For better and for worse, Season 4 is the year they did their best to make every episode a predecessor to a TOS episode. The show caught a bad case of prequel-itis, which made some people love it and made other people annoyed.

I fall on the annoyed side. I started to feel excluded from the show I'd been watching for three years when they suddenly got it in their head to drop constant references to TOS episodes I hadn't seen.

Oh, that's the perfect word for how it made me feel, too: "excluded." Of course, I've seen all the TOS episodes, I just don't remember about half of them.

And then there was the not-really-a-prequel-but-still-in-that-explaining-vein of the much lamented two-part Klingon forehead episode. Well, much (and continuously) lamented by me, at least. Those two episodes epitomized to me everything that was wrong with 4th season: getting too carried away with having to explain everything and make all events carry the continuity. I thought it was fun when they started it with the Vulcan episodes. But then Archer got Surak's katra and it all went downhill from there. Every single episode had to be continuity related after that. Ugh. Mix it up, TPTB.

I liked the conPorn, I admit it. I think the whole series should have been like that. It got a little thick at the end, but I think that was to make up for the utter lack of it earlier on.

I liked all of the continuity. I grew up with TNG and I've only seen TOS in reruns, but I still found all the TOS winking to be fun and interesting.

I think if we'd had the same amount of it sprinkled evenly throughout the series, I would have been fine. It was the idea that they were changing the show to be all ConPorn all the time that bothered me.

Season 4 suffered from what all of the other seasons suffered: Archer. Archer must save us from the Xindi, Archer must fix the timeline, Archer must carry Surak's fucking katra, Archer must give an important speech, Archer, Archer, Archer.

I agree with Cleo and Gilmel on the CornPorn; it was fun at first, but then they got carried away.

I also felt a little excluded. For example, even though I really liked the mirror episodes, I don't remember seeing "The Tholian Web," so I'm sure I missed a lot. It just seemed like they were more concerned with continuity references than they were with good storytelling, which is the opposite of what they did with the Xindi arc, which was my favorite season even though I still maintain that it probably had no business being there.

Season 4 just felt forced. I appreciate things like the Vulcan arc, which was entirely necessary due to Bermaga's bizarre tampering with the species. But it just seemed like every single episode was an attempt to reference something else -- kind of like, "Hey, we really do belong here as a prequel Star Trek series, see!" Had they sprinkled the plots around over 4 years, I think I would have been happier. Actually, had they paid more attention to things like interesting stories and character development, I would have been even happier than that.

Yeah, I'm still a little bitter about the finale, why do you ask?

I really enjoyed all the ConPorn, too. But I have to wonder if I would have gotten all the references if I hadn't been such a spoiler whore for the 4th season. Mr. b is way more versed in TOS lore than I and there were many times when he didn't know which episode they were on about.

You mean "Terra Prime", the one with Trip and T'Pol's baby? Because the show the following week was obviously a TNG ep, with somebody's twisted idea of what might have happened on board the NX-01 if everyone on board had been someone else...

What I didn't like about S4 is that the crew that I got to know over the past few seasons was suddenly replaced by strangers. By trying to insert all this continuity it was as if they forgot the characters of the crew.

Then again, I didn't need the continuity to enjoy ENT. I would have appreciated some more character development for people other than Trip, much as I liked him. Actually, I probably liked him because he did grow.

I have to admit that I could relate to this crew the best because they were the closest to us. And it seemed that they were sacrificed in order to make references to TOS references that were, IMO, unnecessary. The only episodes that I really liked in S4 are "Babel One", "United" and "Observer Effect". And of course the Mirror eps, but those were sort out of Enterprise, and I wish I could explain that better. They didn't move the crew or the story forward in any way because they weren't the crew or the story. I enjoyed them immensely, and you have to know the crew to see how their quirks were magnified in the Mirror Eps, but they weren't really the crew we knew. Well, it makes sense in my universe.

I understand what you're saying about the Mirror episodes, frenchtoast. I feel that way about them, too.

