And I won't be singing Madonna for the rest week. No, I won't.

Joel West is looking rough.

Wow. That was fun. Enjoyed it very much, so much that I'll watch tomorrow's rerun.

So, T'Pol is in Starfleet now, right? But still veloured? I don't follow...

I Laughed out loud when Quantum undid Spiner's handcuffs and made him fall down. Ha!

I still think the whole thing would have made more sense if the CRACK WHORE wedding episode was the ending of last season and this one was the start of this season. I think we were supposed to feel like more time passed than it did. (I know it was only two weeks, but it felt like they should have had more shore leave than that.)

Also, and I'm assuming here, was the Big Show in the credits the huge slave auctioneer? He rocked. More Big Show, please!

Oh, yeah, and didn't you keep thinking "Arrakeen" instead of "Raakin" because Alec Newman was in it? But oh, wait, Raakin was the other guy.

Why did Quantum bring Soong along on the rescue mission? I'd think that would be a time when you would -not- be wanting to have to keep an eye on a dangerous prisoner ...

Loved Soong and Phlox debating genetic engineering. They were a lot of fun together, and I'm hoping this won't be the only chance they get to interact.

Since I'm a WWE fan, I got a snort out of the sight of the Big Show, painted green and munching on the scenery as the jolly Orion slavemaster. The guy's 470 pounds of ham. The scene where he picked up the stone-faced T'pol and gleefully shook her around was hilarious

The story owed one hell of a lot to "Space Seed," but hey, you could do much, much worse when it comes to ripping off TOS. I can only hope the show is hitting its stride and we'll be in for more like this and less like "Storm Front"...

So, forgive me for asking this, but Joel West and his merry band of squalid supermodels are, like, earlier versions of Ricardo Montalban, right? My knowledge of the history is more than a bit scattered.

Though I did recognize the green chick for auction from the closing credits of the original series. Well, not this particular green chick, of course, but you know what I mean.

I think...Khan and his gang were earlier, actually, but they were shot out into space in cryosleep, which is why we don't see them until later. I'm very fuzzy on the whole Eugenics War thing (as, I suspect, the writers are too).

I thought it was an entertaining episode, although I've decided that I only really like Spiner as Data. His normal voice (I assume that was his normal voice in this ep) is too damn annoying.


Heh, yeah. When the "Augments" stormed the ship, I said, "So...it's 'Space Seed Part 2" then?"

Now that was a fun episode. Granted, this owed a shitload to "Space Seed," but it was fun, fun, fun, nonetheless. I was really scared that Ensign Jenkins was gonna die--but he didn't! Yay!

So why, exactly, is T'Pol still Veloured? Quantum congratulates her on being a Commander--in Starfleet? In the Vulcan High Command? Speaking of, she seemed to be acting more like a Vulcan than a CRACK WHORE.

Spiner was sufficiently creepy--very Khan-like.

Quantum's chair--damn, it looks more advanced than Kirk's first chair. Ze vuck? I just wish Quantum would actually sit in the goddamn thing. This should have been the season premiere. Oh, well. They had to tie up that godawful Alienazi bullshit as well as show us the Big Fat Vulcan CRACK WHORE Wedding.

I think I'm gonna love Manny Coto.

I missed the first 15 minutes. How did they get/meet Soong? Why did he end up on the ship?

I loved how Big Show picked up JB like she weighed nothing(which she practically does).

I had actually given up on this series but tuned in to see Brent tonight and was not let down. He does creepy sarcastic evil genius very well! I will certainly be tuning in next week and this show may have made it onto the VCR's record list.



Totally agree!

I loved tonight's episode. Hooray for Snarky Gray Brent Spiner and the Jolly Green Big Show. He certainly enjoyed himself as the Orion auctioneer and flinging T'Pol around like a doll. As for Dr. Soong...yeah, the crew does need a sense of humor. And a case of bran muffins.

Damn good stuff. Indeed, this should have been the season premiere. Hell, the stuff in the first act with the, "Here we are, all together" and leaving spacedock had that sort of feel.

