I'll give you "observer effect": ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Not too bad. But Organians? Soong's family tree? Newly logical Vulcans? This is the Season of Retcon, no question...

That was a very good episode, perhaps the best of the season…until the last 5 minutes. Then it became the preachiest, most melodramatic episode ever, with a nice little god in the box ending. To be fair, they gave us warning with the Andromeda Strain reference, which has a very similar ending (minus the aliens). The virus just went away.

Not one but TWO TWO TWO reset button executions for the price of one!

1.) People die and are resurrected.
2.) Memories of a key race are mind-wiped so they can still show up anew in TOS.

Reset THIS, Bermanga! I mean Coto. Whoever. Same difference. {Sigh} Where's Ron Moore when you need him? Oh, that's right...

Ok, so I lowered my expectations and...not so shabby. I'm not too upset about it being Organians. Archer didn't piss me off this week, and Hoshi and Maywhetherornot got something to do.



Well, Manny Coto has had a lot of shit to fix (seasons 1-3, I'm looking at you).

I liked it. The ending was preachy and a little over the top.

And boy, talking about cramming background information about Hoshi and Trip in one episode. But, it's about friggin' time.

"How old were you?"
"23 or 24." Hee.

About 3/4's of the way through I realized that there had been significant screen time for all the characters, even though for the most part it was when they were being "hosts". Still, what a nice change from the Archer/T'Pol/Trip show.

Alas, though, no Porthos.

I liked it despite the reset button and the humans are wonderful preachiness. I loved Trip and Hoshi in decon (something I never thought I'd say. I wanted to hug Phlox when he said no to the gel treatment). Trip's reactions to Hoshi's story were hilarious. I wish we'd gotten some of their stories 3 years ago, especially Hoshi's. That was a new aspect of her personality.

Was there some sort of explanation for why Archer took off his helmet? I think my UPN skipped a scene. I never saw the part where he and Phlox were arguing over who was more valuable which was shown earlier in a commercial break. It seems like it was pretty important since it convinced Organiweather to help. (Poor guy, he finally gets a big part and he's not even playing himself.)

Phlox said that he couldn’t work the equipment with the bulky gloves on, but Archer took his off instead because he figured the Doctor needed to be alive. I guess he took off the helmet because there was no point to it once the gloves were off.

I like it! Organiweather and OrganiReed. Hee!



Well, he is Archer. Can't expect him to be smart all the time--homeboy's been batting about a .254 average this season in the brains category; I'm just glad he didn't blow up the ship.

Thanks for the explanations. I just fast forwarded through my tape to see if I tuned out a scene (which has been known to happen with this show) and my UPN just skipped right over it. I'll have to see if they rerun the complete version.

Plus he needed the furrowing room.

My enjoyment was kind of dimmed as the episode went along because I knew (without spoilers) that a "moving" speech about the virtues of humanity would come at the end. I was mostly waiting to see if Archer would mention gazelles or the Anvil Directive of the Future.

Now this one I liked. I liked it so much that I'm willing to overlook the Reset Button usage. I especially liked how OrganiWeather and OrganiReed still spoke like Maywhatever and Reed without any wierd accents or head twitches. If the remaining episodes of the season are this good, I'll be one happy Trek fan.

Gah... just... meh...

Once again substituting exposition for true character development. No wonder no one cares about this show. This is why I have to be a closet fan.

That being said, I love Phlox. JB knocks it out of the park every time he graces my TV. And props to the makeup department, Trip looked absolutely ghastly. First time I DIDN'T have the urge to make triplets with him.

gazelles? what?

I liked this episode, even if the end was reset-o-riffic and preachy. Loved that Hoshi, Phlox, Mayweather and Reed actually had screen time. And the preview for next week was funny...

Archer in macho voice to Tellarite: "You look even uglier than the last time I saw you."

Didn't he mention gazelles or something in one of his "yay humanity!" speeches a couple of seasons ago? Every time he starts in with one of his "moving" speeches, I wait to hear about wild animals.

I really liked this episode, in spite of the fact that we've seen the "possessed by incorporeal aliens" plot many times before on several different Treks.

