I never figured she had any pyschic powers it's just the alien putting the images in her head. As far as figuruing out the book well she's a genius they do exist after all.
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We got a heartbeat Jim!.. Lock and Load! ST6 - Bones
One thought on Hoshi's apparent psychic powers: is it possible, however unlikely, that maybe she's not pure human? Granted, you'd think they'd have spotted that by now during physicals and what have you, but maybe it's possible. Could it also be a leftover influence from her being mutated a few weeks ago (which could suggest that the other mutated crew members could also have latent residual side effects from the experience)?
Finally, on the spheres: if anything, they most resemble the First Federation's giant tugboat spheres, in that there's a lot of mass and mechanicals but no life on board. Maybe those big FF spheres moved by using gravitational "warping" too for all we know - they sure as heck were big enough. They could also be related to the Dyson Sphere from TNG for all we know. The problem here is that you figure a race would probably build a large object based on a geometric design of some sort, and there are only so many to go around. They couldn't use cubes, since the Borg have used them already (okay, they used the sphere too, but not that big); if they used pyramids, as alluded to elsewhere, they'd be accused of ripping of Stargate SG1. Geometrically, a sphere is a good shape for a big object, for physics/engineering reasons. So why not? As long as the things don't go flying around shooting at things, they're still avoiding direct comparison with the Borg and/or SW.
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"How did you get in here??"
"I'm a locksmith, and... I'm a locksmith".
- "Police Squad"
Nice review Deus. I was shocked that you seemed to like Exile. I'd thought for sure that you'd hate this type of gothic, romance fair. I pretty much agree with your review, although I like this episode a lot less than you do.
Drawbacks, in no particular order:
1) Hoshi's choice of clothing while staying with the creepy alien dude. I found her breezy, summer like dresses and high-heeled shoes silly in the least, just plain stupid in the extreme. Why would someone, especially a woman, wear clothing that can easily be taken as alluring while stranded alone with a person that A) creeps you out, and B) has made it clear that they are attracted to you? Why didn't Hoshi pack extra Star Fleet uniforms, or if she has only the one, just keep wearing that for crying out loud?
2) Archer's decision to leave her with the creepy alien. This point could easily be taken as a positive, in that Archer's decision to leave a crew member alone on a planet with a strange alien, who is obviously attracted to said crewmember, can be taken as a sign of his desperation in finding the Xindi. At first I laughed out loud at how foolish his decision seemed (leaving poor Hoshi to the vices of this weirdo!) but then I realized that if it was any male crew member, say Trip, Archer's decision to leave a member of his crew with the creepy alien wouldn't have bothered me in the least. I guess Archer just wasn't being as sexist as I hate to admit I might have been in that situation. With this written, I still am bothered by his decision.
3) The romance cliches you point out in your review are right on. Luckily, the actor playing the creepy alien, and Linda Park were able to rise above the sometimes predictable writing.
In defense of Exile, though, I took Hoshi's being ability to use the alien's crystal to see telepathically as a direct result of the alien sharing his ability through the crystal, not Hoshi actually having the same powers herself. I'm probably way off on this, since what you write about TPTB potentially turning Hoshi into a telepath makes a lot of sense.
Despite my misgivings, I did enjoy this episode. As you point out in your review, it does a top notch job of moving the story along, and in my book, the more we see of Linda Park, the better!
For us men who are members of the Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) Estrogen Brigade, the episode "Vanishing Point" was anything but a "waste of time." It stands out as an episode worth watching again (and again) because of the performance of this talented and fetching actress.
The spacewalk also offers the opportunity for comedy, which for once isn't broadly overacted by Trinneer.
Comedy, yes, but the scene certainly was refreshing - showing Trip and Archer as real people who makes mistakes. We see a chief engineer screw up an apparently simple repair, the dumbfounded look on both Archer and Trip with the unspoken "Oh, shit! Now what do we do?", and Trip admonishing Archer for his first shot near miss and then both just start taking shots as it shuttle gets further away. (Why all weapons don't include some kind of targeting guide is long ST mystery)
I thought the final crash with Trip and Archer just standing there as the shuttle skidded dangerously close was a nice homage to Men in Black.
It is rather odd that Hoshi would use the crystal ball to see scenes of space battles the Enterprise fought years ago instead of seeing what is happening now.
True, but only if she was actually using the crystal ball to telepathically scan the heavens. I think it is much more reasonable to believe that Tarquin was actually simulating the experience, showing Hoshi how his telepathy works or how she could visualize the universe with his guidance. The images Tarquin selected may have been pulled from Hoshi's mind or from his own to give her a sense of wonder, while shielding her from any horrific encounters. She imaged a reptilian Xindi, a encountered species, not one of the others that are as yet unknown to ENT. For all we know, uncontrolled use of the ball could have overloaded Hoshi's synapses.
Though it still wouldn't explain how she learned to read an entire alien book in an entirely unknown alien language a short time after she first laid eyes on it without help or a Rosetta Stone of any kind.
