Captain’s log: date unknown

Rick Berman and Brannon Braga pen this time travel tale that first aired on 26 November, 2003. The episode sees Archer (Scott Bakula) and T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) in 21st century Detroit attempting to stop the reptilian Xindi.

Leland Orser and an unrecognisable Jeffrey Dean Morgan guest in this episode.

When Crewman Daniels (Matt Winston) reappears in Archer’s room to warn him of a Xindi temporal incursion Archer asks how Daniels and the rest of those working in the 31st century not know about the Xindi weapon. He says the ripples of the changing past (Archer’s present) haven’t reached them yet.

He does know that the Xindi have travelled back to the year 2004 to develop a bio-weapon to wipe out humanity before they can even become a star-faring threat to them. In the 21st century, the Xindi reptilian (Morgan) is paying a small time hood, Loomis (Orser), who works at a blood clinic, to bring him patients, one of each blood type, so they can create a virus that will destroy everyone.

With T’Pol, who now realises that time travel must be possible, considering where she is, Archer tracks down Loomis and the Xindi, and consequently Archer gets to have a few action bets as he and the Xindi fight atop a rooftop with the virus ready to break open and spread across the world.

It’s a solid episode, takes Trek out of its futuristic setting and shows us how are actions today can have an effect on our future, and that sometimes the worst of humanity is just thinking about oneself instead of everybody.

Captain’s log: date unknown

Roxann Dawson directs this episode written by Manny Coto, and first aired on 14 January, 2004.

Religious zealots, who worship the mysterious spheres that populate the Delphic Expanse, take over the Enterprise, and they want to use the starship against any they deem as heretics.

The episode deals, quite well with fundamentalism and extremism (in any form a horrible thing, but especially in religion), showing that once beliefs are held so intractably, there is little to be talked about or negotiated, and that holds everybody back. It’s a hard realisation, and one that is still causing problems today.

I really dig this episode,and you can see how much it pains Archer when the Pri’Nam (Conor O’Farrell) deletes their entire database containing all references to the spheres, and everything they’ve learned since entering the Expanse, as well as their mission.

It’s a truly frightening look at how religious extremism is so fixated on their ‘truth’ that they are willing to ignore anything to the contrary, destroy it if need be, and that they refuse to be reasoned with, because their ‘faith’ is more important than anything else.

Happily, Archer and his crew are able to foil the extremists and even return them to their homeworld and show them what peace their faith has wrought.

Great episode! and Ugh. Religion.

The Human Adventure continues Thursday as I explore more of Star Trek: Enterprise – The Complete Series on blu-ray from Paramount Canada.

Boldly go…