Best diaogue from Surak's Sandstorm is still:

T'Mom: Performing the mind meld could kill Archer.
T'Pau: *shrugs* I can live with that.

Best Priestess Ever!

I stuck in "Storm Front, Part II" today to see Silik make fun of the stupid humans and it was so strange seeing the ship shot to pieces. I've been watching Season 1 and 2 lately, and I haven't gotten past "Azati Prime" on Season 3, so to see the gaping holes, I'd forgotten how shocking that was. I didn't finish it, and I didn't get to the part of sarcastic Silik that I wanted to see, but the episode still sucks. I still maintain I would have liked to see an episode like TNG's "Family" than crappy two parter "Storm Front." What a letdown after the end of Season 3. There was no reason they needed yet another threat/crisis to deal with after the Xindi. It was done purely to ensure renewal.

But it's still hard to see Enterprise banged up like she was.

Brought over from elsethread:
nelamm:Me:pennyq:
Regarding nelamm's original comment: To be fair to Coto, he really didn't have a chance to save Trek. Even if Enterprise's 4th season had been the best season of Trek ever, the slow pace at which that information could be communicated to Trekkies at large would have prevented the ratings from rising to the point where the show could be saved.

You're right, Cleo. I wouldn't really blame Coto, I guess I'm just saying that just because someone is a fan- and pleases the fans and even a wide base- doesn't mean he'll save the show.

Now see I always had the impression that the PTB knew that the Season 4 would be its last. I think they had some hope, but I don't think they really expected it. Which is part of the reason I don't think they got into any more detailed Trek issues. They cleared up the TCW, the Vulcan issues and laid plans for the Federation and the Romulan War and that took care of the big issues.

I also think that if Manny came on in Season 1 or 2 his presence would have made a much bigger difference. As it was I think his hands were tied.

I think the problem with Coto's stuff is that, the TCW/Xindi-ending stuff taken out, every episode has some sort of TOS connection. The Vulcan arc worked best, but most of it felt, well con-porny. It was the kind of thing that made the Trek universe feel smaller rather than grander.

I had no idea that I had actually created a song and dance for Daniels' death, until watching him waste away last night. Snerk. "He's gonna be deeeaaad soooon! He's gonna die sloooowleeeey!" I had a groove thing going. Stupid Daniels.

They should have let us all get home with the crew at the end of Season Three but instead they bring us AlienNazis. Storm Front I & II. Did I mention my one-woman party when Daniels died? Trip is pretty, the special effects of the NX-01 flying over New York were cool, my boyfriend Reed is always awesome. But this pair of eps is not my favorite.

Home: Now that we've been cheated out of our homecoming, this episode feels "too little, too late" but it has nice moments. Reed/Mayweather/Phlox in a bar complete with anti-alien sentiments. T'Les is awesome (Hi, Joanna Cassidy!). Hoshi defending Phlox from Sickbay like a mama bear with her cub! Captain Erika! I wish the Council had chosen a different incident in the Expanse with which to harrass Archer, because lord knows, blowing up the Seleya was the least of his transgressions. I'm also annoyed that he didn't even get a hand-slap for stealing warp coils, or leaving his ship at Azati Prime, or for bringing in Daniels and AlienNazis (although that may be my own problem with him).

Borderland: After the TNG movies, I thought I would hate Brent Spiner forever, but I love his turn as Arik Soong. He's got sarcastic bitchery down to an art form. And I stand by my assumption that Archer is much more tolerable when someone's giving him crap for being a jackass, rather than endlessly singing his unearned praises. Every single time we look at the Augments, time stops and seems to go backward, but the rest of the episode entertains me.

I know that this 'genetically engineered humans try to take over the world' plot is recycled directly from TOS, but unlike, say S2 Judgment, I am entertained by the differences rather than bogged down in the similarities. When I watch TV I just want to be entertained and this episode does that rather well.

