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By: NAFF (Odo's file, contact) @ 17:51:34 on May 23, 2004

A mildly passable episode.

However, lots of pseudo-action and chit-chat masquerading as plot, in the same way as the last days of DS9.

Now the show has been renewed, I hope and pray...

1) Bakula is dismissed (surely the worst Star Trek Captain ever)

2) Camp English guy is sent back to drama school (or more likely for his first visit)

3) Producers are sacked (a new challenge on QVC?)

4) People start admitting how really bad this show has been (go on, you know it stinks!)

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By: mohap (Odo's file, contact) @ 22:30:55 on May 22, 2004

I think Deus's Trip/Tpol analysis was dead on.. it was exactly like Belanna/Paris...

The combination feels way too forced... they have been shoving this down our throats from day one, obviously the producers have gained a few converts... but the audience is divided.

The writers/directors don't seem to know how to help build chemistry between the characters... you only have to look at worf/dax, beverly/picard, and many other precedents in other star trek series for some good examples.

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Deus' Review of The Countdown | Report this post to moderator
By: zak (Odo's file, contact) @ 07:53:04 on May 22, 2004

Deus' review reminded me about the cold determination that came through the Reptilian commander, despite anything else. A good point. I agree with most of Deus again - though again, I think you're a bit hard on the T'Pol/Trip relation. I agree with the guy who said that when T'Pol finally calls out "TRIP" that it's cool and also harkens back to the episode when the older T'pol advises her younger self. Lets not make too much of the erotic moments either.Otherwise, an excellent review that made me reflect on several levels.

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And the most unintentionally funny scene of the epsiode is... | Report this post to moderator
By: Cap'n Calhoun (Odo's file, contact) @ 04:14:43 on May 22, 2004

Hayes: "Use McKenzie."

Reed: "What?"

Hayes: "She knows the team. Rely on her."

Reed: "No more of that talk. That's an order."

Hayes: (Gurgles, gasps, and dies)

Reed (Thinking): "Now there's a man who knows how to follow orders..."

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300,000 kilometers per second. It's not just a good idea -- it's the law.

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This episode never disappoints... | Report this post to moderator
By: lemmiwinks (Odo's file, contact) @ 20:22:28 on May 21, 2004

...except when Malcolm Reed opens his mouth. This is one of two points where I seem to be in opposition with Deus' take on the quality of the materiel we've seen. I find Dominic Keating's "acting" to be very melodramatic and badly timed. The way he says lines, I don't know, they just come out sounding like a high school drama student auditioning for "Anything Goes." Though the writing was superb in his scenes, I just am not feeling this character as being anything close to "real."

The other point of contention with Deus is of course over the Trip/T'Pol relationship, which I've been clamoring for ever since season one. Whining to each other? I have yet to be in a stressful and/or important situation where my mind wasn't racing about a million different things that are bothering me and I'm not quick to react a little emotionally when somebody pushes my buttons, which is basically what they were doing to each other. When she said "Trip," that was cool. Jolene is doing a great job showing us her internal struggles, and this little one word line saying his first name painted a thousand pictures of how much anguish she is personally dealing with. I never really liked the Paris/Torres relationship (personally, I always thought a Paris/Kim relationship seemed MUCH more plausible in "Voyager"), but this doesn't feel disjointed like that one was. I mean, it IS disjointed, but that is the beauty of it. This is the first time that we know of that a Vulcan and a Terran are exploring and consummating a relationship together. It seems to me that for a pair of races that 150 years from "now" are the best of friends, this is the perfect opportunity to explore the dynamics of their two very different cultures' approach to romance. The real "Foundation of the Federation Arc" starts here, where we see Vulcans and Terrans start to love and try to deeply understand one another.

