I Enjoyed the episode (Home) and the comments here cover it very well. The only thing that really stuck in my crawl was when T'Pol's fiancee said, and remember this is one Vulcan speaking to another Vulcan, "I just want you to be happy". I think this should have given the writers if not the actors pause.
my 2 cents
forbol
I was also surprised by the overly negative reviews by both Deus and Aint-It-Cool-News. No, "Home" certainly didn't have many exciting action parts, but the characterizations were much richer. And besides, wasn't everyone complaining that it needed more of this kind of stuff?
I was happy to see Archer getting frustrated and kind of Kirk-ish at the council meeting, and also how he continued portraying it throughout the episode (although I hope the semi-happy ending isn't really the end of his internal struggles, that would be a bit too pat for me). He looked truly wounded by the results of his decisions during the past year, and the NX-02 captain romance could be a good addition, too.
Deus and others criticized the fight scene as being too obvious and preachy about bigotry, but I don't think that was the point. I thought it was meant to show how Phlox wasn't prepared for it, that he thought he could handle anything but when faced with xenophobic reactions he got scared and instinctively did his "blowfish face" thing. I think it was to show another side of Phlox's character, that he might have taken a shot to his confidence and not be as eager to see the good in everyone - not to teach the audience that "bigotry is bad". I hope to see this touch of insecurity integrated into his character in future episodes.
I was also very impressed by the melancholy ending, which goes against the norm. It was a brave and necessary way to move the dumb Trip/T'Pol relationship to a more serious level without pandering to the usual sitcom maneuver of just having them get together. It just made sense.
As much as I'd like to see some actions, all-in-all I was very impressed by this episode and hope it's a sign of better character-driven episodes to come.
Call me infinitely surprised by this episode.
I'm surprised to find that this would have made a great season premiere, but they had the unfortunate monkey on their back from last season to deal with first.
I'm surprised at Archer's speech, which drew attention to the extremely high death rate on the Enterprise last season compared to previous years. If I'm not mistaken, none (or at least very few) of the crew died in seasons one and two. I half-suspected they might be planning to make a big deal out of it and have a big Archer story when the first crewman died under his command. My more cynical viewpoint that the writers had just become bland seemed to have won out at first, but it's nice to see some acknowledgement of the toll that the Xindi voyage took on the crew.
I'm equally surprised that no one else has mentioned this yet. Did everyone but me miss the teaser?
I'm surprised about Archer's explosive attitude toward the Vulcan ambassador. I'm equally surprised that they pulled it off without it coming off as ridiculous as Bakula sometimes does when he tries to act angry.
Ditto on the Vulcan ambassador's 'making up' scene at the end. I'm pleasantly surprised at how well and how subtly this was handled.
I'm surprised how well the Trip-T'Pol story went, how well the Vulcan matriarch was acted, and how interesting the small role of T'Pol's fiancee became. I'm pleasantly surprised that they didn't fall back on the Kal-If-Fee and make a remake of "Amok Time" as the ads had indicated they might.
I'm genuinely shocked by the ending, not only for the twist (or lack of such really, since nothing took the events of course...), but because it was handled so well. Of course, it would have been even better if T'Pol had been more subtle than a peck on the cheek, but oh well... At least they didn't go into full neural massage...
I'm pleasantly surprised that T'Pol's mother so openly acknoweldges how emotional T'Pol has become.
I'm surprised that, not only did they do some great background work for Vulcan, but they even make it look a lot like the architecture seen in ST:TMP Director's Edition and Search for Spock. Nice work, guys!
I'm surprised that they're still showing some imagination with Phlox's "alienness", even if it is of dubious story value. Wouldn't the "prejudice" angle have held up better if at least one of the guys in the bar attacked Phlox instead of his crewmates?
I'm surprised that Hoshi got a nice little scene.
I'm surprised to find that the rock-climbing thing and the hallucinations actually kinda worked, and I wouldn't mind seeing the captain of the NX-02 again.
I'm surprised that Archer's character development seems to be moving forward. Unfortunately, I think they tried to hard to push his realization of it toward the end, but it was quite good overall.
I'm surprised that they found little moments for most of the cast. On the other hand, I'm not surprised that they didn't give Mayweather much, as usual. He's beginning to make Harry 'I play the clarinet' Kim look complex by comparison. Hopefully they'll find more for him to do later this season.
