monkee reviews 'Unexpected'
First Impression: Hilarious teaser, good first half, lame conclusion.
Happens Every Day, Right? Not only is this the first human male pregnancy, it's also the first known inter-species pregnancy involving a human. Wouldn't you think everyone would be a little more...I don't know...freaked out? Excited? Horrified? Something? I expected better from a series that's trying so hard to put the novelty and strangeness back into space exploration. This is a great episode right up until Tucker finds out he's pregnant, but it goes rapidly downhill from there. There are no meaningful ethical debates about the situation at all. None! Even if you're going to play something for laughs, you have to at least touch on the issues. They didn't bother. I suppose they bypassed some of the controversy by making the fetus have genetic material only from the mother, but still... it should have been considerably more complicated, for Tucker, and everyone else. They could have, and should have, done a lot more with this entire concept.
Pregnancy Humor: I'd have been disappointed, but I could have accepted this as a straight comedy if it had been well...funny! Instead, in the second half, we're subjected to only moderately amusing stereotypical pregnancy jokes. Trip has a big appetite, and nipples on his wrist. He wants to childproof engineering. Don't get me wrong it could have been a whole lot worse. I was afraid we'd get every sit-com pregnancy joke in the book the weepiness, the morning sickness, the cravings...actually, if you think about it, they used considerable restraint, for which I'm grateful. But it still wasn't all that funny. Even T'Pol's deadpanned Spockian quips fell flat, and so did the big revelation on the bridge.
A Few Good Belly Laughs: Ironically enough, they were more successful with the humor in the first half of the episode, before they committed to turning it completely into a light-hearted episode. Archer's shower scene, for example, was brilliant. I haven't laughed so hard since the Voyager Doctor's Pon Farr song. Zero-G humor I love it! And you had to love the look on Trip's face when the Doctor told him what that thing on his arm was. "I beg yer pardon?" So, I can't condemn the episode completely. It probably shouldn't have been a comedic episode, and AS a comedic episode, it left a lot to be desired, but it did have its moments.
The Xyrillians: This part of the episode worked well for me, too. Tucker boards the alien vessel to assist with engine repair, and actually has to go into a decompression chamber before and afterwards. Then we get to see, and hear, the alien vessel through him, before he's recovered from that experience. It's the first time I remember an alien ship seeming so alien! Food growing on the walls, grass on the floor, eel creatures in tanks, weird lights and sounds. I loved it, and I liked Ah'Len, as Tucker got to know her. She was nice, but kind of creepy, too. It's a shame we'll probably never see the Xyrillians again, because it would be interesting if there were more to them than met the eye. Maybe they have a more sinister reason for always tapping into other warp cores. And maybe they routinely impregnate hapless alien men...
Okay, probably not. But it's too bad.
Ah'Len: She and Tucker had nice chemistry. I wish we'd learned more about her. It's difficult to believe that she'd engage in reproductive activities with someone without telling them, even if she didn't believe it would be effective in that sense. Maybe she thought he knew it was an intimate act. I would have liked a few more lines of explanation for her behavior. She did have one exceptionally nice moment. When she realizes that Tucker is carrying her child, you can really see the joy of an expectant mother on her face. Nice acting by guest star Julianne Christie.
A few other random observations...
Something for Everyone: A nude Archer in the shower? Tucker in his bright blue, apparently standard issue, Starfleet underwear (again)? All right! I'm not saying it's classy, or particularly admirable, but at least it's fair. I had to have Seven's breasts thrust in my face every week for four years of Voyager, and they're clearly going to do the same with T'Pol, but at least they're going to give ME something to stare at, too. I'm not proud of myself, but I think I can live with that.
The space dog can do tricks! Say it with me, everyone Awwwwwwwww!
The Universal Translator: It still works a little too well, but it's definitely an improvement over the mystical, magical translators of the past series. I like that it has to work through the languages at first, word by word. Out loud. It's probably not logical, but it is cool.
