The Xindi
01/10/2003 . Source: Evan Braun 

In the first episode of the third season Enterprise, Evan discovers 'The Xindi' is not only a decent payoff to the second season finale, but it has some wonderful setups for the future. Trek on.

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3.01 - "The Xindi" ENTERPRISE, Season 3 Written by: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga Directed by: Allan Kroeker

My review of "The Expanse" was pretty damned optimistic (or, if not the review, than the final grade) when I look back to the episode (it got 6.5). The episode seemed not to have much of a story in and of itself - all it was doing was preparing the audience, setting up for ... for this.

So what is this?

Let's start by talking about what I was expecting it to be. I didn't think this episode was going to be great. In fact, I didn't even dare to hope it would be good.

I thought, there's really very little that can save Enterprise right now, with the exception of one thing. And that one thing is continuing storylines.

We've had good ones in the past, but they haven't been followed up on very well. Over the summer there's been a lot of talk from Rick Berman and Brannon Braga that this year will be a continuing story. I didn't know what to do with that statement, given previous such promises that have gone unfulfilled.

However, what we got in "The Xindi" is not only a decent payoff to the second season finale, but it has some wonderful setup for the future.

I'm still surprised to say this, but . . . Gosh, I liked it. I really liked it. There are, of course, a few things I disliked, but I'll get to those later.

We'll start from the very beginning. The first thing I liked, ridiculous though it is to mention, was the recap from 'The Expanse.' That episode was pretty bad, but all that was good in it we were reminded of in this quick little review.

We start with introducing the Xindi Council - presumably, the leaders of the Xindi race . . . or possibly they are a group of conspirators, only time will tell for sure. We find out that there are five distinct species of Xindi, and that they tend to fight for dominance. The five types include Humanoid, Reptilian, Insectoid, and something called the Sloth. The fifth resembles a giant worm-like creature that's held in some sort of containment tank - and bears a striking resemblance to a Guild Navigator from Dune.

I love T'Pol's new haircut, and I don't even mind the suit all that much. It is at least as tight, if not tighter, than the previous version, though. The previous suit was really dark, composed of lots of earth tones . . . and it basically combined the sex quality the writers and designers have obviously played up regarding Jolene Blalock's character and the non-flashiness, earthiness of the Vulcan race.

This new suit basically throws out any attempt to make her more like a Vulcan, and just goes straight for sexy. That would bother me if it hadn't been forecasted so long ago. The people behind this series have made no effort to de-emphasize "T'Pol as Sex Object."

I almost forgot for a minute there that I'm supposed to be summing up the stuff I liked about the show. Forgive me.

The show has a new set - the "Command Center." It used to be a storage bay, but part of the refits have changed it to the equivalent of a Mission Control area (very similar to Babylon 5's War Room). We're also informed that the ship has been in the Expanse for six weeks.

Tucker shows Archer a strange gravity field problem in one of the storage bays, where the bins are basically "falling" from wall to wall since gravity isn't working the way it's supposed to. I guess that's the sort of thing the writers meant when they basically said: "Hmm, the Expanse, weird shit happens there." Anyway, the scene was sort of fun to watch, even if it seemed like it was for the audience's benefit more than for the show, or Archer's.

We see some of the new military personnel that have joined the ship, primarily represented by Major Hayes (Steven Culp). But two other notable characters are Corporal Chang (played by the wonderful Daniel Dae Kim, who served briefly in a starring role on Crusade - the B5 spin-off that never made it off the ground) and Corporal Romero (Marco Sanchez).

The dynamic the new characters bring to the show is interesting, and it's nice to see that happen - one of the problems last season was with me just getting bored with the way the crew was acting with each other. This adds a whole new spin to the ship's complement - not as edgy as the initial Starfleet/Marquis rivalry in early Voyager shows, but still interesting.

The prime source of conflict comes from Reed, who tells T'Pol he resents Major Hayes' position that his people are better trained and more capable than his Starfleet staff. There could potentially be some great stories there, but we'll have to wait to see if the writers actually mine them.

Phlox was fun in his manipulations to get Trip to try Vulcan neuropressure to alleviate his insomnia. He's been having a lot of nightmares about his sister's death. I like the concept of him having trouble coping. I also like that the Expanse is screwing up T'Pol's REM cycles. I suspect this is leading toward more stories dealing with how the Expanse is uniquely detrimental to Vulcans. That could be good stuff. I strongly dislike where the writers took these two elements in this show, but more on that later.

The character played by Chris Freeman, the Alien Head Guard, was absolutely masterful. He was one of the most convincing and interesting villains this show has ever had. I'm sure we're through with him, and the mine featured in this episode, but the scenario - specifically as it relates to casting - was exceptionally well executed. I also liked the references to "liquid platinum" being a valuable metal. Latinum? Nice continuity.

And the ending is fantastic. The ship speeds away, out of danger, and proceeds to the coordinates they received for the Xindi homeworld. But it is destroyed, apparently 120 years ago. The visuals, not to mention the tension, is incredible. Now the ship heads off further into the Expanse . . .

Okay, now for the stuff that didn't work so well.

The remix of the opening theme song. It's a nice change when the song starts, but after about 30 seconds it gets incredibly tacky. It's more "pop"ish now than ever, and that is not in the least complimentary.

The adolescent treatment of T'Pol's character actually gets worse now. I thought, after last season's brief flirtation with Pon Farr, that we'd seen it as bad as it would get. Apparently, that was not so. Not only are we seeing a potential pairing up of T'Pol and Tucker, which I am adamantly against unless the writers give us some impressive reasons for the match besides "they're both really hot."

Okay, pay attention now: We actually see Jolene Blalock's boob. Yes, folks, her boob. I couldn't believe it myself, but there it was. Here's the premise: Phlox sends Tucker to T'Pol's quarters for some "Vulcan neurotherapy" (T'Pol's quarters are now the equivalent of a massage parlour).

She disrobes, making this the second season premiere in a row where a female character puts her hands over her chest to cover herself (recall Hoshi's hijinks in last season's "Shockwave, Part II" anyone?). Tucker completes the manoeuvre, which T'Pol referred to earlier as "a very intimate act." In return, T'Pol does it back to him.

Please. This is so incredibly obvious, so totally lacking in subtlety that it almost makes me laugh.

And the very last bit in the show (Reed talking about increasing distortion waves in the direction leading further into the Expanse) was more than a bit corny. But the stuff just before it, with the destroyed planet, compensates for it.

Fortunately The Xindi's positive points more than outweigh the negative ones. Please, more of this. This is good.

Final Score: 8. It could still be better, but the potential is so enormous at this point that I can practically taste it.

Evan Braun