I totally forgot that it was Monday/Enterprise until I was in bed and it was 10:30 and I reminded hubby that the last episode of ENT Monday was on. He disagreed that ENT was on Monday and I turned it on to prove him wrong, so we came in on Borderland. And promptly shut it off. I hated the Augment story--it took far too long to tell and the Augments were hella annoying. Only good things were Soong and his sarcasm, but it wasn't enough to actually to leave the TV on and watch.

I also was thrilled when Daniels died and irritated when he lived so I'm not sorry I missed Storm Front I and II, though I feel sorry that the writing staff was left with the cliffhanger and no instructions of what was actually planned. Because there wasn't one. And I hate Home so very, very much. Even Reed's pseudo-turned on admiration of Dr. Phlox's defensive abilities do little to calm me from getting so angry that Archer recovered from the whole Xindi saga with some mountain nookie. GAAAAH! The blood, it's boiling.

I really would have preferred something like TNG's family, where Reed met with his dad and probably not hash out their relationship. And Phlox contemplating returning to see his family. And Hoshi getting excited about doing more exploring, which would have been a nice development for her character, unlike in Observer Effect where it suddenly just appeared. (And I like Observer Effect) I would have preferred a few episodes on Earth (Enterprise took quite the beating) and dealing with the aftershocks of the Xindi arc rather than zipping off after the Augments.

I did like seeing T'Pol and T'Les and. as much as I felt bad for Trip, I understood why he didn't make it any harder for T'Pol. Yeah, he was a bit of an ass when she told him, but he's not the best at thinking first and talking later.

S4 is tainted for me because of Bound, Daedalus and the finale. And the Klingon arc.

I thought Home was really good (no, wait, hear me out). The T'Pol and T'Les subplot was great, though her marriage did creep up unexpectedly. At least the writers had the presence of mind to go against convention and cliches, and T'Pol doesn't run off with her boyfriend. That took me by surprise, to say the least. A bit of a depressing ending, but it was a good kind of depressing.

Archer's misgivings about exploration vs explodeation were also a welcome jolt of decidedly un-Roddenberry Trek. This was one of the few times in Trek where a captain did something bad, like stranding that ship, and had his illusions destroyed by the reality of space exploration.

I would have preferred to see more of what you mentioned, HansBlix, because it would have been good to see some true growing pains. But, there was far too much mountain climbing and very little soul searching for my taste. Then again, considering it's Archer, it would have been some pretty ugly soul searching. I remembering thinking the first time I saw that episode, "Wait. That's it? That's all we're going to get? No ramifications? Whaaat?"

I did like the T'Pol, T'Les and Trip story. I thought it was handled unconventionally, but quite powerfully. I can understand completely why T'Pol did what she did. And considering she was still probably so ashamed of her trellium-d addiction and it didn't much matter to Kos, that must have been a huge relief. She was probably expecting so much blame and fault finding from Vulcans and she didn't, which was really good for her. Did she ever tell Trip? I always got the feeling that he didn't really know about her addiction.

Also, I found Trip accepting (in the sense of he understood and wasn't angry and was trying to be supportive) of T'Pol's marriage to Kos, without really putting up much of a fight (aside from his initial reaction) to show that he did understand how hard this was for her and he truly wanted to make it easier. He cared for her enough that he was willing to put aside his feelings in consideration of hers, and I thought that was quite touching. It really showed me, for the first time, how much Trip felt for T'Pol. It's strange how separating them actually made it clearer how they really felt for each other.

ETA Well, having just watched Home, I was wrong about what T'Pol told Kos. She said she was ill, she didn't actually explain what it was. So, that whole feeling relief thing didn't happen at all. I still stand by Trip acting like he really did care for T'Pol and was trying to do right by her. That was the vibe I got. Though, in the scene where she gives him a peck on the cheek, there are two or three other peck marks. Hee.

