Date: 1 September 2151
While Enterprise is in the middle of deploying subspace amplifiers which will give the ship more secure contact with Earth, an alien vessel continues to dog their every move - moving from the 'silent treatment' to an all-out, invasive assault.
Summary
Enterprise is busy deploying Echo Two, the second subspace amplifier, which will greatly enhance communications with Starfleet Command, when an alien vessel which nobody - including T'Pol - recognises approaches. Archer hails them and explains Enterprise's intentions, but the aliens don't respond. Instead, they simply warp away. The crew is slightly put out, but, as T'Pol notes, not all alien motivations can be explained in human terms. Either that, or they simply decided that Enterprise wasn't very interesting. The issue of the ship is put aside for the moment while Archer contacts Reed's parents on Earth: it's the lieutenant's birthday, and Archer wants to cook him a special dinner. To this end, he asks Mary and Stuart Reed their son's favourite food. But Stuart is frosty at best, noting that Malcolm hasn't spoken to them since Enterprise left Earth, and that he broke a family tradition of service in the Royal Navy to join Starfleet. Mary admits that she has no idea what Malcolm's favourite food is - "He always ate whatever was put in front of him." Baffled, Archer hands the task over to Hoshi.
Archer points out to Tucker that no-one really knows a great deal about Reed, and also the fact that surely his parents should know what his favourite food is. As they talk, the alien ship returns and hangs off of Enterprise's bow. A renewed attempt at a hail initially appears just as useless - but suddenly, an invasive scan pierces the ship, making the crew clutch at their ears in pain at the high-pitched sound. The alien ship banks over Enterprise, firing its weapons before once again going to warp. Reed notes that it's a good thing they broke off their attack - Enterprise's torpedoes wouldn't have been a match for the aliens' shields. Inspecting the damage, Archer finds that half a metre was all that stood between Commander Tucker and his engineering team, and death in the vacuum. Tired of the fact that Enterprise's defences are unable to stand up to the threats that the ship is coming up against, Archer notes that the ship was supposed to be equipped with phase cannons - but because of the early launch from spacedock ("Broken Bow"), only one out of three (and then only a prototype) was installed. The captain orders an about-face, having Mayweather set a course for Jupiter, where Starfleet's technicians can complete the defence systems.
Reed and Tucker claim that they can do the work in space, and Archer gives them permission to begin the construction - but before they can get very far, the alien ship returns, disabling the Enterprise with some kind of dampening field. Main power goes off-line, and the aliens board the ship using a shuttlecraft. Archer leads a team below decks to fend off the invaders, and comes across two humanoids, with long limbs and heads shaped somewhat like hammerhead sharks'. Phase pistols have no effect on the aliens as they subject two crewmen to some very invasive scans, rendering them comatose. Unchallenged, the aliens return to their mothership and once again attack the Enterprise with their weapons, damaging the port nacelle and rendering the ship incapable of warp speed and of further progress towards Earth.
Archer realises that his ship is in need of assistance, and attempts to contact the Vulcan High Command for reinforcements. The signal won't go through, and the reason soon becomes clear: the aliens have destroyed Echos One and Two. Enterprise is alone. Reed and Tucker manage to construct and activate the phase cannons, and the ship makes its way under impulse to an uninhabitable moon to test the weapons. The first shot on a moonside mountain is ten times the expected yield, and plasma conduits blow out on several decks, damaging the cannons. The cause of the blowout is traced to Cargo Bay 2, where an anomalous reading turns out to be some kind of alien sensor device. The device has tapped in to communications, weapons and numerous other systems, with activity on the ship being recorded. Archer talks into the device - and so to the aliens - via a visual sensor. "You may think that you've left us defenceless. But we'll protect Enterprise any way we can," he promises, vapourising the device. Shortly thereafter, the aliens return - this time hailing as they approach. But rather than communicate, they've created a mock-up of Archer from the message he sent them. "You are defenceless. Prepare to surrender your vessel," the aliens demand in Archer's voice. Having managed to repair the cannons, Reed lets loose a volley at the closing alien ship, but although some impact registers, it's marginal. Archer orders Reed to overload the cannons in the same way that the alien device did, and the Enterprise is able to deliver a blow with cannons and torpedoes acting in concert. The alien ship retreats, trailing plasma.
After dead-end conversations with aunts, uncles, best friends and sisters, Hoshi finally discovers from Phlox that Reed takes regular injections to counter his allergy to pineapple. A cake is quickly baked, and a special birthday dinner duly served.
Review
After the blip of "Civilisation" and "Fortunate Son", Enterprise has managed to serve up two excellent episodes in as many weeks, thus outdoing much of Voyager and recalling the good old days of The Next Generation. Although it's far too early to say that Series V will rival TNG in quality terms, the potential is now undoubtedly there.
