So Manny Coto creates Odyssey 5 to blow up the Earth. He joins the Enterprise crew, and look what happens! :D He really needs this compulsion sorted out.
But seriously, a very good episode. I think it's a shame that Enterprise has lost its innocence, as this episode firmly shows. But, now we're here, this was a good installment, and potentially leads to some interesting stories. Has Future guy been upsetting the Xindi, and this is the destruction of the Federation before it even began? We shall see.
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Lydia: "I've never lost at mortal combat yet."
Diana: "Idiot. If you had, you'd be dead." -- V, "The Champion"
I like the ambiguity in the final scene. It could have been a "reset episode" but it could have just as easily been Archer dreaming. In the case of Voyager's Year of Hell, the ending was obvious. Twilight's last scene had no reference to what had gone before in the episode. Very well done.
i had to DOUBLE check that i was watching enterprise. i just could not believe what they pulled off. i said last week that shipment was my fav but now twilight has replaced that. s3 is turning out to be quite someting, ain't it =^). mike sussman=good guy. "Shadows of P'Jem," "Future Tense," "Regeneration," "Anomaly," are ya gettin a sense? hehehehe LET THIS GUY WRITE MORE EPISODES! clearly it is at the VERY LEAST entertaining. i believe that great number of you watch enterprise cause it fulfils your trek addiction... just like me. i was VERY surprised how this week's turned out. yesh there are still inconsistencies... but are we, perhaps, looking at it too deeply?
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LET THEM DIE!!!
This will no doubt wind up becoming one of Star Trek: Enterprise's finest episodes, if not the best. It's up there with all the classics and one thing I will always remember is this day it completely silenced all talk about Star Trek being dead franchise. That will be the day!
I personally thought that Earth's destruction was neat, until it blew up. The blowing up part just didn't work for me. It looked... like they could have done better, or at least differently.
I also thought that the love tension between Tpol and ARcher wasn't particularly well done either. It just seemed out of place, and was beter executed in some other episodes.
But as a whole, it was an awesome episode.
The episode got positive buzz around here and I was looking forward to see it (although I don't take peoples word for things like this). Now I've seen it, and I am very happy with it!
It's not because of the action or the special effects although they were a nice addition. The thing I praise is the emotional aspect, to which I respond. Several times I had tears in my eyes. I felt with Archer, T'Pol and the situation on their colony. Great acting; great script.
I agree the idea of going to the future and see our buddies isn't new, but so what. The story was strong and the characters engaging. Also, the reset-button isn't entirely a reset, when it leaves the audience with a better understanding of what's going on with the Xindi, and what's at stake.
I am generally very pleased with Enterprise, as some of you knows. I don't think it's because I'm easy to impress but I like the style! I'm surprised though. Never before have I seen the entire fan community agree with me. Almost everyone loved this episode and that's a little miracle I'll cherish and remember.
Well done. Strong story-line, good acting, nice FX and good direction made this episode stand-out from the rest. Probably the best episode of the season so far.
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"The mighty Star Trek would fall before us"-B&B
Although I really enjoyed "Twilight", I feel obligated to point out the major plot hole:
If Phlox destroying the creatures erased them from history, why did he remember they were there to tell Archer that he had erased them from history? Does Phlox have Guinan-like temporal abilities?
Come to think of it, the episode should have gone like this (logically, not dramatically):
1. Archer is infected by parasites. (Let's say 3 for the sake of argument.)
2. 20 years later, Phlox comes up with cure. In testing, kills 1 parasite.
3. Archer (in present) is infected by 2 parasites.
4. 20 years later, Phlox comes up with cure. In testing, kills 1 parasite.
5. Archer (in present) is infected by 1 parasite.
6. 20 years later, Phlox comes up with cure. In testing, kills 1 parasite.
7. Archer is never infected by parasites.
Of course, this cuts out most of the last twenty minutes of the episode, and doesn't make for very good drama...
Again, despite the nit, I did still really enjoy the episode. This wouldn't be the first time that a really good episode featured some questionable logic at its foundation.
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"You know what six movies average out to be really good? The first six Star Trek movies!" -- Fry, Futurama
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Quote: "If Phlox destroying the creatures erased them from history, why did he remember they were there to tell Archer that he had erased them from history?"
