The Enterprise investigates a decades-old mystery, the disappearance of a human colony on an alien world. The answer lies underground in the caves near the colony.
We're just five episodes into Enterprise (and that's if you're counting the premiere as two), but the show has already established some clear patterns. I think that's directly due to show creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, who wrote (or at least are credited for the story) on every episode so far. They continue to try to differentiate this Star Trek by having it be about "learning how to do Star Trek" -- and that does continue to make the show feel superficially different. But it continues to come at the cost of making the characters often look foolish.
That all feels magnified to me in this episode. The elements of this episode feel so familiar to a Star Trek fan (it feels particularly similar to the original series classic, "Miri") that the audience is way out ahead of the characters. Of course the "aliens" in the caves are the descendants of the human colonists. Of course this is a tale about people making bad assumptions on incomplete information. We've seen it all before.
That in turn makes the "dumb" moments feel extra dumb. Archer is kind of right to suggest that if he can't even make successful first contact with other humans, he has no business being the captain out here. Later, he basically makes Mayweather "do his homework" for him, assigning him the report to Starfleet about the mission. And the slang-riddled language of the Novans feels silly throughout.
But there are some good elements at the margins, if you look for them. Guest star Erick Avari (a veteran of Stargate and other science fiction) gives a mostly credible performance, despite the language. John Billingsley continues to show keen instincts in his portrayal of Phlox; the moment where he awkwardly raises his hands in surrender just because that's what Archer seems to be doing really showcases the character's alien nature in subtle, wordless moment.
The production values continue to amaze, compared to Star Trek that came before. The episode is filmed in part on a real-world outdoor location, where they actually bring a full-sized shuttlepod for set dressing. There's a big set piece about a cave-in when a shuttlepod lands, featuring reasonable VFX and an elaborate set complete with flooding water. (Though admittedly, the danger doesn't feel as real as the story demands.) The musical score is growing more daring, with conspicuous and unusual percussion -- and an effective interlude highlighting the Novans making music on "found" instruments.
And it's a low-key great episode for Malcolm Reed, even though he spends much of it off screen. He does what a security chief should, and takes point during the landing party's trek into the caves. He takes a serious wound and just sucks it up for the sake of the mission. And actor Dominic Keating actually does his own stunt at one point. At least, I'd call it a stunt, as he comes sprinting down a steep-looking hill (in a real-world location), where a stumble could have had real consequences.
Other observations:
- Established Star Trek directors continue to come help to get Enterprise off and running. Here, it's LeVar Burton in the director's chair.
- T'Pol gets a great dig in on Trip. When Trip says human children are made to learn all about ancient Vulcan space expeditions, she calmly challenges him to "name one."
- Early on, they're unable to detect lifeforms on the planet. Later, they're able to scan for them in the caves. What changes?
- Lots of leg injuries in this episode.
- Mayweather mentions another mystery, the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Star Trek: Voyager previously solved that one. (Or... would later solve it, by in-universe time.)
This episode feels a little bit too familiar to be truly great. And the major "new" element, the hokey Novan language, is a major distraction. But with nice character moments for T'Pol, Reed, and Phlox, it's not a total loss. I give "Terra Nova" a C+.
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