They’ve
been a part of Star Trek since its primordial beginnings
inside Roddenberry’s mind almost 40 years ago. And
now they’re embedded deep in pop culture. “Live
long and prosper” and “the Vulcan death grip,”
are right up there with “may the force be with you”
and “the Jedi Mind Trick”… and some other
pop culture references that don’t have “star”
in the title.
Continuing
their experiment in three part stories, Enterprise
jumps back into the Vulcan pool with “The Forge.”
With the Vulcans splashing around for over 40 years is there
really anything new we can learn? Let’s hope so. We’re
going to be swimming with them for three weeks.
Commercials
ramping up to this week’s episode promise Enterprise
will “lose one of her own.” Meaning someone’s
going to die. We held our breath all week to see if Mayweather
was going to snuff it. But after the two minute teaser we
can breathe, because it’s Admiral Forrest who bites
it. Or rather is burned alive in a terrorist explosion.
Forrest
isn’t a title character, but he has been on the show
since episode one. And he’s more interesting and plays
a more important role then Mayweather – so it’s
actually sad to see him go.
Before
the explosion Forrest talks with Ambassador Soval, the Vulcan
representative on Earth, who has also been with Enterprise
since her maiden voyage. To paraphrase, Soval tells Forrest
the Vulcan high command resists sharing technology with
Star Fleet because they don’t know how to deal with
humans. To the green blooded aliens, humans can be both
as aggressive as Andorians and as logical as Vulcans. Mankind’s
shades of gray are considered unusual in a galaxy of black
and white.
This
conversation could be used as a thesis for the entire show.
All other worlds have distinctive personalities and don’t
trust each other. It will take the Federation to build the
melting pot of the Alpha Quadrant.
To following
the trend of mistrust, the Vulcan High Command pins the
terrorist explosion on the Andorians. But it soon proves
that a small sect of Vulcans, called the Syrranites, are
to blame. So, wait a second… how can there be faction
of Vulcans who think differently, if the High Command believes
only humans have shades of gray...? I smell a moral coming.
So it
would seem we DO have something to learn about the Vulcans.
The Syrranite religious sect sort of resembles Islamic beliefs.
Much like Muslims focus on the teachings and pilgrimage
of Muhammed, the Syrranites focus on the teachings and pilgrimage
of Surak. The Vulcan desert, though alien, also has the
familiar feel of the Middle East.
Archer
and T’Pol take the Vulcan desert to find the Syrranites
and the terrorist. Of course by the time Archer and T’Pol
are deep in the desert, Dr. Phlox and crew realize that
the terrorist wasn’t a Syrranite. This smells like
a government job. More on that plot line in act two.
Meanwhile
on Vulcan, Archer and T’Pol hide from a wild desert
dwelling monster, who lacks the ability to climb up a mountain.
We’ve never seen these furry desert creatures before,
but apparently, according to T’Pol, they make great
pets. This seems like something more for the Klingons and
therefore an out of place danger.
(Okay,
so the pets may have existed on the animated series, but
does that count? We haven't seen any of Lt. Arik's people
outside of animation, either.)
The
story will continue next week with part two: “The
Awakening.” Already this three part clumped story
is pacing itself better then the post-Eugenics war of last
week. The first episode featured so many elements it was
almost overwhelming and it ran out of gas by the third episode.
This week is straightforward and compelling.
Till
next week, may the force live long and prosper. Or something.
