And then there were seven.

I'm opening this 8 minutes early because I gotta go on a date. Don't post until the ep is over or meet a horrible fate.

So Talas came from a priviliged background, huh? I guess she was a real blueblood.

Cool move with the severed antenna - would never have thought of that.

Wierd enough as it was seeing Remans again (never liked them), that albino pilot was just BIZ-zare. And how are they going to make a whole episode to close the arc? What the heck is left?

Still, great show once again, especially everything Trip/Malcolm.

I liked the episode a lot overall, but the Andorian ritual ending really pissed me off. It ends when one of the competitors is incapacitated! Wouldn’t Shan, or everyone in the world, have pointed that out right at the beginning as a way for no one to die?

I'm calling it. An Albinan.

Seriously, why? Did he defect to the Romulans because he wasn't blue enough for the Imperial Guard?

So the pilot is an Albino Andorian?

Er... SO WHAT?

"Give a little bit" and just take it off the air already.

That's the second time in a row the last shot of the episode left me going, "Woah... cool!" I'm loving it. This is the most interested in the story-arc that I've been for a long time.

I can't love Shran enough. That cut off antenna was so cute.

Archer was an ass in the beginning, but I liked him stepping in as a substitute in the duel. Of course, we all knew that there would be a loophole in the rules. There are always loopholes in the rules of all life-and-death situations of all cultures in the Federation.

That aside, I didn't like the fact that there was a duel and whatnot. The Tellarites, or the one particular Tellarite who killed Talus, were in the wrong here, he fired after Archer put a stop to the attack. The handshake at the end would've made more sense if Archer had a heart-to-heart with the Tellarate Ambassador who agreed to give his underling up to Andorian justice.

I'm experiencing a strange sensation... I think it's... Awe? A feeling of being... impressed? That was pretty awesome! And impressive! Even if I did get weird "Beat It" music video flashbacks during Shran and Archer's duel. And what kind of "fight to the death" is called off because one of the participants is rendered defenseless? Isn't that kind of the point of a fight to the death? And will Archer and Shran have to fight again when the antenna grows back?

No matter. I enjoyed the whole thing a lot. Talas' death was sad. Poor Shran.

I laughed my ass off when Archer gave his usual "human" speech. They are always funny, but this one was more over the top than most of them. Be like humans! Humans pull together! Go Go Humans!

Some things about the episode were good though, I admit. Shran always is. But there was a lot of Trek-Connect-The-Dots stuff too.

What was up with the Remans? Were they the security detail of the Senator? Who or what are the Albinan? I'm guessing albino andorians? I'm liking this season and so it makes sense that now they are canceling the show. Why did it take them so long to start getting at least decent. I'm making believe the whole Xindi eps never happened.

So here's my question: How can a show that is so creatively bankrupt pull off a surprise like the ending? I wasn't expecting the waldo pilot to be an Andorian! And yet, we must have seen the fight-to-the-death/choose-the-Enterprise-captain-as-substitue/find-a-loophole story at least a dozen times on various Treks before. That whole subplot was as hackneyed as can be.

And the Federation anvils ... oy!

Does radiation work differently in the future? I always thought symptoms of radiation poisoning were slow to appear, and that it takes a long time to recover. Once he received a near-fatal dose, putting the helmet on might shield Trip from additional exposure (although I'd like to know what those suits are made of!) but he shouldn't suddenly get better. He should still be a death's door.

Basically, I didn't like this episode at all -- until the very end. That was a cool twist, and I wonder how they're going to wrap things up.

ETA: I just thought that it was the lighting that made the waldo Andorian seem not-so-blue. Or perhaps he was a little pasty from being under that helmet for... weeks?

Sigh....they cancel it just when it's getting good, as evidenced by this episode. Well, at least this ep gives me hope that we'll have a good series finale.

SHRAN! God, I will watch anything with him in it. I love the little touches, like him staggering around after the antennectomy, since he's lost part of his depth perception and balance receptors. And though they were a couple for all of one episode, he made me feel all sad-fuzzy when he was mourning Talas.

