Rogue Planet

I quite enjoyed Rogue Planet.
Terry -- 20 Mar 2002, 21:10 EST

They finally succeeding in tapping into Archer's inner Sam Becket. It was a quiet and lovely episode. Quite a change of pace from the usual.

The final resolution and last meeting was emblematic of this subtle approach. There was no violent confrontation with the hunters or some idealist sermon. Just helping the hunted stay concealed and then letting the hunters know the humans disapprove.

I am unfamiliar with the poem that Archer mentioned. But it sounds like stories I have heard about Silkies - mermaid-like women who are captured by fisherman. Sometimes to the women's regret and sometimes vice versa. I liked that part of the episode, how the woman was revealed to be someone from his childhood imagination.

This episode to me was a success of style and mood over plot and dialogue. I knew the woman was an alien and one of the creatures being hunted from her first appearance. And that Archer would help her people against the hunters. But that storyline is the least of the reasons why I enjoyed this episode. After all, how many shows end with a tearful moment as the hero bids a fond farewell to a giant slug?

So did I.
G'Inny -- 21 Mar 2002, 00:12 EST

Vickie and I watched this one together. I made a pot of chili, mixed a pitcher of sangria, and started a fire, and we got all settled in to watch Trip in his underwear, when we realized that we were a week early.

**sigh**

Once the initial disappointment faded, however, I was very entertained by this episode. I like many of the same things Terry did--the deliberate, story-appropriate pacing, Archer's mature and reasonable approach to this group of aliens, the mysterious air of the planet with its perpetual darkness.

I thought the manner in which the problem was addressed and resolved was very well done, particularly since T'Pol wasn't made to look like a shrew when discussing the options available to the ENT crew. She was quite reasonable and quite correct--ENT simply couldn't do anything to change the hunter culture overnight, nor could the crew prevent future groups of hunters from coming to the planet after ENT left. Archer's decision to level the playing field was a very elegant short-term solution to a problem with no apparent long-term fix.

I did not immediately realize the woman was an alien. My first thought was that this episode was going to be remake of one of my favorite TOS eps "Shore Leave". I even said as much to Vickie. When we finally found out who the woman represented, I was quite charmed. What a lovely, poetic idea--a vision of the perfect woman, formed by the man as an impressionable child and stored away so deeply and securely in his psyche that he recognizes her, even though he has never actually seen her in the flesh. Wow.

As for the others...

Reed: I heart Malcolm. He's just more and more of a delight to watch every episode. Loved the battling Eagle Scouts and his fascination with the alien technology.

Trip: Our little engineer is finally growing up. Nary a foot stomp or raised voice to be heard in this ep. And he actually seemed like a reasonable, competent adult outside of his engine room, for a change.

Phlox: Billingsley does more with a few lines than most do with a whole script.

Hoshi: Not much to do, but she has become a very charming character.

Travis: A negligible presence.

"Rogue Filler"
Eric -- 21 Mar 2002, 00:15 EST

Quick Non-Spoiler episode : Ok this was filler and probebly the weakest episode to date. But, thanks to Andromeda and me being Enterprise deprived i still enjoyed it. And i was laughing my butt off that Reed and Archer were Boyscouts!! _______________________

SPOILERS from a Dark Planet

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Ok, like i said not much happned this week, still i was happy to see the Vampire Hunter from Angel playing a....hunter of course!

I think the reason i thought this was a little weak is we have seen much more interesting shapeshifters and we have seen much more interesting hunters on Star Trek. This gave us nothing new.

I also had a very hard time beleaving the concept of a Rouge Planet that can support life. Yes, it may have geothermal activity but could that keep the atmosphere from freezing? Could life exist without a sun?

If the story was stronger i probebly could ignore the bad science but it just had to much familor elements to it.

However even so there was some funny character bits, the boyscout stuff and T'Pol talking about unclothed males.

Also, the FX was very nice especialy the self lit Enterprise was just sweeeeeeeet! Although the Founder Morphing was MUCH better!

Anyway, not much more to say. It was nice but i want bigger stories then this!