I've been watching both this series and the enhanced (reissued? restored) Kirk/Spokc series via DVR. Sunday night was Patterns of Force and Monday night was the two Storm Fronts. The aliennazis were cheesy enough, but watch it after spacenazis and a so thin its nearly transparent allusion to the holocaust and it becomes worse. Zeon hmmm? Itzak? You mean like Rabin?

Much as I might hate the aliennazis the Enterprise over New York was cool, as were the Ju-87s enhanced with "plasma cannons". Altough that brings up one point. Why would the aleinnazis place advanced weapons on an old airframe that was obsolete by 1944? Ju-87s were toast in the presence of alied fighters by that point of the war. Why not try them out on on the ground attack variant of the FW-190 or make a killer interceptor out of the ME-262. Im pretty sure nobody cares about that but me.

Is that allusion supposed to be in any way veiled? I thought it was intended to be outright and explicit.

Well, the Nazis were real Nazis but I dont think the Zeons were supposed to be real Jews. So not a direct reference, more in line to the Suliban/Nisie thing earlier in Enterprise, except of course it was inspired by a human who knew of and attempted to use the Nazi model. I dont think John Gill was supposed to be an anti-semite. Best part about that epsiode is when Spock tells Kirk he makes a convincing Nazi. Arent Nimoy and Shatner both Jewish?

I liked Boderland, mostly for Spiner's smartass characterization of Soong.

Nimoy is. I don't know about Shatner.

Shatner is, if Adam Sandler is to be believed.

Cold Station 12 and The Augments. You know, for the first time last night, all the Con-Porn started to bother me. I did enjoy Archer getting shot out of an airlock; I was sad that they rescued him. I also firmly believe that this trilogy would have been better served as a pair of eps.

In related news, there's no way that Henry Archer died when Jonathan was twelve! In the first season, Archer's Daddy Issues are so present and intense, there's no way that (Conservatively) 28 years have passed! I fanwank that Bakula read the line wrong and that Henry Archer has been dead for twelve years. That would kill him off about eight years before the launch of the NX-01 and right around the time of First Flight. Which makes a whole lot more sense.

Moving on: The Forge and The Awakening. Every single time Archer speaks I want to punch him in the face. I enjoy all the people around him, including T'Les and T'Pau, but Archer needs to never ever speak again. Or be seen in public. My boyfriends Reed and Tucker were made of awesome, and speaking of "you've come a long way, baby" Soval is one of my favorite Most Improved Characters. Soval rocks!

Starfleet was a little lax on security for a place like Cold Station 12.

Kir'Shara was good. Every time Archer opens his mouth I want to punch him in the face, but I liked pretty much everthing else. I liked that the Vuclan V'las was using the Andorian's attempt to steal the prototype in S3 against them. I liked the Romulan presence. I liked T'Pau. I liked the interaction between Shran and Soval. Especially the way they keep referring back to the treaty in S2 and I love the way Shran (a fierce, proud, ass-kicking Andorian) repeats that 'there's been too much bloodshed' as he takes what must be an unpopular stance by reaching out a hand to Vulcans and Humans. Except for Archer I liked the Vulcan trilogy.

Daedalus: Yawn. It started out just fine, but I think there's a serious problem when a guy perpetrates a major fraud against Starfleet in order to use their flagship (and only deep space vessel at this point) for an unknown dangerous mission while lying to the captain, his oldest friend, and the ending tells me he's going to become a professor. And Danika, while standing by her father, helped him perpetrate this crime, and it's implied that Archer would like that lying liar who lies on his ship. And that after all that lying and fraud, Emory actually does get to rescue his son. It feels too much like rewarding criminals, and that doesn't sit well with me. Also, this episode was lacking illumination and interest.

Observer Effect: With the exception of Hoshi's fever that clearly had her hallucinating getting thrown out of Starfleet, when she said just a few episodes ago in S3 that she had never been in the principal's office, I liked this ep. I liked the way the crew interacted with one another. I liked that OrganianReed knew that Archer wasn't smart enough to figure this out without killing everyone (a remark he makes as he and Maywho walk down the hall) I like the way Phlox catches on to OrgArcher and OrgT'Pol because Archer uses big words and seems to understand science. Heh. Any chance I get to assume the crew thinks he's stupid works for me. I found this enjoyable.