As far as Khan, Eugenics Wars, these guys go... this is the timeline I can figure. First, there's the Wars-- either in 1996 or sometime in the mid 21st century, depending on how much of a purist you are. Khan is a big player in these, loses, and flees in the Botany Bay and sleeps for two hundred years. Some of the augmented embryos from those experiments got frozen and put at the Cold Station, and then in the 2130s, Soong stole a bunch of those, messed with them some more, and made a bunch of babies. Who he raised for 10 years, then he was captured, and the Augments raised themselves for 10 years, and got sick of that and took a Klingon ship.

Was the Klingon captain at the beginning the same guy who played General Martok? The voice sounded very familiar...

Much better direction for this show than usual. I think it might even still have a pulse. No, ...wait a minute, that was just gas.

Heh, Demian. One recaplet and now you're a regular? ; )

As has been mentioned, Khan was definitely earlier.....1996 sounds about right for the Eugenics Wars.

Damn move...I missed tonight's episode. Oh well...I'll catch the repeat tomorrow night. Gotta say I am not a big fan of established Trek actors playing other characters in the Trek franchise so I'm a little weary. It would be like if Leonard Nimoy should up playing a smuggler or something. Just seems wrong.

The plotting was okay (sort of), but the dialog was clunky. Especially in the scenes with the Augments.

Loved the bit when Shrek picked up T'Pol and waved her around.

But... a compass? Leaving aside the fact that there's no reason for T'Pol to cherish a human artifact, what kind of a lame gift is that to someone who lives on a starship? All it will do is align itself with Enterprise's magnetic field -- that means it will probably always point to the warp core or something. Or in this episode, maybe it would always point towards Great-GrandData's handcuffs. Hey! They should have used that!

Yes, that was Martok. I recognized his voice also so looked for his name in the credits. I can't believe they made such a bit deal about Spiner and never mentioned Martok (and then killed him off in the first 5 minutes).

Other than that, I really enjoyed this episode. I was actually intriqued by the teaser (which never happens with this show) and am looking forward to next week. I'm very happy about the attempt to explain Klingon/Human relations during Kirk's time.


I do agree with this. I picked up my book during most of the Augment scenes.

After Quantum welcomes T'Pol to starfleet with a couple hundred year old compass, was I the only person wondering where exactly a compass points IN SPACE ???

Excellent get back to good non alien nazi episodes. I even liked how they had Trip trying to figure out to be friendly with the CRACK WHORE he has fallen for but knows he can't have in that way any longer.

Wonder what Soong will think about the fratricide.

I loved this episode. A Big Show sized step up from "Storm Front". There was so much I liked in this ep. I don't know where to start.

I was pretty cautious about Spiner, but I loved him in this. I hated all of the , "Look! Brent Spiner can ACT!" episodes of TNG, but that all went away with Arik Soong. I hope he becomes a recurring character or something.

The Augments were alright. Too bad Paul Atreides killed that other guy. I thought he was kinda hot.

Words can't describe how much I loved the Big Show. He was just so big and jolly I couldn't help but like the big guy. I laughed when he made his comment about T'Pol outselling his last wife, and I felt his pain when T'Pol (with her uber Vulcan strength) kicked him where it hurts.

I haven't been this excited over Enterprise ever. Here's hoping next week keeps the momentum going.

So the writers decided to let Trip descend into wienerdom. See, when you don't have the balls to stand up for the woman you love, you end up being her friend and asking her how her honeymoon was. Boy, that guy looked pitiful.

Man, T'Pol always gets sold into slavery, doesn't she?

Dare I say that I enjoyed that episode? It wasn't great, but I liked it. I think that had a lot to do with Brent. Can he be in every episode? I laughed out loud at him, and I don't remember the last time I laughed at an episode of Enterprise. With the collar up on his jacket though I felt like he was channeling Johnny Smith from The Dead Zone. First time in forever that I've been excited for next weeks episode.

And I did a happy Martok dance when he was on, even though he died. I was very excited. I lurve me some Martok.

That was a really fun episode. Spiner injected some much-needed levity into this series. I haven't had the same sense of adventure from Enterprise since "Broken Bow."

I thought SuperMuad'Dib and his Fremen were thrilling villians and Quantum is an idiot letting them dock with Enterprise. I squealed with delight when he said, "I'm going to attack you," then used his Weirding Way to out-flinch Reed and the Uh-oh.

Other thoughts:

The handcuff release and Quantum's reaction was hilarious.

Between playing SuperMuad'Dib and Drogyn, Alec Newman has had the worst wigs on TV.