I'l give it a 7.5/10. Yes i'm being easy but hey it's Enterprise.

Eric

bern -- 21 Mar 2002, 03:32 EST

Wow!

my 1st ep posting since--? (don't bother it's probably season 6, maybe 5)

I tend to agree w/ Terry & Gin, and disagree w/Eric--I did not feel this episode was filler at all. In fact it gives me a little more hope for this series which is hanging by a thread. But, like everyone else I remember how bad both TNG & DS9 sucked in their 1st season, so I'm giving it a chance. They are continuing to show hints of the Prime Directive giving cohesion to the whole Federation fabric that they are trying to sell us on with this show.

I agree that this was not an plot or dialogue driven ep, but was guided by mood, feel, and great direction. The pacing was right, and we gained insight into the new alien culture immediatly, understanding their motives w/o needing a lot of backround on them so the storyline could just move along undeterred by UPN's airtime vs. commercial time restraints. Not a YAATE by any stretch.

Yeah, the story line did not cover any new ground, but I liked the way it panned out. The Hunters were less a melodramatic stereotype of ones we've seen in the past. They appeared quite human, understated, but snide. I likened them to those groups of men you hear about who go out in the woods and bang on drums to find their more primitive roots. They did their macho routine, took a few potshots at Archer, and then lost their "game" in the end. Archer got his retribution, played his hand, w/o even showing his cards. Proving he is "different" just like the creature said. Reminded me of other TOS (yeah, initially i thought shore leave too)& TNG where the Alien learns or senses that mankind is somewhat different.

I found it interesting that we last left Enterprise w/ T'pol saying she envied Archer because he dreamed, and now, Archer grappling w/ the reality of what could not be, confided in her. I do believe a good Captain and 1st officer relationship is now cementing. I feel this will be crucial to the longevity of the show. In so many words they alluded to having an allegiance, and/or respect for each other, but it looks like now they actually have chemistry in their interactions.

Mostly I was happy that T'Pol was not a "bee-yotch" (pardon my french, but I so want to like the Vulcan, but have had trouble doing so thus far) throughout the episode. She held her ground, made her assumptions, but was not condescending. Perhaps that grisly mind meld experience w/ that V'tosh Ka'tur stalker vulcan might make her question a lot of what she held as irrefutable. Horrible price to pay, but I know it's going to affect her, so let's hope something positive comes out it.

Trip was less annoying except when he played the good cap'n's faithful dog again: "If the captain says he saw something..." He may become a well rounded char yet.

Hoshi & Mayweather were almost unnoticed--I have more hope for Hoshi at this point especially since she seems less whiney.

Malcolm is learning less how to be Bashir, and since Bashir eventually grew on me too... Loved how he played oneupsmanship w/ Archer, but tried to be passive & nonchalant about it.

Phlox is a great actor, but his character is just too weird & undefined for me...I still see Neelix w/ a little of Dr. "Schweitzer" in him.

The captain is finally showing some good leadership skills...

Two thumbs up...and despite the continuity glitch I am looking forward to seeing the Ferengi next week...I Love Ethan Phillips especially as a Ferngi, and Jeffery Coombs never ceases to amaze me w/ his acting skills

bern

WEll, i liked it but i want the bigger arc episodes to return....
Eric -- 21 Mar 2002, 08:50 EST

I like Enterprise much more when it is doing the Andorians, Vulcans and Temperal war stuff. THAT is when the show is at it's best.

And when this show is at it's best it can come close to DS9 levels.

This was nice....but filler.

Eric

All hail Allen Kreuker.
Ronit -- 21 Mar 2002, 08:59 EST

I'm cinematically ignorant, but those shots just looked awesome. :cool

Only caught the last half of the ep, but what I saw I really, really liked. Like Terry said, nice pacing, good acting and.... a tearful farewell to a giant slug.

Could Bakula finally be coming into his own?

Ronit

Rogue Planet-I really liked it, but had one BIG nit
Diane -- 21 Mar 2002, 12:58 EST

I didn't buy the big lush leafy plants on a sunless planet.

