Star Trek: Enterprise: The Council Rewatch
December 22, 2019 9:59 PM - Season 3, Episode 22 - Subscribe
Archer makes the most important PowerPoint presentation of Earth's history, and nails it--but there's that one person present who seems just a little too quick to concur...
Memory Alpha ate the last donut:
- This episode marks the deaths of Degra (Randy Oglesby) and Corporal F. Hawkins (Sean McGowan). Lieutenant Reed angrily notes that Corporal Hawkins is the twenty-third crew member to die in the Expanse.
- Dolim, Jannar, and Kiaphet Amman'sor's names are revealed in this episode.
- T'Pol's words echo those of Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan when she tells Reed about the Vulcan saying "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
- This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series but lost out to the episode "Countdown".
"When I was on the future Enterprise, four hundred years from now, there were Xindi aboard. Humans and Xindi were serving together in the Federation. That's a future worth fighting for."
- Captain Archer, to Degra
"Ever since the attack on Earth, all I've thought about is getting back at whoever was responsible."
"And now we are making peace with them."
"I've gotten used to the anger. It's going to be like, I don't know, losing an old friend."
"You have other friends."
- Tucker and Phlox
"Maybe we're getting a bit too comfortable with losing people. 23 men and women. On any given mission, the limits of acceptable casualties is 20%. So says traditional military doctrine. Well, we've crossed that margin."
"There's a Vulcan axiom: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Corporal Hawkins understood that."
"That doesn't make his death any more acceptable."
"No, but it makes it honorable."
- Reed and T'Pol
Poster's Log:
We're in the endgame (no, not that one, nor the more recent, extremely popular one), and while it's pretty obvious that the action that started in the last episode of S2 isn't going to culminate in a voice vote around a conference table, this is still very well executed. The Reptilians still come across as road company Cardassians (assisted by their supposed benefactors the Sphere Builders bearing more than an incidental resemblance to the Founders of the Dominion), too enchanted by the prospect of ruling the Xindi Empire to wonder why the "Guardians" are so hasty to kick the other Xindi to the curb, but they're at least canny enough to pull a head-fake before stealing the weapon and kidnapping Hoshi. We also get a solid reason for why the Xindi are so willing to believe the Sphere Builders in the first place, Trip softens his attitude toward Degra a bit, and although a MACO gets redshirted, Reed gives his passing a bit more consideration and feeling than usual.
Poster's Log, supplemental: The death of Degra, who became a much more sympathetic character near the end but was still responsible in large part for the deaths of millions, reminded me a bit of another death in a major SF franchise very recently.
Memory Alpha ate the last donut:
- This episode marks the deaths of Degra (Randy Oglesby) and Corporal F. Hawkins (Sean McGowan). Lieutenant Reed angrily notes that Corporal Hawkins is the twenty-third crew member to die in the Expanse.
- Dolim, Jannar, and Kiaphet Amman'sor's names are revealed in this episode.
- T'Pol's words echo those of Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan when she tells Reed about the Vulcan saying "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
- This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series but lost out to the episode "Countdown".
"When I was on the future Enterprise, four hundred years from now, there were Xindi aboard. Humans and Xindi were serving together in the Federation. That's a future worth fighting for."
- Captain Archer, to Degra
"Ever since the attack on Earth, all I've thought about is getting back at whoever was responsible."
"And now we are making peace with them."
"I've gotten used to the anger. It's going to be like, I don't know, losing an old friend."
"You have other friends."
- Tucker and Phlox
"Maybe we're getting a bit too comfortable with losing people. 23 men and women. On any given mission, the limits of acceptable casualties is 20%. So says traditional military doctrine. Well, we've crossed that margin."
"There's a Vulcan axiom: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Corporal Hawkins understood that."
"That doesn't make his death any more acceptable."
"No, but it makes it honorable."
