In the twenty-first episode of the third season of Enterprise, this is WEIRD. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Star Trek.
With one exception (AND WHAT AN EXCEPTION IT IS), this is more of an experience than a deep exploration of something that we have, frankly, seen before. I did enjoy it, and the surreal element certainly went pretty far in keeping me entertained. It’s a lot of fun to get dual sets of characters, though this is… different? It’s not like the Mirror Universe stuff that we have seen on the other series, but a version of the future. In that sense, it was sort of like “Children of Time” from Deep Space Nine, but without the crushing weight of ethical decisions.
See, I didn’t get that sense of urgency, even though the writers tried to accomplish that. The ethical conundrum here centers on whether or not they should enter the corridor or if they should use future warp technology from their descendants. However, this singular conflict changes more than once. See, then we find out that the son of T’Pol and Tucker (MORE ON THAT SOON), Lorian, knew that having Enterprise go over warp six would likely lead to its destruction, so the ethical dilemma between Lorian and T’Pol is over whether Archer should have been told. Then Lorian plots to steal components from Enterprise and meet the Xindi in their place? And that’s the ethical dilemma?
It’s jarring, and because the script doesn’t focus on just one of these conflicts, none of them feel as developed or fleshed out as they could have been. We jump from one to the next, the story shifts, and there’s little time left to deal with the emotional ramifications of a future Enterprise finding the current version of their shift. There are two major scenes that do touch on this, though. Reed, Mayweather, and Hoshi all talk about who they ended up with in that timeline, and Reed gets a head start on not ending up alone. Which is really a story about determinism, but that’s not treated as a major part of this script. Can these characters change the future, or are they stuck in their fate?
That question holds the most meaning for T’Pol and Tucker, who are still dealing with the complications of having hooked up. Somehow, though, they managed to put aside their issues and have a child. So is that inevitable? Is that a good thing for these two people? Initially, neither character deals with the news well, and HOLY AWKWARD, do they ever fight over it. I expected the biggest scene in the episode would be the two of them figuring out what to do with one another, but nope! It’s actually between T’Pol and herself, and it’s a delightfully bizarre and emotional sequence. But that weirdness makes it compelling. If you could give your younger self advice, what would you say? The script gives us a scene where this exact thing happens, and IT IS NOT OKAY. We learn that T’Pol will always have to deal with the result of her Trellium-D addiction. She’ll never be emotionless again. (Does that mean that T’Pol has a chronic illness now?) Not only will she have to cope with this, but Future T’Pol says that her greatest help was Tucker. She doesn’t say he’s the love of her life, but that he ended up being the best support system for her. THAT’S SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING THAN TRUE LOVE. (And quite romantic, if I don’t say so myself.)
Other than that, I had fun watching this episode, but it’s not my favorite by any means.
The video for “E Squared” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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