A week episode
By Mycroft

Deus really liked Shipment, while I found it one of the weaker of the year 3 episodes. This is not the first time we differ in opinion: Deus rated Rajin only above Extinction, while I consider it only second to Anomaly .
Some of the issues I have with The Shipment
Houston we have a problem... Just what is Enterprise's mission? I had thought that the single most important reason for Enterprise entering the Expanse was to destroy the Xindi planet buster. Now it's to avert a war? When and why did the mission change so quickly? Is this Star Fleet/Earth's government true objective for the mission; and if so, why are has there been no attempt at a diplomatic solution?
Can't we all be friends?...Having successfully penetrated the Xindi facility, Archer decides to capture the head Xindi and get information out of him. And, just how was Archer prepared to make the Xindi talk? Truth drugs, mind-melds, physical torture? Nope, the "plan" seemed to be just yelling at him at gun-pointand to prove that humans are "good" aliens that have been targeted unjustly by "bad" Xindi for destruction. Huh? Just what was Archer planning to do if Gralik refused to divulge any information, considered them to be criminals or worse , and do everything possible to escape (a much more reasonable outcome). Was Archer prepared to dispatch Gralik if he didn't cooperate?
It takes two to play good cop/bad cop.... Seems like Archer has lost his Captain Ahab persona after just a few weeks within the Expanse and is back to his old indecisive self. Archer couldn't even maintain his righteous anger when confronting Gralik. No wonder Gralik wasn't intimidated.
Gralik, the Xindi Patty Hurst.... When first confronted by armed and belligerent aliens, Gralik may have been doing everything in his power to stay alive in a captive situation - playing for time and hoping to find some way to save the sloth-Xindi facility from destruction. But why did he so quickly come to embrace the human cause that he not only offers no resistance, but actively helps first in their escape and then in sabotaging the Xindi weapon program? He may have seen it as a way of getting even with the reptilian Xindi for past wrongs (like blowing up the home world), but, Gralik must know that what ever the project is, it is being sponsored by the entire Xindi Council. Even if Gralik has some unexplained telepathic/empathic ability that allowed him to determine that Archer was telling the truth, what could possibly convince him that an active act of treason against his species is the moral high-ground. Isn't it just as likely that the Xindi Council has good reason to exterminate the humans? The only answer I come up with is that Gralik suffered a massive and total Stockholm syndrome. Did he only realized in the end that he may have messed up by selling out his entire species and hopes for the best?
Oophs, we blew up the planet...The story that Gralik gives Archer makes no sense. It totally fails to explain how six different Xindi species evolved to high intelligence on the same home world with DNA that differs only slightly but is manifested in widely divergent morphologies. Instead, we get a story how the six species were at each others throats until the insectoid and reptilian Xindi blew up their home world. Any physical force that is powerful enough to blow apart a planet is orders of magnitude more energy than would be needed to obliterate all life on Xindi (that a planet is tectonically unstable has no bearing on the amount of energy needed to tear it apart). Essentially, the insectoid and reptilian Xindi intentionally set off a doomsday weapon from which no Xindi could have hoped to survive. Could the insectoid and reptilian Xindi really have been that stupid?
Time for Trip to blow something up... I actually like the realism that accidents happen when confronting and reverse-engineering alien technology of unknown design. However, while everyone seemed to be aware that something could go wrong, but took minimal precautions. First, Trip and Phlox dismantle the rifle without any shielding or safety precautions. Phlox not knowing if the wormy things inside the rifle carry any pathogens, excrete poisonous ooze, or conduct a lethal energy charge simply picks it up and comments on its pet potential. I'm surpised he didn't taste it. Later when they decide to test fire the weapon, they set up shields around the target, but take no precautions themselves. Wouldn't it seem reasonable that an energy weapon of unknown technology may blow up after being dismantled, picked over, and reassembled? Why didn't they place both the weapon and target behind shields and trigger the weapon remotely? Good thing it was equipped with an overload timer (shades of Predator?)