I know the Organians show up in TOS, and I even vaguely remember something about a warning beacon. Certainly TPTB are trying to connect some of the dots between ENT and the other series. If it seems clunky, I assume that's because it's hard to do. And since I barely remember the original Organian episode (Was that the one where there's a transporter mix up, and some of them end up in an evil twin parallel universe?) I don't really care if they connect the dots well or not.

I didn't mind the preachy speech. I'm sure I've heard Kirk give it before, but Quantum did it better. I really liked how Bakula made his voice go husky during it as he was coming down with his cough.

Sure, it was a deus ex machina ending, but that's what always happens when a Star Trek crew meets aliens so advanced that they can do magic.

I really really liked that you could always tell which Organians was which, regardless of who they were inhabiting.

I actually don't believe that a silicon-based virus could harm a carbon-based organism, but whatever.

What can I say? I liked it!

Was it just UPN in Boston, or was the teaser done mostly in complete darkness? I'm pretty sure the station just screwed up the video feed, but I wanted to check. I didn't get a picture until OrganiReed said "Someone always dies."

Bwaaaaa! You got me with "reset-o-riffic". Yeah, annoying, but maybe it was. I hated it, yet I'll still admit to being entertained in a bizarre way.

Well, I really liked it. It held my attention the whole way through and I thought the acting was very good. Nice to see that Park and Montgomery haven't forgotten how to act. Though, I would've liked to see Reed and Mayweather's reactions to two of their crew members almost dying. Oh, well. Also, I have to admit that I did get a bit teary at the end, when Trip was "dying" and T'Pol told Archer to let her know if he woke up. I think this might make her re-examine Trip and their relationship.

I liked it. It was better than last week. Seems like there's always a "good" one and a "bad" one.

I liked it, too, till the end. Bakula: "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille." The rest of it was great. I love Trip and Hoshi, and I was glad to see Hoshi and Mayweather get some actual lines. Good work by everybody except Bakula. Sheesh, is he the most wooden actor ever? I've seen mannequins with more personality.

Dead talking Hoshi was creepy, even though I knew it was going to happen the second Archer put that sheet over her face. I thought "oh he must be putting that sheet over her so that it'll look extra scary when she sits up later and starts talking."

But... don't the Organians have any way of communicating besides inhabiting people (dead or living)? What happens when they're not on a mission? How do they communicate then? I understand they need to communicate in a way that we viewers can see and hear it but still.

I have to admit I really liked this episode. Actually, the reset button didn't bother me at all, the humanity speech was thankfully short and, although furrows abounded, it seemed heartfelt.

Seeing Travis and Malcolm play chess got me all giddy because I was thinking, "Yay, finally some character stuff rather than tension stuff." Yeah, they got me for a twinkling.

When OrganiT'Pol mentioned about memory altering (was T'Pol or Archer) was it only me that thought Phlox has some experience where that's concerned?

The one thing I had a very, very, very hard time swallowing was that they never encountered this kind of behavior before. However, I suspended my rational thinking at that point and just enjoyed the way the episode unfolded, especially Hoshi drifting in and out of languages.

Me too, immaf.

Right after this episode, Danefriend & I had an hour to kill before Galactica came on, so we popped in "Errand of Mercy," the TOS Organian episode. People, we have seen a new day in Trek, when an Enterprise episode is better than the TOS ep to which it refers. Gah. I love TOS, but that was long, talky, and boring.

This moved along very nicely, and actually had me totally focused on the goings-on.

I'm so happy for Anthony Montgomery. He actually got a substantial amount of work! More tonight than in all of third season!

Archer was not an ass. Much. When that happens, I'm almost disturbed by the change.

Hoshi's behavior was interesting -- we should have known she had that much spunk, given her behavior when kidnapped by the Xindi last year, but it's nice to see it, both in backstory, and when she went nuts and started her walkabout.

And lots of Malcolm, yay!

Yay, a good ep! It's a shame that it took 4 years to finally get to Hoshi's backstory, but it was nice hearing it. And yay for Maywho, Reed, and Hoshi for getting real lines other than "Warp 5, aye, sir."