I thought that the "multi-layered" battle scene in "The Council," with ships of all sizes encountering each other in three-dimensional formations, was going to be impossible to beat. Indeed, there hadn't been Trek ship-to-ship combat that intense since the fall of the Dominion on "DS9." "Countdown" was right up there, though it was a different type of battle. While the "Star Wars-esque" feel of the former brought me to the edge of my seat in excitement, the latter was a gut-wrenching thing to watch. This is probably due to the fact that every time we think the crew of the Enterprise has a leg up in the hostilities, that leg is brutally amputated. It was so painful to watch the Aquatic ship burst at the seams, after Archer had worked so hard to persuade this powerful species to join him. The Insectoids even gave me a little lump in my throat when they were smashed like... well... insects. (I think it was very clever of the writers and FX folks to have the Insectoid ship careen into what is essentially the front grille of the Xindi superweapon.)

Hoshi is one clever little communications officer, and Linda Park can really turn it on when she's given good material to work with. She even had me convinced that she had been compromised when she first informed the Reptilians that she had broken through the first layer of encryption and in fact had added an extra layer. The scene where she spits in the Reptilian’s face was very effective. I love how Terrans throughout the Star Trek universe seem to always surprise "non-primate" aliens with their resilience.

At first when Reed picked his MACO team, I was thinking, "Why are you only using yourself and three MACO's for your strike team? Why not use the other four for a second team?" But I realized then that Enterprise had another mission to accomplish with the spheres and no doubt the Marines' services would be called upon then.

I like the sphere builders as a concept, though they do look a little like Odo. I like watching them bicker with each other, and they are so abstract with their words, you didn't know quite what they were going to do until they actually "interfered." This talk of the many time lines and the percentage of those with favorable outcomes versus those without is very thought provoking.

And, um, was Travis even IN this episode?

I'm dying to find out exactly what integral role this "One Man" (Archer) plays in the future of the Federation, but we only have five more days to find out. Congrats on your renewal, "Enterprise." You've earned it.


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"The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one!" -Shran (ENT "Proving Ground")

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Not even close | Report this post to moderator
By: TRexx (Odo's file, contact) @ 17:42:01 on May 21, 2004

Quote from O. Deus:
Reed once again emerges as a troubled but determined leader and his scenes with Major Hayes compromise some of the most moving scenes this season that speak eloquently about command and responsibility all the more so for being understated even as it is clear that strong currents of emotion are boiling underneath. Both Steven Culp and Dominic Keating deliver excellent and restrained performances as they finally resolve their conflict in favor of the mission.


That doesn't even come close to describing Countdown's Starfleet/MACO nonsensicality. On his deathbed, Hayes tells Reed to use McKenzie as the MACO team leader -- yet McKenzie isn't even present when Reed later announces Hayes' death and asks for volunteers. No explanation.


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And the dinner at which Archer, Trip and T'Pol discuss their future plans after the 'war is over' nails each bit of dialogue just right.


That's not even close to sensible storytelling. T'Pol is obviously and painfully withdrawn in that scene, barely able to follow the flow of the conversation, yet neither of her "friends" even notice. That's some really good steak!

So far, none of the crew have reacted to T'Pol's aberrant behavior in a normal way. The writers again make the characters look stupid in an attempt to create drama.


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Paramount refuses TNG uniform sale to Patrick Stewart!

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? | Report this post to moderator
By: Capt Whiney (Odo's file, contact) @ 15:57:49 on May 21, 2004

Nice review but how is it that it gets an overall of 9, while everything else is 8.5 or lower?

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I have a phaser, and many problems.

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Please excuse my bad grammar, I know I suck :)

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Great TREK | Report this post to moderator
By: Mr. Xindi (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:46:53 on May 21, 2004 | (1)

Excellant episode, but FX & Prod Value: 7.5 I have to disagree, the Xindi Aquatic ship being burst open by the anomoly, (i.e. Water, water everywhere) and the Arboreal ship being torn apart were some of the coolest things I've ever seen in TREK.



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Faxanadu: You're a lier.

Mr. Xindi: I tend not to lie as I'm not good at it.

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23 new episodes of STAR TREK left!

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Another excellent O'Deus review | Report this post to moderator
By: sky2 (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:38:19 on May 21, 2004

Deus, you nail it every time! However, insightful, your recent reviews do seem to a lack a little of your usual flourish. I'm sure it's hard to brilliant every week! Enjoy your summer rest!