Didn't Hoshi comment that the language resembled a form of archaic Klingon? Considering past interactions, its logical that Hoshi is probably now fluent in Klingon and may have delved into the Vulcan database to learn earlier, archaic forms. Tarquin would have selected a book for Hoshi that was a challenge but within her translating abilities. (It must have also been pretty good as literature since Hoshi couldn't put it down).
The producers have been giving Hoshi superhuman abilities for some time now and while "Exile" does at least begin to try and justify those abilities, what's being portrayed is still far in excess of what is possible or plausible.
Some form of telepathy does explain her uncanny ability with languages.
T'pol said that spheres are 1000 years old and the book that Hoshi got is about 1000 years old (the alien said so). Could there be clues in the book of creators of expansion.
BTW, Great episode!
Enterprise rocks! "Exile" was superb (unlike last weeks "Impulse" that completely lacked a good story and character) but my two favourite episodes in season 3 so far is definitely "Exile" and "Rajiin" because they both had character development while slowly revealing something about the Xindi. Of course, they both ooses of great EFX too which is very impressive for a TV series (even with non-stellar ratings).
I think everyone should try harder to love this new approch to Star Trek, if they don't already appriciate it, cause it's all we've got and it's really getting good. If you didn't like season 1 & 2 then I don't understand you, but anyway, you gotta love season 3 for episodes like this.
This week: No screaming T'Pol. No semi-nude T'Pol. And finally the long-overdue focus on Hoshi Sato. :)
re: the talk about ST:ENT borrowing from "Star Wars." Please give it a rest. If the spheres were pyramids, we'd be hearing complaints that B&B were ripping off "Stargate SG-1."
Those spheres are NOT akin to the "Star Wars" Death Star. Please.
I actually like the concept of the fifty-plus spheres creating the spacial anomaly havoc within the Expanse, plus T'Pol's new discoveries about them. (She's the science officer; she came through BIG time.) It's part of the story arc -- and the production team is staying focused on the different pieces of the Xindi puzzle (including the spheres) as the storyline develops.
Admittedly, I wasn't keen on the Beauty and the Beast concept of "Exile." I did find myself thinking "TOS!" when we saw the mountainside castle. Both the TOS episodes "Squire of Gothos" (with Trelane) and "Catspaw" (with Sylvia and Korob) came to mind when I saw those exteriors. Intentional or not, seeing Reed, Archer and Hoshi enter was deja vu of Kirk, Spock and McCoy (in a fashion). That's just my happy memory for this otherwise bland episode. I wasn't too happy with much of it. The story was too predictable and plodding, save the brief excitement of Archer and Trip "shooting down" their shuttlepod. It was a cool special effect sequence and a nifty idea... but the actors' reactions were poorly directed/written. It soured a potentially unique scene, imho.
In closing, I do think the set designers did an awesome job pulling together the castle interiors, though -- major kudos to them for their hard work. It was very, very well-done (esp. with the short time they had to construct it).
are you guys insane? have you guys not noticed the parallel between star wars+trek?
first of all, 'the sphere'? O deus... WHY oh WHY have you not mentioned the comparison of this to the DEATH STAR?!!?!?!?!? it's obvious B&B is saying, "well now's a good time to copy star wars". th same goes for asteroid field from attack of the clones when ob1 approaches genosis chasing the jango.
secondly, it's fairly OBVIOUS that the writers are just going off of some 'rule' about screenwriting that every so and so minutes you have to do this and every few minutes you have to do that. enterprise still doesn't have the guts like xf to dedicate an ENTIRE purely on one character. remember in xf when they dedicated 1 entire episode on cigarette smoking man? THAT was awesome. mulder+scully only showed up for a few seconds.
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"LET THEM DIE!!!"
Definitely agree with Deus that this was without doubt the finest guest star turn of the season, and possibly the entire history of this series. Why can't Enterprise give us guest stars of this caliber every week?
Unfortunately, I can't agree that Linda Park was particularly effective in this episode, a real shame since this was her character's opportunity to shine. I thought her line readings in the scene where she discovers the gravestones were particularly off, and it would have been nice in her dealings with Tarquin if her face had been able to register anything other than defiance, fear, and contempt; it certainly would have been more interesting if she had been at least tempted on some level by the opportunity to stay.
Still, overall I liked this episode's approach, which was more whimsical than Enterprise tends to be, and as other posters here have noted, in some ways quite reminiscient of TOS. "Exile" is no Trek classic, or even on a par with "Anomaly", but with its emphasis on character it's definitely a step in the right direction. And FTR, Ms. Park is quite the babe. ;-)
...gorgous in this episode. The hair the makeup, and the costumes really brought out her beauty. Her performance was great to say the least. She had a very candid way of performance, not dull, not over the top, but very face to face and personal.
Definitely agree with Deus that this was without doubt the finest guest star turn of the season, and possibly the entire history of this series. Why can't Enterprise give us guest stars of this caliber every week?
Unfortunately, I can't agree that Linda Park was particularly effective in this episode, a real shame since this was her character's real opportunity to shine. I thought her line readings in the scene where she discovers the gravestones were particularly off, and it would have been nice in her dealings with Tarquin if her face had been able to register anything other than defiance, fear, and contempt; it certainly would have been more interesting if she had been at least tempted on some level by the opportunity to stay.