Yes, the reset button and the "Humans are the most special creatures in the entire galaxy" speech irked me, but whatever. In the case of Hoshi, they could've just left her dead, since she probably isn't getting any more screen time for the rest of the series. Of course, Archer has to be a macho man and take off his biosuit, but he surprisingly refrained from assiness.

Decent episode. I've come to expect preachiness in my Star Trek so Archer's speech didn't faze me. And I got a kick out of Hoshi's and Trip's stories. But now I want to see Hoshi demonstrate some of that spunk in upcoming episodes! Of course I wonder how many TNG fans would cry foul if she began a poker night with the senior staff of the ship?
BTW, if all these different races have landed on this planet and encountered this virus why didn't any of them leave a warning beacon? Maybe humans really are better...

Hm. Well, it's not stellar but it had its moments. My dog could have predicted the course of the episode once we found out the aliens' purpose in inhabiting Mayweather and Reed: they'd fall for the humans and end up hitting a big ol' reset button. I think the memory wiping was less of a cop-out than usual because it was kind of neat, especially Phlox's reaction to it.

However, that being said, there was plenty to like.
-I liked the opening with Malcom and Travis; their discussion of the simplicity of chess through me off until I realized what was going on (having been relatively spoiler free).
-John Billingsley was the savior of the episode.
-Archer and T'Pol being posessed when Phlox called them to Sickbay caught me off guard, and was sufficiently unsettling.
-Creepiest moment goes to Hoshi sitting up from under the blanket. It wasn't particularly unexpected, but it was a nice effect nevertheless.
-It's nice to see Hoshi and Mayweather still exist. Not that they blew it out of the park like Trineer and Blalock have done in the past, but it's nice they got actual lines.

Not so great:
-Trip and Hoshi coughing at the beginning. The later stages were handled better, but geez. A five year-old could do a better job when faking to get out of school.
-I wish we'd been able to see more of a difference between the characters being possessed and not possessed. You wouldn't think CRACK WHORING and the Furrows would be mimicked by noncorporeal lifeforms... and yet here we are.
-"Oh, you're not. You're not taking that suit off. Don't even....... Wow, are you stupid."

I thought the episode was okay. I really enjoyed the premise and I also liked that you could tell who the Organians were when they moved to different hosts. (Now which TOS aliens are the Organians again?). I liked the chess at the beginning. I loved Phlox, as always. I like Hoshi lapsing into different languages and breaking all the codes.

I was severely disappointed, though, that the Organians had their change of heart due to Quantum preaching. I wanted them to have their change of heart based on their own conclusions. I was actually expecting that to be where the episode was headed and so was much let down. Not by the reset or the miracle cure, which was expected, but by the unnecesary preaching.

Also, while it was nice to get backstory on why Hoshi was kicked out of Starfleet training, I though her comment about having a black belt seemed out of character. In the first season, Hoshi was always timid and often downright scared about most things. That to me didn't fit with her 1) having a black belt and 2) using her skills on a superior officer out of anger. I don't know. It just seemed weird.

So, my verdict is first 45 minutes: quite okay. Last 15 minutes: ugh.

Me too! Then I realised they were possessed and got annoyed. One of the few times we get character interaction and they're possessed by aliens? Also - all of Mayweather's lines were actually the alien, right? I don't think that counts as Mayweather getting lines!

The episode kept my interest though, so it was okay. I didn't like that Hoshi (then Trip) actually died, because the reset button was obviously going to be used. I think it would have been better if they'd just stayed comatose or something.

I really liked Phlox figuring out the aliens - it did seem really creepy when he saw Trip and Hoshi talking when they were supposed to be knocked out. That was well done.

Nice screen time spread amongst the crew (possessed or not) - this is what we've been wanting for years!! Not All Captain, all the time.

Little things that I liked: AlienReed being just as uptight as Reed, AlienHoshi being in command over AlienTrip, Hoshi complaining that all Trip's movies are the same, AlienMayweather earnestly asking a bemused Trip and Hoshi questions and the fact that it took place all on board the ship (well, apart from the small shuttle scene) and yet did not feel claustrophobic.

If someone could quickly give a lowdown about Organians, I'd be much obliged.

