Enterprise Cold Station 12
original airdate: 11-05-04
If you
tune into your local UPN affiliate at almost any time, you’re
likely to hear a teaser inviting you to watch the “Enterprise
epic” continue. With so much noise about it, you’d
think it was a mini-series as memorable as Roots.
Though Roots and Star Trek do have LeVar
"Kunta LaForge" Burton in common, instead we've
got Brent Spiner, the actor formerly known as Data. And this
week he returns for part two of the three part “epic”
which will not end with the Civil War.
Structurally,
“Cold Station 12” is the second act, where all
the juicy thick meat of a story usually cooks. But, like
its title, this episode runs a little cold. Rather disappointing
after last week’s lip-smackin’ episode. “Borderland”
wove numerous plot lines together in a seamless story. This
week felt more like a stalling point before the conclusion.
Cold
Station 12 (or “C12” if you wanna be cool) is
the convenient home of incredibly deadly biological materials.
They’ve got everything on a terrorist’s wish
list.
• Thousands of genetically enhanced embryos
• Countless deadly pathogens
• All housed in a facility with no offensive weapons
The
only thing going for C12 is that it’s buried deep
inside an asteroid, a problem which Soong and his Augment
children quickly fly around by commandeering a Denobulan
shuttle. But the laughable security issues are only a fraction
of the problems with "C12."
First
of all, why in the universe would mankind store all of the
killer embryos from the Eugenics War on an asteroid far
beyond their solar system and thus, their ability to protect
it? Second, why would they also store a micro-biological
zoo of the galaxy’s worst known viruses, plagues and
diseases at the SAME facility? Third, what would a team
of scientists be researching on this death-station?
Maybe
they’re the real terrorists. It would explain the
series of disease release chambers in their main lab. Whatever
their real use, the chambers make excellent killers for
Soong to use on his hostages. And that, unfortunately, is
why the chambers are there.
The
concept of a station like C12 is a cool one. But it doesn’t
fit in with the current time line. By Kirk’s time
it’s believable that such a station would exist. But
with Archer captaining the only human warp 5 ship, it just
doesn’t add up. And, unfortunately ”Cold Station
12” is a poor example of Enterprise’s
budget cuts. The main lab and the pathogen chambers should’ve
at least looked like two different sets.
This
episode did, however, put a face on Dr. Lucas, Dr. Phlox’s
pen pal since the first season. Richard Riehle appeared
on a few episodes of Voyager, but he doesn’t
quite seem right for this part. That is, until he’s
forced to watch his colleague die in the disease chamber.
The scene is both gripping and horrific, and Riehle holds
it together.
Sorry,
we’re here to talk about the second coming of Spiner.
Soong’s
character is one of the most complex people to ever appear
in a Star Trek show. He’s almost… human!
He makes mistakes. He believes Lucas’ lie about not
having the embryo access codes. He has honest emotional
reactions to his “children’s” choices
to kill each other. After all the unnecessary hype, one
thing is true: watching Brent Spiner’s character is
a treat.
Hopefully
next week’s conclusion will actually be “epic.”