Travis saved the day!...Travis saved the day? Wow. I bet Anthony Montgomery is the most pissed about cancellation. "Fuck! Just when I start getting more lines...."

Best part: return of Trip 'n Malcolm, Friends and Disaster Twins. I love when they get buddy-movie type scenes, mixed with some poignant rescuage. And poor Malcolm...he is such an easy target.

BERMAGA!!! Grr. You idiots. Why didn't we have stuff like this 4 seasons ago?

I tried to watch the first two seasons. I really did. But they sucked. Then I watched the Xindi reason, and I liked it. I really did. And then there was the aliennazitimetravel thing, and they moved the show to Friday nights. And I forgot about it. And I really hated Daniels, but he was dead now, so I didn't even have anything to hate.

But I happened to be home tonight and caught this episode -- and it rocked! It was full of Trekkie goodness: alien drone ship, Romulans, phasers on overload, awkwardly staged alien fight to the death, poorly thought-out alien honor code, "let's all cooperate like humans, because humans are really the best" speech -- I mean, what the heck more could you ask for? For it to have happened two years ago, is what.

But you know? I turned on the TV tonight and there was Trek, and it was good Trek. That should count for something. (But it doesn't.)

I think an anvil the size of…the Enterprise just hit me on the head.

Goddamn, it’s the end of the series, and T’Pol finally—finally! becomes a believable Vulcan. And Maywho and Hoshi get lines—praise Jebus!

Coto cribbed from at least two episodes of Trek—“Reunification”(the sensor net), and “Amok Time” (duel to the death w/ alien species). At least Phlox didn’t shoot Quantum with tri-ox compound.

Ok, the antennae gag was kind of funny. I love Shran. Shame we won’t really get to see much more of him (I guess).

Huh. An Andorian working with/for the Romulans. Interesting…

Is it just me, or is this show getting good the minute it gets cancelled?

Seriously! Where the hell were these kind of episodes 2 years ago? I mean, tell us how the freaking Federation became the freaking Federation for crap's sake!

:::Kirk voice::: BERMAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

I can't believe I had to sit through alienazis and the Khanabees in order to get a decent episode this year.

Actually, not a bad episode except for one thing that bugs the hell out of me:

T'Pol tries to talk Archer out of the duel starting with "Vulcans have a saying".. then going off on some "One man who can see the future..." Tangent

The Vulcan saying that applies here is "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few... or the One" T'Pol, as a good Vulcan should know that, Archer, who had SURAK"S FUCKING KATRA for a few days, should have known it (yes, it's annoying he got to carry it, but since it's done a little consistency would be nice). If T'Pol were a true Vulcan, she would have agreed with Archer's move, which as clumsily as he explained it, was logical. Maybe she would have searched for some "logical" reason why he shouldn't do it (maybe suggest that she or a MACO would be a better match, maybe talk about how essential the Captain is to the Crew..) but what a Vulcan wouldn't do is play Grace Kelly to Quantum's Gary Cooper and try to talk him out of the showdown at High Noon.

Because I don't want to end on a sour note so close to the end, I'm going to point out that I loved the back and forth between Trip and Malcolm on the robot ship, rivaled some of the better "buddy scenes" between Bashier and O'Brien.

And bugs and sloths and Psycho Bocce Balls and "A Night In Sickbay" and Quantum's incessant head-bobbing and T'Pol CRACK WHORING...

We've really suffered. If the episodes had been this interesting even three seasons ago, I wonder if the show would still be on the air.

Double post from computer glitch... Apologies to all.

I posted this back in the Kir'Shara thread a few months ago. Sweet!

Good episode and i wish keckler the best of luck on her date. Don't lop off any antennae!

I hate those m'fers at UPN. I really do.

For the second week in a row I uttered "Cool!" at the ending. Love those twists. And I hold much, much love for the Trip / Malcolm exchange.