Hmmm, I'm not into the details of time travel but I think we've seen it before: When the past changes, it doesn't have to immediately affect the present. Perhaps sometimes, it works like a "wave" either going backwards or forwards in time. Like ripples in the water.
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But if that theory held true, the scans he had taken previously would not have changed, so there would still be no evidence of what was happening.
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"You know what six movies average out to be really good? The first six Star Trek movies!" -- Fry, Futurama
This was an amazingly good episode- great for any incarnation of Trek in my opinion. I have to eat crow for my prior savage indictments of this show as being hopelessly bad. I now think there is potential for this show.
I thought they could not really create an interesting episode with what has become cliche: time travel in Star Trek. Instead, it turned out to be a real compelling, well-acted show.
Excellent! And finally, some classy tributes to what started this whole trek through the universe.
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psp1
In the grand scheme of ENT as a series, "Twilight" definitely ranks up there as one of the top episodes. But I wasn't perhaps as "wowed" as some people here. Maybe it's because all the positive buzz inflated my expectations (or because I watched DS9's "Sacrifice of Angels" just hours before). No doubt it was a great episode.
I like the revelations about the Xindi's thirst to eradicate humanity, although since it was a complete reset I don't know if that helps Archer at all. It does make the audience fear them a little more, I suppose. The stuff with Archer and T'Pol was pretty good, although I kept waiting for Archer to start writing post-in notes to himself... the guy can spontaneously come up with engine upgrades but not a way to help himself remember that he can't remember anything?
I found the ultimate resolution a little tough to buy. I mean, sure, I can buy that idea of temporal parasites or whatever, but why does their eradication in Archer affect the entire timeline? And where did these parasites come from, are they part of every anomaly, and if so, why didn't anyone else get them and how come we haven't seen them before? It was just a little convenient. I almost would've preferred a temporal distortion explanation and then have the resolution involve getting back to that spot or something with Phlox's new equipment. I suppose it is plausible enough, after all, this is science fiction. I guess the parasites in Archer's brain are analogous to any other temporal distortion we've seen except they exist on the micro level in Archer's brain rather than somewhere in the Devron System, lol.
The FX were a little underwhelming for me. I think the digital work is getting a little to fake looking. The bridge blowing up was, I don't know, kind of fake, and the shot of the ships coming around the corner of the planet looked really flat as if the planet was just a giant disc in space. But these aren't really complaints, just observations.
All in all, yes, this is the best ENT since "Anomaly" and it was different, it was touching, it was engaging, and it had some good sci-fi twists. But for some reason it just didn't make me go "holy crap!" like it did for so many others. I just feel like it lacked that extra mile, that extra punch. It was certainly well enough but the story was pretty straight-forward; the future is bad, Archer can blow himself up to fix the timeline. Ok.
I kept waiting for something along the lines of T'Pol telling Archer that after Earth was destroyed, those who were left (led by Captain Tucker) became evil and started exacting revenge on all the neighboring species and became just as the Xindi did after their homeworld was destroyed. Maybe instead of the Xindi attacking, it was Trip and his fleet attacking Ceti Alpha 5 before realizing the captain was there. I think showing not only that humanity was destroyed, but that in its survival, the human race had lost all its humanity (and thus the human race truly dead), would've made for a little more sophisticated story.
Is "Twilight" one of the top 10 best STAR TREK episodes of all time? Maybe top 50. This felt to me like the level of quality we should expect every week, with the truly great still lying over the horizon. Definitely another step in the right direction, though.
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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."
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Are you really looking for an explanation regarding why the destruction of the parasites affected the whole timeline? I suppose I thought everyone knew about the "butterfly effect" regarding altered/alternate history.
By destroying the parasites in the "present," they were also destroyed in the past (lifted almost directly from TNG's "All Good Things," of course). This restores the timeline, as Archer is never debilitated (which is the "Point of Departure" in AltHist terminology), T'Pol doesn't take command of Enterprise, etc. The future (as we see it in the episode) isn't allowed to play out, because Archer was able to pursue a new future (in which, presumably, the Xindi will ultimately be defeated, since Earth is still around for TOS, et al).
Where did the parasites come from? Who cares? Are they part of every anomaly? Who cares? How come we haven't seen them before? Really, who cares? That's watching "Encounter at Farpoint" and asking, "Who's this Q guy? Where is he from? Why didn't we ever hear about him in TOS?!" A regular dose of the inexplicable would do wonders for too-often predictable ENT.
