So, what'd I miss?

Now THAT's more like it. Lost of Shran! Lots of intrigue! A really cool (for once) mystery ship!

I think I'm going to enjoy this arc. So long as Quantum doesn't get stuck with any more katras...

Okay, I really liked this one.

Lots of continuity going on. Archer's overwhelming glee at being required to behave like an ass was hilarious. As was the look on Reed's face when Shran (who was awesome as usual) was using his console. Nobody trusted anyone else, and for a while we didn't know who to trust either...when I started to suspect that it was someone else trying to sabotage the conference (shades of Undiscovered Country) I said to myself..."Romulans?" And I loved being proved right. This is exactly their M.O., and makes a perfect lead-up to the Romulan Wars. I'm beginning to think that's how they'll end the season (and the series?). Also, discovering that the ship was unmanned was a nice little shock. I'm looking forward to next week.

Best lines: "You think he's mangy?"

And: "With our luck they'll probably breathe fluorine."

Hee.

Good episode, but are the Romulans really supposed to be this technologically advanced? Or are we just going to have to throw away everything we know about the Romulans. And as much as I like this totally omniscent POV they're giving us from the "building up the future" aspect of this show, it totally is taking away from the suspenseful aspect, making TPTB to resort to twists like today. If they can keep it up, good for them. But what if they dont?

When the promos were all "And now they're being made puppets of an alien race" I was thinking "What? Again? Enough with the puppetry!" I'm glad it wasn't quite like that.

I was really liking this until the Romulans showed up. After that I kept wondering how they were going to reconcile this with the fact that in TOS, no human had ever seen a Romulan. (I should have seen the wonderous wireless waldo-ship coming from a mile away, but I missed it. I'm a dope.)

Nevertheless, if the Romulans had holographic disguise technology, why do they ever need to develop cloaking technology?

The teaser was great. What name did Hoshi give Porthos when she said "I wasn't kidding about <unintelligble bit that sounded nothing like Porthos>. Tellurites think canines are a delicacy."?

The view of the Romulan homeworld or whatever it was at the end looked like it came straight out of Myst.

Well, at least Quantum gets to do what he does best: be an asshole.

The Good: T’Pol was definitely not CRACK WHORING this episode.
Shran. Shran totally rocks. Again I say, Shran. Rocks.
Ah, Romulans. You gotta love those sneaky, stealthy Romulans. Very good.

The OK: The Wondrous Holo Ship. Hm. It seemed that that ship had a lot of bugs that the Roms hadn't worked out, so I don't think we'll ever see that again. When their plan falls apart (as it inevitably will), the Roms will probably abandon it and focus on perfecting their cloaking device

The Bad: Quantum teasing Trip. I don't like it when he teases Trip so meanly. But then, I don't like Quantum, so, there you go.

The Ugly: The Veloured Vulcan's Velours. I hate them. They hurt my eyes.

Hoshi and Mayhura got lines again this episode! And Hoshi was integral to the plot! Bonus points for Hoshi. I did love the callback to season one and Hoshi's complaints about her quarters. For a second I thought we had gotten our Mirror Universe episode early.

Wow, I enjoyed this...I was so-so for the first 10 minutes, then was totally hooked.

Loved the twist at the end.

It totally didn't suck ass!!! Which means next week's conclusion to this arc is going to blow chunks!!! At the beginning, I thought Hoshi was totally going to turn loose the black belt and chunk Captain Crunch out an airlock. There were several fakeouts like that in this episode; the best episode of the season so far, IMHO. (which, honestly, isn't saying much...)

I have to say cudos to the writer(s) for not copping out and having the guard at the door fall for the Andorian seduction ploy. My ex, who was a security guard, used "You're fired!" way before "The Apprentice" showed up on the scene every time any show used that particular plot device.

He'd probably give the guard a C, (because he allowed her out of the room and engaged in conversation with her in the first place, allowing her to engage him and Shrank to get the drop on him,) but I'll give him a B, cause I figure that he's not necessarily trained in ambassadorial guarding and may have been being cautious Itrying not to be overly aggressive and offend her) because of it. At any rate, I felt they played it pretty well, as he didn't give in to her seduction, told her to get back in her room, and while they *did* manage to disarm him, he was right there with the hand to hand afterwords.