Babel One: We're back to setting up the politics that later leads to both the formation of the Federation and the Romulan war. Love! Love the FleaShips! Love my boyfriends Reed and Trip! Love Talas too, so of course she gets injured. *eyeroll* An excellent episode.

I can forgive that sort of thing. Enterprise wasn't a procedural, so I'm not sure the writers/director could have pulled off scene after scene of the augments breaking security.

We're supposed to assume it was more difficult then was shown, and considering the set-up (including Space Seed/TWoK) about how capable the augments are, I don't mind that it was off screen.

I do wish the augments were shown to be more then Kung Fu masters, who're good at math. Khan was so much deeper then that. A master of philosophy, who's not insignificant ambition (yet not nearly as cartoony as Malik, and co), and blind, yet understandable hatred of Kirk weakened his substantial ability just enough for Kirk to best him, but at the ultimate price.

Archer defeats the augments, and the only bad thing that happens is that little crippled augment dies (like we were ever going to see him again, even if he did live).

A (honestly) fun three parter, with absolutely no impact on anything that might have come later... even if the show did run seven seasons.

I love Observer Effect and Babel One. Even if the Organians were far too difficult to please (what would it take to merit first contact and I sort of agree with Archer and Phlox that their behavior leaves a lot to be desired), it was still nice to watch Hoshi and Trip. And Phlox always makes an episode better. And Babel One starts my favorite arc, though I wish they had left out The Aenar. It was just unnecessary. Heck, they could have ended the series with United in my opinion. All those ships zooming around Trip and Malcolm, what an awesome visual to end on. Well, we can't have everything. Shran is great, Archer's assholishness is put to good use, and the crew worked together to figure out a mystery. It was such a great episode for a prequel series, because it really did give some great background as to why the Federation was formed, and why humans/Eart was such a big part of it.

Kir'Shara I like for Captain Trip. Please, can we have more of that? And Daedalus, good lord was that a steaming pile boredom. No, make that a cold, lifeless pile of boredom.

I just flicked into "Affliction". The Augment-infected Klingons have invaded the Enterprise, and are charging down a corridor. And I look at the screen, and shout, "The ship is under attack by the Geico Cavemen!"

HEE! And that still would not be the worst idea Season Four had! (The worst idea is the next episode, BTW. A little warning for next week.)

My thoughts on watching Archer and Shran duke it out:
Beat It! Beat It! No one wants to smell your feet-uh!
Show him your monkey! Show him you're white!
It doesn't matter, if he's wrong, you're right!
Just Beat it, beat it beat it! Da Dum Dum.

Now I can't get that stupid song out of my head.

I loved all four episodes. United and Aenar: I loved Talas and was afraid that shipping Shran with Jhamel happened too quickly, but I loved Jhamel. I loved Trip's asking Phlox if everyone on the ship was crazy, and Phlox giving him THAT look. "Not everyone." Heh. Poor Trip! Loved my boyfriend being all awesome with the blowing up of stuff. Hey, Reed! How YOU doin'? Loved Archer assiness finally being useful when dealing with Andorians and Tellarites. Loved the Aenar. "You have an interesting mind, Captain." Me: It's all that open space, isn't it? Snerk. Many awesome things happened.

Affliction/Divergence: I really enjoy the continuity from this series here. The Augments ran amok and blew up in Klingon space, so the Klingons think it's a threat and try to create their own Augments with disastrous results. Which would not have been so disastrous if Klingons cared at all about science. (Well, Augments are always disatrous, it just would have been a different kind of disaster.) I know lots of people are turned off by the make-up explanation, but I think it really works in the context of this story. I don't like that Reed's Spy Background comes out of nowhere, but given the proximity of the upcoming Romulan war, I actually don't think it's too far out of left field. As a matter of fact, I've read several fanfics and novels where Section 31 is involved, and it's always Trip that becomes the operative and I don't get it, especially since we know that Reed was always one of them.