As for the "Trip and the refugees get space madness and become galactic murderers" plot line, I'll just waggle my finger and say, "That's not very Roddenberry of you, Steve." Hope and perserverance through adversity, that unextinguishable human spirit -- it was very TOS, it was very much evident in "Twilight," and to my mind it was one of the things that elevated the episode above the series' prior offerings. And if nothing else, your scenario would only have proven the insufferable Soval to be entirely correct, and we can't have that.
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I didn't say I didn't understand the logic of it.
Re: parasites: I suppose you're right and I'm not really complaining. But for instance in "All Good Things" we learned that Picard caused the anomaly in the future, whereas here the parasites just happened to be there. Or in "Yesterday's Enterprise" we learned that the explosion of the E-C's warp drive and Romulan weapons caused the time rift.
Re: Roddenberry-ism. Well, whatever. Maybe I just find it more compelling when people have to fight for their humanity (Trip coming face to face with Archer after going on a post-Earth destruction rampage) rather than handed to them ala TNG. But of course ENT's biggest selling point was that the characters WEREN'T "Roddenberry humans" so my idea is perfectly applicable to ENT. But I'm sure there are a million other ways that the story could've been enhanced. I just felt like the scenario was a little cut and dry, there wasn't much ambiguity involved, and I find the latter makes for better drama.
That said, I still think this was a great ep. I'm just not jumping out of my seat.
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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."
Having watched trek for so long now, one can tell pretty early in the episode what the nature of the hour will be. It was obvious from the first 10 minutes that one was watching one of the "classic" episodes of the franchise. Granted, the buzz around this and other sites was stirring the pot, but the episode itself bore out the effusive praise it was already enjoying before it aired.
Simply put, I really, really, really, really, really, enjoyed watching this episode.
Do it to me one more time!
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I don't care what "they" say..... "THERE...ARE....FOUR....LIGHTS!"
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Twilight is an instant classic and shows the true potential of Enterprise. The interaction of the characters was as important as the superb action sequences and intelligent story. Twilight ranks among the best in history of a Star Trek. I hope this trend continues, especially the development of the characters relationships. As T'pol said "Our relationship has evolved." Congratulations to the cast and crew of Enterprise. How about some backing and promotion from UPN, so more fans can enjoy this superior entertainment.
Thank goodness I have this one on tape! I'll get to watch it again with the rest of the family that didn't get to see it the first time. I enjoyed, in no particular order:
- The change to natural light during large portions of this ep. Whole episodes which take place in dark places seem, well, dark.
- The believable interactions among characters.
- The believable plot lines.
- Music that helped without getting over powering.
I'm going to reset my VCR and play this one again.
Deus, you raise an excellent point in your review: Will TPTB, upon seeing viewer reaction to this episode (which, based on a sampling here, is decidedly positive) realize that perhaps they should be pushing harder?
Based on "Year of Hell," my immediate thought is, "No, they won't. They didn't before, so why change now?" VOY continued with less at stake, less dynamic between the characters invested in their mission.
Part of the dilemma of episodic television, particularly with a series as budget-bound and effects-heavy as ENT, is that wholesale changes cannot be made that quickly. Scripting, set construction, filming, etc., is already in progress through "Proving Ground," at least -- another five weeks' worth of episodes. Even if the lightbulb is finally lit for the ENT brain trust, it may be the last third of the season before any changes could roll out in a consistent manner.
For the first time, I have hope. "Twilight," in spite of everything it threw at us (a couple of battles, Earth exploding, etc.) was a tight, stripped down episode. It should prove once and for all that Mayweather (sorry!) is a wasted character, that the MACOs can be seen and not heard, and that you don't need two sideplots propping up the main story to get through an episode. And yet: wasn't it fascinating how much we learned in "Twilight," despite the lack of a specific sideplot? We played out the the Xindi plot nearly to its conclusion, established a whole new relationship between Archer and T'Pol, gave (some) future back-story for Trip and Phlox...and even "General" Shran. It demonstrated an economy of writing that hasn't been seen in the series so far, maximizing the potential of the story to develop the characters without skimping on the action one iota.