What I liked the best about this latest arc is that the characters are finally finding themselves after three seasons. In the war setting, there actually seem to be useful roles for Malcomb, Hoshi and Travis. These characters were along for the ride up til now.

And Archer is much more interesting as a grim, determined risk-taker. This character was decidedly inane as the self-appointed welcome wagon from Earth, and the wedgie-boy captive of the Alpha Quadrant. B&B finally found something useful to do with him as well.

But the two least interesting characters lately, as Deus points out, are Trip and T'Pol, who got the most attention early on. These characters can be saved by putting them in proper balance with the newly-interesting other characters. Start by having T'Pol get over her nervous breakdown and get back to a semi-logical state.

B&B need to keep this war momentum going. Start by having the Romulan Wars begin around November sweeps time next year. And start introducing some characters that might be logical suspects for Future Guy.

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GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it's just a TV show!.... You've turned an enjoyable little job, that I did as a lark for a few years, into a COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME! -- William Shatner on Saturday Night Live (1986)

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Good episode and good review | Report this post to moderator
By: Akita1999 (Odo's file, contact) @ 11:11:02 on May 21, 2004 | (1)

I agree with Deus's conclusion that Countdown was a very good episode. The writing was tight.

The action scenes were good and sustained. The action had purpose. There were also some great character moments for the ensemble characters. Unfortunately we also had some rather lackluster Trip/T'Pol moments.

I found the Trip/T'Pol scenes annoying and a little self-indulgent. The romance angle doesn't bother me as much as the whining between the two. In the middle of such chaos, with the stakes so high, one would think that the two would be too preoccupied with more immediate and pressing concerns than their feelings for each other. Their relationship is boring. Their behavior toward each other is predictable.

Hoshi rules in this episode, and Linda Park nails her scenes.

Archer sounds and acts more like the StarFleet captains we've come to know and love.

Great stuff with Reed and Major Hayes. Nice exchanges between the characters, and a heroic exit for Culp's character.

The season finale ought to be good.

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It's amazing what disillusioned Trek fans will accept nowadays | Report this post to moderator
By: spacebeluga (Odo's file, contact) @ 10:35:18 on May 21, 2004

Quote:
Reed once again emerges as a troubled but determined leader and his scenes with Major Hayes compromise some of the most moving scenes this season that speak eloquently about command and responsibility all the more so for being understated even as it is clear that strong currents of emotion are boiling underneath. Both Steven Culp and Dominic Keating deliver excellent and restrained performances as they finally resolve their conflict in favor of the mission.

I'll admit that this is the strongest point of the episode. Even though neither Keating nor Culp are particularly remarkable actors, their scenes were pretty good. The only problem is that they ultimately revealed nothing about either character. And that's a big problem. Nothing substantial was actually discussed between them in the dialogue.

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Hoshi too has been barely visible this season manages to nearly compensate for it in only a few scenes in which she shows strenght and courage amidst her fear.

Why does this matter? She's a bland character played by a mediocre actor.

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There's a lot of rich material here that's going untapped because of the need to artificially accelrate the pace.

There was plenty of room in the episode for "rich material," but there was none whatsoever. Rather than showing the angry metal sculpture Xindi thing gloating at a screaming Hoshi and discussing how long it would take to set up the weapon, we could have seen some real character development for the bad guys and development for their race. Rather than seeing Archer complain about how long it took for the Aquatics to anwser his request, we could have seen some insight into the Aquatics culture, or some character development for the Enterprise crew. The episode was a waste.

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Interesting... | Report this post to moderator
By: Stag (Odo's file, contact) @ 10:32:21 on May 21, 2004

WOW, I have to agree with your review. The only thing I have comment on is that the shortening of the season in midyear from 26 to 24 episodes may have impacted the story line and caused potential episodes examining Hoshi's interrogation, etc...



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Fist fights are hugs turned inside out!

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