Enterprise Review – “The Crossing”

I’ll spare you all the comedy of errors that led to the delay in my review and just apologize for my tardiness. Now I want an apology from Rick Berman for this episode…

Enterprise LogoThe Crossing

 

Cast & Crew

Director: David Livingston
Story By: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga & Andre Bormanis
Teleplay By: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga

Starring
Scott Bakula as Captain
Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Chief
Engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander
T’Pol
Dominic Keating as Lt.
Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery
as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi
Sato
John Billingsley
as Dr. Phlox

Guest Cast
Joseph Will as Rostov
Steven Allerick as Cook
Valerie Ianniello as Female Crewman
Alexander Chance as Crewman #1
Matthew Kaminsky as Crewman #2

Airdate Information

Originally Aired: April 2, 2003
Season: Two
Episode: Nineteen
Production: 044

This Week on EnterpriseWhat Happened

Enterprise is swallowed by an otherworldly vessel occupied by noncorporeal creatures who invade the bodies of crew members and trade consciousnesses with them.

Review

I made the mistake of borrowing A&E’s Hornblower films from the library last week, before watching Enterprise. The Hornblower series, by C.S. Forester, was one of Gene Roddenbery’s inspirations when creating Star Trek back in the 60’s. They follow the career of one Horatio Hornblower, a young officer in Her Majesty’s Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

The mistake lies in the fact that Forester’s stories are full of strong characters making bold decisions. Enterprise is populated with weak characters who can’t decide what to have for dinner. The open sea was a deadly place in the 18th-century. Space should be no less treacherous in the 22nd. Where’s the peril? The danger? The drama?

"I was walking the beach with my girlfriend…&quot Good grief. And an even more cruel betrayal lays in wait as the retread of Star Trek VI they’re parading around as next week’s "event."

High Point

It was fun to see the good doctor out and about on the ship. I was beginning to wonder if he was a hologram chained to sickbay.

Low Point

I’m cheating and going to an email from Fiziko:

We know that the aliens were trapping people in some sort of wish fulfilling dreamland. We know that a body’s rightful owner came right back after the alien was kicked out of that body. Why did this happen? I would think that either:

a) The person who was kicked out would be desperate to get back, explaining the rapid return.

b) The person who was kicked out was having so much fun having wishes fulfilled that they’d need to be dragged back.

No good answer, but perhaps the crew knew they’d die if they didn’t return to their host bodies. It’s a poor stretch that we, as viewers, should not have to make.

The Scores

Originality: Not even close. 1 out 6.

Effects: The alien ship was not only a well-done effect, it was actually beautiful to look at. About the only thing worthwhile this week. 6 out of 6.

Story: Non-corporeal entites peaked in Star Trek with The Prophets. Even TOS episodes sucked when forced into this Sci-Fi cliché. 2 out of 6.

Acting: Oh the challenge of playing your normal character, only possessed. That coupled with the whiners on the catwalk. Why are all Enterprise crewmen such wusses? 2 out of 6.

Emotional Response: There’s a juvenille chuckle to be had when Reed enters T’Pol’s quarters. And that’s it. 2 out of 6.

Production: Hey look, it’s the catwalk…again. 3 out of 6.

Overall: Another B&B snoozer. Even the title didn’t make sense. 2 out of 6.

Total: 18 out of 42

Episode Media

From StarTrek.com

Next Time on Enterprise (April 9, 2003)

Next Time on EnterpriseJudgement

Captain Archer stands accused before a Klingon tribunal of conspiring against the Empire, and his only hope of escaping a death sentence or life in the dilithium mines of Rura Penthe is an aging and disenchanted Klingon lawyer with little energy or enthusiasm for the case.

TheAngrymob

8 replies on “Enterprise Review – “The Crossing””

  1. The Title
    At one point in the episode, a possessed crewman (I think it was Trip) tells Archer that he’d relax and enjoy things if only he’d allow “the crossing.” This is apparently the name of this body-stealing process, so the title makes sense in that context. Of course, it falls apart again when you wonder why body-snatching is given that title.

  2. I think I lost an hour of my life
    I’m pretty sure something like this was already done as a TNG episode, only instead of explorers the non-corporeal aliens were criminals and they took over Troi, then there was the TOS episode with the non-corporeal that fed off of the emotions of the crew and the marauding Klingons onboard, the previously mentioned prophets from DS9, and then the body jumping fugitive in Voyager that took over Tom Paris’ body. We now have 30+ years of similar stories ranging from the fairly decent (the TNG episode), the fairly laughable (the Voyager), the serious (DS9) and now the completely crappy (Enterprise). What next? The transporter accident has been done, as has the castaway-with-stuck-up-princess episode, and of course the A-Team plot line. The Borg are coming, and next week is a rip-off of The Undiscovered Country. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll go back to meeting up with the Romulans – maybe they’ll even give us visual contact! That would totally fit in with the continuity….

    • Re: I think I lost an hour of my life

      Don’t forget the other TNG episode, in which Picard became a non-corporeal entity in an energy cloud, and actually tried very hard to get back. In that case, the entities were benevelant, too, if memory serves. (I seem to recall that his disappearance was an accident.) This was also done much better than in The Crossing.

      • Re: I think I lost an hour of my life

        Don’t forget the other TNG episode, in which Picard became a non-corporeal entity in an energy cloud, and actually tried very hard to get back. In that case, the entities were benevelant, too, if memory serves. (I seem to recall that his disappearance was an accident.) This was also done much better than in The Crossing.

        Ah yes, I do remember that. IIRC Picard and the entity had a sort of mindmeld thing going on, and it didn’t work outside of the ship, so they brought Picard back through the transporter.

        This reminded me of the other annoying thing in The Crossing. The aliens were searching for a new spaceship as they couldn’t survive in outer space, yet they could cross through it to get to the Enterprise. Also, why didn’t they just request help from Archer? If they changed the atmosphere of their own ship to match human normal, couldn’t they have just come onboard Enterprise until another ship was found? There was really no reason for them to want to take over the bodies of the crew. It’s not like they’d take up much space, they are non-corporeal after all.

    • Re: I think I lost an hour of my life

      … and of course the A-Team plot line…

      What! I missed the A-Team episode! Damn, I was looking foward to that one. Well, If they ever get the Knight Rider (or Airwolf for that matter) episode going, give me a couple days notice – would you? I don’t watch That Enterprise Show anymore.

      I miss firefly *snif*

  3. cheap shot
    Archer plotting against the Klingon Empire? This could be a first: someone on Enterprise taking part in an original plot.

  4. Where have all the good ideas gone?
    Just where have all the original and good ideas in Sci-Fi TV gone… oh yeah, they keep getting canned!!

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