Another arc comes to an end.
The Aenar
Cast & Crew
Director: Mike Vejar
Teleplay By: Andre Bormanis
Story By: Manny Coto
Starring
Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Charles “Trip” Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as T’Pol
Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery as Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Hoshi Sato
John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox
Guest Cast
Jeffrey Combs as Shran
Alexandra Lydon as Jhamel
Brian Thompson as Valdore
Geno Silva as Vrax
Alicia Adams as Lissan
Scott Allen Rinker as Gareb
Episode Information
Originally Aired: February 4, 2004
Season: Four
Episode: Fourteen
Production: 090
What Happened
Archer visits Shran’s icy homeworld to find an Andorian subspecies called the Aenar, to determine their connection to the marauder destroying ships in the region.
Review
Do we need another species added to the canon when we’re missing so many that we know and love?
High Points
- I really like Archer and Shran’s interactions and the insight into Andorian culture. Really breathes life into the world.
- Interesting insight into the Romulan mind.
Low Points
- Cheesy “I love you sis” ending.
- Trip, T’Pol: Get over it!
The Scores
Originality: Not stunningly original, but it does fit the rest of the arc fairly well. 2 out of 6.
Effects: A few good shots, particularly the remote ships going after each other. 5 out of 6.
Story: It’s OK. Not sure if the Aenar stuff was rushed or took too long. 4 out of 6.
Acting: Combs and Bakula still have a great thing going with their characters. 5 out of 6.
Emotional Response: Archer and Shran are still the key to these episodes. 4 out of 6.
Production: Oh look, caves. Not just any caves, ICE CAVES! 4 out of 6
Overall: It wraps up the arc, but unlike its beginning, it lacks a broad scope. 4 out of 6.
Total: 29 out of 42
Next Week on Enterprise (February 18, 2005)
On Earth, Dr. Phlox is kidnapped by a band of Klingons who are desperate to find a cure for a genetically-engineered virus that threatens their entire race. Meanwhile, Trip begins his new assignment aboard the Starship Columbia as it prepares to embark on its maiden voyage.
But Reed’s ties to a mysterious intelligence organization compromises his allegiance to Archer and Enterprise. Later, T’Pol attempts her first mind-meld in the search for clues to Phlox’s whereabouts.
Additional Notes and Comments
If you’re interested in what’s in TheAngryMob’s review queue, check out my What’s Coming page.
It wasn’t bad, but….
What’s with mass-media SF and planets with only one climate?
Re: It wasn’t bad, but….
Good point! The other thing that I was wondering is how does life advance to such a state in such a barren wilderness? Not a chance, sorry… I did like them developing the Andorians more though, just wish it was more believable.
Still High Quality, Though
While not without short-comings, this episode is still far better quality than most of season 2 and 3. Heck, it would even be good for season 1.
They didn’t really add a new species so much as expanded the Andorians with an off-shoot. And why not? Star Trek uses Darwinian evolution so why couldn’t two "branches" of the same sentient life-form exist on a planet?
Plus, the Aenar are a nice contrast to the rough and angry Andorians. It adds nicely to the Andorian race as a whole, I think.
I actually thought that the "cheezy" ending worked well. The psyonic contact between the two plus the funky lights inside of the drive-by-mind devices made for… well… I don’t know what, but I liked it :-)
Good job Coto! In spite of the cancelation, you’re giving us your best. For the record, I enjoyed Afflication last night too!
Smooth / ridged
Wanna bet?
spoilers
No bets.It’s long been leaked and, having seen part one, it’s a fact that this arc will resolve the ridge issue.
Re: spoilers
Yeah, but what about the gold lamè uniforms?
Re: spoilers
See the thread about gay Klingons here. :P
Peace,
-Joe G.
Re: spoilers
Strong word.
I’m sure it will act out what to the untrained eyed will seem like a resolution…
Then again, you people rave about the quantum leap in quality of the current season, and having seen none of it, I cannot verify the polarity reversal from the craptacular first season.
But I’m a rebel: I don’t accept the Berman Space Show as trek. To me it’s simply a lawyer-proof knock-off ;)
Re: versal of polarity
Strong words ; )
I would only say that this season has produced the kinds of episodes that, had they appeared in Season 1, in place of the Temporal Clod War, the Great Interstellar Spelunking Expedition, and the freakin’ Decon Cheesecake sequence, I would have found the show worthwhile, though not Trek at its best.
my god it gets worst…
Wow this wasn’t new to me, filled with action, shifting story lines and 5 min species breakdown I have only seen this about A BILLION TIMES in the run of STE.
What’s with the Aenar, and how can a BLIND race build that city much less move around, last time I checked telepathic can sense others, but it would be funny if you just saw them running into shit, like walls and tables.
Story Flaw- Holo projection ship, give me a break, they couldn’t even fix the kinks on the enterprise-D’s holodecks much less have a ship with holo emitters on it projecting on to……NOTHING. And romulans using telepathic technology, that shit doesn’t even exist in the DS9/Voyager era (and don’t say the Borg, or species 90210 [8472]) They have to do something with time travel, I only wish it worked in real life, I want to forget this show ever existed
Re: my god it gets worst…
I don’t remember them ever saying ‘holo’ but I might have missed that in the
technojargon. I was taking it as a visual projection, and that their sensors
didn’t know any better. I was looking at it as a pre-cloak type technology
instead of 24th/29th century era stuff.
Re: my god it gets worst…
I think it was less ‘telepathic technology’ and more that they needed a being with greater mind control (like a telepath) to operate the complex controls with the speed and accuracy required.
I think…