While I agree with others here regarding T'Pol's anxiousness when her leg was pinned, I do think she had every right to have a pained look when Earth was destroyed. This was not T'Pol of five minutes ago, it was Captain T'Pol, who had taken it upon herself to lead these humans in a last-ditch effort to save their planet, who had already become the caretaker of her captain, and had served among humans in a way none of her fellow Vulcans had ever attempted. Spock winced when he felt the psychic resonance of the Intrepid crew's death (granted, they were all Vulcans). Why shouldn't T'Pol be allowed a moment of grief at the death of several billion sentient beings of a species she's come to respect and defend?
If any facial characteristic deserves scorn from the episode, it's "Captain" Reed's really scary Lee Press-On goatee. If that's all they had room in the budget for, they should've skipped it. He looked like he was kissing a dustbunny.
Other aspects of excellence not covered by O.Deus' review is the acting and character interaction between Archer and T'Pol. No one can convey befuddlement better than Scott Bakula, and this has to be Jolene Blaloch's best acting to date. T'Pol's situation was particularly poignant. Her decision to take care of Archer was born from guilt, but that the relationship developed into unrequited love was touching and all true to the Vulcan heritage. (Women must really relate to this situation. Archer's inability to save long-term memories is the ultimate example where the woman has deep feelings for a long-term relationship and the man is clueless.) It's unfortunate that the time restraints didn't allow for the other more screen time of the other characters, though I though Trip's suggestion to deep-six the Xindi captives conveyed a lot with a minimum of dialog.
And kudos to the costuming people for getting Blaloch out of the catsuit. She never looked better than in the standard ENT jumpsuit and never looked sexier with the long hair and the outfit that minimized her breasts. Hopefully, someone should realize that the spandex look isn't all that appealing.
One late note. Twilight accomplished in three minutes what Battlestar Galatica miserably failed to do. (I'm cringing over what I hear is being done in the new Sci-Fi version).
Why is it the best Trek eps are always the ones that "never happened"? :) The insightful Deus offers a great explanation. Anyway, this ep delivered in spades.
The "what if" scenario made Twilight one of the few ENT eps that left me really feeling that it was the 22d century, and that humanity was a weak species and really just beginning to explore deep space. And this ep established the crucial importance of little Archer & Co. in the timeline of greater Trek to follow. It almost made tolerable the overall lame-ness of ENT.
The continuity send-ups were nice, including the references to the colonies on Mars, Alpha Centauri and Vega. It was especially great to see a "pre-Kahn" Ceti Alpha V. We'll give B&B an A for effort this time!
It was really wild to see Earth explode like Krypton. And T'Pol's reaction was very appropriate. After all, Spock had a strong reaction to the destruction of the Intrepid, and that was only a ship of Vulcans across space. Being an eyewitness to the destruction of a world has to be very upsetting to a telepath. The Vulcans were sensing such "disturbances in the Force" nearly a decade before Obi-Wan!
If ENT would only continue on this line, it would become a truly great show. But lest we hope that something good like that will happen, let's get ready for next week's "Wagon Train to the Stars."
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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
Much better than last week's turgid mess.
Stunning special effects and an engaging first third.
The middle third sagged before things picked-up to a comical conclusion with Archer being shot multiple times and refusing to die.
And Captain Malcom? Never going to happen, mate!
It's just sad that Archer is such a boring (badly acted?) character that I didn't care a damn about his condition.
Let's hope the producers do have the nerve to develop characters and situations outside of a 'time travel' episode.
Nice to see someone had been watching Wrath of Kahn and Battlestar Galactica, however.
Upon first viewing, I was inclined to dismiss "Twilight" as a marginally interesting "Yesterday's Enterprise/Year of Hell" meets "Titan AE" (which had an almost identical depiction of Earth's destruction and scattered remnants of humanity surviving it as outcast refugees). Nice, fun, but nothing really special.
After thinking about it overnight, however, I realized that, although this was a Reset Button episode for the Enterprise and its crew who remember nothing of it, it is NOT a Reset Button episode for US. We, the audience, have been shown how high the stakes are, the worst-case scenario. And it is a scenario that has not been resolved; things could still turn out that way. The rest of the Xindi arc must be viewed through the prism of "Twilight": this is what our heroes are fighting to avert, even if they themselves don't know it.
