[ENT] "Future Tense"
Gisele La Roche
Story by: Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong
Teleplay by: Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong
Directed by: James Whitmore, Jr.
Brief Synopsis:
Enterprise comes across a small, derelict ship and brings it aboard. Since
this is as far as humans have travelled in space Archer is surprised to find
that the craft contains a human corpse. Suliban and Tholian ships arrive to
claim the vessel and a battle ensues. After finding some clues as to the
ship's origins, Archer concludes that it is from the future. He must
prevent the Suliban and the Tholians from taking the ship as this may affect
the balance of power in the Temporal Cold War.
Review:
Yet another installment in the Temporal Cold War arc and yet one that
doesn't really add much except to introduce the Tholians into the mix but
this does add something nonetheless. The original title of this episode was
to be "Crash Landing" but I can't see how this title would have fit this
episode. No matter, it was an enjoyable hour filled with cool special f/x,
excellent CGI work and plenty of action. I loved how the Suliban appeared
on the ceiling.
The writers added a neat touch of continuity to this episode by mentioning
Zephram Cochrane. In fact, it was a clever way of doing it as he would be
the only one that could possibly be out there as this is the farthest that
any Earth ship has supposedly travelled so far (100 light years). Having
Archer mention him made a lot of sense if we take into account the TOS
episode "Metamorphosis". It's little nods like this to the original series
that connects the show to its Star Trek roots. I also liked the TOS-like
look of the Tholian ships. So far the ships on this series are very cool
looking, especially the Vulcan ships.
Watching Trip and Malcolm and later Archer and Malcolm going through some
time loops also reminded me of some great TNG episodes. "Cause and Effect"
comes to mind and is one of my favorite TNG episodes. Still, at first I
thought something was wrong with the broadcast and admit I did a double take
until I realized that Trip was saying Malcolm's lines and vice versa, some
nice writing there. Also the ship being bigger on the inside than on the
outside (see Dr. Who and the TARDIS) also added a nice sci-fi-ish style to
the episode.
Of course these time loops were due to some "temporal radiation" which the
humans and Vulcans have no knowledge of but the Tholians and the Suliban do
it seems. Yet the Enterprise scanners were able to pick up the radiation
just not identify what it was. This makes me wonder why the writers have
decided all this time to make the Vulcans unaware of time travel but the
Tholians are it seems. The Suliban are because of the mysterious figure
from the future who is leading them but it leaves open the question of how
the Tholians have this knowledge. They were apparently far out of their
space so how did they know the small craft was there unless they too were
being directed from the future or have some sort of device that tells them
when time is being affected in some way? Still, it's a wonder that the
Vulcans don't believe in time travel or are ignorant of it and I still
wonder why the writers decided to make them this way.
Which brings me to one small nit. If the humans of the future can recover
the vessel and the corpse why not reclaim Daniel's effects? I would think
that his "database" from the future would be considered dangerous as well if
it fell into the wrong hands. It's also a wonder that Starfleet doesn't
want to have it. Archer was going to have the ship picked up by Vulcans and
brought to Starfleet. Why aren't they interested in the database?
Starfleet doesn't seem to be too much in charge it seems. It would be
interesting to know more about the structure of Starfleet at this point and
just how much power they have.
The human corpse is not just human afterall. It appears that in the future,
much like today with the way the world is becoming more and more
multicultural, people will not be made up of only one race or in this case,
species. I like how this reflects the realities of today. It also provides
for some good lines: T'Pol to Archer: "It's unlikely we could reproduce."
To which she quickly adds: "Humans and Vulcans". Blalock was a little off
with her timing but it still was humorously and sexually ambiguous
nonetheless. So far the TCW arc is very engaging and I can't wait to see
more of it.
I give this one a B+. The + for the writing.
Gisele La Roche
gisele...@yahoo.com
For previous reviews go to:
http://www.voyagersdelights.com/enterprise_episode_reviews.htm OR
http://www.starfleetcom.net/episodes2.htm
The "Make a DS9 Movie" petition site has been updated. Fan tributes are
up. Also information on the postcard campaign is available. Go to:
http://www.starfleetlibrary.com/ds9petition
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