In the first episode of the third season of Enterprise, I am so pleased with the direction this show has taken. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
Trigger Warning: For brief discussion of slavery and forced labor, grief.
Oh lord, I knew that there was an immense possibility in what Enterprise‘s writers had created in “The Expanse,” and this is our first chance to see what they can do, and IT IS ALL SO VERY FUCKED UP. The world inside the Delphic Expanse is very different, and “The Xindi” demonstrates that to us not just through the mining operation we see, but with a cold open that IMMEDIATELY ANSWERS A QUESTION I THOUGHT WOULD TAKE THE NEARLY HALF THE SEASON TO ADDRESS. Oh my god, it’s so BOLD! Who are the Xindi? WELL, HERE YOU GO, THEY’RE RIGHT HERE, AND THEY’RE NOT EVEN A SINGLE SPECIES.
Just… holy shit, I was so wrong about one of my predictions in the very first scene of the season. Way to go, Mark! But I love that opening: in one scene, we meet two non-humanoid species of the Xindi. We discover just how methodical the Xindi council is. WE ARE GIVEN AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE THAT I DID NOT ANTICIPATE AT ALL. It’s so cool because it adds urgency to the story on Enterprise. They’re completely in the dark as to what’s actually going on, but now, the audience is in on it. We know how much the Enterprise is being tracked, is being manipulated, IS PART OF A NIGHTMARE. Oh my god, y’all, I LOVE IT.
And if the main plot of this episode is a hint of season 3, then y’all, I am in for one hell of a ride. This story is so much darker and grittier than I expected, and I’m interested in the journey because of it. Archer and Tucker head to a mining facility to track down the first hint that they’ve gotten of a Xindi. And really, that’s all that is: a hint. A possibility. There’s no promise of anything here. Thus, they walk right into a trap without realizing it, despite that there are a million signs that this is a bad place, including the stereotypically evil foreman. Which didn’t bother me that much, for the record? That foreman was CREEPY! And perhaps there are a lot of pieces here pulled from various science tropes – I won’t deny that. Some of them work better than others, and in the case of the mining facility run by slave labor, I thought it was a solid attempt to give us a taste of the Delphic Expanse.
Why is that? I like the idea that Archer and the rest of the crew will have to get their hands dirty. Granted, that’s something Deep Space Nine and Voyager explored in different ways, but this came off as so immediately dark that I’m willing to see how much further they’ll go. There’s a personal aspect to this as well, though. Tucker’s anger over his sister’s death and the sheer tragedy of it all fuels his characterization in “The Xindi.” I will admit that I wish we’d spent more time focused on this than the weird-ass sexualization of T’Pol for the audience (WHY DO THEY KEEP DOING THIS just kidding I know the answer), and Tucker’s characterization would have felt even more realistic had there been a build up to his outburst toward Kessick. That’s the hint I got in the previous episode: that Tucker and Archer were willing to put aside their morals in order to get revenge. You can see bits and pieces of that here, but “The Xindi” would have been stronger with a greater focus on that.
Still, their attempt to rescue Kessick was not out of a moral need; they did it purely for selfish reasons. Even after the military officers rescued everyone, Archer and Tucker were perfectly willing to leave Kessick behind, which is not something I would have expected of them in seasons one and two. So… how else will they surprise me? Will they ever regret anything they’ve done in order to locate the Xindi? This isn’t the time for introspection, of course, since these characters are in the midst of the journey. AND WHAT A STRANGE JOURNEY THAT IS. I am completely confused as to why Kessick gave the coordinates to his homeworld… only for that world to have been obliterated one hundred and twenty years prior. He must have known that, right??? That’s not something you forget! So why send them there? Why was his world destroyed? Was that a message of sorts or a clue? DID KESSICK KNOW WHAT WAS PLANNED FOR EARTH?
Oh god, I have no idea. I’M SO LOST, yet even with the flaws in this episode, I am so ready for what’s to come.
The video for “The Xindi” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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