Lots 'o fun in this episode.

It depresses me to no end that the dipshits at CBS/UPN/Viacom decide to shuffle off the star trek coil, JUST WHEN THE SHOW GETS GOOD.


WHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY????? Today's show kicked Klingon butt. I will miss Shran like crazy. We won't even have Pink Skins to watch anymore. :( Damn you, BERMAGA!!!!

Ok now that I'm coming down off my "good episode" high, what exactly was the cause of Talas' death? I didn't understand that. The wound was superficial, but something about Andorians not reacting well to phase pistol infection? How do you get an infection from that?

Open wound? Maybe the phase pistol has a detrimental effect on the Andorian immune system?

I think Shran was just lying that the wound was superficial. He said they set the phaser to "kill", so she got quite a blast.

Wow, I was totally blown away at that ending. And it looks like next week T'Pol's gonna go mano a mano with the Albinian. I actually liked Quantum's "humans are the best at cooperating" speech, even though I normally detest "Go Human" monologues, because he was saying that it was the ONE thing that humans are better at than anyone. Poor Shran with his cut off antenna.


Word to that. Ugh, I've been saying that this is where the show should've been at least two seasons ago. Seasons 1-2 of Enterprise are like the Phantom Menace. Just awful and unnecessary.


Oh, totally. I was screaming, "The needs of the many!" at my TV. Frankly, I could see how T'Pol didn't want Quant to kill himself, but she could have couched it in that way.

So I heard that Enterprise was being cancelled and I thought I should start watching it again (I switched over to Joan of Arcadia during the Khannabees arc). And to my surprise, I loved this episode. Sure, there was the Star Trek cliche of combat-to-the-death-but-not-really, but they introduced some cool looking weapons and Andorian history - plus, the Archer and Shram scene where they're looking at the pictures of the ships named Enterpise was actually some subtle fore(aft?)shadowing about Kirk's Enterprise.

So, if it's a choice between Haylie Duff and Enterprise, I'll be watching this show.

I was in hysterics, literally, with tears streaming from my eyes and everything. The cut off antenna trying to wiggle around (with the little bandage!)and Shran off balance from it....so very funny. Then I tried to go and explain it to my roommate and ended up laughing my ass off again! I've only just recovered.

I enjoyed most of this episode - would have been great had Archer been killed. Shran even said he'd cooperate in Archer's memory! Ah, futile dreaming, only 7 eps to go...

Mayweather came up with a plan! A good plan! And he got to explain it!

Trip and Reed were great. I really liked the "You like to build things, I like to blow things up" line.

They covered a lot of possible plot holes and storylines in this episode - I'd think of something, then it would get explained. Like when Trip went to shut down the Warp stuff, I was like "oh, they didn't need the 128 ships, Trip's going to disable it for them" but then the radiation thing was set off and the Warp thing had to come online so they did need the 128 ships. Made sense.

I am curious...with all the press about the cancelation (and with little broadcast competition) I wonder if we will see an uptick in ratings?


This show was classic Trek
- It has space battles!
- It had alien ritual duel!
- It had technobabble save the day!
- It had humor!
...Reese-Stevens, Manny Coto, and David Livingston (who cant help spinning cameras around people whenever he directs) know how to make Trek work

Plus we are now seeing the formations of the UFP (which in essense is the 'endgame' of the series), too bad they dont have another year at least to make that work.

Now it will be...."hey that sensor net thing we did was OK...how about we all stop being enemies and hand over all our sovereignty to a new assembly on Earth" "any questions? ...all in favor....OK then we're, done"

series over

This show, the Enterprise that was on tonight, should never be cancelled. That was an awesome episode. Maybe it's best to just end it right here, with this episode, with the last thing we see being all these species just starting to work together, hinting at the Federation that will come. It's a perfect ending for the series, and they may have used it up tonight.
I got the idea it's something unique to their physiology. The wound got infected. That wouldn't happen to most species, but Andorians are different.
I suspect so. It fits with them being the grunts of the Romulan Empire.
I thought Hoshi and Maywho(!) earned this one. Instead of stumbling into the loophole, or arguing some technicality, they found the loophole because they tried to.
Brilliant. Just brilliant.

