Finally we get what should have been the season premiere. Enterprise returns to Earth and is celebrated. Soval, however, gets on Archer's back for not trying to save the zombie-Vulcans from last season (They were effing zombies, what do you want from me?!). So Archer gets ticked off at the Vulcan, as usual. Meanwhile, xenophobic tendencies flare on Earth, and Phlox gets intimidated in a bar on Earth. We also get to see the NX-02, almost complete, and its captain, Archer's former girlfriend. They go on a hike together and we learn just how much Archer changed since he left on the Xindi mission.

This is one of those "talk" episodes. No action, but all dialogue. This is for 2 reasons: 1) to develop characters (which this episode does ok) and 2) to save money!!! With no fancy effects, they save some coin for future episodes (I hope). All things considered, this was a necessary wind-down episode, allowing us and the characters to catch our breath before the first mini-arc of the season. Let's go, Brent Spiner!

--DroopyMcC

Rating: 3 xenophobes out of 5