Star Trek: Enterprise: The Aenar Rewatch
April 12, 2020 11:23 AM - Season 4, Episode 14 - Subscribe
All right stop/ Federate and listen/ Shran is back with a brand new intention/ Icicle grabs a hold of him tightly/ Flow like a ushaan-tor daily and nightly/ Will it ever stop?/ Yo, I don't know/ Turn off the lights and the ice bores glow...
If there's a problem, yo, Memory Alpha'll solve it:
- This was the first episode to feature the planet Andoria in Star Trek. The fact that the planet is covered in ice is a logical contrast to the desert planet of the Andorians' rivals, the Vulcans.
- According to writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens in a special features segment on the ENT Season 4 DVD, the establishment of the Andorian homeworld as a moon orbiting a gas giant was devised to help explain the contradiction of why there were references to both Andor and Andoria. They explained that they had hoped to establish the gas giant as Andor and the moon as Andoria.
- A deleted scene available on the Season 4 DVD set revealed that both Admiral Valdore and Senator Vrax were placed under arrest as a result of failing their mission to destabilize relations between Andorians, Tellarites, and other alien species. They were taken into custody by the two Remans who had previously served as Vrax' guards.
"Ahh. Taste that air!"
"(Archer looks at his readings) 28 below??"
"Lucky for you it's the middle of summer"
- Shran and Archer, just after they arrive on the surface of Andoria
"You have an interesting mind, captain – many facets. Some of those facets are in conflict."
"That explains a lot!"
- Lissan and Shran, after Archer allows her to share his thoughts
"What's it like – your ship?"
"Warm."
- Jhamel and Archer
"I regret much of what happened between us recently."
"Same here."
"When you lose your ship, you aren't usually rewarded with another one. I may not see you for a while."
- Shran and Archer
Poster's Log:
I think that I mentioned previously that, to me, this episode felt more like a sequel to a two-parter than the last of a trio, and it still does, with the exception that Shran's still-regenerating antenna seems to have contributed to his spill on the ice stairs. (It also strikes me as weird that the Romulans, having created the drones as these highly-technologically-complex false-flag vessels, are using them basically as smart torpedoes here just to take out the Enterprise.) But that's fine, since the episode not only shows us Andoria itself but the Aenar, described as a subspecies of the Andorians, but able to have children with them, as we'll find out at the end of the series. Bernd is a bit critical of this episode, but I liked learning more about Andoria, and I thought that the Aenar were effectively presented as somewhat ethereal and mysterious without overdoing it. (The brief glimpse of their seemingly-technologically-advanced city also avoids the cliche of their being a sort of Na'viesque space wood elf type primitive people.) Jhamel comes off well, whether she's interacting with Shran (I thought that their scene in the darkened Aenar infirmary was kind of enchanting) or her brother, or insisting on going up to the ship to help take down the drones. Speaking of which, I liked the fact that the crew couldn't simply fully duplicate the telepresence rig that the Romulans had been working on for some time without some false starts and even danger to the user. Also, Shran's bright blue blood on that icicle going through his leg was an effective, if grisly, effect.
The only real problem that I had with the Aenar is that, partly because of the actress playing Jhamel and partly because of the Aenar makeup (giving them heads somewhat larger than Andorians), Jhamel looked significantly younger than the other Aenar, and even though her interactions with Shran were platonic, knowing of their future relationship made me a bit uncomfortable. (The actress playing her, Alexandra Lydon, would have been about 26 or so when this episode aired, and as I said, it was probably more a function of the combination of general appearance and makeup that led to this effect; I don't think that it was intentional and certainly nowhere near as egregious as, say, Kes/Neelix on VOY. Just my personal reaction.)
Anyway. Interesting bit of backstory from Valdore, which makes it even more regrettable that they didn't have future seasons, and of course Trip and T'Pol's relationship arc making a sharp turn. I doubt that anyone would have believed that Trip would be on the Columbia for very long (although any excuse to have more of Captain Hernandez is OK in my log), but it does shake things up a bit.
