Oh boy, we had lots of fun with this one! A good episode overall, though somewhat overly transparent. But damn, it's good to see Sam and Al together again. Spoilers ahead!
-Bad guys this time are the Tandarans ("Tan-DEHR-ans"), who are proabably the trek aliens with the least prosthetics ever, without actually not having prosthetics. The only thing setting them apart is a tiny flap of skin at the top of the nose. Tandaran space comprises several systems in a "Tandaran Sector".
-The Tandarans are at war with the Suliban, and have been for eight years. The government seems pretty normal (i.e. not evil), as are the people. They have a lot of regulations though, but they're hardly worse than anything seen in a democracy of the 20th Century.
-The prison facility holds 89 Suliban, including children; none of them are part of the Cabal. Thousands more are kept in other camps in a thin veiling of the Japanese internment camps of WWII. Oddly, the prison also holds seized Suliban ships, providing convenient transportation for the inevitable prison break. The facilities are spartan but relatively civil - there is a curfew.
-"Be careful of their wicked smiles Their shining yellow eyes; At night they'll squeeze right through your door, And everybody dies."
Odd, how an alien nursery rhyme still rhymes in English... Odder still how an obvious racial slurr is taught as a nursery rhyme.
-The Suliban used to be well-assimilated into Tandaran society... The Suliban homeworld "became uninhabitable" 300 years ago, and those in Tandar space are a relative minority that decided to settle, rather than be nomadic. The internment changed all that.
-As with the Japanese, families were split up. Requests to rejoin them seem to be routinely ignored.
-All the adult Suliban in this episode seem to have raspy voices. It's probagbly unintentional, but wierd nonetheless.
-Sam and Al are baaaaaack! At more than one point, Colonel Grat uses a PADD which is about the right size and shape, too... Too bad he doesn't whack it. It's worth pointing out that when the two actors are doing scenes alone, it's almost like Quantum Leap never left. Snif..
-The big issue is that the Tandarans discover Enterprise's previous dealings with the Suliban, and want anything Archer knows about 'em. The Tandaran intelligance service is apparently pretty effective; they know of the Broken Bow incident, Rigel Ten, Sarin, and more; Tandaran agents were on the latter planet. They know of Silik's later visit and the Temporal Cold War too. It's unclear where some of this info is coming from, but it's proabably not in the Shuttlepod database.
-Mention is made of "helix deployments", concluding that there are more than one. No big srprise, but worth noting.
-It's not really mentioned why Travis and Archer were in the shuttlepod in the first place... But they were unconscious long enough to be transported several light years. They apparently stumbled into Tandaran-sensitive space, and missed the no-entry sign.
-Anyway, the Enterpise eventually tracks 'em down when Grat contacts the ship. They're able to beam stuff and people in without to much trouble, suggesting the Tandarans don't have transporter technology. They can track energy readings of a communicator just fine, though.
-Outside Tandaran space lie the "Niburon Colonies", where escaping Suliban might find sanctuary.
-Makeup fun continues, as Phlox reveals he can turn Malcom into a Suliban with relative ease. According to the hapless Armory Officer, it itches a lot. However, he seems to be getting used to the transporter when it's used to beam him and a batch of phase pistols into the prison. As a side note, the actor seems to be having fun imitating other accents in this series...
-To confuse the Tandaran electronics and allow Reed to beam down, T'Pol talks to Grat and sends them the "human database" containing some funky virus or something. Anyway, watch closely for some subtly wierd acting on Blalock's part.
-Tandaran patrol ships are asymetrical, but look a little like the Star Wars droid fighters in TPM. Two of 'em are no match for the Pre-E; a torpedo each from the aft launchers is plenty to disable them.
-Effects heavy stuff towards the end, with Trip taking a shuttlepod to lay waste to the base, and the subsequent escape byt he Suliban ships. There's no question anymore as to the shuttles' armament, either; they're definitelly equipped with phase weapons.
-The Pre-E also sems able to descend into a Class-M atmosphere, at least a little; they deploy the shuttle while inside a cloud mass.
-The Suliban ships that escape are *not* the cell ships we've seen before - they're fairly plain aeroforms. In fact, they may be Tandaran ships (as they are Tandaran immigrants, after all) but the ship designs are nothing like the patrol ships.
That's enough for me for now. This was a pretty good show, and heavy on the action, so it'll make a good watch for most fans despite not breaking new dramatic ground. It's on the same level as "Shuttlepod One" for me, so it's quite a watchable hour. Have fun with it!