Uncle Phil rules! I love it when Phlox and Antauk are arguing about medical ethics regarding killing a patient before he's dead, and then Phil just blasts the test subject while they argue. That's just so brutal and awesome! I love these two episodes, although I'm sure I'm in the minority.

No, "Affliction/Divergence" I thought was enjoyable, even though I thought that everyone who cared already knew how the un-ridged Klingons came to be, and those who didn't know didn't care.

I wish they'd explained what the disco lights behind the captain's chair on the Columbia were for...

Not many people knew that Capt. Hernandez moonlighted as the host of Interstellar Dance Party Fever (it was a big hit in the Andorian colonies!).

You owe me a new keyboard. Or else this saying on a tee shirt. Hee! That could have a whole lot to do with why Trip doesn't like working on Columbia. He's a movie guy; he'd like it quiet and on Columbia the raves that keep happening in Engineering become distracting. And the glitter gets everywhere. (And I do mean EVERYWHERE).

So I watched Divergence last night and couldnt help but laugh at Archer's writhing when injected by Phlox. Reminded me alot of a TOS episode when Kirk was injected with something and the camera concentrated on his crotch while he writhed, for a good 30 seconds. Maybe the 'Kirk ages 50 years and turns senile' episode?

Bound: Ugh. I liked the setup though. Archer screwed with the Orions in the Augment triology, so the Orions are after him. They send bounty hunters after him to bring them his head. That's pretty good. They send pheromonal women to seduce the crewmen and make them more easily conquered. That's fine. They make all the women on board (about two dozen of them) completely absent and/or useless. Ugh. They make Trip/T'Pol and their stupid mental bond the saving grace. Blech. I would have much prefferred all the women on board the ship getting their bitch on by kicking those green asses out the airlock. T'Pol could lead them. That would have been fine. And if Trip was immune and technobabbled some doohickey in Engineering, that would be fine. But to leave Hoshi sitting in her chair while Trip futzes with the engine, THEN runs upstairs to the Bridge so he could wave the gun around? That's just weak. Pity it ended like that.

In the Mirror Darkly I/II: Made of Awesome! Now, I love my boyfriend Malcolm Reed, but I'd throw his honorable ass out an airlock in a heartbeat for Mirror Reed! There's something about the deeper timber of his voice in these eps that just...works for me. Rowr! Also, Hoshi kills Archer! HEE! And Forrest shows up! And Trip's burned and melted face! Wheee! Love these eps!

Demons: More love! I think these eps, even with their constant revisionist history, make the Star Trek world much more believable to me. I can easily believe that some people would be frightened of change and of aliens, even after Earth is teeming with them. I like the idea of Terra Prime (well, not that I endorse it, but I like that it exists for the heroes to fight against). I'm a little iffy on the fact that the hybrid child is made from the DNA of the only two people in the known Trek world that recently had a relationship though. How convenient! But otherwise, I really enjoy this ep.

Wow. After 40 years, the Gorn still look like shit.

Terra Prime is the best! I love it. I love Paxton, played with such grim ferocity by the man who brought us Robocop. I love Trip trying to talk his jailer into getting to know other aliens (probably reminiscing about his own speciesist views when he first started out). I thought it was interesting that the guard he was talking to actually believed that Trip and T'Pol had created a lovechild; he seemed unaware that Paxton had bred the baby in a test tube. I loved Reed vomiting in the sh'pod, and Phlox taking back his airsick bag with gleeful interest in the contents. I loved Hoshi standing up to the Mayor...er, Samuels at crunch time. I even enjoyed Mayweather and his poor widdle broken heart. This is clearly the best finale that Trek has ever done.

What do you mean this wasnt it? Yes. Yes it was. You can't make me remember anything else. Bastards! Fine! There was another finale.