I enjoyed this episode, even if it was largely a redo of "Journey to Babel." I thought the continuity with TOS was handled pretty well.

Count me among those who liked this episode. For a moment at the beginning of the episode, I was wondering what was going on. I was starting to wonder if Hoshi's death last week left her filled with bitterness for CQ.



It's been a while since I've seen it, so I could be wrong, but I thought they lifted it out of Nemesis.

Hoshi and the Furrows were acting like real people for a moment. I felt like they had to be rehearsing a play. And they sort of were. It was commentary.

Back to tight-asses yelling and spewing situational sci-fi lines used in EVERY episode of "Voyager." That must be the weekly Bermaga-contribution that earns their exec-producer titles. Oh, and these scenes did nothing to distract people from guessing the motivations of the marauder. Did it distract them from the budget?

One. Guard. Uh-huh. And he's a textual "upgrade" after the arrival of the Andorians. The reasoning must be accidents never happen on this ship and everything gets ironed-out in diplomacy. Even though this crew is so put-upon when they deal with people in their explorations, but their insistence on smooth-running only highlights their resourcefulness because they ALWAYS bounce back. I. Hate. They've gotten me thinking there might've actually been something to Hoshi breaking all the ship's codes in her delirious-state.

The Furrows doesn't even react to his rattling exploding ship because he must stand tall. Cancel this shit.

There's potential, but I'm a little fuzzy on how I feel about this episode. Shran was good, and there was always stuff going on, but I really need to see the next part. I liked Malcolm asking Trip about his intentions toward T'Pol. Watching them wander that ship was dull, so any chance to have them talk about anything else was appreciated. Even if they had to bring up the "Bum" incident.

The lengths they're going to go to avoid having humans see Romulans are going to turn unintentionally funny really fast. The remote-control ship fake-out was good, but I'm just waiting for the British-Farce-style slamming doors technique, with human walking in and out of a room while never seeing Romulans doing the same.
Heh. Finally, Quantum finds his calling: as an asshole, he's the perfect person to deal with the Tellarites and Andorians, because they respect assholes. This is why he's so important to the founding of the Federation. Picard could only act like an asshole.

So Quantum's being encouraged to be an ass, and Mayweather's getting cut-off mid-line. I think keckler should take those as shout-outs.

Totally a shout out having him interrupted in his line.



Yeah, it looked a lot like the Romulus of Nemesis and TNG. Funny, I would've expected it the have changed somewhat over two centuries. Few cities today look like they did 200 years ago. Of course, for us that's due to the Industrial Revolution and steel. I guess Romulus just didn't have any new architectural developments between 2154 and 2378.

That's about how I feel, too. I enjoyed much of the episode, but there were also some things that I was rolling my eyes at. And I knew that the Romulans weren't aboard that ship almost from the beginning, although I thought maybe they were in another ship nearby that was cloaked.

Anyway, I'm at least interested in seeing what happens next. Although, while I don't at all mind the Andorians and Tellarites being there, I do have a problem with the Romulans being involved, and the cop-out of them being involved but not actually there.

Word to this. I did wonder where she got the pink sports bra from, and then I wondered "If I was blue, would I wear pink?" Pink underwear perhaps.

Cleo, you really need to be writing these episodes. I'd pay to see that. Unfortunately, I think the effect would be ruined, as you just can't slam a door on Enterprise.

Yeah, I laughed when poor, poor Silent Trav got one of his 2 lines cut off -- and just when it sounded as if he was going to get to say something interesting.

Cool getting to see Talas again -- I liked her the first time around.

I caught Mal asking Trip what his intentions were regarding T'Pol, & Trip's response, but it was hard to hear the rest. What was the jist of that conversation?

The twist ending? I totally did not see it coming. Also, several movies/eps have shown me enough Romulan architecture that I love, that I really hope we spend a little time there next week.

I think the reason the guard didn't fall for the old seduction ploy was because he'd seen it used too many times -- these people do sit around watching old movies once a week.

