Coming into the episode, I hadn't heard that Enterprise had been renewed for another season. I had heard rumors that it could be canceled but nothing concrete. After watching, it was immediately apparent that they were planning for another season. It ended with a cliffhanger in the now-classic Trek tradition.
Warning: Some spoilers will follow so don't read further if you haven't seen it yet and want to go into it cold.
The idea of having a season-long story arc is unprecedented in Trek. Other shows, notably Babylon 5, have proved that it can be done but Trek has, so far, shied away from long arcs. There have been overarching storylines, like the Dominion War in Deep Space 9, but not all of the episodes dealt directly with that plot. This season has been pretty much focused on the main plot. I think it was well done in that they were able to craft a story that fit into the time frame, and advance it in regular steps that more or less made sense. On that aspect, I give Enterprise good marks.
As has been a recurring theme since Enterprise debuted, time travel factored heavily in the entire story arc. Time travel in Trek has been hit or miss. Sometimes it's done very well, other times it falls flat. What bothers me about how it's handled in Enterprise is that Captain Archer is going to have so much knowledge of future events that it can't help but affect his actions going forward. The writers have been pretty consistent in having the Captain do what he thinks is right, even though Daniels has said he shouldn't do it. This final episode is no different. Daniels urges the Captain not to lead the strike team on the Xindi weapon but Archer basically tells him to take a hike and send him back to his own time. He believes the present is more important than a possible future and acts accordingly. Nevertheless, he still has this knowledge and it will give him certain advantages. Hopefully the writers will address this and handle it effectively and realistically.
The final fight scene was well done. The look on the reptilian's face just before the limpet bomb on his shoulder goes off was priceless, as was Archer's expression just before he stepped around the column to shield himself from the blast. Scott Bakula is one the most underrated actors in Hollywood in my opinion; anyone who enjoyed his work on Quantum Leap will likely agree with me. (My mother once commented that Scott was the first male actor she's ever seen who realistically portrayed being pregnant. Being a mother of three, she would know.)
The character of Hoshi really went through a tough time, too. Some nice work by Linda Park. She's a very sensitive character and it makes perfect sense that she would feel great remorse over helping the reptilians decrypt the arming codes, despite the fact that she had no choice. Her inner strength became apparent as she successfully resisted the drugs they gave her for a time, only succumbing when they gave her a second dose that nobody could have resisted. Again, we have an opportunity for the writers to continue this character's development.
Jolene Blalock turned in a nice performance. She's doing a good job of showing us a Vulcan who is not entirely in control of her emotions but is struggling to keep them in check as much as possible. Her slight fluctuations in voice and facial expression are slight but noticeable and convey her character's inner struggle effectively and with subtlety.
And Shran just rules.
As for the story, I think they did a pretty good job of wrapping it up. The new alliance between the humanoid, arboreal, and aquatic races of the Xindi and the Enterprise crew makes sense given the events up to that point. I didn't have to suspend my disbelief very much when it came to the final fight and the destruction of the weapon. The episode kept my interest and there weren't any "You've gotta be kidding!" moments. In all, pretty well executed.
And then there's the cliffhanger ending. Of course, I was pretty sure that Archer had survived somehow. But the story took a 90-degree turn away from everything by throwing the Enterprise back to the 1940's during WWII. And of course we have Nazis, this time with an officer who is some type of alien. It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out but I have this creeping dread that Enterprise just jumped the shark in a big way. I'll watch it, though. It's Star Trek, after all, and bad Trek is still usually worth watching (with a couple notable exceptions, such as the execrable "Threshold" episode of Star Trek: Voyager).
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