ETA:

I agree, Gilmel, but its what I've come to expect from Enterprise so I forgot about it. But, Word.

I thought the one alien was already sufficiently on the side of the humans already and Archer's impassioned speech managed to tip the balance for the other. Or maybe it was Dr. Phlox's disdain. He cracked me up when he was dressing them down.

Organians? I heard some weird comglomeration of Archangelism so I'm glad to hear that was wrong.

Hoshi is a blackbelt? You would think she wouldn't have been so intimidated in the beginning with that training.

All in all, I liked the ep.

So, so... Good acting from Mayweather and Hoshi, but not a lot else. It holds together, (barely) and the whole speech of Quantum reminds me of those Kirk's speeches of the 'have you no shame' variety that he would do to convince the baddie of the week to save the pitiful humans.

Some parts were ZZZZZZZZ... You could watch the first and last 10 minutes and barely miss a thing.

Sure signs of a successful episode. I liked it, too, despite some bumpiness at the end. I thought Bakula was better than usual during his speech, but still wooden. More Kirk-like than normal, which is good, I think.
And yet Hoshi? Still desirable, even all sweaty and disheveled and exposed in the midriff and... okay, I'm better now.
Well, that's a staple of classic sci-fi, and especially Trek: humans are special. This is far, far, far from the first Trek episode, and even farther from the first sci-fi story, to do that.

I'm echoing, but a pretty good on this ep. compared with that snorefest on valium last week -the transporter dramafest.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned greatly was the plot which was pretty simplistic but there weren't any obvious copouts or gaping plot holes. The story was very logically developped and progressed with good explanations of what was happening. Notably, the memory stuff, the protocols of non-interference, the pseudo-science of the silicon vs. carbon, etc. I haven't been seeing that much this season, (Smart!Clones were stoopid, transporter son in subspace?!, etc.)

Also enjoyed the acting. The performances were far more restrained and level than usual and it works to great effect. The gravity in certain situations tends to get lost when people start 'acting'. Hoshi and Trip in the decon room and particularly after they 'die' were very captivating with good mix of spooky and subtle internal conflict with the 'nice' one.

Yes, Archer got a bit preachy near the end, but it was short enough that my eyes didn't completely roll into the back of my head. I felt he could've put forward a better argument, put maybe that would be out of character by now.

And for some reason, when Trip laid down and the camera turned horizontally while they were in decon he looked extremely appealing and very... sultry. Is it just me? Or does Silicon Death make one look hotter? Hoshi was in prime form herself too!

It's Ali MacGraw's Disease.

To me, this was a 'half (or all) the fun is getting there' sort of episode. This is Star Trek after all, so you kind of know what to expect by default: speeches about how hyoo-mans are special (so special!), everyone's still alive at the end, and since it's Enterprise, you get Archer showboating and making those aforementioned special speeches.

What made me like this episode were the pleasant, well-written, and dare I say cute-in-a-good-way interactions between characters. Trip and Hoshi swapping stories, the banter and episode framing discussions between the Organians, and their awkward attempts to interrogate the crew. Oh, and talking dead people are always fun. Always.

All-in-all, an above-average episode that may be most remarkable for keeping an even level of quality and methodical but lively pace throughout. After last week's snoozer and the slow-boat-to-a-rushed-ending of the Kir'Shara arc, it's kind of refreshing.

And ArtificialLard, it's not just you. I was thinking exactly the same thing as Trip was lying down on the bench. Dying or not, warm and fuzzy Trip always gets me.

Yes, and that is my main problem with the ep. I can forgive the preachiness (it's Star Trek, preachiness is the rule, not the exception). I can forgive the Reset Button. But I hate that they trotted out the creakiest old sci-fi cliche ever: Humans are special and more clever, more resourceful, more surprising, more compassionate, more everything than any other species in the galaxy. I saw that coming almost from the very beginning, but I really hoped they weren't going to go there.

I did enjoy most of the episode, though. I enjoyed it, but I just wish they could have found a different route to the Reset Button (and was anyone the least bit worried that Hoshi or Trip wouldn't be resurrected?).