These Are The Voyages. Sucks. It sucks loud and hard. It also Blows. It blows long and fierce. TATV suck and blows. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE!

Although I indulge my girl-crush on Riker by watching him in a white chef's coat cooking. Because that might be my definition of the perfect date: a pretty man cooking for me. And I like the scene between Malcolm and Trip in Engineering where they talk about "all good things" coming to an end. But aside from those scenes, I refuse to acknowledge that anything else happened.

And then we went back to Season One. How jarring that was. And how much I hated Archer from the very first time he opened his fat-ass cakehole.

I've told you before, Terra Prime was the series finale. There's no such thing as These Are the Voyages.

No there isn't! I'M NOT LISTENING! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!! LALALALALALALALALALA...

Terra Prime would have been such a classic ending. sigh The final shot was glorious, but no.....Berman and Braga just had to FUCK IT UP. Damn them. How they managed to kill the one character I felt empathy for in such a FUCKED UP WAY. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

That would have made the episode a complete rip off of the SG 1 episode Hathor. And Star Trek would never do that!

Well, yes, it was the show's finale, but I don't have to buy the story as canon. Indeed, it was a holodeck program in the 24th century, not a representation of the events that took place in the 22nd century. I think that it should be viewed as both fictional and rife with errors: I won't even accept that Trip dies in such a stupid manner.

Quite often when something sends into a frothing rant, I discover over a period of time that I come to like certain aspects of the thing.

TATV is not the case. Every time I watch it, (which is all of twice now) I have something else I notice to hate on. For example, it didn't strike me on first watch that T'Pol is in the kitchen touching food. TOUCHING FOOD!! She's Vulcan! She may relax during the next six years, but there's no way she's touching those nasty looking carrots (CARROTS, heh!) with her lily-white hands!

And how come we never get to hear Archer's opinion on Trip? How come he doesn't have to face down the fearsome Chef for a little talk about Trip's awesomeness? Oh, I know! It's because he doesn't think about anything but himself! Jackass!

Yup. Still got hate.

Do Vulcans not touch food with their hands at all? I thought her S1 issue was with eating with her hands, not the act of touching food that's being prepared with her hands. I could easily be misremembering, though.

And I'm not trying to defend the episode. My haaate for it is strong.

Possibly. But would she be comfortable touching food that's been sitting around, where presumably every single member of the crew might have laid hands on it when they come to talk to Chef? Eating vs touching doesn't make me like the episode any better.

And what's with Trip? He's downright twitchy throughout the episode. He tells Archer not to help Shran because that would put Archer in danger. He tells Archer not to go to Rigel because that would put Archer in danger. He must have told Archer to avoid the kitchen because there are too many knives in there and that could be dangerous! What the hell? My mother, who is way too into my business, is not that concerned with my personal safety! What must the last six years have been like with Trip being the sole voice of Archer's safety! (That's sarcasm, BTW). Ugh. HAAAATE!

I was hoping to catch In A Mirror Darkly I/II when they aired but overlooked that they were on last week--my brain seems to fiercely reject any and all information related to this show. Just clicking on the link to the ENT forums made it tell me that I need alcohol.

Peachy, that's just additional proof that TATV is a forgery.

Wow. Just wow.

Unfortunately I've been behind a week or so most of the third/fourth season replays and have sorely missed the weekly discussions here.

Now I'm all caught up and...

That was the finale? No wonder fans were so pissed off. I enjoy TNG, but I don't think pairing the Pegasus story (which was all kinds of awesome) with the finale of Enterprise was fair to either cast and crew. Killing Trip was a cheap sensationalist reaction. Not bothering to flesh out the Trip/T'Pol relationship which by far, IMHO, was the most compelling interaction between this cast was a sore disappointment. Archer was a prick until the bitter end. The worst part was the story was told through a holodeck simulation, so it really isn't even their swan song. I suppose that is a good thing, when you think about it.

Loved Terra Prime. Loved Peter Weller. If I didn't know better when watching it, I would have thought that it was the series finale.