I had no problem with the loophole in the death match...and think that the captain should have felt honored that Schran would have taken his blood to the Hall of Heroes after the cap was killed. (I'm pretty sure he was, really. He likes the blue guy...)

It was the whole Xindi plotline that dragged on FOREVER that killed this show.
This ep was great...loved Schran!

I know so many who stopped watching the show while the Xindi plot dragged on for what? Two seasons? Was it that long, or does it only seem that way? That really killed everything for most fans.


This season has been very good, for the most part....I'll be sorry to see the end of the show.

And I liked the theme song, even if no one else does. (tho I liked the first season version of it better...) I sing along with it, when no one's around....

I've been reading the recaps of Enterprise, but tonight was the first time I tuned in. I felt that since it's being cancelled, I should watch at least one episode. And you know what? I actually kind of liked it. Loved the awkward battle to the death with stupid weapons from Amok Time. Loved Jeffrey Combs- I kept rooting for Weyoun to kill Quantum.

But oh, that opening theme. Wow, keckler's not kidding. It really does make me want to rip my ears off and then stab myself with them. Even though that wouldn't work. I'd try.

OK, I'll admit it to you guys, that gathering of ships and the nascent Federation... I got a little misty. And damn does Jeffrey Coombs know how to build a character!

And I too was yelling, "So NOW it gets good."

Include me in that now it's good, they cancel it. Dumn *****!

I think this has to be the most fun I've had watching enterprise. The foreshadowing was a wee bit heavy handed but darn, all those ships looked mighty fine.

This was exactly what Sci-Fi should be - What Star Trek should be - And more importantly what TV should be....

I know it's a forlorn hope, but maybe some dumb-ass TV executive actually watches TV on a Friday night, saw that show (and the last couple as well) and starts to think again. The quality of the script, the acting, the development leaves me gagging for more. Please re-think and keep this quality - It's an absolute winner.

You weren't the only one thinking that cleo. As much as I would love to see more, it would be a great ending for the series. And, much as I loved the episode, it really didn't need the upcoming third episode. I wasn't so much impressed with the albino Andorian but rather irritated. It was a great episode, things were wrapped up nicely, why string us along?

But if we get more Shran I really shouldn't complain. Shran rocks. Loved the antenna lopping and the little tidbit of info regarding the use and the regeneration. That stuff is awesome and I hope the writers continue with it.

I checked for Apocalyptic Riders at the end because you know the end is near when Maywho solves the dilemma. Not only that, but with Hoshi!

As much as the disaster buddy is cliche, it was so nice to see Trip and Malcolm together. They really abandoned that in the past two seasons. I must admit, I giggled quite heartily at, "You're good at building things, I'm good at blowing them up." That and, "You're an easy target, Malcolm."

I didn't mind the things that didn't quite make sense, like Trip recovering instantly from the radiation, because the episode was just so much fun! Although, they better have a good reason for the Gimp being Andorian.

Didn't mind the cliched Death Match o' Loopholes because we got to see more Hoshi and we got some insight into Andorian culture.

The way the flea ship manuevered was very cool.

And Romulans just always make a show better, don't they?

Actually, we really suck at cooperating. But we are really good at conquering and trashing other cultures. And if building a coalition is an ability that some humans have, Quantum sure isn't one of them. His diplomatic skills, not to mention his emotional maturity, are nil. But he has plenty of that cultural superiority that comes in handy when humans need an excuse to do go off on a crusade.

I finally got to watch this episode this morning and I enjoyed it.

