Date: September 13, 2021

Season 1, Episode 10

Music Video of the Day:

Interstellar News: Today I had a case of the Mondays. It was also my dad’s birthday, as well as a few other good friends. Dinner was yummy, though, as we experimented marinating chicken in pickle juice.

TL;DR: The Fortunate, a cargo freighter, is attacked by Nausicaans and the Enterprise is routed to check on their distress signal. Ryan, the first officer, tries to get Enterprise to leave because they’ve captured a Nausicaan (seen as bullies in “Tapestry“) and want their revenge. Eventually Archer is able to negotiate a trade while Mayweather talks the first officer down. Ryan is demoted by the captain when he wakes up and he muses about how times are a-changing.

Favorite Quote:

Reed: Get down.

Phlox: Under the circumstances, I defer to your experience.

Dr. Phlox is cool as a cucumber under fire.

“Just because someone isn’t born on Earth doesn’t make him any less human.”: This was a quaint episode that had both good and not so good parts. The not so good parts are the story that I saw the moment the first officer didn’t want Enterprise‘s help and the flimsy reason why Enterprise was even called to check on them in the first place. I get that they’re the fastest ship out there, but really? What was its cargo that Starfleet was all abuzz and wanted to pull Enterprise off of its mission of exploration? Also, Ryan was trying to pull this off as a stand for mankind and all of the cargo ships, but he was really just in it for revenge and retribution.

The good, however, was the use of Mayweather – even if it was super contrived. He hasn’t had much to do and this is an excellent way to use his skill set. The conversation between him and Archer is an important conversation and it was approached in the correct way. Mayweather is clearly new to this life but he approached his captain with respect and a genuine curiosity. Archer, knowing all this, uses this as a learning experience and it’s wonderful. I’m super torn on this episode, but they got the message right so it’s 6 tennis balls to throw for Porthos.

TA Out!

Date: September 12, 2021

Season 1, Episode 9

Music Video of the Day:

Interstellar News: Yesterday was, not great. Today I watched The Three Caballeros with a dear friend and then ran ALL THE ERRANDS. We were mostly successful in finding all the things on our list, and a few things that weren’t, but we’re now pretty stocked up for a few weeks. I made “toad in a hole” tonight and didn’t set the kitchen on fire, honest.

TL;DR: Enterprise encounters a pre-industrial M-class planet and goes down to take a look, especially when neutrino emissions are found. Some other aliens came and pretended to be traders, but the reactor they built is making many of the locals sick. They team up with a very advanced local, Riann, who helps the team kick the aliens out. She even gets herself kissed by Archer, oh la la. The Vulcans promise to check in on them to ensure no other folks mess around with that planet.

Favorite Quote:

Archer: A farm?

T’Pol: It’s remote and sparsely populated. If you’re exposed, there’s a reduced risk of cultural contamination.

Archer: This must be why aliens are always landing in cornfields. So, who do we send first?

A reference to Signs and all the other alien tropes, as well as the first episode!

“78 light years to get here, our first act is breaking and entering.”: This is a cute little episode where you can see why the Prime Directive eventually becomes a thing and why you have to have A LOT more preparation in order to visit with certain civilizations. This episode makes me dislike Tucker, just when he was beginning to grow on me, because he makes disparaging remarks against both women and Vulcans and I’m just so over his misogyny. Archer starts to channel Kirk when he kisses the girl, but he does so in a very un-Kirk like manner and it’s wonderfully adorable. I liked that the team helped kick Goros and the others out and also helped get the Akaali back on their path. I also really enjoyed Riann as a character, I find apothecaries quite interesting and she’s super smart and totally not taking any shit from Archer. 6 buckets of bouncy balls for Porthos on this one!

TA Out!

Date: September 10, 2021

Season 1, Episode 8

Music Video of the Day:

Interstellar News: I finished graduation check-out (step 2 of about 100) and then we worked on vacuum sealing about 50 pounds of meat from the butcher. There was chicken, pork, beef, and various sausages and we should be good for at least two months. I had a wonderful chat with a dear friend and solidified plans for a Sunday movie date. The freezer is now restocked and we’ll be back to watching Marvel movies tonight with The Black Panther.

TL;DR: The Enterprise encounters a comet that even the Vulcans have no record of while T’Pol acts strangely after receiving an encrypted message. A Vulcan ship arrives to “observe” the Enterprise, Reed and Mayweather work on the comet, and the rest of the crew answers questions from Tucker’s nephew’s class back on Earth. Archer sucks up his pride to accept help from the Vulcans when Mayweather is in trouble while T’Pol decides to break her marriage plans to stay on Enterprise. She also tries pecan pie.

Favorite Quote:

Archer: I’d love to know what they’re really doing here. You don’t find anything strange about them suddenly showing up?

T’Pol: Perhaps they’re simply curious.

Archer: Curious? That doesn’t sound very Vulcan to me.

Archer isn’t wrong.

“If Vanik is the kind of guy who likes to watch, let him.”: This was one of those strange episodes that has a lot and nothing going on all at the same time. Reed and Mayweather explore the comet and build a snowman, and there’s a lot of checking in on them and talking about the weather. There’s some drama when they need to get out in a hurry and Mayweather hurts himself, but otherwise it’s standard away team stuff. T’Pol is acting all weird and everyone thinks she’s a Vulcan spy but then it’s really arranged marriage stuff that serves to help make things even weirder between T’Pol and Tucker. I do love that she decides to act for herself and even indulge herself, because she’s spent so much time around the humans. It’s like in “Someone to Watch Over Me” when the ambassador over-indulged because he was set loose on Voyager, but a lot more tame because… Vulcans.