Mark
[ April 24, 2002, 00:28: Message edited by: Mark Nguyen ]
Posted by Matrix (Member # 376) on :
I wonder how many people will scream this time...
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
So now all the Suliban can squeeze through doors? I thought the whole shape-shifting thing was something they got from FutureGuy?
Posted by Malnurtured Snayer (Member # 411) on :
I didn't read anything about squeezing through doors ...
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Read the nursery rhyme.
The context of this rhyme is that it was something someone came up with after the war with the Suliban started. I'm pretty sure something similar happened following Pearl Harbor, possibly involving slanted eyes and yellow skin.
The episode suggests that the Cabal Suliban had been getting their genetic alterations since at least the start of the war. None of the Suliban in the camp had any such tricks. No mention is made of FutureGuy either, and there's only one offhand mention of the Temporal Cold War.
Mark
[ April 24, 2002, 12:06: Message edited by: Mark Nguyen ]
Posted by Malnurtured Snayer (Member # 411) on :
Oh, I see now.
Of course, anyone can squeeze through a door ... suck in your gut, and go through on your side. Pretty easy, really.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
its pronounced Tan-DAHR-an not Tan DEHR an.. anywho.. good solid ep, a little heavy on message (Archer comes right out and mentions Japanese internment camps too) but still good.. yet another episode where Jon boy gets himself roughed up without fighting back, only to have the Badass Brit come in to save the day.. i think i'm seeing a pattern. Ending was a little simplistic, with your average action movie style prison break, but the open-endedness is appealing.. this Suliban/Tandaran issue might see another day..
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
This is definitely one of the better ENT episodes so far.
There was a brief mention of "FutureGuy" in a way -- Grat wanted to know if Archer knew who the Cabal were receiving their orders from.
And I figured that the nursery rhyme was applying the evil characteristics of the genetically engineered Cabal members to ALL the Suliban, even the innocent civilians.
It's interesting that these Tandarans have an intelligence network that managed to get detailed information about Earth and Starfleet activities. Grat mentioned reading the shuttle's database, but he also said something about intelligence agents -- and implied that they'd been to Earth. THat doesn't gel with the aliens (not just this episode) generally not having heard of Humans before. How did Grat get all that information about Broken Bow, Oklahoma?
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
[ April 24, 2002, 18:19: Message edited by: CaptainMike ]
Posted by TheF0rce (Member # 533) on :
Its amazing the Kabul didn't wipe these Tandarans out along time ago.
Their technology seems to be even outmatched by Ent, which kicked their ass with ease.
And a lone shuttle[which seemed to have gotten fitted with the new phaser beam]had little trouble in taking out the defenses of the prison.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
\ca�bal\ (k -b l, -b�l) noun. > 1. A conspiratorial group of plotters or intriguers. > 2. A secret scheme or plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially a political plot) [syn: conspiracy]. > 3. A number of persons united in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in church or state by intrigue; a secret association composed of a few designing persons; a junto. 4. The secret artifices or machinations of a few persons united in a close design; intrigue.
verb \ca�balled\, \ca�bal�ling\, \ca�bals\ 1. To form a cabal; conspire. [French cabale, from Medieval Latin cabala, fr. Heb. reception, tradition, mysterious doctrine, to take or receive from; Tradition; occult doctrine. See kabbalah.]
Usage: Cabal, Combination, Faction. An association for some purpose considered to be bad is the idea common to these terms. A combination is an organized union of individuals for mutual support, in urging their demands or resisting the claims of others, and may be good or bad according to circumstances; as, a combiniation of workmen or of employers to effect or to prevent a change in prices. A cabal is a secret association of a few individuals who seek by cunning practices to obtain office and power. A faction is a larger body than a cabal, employed for selfish purposes in agitating the community and working up an excitement with a view to change the existing order of things.
Kabul is a city in Afghanistan.
[ April 24, 2002, 18:47: Message edited by: CaptainMike ]
Posted by darkwing_duck1 (Member # 790) on :
Two minor nits: 1. Why did T'pol order torpedoes? They only have so many of those. Why not phase cannons? They ARE on line. 2. Didn't the shuttle pods have pulse weapons in "Shadows of P'jem"?
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
1)Yes, but resupply is most certainly possible. Rationing torpedoes was never an issue in TOS, TNG, DS9, and *sigh* never really became one in VGR. Why start prosecuting now?