Only thing that bugged was T'Pol's CRACKWHORING. She made up for all of it by cold-clocking the Orion guy.

I loved Ensign GAME OVER, MAN! About time we had someone in 40 years of Trek get freaked out when they're abducted by aliens and sold to slavery.

Really like Quantum's recycled captain's chair (see the deleted scenes for Star Trek: Nemesis) and thought he finally looked captainy on the bridge.

SuperLadyMacBeth got on my nerves with her plotting but I like the shout-out to Persis Khambatta and I was really touched when she opened Arik's cell and said, "Persis." Aww.

Best line of the episode, "Take my advice, learn to speak Klingon." Hee!

I can't wait for next week. Good job, Manny and Co.

Heh. I've been watching all along. It's just that my brain is a little too full of wacky Wiccan hijinks to allow room for any Bermaga crap on top of it all.

I have always thought there had to be some kind of connection between Noonien Soong and Kahn Noonien Sighn. I hope that gets clear before this arc is over.

Not during the sit-table briefing with all her colleagues, no. It might still be affecting her brain in other ways too as she said, "My government" regarding Vulcan. But then again, why would Bermaga bother with any of the little things like her own decisions to switch careers and possibly changing citizenship, when comments about inappropriate outfits streamline everything?



Urgh. I want him dead.



But of course. I'm betting if worse comes to worst and this shit doesn't get cancelled at 100-episodes, Bermaga will find some way to make T'Pol responsible for the miniskirt-uniforms. Or next week.

Poor Martok. At least he died at the hands of someone worthy of killing him. Between Martok and Paul Atreides, it was gratifying how they made the others look even worse than usual, bit players, regulars, and that includes Data even if he weren't already dead to me for being such a screen-hogging sleazebag in "Nemesis."

Damn those mullet-wigs.

I'll say one thing for GrandData. It actually felt nice to see the Furrows humiliated by this slightly less-annoying blowhard. But shut up anyway, GrandData. As for Paul Atreides, I knew he wouldn't murder the Furrows but that still didn't stop me from cheering him on anyway.

Well, not bad. I loved when Shrek picked up the CRACK WHORE and shook her around. Maybe she can be his fourth wife.

Trip really should have tried the Kalifee (or whatever the Hell it is called); at least then, he wouldn't be walking around like a weiner.

Not!Data was pretty funny, and the handcuffs thing was actually clever. Go figure.

Looking forward to next week.

I can't help feeling like there was a lot of action for very little result. The whole thing between the Augments was bo-ring, but necessary to make us relate to the characters, I guess. The Orion slave market was fun, but kind of pointless, ultimately.

Overall I liked it. Spiner bugged for a bit when it felt like he was Data-doing-a-weird-voice, but then I accepted him as this character and forgot about Data.


I know! JG Hertzler deserves more than that. I was really distressed because I thought he might be his previous Enterprise character, from "Judgment". But that guy was a lawyer, sentenced to Rura Pente. So his story to get from there to here would be very interesting, and I doubt they'd have killed him off so quickly.


I couldn't decide whether T'Pol was touched at the gift, or appalled that her captain was such a stupid, stupid man.

I'm glad that the Enterprise crew has a new villian with Soong and the Killer Supermodels. And Alec Newman is all over the place. He was also recurring on Angel in its final season.

The Killer Supermodels got tiresome with their own internal struggles, but within the confines of everything else, they do make great antagonists.

Yay! Who knew one could buy T'Pol on the intergalactic version of Ebay? Personally though,I would rather get the orion slave girl!

Damn, this 'Orion Syndicate' endures... didn't it last all the way to DS9?

The pretty augments were like,bad models trying to act. The were chosen 'cause they were pretty... the Aug's uniforms are like from an earlier Madonna video.

Soong killed a Shrek! You bastard!



Amen,Amen, Amen Cleo After allhe did as Martok in DS9 (best.klingon.ever) he deserves his own damn special 3-episode arc. The weirdest TV sighting of JG Hertzler, he played a gay gallery owner on a couple of episodes of 6FU. That was a double take for me.

The most amazing part? They spared the life of 'fraidy ensign!!!. I thought he was dead meat for sure.

Brent Spiner was better than average, at least the usual scene-chewing was fairly limited.