This episode also makes it clear that it is not just the brave crew of the Enterprise who will succeed in saving humanity. All of our hopes rest on Archer. Some decision he makes, some action or inaction, perhaps his very humanity (in contrast to T'Pol's inhumanity; note that it was she who was placed in command, not Trip...I think that's an interesting point) will make the difference between victory and anhiliation. This is an appropriate focus for a series to put on its lead character.
Further, our knowing something that the characters don't has the effect of heightening our suspense. Just as we want to yell at the characters in a horror film not to go into the basement, we now want to urge the crew of the Enterprise to get its job done. "Why the hell are you wasting time with movie night or teasing T'Pol about being a good nurse? There's a planet to save!" I think this is an interesting and constructive dramatic tension.
Also, as Deus pointed out, there is something impressively horrifying about an enemy that isn't just content to kill 99.999999999% of your species, but wants every trace of its DNA extinguished from the universe. Somehow, the idea of an inplacable foe hunting down the last 6,000 of us is worse than watching that same foe kill several billion. Witnessing that rag-tag fleet taking refugee on Khan's future ill-fated home was depressing and disturbing, imparting a real sense of humanity's desperation: Why won't they leave us alone?
In sum and upon reflection, "Twilight" was a truly haunting, thought-provoking episode. When a TV show makes me wake up the next morning thinking about it, it's done its job. Well done!
So long "Future Tense" because Twilight is now the best episode yet of Enterprise. It was fantastic from the beautiful SFX to the very imaginative use of "The Reset Button." I never would have thought of the way out they used. Also, did anyone notice what planet the Humans settled on? As Kahn said, "This is Ceti Alpha 5!" A cool little nod to Star Trek II right there. They also mention the Mutara System. Anyway, this episode was top-notch all the way. Great job!
I have not in general been a big fan of Enterprise. I do try to watch it each week, but unlike Deep Space Nine, it doesn't bother me if I miss an episode or forget to tape one.
However, Twilight was in my opinion one of the best episodes of this series (possibly THE best), and though I'm still thinking about it, I think it may rank in my top ten Trek episodes of all time. It was a desperately needed change of pace for this series, and the storyline is original enough to stand on its own despite some similarities to other great Trek episodes like All Good Things.
Deus, I think you hit it right on the head with the 9.5 rating. One question, do you have an Enterprise episode you've ranked equally or higher? I know there hasn't been this season, but I don't know about the preceding two years.
I do disagree with you on one point, that being the expression on T'Pol's face as Earth is destroyed. I don't think it's totally out of character for a Vulcan to let their control slip at such a moment. Even for a race that prides itself on suppression of their emotions, seeing firsthand the coldblooded murder of billions of innocent beings would be enough to crack the veneer. I do agree that she's too emotional for a Vulcan, but in this case I think it fits the circumstances.
Anyway, to close, Twilight was the kind of episode Enterprise needs to aspire to. The action was great, the effects were great, the performances were better than usual, and best of all the story worked. The opening scene with the destruction of Earth really grabs your attention and the rest of the show didn't let go of it. It kept you wondering "What's going to happen, how are they going to get out of this?" I don't feel that way very often watching this show, or for that matter its predecessor.
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Twilight is the highest episode ranked thus far and I don't really see any future episodes outdoing it, equaling it possible, but probably not outdoing since few Star Trek episodes on any sries could recieve a better rating.
I dont usually write comments, but after viewing the Twilight episode, I found it to be very intelligent in concept even if you have said, it is a well worn path. I have not found Enterprise to be as thought provoking as some of the other Star Trek Series, but last night made me remember why I am still a fan of Enterprise.
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I just got to see "Twilight" there, I have to say it is one of the few episodes of "Star Trek" to make me cry (The other was "Inner Light") seeing Earth destroyed, hearing the Xindi wiping out Mars, Alpha Centauri and so on was scary, the acting was spot on every time, including the horrific final scenario were the bridge is destroyed and the remnants of the crew fight off the Xindi - despite the rather Deus ex machina ending this still ranks among "Star Trek's" best ever episodes.
Perfect 10 in my opinion and does anyone see a parallel universe story with the desperate Enterprise trying to protect the last human colony? Or is that "Battlestar Galactica"?
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"I was told this ship was the pride of Starfleet. I find it is small, and unimpressive."
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you."
Archer and Gral spar verbally in: "Babel One."
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