I'm surprised that most of the critics seemed to be bored to tears by this epsiode. I'm pleasantly surprised that the sometimes venomous fan community seems to love the episode.
I'm surprised if you got to the end of this without getting completely sick of me saying how surprised I was. Did I mention that I was surprised? Where's the thesaurus... ;-)
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"You know what six movies average out to be really good? The first six Star Trek movies!" -- Fry, Futurama
Upon rereading Deus's review I've decided to change this headline. In fact he is pretty evenhanded if not outright praising of the episode. After looking at his review again I think my original headline actually mischaracterized his opinion. In fact, Deus was pretty critical of both Storm Fronts and he certainly has plenty of positive - if not glowing - things to say about Home. So in retrospect, I think I read too quickly early this morning and this review isn't any "more" negative than the first two of the season. Certainly not enough for my original assertion that Deus thought "Home" the "weakest" episode of the season. Perhaps his 5.5 rating is what gave me that impression, but he didn't rate either Storm Front and the Home review is, as I said, pretty balanced. Mea culpa!
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
I dozed of when Trip and T'pol reached vulcan...woke up 20 minutes later and saw Archer on some kind of rock climbing stunt. BORING....I than switched to watch a rerun of 'farscape' and it didnt take me long to wake up completely. Thats is what i called cutting edge smart sci-fi.
Lately trek only has extremes to offer us. Either an action 0ver-dose, or some dull space opera or some filler episode with no real meaning to it.
I wish for once we can go back to the good old days of TNG where there was a perfect blend of drama, action and great FX all neatly packaged into one episode. It required creativity, hard-work and careful planning which is too much to ask these days from star trek franchise atleast.
Note that it is your job to CRITICise the show. This episode has been rewarded with almost universal praise! Characterization is something the show has lacked, and here we get a much needed supply of it.
There's no point comparing the show to other shows (i.e. TNG's FAMILY). No one disputes that TNG was a better series than ENT. All people are asking for right now is an improvement to storytelling, and this delivers. Coto has shown that he is about characters and telling a story, not about T&A and action. Perhaps one day the show may grow to rival TNG, but until that happens, there's no point to unnecessarily comparing the two shows.
Furthermore, HOME creates something that will be built on in the future: Archer's pathos and Trip and T'Pol's feelings. The final scene of the episode - a slow zoom on Trip's devastated expression as T'Pol marries - was a fantastic ending to a great episode.
I know you have praised a tiny amount of ENT episodes in the past, but how about giving an episode its due when it's deserved. HOME certainly deserves praise, and practically everyone agrees but you. Try to be a little more open minded in the future, and stop criticising simply because it's what a critic does.
So sue me for finding it cool to see the Xindi-Reptillians again. Actually, and I realize how dumb this makes me look, I thought the Reptillians were real (Possibly more time travelling/bio-weapon nonsense.) but it was when Archer was thrown over the cliff ... Ah, well. Wasn't the NX-02 captain a babe, by the way? Earth must have some kind of policy in the future that only super-attractive people survive. T'Les and Trip got on a little too well, I think, but that's fine. We really needed to see a fight between Trip and Koss, that'd have ruled. The special effects seemed a bit dodgy, but again this just seems to be my personal stance on the subject, the crowd scene was pathetic and the fire planes looked less than fire-y and less than plane-y. Go and watch the Special Edition of The Motion Picture, people. There needed to be more of the Xenophobia of the Earth people, I think, one quick scene wasn't enough. Follow up on this later, please.
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"Silence, you pedantic drone!" - Captain Braxton - "Relativity"
"The line must be drawn *HERE*!" - Captain Picard - "Star Trek: First Contact"
"I can read." Dr. Phlox - "Borderland"
"Permission to come aboard." Dr. Arik Soong - "Borderland"
I thoroughly enjoyed "Home." I dearly hope it is a teaser for things to come. What was so refreshing about it was not just the change of pace, but the fact that important things actually happened to the characters. They are not the same people they were. They will not be the same (I hope) as they go forward.
Exploring the final frontier means nothing if it does not affect the people doing the exploring. If season 4 builds on "Home," I will be one happy Trekker.
Does anyone get the sense, as I do, that Enterprise is just not ‘gritty’ enough? As O Deus alludes to, the fake looking sets of the bar do not help the shoddy dialogue taking place in the scene. What if they were filmed in an actual bar like in other shows like NYPD Blue? Wouldn’t it add to the believability and drama?