Yay Manny Coto! Feel the love!

I really liked the Orion Slave Girl; a great reminder of TOS' "The Cage" and "Whom Gods Destroy." Can't get enuff of them Orion wimmin.

I liked it a lot. Spiner was great and definitely injected some energy into the show. I like characters like this (and to some extent Shran) who can call CQ on his crap.
And Big Show was indeed awesome.

And seeing J.G. Hertzler again was great (and word to the fact that Martok is the best Klingon ever).

Give it a couple of eps.

I wonder if Khan Singh and the other supermen from Space Seed will end up being mentioned? If only for their mysterious disappearance.

So is this Dr. Soong the same guy as the Dr. Soong in TNG aka Data's father? The dude certainly likes creating superbeings. And was he the one who created our favorite genetic superman, Khan "This Chest Is All Montalban, Baybee" Noonian Singh? If so, he certainly figured out how to live a long time, among other things.


Word! I squeed when I saw his credit and his face on screen.

So this is the legendary Orion Syndicate. A bunch of Shreks and intergalactic hussies.


I figured T'Pol was just humoring Quantum.

I'll be very disappointed in this mini-arc if we don't have one "KHAAAAAAAAN!!!"

Was there anyone else half-expecting a younger version of Khan to show up? And I kept waiting for Archer to shout out "Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!!!!!" Since it's the start of the story arc I suppose it's theoretically possible. Overall an enjoyable ep. Looking forward to seeing "Borderland part 2, Attack of the Supermodels!"

Maybe we'll get "Maaaaaaaaaaaaaliiiiiiiiiiiiiiik!" instead. C'mon, Coto, you know you want to.

Arik Soong (ENT) is apparently an ancestor of Noonian Soong (TNG). So Arik Soong must have a biological child, or is going to have one.

Count me in with those who loved this episode. I thought it was great. I loved Quantum and Soong at the slave market with Quantum locking and unlocking the cuffs at opportune moments. T'Pol and Shrek were hilarious. And I kept expecting the freaked out Ensign to bite the dust like a TOS 'red shirt'.

I kept comparing the Augments to the transgenics from Dark Angel and not Dune. Soong was Lydecker or Sandeman. Persis was Max (Maxis?), only not as bitchy. Raaken was Zack (Zaakeen?). And Malik is, of course, MmmAlec (tm Kim, I think). Even the name Malik sounds like a shout-out to Kim.

I wasn't sure how I felt about Brent Spiner's guest whoring, but HE SHOT the Captain!! Sqeee! I like him just fine. He should stay and shoot the captain more often.

Was anybody else hoping Mayweather would scrape the hull of the newly painted ship against the space dock when leaving in a little head nod to "Broken Bow?" Just me? Okay.

This episode WAS fun. Thank God for Manny.

They were supposed to be pretty, weren't they? Am I the only one who thought they were all kinda ugly, especially for genetically engineered people? All those fiveheads, too.

I liked Mal's "I've heard all I can stand" in response to "You need better PR." Also I liked the round table moment with them all in their civvies.

I don't think Trip's being a weiner, I think he's being pretty mature about the whole thing. This is not first season Trip anymore, is it? He's growing up nicely.

Phlox rocks. God, I love it when he disapproves of somebody and puts the smackdown on them.

One thing about Spiner -- did anyone else feel that the mannerisms and voice inflections he used were just a retread of Lore? I used to think he was such a good actor (he really has been excellent before) but I saw a lot of Standard Spiner.

He had some great lines though, like the PR one above, and "Are they naming the prison after you?"

I also missed the first 15 minutes, so I missed Martok as well. Noooooooooooooooooooooooo! This also became a problem when the two Augments were talking like they were siblings and then started to mack. Yipe! Certainly added a squicky new dimension for me.

The Augments reminded me of rejects from Hercules.

So, the Denobulans have been using genetic engineering for centuries, eh? Now we know where the tounge comes from, I guess.

I don't want to sound like I'm beating up on Trip, but he is going to have to "grow" a little more if he wants to get the girl next time. Trip let T'Pol make the decision, while Koss decided that he knew what was best for her and backed her into a corner. Guess who got the girl -- the alpha male. If he wants to be captain some day, he is going to have to become more of a take charge guy. Like Kirk, who thought nothing of changing entire cultures if he felt that they were not developing in the right way.