Good points:

Phaser overloads (hadn't seen one of those in a while)
The pinball boucing about the flea ship by Malcolm and Trip
Clintonesque handshake (Shran and Gral, presided over by Quantum with T'Pol fondly looking on)

Stretching it - Trip's miraculous recovery from near lethal radiation exposure

I assume Porthos is still safely hidden away - I wonder who Quantum left him to in his will.

T'Pol: "Vulcans have a saying: One man can summon the future." - United
Mirror-Spock: "One man cannot summon the future." - Mirror, Mirror

Actually, that statment really does make sense coming from Vulcans. After all, Surak is the one man credited with changing Vulcan society, and T'Pau has been retconned as the one woman who reformed Vulcan society.

As many of you have said, Now the show gets good. Feh!

A fine episode.

I found myself pondering what Daddy Travis had once lopped off to similarly fight to the pain with his opponent, and then I thought, no, no I really don't want to know. But the revolving camera while they looked for a loophole was nauseating.

Talas' blood looked suspiciously like laundry starch, and the clunk of the - "You've got her blood on your hands." - I kind of liked that, and Shran using the file as punctuation while he sharpened his weapon.

The unhelmeting scene gave me a shiver I'd not gotten since Locutus.

Looking forward to next week. Not looking forward to the end.

I remember something that caught my ear. T'pol refers to Travis by his first name when talking to... I think Archer. Does she normally do this? For some reason it stuck out for me.

T'Pol doesn't normally talk about Travis because apparently we're not supposed to know he exists.

I'll have to watch again tonight because for T'Pol to call anyone by their first name seems a bit off to me. She even refers to Trip as Cmdr Tucker, which is why it seemed so striking when she called him Trip. Something to look for tonight...

Yeah, that was a great touch ... I too liked the info re: antenna.

When T'Pol said, "So Travis designed..." I whipped around and asked Danefriend, "She just called him Travis...??" He replied, "Travis did something...??"

And he did. And he got a lot of lines, and they were perfectly organic to the plot, instead of seeming like throwaway reasons to justify his paycheck. Wow! I liked Hoshi and Travis staying up late, working together ... my God, they're showing us this friendship instead of telling us about it.

The whole Trip n' Mal, Danger Twins plot, I loved. I love those two, I love their friendship, and the scene at the end was a thing of beauty. The glove-throwing was especially cute.

Shallow note: Mal looks very nice with mussed-up hair.

That's because he's got (everyone, say it with me) SSSSah-lon style!

I miss Malcolm as a Vidal Sassoon shill...

I really enjoyed this episode, as I do most, I thought that Season 4 had been a bit weak, but the past couple of episodes have restored my faith.
I was in a fit of laughter with the whole antenna thing, as well as Trip and Malcolm's conversation towards the end, when Trip told him that he had to report him.
I also thought the Albino Andorian as the pilot was a nice touch, not really sure where they age going with it, but nice touch all the same.
Hehe, I did actually notice that T'pol called Travis by his first name, which I did think slightly strange. Hopefully her actions and emotions will become a little more human, I like her when she goes all human.

Archer: Why don't you try behaving like humans?

Tellarite: You said you wouldn't be insulting.

Heh.

If the series finishes at this quality I'll definitely be happy. The episode good enough that the ship detection method was from TNG's "Redempton, Part II" didn't even weigh on my mind, proving that recycled plot lines can be done, if they're done well.

My favorite line of the night was T'Pol's, "Updating your will?"

Well, obviously... er... that is to say... Aww, hell, I can't argue with the goatee.

Wow. Another a great episode. That's all I can say.

My reception really started to go at the end, so I wonder: Did Talas have these white patches on her when she died? It'd fit with having white albino Andorians.

Travis and Hoshi had to be a shout-out to us. And for the first time, Travis' legendary experience as a "boomer" comes in handy!

I saw the Remans as sort of being "enforcers." As in, "Mess up, Admiral...look at those Remans!" But I cheered when I saw them. Nemesis was bad, but this was a nice touch. And, again, a great episode.

Travis is a Cylon?