I really liked this episode. The story was predictable but enjoyable. The thing going for it was good character development. It even had a literature reference and theme. Who would of thought Braga new Yeats.

Archer: this was the first time I felt Bakula was comfortable play Archer. Everything seemed natural in his portrayal. Looks like he and the producers have worked the "bugs" out. I even saw sparks of leadership, my previous big complaint about Archer. It looks like his style will be more in line of a "Patrol Leader" any maybe that was the reason for the scouting references. BTW, as a scout, I was glad to see scouting was alive and well 150 years from now.

Speaking of scouting, Malcom's little scouting competition was hilarious. TPTB must be reading all the boards that claim Malcom would make a better Captain than Archer. I really love what Keating is doing with this character. Malcom has become my favorite character behind Hoshi and the Doctor.

And T'Pol, I am glad to see TPTB had Archer confide in her. Who was it earlier, yea, it was Bern who noted T'Pol's comment to Archer in Fusion about dreaming. Yes, this did play well as this episode. T'Pol experiencing uncontrollable dreams, Archer having a childhood dream reveal itself in the alien, and both character's confiding in each other. I also like T'Pol's comment about Archer not noticing the alien if the it revealed itself as a man running around in his underwear.

Next week we get to see some familiar faces. I am really looking forward to seeing Phillips. I always felt Phillips was one of the best actors on Voyager. No mater what was given, he would attack it and always give a good or great performance.

Di

and its a BIG nit
D -- 21 Mar 2002, 17:37 EST

I basically liked the episode but found myself shaking my head at the idea of a Rogue Planet with no sun having an atmosphere (M-Class, no less), extensive vegitation and sophisticated life forms. Suspension of disbelief is necessary to enjoy Trek but this takes things too far.

Another instance of the audience being aware of something, the existance of shape shifters, that none of the crew did before this encounter. The whole hunting of the shape shifters does give some credence to the comments the Founders made about their historic treatment by solids. The natural state of these shape shifters may be basically slugs, not goo, but the predicament is the same. Luckily for the Alpha Quadrant these don't seem to consider all solids their enemies, just the hunters' race.

Waah!!!! I missed it!!!!
Mindy -- 25 Mar 2002, 18:10 EST

Both the original airing and the repeat on Sunday...I've been running around NYC and the metro area with John, who is a ST fan (especially VOYAGER, right, Jules?), so he was disappointed, too, that we missed it.

Ah, well.

Was it really that good? Scooptv.com's ENTERPRISE reviewer was not nuts about it at all.

Mindy

It wasn't the best ST episode I ever saw, Mindy...
G'Inny -- 25 Mar 2002, 21:00 EST

...but it told an engaging story, made remarkably good use of the ENT crew, especially Archer, and incorporated a fragment of Yeats. All in all, a pretty good outing for first season Trek.

I noticed this was the only board that enjoyed the show
Diane -- 26 Mar 2002, 08:56 EST

Every other board I lurk at seemed to have negative posts about the show, apparently most found it boring. Go figure!

Di

It was a quiet episode.
Nina -- 26 Mar 2002, 09:11 EST

Character-driven, too. That's perhaps not to everyone's taste?

It's my favorite episode so far, BTW. Archer didn't annoy me, T'Pol "got respect," and Trip didn't shout and stamp his feet. Blessed if I know how a rogue planet (by definition, without a sun) can be "Class M" - or habitable at all. Usually I hate that sort of obvious scientific gaffe so much that I have trouble overlooking it, but this time the rest more than redeemed.

Finally, I got to watch the people interacting and didn't find myself cringing! There may be hope!

Some of us may be trying to refrain from negativity
maggie the cat -- 26 Mar 2002, 16:22 EST

But since you brought it up Not everyone on the board liked it. I found it boring, predictable and derivative of at least ten prior Trek episodes/movies and portions of same. A case of heightened expectations perhaps, given the last few episodes and a fine spoiling here.

"IF"
bern -- 26 Mar 2002, 16:26 EST

IF:

...you are comparing it to any of the other series when they were in the middle of their run,

...you are looking for something new under the sun (or in this case a sunless planet)

...you can't overlook the egregiously bad science and find other aspects of the episode noteworthy.

