My Review- 'Shockwave'

WARNING! FOLLOWING IS A 'SHOCKWAVE' OF SPOILERS.

Throughout it's history Trek has produced a great many two parters. In the case of DS9 and TNG these often started off brilliantly and then fell apart in the second half due to poor planning. A good example would be 'Best of Both Worlds' where the second half is generally considered to be entertaining but not quite on the level of the first. This may also be why DS9 only ever did three true two parters (Past Tense, the In Purgatories shadow two and the Favour the Bold/Sacrifice of the Angels pair at the end of DS9s 6th Season opening arc) and instead DS9 cliff-hangers were usually simply an ending with a sense of 'something has dramatically changed but our heroes are fine' and then the following season opener would start 3 months later, and finish it of. Voyager on the over hand was the master of two parters. Indeed if there was one thing Voyager had over the other series it was two parters and this is probably why it did so many of them. OK some of them weren't great ('Equinox' for example is entertaining but far from perfect) but Voyager two parters always had a great talent for finishing themselves. 'Basics' is probably the first time in Trek history the second part of a two parter was far superior to the first and 'Scorpion', 'Year of Hell' and 'Dark Frontier' in particularly had brilliant second halves to finish of great first halves but, I digress, 'Shockwave' is the first time in Trek that a first season actually has ended with the first part of a two parter. OK both TNG and DS9 had bits in their last episode which made you wonder (for TNG it was a wonder of who had attacked the neutral zone colonies mysteriously destroyed in that ep, and what would now happen with the Romulans who return in this ep. In DS9 it was a wonder about the fate of Bajor if Vedek Winn won the election to Kai after she attempted an assassination on Vedek Bareil.) but neither were true two parters.

STORYLINE  

But what a two parter! 'Shockwave' is brilliant. OK it's not perfect but it's the best ENT ep since 'Fallen Hero' for sure. The cliffhanger is one that really keeps you wondering, I mean Archer stranded in the 31st Century with no way back while back in the 22nd Century the Enterprise has god knows how many Suliban ships with weapons locked onto their warp core. It certainly suggests no obvious finish, at least one which isnt so stupid Im sure even Berman/Braga wouldnt try it and I like to be puzzled like that. It'll be interesting to see how it's resolved. Another thing great about the episode is it doesnt scream "SEASON FINALE" at you. Apart from the fact it's a little grander than usual there isnt much to tell apart from a normal ep, that is until Daniels arrives. It was marvellous to see Daniels again, he was one of the high points of 'Cold Front' and with 'Cold Front' remaining my second favourite ep of Season 1, that's high praise, 'Cold Front' was strewn with greatness, and Daniels caused a lot of that due to the ambiguity around him. While here that ambiguity was diminished slightly in favour of a more black/white approach some of it still remains, Archer's "Do you ever give me a straight answer?" sums Daniels approach to Archer up completely. It's clear Daniels is hiding something and one cant help but wonder what that is. It's entirely plausible he's not some kind of saviour of time and is merely another faction in the temporal cold war as Silik said in 'Cold Front'. The action scenes are a lot of fun too, though they dont do as much for me as others have. The direction in those scenes is also brilliant, the 'up close and personal' shots of the 'Big Three' give a real sense of anguish. It's all very enjoyable, the only problem with it is that in the second half it moves a little too quickly. There's a distinct difference between how the first and second half, the first half is a slow talky affair with the crew talking about what they'll do now they're going home, the second half comes along, Archer talks to Daniels, and within 20 minutes we're in the middle of a Suliban cruiser stealing some data discs. If someone went to the toilet they could of missed huge pieces of the plot! On the whole it's still interesting as is the whole episode. Kudos to all.

THE SHIP  

I particularly liked the 'beacons' used to see through the Suliban Stealth.

HURRAH! THE SULIBAN GET SOMETHING APPROACHING A DECENT SHIP!

THE CHARACTERS  

The characterisation was great this week. I mean if we take an individual look at each character:

Archer: When he thinks he's responsible for the disaster he just falls apart emotionally and mentally, then when he finds out he isnt responsible it's like a huge weight is lifted of his shoulders. Very much what you'd expect from Archer.

T'Pol: We get a huge sense of how far T'Pol's come in the last year. The T'Pol of 'Fight or Flight' would of undoubtedly agreed with the Vulcan High Command, now she doesnt, instead saying she'll appeal to her people on Archer's behalf and even trying to cheer the captain up and might I say I much prefer this to the earlier T'Pol.

Trip: Trip's conversation with Phlox was great as well as was his conversation with Archer about Daniels.

Reed: Reed's great when the disaster happens. He insists there cant be a problem, he made sure of it himself in some kind of attempt to get rid of his guilt and then when he's in Daniels Quarters he wants the specs for the Klingon Ships too. That's what an Armoury Officer should be.

Mayweather: Mayweather not wanting to return to cargo ships seems very much in character. I would imagine that after spending time on Enterprise a Cargo ship wouldn't seem as satisfying.

Hoshi: Hoshi's reaction when breaking the news to Archer and the look in her eyes when Archer puts her in charge of Porthos are brilliant, you can really feel her passion.

Phlox: Acting brilliantly (natch) and characterised wonderfully of course. U gotta love him :)

STAR TREK NOTES.  

For the first time in ENT they use the term 'cloak'. Oh dear. In 'Balance of Terror' we're supposed to see the first ever cloak, and Enterprise has so far avoided Continuity strikes by using terms like 'stealth technology' which suggests some kind of primitive forerunner to the modern cloak.

No Porthos for 6 months. How will the Porthos fans survive man?!

We see a close up shot of 'Future Guy' and he appears to be human, that said it doesnt have to be true, 'Future Guy' could of been surgically altered, or be a shape-shifter or similar.

Rating (out of 10): 9/10. Im feeling tough this week :) It's not that's there anything bad with it, it's just not good enough good stuff to quite reach 10 me thinks.

Well that's it for the next six months. 'Shockwave' Part 2 airs in Jan over here. Sometime during the next six months I hope to do a Season 1 Evaluation, and I'll probably review Star Trek: Nemesis when it arrives on these shores. Until then as Phlox said back in 'Broken Bow' "Optimism, Captain!"