Enterprise Flashback: Storm Front

Across the many incarnations of Star Trek, it was fairly common for the first episode of a new season to be the conclusion of a two-parter. It was quite rare for it to be the beginning of a two-parter, as was the case with Enterprise's "Storm Front."

Enterprise has been thrown back in time to Earth during World War II... but it's an alternate history where, with help from mysterious aliens, the Nazis have invaded the United States. Will Enterprise and Captain Archer each realize the other has also been transported through time, and reunite? Can the Nazis be stopped? What does all this have to do with the ongoing Temporal Cold War? What has happened to temporal agent Daniels? And what is the Suliban Silik doing here?

"Storm Front" was both a "part one of two" and a continuation of a cliffhanger. As I noted in my review of the season three finale, the writers didn't just wrap up the season-long Xindi story, they decided to play chicken with the network and challenge the show's possible cancellation by ending the season on a cliffhanger. While the gambit did work, I gotta say: I don't find the idea of this episode to be that compelling. Voyager very much got to "our heroes fight alien Nazis" first with their own two-part episode. (And, with decidedly less "alien" aliens, the original series encountered Nazis too!) If your cliffhanger is going to be just a quick tease like that, I feel you need to tease me with something I don't feel like I've seen before.

But in execution, there are some different elements here. The fact that this is no mere holodeck simulation raises the stakes. The Nosferatu-like appearance of these aliens, combined with their Nazi regalia, paints them as doubly-evil villains. And it's a hell of a thing seeing an image of the White House, one wing gutted, proudly advertising its allegiance to fascism.

(pauses; stares directly at camera)

On the other hand, Star Trek: Enterprise has been going back to the same well a lot when it comes to other aspects of this episode.. We just came off an entire season that featured cliché "villain moots" in almost every episode -- and now we get more between the aliens and the German Nazis. The completely nonsensical nature of the Temporal Cold War has escalated to the point where no story involving it can hold up under the slightest scrutiny. (Seriously, don't even bother asking why Silik is "good" all of a sudden.) This stuff is wearing thin.

So... just try and roll with the action, because (for the umpteenth time) that's what Enterprise does well. An aerial dogfight between a shuttlepod and airplanes is great fun (even if the CG renderings show their age a bit). Archer and gangsters team up against aliens and Nazis -- that's just gratifying on every level. Trip and Mayweather set their shuttle to blow up big when they're about to be captured.

And a few of the less action-oriented moments do land. Alicia Travers' experiences of living in Brooklyn under Nazi occupation don't conveniently omit the overt racism. The concept of an age-ravaged Daniels, subjected to all manner of temporal shenanigans, feels appropriately horrific. The reactions of Porthos to the apparent death, then return, of Archer pull on the heartstrings in just the right way.

Other observations: 

• I don't think we need to bring up again how Vulcans don't believe in time travel. T'Pol is on board at this point.

• Unlike the continuing story of season three, this episode ends with an explicit, on-screen "to be continued." The show is telling the audience that no, we won't be fighting Nazis for an entire season.

"Storm Front" is rather fun, but it also feels like well-traveled ground for Star Trek. I give it a B.