Star Trek Ent - Season 3 - Episode 19
Originally Aired: 2004-4-21
Synopsis:
While dissension among Xindi ranks festers, Enterprise tries to recover from a devastating attack. [DVD]
Problems
- T'Pol says they need warp 3 to reach a system 4 light years away in 3 days, but they actually need quite a bit more speed than that to bridge 4 light years in 3 days.
- This episode gets wrong the definition of a warp coil. The proper term would have been something like a dilithium matrix.
Factoids
- Casey Biggs, who plays the Illyrian captain in this episode, also played Damar on DS9.
- Phlox has been a doctor for 40 years. He believes that he has acted unethically twice.
Remarkable Scenes
- The attack suddenly stopping.
- T'Pol and Reed surveying the damage.
- Archer aboard an aquatic ship.
- Hoshi analyzing the aquatic language.
- T'Pol using the Trellium-D like a narcotic.
- T'Pol arguing with Archer.
- T'Pol revealing her Trellium-D to Phlox.
- Archer and crew boarding the Illyrian ship.
My Review
This episode is a fair sequel to Ent: Azati Prime, but technical and logical problems spoil some of the fun. The sudden stop of the attack on Enterprise and the return of Archer to the ship by the Xindi struck me as far too convenient. Explanations for these unlikely events are satisfactory at best. Conversely, the revelation that T'Pol's been trying to develop a tolerance for Trellium-D so that the crew can line the hull with it as an explanation for her emotional behavior is very cool. I'm glad the writers weren't just making her inexplicably emotional. I also enjoyed the "dark Trek" DS9 style attack Archer ordered on the Illyrian ship. Complete with a DS9 guest star! ;) So while Ent: Damage fails to capture the spirit and adventure of Ent: Azati Prime and leaves far too many loose ends, it works well on its own. Hopefully the Xindi arc will stop neglecting itself. A final note, I was impressed by the level of damage and the repair efforts. It all looked very realistic and was visually impressive.
The following are comments submitted by my readers.
A comment for the reviewer. You state "Conversely, the revelation that T'Pol's been trying to develop a tolerance for Trellium-D so that the crew can line the hull with it as an explanation for her emotional behavior is very cool."
Actually, I would have loved that to be the reason she was ingesting Trellium, but we get this: "T'POL: The initial effects were overwhelming, but as they began to wear off I discovered I was able to access certain emotions. I wanted more. I began to experiment by ingesting small amounts of Trellium. I devised a way to inject it into my bloodstream.
PHLOX: You must have known it was dangerous. Trellium exposure is deadly to Vulcans. It eats away at the neural pathways.
T'POL: I thought, in small amounts, it would be safe. At first, I was able to control the new emotions. My interactions with the crew improved."
She was just exploring her emotions. A selfish act, opposed to attempting to tolerate Trellium D so they could line the hull - a much more "Vulcan" (the needs of the many...) act.