Poster's Log, supplemental: Apologies for the Vanilla Ice reference, I just couldn't help myself. At least I didn't include Mr. Freeze's copious ice puns from Batman and Robin.
If there's a problem, yo, Memory Alpha'll solve it:
- This was the first episode to feature the planet Andoria in Star Trek. The fact that the planet is covered in ice is a logical contrast to the desert planet of the Andorians' rivals, the Vulcans.
- According to writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens in a special features segment on the ENT Season 4 DVD, the establishment of the Andorian homeworld as a moon orbiting a gas giant was devised to help explain the contradiction of why there were references to both Andor and Andoria. They explained that they had hoped to establish the gas giant as Andor and the moon as Andoria.
- A deleted scene available on the Season 4 DVD set revealed that both Admiral Valdore and Senator Vrax were placed under arrest as a result of failing their mission to destabilize relations between Andorians, Tellarites, and other alien species. They were taken into custody by the two Remans who had previously served as Vrax' guards.
"Ahh. Taste that air!"
"(Archer looks at his readings) 28 below??"
"Lucky for you it's the middle of summer"
- Shran and Archer, just after they arrive on the surface of Andoria
"You have an interesting mind, captain – many facets. Some of those facets are in conflict."
"That explains a lot!"
- Lissan and Shran, after Archer allows her to share his thoughts
"What's it like – your ship?"
"Warm."
- Jhamel and Archer
"I regret much of what happened between us recently."
"Same here."
"When you lose your ship, you aren't usually rewarded with another one. I may not see you for a while."
- Shran and Archer
Poster's Log:
I think that I mentioned previously that, to me, this episode felt more like a sequel to a two-parter than the last of a trio, and it still does, with the exception that Shran's still-regenerating antenna seems to have contributed to his spill on the ice stairs. (It also strikes me as weird that the Romulans, having created the drones as these highly-technologically-complex false-flag vessels, are using them basically as smart torpedoes here just to take out the Enterprise.) But that's fine, since the episode not only shows us Andoria itself but the Aenar, described as a subspecies of the Andorians, but able to have children with them, as we'll find out at the end of the series. Bernd is a bit critical of this episode, but I liked learning more about Andoria, and I thought that the Aenar were effectively presented as somewhat ethereal and mysterious without overdoing it. (The brief glimpse of their seemingly-technologically-advanced city also avoids the cliche of their being a sort of Na'viesque space wood elf type primitive people.) Jhamel comes off well, whether she's interacting with Shran (I thought that their scene in the darkened Aenar infirmary was kind of enchanting) or her brother, or insisting on going up to the ship to help take down the drones. Speaking of which, I liked the fact that the crew couldn't simply fully duplicate the telepresence rig that the Romulans had been working on for some time without some false starts and even danger to the user. Also, Shran's bright blue blood on that icicle going through his leg was an effective, if grisly, effect.
The only real problem that I had with the Aenar is that, partly because of the actress playing Jhamel and partly because of the Aenar makeup (giving them heads somewhat larger than Andorians), Jhamel looked significantly younger than the other Aenar, and even though her interactions with Shran were platonic, knowing of their future relationship made me a bit uncomfortable. (The actress playing her, Alexandra Lydon, would have been about 26 or so when this episode aired, and as I said, it was probably more a function of the combination of general appearance and makeup that led to this effect; I don't think that it was intentional and certainly nowhere near as egregious as, say, Kes/Neelix on VOY. Just my personal reaction.)
Anyway. Interesting bit of backstory from Valdore, which makes it even more regrettable that they didn't have future seasons, and of course Trip and T'Pol's relationship arc making a sharp turn. I doubt that anyone would have believed that Trip would be on the Columbia for very long (although any excuse to have more of Captain Hernandez is OK in my log), but it does shake things up a bit.
Poster's Log, supplemental: Apologies for the Vanilla Ice reference, I just couldn't help myself. At least I didn't include Mr. Freeze's copious ice puns from Batman and Robin.