I enjoyed it but somehow I knew what was going on from pretty early on even though I didn't read spoilers for this episode. After they said the Andorrians were more technologically advanced than the Tellarites, but a Tellarite ship supposedly destroyed Shran's Shrip, I thought, "Imposter!" Then when the "Andorrian" ship attacked Enterprise I thought, "Holographic exterior!" So even though there wasn't a lot of suspense for me, I still ejoyed it, because of the character interactions.

I thought it was funny that Archer was less of an ass when trying to be an ass. I wanted Porthos to go Tellarite on Archer though: "Listen here, Furrows. You suck as a pet owner. I dream of biting your throat every night."

Although you know, it seemed like the Tellarites were just complainers, not insulters. They complained about the size and unimpressiveness of the ship, complained about the food, but they weren't mean. So when Archer said they were ugly, I was waiting for them to kick him hard.

I liked the episode for the most part. I think Quantum should be appointed embassador to the Tellarites, since he possesses in such great abundance those finely honed arguing/complaining skills they value. His teasing Trip seemed downright cruel and I wondered if they are deliberately trying to make us hate him more.
I saw the "it's neither the Tellarites nor the Andorians" coming a mile away, but I had forgotten about the Romulans, and so didn't anticipate the entire thing. I'll be hoping for a Princess Bride reference from keckler.
I thought the T/T'ship was done for, but they keep making small references to it. Showing surprising subtlety there, writers. Careful, you're raising my expectations!
And finally, I just love love love Shran. Coombs is a great actor and they write so well for his character. I loved when they were staging thier breakout and the guard clocked Shran and then had to duke it out with Talas (thanks, Dane). They really play up the physical differences between male and female Andorians well.

Oh something else I cracked up over, was when Shran and Archer were having drinks. Archer says, "I wasn't aware there was something going on between you two." Or whatever the exact line was. I don't know, but that just made me laugh. It was just an odd line. Like, was Shran supposed to keep you informed? Did he not mention it in his last email to you or something? Why would you be aware? Maybe I'm crazy but I'm still kind of giggling.

While we were watching last night, Mr. thinga and I got into the stupidest argument ever. One of the Romulans looked familiar, so I asked Mr. thinga if he knew who it was.
Him: "Yeah, I think it's the Alien Bounty Hunter."
Me: "No, I think it's the guy who played Luke and the Judge on Buffy."
Him: "I'm positive it's the Alien Bounty Hunter."
Me: "No, it's totally the Judge, look at him!"

Um, yeah, one quick trip to IMDb .com and we realized we were both idiots.

Bold and innovative new ideas are quashed by the Senate.



Johnny-- Last night was the most antenna-curling one I've had in some time...

Good old Brian Thompson. Whenever you need a bumpy baddie, he'll be there.

Glad I put down my coffee for that.

I laughed out loud when the revealed that the ship was remote-controlled... but in a good way, because I totally didn't see that coming.

Also, the use of the fish-eye lens during the first half of Trip and Malcolm's Excellent Adventure was a great choice.

Sure, the Hoshi/Archer exchange in the beginning, the totally sexy Andorian femme fatale and the last second twist at the end were minor buzzes, but overall, this was a bit of snoozer. Yeah, it was a notch above a lot of the gawdawful episodes of the past, but it was still warmed over Trek.

Just seems you can be true to the continuity of the Trekverse without lifting actual plots from TOS. I mean, a diplomatic mission involving Andorians and an outside influence trying to disrupt the proceedings? Oh, I see. See this time it's the *Romulans* and not the Orions. Yeah, a totally different story. Right.

Well, the prototype cloaking device was pretty cool, too. Not being able to mask your power signature makes the doppleganger thing a bit of a bust though, so why don't we just use the darn thing to hide from sensors completely? Okay, that'll take us a few decades to develop, but then we can play a submarine game against a Constellation class starship.

I loved this episode. It kept me interested the whole way through and I was sad when it ended. I figured they weren't on the ship pretty early on, the only surprise for me was when they showed that it was the Romulans that were causing all of the trouble.

