Tucker, and her terror on the alien ship. When the away team returned from the first away mission, you could see her stomping and slamming things around. She was clearly angry – at herself, mostly, for 'screaming like a twelve year-old,' but she may also have been a little angry with Archer, or the situation in general. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it was nice, subtle acting. Mostly, though, I love her excitement about language, particularly her stunned triumph on the bridge when she got the Axanar leader to understand her. That reminded me of a similar scene in one of my favorite TNG episodes, 'Darmok.'
Nice Moment: In the past, I have criticized Star Trek writers, so I do like to point it out when they've written an elegant scene. On the alien ship, Sato is miserably confiding in Tucker, telling him that she's going to ask Archer to bring her home. While they are talking, she is also trying to get the translator to understand enough of the alien language to send a distress call, so she keeps saying the word 'distress.' She IS in distress, but she's saying the word for a completely different reason. Nice.
The Villains: We never find out who they are, but they sure are creepy! They disable ships, kill the crewmen, and then harvest compounds from their blood for reasons as yet unknown. Nasty. They remind me of Voyager's Vidiians, and maybe the Hirogen, too. And they have mean-looking ships. I'm quite sure we're going to see more of them.
The Axanar: Enterprise makes its first official first contact with an alien species, The Axanar. It was their crewmen who were killed, and another of their ships that eventually, with Sato's help, came to the aid of Enterprise when they were about to meet the same fate. They were mentioned, but never seen, several times in the original series, so this was a nice nod to continuity and Trek tradition. Now we know what they look like, and also that they're androgynous and live for four hundred years!
Sluggo: [monkee clunks her head on the keyboard in despair] Okay, I understand what they were trying to do with the slug – they were comparing its inability to adapt and thrive in a new environment with Sato's struggles. I get it. But...sigh. Sato shouldn't have taken it in the first place, especially if she didn't even know what it ate! I could understand it if Phlox had taken one (for careful study, not bat food!), but Sato apparently just picked this up as a souvenir, or a pet! That's just irresponsible! And when it failed to adapt, what did they do? They plunked it down on a completely different planet! I'm no ecologist, but even *I* understand what a horrendous environmental faux pas that is! I don't mind the writers taking the occasional creative liberty in their story telling, but I can't stand it when they make our characters look bad (Janeway's 'Endgame' temporal shenanigans) or worse, stupid! Even now, in the early 21st century, we would know better than to stick that slug in an entirely new environment. Bad for the new, unsuspecting ecosystem, and even worse for the poor slug!
But enough griping. Let's move on to something that DID work...
Code of Behavior: Let's face it, this situation would have been a no-brainer for Picard, or any of the other future Captains. With long range sensors in place to warn them of unexpected company, any of these other Captains would immediately have taken down the victims, ascertained who they were and what happened to them, and attempted to contact their people. They wouldn't even have hesitated, and we, the viewers, wouldn't have questioned that – in 24th century Trek, it's an established code of behavior. But this is the first starship, and Archer is the first Captain. Every situation they encounter is new – they aren't always going to know what to do. They have to figure it out as they go along. I like that they have to debate, argue and wrestle with their consciences. They are establishing a new code of behavior for space exploration – and we're going to get to see them do it.
Xenophobic Vulcans? The Human vs. Vulcan debate was particularly interesting this week. T'Pol thinks they should be cautious and mind their own business. Archer wants to be helpful and thinks this IS their business. Both of them have some good points to make. I'm a little surprised by the Vulcan's attitude. If they aren't all that interested in exploration, what are they doing out there? You have to wonder why they even bothered to land on Earth to investigate Cochrane's warp ship, and why they've taken such an active role in humanity's quest to get into space. I'm looking forward to finding out more about the Vulcans of this time period. Perhaps all will be explained over the next seven years.
Future Imperfect: What a refreshing blast of reality! The ship travels for two weeks at warp five without encountering a single interesting thing. The sensors can't detect anything that isn't right on top of them and unshielded. The targeting scanners can't target. The universal translator doesn't work worth a damn, and don't even ASK about the transporter! I love it! I think Trek writers and viewers alike were getting complacent in the 24th century series. This should be a lot more fun!
Aesthetics: Just an observation. The ship is brown and gray, inside and out. The uniforms are dark, with only narrow strips of color. The sets, at least in these first two episodes, have been gray and dimly lit. I understand why they're doing this, and I know they're trying to establish a mood and a new look, but frankly, it's getting visually dull! I'll be as happy to see blue sky and green trees as the crew will next week!
Character Update: It's Sato's episode, with some Archer and T'Pol tension thrown in. We do learn a little bit more about some of the others, though. Tucker, for example, is so eager to explore that he begs to be allowed on away teams, and even wants to know what the corpses looked like! We also discover that Reed is as serious and meticulous about his weapons as Scotty and LaForge were about their engines. He also REALLY likes to blow things up. It looks like Phlox is going to be acting as unofficial ship's counselor and confidant from time to time, when he's not busy staring at or sniffing people, and speculating about their sex lives. So far, I like his enthusiasm, but I suspect it could get old quickly. We still don't know too much about Mayweather, but I'll be patient.
Oh, and that Porthos is ONE CUTE PUPPY! Have I mentioned that I love that there's a dog? In fact, I'm mad, now, that Janeway didn't get to have one.
Character Interactions: I liked Sato's scenes with both Archer and Phlox. The Archer/T'Pol/Tucker trio continues to be interesting to watch. They certainly have a lot of dinners together. If they aren't careful, they're going to be the subject of a great many triad fanfics...
Archer Watch: When I reviewed Voyager, I had a 'Janeway Watch' section in which I examined her performance as Captain. In the interest of equality, I see no reason why I shouldn't keep an eye on Archer, too. It should prove interesting, even though I'll be able to excuse a lot of Archer's mistakes by virtue of the fact that he's the first Captain, just as I was able to excuse Janeway's mistakes because she was in a unique situation far from Starfleet. Well, Archer was just lucky this week, right? If it weren't for the Axanar, he and his crew would now be upside-down on hooks, draining fluid, and the show would be over! Well, this is what happens when you decide you aren't going to avoid confrontation. If they're going to become involved with the space community, they're going to have to take some chances. I also liked the way he was with Sato – concerned, but also inspirational and firm. And I like that he's struggling with his actions, and is willing to go back and change his mind once he's re-evaluated a decision.
Best Lines:
"My people don't share your enthusiasm for exploration." (T'Pol, to Archer)
"Do you think they might let me watch?" (Phlox, to Tucker, regarding a couple preparing to mate)
"I screamed like a twelve year-old. Nobody else screamed." (Sato, to Phlox)
"Every inhabited world that we come to is going to be filled with language." (Sato, to Phlox)
"They were crewmen. Murdered on their own ship. Fifteen. Dead. Crewmen." (Archer, to Tucker)
"Humans have a code of behavior, too. It took us a few thousand years, but think we're starting to get it right. I can't believe that I almost ignored it." (Archer, to T'Pol)
"I need you to do this. We all do. That's why you're here." (Archer, to Sato)
"It isn't exactly like the place you came from, but it's close enough. It's not that hard to adapt." (Sato, to Sluggo, and, in the slug's case, she's probably WRONG!)
Rating: 9.0/10. Yep. I liked this one, too. I should have taken off more for the whole slug thing, but I don't want to be too picky. Yet.
Next Week: Strange New World. Blue sky. Green trees. Tents. Lots of yelling and some kind of cave creature. Looks like fun!
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