Thursday, October 24, 2024

Enterprise Flashback: Silent Enemy

By halfway through the first season of Enterprise, each of the seven main characters had had at least one episode centered on them... except one: Malcolm Reed. Then, with "Silent Enemy," the writers made the unusual decision to create an episode all about how nobody actually knows anything about Malcolm Reed.

When Enterprise encounters a mysteries species that turns out to be hostile, Archer faces a return back home for a weapons upgrade before continuing the mission of exploration. But in quieter moments between alien encounters, Hoshi Sato is at work on a special assignment from the captain. Malcolm Reed's birthday is approaching, and Archer wants to acknowledge him by having chef prepare his favorite food... if only they knew what that was.

There's no getting around it: this episode is pretty terrible for all the characters. The writers are hanging a lantern on the fact that they haven't bothered to flesh out one of their characters, and it feels like an elaborate punking of actor Dominic Keating. This is finally "his episode," you'd think, but he's actually not in it much. This is the moment we'll learn about Reed, but by the end we only know that he's secretive and reclusive, has allergies, and likes pineapple.

All the other information we pick up in the episode is about other people in Reed's past. He comes from a family of Navy men. (What would the Navy even be like in the future of a unified Earth? What would be the point?) He has a sister and two living parents, and a former Starfleet Academy roommate, all of whom profess not to know anything about him.

We get quite a bit of other characters in this episode, but none of them come off looking especially good either. Phlox basically violates doctor/patient confidentiality to help Hoshi. Trip had a girlfriend, we learn, but the long distance relationship didn't work out. T'Pol once again gives great advice that no one wants to listen to -- if you want to know about Malcolm Reed, ask him. Hoshi is so awkward in her sleuthing that she's mistaken by Reed for having a romantic interest.

Not that that last one is really Hoshi's fault, because Archer set her on this "mission." His behavior in this episode is most chaotic of all. At a time when Hoshi is trying to configure communications relays so that everyone can talk to loved ones back home, Archer has her drop everything to plan a surprise birthday party for Reed. (Even if this is a priority, literally anyone else would be less crucial right now to task with that.) When Enterprise comes up against a superior enemy, Archer refuses the  suggestion to ask the Vulcans for help, for no discernible reason other than straight-up racism.

And yet, as bad as this episode feels for all the characters, it feels equally and oppositely good in its "A plot" centered on the mysterious aliens. These unnamed adversaries are one of the creepier things Enterprise has done to this point, and their behavior feels genuinely alien and unknowable. What makes them escalate from observation to aggression? What was their shrill, static-filled transmission -- a threat or an unanswered greeting? (Or something else?)

When the aliens ultimately board Enterprise, we get a long, suspenseful sequence with dark lighting, well composed music, and very little dialogue. The aliens are CG, allowing a look that's a step or two distant from "human actor in makeup." Their attack leaves people comatose, arguably even scarier than if the victims had been killed outright. When they return yet again near the end of the episode, it's with a taunt stitched together of Archer's own words, like a ransom note cut from magazines. In short, I'm really into everything about these aliens. (Even if their ship, being green, kind of reads like "Romulan" early on.)

Other observation:

  • Archer at one point refers to "Mount McKinley." In the time since the episode was made, the mountain's name has reverted to what it was always known as by the indigenous population: Denali.

I really feel like they did Reed (and everyone else) dirty in this episode. But they also managed to present a truly alien race, and build genuine tension and suspense. (And if I recall correctly, these aliens never recur, so this menace is never later undermined.) In all, I'll give "Silent Enemy" a B-.

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