I loved Archer actually trying to be an ass. And I thought that him teasing Trip was pretty funny. Also I laughed when Mayweather was cut off. Actually I remember having a grin for most of the episode. The only thing I didn't like was Trip and Malcom's convo about Trips "intentions." So does Malcom want to go after T'Pol now or what...? Overall this episode was my favorite this season and I'm really looking foward to next weeks.

On a side note this empty board is really depressing. Does anybody watch this show anymore?

I am writing this because I too noticed the board is empty. And I almost always watch this show, either Friday or Sunday. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it's usually Friday.

But I liked this episode. I didn't know what was going on at first, though it was good to see Hoshi. Personally I think I'd rather see Trip hook up with her, and all that getting-to-know-you small talk from last week's quarantine was a good place to start, but it does seem like TPTB are leaving the door open for a kiss and make up episode with T/T'.

Malcolm's disconnected air hose bothered me. Is that a 22nd century EV suit or a circa 1975 Hoover upright w/attachments? Hoshi mentioned duct tape last week, so it isn't obsolete yet. Somebody should get on that.

And please don't laugh, but when Shran was "bleeding" all I could think of was the old Freshen Up "cum gum" - peppermint to be precise. The liquid inside was darker than the paler, powdery outside. OK, I'll stop.

It's taken this long, but there are moments when I really do think of Archer as Archer, and not Sam. It hasn't reached Kevin Sorbo IS Dylan Hunt level yet for me, but if the show can survive this season, it might.

What bugged me (slightly) was that they managed to fill up their tanks from the valve on the Romulan oxygen tanks. Wasn't it convenient that the couplings fit perfectly?

I thought those Tellarites were adorable! Especially when they were insulting Quantum.

Good episode! The levity between Captain Jackass and the Tellarites was fun to watch.

I love Shran and Talas! I thought it was great when the Uh-Oh knuckled up Brooklyn-style and a couple of blue blurs later was on his ass.

I liked the use of fish-eye lenses to convey the lack of atmosphere/inerta on the Rommie ship. And the camerawork on the Uh-Oh firefight was interesting too.

The Romulan ship looked cool, like a shrimp or something. Nice reveal that Brian Thompson and the VR/5 pilot was actually on Romulus. Very cool!

That was a good-looking shot. It was even worth accepting their decision to place their top-secret operations-room next to a big window. And, "Nemesis" looked like shit in comparison so it's not exactly a positive shout-out.

Also, I'm no science wiz, but I was wondering... do you really fill those tanks with pure oxygen? For some reason that seemed weird to me.

They'd been watching a lot of A Romulan With a View.

Did anyone else take particular notice of the way this episode was directed? It looked great. Even when not much of interest was being said, I was actually engaged in a lot of the talky scenes, the way the camera moved. I don't usually pay as much attention to directing as I do to the writing, acting, score, lighting, etc. There seemed to be a lot of shot compositions and segues that you don't often see on this series.

Promising start to the arc, very good episode.

I may be a little slow on the uptake, um...I'm sure I caught earlier in the season that T'Pol had joined Starfleet (didn't she?), but I just thought of this now--why isn't she in a regular blue uniform like the rest of them? Aside from the out-of-series explanation that they want Jolene Blalock in the catsuits, is there a fan-wankable reason for why T'Pol isn't required to follow protocol? I guess 'cause she didn't come up through Starfleet Academy?



I read in an interview once that he prefers doing comedy, but he sure seems to show up as the same sort of villain in any genre work he does. I remember him from as far back as the series Werewolf (vaguely, I was like five or maybe six when I watched that with my parents), then in Kindred: The Embraced, the two roles on Buffy and as the seriously freaky alien bounty hunter on The X-Files. Also recall him hosting "Inside The X-Files" and thinking he looked particularly hot with glasses. Was pretty happy when I read somewhere that he was gonna be playing a Romulan later in this season of Enterprise. He's been in Trek before, hasn't he? I think he's played a Klingon? Most of my memories of TNG are fond but fuzzy.

This ep wasn't as bad as it could have been, I'm quite impressed.
Bermaga, keep up the good work on meeting my expectations of mediocrity.