I liked it well enough. Not spectacular, but entertaining enough for an hour.

I totally agree, and I think the "humans are special" speech could've come straight from Kirk's lips. Now all we need is an episode where Archer destroys an omnipotent computer by forcing it to try to calculate an irrational number.

Anyway, I liked it. It moved along nicely, we got to see everyone for a change, and there were a lot of cool little moments (prime along them Phlox telling the Organians their behavior was "appalling," the Organians' running philosophical debate through a succession of hosts, and Hoshi opening the decontamination chamber doors).

Yes, Humans are special. The first race in blah-blah-blah thousand years to blah-blah-blah. Except for the fact that a Denobulan was willing to make the same exact sacrifice if necessary, and he was standing right next to the special human guy.

Mixed message much?

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good episode, and I especially liked the Trip/Hoshi scenes. And Phlox, of course.

But on the subject of Phlox, and related to Benito's point directly above about the specialness of humans v. Denobulans, I didn't understand how this was a valid or useful observation from the point of view of the Organians. The senior Organian kept emphasizing that they were measuring intelligence, not other traits. But the two main players in the search for the cure were non-human - Phlox and T'Pol. So even if the Doctor had come up with a successful cure, what would that have told the Organians about the intelligence of the humans? I suppose there were a couple other variables - were the humans smart enough not to infect the rest of the ship, etc., but the ability to find a cure seemed like a big part of the intelligence assessment.

Gosh, this episode is so..... I don't know.

I kinda liked it, and kinda didn't like it too

Like:
1) Hoshi and Mayweather
2) All cast members had lines and did something

Dislike:
1) I was sooo blanked out after work I just didn't know what was going on till Hoshi resurrected

I liked this episode, mostly because we got to see all the crew with substantial lines.
Trip and Hoshi were great. Dead, alive, period. (Yes, the lying down Trip was very cute. Thought it was great direction.)
I didn't mind so much that Reed and Mayweather were possessed during all thier lines because it seemed like the aliens possessing them were similar in personality to the characters. Liked the awkward questioning from both the aliens. You'd think from all their thousands of years of experience they'd get a bit better at thier jobs. Liked that you could tell which was which regardless of whom they were possessing.
Like others, I thought it was a bit much that humans were the most special species ever (and the corallary that they'd never encountered such behavior in thousands of years), but it's something I expect from Trek, so I just suspended disbelief on that one. On the plus side, it seemed to me that the "nice" alien was convinced through observation, and not the mercifully brief speech from Archer.
I thought Archer was considerably less ass-hattish than usual. Not surprised he was the one to take his suit off, since he has a well-documented death-wish. (Actually in character, that.)

I think NoMoKiss had that disease in that TOS Kirok episode, right?


Hee.

How could Mayweather be possessed by a superior alien and still manage to be such a cornball?

I agree that the "blackjack dealing, rebelling" Hoshi presented by that unnecesary backstory is quite out of character with the way they've been presenting her for four years.

What was the point of the Voyeurganians jumping into Phlox and T'Pol, just to immediately jump back out? That seems like a part that could've been left on the cutting room floor.

I haven't seen Quantum's Up With Humanity! speech yet. I'm looking forward to it. I just hope keckler can survive recapping it.

I liked some things and was irritated by others. It was not the kind of episode that makes people sit up and take notice – which Enterprise needs if there’s any chance to keep this series alive. (You know, if they would just give the writers the same salary as Scott Blech-u-la we might get some decent, not re-hashed stories . . .)

Good:
The story was mostly solid and the character interaction was nice.

All the cast got something to do.

They saved a boatload of money: all make-up and dialogue – and not even ‘alien’ prosthesis make-up.

Not so Good:
Hoshi goes from timid explorer to black belt spitfire with one backstory?

Not much tension when main characters ‘die’. We just wait for the reset button…

Archer’s hypocritical preaching about how special humans are and their capacity for compassion. Gag. The voyeur aliens should have asked him when was the last time he had a steak dinner and how that fits into how advanced life forms should treat other 'lower' species... Maybe if they had a Vulcan on hand to explain the illogic of it all. Oh, wait ….