If the Aenar are blind, why do they seemingly have lights?
So I know from disability IRL contexts blindness exists on a continuum. There's total blindness, legal blindness, partial blindness etc etc. So it could be that the Aenar can see some light- or distinguish between light and dark so some lighting is used? It seems to me like an oversight though. (no pun intended.)
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:21 PM on April 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
So I know from disability IRL contexts blindness exists on a continuum. There's total blindness, legal blindness, partial blindness etc etc. So it could be that the Aenar can see some light- or distinguish between light and dark so some lighting is used? It seems to me like an oversight though. (no pun intended.)
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 1:21 PM on April 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'm sympathetic to that, although a. they all seem to have white eyes, on purpose, but mostly b. When Jhammel notes that Shran has blue skin, he responds "How do you know? You're blind." and she just handwaves it like it's magic or something. Free shrugs. I guess it would have been hard to film those scenes in actual darkness.
posted by General Malaise at 2:52 PM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by General Malaise at 2:52 PM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I was wondering if the lights were either a) an incidental result of their technology, just as some of our tech produces heat and therefore infrared light, and/or b) the little bit that we saw was their place for interacting with outsiders, which is rare but apparently not unknown. (That would possibly also explain their reference to "mainstream" Andorians as blueskins, if they knew that those Andorians referred to other humanoids as pinkskins; it would be a sort of ironic reference to a distinction that would not have occurred to them otherwise.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:04 PM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:04 PM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
This episode was directed by Mike Vejar, who directed some of the best DS9 episodes, such as "Rocks and Shoals" and "Tacking into the Wind."
There's something just a little bit TNG-ish about this episode: meeting a mysterious and isolated species, being on mostly good but still tense terms with them, and one member of the away team making a Special connection with one of their civilians who then challenges the stodgy Official Representative in a fashion that saves the day. Okay, actually, that's quite TNG-ish now that I look at it, but not in a bad way as far as I'm concerned. And it's not like that's the WHOLE episode, either. But maybe that's why this one strikes me as "good, definitely, but a little odd." Especially odd for ENT. OTOH, that oddness may be partly what keeps one's interest, since the dramatic stakes here are a little hazy.
I perceived some racism from Shran towards the Aenar, at least before he starts to warm up (oops; um, was THAT racist?) to Jhamel. It's understandable given Shran's personality and background, but it adds another layer to this character. A slower-paced episode might have included an exchange wherein Jhamel calls his attention to it.
Jhamel looked significantly younger than the other Aenar [...] I don't think that it was intentional and certainly nowhere near as egregious as, say, Kes/Neelix on VOY. Just my personal reaction.
IIRC Mrs. Cheeses and I made similar remarks about the apparent age gap when we first saw this one. You can tell, through Lydon's performance, that this is likely not a very young performer, but the large head, her features and voice, and even the hairstyle do read as, well, probably too young for Jeffrey Combs. But we are also maybe affected by the fact that we know how old Combs is, roughly, yet we don't quite know how old Shran is supposed to be—IIRC we've no reason to think Shran is even as old as 40, necessarily.
But if I was the director on set, I'd've sent her back to Makeup with instructions to "age her up some."
Interesting bit of backstory from Valdore, which makes it even more regrettable that they didn't have future seasons
Agreed! I would've loved to see this character go through a second, much worse disgrace. Think of it: a Romulan with nothing left to lose. Have we even seen that before? And don't say Nero.
I doubt that anyone would have believed that Trip would be on the Columbia for very long
Heh, and even Archer's facial expression in the final shot seems to say, "Poor dope; he's not going anywhere."
When Jhammel notes that Shran has blue skin, he responds "How do you know? You're blind." and she just handwaves it like it's magic or something.
Seems to me that a blind species that lives in isolation and almost never interacts with others would plausibly be able to sense, non-telepathically, when a member of another species is nearby—their breathing, the way they shift their bodies…maybe an odor. She seems too polite to say "It's your odor."