When Quantum was welcoming the Tellarites and they kept exchanging glances while he was insulting them, I thought he was going to realize that Hoshi had briefed him on the wrong species and a knock 'em, sock 'em dukeout would ensue between the diplomats and the crew.

I think Thompson was one of the Klingons during the TNG episode when Riker went aboard the Klingon Ship as First Officer. He was also in one of my favorite scenes from a film...it was "Miracle Mile" (with Denise Crosby no less) and the nuclear missles are heading for LA and everyone grabs a significant other and then you see BodyBuilder Thompson come running with another guy hand in hand, followed with a menacing "you got a problem with that". Great scene.

It's a TiVO Nation ™.

I enjoyed this show. Shran was great, the scenes with Trip and Reed on the Romulan ship were well done. Bakula was not even annoying. I'm looking forward to the rest of the arc.

I was out Thursday night with friends, and mentioned my loyalty to this show (like a true fan, I love my team even when they suck), and was stunned and saddened to discover that one woman was a TNG fan and didn't even know this show was on.

I got precisely the opposite impression. When Trip says, "There's nothing going on between us now, in case you're 'interested' [in pursuing her yourself]," Malcolm got this knowing smile and said, "That's not why I asked." I think he can tell Trip is hard at work convincing himself he's not still attracted to her. Why else would Trip offer the info about how he should've know better? Rationalization, table for one.

I agree Quantum was kind of mean to Trip (with the Tellarite-ish teasing), I have to say I loved Quantum's wicked grin after Trip left the room.

I thought I perceived some actual character growth with Quantum in the dinner scene with T'Pol. When he pensively asks if they're moving too fast, wondering if maybe Earth should have let Vulcan handle this business, that impressed me as a pleasant maturation from the days of "humans don't need a Vulcan chaperone in space." Not just in terms of being willing to accept that Vulcans might have some valuable experience in interstellar diplomacy, but also that a desire to do the right thing doesn't necessarily translate to being equipped to accomplish the task (listening, Bushie?).

The one thing I didn't like about this episode was all the yelling. Andorians, Tellarites, humans -- way too much yelling. Intensity can be expressed by other means than volume.

How 'bout that tender cheek-stroke and look of deep affection that Shran gave Talas? Awwww.

Take out the assumed meaning you added in parentheses and for a second there during that scene my mind jumped to potential HoYay subtext. I still figure if there's a chance in hell they're ever gonna go there with any of 'em, it's gonna be Reed. But no, a moment later I realized he was asking out of concern for Trip, not attraction toward him. It's kinda sad that some of the characters and their interactions/relationships with various crew members are so ill-defined and unexplored after three and a half seasons on this series that my mind goes into slash-search mode before coming up with the more obvious reasons for why they say or do what they do.

Wow. What an ep. I was blown away by the end- and, come to think, I didn't even see where the first scene was going, even though I knew Tellarites were coming. I thought it was left-over death from Hoshi as well.

More than the hanging tubes and convenient hook-ups, what bugged me about the space suit thing was that the "oxygen" that powers ships is the liquid variety, very cold and very flammable. Not what you want to breathe. Ah well.

I was so worried they's have Talas running around in her pink underoos the whole ep. Thank God they didn't.

Have you noticed that sometimes when Shran is talking, he'll duck his head so that he's "looking" at the other person with his antennae, not his eyes? Very nice touch. (Anyone think "Saved by bell!" when the intercom went off during his dinner with Archer?)

The boxing guard was a nice touch too.

Seriously, when JB eats, it looks like she's not used to doing it. There was this extreme closeup of her jaw chewing at the beginning of the dinner scene, and it looked...off.

Oh, and "I'm sorry" "You don't have to apologize" makes no sense- he's sorry to hear it. "I don't want to speculate." Yes, but your captain needs you too!

I know I liked it because I was sorry to see it end, but I did love the ending. I hadn't guessed that they weren't on the ship until the camera started panning out. (sidepoint: why do all technologically advanced civilizations' major cities on Star Trek all look basically the same?)

I thought it was nice that Hoshi got to yell at Quantum. I certainly enjoyed watching her do it, and it was also nice that Quantum had a reason for being an ass. Kind of rude practicing his Tellarite on Trip though. The man died last week, for God's sake!