...or if you watch trek for Klingon driven arcs, or "rock-em sock-em shoot em up" eps or the like...

...then, no, this ep had virtually nothing to offer...

However, IF:

You are like me and still have your pom-pons out waiting to be a cheerleader for the new series which as yet hasn't given one much to cheer about, this ep showed some promise. At least in context of all we've seen up 'til now...years from now re-watching this ep I doubt it will make much impact, but then again most of the eps so far don't seem like eps I'll care about when re-viewing...I really enjoyed it in the context of potential growth of the series and it's chars.

Sadly for me this has become one of my main measuring sticks for this series: The "re-watchability" of the ep...

[sigh] maybe I'm just getting old...I've noticed a lot of TNG episodes are better as memories than on repeat viewings

bern

Don't refrain from the negative
Diane -- 26 Mar 2002, 17:21 EST

It is auwful when everyone has the same opinion--yek!

There have been many episodes that many on the board loved and I loathed and vis-a-versa.

But, what I always find interesting is that the NEB looks at things complete different from other board.

Di

I figured such from the small thread.
D'Alaire -- 26 Mar 2002, 18:11 EST

Or at least there wasn't much to talk about.

Frankly, the ep bored me as well, and for the same reason that you state: Predictable, unchallenging, Trek-tech silly, that plant issue bothered me and not to mention some of the cliche lines just made me groan and turn away. And for once, I didn't even read the spoilers on this one, so I can't even blame it on that if I wanted to.

To be honest, after the first half hour, I mostly just listened to it, peeking back from time to time. So I didn't quite feel qualified, per se, to give out a real "review."

I always feel like I'm being negative once I've seen an ep, and really try to find more positives than I actually feel overall. I really don't enjoy either. Honestly, I'm really just holding out for S2, hoping the issues I'm having with the show will either begin to fade or somehow not be an issue anymore.

Hmmm...that never stopped anyone before.
G'Inny -- 26 Mar 2002, 18:49 EST

I agree with Diane. It's not much of a discussion, if there aren't both pros and cons. As for the plant issue, yes, it was stupid science, but I figured that the writers were hoping that some of the viewers would make an intuitive leap and come to the conclusiom that, since the hunters had obviously been coming to the planet for generations, the planet had left its orbit around a sun eons ago and that, in the interim, the original plant life had mutated and adapted in such a way that it did not depend on photo-synthesis to feed itself. After all, the writers did make a point about the geysers, which seemed an obvious attempt to establish that geothermal energy accounted for the planet's bearable temperature.

Not a particularly successful attempt, perhaps, but at least a nod to the fact that they were goofing on the science just so the director could go for the X-Files ambience.

Ditto D'Alaire's last sentence.
Deb47 -- 26 Mar 2002, 19:35 EST

Actually, I forgot about it being a new ep last week and by the time I remembered my response was just "oh well".

Hanging on for season 2.

D47

Im sorry to say, i havent even seen it
david g -- 27 Mar 2002, 12:37 EST

i really wish i felt more positive about the show...just about the only characters i like are Tpol, Phlox, and Hoshi. and much as i like them, they arent compelling enough to make me tune in.

this is painful to me as a Trekker. i want to be in on this. i love comparing notes w/everyone here, i love the insights and observations of the Neb.

but--and it's not that i hate ENT or anything, though i do think Bakula is distractingly bad and Archer the weakest Cap'n of all time--i cant seem to summon up the enthusiasm for watching the show anymore.

Actually, D'Alaire, im hoping for Series 6
david g -- 27 Mar 2002, 12:42 EST

i wish ENT were doing better than the ok it's doing, cuz we might get another Trek series on, say, the WB.

probably wont happy.

david g, despondent Trek junkie who may have to actually start receiving CH DS9 tapes ag'in. my word...

Dream on, david...
Jules -- 27 Mar 2002, 16:38 EST

I can't help but think that if UPN was going to go under, it would have done so a couple of years ago rather than now. And I really doubt that we'll see a first run Trek on a different station while it's around.