Enterprise is dispatched to retrieve a Vulcan diplomat being expelled from a post on an alien world. The Mazarites say ambassador V'Lar has committed a crime -- an assertion V'Lar does not protest. But she is clearly hiding something from Captain Archer, and this secret becomes critical when Mazarite ships pursue Enterprise. Through it all, T'Pol must reckon with the apparent downfall of a once-great Vulcan.
I'm often down on Star Trek stories that are too much about the guest stars. This episode isn't that; T'Pol is very much the central character. Still, the guest star in this story matters a lot, and the episode would be a lot worse otherwise had she not been cast so well. Fionnula Flanagan appeared once each on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and gets another weighty role here as Vulcan ambassador V'Lar. Flanagan plays the character as recognizably Vulcan, while being a great deal more open than you'd expect. She shakes hands. She thanks Hoshi for giving up her quarters. Where most Vulcans can be described as "cold," this character feels "warm."
Yet this writing of the character creates some tension in the storytelling. V'Lar is diplomatic and curious, as an ambassador should be. Yet this is at odds with the secretiveness necessary to drive the plot forward. She withholds information from Archer until Enterprise is thoroughly outgunned. She believes the Vulcan hype about how inept and untrustworthy all humans are -- even though she's coming fresh from an assignment about how not all society on a planet can be judged by the actions of a few. Basically, V'Lar behaves as a plot contrivance, and I think only feels realistic because of Flanagan's portrayal.
Jolene Blalock is gradually getting better at portraying Vulcan subtlety. Here, T'Pol doesn't want to admit how shaken she is that V'Lar has become tarnished in her eyes. She doesn't want to admit how disappointed she is that this "hero" doesn't seem to remember meeting her before. She doesn't want to be thought of as an advocate for humans, but when pressed, she very much is. It's a nice batch of changes for the character.
When it comes to Archer, though, I think the series has now dug a hole so deep that he'll never get out of it. When he decides he's had enough of V'Lar's secrecy and so is taking her back to Mazarites -- yes, it does seem like an action I could imagine any previous Star Trek captain taking. But where I feel Kirk would do it with swagger, Picard with cold firmness, Sisko with righteous fury, or Janeway with stern disappointment... Archer just comes off whiny. He simply gets cranky when people don't take him seriously, then behaves so childishly that you can't take him seriously
Speaking of Kirk, there's a rather Kirk-like bluff at the end of this episode, in which our heroes stall for time by pretending that V'Lar has been injured in the Mazarite attack. But it's Phlox who gives the masterful performance, acting with anguished outrage when the Mazarite boarding party appears to murder the ambassador. It's a fun moment for the character.
Other observations:
- This episode begins with what will be a running joke about trying to get to Risa for shore leave. T'Pol thinks the crew needs to have some sex -- despite this being the most overtly sexualized Star Trek ever.
- Trip packed a Hawaiian shirt for his posting on Enterprise?
- This is a fun exchange between Archer and Trip: "It's called a warp 5 engine." "On paper!"
The "mystery" of this episode -- what V'Lar was really up to and why -- feels a bit strained. But some nice performances (plus a deepening of Vulcans generally and T'Pol in particular) help the story out. I give "Fallen Hero" a B-.
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