I sort of chucked because of course Archer is giving the temperature in celsius, while most viewers would have thought fahrenheit. Of course, that's only -18F, which is still cold, but not quite as cold as it sounds. Okay, it's very cold.
Bahhh, C or F, it's totally endurable. Enjoyable, even, under the right circumstances, and with sufficient preparation. I'll take it over 95°+ (F) any day.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 7:13 AM on April 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
There's something just a little bit TNG-ish about this episode: meeting a mysterious and isolated species, being on mostly good but still tense terms with them, and one member of the away team making a Special connection with one of their civilians who then challenges the stodgy Official Representative in a fashion that saves the day. Okay, actually, that's quite TNG-ish now that I look at it, but not in a bad way as far as I'm concerned. And it's not like that's the WHOLE episode, either. But maybe that's why this one strikes me as "good, definitely, but a little odd." Especially odd for ENT. OTOH, that oddness may be partly what keeps one's interest, since the dramatic stakes here are a little hazy.
I perceived some racism from Shran towards the Aenar, at least before he starts to warm up (oops; um, was THAT racist?) to Jhamel. It's understandable given Shran's personality and background, but it adds another layer to this character. A slower-paced episode might have included an exchange wherein Jhamel calls his attention to it.
Jhamel looked significantly younger than the other Aenar [...] I don't think that it was intentional and certainly nowhere near as egregious as, say, Kes/Neelix on VOY. Just my personal reaction.
IIRC Mrs. Cheeses and I made similar remarks about the apparent age gap when we first saw this one. You can tell, through Lydon's performance, that this is likely not a very young performer, but the large head, her features and voice, and even the hairstyle do read as, well, probably too young for Jeffrey Combs. But we are also maybe affected by the fact that we know how old Combs is, roughly, yet we don't quite know how old Shran is supposed to be—IIRC we've no reason to think Shran is even as old as 40, necessarily.
But if I was the director on set, I'd've sent her back to Makeup with instructions to "age her up some."
Interesting bit of backstory from Valdore, which makes it even more regrettable that they didn't have future seasons
Agreed! I would've loved to see this character go through a second, much worse disgrace. Think of it: a Romulan with nothing left to lose. Have we even seen that before? And don't say Nero.
I doubt that anyone would have believed that Trip would be on the Columbia for very long
Heh, and even Archer's facial expression in the final shot seems to say, "Poor dope; he's not going anywhere."
When Jhammel notes that Shran has blue skin, he responds "How do you know? You're blind." and she just handwaves it like it's magic or something.
Seems to me that a blind species that lives in isolation and almost never interacts with others would plausibly be able to sense, non-telepathically, when a member of another species is nearby—their breathing, the way they shift their bodies…maybe an odor. She seems too polite to say "It's your odor."
I sort of chucked because of course Archer is giving the temperature in celsius, while most viewers would have thought fahrenheit. Of course, that's only -18F, which is still cold, but not quite as cold as it sounds. Okay, it's very cold.
Bahhh, C or F, it's totally endurable. Enjoyable, even, under the right circumstances, and with sufficient preparation. I'll take it over 95°+ (F) any day.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 7:13 AM on April 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
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Pretty cool to finally seen Andoria, although we did only seen the Aenar city. Would have been cool to see the actual Andorian civilization.
"(Archer looks at his readings) 28 below??" I sort of chucked because of course Archer is giving the temperature in celsius, while most viewers would have thought fahrenheit. Of course, that's only -18F, which is still cold, but not quite as cold as it sounds. Okay, it's very cold. Anyway.
Hm for an episode I liked, I do have some things. The Trip and T'Pol thing is so unnecessary. I also felt like Jhamel seemed extremely young and it was kinda gross with Shran.
Some questions:
If the Aenar are blind, why do they seemingly have lights?
If they're truly recluses and even most Andorians have never encountered one, why are they not weirded out by meeting a human? They seem to act like encountering alien species is normal?
I'm still not sure why they needed someone with telepathy to pilot the drone?
posted by General Malaise at 1:09 PM on April 12, 2020 [1 favorite]