Still, overall I liked this episode's approach, which was more whimsical than Enterprise tends to be, and as other posters here have noted, in some ways quite reminiscient of TOS. "Exile" is no Trek classic, or even on a par with "Anomaly", but with its emphasis on character it's definitely a step in the right direction. And FTR, Ms. Park is quite the babe. ;-)
O'Deus, I always enjoy your reviews even when I don't see the ep, such as with this last one. I'd like to remark on this comment:
Heavily influenced by some questionable research about human psychic abilities, science fiction widely adopted psychic abilities as being scientifically legitimate; though in fact they're extremely questionable to say the least.
Psychic powers are one example of how science fiction is the new mythology for the modern era. In the ancient myths, mysterious creatures, monsters, sorcerers or whatever always lived far away in the woods, the desert, a mountain or some remote island at sea. And such creatures or persons always had abilities that were beyond the norm.
Nowadays, every corner of the earth has been explored, every animal catalogued and studied, and most every natural phenomenon as been explained. (Of course some will hasten to point out that there are still *some* unexplained things, but these are few, minor and sketchy at best.)
So since our modern world holds few surprises and fewer opportunities for "mythologizing," it's only natural that we would turn our imaginings to places we haven't explored, like the stars.
So science fiction becomes the new mythology, a folklore medium where anything can still happen, a "make believe" world that is still unknown. I know nothing about psychology, but SF seems like an outlet for wish-fulfillment and fantasy projection. After all, every nerdy kids with glasses (like me) would like to fly like Superman. And what guy would NOT like to be an action hero/space gigolo like Captain Kirk?
So anyway, this IMHO is why telepathy and other pseudo-scientific ideas always have (and will) find their way into the mythology of science fiction.
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"When I was your age, I didn't watch television! I LIVED! So... move out of your parent's basements!"
-- William Shatner on SNL, 1986
Wow, Season 3 has really impressed me. Glad to see it's turning the heads of the naysayers as well. This was a really good episode, if a little predictable. I actually likesd the B-Plot more with Trip and Archer on the Sphere. I had suspected that the Expanse was artificial, and I was right. Now we know we never saw the Expanse in the future: Destory the Spheres, destroy the expanse. Coating a shuttlepod with Trellium-D is a good compromise and gives them a little more capability out there. Enterprise is definateley looking up these days.
I would venture to argue that the ball had no powers at all, but was a luring weapon for Hoshi. The beast guy was able to feed images into her mind, and how tantalizing if he could use that to keep her. Good Episode!
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"Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
-- Winston Churchill
(Picture of the City and Country building in Salt Lake City, UT)
This ep really reminded me of a TOS episode. Great work! The tragic nature of the character was excellent - Deus was right on to point that out. The continuation of the sphere/expanse storyline was also fabulous (I was worried it would only be 2 spheres ... to hear the actual amount is great news). I also like how it can explain why the expanse is not mention in TOS and beyond.
I was disappointed that Deus gave this one poor marks for writing. Why praise the ep for having a tragic character, then criticize the wriitng with such a low mark??? The character is a RESULT of the writing, dude.
Anyway, I didn't like the scene on the sphere with the shuttlepod. Basically, it served no purpose! Why was it there? For a cool effect (which it wasn't)? For filler? Spend the time with Hoshi instead.
THat being said, it was a great episode. You know, I find myself at the end of each ep wondering what will happen next week. I haven't watched ENT this consistently since the first 4 eps of Season 1. They've got me hooked. I just hope they tie in the formation of starfleet in later arcs.
Why are B&B just using arcs now? It's a superb way of storytelling and an easy way to get viewers to come back. Sure, people may be scared to tune in halfway through the arc, but it is possible to tell the backstory as the arc progresses. It's how I got into the X-Files after all.
I like Exile. As others have pointed out, the episode reminded me of TOS. The whole feel, storyline, and look of this episode was old school. Some of the great TOS episodes took place on isolated planets, with exiled characters, who had a hankering for gothic mansions.
Enterprise is on a roll. I'm very pleased to see that Enterprises has stepped up its quality in storytelling.
Fairly entertaining, but the main plot was pretty obvious from the start.
Mind you, I really feel the show is now turning the corner away from crapdom into something watchable.
Very cool scenes with the Pod on the Sphere and the inverting ladder in Engineering.
Nice continuity piece between Archer and T'Pol too.
Hoshi is a great character (and under-used) and this made the episode.
She also wears her costumes well, its just a pity the castle was so well heated!!!
After abandoning the show for quite a while, and returning to see more disappointing episodes, I was really pleasantly surprised by this one.
It is really reminiscent of TOS episodes in feel and style. You could sympathize with the 'villian'. There are some hokey assumptions that require a suspension of disbelief, just like in TOS. The actors elevated the material, once again reminding me of TOS. The story was a touching one, where you could really feel for the 'alien'.
To me, this is the first episode that ENT has produced that earns it the right to put 'Star Trek' in its title.
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