Last
week's episode had a dozen or so plot mistakes for us Fanboys
to sort through. And this week's episode wasn't much better.
Certainly
the conclusion was a lot stronger this week, and there may
have been fewer plot holes, but it's hard to tell because
the plot was hidden under a very confusing premise.
We learned
this week that prior to T'Pol's association with the Vulcan
science council she was a member of a security team. About
two decades earlier she failed to capture one of seven double-crossing
Vulcan operatives, and now she has been called to finish the
job.
A clear
cut mission if it wasn't for Vulcan brain washing, forcing
her to forget killing one of the operatives, thus confusing
her loyalties, and making her (and us) wonder if maybe the
fugitive doesn't deserve to be taken to the council. Is he
just a good guy?
The Vulcans
accuse him of being a biological weapons trader, and he says
he's a simple spent ejector core hauler, trying to a make
a buck for his family. Can we trust the high council? The
Vulcans have committed a number of covert self-righteous actions
(like disguising a listening post as a temple).
And since
T'Pol was brain washed to forget part of the mission, we are
even more skeptical. We all remember how much it sucked for
Logan to be part of Weapon X. As cool as it would be for T'Pol
to have an adamantium skeleton, she's still in turmoil.
"One
more line and I'll earn residuals!"
To help
her solve her inner struggle she brings the only person she
can trust, Captain Archer. This is good, because for a minute
there it looked like Lt. Mayweather was actually going to
have a story line. Fortunately he only tagged along for the
adventure. Could you imagine what would happen if an episode
starred anyone but Archer, T'Pol or maybe Trip? Why, such
potential depth of characterization could spell disaster!
It doesn't
do T'Pol much good to bring either of the humans along. Mayweather
said about five lines, and three of those were "Aye,
sir." And Archer, the man she trusts, can't pull a trigger
on a man walking away from a crime scene. Instead of firing
his phase pistol at the villain, he leans into T'Pol and gives
her a very confusing speech about how she's there to capture
the operative, not judge him.
Now wait
a second here! All we've done since the series started is
judge random strangers. Archer zooms around the first part
of the final frontier deciding who is good and who is evil.
The Suliban are bad. But not all Suliban. Some races deserve
medical help, others don't. And now suddenly, for no other
reason than the Vulcans say so, T'Pol isn't supposed to decide
if the man is innocent or guilty? Wow. I'm confused.
The only
saving grace came after the last fire-fight, when we learn
that he really was smuggling biological weapons. But, what
if all they found on his ship was spent ejector cores? Then
they had him all wrong, and now he lost the life he built
because the government said so.
This very
confusing episode is strike two. If next week's isn't any
better than Wednesday night Fanboy will start reviewing Bernie
Mac and Cedric the Entertainer.
"If
you want a Pepsi - ask for a Pepsi."
- Bernie Mac
"If
you want Star Trek watch TNN or the Sci-Fi channel."
- A. Bitter Miller
