Two Days and Two Nights
Date: February 18th, 2151
Original Airdate: May 15th, 2002
By T'Bonz
The Story
The Enterprise finally reaches Risa, where half the crew will
go on shore leave, the lucky members chosen by lots. Archer (and
Porthos), Mayweather, Reed, Trip and Hoshi are among the lucky
winners who get to go. Archer plans to relax, Mayweather will
indulge in some rock climbing, Hoshi wishes to learn a new language
and Trip and Reed are off to seek the company of the local ladies.
Meanwhile, Phlox is ready for a two day hibernation, his race
needs to periodically hibernate (usually for six days, but he
can get by on just two.) Ensign Cutler will fill in for him while
he's unavailable, and these two days are expected to be
peaceful and tranquil.
Archer meets a lovely woman, Keyla, when her dog strays onto
his balcony and he breaks up a near dog fight. Later in the evening,
she joins Archer for some stargazing and talk. Hoshi strikes
up a conversation with a Risan couple, who are impressed with
her facility for languages. A man sitting nearby is intrigued,
and asks to join Hoshi when the couple leaves the restaurant.
They discuss his language, which Hoshi tries to learn, and he
begins to learn English.
Trip and Reed meet up with two lovelies, and are intrigued by
the offer of seeing the Risan subterranean gardens. Unfortunately,
things are not as they seem, and the two beautiful women turn
out to be some sort of male shapeshifting type aliens, who are
intent on robbing the pair. They have nothing of value, except
their clothes, which are taken, leaving the hapless two in their
underwear and tied up in the basement.
Back on Enterprise, Mayweather contacts the ship. He's
had an accident while rock climbing and wishes to be brought
back to Enterprise for care. He is having an allergic reaction
to some meds that the Risan doctors gave him. It's decided
to wake Phlox up to care for him, but Phlox acts very strangely
when prematurely awakened. In spite of that, he's able
to diagnose and treat Mayweather, then passes out on an examining
table.
Hoshi had the best time of all of them; she spends the night
with Ravis and wakes up in a great mood. Meanwhile, Trip and
Tucker free themselves and slink back to their room clad only
in their underwear, to the amused view of the vacationers in
the restaurant. Archer shares breakfast with Keyla and she seems
to know a good deal about him. It turns out that she lost her
family to the Suliban, and is seeking information from Archer.
He stealthily has her scanned and finds out that she is not whom
she seems to be, but is a Tandaran. When Archer gets suspicious
and confronts her, she knocks him out with a tranquilizer and
departs.
The crew finishes their shore leave, and returns to Enterprise.
All pretend to have had had a good time, and the only one who
DID have a good time downplays it. And so ends the first human
trip to Risa.
Review
THE GOOD: Continuity. Lots of little touches throughout the
show, from Regulan Blood worms (TOS – The Trouble With
Tribbles) to continuity within the series itself, referring back
to earlier episodes.
-Phlox. His behavior upon waking up is amusing.
THE BAD: Risa? Is this pre-TOS or post-TNG/DS9/VOY? Why not
Wrigley's Pleasure Planet?
-Archer. Geez….does this guy get his clock cleaned EVERY
week?
-Trip and Reed. Leisure suit Larry. I was looking for the disco
ball. And who didn't see the mugging coming? And why did
they discount the warnings about some crime on Risa?
-Archer and Keyla. No chemistry. Again, who didn't see
it coming that she wanted something? Everyone saw it but Archer.
He's such a lunkhead that one wonders how he is captain.
T'Pol would be a better captain.
THE VERDICT: While amusing (which saved the episode), the episode
was very predictable and the men looked incompetent or stupid.
Humans sure are not giving a very good impression of themselves
as they travel and explore. The only ones who looked competent
on this episode were Cutler, T'Pol and Hoshi.
The backdrop of the ocean and hills on Risa was obviously fake;
surely they could have done better. And how does an alien have
a human dog?
Trip and Reed in their skivvies AGAIN? As much as I enjoy the
show (and I do), the men have their clothes off more often then
they have them on!
For the most part, this was a lackluster show, saved only by
the touches of humor and the nice continuity. Again, as this
show emphasizes, it seems that ENT is more of a slight precursor
to TNG, not TOS. Perhaps the creators would have been better
served taking that tack.
Grade: 7/10 C
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:
Kellie Waymire as Elizabeth Cutler
Dennis Cockrum as Freebus
Geoff Meed as Dee'Ahn
Rudolf Martin as Ravis
DonnaMarie Recco as Dee'Ahn
Stephen Wozniak as Latia Male
Joseph Will as Rostov
James Ingersoll as Risan Man
Dey Young as Keyla
Jennifer Williams as Alien Woman
Creative Staff:
Director: Michael Dorn
Screenplay By: Chris Black
Teleplay By: Chris Black
Story By: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
