Star Trek Ent - Season 1 - Episode 09
Star Trek Ent - 1x09 - Civilization
Originally Aired: 2001-11-14
Synopsis:
The Enterprise crew encounters a pre-industrial society that is afflicted with a plague caused by exploitative secret visitors. [DVD]
Problems
- Archer claims that they have traveled 78 light years. But the current date of the episode is July 31st, 2151. Given this date and comparing it to the date in the first episode, Enterprise couldn't have possibly traveled more than 40 light years from Earth.
Factoids
- This episode establishes that Earth has not yet adopted Vulcan's original version of what became the Prime Directive, their non interference policy.
- Garos is from the Malurian system which will be destroyed by Nomad in TOS: The Changeling.
Remarkable Scenes
- Archer: "Starfleet could have sent a probe out here, to make maps and take pictures, but they didn't. They sent us, so that we could explore with our own senses."
- Archer discovering Garos.
- Archer kissing Riann as an excuse to fix his translator.
- Archer winning a fight!
- Trip beaming the reactor up then beaming it aft Enterprise so Reed could fire a torpedo at it to detonate the reactor, dropping the shields of the Malurian ship.
My Review
An average episode with not much wrong with it other than one detail. It could have easily been done on any of the other Star Trek series. And if you think back to Star Trek IX: Insurrection, or episodes like it, it already has been. So I subtract a point for the episode not being very original. Other than that though, it was well done. I was pleased to see continuity with TOS: The Changeling, showing us a little about the Malurian culture destroyed in that episode. I can't say I mourn them as much now! It's remarkable that Earth doesn't have a non interference policy like the Vulcans do. Trip didn't even think it served much of a purpose! Another good point in the episode... Archer finally won a fist fight. ;)
The following are comments submitted by my readers.
The technique that Riann used to discover that the antique shop was the source of the epidemic is identical to the discovery of how cholera was spread. It actually involves a well-known graphic – and there is was (or something very similar), in this episode. Google: “John Snow: The London Cholera Epidemic of 1854.” You will see the actual historic graphic. This episode is a 10.
I want to like this episode. Only one question. Why were the Malurians even there? What was their purpose? They were hiding out on some backwater planet with a dangerous reactor because…evil? Were there resources there? Was there any reason at all for the Malurians to be there?
Also, the Riann/Archer romance was forced.
I like that Enterprise is trying some new things like malfunctioning translators and prosthetics, but there was no substance to this episode.
3/10.
@themadworld - I assume that the mineral that they were mining was rare and valuable
I sort of liked this ep, I thought it was fun!