After the 1st episode, I thought it had potential, but tonight’s left me cold, and I think I know why…I don’t like any of the characters. T’pol’s cocky, know-it-all attitude irks me; the Asian translator is wimpy and whiny and got on my nerves; and all the others are just, hmmm…there; nothing appealing about them. I don’t hate them, but I don’t like them either. Archer is the only one showing some spunk,and even he was letting T’pol push him around. There’s no chemistry between any of them. All the ST series have had memorable, quirky, loveable, funny, likeable, hateful characters – just like in real life, but this Enterprise could’ve gotten vaporized tonight and I wouldn’t have cared.
Not only all that, but the idea that this woman can learn how to speak an ALIEN language inside of a day or so . . . And if those alien ships could fight off a ship like that, then how did the first ship get captured? And also when we saw the Kilngons in the first series wasn’t that the first time that humans had seen them? . ? .And also. . .
You know what, I gotta stop. Cause even so, with all the silliness, and pathetic charcters, I’m still really enjoying it. The Captain’s cool and I think they are gonna make this one work better than Voyager (which I can’t stand).
Give it time. Once they start getting into the mythology arcs they’re planning I think it’ll be real cool.
I just really hope that no one we know comes from the future to visit them. Time travel is so messy, I wish they would have left it alone.
DaLovin’ Dj
Did anyone besides me think the Bad alien’s sip resembled a Breen ship?
The first alien ship was a cargo vessel. It’s not surprising that it could be captured by the bad aliens. As to the language thing, who knows, maybe she’s Wesley Crushers great grandmother and genius runs in the genes.
I found this episode much more enjoyable than the first. Sure, the timing of the both alien ships arriving was a bit hokey, but that’s the nature of TV.
What I would have liked is seeing more of the first contact, after the battle. It seems like they glossed over some of the most interesting parts of the adventure for the sake of standard TV plot. Still, I’m enjoying it, which is a shame since I don’t need another hour of TV to watch.
The very idea that Hoshi could do a better job communicating with that alien than her universal translator gizmo and its presumed database, drove me insane. I sat there watching it and imagined matt_mcl must be having an aneurysm.
And what was with that hokey scene at the end, where Hoshi took the worm down to a planet in a Sanrio lunchbox? Do Braga and Berman want me to throw a brick through my television?
How is it that everybody was practically hopping up and down in excitement last week about maybe going warp 4.5, and this week it’s “oh, by the way, we’re going WARP 5???”
I haven’t given up yet. Rememeber the first two seasons of STNG… El Barfo! Can anyone really stomach episodes like Encounter at Far Point (Q wasn’t even witty) or the Naked now. When the show hits its stride it should be good, they need to work out the bugs but the promise seems there.
I like Archer, I like the Doctor I can even handle T’pol. Hopefully this episode was to get rid of whiney guts wimpiness.
Sluggo? Sluggo?? I mean sure it comes from a new world but Cripes It’s just a slug!!!
By the way this episode gives you a good idea who came up with the Prime directive. Don’t it?
Best line: “Do you suppose they’d let me watch?”
Yeah, I think I like the Neelix-esque cook more in this episode.
I dug this episode a lot more than the premiere… though it still had it’s problems.
Not to nitpick, but… Hoshi put that worm on an alien planet!!! Does she have any idea what it will do to the ecosystem? Didn’t she see that episode of The Simpsons where Bart lets a frog loose in Australia? Oh well…
I’ll probably continue to watch until new episodes of Ed come on.
I’ve noticed that on all the Star Trek series the characters start off pretty much one-dimensional, but some of them can get a lot better. I was yearning for more character development after the pilot, and I still want to see more of Mayweather and Malcolm. Are they supposed to be the new best friends, sort of like Geordi and Data, Bashir and O’Brien, or Tom and Harry? Even Dr. Phlox, who I thought was just going to be for comic relief, is turning out well.
What I want is a seriously dangerous plot. I want millions of lives to hang in the balance. I want the very fabric of spacetime to be threatened. I mean, what happened to them this time? They almost got their hull drilled. Eek.
The only thing that could have redeemed that last scene would have been if the Doctor had made sure the girl wasn’t watching and a giant tongue had come out of his mouth and slurped up the slug.
