Desert Crossing
Date: February 12, 2152
Original Airdate: May 08, 2002
By Q
The Story
Packing to take a little shore leave on Risa, Archer is interrupted
by T'Pol who has just received a distress signal from an
alien vessel. The vessel comes aboard for repairs, and the captain,
Zobrol, offers to show his appreciation by inviting Archer and
Tucker down to his planet for a feast.
They arrive in a shuttlecraft, and they are treated to some
of the delicacies of the desert planet; some of them they find
quite unappealing. After their meal, they're invited to
play a lacrosse-type game.
Meanwhile back on Enterprise, T'Pol, now in command, receives
a hail from Chancellor Trelit warning her that the away team
may be in danger because Zobrol is a terrorist, and is responsible
for several civilian attacks. T'Pol calls down to Archer,
tells him the situation and recommends that they go back to Enterprise.
Archer makes up a story about the ship needing repair and tries
to leave the planet. Zobrol stops him by telling him that he
knows what the transmission from T'Pol was about, and explains
his situation to them. He says they're fighting against
oppression, and that their fight was a fight for freedom. He
also tells them that word has gotten around about how Archer
liberated thousands of Suliban prisoners, and that he wants him
to join the fight. As he's talking, the government starts
to attack and he ushers Tucker and Archer into a room underground
where they'll be safe, and leaves to join the battle that's
taking place outside. The bombing continues, the roof starts
to cave in on the hiding men, so they decide to leave the little
room, and try to make their way back to their shuttle.
Making their way across 30 kilometers of desert, Trip begins
to suffer heat exhaustion. On Enterprise, Reed offers to take
a shuttle down to the surface to rescue the stranded captain
and engineer, but it's soon discovered that the ships
sensors have been blocked, making finding them difficult. Trelit
has also threatened to destroy any shuttles launched from Enterprise,
since he's convinced they're siding with Zobrol.
Trip becomes increasingly dehydrated, and begins to show signs
of heatstroke. They find an abandoned building and some stagnant
water, and Archer builds a fire to boil the water to make it
suitable for drinking. Trying to keep Tucker awake so he doesn't
slip into a coma, Archer makes him recite the 8 major components
of a warp reactor, and they play a geography game. It doesn't
take long for the government attacks to begin, and they have
to leave their hiding place.
Back aboard Enterprise, Zobrol hails the crew, saying his ship
is in need of repairs. T'Pol tells him that he must help
them find their crewmates and he reluctantly agrees, after learning
that Archer only liberated a few Suliban, and that he's
no great warrior. They take a shuttle to the planet, and T'Pol
picks up two human life signs. They rescue Archer and Tucker,
and once they're back aboard Enterprise, Archer tells Zobrol
that he wouldn't be able to help him in his fight. Zobrol
leaves, and T'Pol tells Archer that decisions to interfere
with other species are better left to governments, not starship
captains.
Review
I liked this episode. It was well written, emotional, well acted,
and had great continuity.
The Good
Let's address the continuity issue first. Not only do
we hear Archer telling Zobrol about past incidences and encounters,
but we also get to see Archer pay for his actions when word gets
out about how he liberated the Suliban prison. (Detained) Should
he have helped Zobrol with his cause? I think he made the right
decision by staying out of it. Maybe the good captain is finally
learning.
Again, as in last week's episode, "Vox Sola",
we get to see the bond between Archer and Tucker develop even
further, and it becomes even more obvious that they're
good friends, not just a captain and his engineer. Archer said
what is definitely my favorite line of the season so far to Tucker, "Take
the water or I'll knock you on your ass and pour it down
your throat." Now, that's friendship for ya!
Porthos!! It's just too bad he didn't get to run
around on Risa.
Scott Bakula seems to have really relaxed this week (in both
episodes) and he's finally getting into his role as Captain
Archer. I suppose it's a curse of a newly cast captain
to be a little shaky during the first season, and it takes awhile
for him to find his footing and get good at his role. If that
explanation is good enough for Patrick Stewart and Avery Brooks,
who both had not-so-great first seasons, it'll do for Bakula
as well. I see nothing but good things coming from him in the
future.
It was nice to see some of the crew be able to get off the ship,
and the desert setting was beautiful.
The Not-so-Good
T'Pol's comment about Archer having to find his
own directives about dealing with alien cultures was a little
too obvious for me. We already knew, from previous episodes,
that the Prime Directive would be coming soon, and we know that
Archer's mistakes will be the cause of it. (at least partially)
I hope they stop hinting at it so obviously.
Summary
When the episode first started, I thought we would be watching
another episode of the "Archer –Tucker Show".
However, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the writers managed
to keep the continuity intact, and how strong the story was.
Grade: 9/10
Cast:
Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox
Jolene Blalock as T'Pol
Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery as Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer as Charles Tucker
Guest Cast:
Clancy Brown as Zobral
Charles Dennis as Trelit
Brandon Karrer as Alien Man
Creative Staff:
Director: David Straiton
Teleplay By: Andre Bormanis
Story By: Rick Berman & Brannon
Braga & Andre Bormanis