On a purely visceral level, this is a satisfying episode. The effects are excellent - including the first use of all-CGI aliens since Voyager's Species 8472, and an excellent shot of Enterprise reversing course and heading for Earth. The space battle scenes, the levelling of the lunar mountain range and the phase cannon deployment are all uniformly well-executed and believeable. If there's one thing that this show can't be faulted on, it's space sfx. Oh, and lest I forget: the music ... The score in this instalment is among the best created for a Trek episode. Although there's by no means a memorable "theme" such as that created for Species 8472 in "Scorpion", or anything approaching the majesty of First Contact, there's a deftness of touch shown in this score which serves to elevate the episode above its admittedly predictable subject matter. Also, it's about time that the Enterprise got some firepower. From the Suliban pods in the pilot to the Malurian ship in "Civilisation", we've always seen Enterprise outgunned, if not outmatched. It was high time for the viewers, as well as for the crew, that Starfleet's top ship got some teeth.
Those superficialities aside, this is a Reed episode from start to finish: from the construction of the cannons, to the chat with his parents, to Hoshi bungling asking him what his favourite food is, to his argument with Tucker over the cannons' power source. It's the character's - and Dominic Keating's - strongest turn since "The Andorian Incident": once again, we get to see the lieutenant in a position of authority, giving orders, being pushy, and not being afraid to stand up for his opinion when he knows he's right. It suits the character, and serves to elevate him in importance over the increasingly irrelevant Mayweather and the charming-but-marginalised Sato. The fact that Reed's parents didn't know that he was Enterprise's armoury officer doesn't come as much of a surprise to the viewer, largely because we didn't really know what his job was either (tactical? Security chief?); here is a 'second-tier' character with actual potential. That's if, of course, we get to learn anything about him other than the fact that he really, really likes guns and that he once had a crush on a waitress. Reed's reticence to get involved with any form of relationship with Hoshi is in keeping with his generally shy and reserved demeanour, but it will serve the character and Keating (not to mention the show as a whole) well if we see him gradually come out of his shell over the next few years.
Reed's parents aren't the only loved ones back home who are being frosty: Tucker's girlfriend has broken off their relationship, thus lending the title of the episode a double meaning: in a sense, relations back home are the "silent enemy" as well, reminding the crew of that which they've left behind in the name of exploration. Tucker tells his engineers that they all knew the risks when they signed on to Enterprise, but rather than it being a hollow, clich�d statement, there's a sense that there's another meaning to his words: the risk of losing people you care about one hundred light-years away. It's a nuance which is clever and very welcome. Of course, the cutting-off of relations with Earth, both in the initial communiqu�s and then via the destruction of the Echo amplifiers, serves to underline Enterprise's isolation as well. Several elements come together in this episode to form a cohesive narrative, something which is all too often overlooked when formulaic plotlines rear their ugly heads.
A familiar plotline is a charge which could quite easily be levelled at "Silent Enemy". It's pretty obvious that Reed's birthday dinner will always take place, that Tucker will follow his suggestion to route the impulse power to the cannons and that his work will end up saving the ship. But this instalment is an example of what can still be achieved in Star Trek when it's willing to be a bit more adventurous in its storytelling and character development. On DS9, this would have turned into a changeling-hunting episode. On Voyager, Janeway would probably have initiated the self-destruct sequence. On TNG, Picard would have negotiated after Data had come up with a way to communicate. Here, Archer takes an immediate lead, furious with the attacks on his ship, racing belowdecks to lead the security team heading off the invasion. Picard would have nodded at Riker and simply said, "Number One," letting his first officer deal with the physicalities. It's perfectly in keeping with what we've seen of Archer so far for him to lead the assault, and it's also satisfying to once again see a captain getting their hands dirty.
Archer is the other star of this episode. The decision to contact Vulcan clearly weighs heavily on him, but his obligations to and feelings for his crew clearly counterbalance his latent prejudices. It's this sort of decision that enables the viewer to like Archer - the ability to get past his own shortcomings - rather than the covert racism he's displayed in the past. His conversation with Tucker, and his friend's reminder that if it weren't for the success of the Klaang mission the Klingon Empire might be in a far worse state right now, reminds me of Spock's line to Kirk in the original series when he said that "You don't have the right to be vulnerable in the eyes of the crew". Tucker fulfills a useful function once again. Twice in two weeks? Could this be the end of my Tucker-baiting?
Certain directorial choices made in the episode are a little odd - the angles in the dimly-lit corridor chase scenes could have been a lot tighter and more tense, for instance - and there;s another Phlox moment where, after Archer's panicked hail to him to attend to the injured crewmen, he responds with a cheery "I'll be right there!" That really needs to stop at some point.
But these are nitpicks. All in all, "Silent Enemy" is an excellent episode, thoroughly entertaining, with some growth for a largely sidelined character and a workout for the ship's captain. If Enterprise continues to turn out shows of this calibre for the remainder of the season, then we could conceiveably get the best first season of any Trek show. High praise indeed - and there for the taking. |