- Reed and T'Pol
Poster's Log:
We're in the endgame (no, not that one, nor the more recent, extremely popular one), and while it's pretty obvious that the action that started in the last episode of S2 isn't going to culminate in a voice vote around a conference table, this is still very well executed. The Reptilians still come across as road company Cardassians (assisted by their supposed benefactors the Sphere Builders bearing more than an incidental resemblance to the Founders of the Dominion), too enchanted by the prospect of ruling the Xindi Empire to wonder why the "Guardians" are so hasty to kick the other Xindi to the curb, but they're at least canny enough to pull a head-fake before stealing the weapon and kidnapping Hoshi. We also get a solid reason for why the Xindi are so willing to believe the Sphere Builders in the first place, Trip softens his attitude toward Degra a bit, and although a MACO gets redshirted, Reed gives his passing a bit more consideration and feeling than usual.
Poster's Log, supplemental: The death of Degra, who became a much more sympathetic character near the end but was still responsible in large part for the deaths of millions, reminded me a bit of another death in a major SF franchise very recently.
Hawkins' death was a classic redshirt death, too. Utterly pointless, and pretty chumpy considering the rest of the away team deals with the grabby arms just fine.
I really liked Dolim's little heatlamp room. The reptilian makeup is pretty good. The sphere builder makeup looks like textured spray paint and so reminds me of making WH40K buildings out of random bits of trash in high school.
posted by fleacircus at 12:21 AM on December 23, 2019
I really liked Dolim's little heatlamp room. The reptilian makeup is pretty good. The sphere builder makeup looks like textured spray paint and so reminds me of making WH40K buildings out of random bits of trash in high school.
posted by fleacircus at 12:21 AM on December 23, 2019
I...really liked this one. Like, really liked it. It was the rare ENT episode that ends and I go "What, it's already over?"
It's been years (decade) since I saw this originally, so I don't remember exactly where this is going, but this episode was extremely promising.
I really liked Dolim's little heatlamp room.
Nonironically nor sarcastically, I think that was a standout of the series. That brought me joy.
Anyways, happy holidays, everyone!
posted by General Malaise at 9:13 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
It's been years (decade) since I saw this originally, so I don't remember exactly where this is going, but this episode was extremely promising.
I really liked Dolim's little heatlamp room.
Nonironically nor sarcastically, I think that was a standout of the series. That brought me joy.
Anyways, happy holidays, everyone!
posted by General Malaise at 9:13 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
This episode does such a good job of making the whole Xindi multi-species culture/history feel real and engaging that I wish they'd done that about twenty episodes ago.
I found THE CLAAAAWWW to be a bit laughable, but IIRC I was more accepting of the CG's quality on first watch. Seems kind of strange how so many of VOY's FX have aged better.
The death of Degra, who became a much more sympathetic character near the end but was still responsible in large part for the deaths of millions, reminded me a bit of another death in a major SF franchise very recently.
Well, if I'm perceiving your unspoken subtext accurately, then my god you're right!: I actually felt something with Degra's death.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 9:41 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
I found THE CLAAAAWWW to be a bit laughable, but IIRC I was more accepting of the CG's quality on first watch. Seems kind of strange how so many of VOY's FX have aged better.
The death of Degra, who became a much more sympathetic character near the end but was still responsible in large part for the deaths of millions, reminded me a bit of another death in a major SF franchise very recently.
Well, if I'm perceiving your unspoken subtext accurately, then my god you're right!: I actually felt something with Degra's death.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 9:41 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
That brought me joy.
It was such a small but delightful bit of 'humanization' for the otherwise 150% asshole
posted by fleacircus at 10:35 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
It was such a small but delightful bit of 'humanization' for the otherwise 150% asshole
posted by fleacircus at 10:35 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
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(Me at home: Ahahahaha Archer's fucked!)
Archer, five minutes later: *Immediately gets right up in the insectoid's face and raises his voice*
posted by fleacircus at 12:08 AM on December 23, 2019 [2 favorites]