Holodecks: I'm not bothered by the appearance of a holodeck on the alien ship. It just happens to be something they have it doesn't mean they're going to get one installed on the Enterprise. At least, I sure hope they aren't. I think Trek needs a break from that particular story-telling shortcut. I did find her explanation of the technology interesting. I've never truly understood how they're supposed to work, but now I get it. The perspective changes as you move through it. I think it would make my head spin, but whatever...
Klingons: I liked the use of the Klingons here. They were relentlessly aggressive, and almost completely dismissive of the space rookie humans. Only T'Pol's reminder about the outstanding debt from the premier (continuity!) earned Archer any consideration at all. And I liked the menacing threat at the end. The Klingons of this time period SHOULD be something to be avoided.
Voyagerism: Uh-oh. With only five minutes to go in this episode, Tucker was still pregnant, and Enterprise had only just intercepted the Klingon ship. Voyager did this sort of thing all the time trying to resolve a complex story line at the very last minute. I hope it doesn't become a habit for the Enterprise writers, too. They only barely managed to scrape together a satisfying ending this time.
Character Interactions: I liked the Archer and Tucker exchanges over the comm system, while Tucker was on the alien ship. I hope we get to see a lot more of this friendship. Archer seems to appreciate Tucker's enthusiasm, but also knows how and when to reign it in. I was also pleased to see Phlox dining with the Captain and Commander. It will get dull if it's ALWAYS Archer, Tucker and T'Pol. I also enjoyed the conversation between Phlox and T'Pol in the beginning. As the only two non-humans on the ship, you'd think they would form some sort of connection.
Archer Watch: Well, he treated Tucker's dilemma pretty lightly, and wasn't very sympathetic, but I suppose that was just the ill-advised nature of the episode. He certainly didn't seem very Kirk-like during his confrontation with the Klingons, and, in fact, needed T'Pol to step in and bail him out, but I LIKE that. This is the first Captain and the first crew they SHOULD look bad now and then.
Best Lines:
"It's difficult enough having to smell all of this. Eating it is out of the question." (T'Pol to Phlox)
"If we had one of those on board, I can only imagine what it'd be used for." (Reed, to Tucker, regarding the Xyrillian's holodeck)
"That...is a nipple." (Phlox, to Tucker)
"I beg yer pardon?" (Tucker, to Phlox)
"One of the first things a diplomat learns is not to stick their fingers where they don't belong." (T'Pol, to Tucker)
"This lift is a death trap!" (Tucker, to someone in engineering)
"What you need to do is to turn your puny ship around and leave." (Klingon Captain, to Archer)
"I can see my house from here!" (Klingon Captain, to the Xyrillians)
"It's a girl, huh?" (Tucker, to Ah'Len)
"Listen to me very carefully. Our debt is repaid. We have no interest in...meeting you again. If we do, I promise you'll regret it." (Klingon Captain, to Archer. He sounded like he meant it, too!)
"The only thing worse than spending three hours in a decompression chamber with a bunch of Klingons is to do it twice in one day. I smelled things in there I hope I don't ever smell again!" (Tucker, to Archer and T'Pol)
A Word about Bakula: He seems to have a real flare for comedy, if the shower scene is any indication. I only recently caught him in an episode of 'Quantum Leap,' and made the same observation (the man was wearing a dress gotta admire that). I don't know if he'll get a chance to use that fine comic timing all that often as Captain Archer, but I do hope to see it now and then.
Rating: It was a tough call this week, but I'm going to go with 8/10. It's my lowest rating so far, but it's not dismal. I thought they copped out by not seriously addressing any of the complexities of male pregnancy, but I really loved most of the first half of the episode, particularly the scenes on the Xyrillian ship. And Archer's shower scene!
Next Week: Enterprise checks out a human space colony that no one has heard from in a while. Sounds intriguing. I'm fascinated by the 100 years between First Contact and Broken Bow, so I'm looking forward to it.
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