I liked that T'Pol didn't get 2 human references Archer made. Her response to his "Are we moving too fast?" was funny. Hey, I didn't know what he was talking about. Why should she? I forget what the other one was.

ETA: I just remembered. It was right after Archer told Trip he smelled and Trip left, and Archer turned to T'Pol and said: "When in Rome..." and she had no idea what he was talking about.

Cutting off Mayweather's line had to be a shout out. And he was actually contributing helpful ideas at the time. I can just see it:

Writer #1: Let's have Mayweather actually say something useful.
Writer #2: And then we'll have something cut him off. It'll be hysterical!

(And it kinda was)

As for the whole oxygen thing on the Romulan ship, I didn't get the impression that they just pressed a button filled up their tanks. I thought it was more along the lines of Trip Macgyvering it with some duct tape and a pocket knife to get it to work. And no, we're not supposed to breath pure oxygen, but they still had some air left in their tanks to mix it with (and you never know, maybe their EV suits save the CO2 and Nitrogen for recycling somehow. You don't see anywhere where it would come out.), and pure oxygen will do for awhile in a pinch.

All in all, I enjoyed this episode, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the arc. They better not disappoint me.

This eppy was one of the better ones in the 4 years this show has been on. Quantum has to be the worst Captain in any Trek period. Talas looked pretty hot in that pink bra and shorts. Shran saved this episode. The episodes with the Andorrians always seem to be the better ones.

The ending caught me off guard, I was expecting the "Romulan" who was controlling the "ship" by remote control was going to take his helmet off at the end and it was going to be one of those renegade Vulcan's, Dub'ya in particular.

Ha! That's funny. I hadn't really noticed. Whenever Shran or any of the Andorians are talking, though, I have a hard time focusing on anything but the antennae. I'm like a fish hypnotized by a wriggling worm.

Those wriggling antennae might explain why the guard wasn't exactly eager to sample Talas' Andorian charms.

The puppeteers for the antenna usually do a great job of working with the actor's performances to greater affect.

Yeah. Hell, Janeway got her ship lost in the Delta Quadrant and still edges Quantum out in being a better captain. I'm still waiting for Quantum to rise to the level of "less hateable." I gave up on "likeable" sometime around the third season.

And a hearty mea culpa to keckler about my way earlier post--d'oh!

i enjoyed the ep. I wish last season and all the season before had more eps like this.

Agreed. I'm just very, very easily distracted.

This episode was one of the best since the Xindi arc. Word on Quantum finally finding his true calling: as an ambASSador between the Tellarites and Andorians. Shran is always welcome and always makes an episode better. Re: whether a blue-skinned person would wear pink underoos--well, the Enterprise crew mostly has pink skin and wears blue underoos! It makes sense!

Hoshi-Quantum arguing fakeout: I knew it was a setup from the outset, but I figured it was for a play or something, which turned out to sort of be the case. Quantum's joke on Trip was really mean, even if Scott Bakula's grin afterwards was golden. Ass.

Loved Mayweather getting cut off mid-line. Poor Travis.

No one's mentioned the creepiest image of the episode: that Gimp suit that the Romulan was wearing to control the ship. When he started spazzing to initiate "evasive manuevers", I was seriously freaked out. I thought Dub'ya and some of his renegade Vulcan cohorts (Ch'eneyyy, Rumsf'ld) might show up, but no. Not in this episode at least.

Well, I did mention The Gimp in my recaplet...and yes, it was creepy.

I'm going to have to watch it again tonight because I've taped over it. I think my tv is crapping out on me or something, or maybe the lighting was bad, but I could not make out what that thing was. Musical dancing jellyfish? Futuristic jukebox? I don't think I realized it was a suit guy until I came here.

Standard disclaimer: I'm easy to please. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode (and last week's, too, which I just watched). I'm very encouraged by this upswing in the quality. Too little, too late, I'm sure, but still...it makes it easier to like this show when it isn't sucking.

Anyway, the combined powers of Shran and Porthos made this episode downright good, IMO. And the Gimp? So creepy. So, so creepy.