2)I look at it this way: When "Silent Enemy" came out, a vicious little crowd of online fanboys decided that Archer was a thickey-head for not ordering the NX-01's phase cannons to be installed (offscreen, even) once it became clear that they wouldn't be heading back to Earth after "Broken Bow." Now, we have a shuttlepod show up with an offscreen upgrade of its plasma weaponry to phase weaponry, and [I suspect many of the same] people bitch. It would be a little odd if the NX-01 has phase weaponry and they have phase sidearms but there aren't any in-between versions mounted on the shuttlepods, no?
Posted by TheF0rce (Member # 533) on :
I just like the refreshing difference that the pulse cannons managed to offer. Unfortunately those days are over.
Posted by TheF0rce (Member # 533) on :
Oh and one of the Suliban was played by that actor who I think we first seen in the role of that vorta, who was killed and had his corpse reanimated to forever walk into a bulkhead. Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
i wonder if they ever went back to get him... they probably would have seen him when they towed Empok Nor to Bajor in 'Avatar'.. oh well.. BTW that episode was great, the second time i watched it a while back, i realized the nerve stimulation control panel and gear were lifted from one of the greatest TOS episodes ever...
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
Speaking of Adventures on Sigma Draconis, I was attempting to put together a ratings scheme the other day (I'm mulling over whether to go into the online reviewing biz) and attempting to set benchmarks and all that, and the thought struck me that Spock's Brain probably doesn't deserve a 0.0/10.0 or whatever ugly low number we could give it, for the simple reason that if I turn on TOS reruns and it comes on, I damn well want to sit down and watch it. The same cannot be said of "And the Children Shall Lead" or "Threshold." It makes for something of a quandary, no?
FWIW: On the Tom-o-scale, Detained gets a +3, or "DECENT". (It's a ghoulishly complex system, and thus very cool.)
[ April 24, 2002, 20:09: Message edited by: The_Tom ]
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
yes, on my site its getting 3.5 combadges (out of the unattainable five)..
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
According to the top secret conversion formulae, +3 means 8.0/10, or B+, or 3.5 stars out of the all-but-unattainable five (there are under 10 hours of Trek that grab the 5).
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
The Tom System is only slightly less intricate & confoundoluted than the Richter Scale of Culture.
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
Hardly.
+7 FLAWLESS | A+ ***** 10.0 -- +6 PANTS-WETTINGLY SPECTACULAR | A+ ****/ 9.5 --- +5 WOW! | A **** 9.0 ---- +4 PRETTY DAMN GOOD | A- **** 8.5 ------ +3 DECENT | B+ ***/ 8.0 --------- +2 SOLID | B *** 7.5 ------------ +1 WILL DO, I GUESS... | B- *** 7.0 -------------- 0 MEDIOCRE | C+ **/ 7.0 --------------- -1 SUB-PAR | C ** 6.5 -------------- -2 WASTE OF AN HOUR | C- ** 6.0 ------------ -3 STOMACHABLE... BARELY | D+ */ 5.5 --------- -4 JUST PLAIN BAD | D * 5.0 ------ -5 A PAINFUL, DISMAL MESS | F * <5.0 ---- -6 KNITTING-NEEDLES-IN-EYES AWFUL | F / <4.0 --- -7 MAKES LIFE A LITTLE LESS WORTHWHILE | F none <2.0 --
[ April 24, 2002, 21:23: Message edited by: The_Tom ]
Posted by Matrix (Member # 376) on :
So ummm... where does this episode fit in the apparent scheme of things??
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
he said its decent
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I like the little ASCII bell curve... :-)
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Interesting how Enterprise messed up the Tandaran computer system with what appeared to be a fancy denial of service attack.
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
I was reading elsewhere about what may either be coolest example of uberobscure continuity yet, or a very very lucky coincidence. Back in Broken Bow, Trip sat beside a generic alien woman with something in a box. Have a close look at the make-up. Who sees a striking resemblance to a certain species that would later be shown to have gathered intelligence during that Rigel X stopover?
Posted by Mark Nguyen (Member # 469) on :
Naw, this lady has a triangular appliance that's integrated with the forehead and eybrows. Close, but no cigar.
Mark
Posted by Obi Juan (Member # 90) on :
quote:Originally posted by TheF0rce: Oh and one of the Suliban was played by that actor who I think we first seen in the role of that vorta, who was killed and had his corpse reanimated to forever walk into a bulkhead.
Wasn't that Iggy Pop? I May be remembering the wrong Vorta--know he played one though. Don't think it was him in this ep.
[ April 27, 2002, 00:12: Message edited by: Obi Juan ]
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
He was the other Vorta in that episode. The one with the submerged yet everpresent lust for life.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
-b 
l, -b�l)