Captain’s log: February, 2152

Rick Berman and Brannon Braga pen the season two opener of Enterprise, which resolves the Shockwave cliffhanger. The season debuted on 18 September, 2002.

While Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) is seemingly marooned in the 31st century with Daniels (Matt Winston), the crew of the Enterprise is taken prisoner by the Suliban. But Trip (Connor Trinneer), and Reed (Dominic Keating) are concocting plans of their own, even as Archer uses a ravaged library to find a way to restore the timeline.

Silik (John Fleck) isn’t above torturing the crew to get his answers and learn where Archer is.

Daniels tries to convey that time travel and protecting the timeline aren’t exactly in line with H.G. Wells, and that we wouldn’t understand how it works. Something which irks me and Archer.

There’s a lot going on in this episode. It has to reintroduce the series, catch everyone up on who’s who (done nicely by roping them into Trip and Reed’s plan), and get Archer back to the 22nd century, all while telling a fast-paced and entertaining Trek tale.

It also ends up being a special effects extravaganza as the Suliban attack and chase Enterprise, and Archer finds a way home.

It’s a rousing introduction to the second season, and puts the Enterprise back on track with its mission to explore, even though the Vulcan High Command are less than impressed with their continuing mission. Starfleet, however, sets them on their way, after a speech by Archer, with Admiral Forrest’s (Vaughn Armstrong) and T’Pol’s (Jolene Blalock) support and Ambassador Soval’s (Gary Graham) disdain.

Captain’s log: 12 April, 2152

Chris Black pens this story by Berman and Braga that first aired on 25 September, 2002. T’Pol relates a tale of Vulcans visiting Earth incognito in the late 50s, after they crash in Pennsylvania.

T’Pol tells the tale of her great-grandmother, T’Mir and her fellow Vulcans, Mestral (J. Paul Boehmer) and Stron (Micheal Krawic) and their time in Carbon Creek as they try to blend in, and safely interact with humanity while trying to find a way home.

T’Pol doles out the tale, and Archer and Trip delight in each moment of it, although occasionally questioning some of it, as it messes with their own perception of history, First Contact Day in particular.

This is a great episode,filled with lots of humour, and lets Blalock be at the centre of the action, and tells us a different kind of Trek story. It’s a delight, and is arguably one of the best episodes of the entire series.

The Human Adventure continues Thursday with another pair of episodes from season two as I explore Star Trek: Enterprise – The Complete Series on blu-ray, now available from Paramount Canada.

Boldly go…