In the twenty-second episode of the third season of Enterprise, Archer meets with the Council, and HELP. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.Â
EVERYTHING HAPPENED. ALL OF IT. I had hoped that this episode would deal with Archer’s presentation to the Xindi Council. I didn’t go into this feeling terribly hopeful, either. Archer was up against the brick wall of the reptilians and the insectoids, who were both utterly convinced by the Guardians (they have a name!!!) that the humans were going to destroy them. This episode does a fine job revealing just how creepy the Guardians’s manipulation of the Xindi is, which makes this all the more tragic.
See, I get why the Xindi believe the Guardians. They’re responsible for the Xindi’s survival after the devastation of their world. Wouldn’t any culture feel a debt toward someone who had done something so nice? Of course, I don’t think there was ever any altruism or goodwill demonstrated with this act. They did that on purpose. The Guardians most likely analyzed all the timelines, found a way to exploit the Xindi by “helping” them at their most vulnerable, and then set out to viciously manipulate them into wiping out the only other threat to Guardian tyranny: humans.
I still feel like this season of Enterprise is about fundamentalism and the inherent difficulties that come with absolute beliefs. The insectoids and the reptilians cannot fathom a reality where humanity is not their enemy, and they act directly in accordance with that belief. It becomes inevitable to think of the cultural persistence of certain themes and motifs borne of that specific period in American history. Is this a commentary on terrorism or the world post 9/11? Are we meant to think of the ways that we fight fundamentalism in our own lives or abroad? Or is there another level to this? Perhaps the point of this season is the exploration of manipulation. It was easy for the Enterprise crew to hate the Xindi, and they were certainly hungry in those early episodes of this season to get revenge. Tucker certainly felt furious toward Degra’s very presence, right up until their confrontation in this episode. Yet these characters come to see how badly these people were tricked into believing that their lives were threatened! After experiencing a great loss, after being scattered about the expanse due to the destruction of their home, they were told that once more, they were about to face being wiped out.
What would you do?
It’s fascinating, then, to watch how Degra goes from disgust to dedication. He hates humans, and yet he becomes their biggest proponent to the Council. As I had said in earlier reviews, there’s a heavy dose of guilt running through Degra, made even worse by the fact that he quickly realizes what he’s done by helping to build that first weapon. Is he redeemed by his actions at the tail end of the season? I don’t know that the show ever asks that, but instead posits that he was, at the very least, heading in a good direction. This was the first chapter in a new book, and it was his way of risking his own life to stop something horrible from happening. So there’s a tragedy in his death: he never got to live out those other chapters. I didn’t expect his death this early, but I absolutely knew it was happening in that scene when the reptilian councilor walked into Degra’s room. THAT CAMERA ANGLE WAS A DEAD GIVEAWAY.
So what now? Enterprise has taken the most extended beating imaginable (I FEEL SO BAD FOR THEM), the reptilians killed Degra, took the weapon along with the insectoids, and are heading for Earth. Meanwhile, THEY KIDNAPPED HOSHI, which I’m guessing is for that third launch code they need. Archer tried his hardest, and for a moment there, he actually had it. He had convinced all five species to delay the launch of the weapon until they knew the truth. But the reptilians and the insectoids have their own agenda, and I HAVE NO IDEA HOW Enterprise WILL STOP THEM.
The video for “The Council” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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