Shockwave, part I
Date: Unknown
Original Airdate: May 22th, 2002
By Q
The Story
The Enterprise crew tries to visit a mining colony, but as they
take their shuttle into the planet's atmosphere, a huge explosion
destroys the planet. Assuming that the plasma from the shuttle
ignited the colony, Archer feels guilty, even though the crew
specifically followed the landing protocol that was set for them.
After telling the crew to find out the cause of the explosion,
Archer calls Admiral Forrest, and tells him of the incident.
Forrest calls an emergency meeting of the command council and
it is decided by Soval and the Vulcan High Command that Enterprise
should return home, and that humans need to put off space travel
for at least a decade. Archer is in no mood to argue, so he orders
the Enterprise to return to Earth.
Feeling sorry for himself, he goes to bed, but somehow wakes
up in San Francisco, and realizes it's the day before Klaang's
ship crash lands on Earth. The next person he sees is Lt. Daniels...the
crewman who was supposed to have been killed by the Suliban.
("Cold Front") He explains to Archer that the explosion
never happened in his timeline, and that someone has altered
Archer's timeline. With help from Daniels, Archer discovers the
Suliban were to blame for the colony exploding. Daniels then
tells Archer how to build beacons to help him discover the location
of cloaked Suliban ships, and weapons to help them destroy the
enemy ships. With this inside information, Archer orders the
Enterprise back to the colony.
Reaching the planet and using the newly built beacons, the crew
discovers a cloaked Suliban ship, and disables it. Archer, T'Pol
and Tucker board the ship and recover some data disks that prove
the Suliban were responsible for the destruction of the colony,
not Enterprise. With this new evidence in hand, they set course
to meet with the Vulcan ship. However, it doesn't take long for
them to realize that they have been followed from the colony
by a group of Suliban ships. On orders from the mysterious humanoid
from the future, Silik demands that Archer turn himself over
to the Suliban, or Enterprise will be destroyed. Having little
choice, Archer agrees, and leaves T'Pol in command. As he enters
the turbolift, he suddenly finds himself in a war-ravaged building,
overlooking a destroyed city. As he tries to figure out where
he is, Silik again hails Enterprise and threatens to destroy
it because Archer failed to board the Suliban shuttle as planned.
Daniels appears, telling Archer that he is now in the 31st century,
and that he was ordered to bring him there to save the timeline.
Archer demands to be sent back, but Daniels tells him that because
the time portals had been destroyed, there's no way to send him
back. He's stuck in the 31st century with the Enterprise on the
verge of destruction.
Review
Shockwave was a strong episode, which was well acted, and well
written. It was an episode that seemed to have it all...action,
great effects, and an interesting story. The cliffhanger was
well done, and left me wanting more.
In keeping with the last few shows, this one also had the benefit
of keeping the continuity at a level that won't disappoint. Berman
and Braga seem to have figured out how to NOT make this another
series like Voyager with all its inconsistencies and plot holes.
I can only hope that they don't get lazy as the show goes on.
Because Daniels was supposed to have been killed, his return
wasn't explained as much as I would've liked. He just appeared,
and we were supposed to accept it. I'm hoping that in the season
2 opener, it will all be explained, and that they don't continue
to take the easy way out by saying it was some kind of temporal
paradox.
I was glad to see Porthos one more time before the season was
over, and the "no cheese" line was a great addition.
I had the feeling that when the cute puppy made his way on-screen
for the first time, that we wouldn't get to see him too often.
I'm glad they haven't forgotten about him.
Hoshi actually showed some backbone for a change! Maybe she's
grown out of that silly whining phase. It should be interesting
to see how her character develops next season.
We've got lots of questions that need to be answered next season...What
will happen to Enterprise? What part (if any) does Archer play
in the destruction of the city in the 31st century, and how will
he get home? Who is the "future guy"? Will Hoshi feed
Porthos cheese while Archer's away?
Overall, it was a great ending to a great 1st season. I can't
wait for season 2 to start!
Grade: 9/10 A
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:
John Fleck as Silik
Matt Winston as Daniels
Vaughn Armstrong as Admiral Forrest
James Horan as Humanoid Figure
Stephanie Erb as Receptionist
David Lewis Hays as Tactical Crewman
Creative Staff:
Director: Allan Kroeker
Written By: Rick Berman & Brannon
Braga