Ah, I get it. I hadn't realized your tongue was firmly embedded in your cheek.

Spiner may have been channeling Lore a little, but I don't care because he plays assholes so well.

"I made it all the way to Sausalito"

So I wonder who's the poor schlub/intern that had to write out all those meticulous notes in Soong's cell?

Malcolm: "What would they want with a Klingon Bird of Prey?"
Umm, transportation? Tactical advantage? Nah, just joy-riding.

Ho-ho-ho, Green Giant! I wonder if Jolene Blalock was thinking, "Hey, bub, watch the hands!"

Even with the weak spots, best episode in a while. Great humor. And it teaches us that, strength-wise, it goes:
1st Augments
2nd Orions
3rd Klingons
4th (distant) Humans

Soong's cell reminded me of Neal Stephenson's latest trilogy, which he wrote entirely "by hand on 100% cotton paper using three different fountain pens: a Waterman Gentleman, a Rotring, and a Jorg Hysek." In case you were wondering, those three books are really long.

Major Healy, where do Vulcans fit in on your strength continuum?

In no particular order:

• Fair to solid first episode of a three part arc. Pacing was a little slow during the Orion scenes with the panicked ensign going on too long, unless there's a payoff down the line.
  
• Production standards have been cut. I know others have said this, but I hadn't noticed until it was obvious that Big Show was holding a T'Mannequin when presenting her to the bidders.
  
• Curious if Lady Mac-Augment's name, Persis, was in honor of Persis Khambatta, who played Lt. Ilia in ST:TMP and passed away in 1998.
  
• Dug the Augments' duds--very Khan-esque and apropos. Unsure of the acting, but they all looked like refugees from a Bowflex infomercial.
  
• Liked Archer's gift to T'Pol. Perhaps a shout-out to Kirk's glasses in Khan (though those were needed). The compass metaphor was okay (finding her way and all that).
  
• There was non sequitur in Archer's initial dialogue with Soong. First, he said that the Klingons were massacred; then he said the Klingon crew was jettisoned. Perhaps Grand-Martok will return in the next two episodes.

Hopefully the next two eps have more genuine tension.

I couldn't decide if it was a TManniquin or not. It's possible she stiffened like that to make it easier for Shrek to lift her. After all, Jolene probably weighs close to 90 pounds.

I thought it was an idiotic gift. In space, a compass will align itself with the prevailing magnetic field. I'll bet T-Pol already knows how to find her way around enterprise.

I didn't see the beginning of the episode, but I suppose that if the crew were jettisoned into space, that would certainly count as a massacre.

Thank you for pointing out who this was! I knew he was familiar but couldn't put my finger on why. Or maybe I was too distracted by his ratty mullet.

I enjoyed the episode, but found myself wondering about all the real damage you could do with those remote handcuffs. I mean, what happens if you're scratching the back of your head with one hand, when someone activates those cuffs? Does your other hand come up with force sufficient to crush your head? You don't want to be standing up at the urinal when someone activates those things, I bet.

Those scruffy Augments annoyed, though. What were they raised on anyway? Bad Masterpiece Theatre ripoffs? Their whole melodramatic way of talking... I just wanted them to shut up and go back to fighting stuff.

If Keckler doesn't like this episode, I'm expecting one of the blurb titles to be "Bore-derland".

I liked this ep a lot, but could that Orion Slave Trading Center have looked more cheesy?

Colored lights and lots of gauzy material hanging around? Did they pattern their lives after a 1980's-era prom theme? Instead of "Chicago Mobs of the 20's" is their holy book the "How to direct 'Whitesnake' videos" manual?

That being said, Big Show looked massive next to T'CrackHo, but he didn't look that huge compared to the other folks.

And, I'm glad that -- of the three lines Linda Park will no doubt get this season now that they're back in space (back to "hailing frequencies open, Cap'n)-- Hoshi got to take part in the round table discussion.

nsf, oh yeah... assuming Orions can do a little better job of protecting their nether regions:
1st Augments
2nd Orions
3rd (tie) Klingons and Vulcans
5th (distant) Humans



Haha! Too bad for us all the "holes" in their clothing were in the PG-rated areas.


My wife called it right away. It's moments like that and the compass gift that make her pick up her book.

And I agree! More Hoshi!