Enterprise: Breaking the Ice

Here's a small peek behind the curtain about my reviews of Enterprise. I'm actually many episodes ahead in my viewing, beyond what I've been able to keep up with writing about. And while I would like to close that gap at some point, there are moments when the lag between the two helps lend some perspective. It is with that perspective that I now offer this "hot take": the most pivotal episode of Enterprise's first season (and thus, perhaps, the entire series) is "Breaking the Ice."

The Enterprise encounters a comet, and Archer decides to send Reed and Mayweather down to land on it for some exploration. When a Vulcan ship arrives, seemingly to observe the Enterprise more than the comet, Archer tries to play nice. But he must ultimately swallow his pride to ask the Vulcans for help when an accident jeopardizes the landing party. Meanwhile, T'Pol receives unsettling news from Vulcan, and can only discuss it with Trip.

"Breaking the Ice" is notable as the first episode in which neither Rick Berman nor Brannon Braga have a writing credit. They'd crafted the script or story for every episode to this point, setting the course for the series. Here, two staff writers -- Maria Jacquemetton & André Jacquemetton -- are the sole writing credits. And I think this is significant because "Breaking the Ice" is not a good episode; indeed, it's the worst episode to this point.

I'm not saying that this episode marks any kind of big tonal shift from what's come before. I'm certainly not saying that the episode lacks any "Berman and Braga magic." But this is a weird, meandering episode that seemingly lacks enough story to fill 42 minutes, and doesn't really have much in the way of action or suspense.

No doubt Berman and Braga had some role in this -- that's how writers rooms work, and showrunners ultimately give their "stamp of approval" to every episode that goes out. (Even if it goes only because the clock has run out.) But I can easily imagine those two looking at this weak episode -- and it is objectively dull -- and saying to themselves, "see what happens when we relax the reins and let someone else write an episode? We're the only people who understand our show." I think Berman and Braga looked at the failures of "Breaking the Ice," decided to assert their will even more upon the show, and that then set the course of it for the rest of its shorter-than-normal-for-the-time run.

First, there's what's nominally the main story: Reed and Mayweather explore a comet. There's some dressing up of the idea -- it has a rare mineral; it's bigger than any other comet ever seen -- but this is ultimately this is all just to show us something that looks different for Star Trek. We've never landed on a comet before! And yes, those sky-high Enterprise production values make it look pretty good too, both in space and on the surface.

But not much happens once we're there. They build a snowman. (Which, come on, looks nothing like a snowman is supposed to look. Three stacked balls, people! Not this weird baby bottle nipple blob thing.) They blow a big hole in the comet, which for some reason is necessary before they can drill (but is really necessary just so they can cause themselves some jeopardy). Then, because the show is somehow already running out of ideas, a shuttlepod is lost in cave-in, exactly as it was just two episodes ago.

Even less is happening on board the ship. An unbearably long scene about recording a message to school children back home seems to be a long setup for a poop joke. Phlox drones on about germs in a way that's not quite funny. I guess I like that we're seeing the characters unwind a bit in a moment that's not about crisis, but it robs all of what little momentum the episode had. Another scene, nearly as long, is about hosting the Vulcan captain at dinner. There aren't really any real stakes there, either -- it's just a thin comedic premise about the Vulcan being rude (without realizing it? I doubt it), and Archer twisting in the breeze.

The one subplot that works here -- though it has nothing to do with anything else -- is T'Pol receiving word that she must leave Enterprise for her arranged wedding. I like the "odd couple" pairing of T'Pol and Trip as the characters who must talk through the differences in cultural values between Vulcans and humans. Seeing Trip be thoughtful and kind here makes you realize that in so many moments we've seen him in the series so far, he's been rather standoffish and belligerent. (He's had Archer acting even more so as "cover" to this point.) It ends up being nice growth for both characters. And the conclusion is well-written too: there's no big speech in the end where T'Pol announces her decision in an un-Vulcan way. Instead, we simply get it from context.

Other observations:

• The episode opens with physical letters and drawings that Enterprise has received from school children on Earth. How did those get all the way out here?

• Shouldn't the cliche be that Trip likes key lime pie, not pecan pie? He is from Florida, after all. But then, that fact itself is chaotic and strange, after they asked Connor Trinneer to do a Southern accent (which sounds like no one from Florida I've ever met).

I suppose there are nice character moments throughout the episode. But they come almost entirely separated from anything like a "plot." The episode winds up feeling meandering and dull. For the worthwhile Trip/T'Pol subplot alone, I'll give "Breaking the Ice" a C+. But it's clearly the weakest Enterprise episode to this point.