Countdown
Date: Feb. 13, 2154
Original Airdate: May 19, 2004
By T'Bonz
The Story
On the Reptilian ship, Sato is told that she is to decrypt the encoded data to get the weapon launch codes. She refuses to cooperate, spitting in the Reptilian commander’s face, and has parasites injected into her to make her more cooperative.
T’Pol and Reed return to Enterprise, where Reed breaks the news of Corporal Hawkins’ death to Major Hayes. Trip and T’Pol set to work with information brought back by T’Pol and Reed to find a way to disable the spheres. Meanwhile, Archer meets with the Aquatics, trying to convince them to help. He explains that the Guardians are turning the area into a transdimensional wasteland, and Xindi won’t be able to live there. The Aquatics say that they need time to think it over, to Archer’s frustration, but it is explained to him that this is a good quality of theirs, to be deliberate. It has kept the council out of trouble in the past by keeping them from acting rashly. Archer will have to disable the spheres in exchange for the help of the Aquatics, if they agree to help.
Hoshi is not working quickly enough on her task, so the Reptilian Commander sends her for another infusion of parasites. She breaks away, and tries to hurl herself over a railing to her death rather than submit, but is caught and led away. It is found that she added an additional layer of encryption, slowing down the process of getting the launch codes.
The Reptilians meet with the Guardians, but are frustrated with the unwillingness of the Guardians to help them get the codes. A Guardian informs them that they need to find a way to launch the weapon, as some timelines now favor the humans.
Trip and T’Pol are working together, and they argue. T’Pol admits that she has problems now with being “slightly emotional” and leaves the door open for Trip to assist her with this later. They find that the connections of the spheres can possibly be disrupted with a deflector pulse.
The Aquatics have made up their mind, and will assist the humans and the other Xindi in intercepting and disabling the weapon. The Guardians, in a group, realize that the timelines have shifted solidly in favor of the humans and they must intervene.
Meanwhile, Hoshi has cracked the code and the Reptilians begin to arm the weapon. Back on Enterprise, Hayes assembles a team to rescue her from the Reptilian ship. A vortex opens and various Xindis arrive to help Enterprise stop the weapon. Hayes and his team beam over, and after transporter problems, are beamed back to Enterprise with Sato. Major Hayes sustains a major wound, which proves to be fatal.
The Guardians start forming anomalies near the weapon, as the timelines indicate that the weapon will be destroyed without their interference. The anomalies keep ships from the weapon. A vortex is opened and the weapon and Reptilians vanish, en route to Earth, after destroying the ship of their former allies, the Insectoids, after the Insectoids voiced doubt. In ten hours, the weapon will arrive to destroy Earth. Archer will go after them in Degra’s ship, with a MACO team and with Hoshi (needed for her knowledge of having been aboard the weapon).
Meanwhile, Trip and T’Pol will work on disabling the spheres. Sphere 41 can be disabled and it will disrupt the entire network. As soon as Archer leaves, they will head for Sphere 41.
Review
THE GOOD: Lots of action and no slow spots. It was welcome to see Reed and Hoshi get some air time. Hoshi was superb and in place of the screaming Hoshi of the past, this was a strong, brave Hoshi, who would dare to spit in the face of her captor and would rather commit suicide than be used against her shipmates. This is character growth from the earlier seasons. Plus her little stunt of complicating the decoding (however short-lived it proved to be) was excellent.
With Reed, there was more fleshing out of his character, he was seen as a quiet, yet strong and resolute character, facing Major Hayes when he detected an attitude and when Major Hayes died, showing leadership in front of the MACOS.
The malfunctioning transporter was amusing; it strongly brought to mind episodes from original Star Trek and TNG. Nice nod to the other shows.
THE VERY GOOD: This show felt very much like a TOS episode with the interaction between the crew. There were many moments when this crew felt like a family and that has been missing for much of the series. From the declaration of Major Hayes that they were all part of the same crew now (with Enterprise crew looking out for the MACOs and the MACOs going to rescue Hoshi), to T’Pol’s somewhat hesitant admission of her emotional weakness and her desire for help, to the dinner where T’Pol admits that she is considering joining Starfleet, there were these touches throughout the show that showed that they cared about one another and had bonded well.
Death. The death of Major Hayes, not just a redshirt but someone who had been seen in more than one episode. This is someone about whom one had grown to care, and so it mattered, it wasn’t just a one time “oh we need to kill someone this week and here’s the one-shot guest actor who will be the victim” type death.
THE BAD: The parasites. Wrath of Khan anyone?
Haye’s Death scene. First of all, the music gave it away way ahead of the game. As soon as the music began to sound sad, I said to myself, “crap, they’re going to kill him off.” Plus – doesn’t seem realistic to have a “hand over the baton” type statement and then the guy dies. This tactic is often used in shows or books and it just doesn’t ring true. Seems like he would be in too much pain to give a “farewell type speech”.
The villain. Cue evil music. The Reptilian commander seems just too bad to be true. It would have been more interesting to know his motives, what is driving him.
THE VERDICT: Excellent episode, filled with action. Lots of nods to both continuity and to past Trek and superb character interaction. I’m finally feeling like this crew IS a crew and not just a group of people who happen to be on the same ship. Deaths are becoming meaningful, stakes are high and things aren’t always neatly wrapped up at the end. The arc is moving along nicely.
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 "Trip" Tucker III
Guest Cast:
Steven Culp as Major Hayes
Scott MacDonald as Reptilian Commander
Rick Worthy as Xindi-Arboreal
Tucker Smallwood as Xindi-Humanoid
Josette DiCarlo as Sphere-Builder Woman
Bruce Thomas as Reptilian Soldier
Andrew Borba as Reptilian Lieutenant
Mary Mara as Sphere-Builder Presage
Ruth Williamson as Sphere-Builder Primary
Paul Dean as Reptilian Technician
Creative Staff:
Director: Robert Duncan McNeill
Written By: André Bormanis & Chris Black