This episode was all about the acting. The writing wasn't great, I don't think, and the plot was pretty simplistic, but the acting kept me from falling asleep. Well, except for Archer, whom I hate and no amount of non-assholeness is going to change that.

Ah, Travis. So very cute. So very corny. So why don't you just take of your shirt already?

I'm glad I'm not the only one who liked it. And i really didn't expect to, considering it was the Nth Trek episode where "something weird is happening on board and there are aliens taking over the crew's bodies," but I still liked it. Hoshi getting some development and Mayweather (sorta) getting lines was definitely nice. Though I thought Park overacted a bit during the "Hoshi possessed" scenes; the others who were inhabited by the same alien seemed a bit more...subtle. Archer really has a thing about dying while attempting to save someone else, though, doesn't he? I'm sure he must be thinking about what the history books will say about him, and that's how he wants the entry to end.

Also, at the very beginning where Travis and Reed were playing chess, before we knew they were actually aliens, I thought that the reference to how finite the number of moves was would lead to someone developing that multi-level chess board thingy we've seen since TOS. That would have been pretty cool.

Reading the replies, I don't think that finding out about Hoshi's floating Poker game four years in really misconstrues her character before. She probably got into the Fleet to do languages, figuring she could stay on the ground -- and then got put on Enterprise, she probably freaked about the idea of space. (That is, if I'm remembering her original character "presentation")

I really liked this episode. Watching the characters go about their daily routines (well, more routine that I've ever seen in trek) and then *freakily* start talking as Observers was entertaining enough that I tried to explain it to my roommate.

Like most people, I was okay with it all until the end -- when Archer did his whole "Humanity is an exceptional species!" speech. We've heard it once this season from Soval, and we hear it everytime there's an encounter with the Borg. Grr...

Oh, and I don't think that Archer's memory was wiped of the last encounter. He was grinning like he was much too pleased with himself and he had a secret to not know exactly what had happened -- if it were me, my joy at my friends being alive would be tainted by the idea of them coming back from the dead. (Ewwww...)

Interesting speech on compassion from Archer considering that he's the one who condemned an entire species to extinction in "Dear Doctor" but whatever.

Should I get too hung up on the whole silicon-based virus thing considering that the first Trekverse encounter with silicon-based life is supposed to be the Horta in the TOS episode "Devil in the Dark"?

At least they WERE dead, even if they didn't stay that way. Stupid Reset. Too bad it didn't get Archer.

I like those Organians. That's what it took to finally get some Malcolm/MayWho HoYay. A gimmick! But a gimmick wherein the actors exhibit more intelligence and personality than their usual suffocating characters. And...reset back to the losing-formula. One that's even worse than ripping off a done-to-death gimmick and not even improving on it.

Think we can lobby for a poll topic? "Worst Enterprise Reset?"

Didn't Spock do that, so it would be T'Pol in this incarnation?

This is also what I kept thinking. The emotional aspect of humans -- as they're dying, how the crew reacts -- was valid observation, but the solution to the problem was being worked on by the two non-human crewmembers. Also, they didn't observe Hoshi's language-shifting and her figuring out all the codes. That would be a sign of intelligence, I would think.

Also on the question of intelligence, how was the Klingons killing their infected crew not intelligent? Not compassionate, sympathetic, or caring, yes. Cold-blooded, yes. But if they have infected crew and don't have a cure, why is it unintelligent to kill them? The needs of the many outweight the needs of the one.

I didn't really think her poker game was out of character. I thought her black belt and her using those skills out of anger on a superior were.

I would think that would be a naive assumption on her part when joining an organization called StarFleet. Especially as they'd been trying to get into deep space for years.

I thought about that, too, but then I thought about what was being said. Natural development of a species vs. an accidental encounter. What happened in "Dear Doctor" was a biological development of that planet. No accident was involved. Nothing extraterrestrial (extraplanetary?) was involved. This was a different situation in that something from the outside, on a chance encounter, infected the crew. A warning would have sufficed to save them. A warning would not have sufficed to save the people in "Dear Doctor." And speaking of intelligence, why did none of the other species over those thousands of years put out some sort of warning device?