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Peter Weller (c.) guest stars on Enterprise with regulars Connor Trinneer (r.) and Jolene Blalock.
Seems like I was among the minority when I came out against the first part of this two-episode arc, “Demons”. But I stand by my disappointment with that one. However, we’re here to look at the conclusion episode, “Terra Prime”, and thankfully it did get better.
Following up on “Demons”, Archer and crew are trying to figure out how to approach Paxton’s ship on Mars. But Paxton targets them with the array and fires a warning shot, hitting them with enough power to blow out some systems but not destroy the ship.
Meanwhile, Earth’s minister warns Archer that they may have to simply destroy the array and Paxton’s ship. However, doing this may trigger a chain reaction and kill hundreds in a nearby settlement. So Archer works with Mayweather to develop a way to get down to the Mars surface and onto Paxton’s ship undetected.
However, Mayweather learns that his former love, who was arrested on Enterprise as a Terra Prime spy, is actually an operative with Starfleet Intelligence. She warns him that there is a Terra Prime spy on the ship, but doesn’t know who.
On Paxton’s ship, Trip refuses to help improve the array to allow Terra Prime to destroy Starfleet Headquarters, which otherwise will lay waste to half of San Francisco. And T’Pol discovers a secret of Paxton’s, as well as a disturbing truth about the baby he created using her and Trip’s DNA.
There were several elements that I liked about this episode, the first one being the shuttle flight down to Mars. For the first time in I don’t know how long, Mayweather was actually given something to do, and that in itself was good. I’m not saying I’m a particular fan of his chacacter, but the character had a lot of potential, and sadly that was never really explored.
Either way, he’s finally given something here, not only a good storyline, but a great sequence when he pilots the shuttle in the tail of a comet. The effects were great, but Reed getting space sick was hilarious. My favorite moment was watching Phlox handing him a barf bag, only to have Reed hand it back to him — presumably full — only moments later.
I also liked Trip a lot in this episode. Although I thought his blubbering in the end was a bit over the top, and not exactly the best way to conclude the episode, I liked his scenes with Weller (who also comes off much better in this hour than in the previous episode).
Although I expected that the baby would ultimately not live, the death of the child was a good dramatic moment. I thought they made a great choice by having it be subtle, with the moment marked only by the expressions on Trip’s and T’Pol’s faces. It’s rare that you get good subtle moments in Star Trek, and this was one of the best.
However, my feelings about the manufactured drama regarding the baby’s birth in “Demons” gets re-enforced here. The explanation is rather simple, and provided within the first minutes of “Terra Prime”. The weakness of “Demons” is that they tried to pull drama out of something that could have had multiple explanations, and the way it’s so easily discarded in “Terra Prime” shows that.
Now, there are those in the camp that believe that “Demons” and “Terra Prime” work as the real finale for Enterprise, and to be honest I’m inclined to agree. The ending of “Terra Prime” has more to do with the show in general and more compassion for its characters than “These are the Voyages…”, and this storyline should have been Enterprise’s send off.
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