Enterprise Flashback: Shadows of P'Jem

An early fan favorite episode of Enterprise was "The Andorian Incident," perhaps in large part due to the reappearance of a Star Trek fan favorite actor, Jeffrey Combs. It should come as no surprise that the series' first notable "toe in the water" of serialized storytelling was a follow-up to that episode, with "Shadows of P'Jem."

When Andorians destroy the monastery where Enterprise exposed a secret Vulcan spy installation, the Vulcan High Command orders that T'Pol be recalled from her post aboard the human ship. She has time for one final mission to an alien world... but she and Archer are captured by hostile locals. To repay his debt to Archer for exposing the Vulcan's treachery, the Andorian Shran offers his help in mounting a rescue.

This episode has the whiff of "February sweeps" around it, with multiple veteran Star Trek actors putting in appearances in the hopes of enticing Star Trek fans to watch. While Jeffrey Combs' return as Shran is welcome, not every guest actor has a meaningful contribution to make to the episode. Character actor Gregory Itzin is one of television's most reliable weasels, but must subsume much of his oiliness beneath Vulcan decorum. The most un-Vulcan-like behavior is given to Gary Graham, who returns for just one scene as Soval, spewing venom and vindictiveness. (I guess this prequel is meant to show us that "Vulcans don't fully know how to Vulcan yet" just as "Starfleet officers are still learning how to Starfleet.")

Another oddity of wanting to air this episode during an important time for television ratings is that it feels like this sequel story is coming too long after the original. More episodes have passed between this episode and "The Andorian Incident" than there were between that episode and the premiere. As a result, it seems that the hot-headed Andorians -- enraged by the confirmation that Vulcans are spying on them -- for some reason waited three months to do anything about it.

But none of that is as awkward as specific moments throughout the episode. There's the Vulcan illogically assuming that hostage takers will behave logically. During the climactic rescue, there's a very distracting (and almost unheard of for Star Trek) use of slow motion. And let's not forget the extended, prurient scene in which Archer and T'Pol are tied up together -- a weak excuse to watch them rub up on each other before he falls face first into her chest.

Speaking of Archer, the writers keep digging a hole for the character, apparently determined to make him as unlikable as possible. He's chastised by Admiral Forrest for his lack of diplomacy. He whines that the Vulcans have no right to take T'Pol from Enterprise when they most emphatically do: she's their officer. He contrives to keep her aboard Enterprise in the end, without ever asking T'Pol herself if that's what she wants. And it's always dicey when a boss does comedy bits at an employee's expense -- as Archer does here to Trip, trying to convince the engineer he's being left out of a mission he's eager to go on.

Fortunately, there are a few good elements sprinkled throughout too. The action of the rescue is mostly well executed. Everything with Shran is entertaining, from Jeffrey Combs' performance to fun lighting to emphasize the character's articulating antennae. And it's another good episode for Phlox, from advice he gives to the only other non-human on the ship, to a very sly "lying without lying" moment at the end of the episode. (When asked if T'Pol will survive her injuries, he says only: "I wish I could say.")

Other observations:

• The guard who brings Archer and T'Pol their gruel is for some reason wearing parachute pants.

• T'Pol just straight-up lies in this episode, claiming she is the captain of the Enterprise and Archer merely a steward. Her captor then notes that Vulcans don't lie -- but T'Pol never gets a chance to justify her choice.

• At one point, Reed notes that there are only 15 phase pistols aboard the Enterprise -- and I have to wonder if this might be a "photon torpedoes aboard Voyager" kind of situation that doesn't hold true over time.

They say the sequel is almost never as good as the original. As a follow-up to "The Andorian Incident," I'd say "Shadows of P'Jem" proves the point. The parade of notable Star Trek actors helps lift it up to a soft B-, but I also feel that at this point, Enterprise has a long way to go in fleshing out the franchise's long-established-but-rarely-utilized Andorians.