What was with the Captain whining about HIS decision to leave the alien ship. He’s the GODDAM CAPTAIN. IT WAS HIS DECISION. HE COULD HAVE TOLD THE VULCAN TO PISS OFF IN THE FIRST PLACE. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.
They already established that Hoshi is a whiny cry-baby. Archer should have slapped her when she REFUSED ORDERS to talk to the alien. Once again, he’s the CAPTAIN. If he says “Go wipe your ass” you’d better have some toilet paper. She should be court martialed. They are already establishing the pussy military that they have in TNG.
Enterprise sent a distress call from the cargo ship. Maybe the bad guys heard it, too and figured someone was ripping them off.
Language…maybe she was saying “Us good. Tem bad. We break bad machine.”
This was good character development for Hosi.
Neelix-esque cook? Say what?
Mythology arc? Mythology arc?
Well, it seems the writers are still getting a handle on the characters. I’ll give them time to sort that out. And yes, I still like Dr. Phlox.
I actually found myself enjoying this episode. Ya know why? For one, we had no transporter usage. They used a shuttle to get from ship to ship. And everyone wore space suits. And the crew had to deal with long periods of nothing happening. It all gave the feel of space exploration. Not the First Class space exploration of Next Gen, but the harder, more primative stuff. That I liked.
Well, it’s the only Star Trek on the airwaves, so I guess I’ll keep watcing it! I agree with most of the criticism in this thread – and the OP. I’m gonna stick with it, but I really hope it doesn’t take as long as TNG to get better – I didn’t even watch TNG for the first season and a half – and [big geek admission] I used to record TOS episodes on a tape recorder jammed next to the little TV speaker, and listen to them over and over as a child [/big geek admission], so I really wanted to like it – and of course I did after that, bit those first-season episodes are really lame. So let’s send emails to them at <stctech@pde.paramount.com> and let them know ho we feel.
I’ll also note that I think the writing team (Rick Berman & Brannon Braga) seem to be even sloppier than usual – but what do you expect from a second rate network – and Majel Barrett Roddenberry isn’t even the voice of the computer, so there’s no one around to keep Gene’s legacy alive.
Sigh.
And what is up with that theme song? It sounds like a parody of a Chevrolet commercial!
I dunno. I like that the ship is primitive…there’s no huge, roomy, ergonomic shuttle bay for them to fly into; they use a docking arm. There’s no big roomy foyer; they have to climb up a metal ladder. When they were eating it wasn’t in a big well-decorated carefully-lit “ready room”…it was in a dim, cramped little room that looked almost like an afterthought.
I like that there’s no “Prime Directive” talk, and I’m hoping that later in the series something hellish will happen that will cause the Prime Directive to be shoved into place…I just hope it’s not TOO soon for plausibility.
I agree that the translator thing grated a bit…but a couple of things: First, some people really do have a gift for picking up languages, and she is supposed to be the top in her field. Second, we have no idea how long she actually messed with the translator and how much she may have subconsciously picked up. Third, it’s possible that the alien, being frustrated with the translating MACHINE, was more willing to cut some slack to actual vocal cords attempting to get the message across. It was probably obvious that she didn’t know what she was doing, but with her actually doing the speaking he could TELL, not have to rely on electronic interpretation.
Crap, looks like I’m addicted…I’m defending too vociferously.
Aint it the truth. I was so proud of myself when I stopped watching Voyager. No longer a victim of the addiction to cheesy science fiction (like the way that rhymes?). Looks like I’m off the wagon again. . .
DaLovin’ Dj
I, too, despise the theme music. It sounds like a really bad Rod Stewart ballad. It took me a few minutes at the show’s beginning to get the bile out of my system.
Having said that, I found the show enjoyable. I think it has potential, and I believe the Doctor and the Vulcan will become popular break-out characters. Hope springs eternal in the heart of a trek fan.
Wife started doing a translation of what Hoshi which was a combination of Ms. Swan and some of her vendors:
“That not our sucking machine! That their sucking machine. You look! That your sucking machine. That not our sucking machine.”
Keep repeating until the other person gives up or kills you.
I like how, when the torpedo aiming device finally got fixed enough (nice touch that they didn’t fix it, just got it working well enough that they could compensate) the torpedo was nearly ineffectual on the other ship. No going into space with top-line equipment. No, this is the first ship and it will be subpar until the engineers get a good look at what the competition is using.
Oh, and Hoshi is cute enough to get away with a little whining. For a while.