Overall I liked the episode better the Storm Front I and II, but the problem with Enterprise lies not only in its naïve and clichéd dialogue, but also in its production. To me, the sets make it look as though we’re still dealing with the 24th century. I mean, why is the camera work on Enterprise the same as it is in previous shows other than TOS? Do something different. Shoot it with an unsteady camera. Tilt the picture! Do some crazy close-ups and zooms! The pacing is just too TNG. These are supposed to be the pioneers of space exploration. Where’s the dirt? The blood? The Space scurvy? How come when the ship gets hit with weaponry, nobody pukes from the g-forces? Where is that first contact disaster with the Klingons? I can just picture a Starfleet human attempting to shake the hand of a Klingon only to receive a bat’leth in the chest. I’m sorry, but some of these people should be scared out of their minds. Focus on this Stuff! Who cares about T’Pol and Trip? NOBODY!
Am I making any sense or am I just ranting?
I was so sure Deus would like this one. So sure! To be fair, he does seem to like it more than his review title and rating let on.
I really loved this one. I haven't liked a planet based episode this much since ENT "Carbon Creek." T'Pol's mom (my friends who aren't Trek fans saw her and couldn't believe that she was "the mom chick from Nip/Tuck") was a great character. I hope they hold on to her for future episodes, which they probably will what with the upcoming Vulcan war arc.
The Trip/T'Pol relationship (which I have always been a fan of) finally got a life of its own. I admit that limiting it to neuropressure and sex didn't help it any, but it seemed fitting to me how Trip explained that he never realized that he loved her until she told him she was going to marry Kos. Jolene is doing a great job showing her frustrations in a very Vulcan-esque way. I really enjoyed seeing her bring Trip home to her mother. It just had the feeling of her visiting mom while she's back from college, complete with the sexy boyfriend that she knows her mother will hate and the nasty side effects of a former drug addiction to boot. While some may frown on this, it is something that a lot of us relate to and it makes good drama. It was so cute seeing Trip try to get on T'Less' good side by fixing up her kitchen appliances. And talk about an ending... I was so sure he was going to speak up at the wedding ("You can't marry her because I love her... etc.") but he didn't, and that too makes for some good story telling. I have no doubt we haven't seen the last of this storyline.
The Archer/Hernandez scenes were very good. I don't have much to add that Deus didn't say. She seems like a capable character and Coto did a great job of having her both challenge Archer on his newfound proclivity and be a sounding board for his character to come to terms with the last year.
The xenophobia (not to be confused with the now prevalent Xindiophobia) parts were as Deus said, a missed opportunity. Showing how the crew realizes that they have been quite bitter with Vulcans themselves would have been far more interesting than the pat-phrase "Heal the World" stuff we got.
My favorite parts of the episode were Archer’s debriefings. Soval (with a new haircut no less) and Archer play off each other beautifully and though the scenes were short, they carried with them the message that times they are 'a changing and the Vulcan/Earth relationship is about to go through some major renovations.
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"Life forms,
You tiny little life forms,
You precious little life forms,
Where are you?"
-Data (Star Trek: Generations)
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"The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one!" -Shran (ENT "Proving Ground")
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"The only voices in my head are asking the same thing 'Why does a man call himself a "Gerbil King"?'" -Scorned
It was better than I thought it would be. It's a well written and executed beginning of a healing process that hopefully isn't over yet, and it delves into the characters in ways that are long overdue.
After so much action, which the entire senior staff crew miraculously survived, it's time to reflect over past events. I like Archers sentence "boldly going into battle" because I have asked myself too many times over the years, especially during Voyagers run, WHY all this battle in space with almost every new species? At least it's nice to see this question is noted by the producers.
Also, Trips comment to T'Pol "you always wear a snassy dresser" seems like a notion that T'Pols outfit have raised questions among viewers, saying it isn't logical for a Vulcan to wear sexy clothes.
The episode doesn't feel rushed, but also doesn't finish the issues so I certainly hope this was just the beginning of many episodes with character driven content.
I actually enjoyed this episode...a little.
The Xindi dream sequence was great - a pity is was just a dream.
Hoshi was looking particulary hot and completely wasted with too much T'Pol time - what a boring character, increasingly played by an actress who clearly doesn't want to be there.
Nice to see the 'All Good Things beginning of life' rock set again.Plus almost identical lines from the end of Star Trek IV.
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