The “best” part of this episode is when Archer and the rest of the bridge are answering questions for the class back on Earth. Sato talks about the translator, Tucker gets a poop question, Phlox answers medical questions in his very special way, and Archer tackles a few other questions. I was laughing SO HARD when he answered the dating question with “Well, it’s not discouraged, but there isn’t a lot of privacy on a starship. Most of our crew share quarters with at least one other person, so it wouldn’t exactly be practical. But if two crewmembers decide that they really like each other, there are a lot of places they can go to look at the stars.” Dude, they were like elementary school kids… maybe that was not the question to answer. I loved that this was included, though, because these sorts of things were new for the children of Earth and it’s not something we’ve seen in the other series very much. Outreach is always fun, well… maybe not for Tucker. 6 pieces of cheese for Porthos!

TA Out!

Date: September 9, 2021

Season 1, Episode 7

Music Video of the Day:

Interstellar News: Today the mobile vet came just as I was beginning my online office hours (that no one eventually came to). I wasn’t expecting them until tomorrow, they put us in the schedule wrong. Instead of teeth cleaning, all four cats got a clean bill of health and all of their shots. Everyone’s teeth were given a pass until next year. I did some work, attended some meetings, and then had to take Zoom to the groomers. After picking him up I had a great chat with a dear friend and then made some sweet potato biscuits to go with our deconstructed chicken pot pie. I’m a bit ahead on Enterprise episodes, and I’m trying to watch as many as possible before they get yanked off Netflix.

TL;DR: Vulcans are praying when they are interrupted by Andorians. Archer is interested in visiting a Vulcan monastery, so they swing by and find the Vulcans are prisoners of the Andorians, who believe the Vulcans are spying on them. The Vulcans swear they are but holy men while Archer gets beat up by Weyoun, wait… wrong series. They eventually make contact with Enterprise who comes to the rescue, only for everyone to find out the Vulcans really were spying on the Andorians against their agreement. Archer lets the Andorians take their data and leave.

Favorite Quote:

Reed: Have the launch bay put shuttlepod two on standby.

Mayweather: You heard what he said. If we try to send more people.

Reed: I don’t take orders from a comm. voice, Ensign. Not unless that voice belongs to the Captain. Take a look at the Vulcan database. See if it has anything on these Andorians.

Reed showing why he was put in charge

“For people without emotion, you sure have a flair for the dramatic.”: I really enjoyed this episode, and not just because Jeffrey Combs was in it. Getting this out of the way, he’s fantastic in this. I mean he’s been wonderful in every guest spot, though he was the most fabulous in Deep Space Nine. The entire episode you’re feeling for the Vulcans who are peaceful and just want to pray and then you realize that the Andorians weren’t just paranoid and the Vulcans aren’t as innocent as they led us to believe. I am also removing a point for the creepy Andorian who was being a complete douche-canoe to T’Pol. I just got major creeper vibes off of that guy, rather than Combs’s character who I believed to be paranoid until the end.

There are two other great pieces here. One is when Reed is going on about standard procedure, because he’s not wrong. Most of the things we have seen so far in Enterprise become hard rules later on because of lessons they learned here. You have to start somewhere and rules are often made on the road after experience has happened. The second thing is another nail in the Prime Directive rule, which is “don’t get involved”. Okay, so Archer and them didn’t know what they were walking in on… but they took sides with the Vulcans at first. I totally get it, and probably would have made the same decision, but it’s a very good sign that Archer is committed to trying to stay neutral when he lets the Andorians leave with their proof. 6 puppachinos for Porthos on this one.

TA Out!

Date: September 8, 2021

Season 1, Episode 6

Music Video of the Day:

Interstellar News: Happy Star Trek Day! It’s the 55th anniversary of Star Trek… so you should totally read up on all things original series or even the animated series (celebrating #48). We’ve recovered from Con, six loads of laundry, and a full day of being in the office. I was also gifted an extremely yummy apple pie for being a good friend. Also, two dear friends of mine have FINALLY adopted a baby boy after years of waiting… so please wish them well. Today has been super productive, even if it has been quieter than usual.

TL;DR: Terra Nova was the first deep space colony but Earth lost contact with them and there was some bad blood before the silence. The colony is abandoned and there’s radiation, but eventually they find the descendants of the colonists who have been affected by the radiation (it was caused by an asteroid). After much ridiculousness, the colonists move to the Southern hemisphere so they can stay on their land but begin to heal.

Favorite Quote:

Mayweather: All these years wondering about that colony. I never thought I’d become part of their history.

Archer: Tell you what, Travis. Why don’t you put together the report for Starfleet. If I’m not mistaken, it’ll be headline news back home.

Tucker: The Terra Nova puzzle, solved at last, as told by Ensign Travis Mayweather.

Archer fobbing off the report on the very eager Ensign who didn’t really do much this episode.

“You can’t just pluck them up and bring them to a strange world and hope they’ll learn to conform.”: So there’s some good story in here. When it took nine years to get to Terra Nova, the folks there decided to make a home and weren’t too thrilled about outside influence. They believed that Earth had sent something to destroy them when it was just some bad luck that they were in the path of an asteroid. They go underground to survive but it’s like the worst game of telephone and their appearance, speech, and history is all garbled. Archer does all he can to show them they’re the same people and they’ve learned so much and they just want to help.

Parts of this felt like “Friendship One“, where Earth did a thing they didn’t understand and there were consequences. They tried to be like “we’ve changed” and the people they hurt didn’t believe them until the very end of the episode. A small part felt like “Nemesis“, with the made-up language that was eventually easy to figure out. In the end, Archer and the team are able to help the Novans not kill themselves by being stubborn… but it was a long episode for such a predictable ending. 4 snoot boops for Porthos, but only because it’s been done before and I enjoyed the guy from that thing!

TA Out!