"Storm Front: Part II"

Written by Manny Coto
Directed by David Straiton


In which Archer and the Enterprise crew race to prevent Vosk from completing the time conduit, all in the hopes of stopping the Temporal Cold War before it has a chance to begin...

Captain's Log - Final Analysis







Captain's Log

After a somewhat disappointing first part, the season premiere story arc manages to come to a reasonably satisfying conclusion in this episode. While some of the lingering plot points of the Temporal Cold War should have been resolved before venturing into new territory, there’s something to be said of casting off as much of the old series mythology as possible. Manny Coto could have intentionally used this episode as a metaphor for the history of the series itself; after this episode, “Enterprise” has to succeed or fail based on a renewed sense of direction.

The teaser is actually quite entertaining in and of itself. In the style of an old newsreel, a voiceover spews out Nazi propaganda, claiming that the German occupation of the United States’ eastern seaboard is just the beginning of a cooperative effort to bring enlightenment to the rest of the world. This is disturbing for the obvious reasons, but also because just such newsreels were used during the war to stir up support for the real American military operations. One could easily wonder if there is a comment about the current war effort hidden within the context.

Rather quickly, one of the more annoying plot points in the first part gets a kind of resolution. The logic behind Daniels’ claim that the Temporal Cold War (TCW) would simply correct itself if Vosk is prevented from building his conduit didn’t quite come together in the previous episode. This time around, it makes a little more sense. Apparently the stronger showing by the Germans was the result of intrusion by some other TCW faction. In the usual circular logic of temporal mechanics, the TCW starts when Vosk goes back in time to the altered Germany and creates a way to return back to his own time.

Vosk (and his species) apparently holds the belief that they should “fix” the timeline to be as perfect as possible, as seen through their particularly biased point of view. Though it isn’t stated in the episode itself, one could assume that most species with the ability to travel through time don’t share that philosophy. Vosk goes back in time and then finds a way to make the round trip, making it possible for his people to begin manipulating the timeline to their own ends. That starts the TCW, since different groups seek to either repair or take advantage of the changes created by Vosk’s people. By preventing Vosk from going back, the TCW never begins and all changes to the timeline that took place as a result of the TCW are reversed.

That doesn’t explain why Vosk would choose to implement his plan on Earth in 1944 Nazi Germany, or why the elimination of the effects of the TCW wouldn’t subsequently result in the reversal of everything that happened in the third season with the Xindi (precipitated by a meeting between the future benefactor of the Suliban and Archer). But it does explain how this plot arc manages to end the whole TCW plot thread in general, and it gives context to the goal of derailing Vosk’s plan.

To make things a little more interesting, Silik’s plot adds another level of intrigue to the proceedings. It’s debatable whether or not his involvement was truly necessary; it highlights the fact that the “Future Man” from the very first episode is never identified. At the same time, it addresses the fact that Silik was Archer’s first real adversary, and also covers the likelihood that the main opponents of Daniels’ “temporal agents” would also interfere.

Silik’s plan is actually rather good. If the other factions knew that Vosk was going to be dealt with, then most would probably let it happen; if Daniels is being honest, then the TCW started when factions gathered to protect their interests against the changes made by Vosk. Still, at least one faction would attempt to utilize Vosk’s solution for themselves, letting Archer take out Vosk so they can take control of Vosk’s place in the war themselves. Silik’s benefactor clearly wanted to play that role. Since that plan is also cut short, the assumption is that the necessary technology remains out of the wrong hands, keeping the timeline relatively intact.

The plot is once again rather straightforward, temporal consequences aside. Vosk uses Trip and Mayweather as bargaining chips to get Archer to help him. Silik switches places with Trip to get back to the future along with Archer and Enterprise. Once Archer is aware of the switch, he declines Vosk’s offer and uses his relationship with Alicia to lead the insurrectionists on an assault against Vosk’s complex. Along with the help of Enterprise, Vosk’s conduit is destroyed and the timeline is restored. In thanks, Daniels returns Archer and Enterprise to their proper time, after Archer demands that Daniels not bother them again.

If that were the full measure of the plot, then the episode would probably have been less successful. But Coto adds character moments to the episode that help make up for an overall lack of complexity. This was also the case with the episodes at the end of the third season. Instead of rushing things, Coto takes his time to make the admittedly weak story worthwhile.

Take, for instance, the scenes between Archer and Alicia on Enterprise. Not only do they make sense within the context of the episode, but they are also a nice homage to a similar scene in “Star Trek: First Contact”. Silik’s scenes are also very well done, especially his dialogue with the insurgents, where his general annoyance with Humans is apparent. Silik’s inclusion actually leaves one with the impression that, with the right writing staff, the TCW could have been handled with the necessary care to make it viable.

After all, if Coto has added anything to the series, it has been his ability to flesh out the alien species involved in the stories. Some of the existing writers were also capable of this, but the Suliban were certainly less developed as a people than the Xindi. Had someone worked on making the Suliban something unique and interesting, they could have been memorable villains. Of course, in the end, the Suliban suffered from the same problem as the rest of the characters: Berman and Braga never bothered to define them beyond simple cardboard cutouts.

Coto does everything possible with Silik, and it works well for the episode. It’s also good to see that Vosk had a philosophy and belief; it would have been easy to make him a villain with little or no development of his own. It’s possible to understand Vosk’s point of view; it’s not that he’s immoral, per se, but that his people subscribe to a very different system of belief. And it’s not all of them that believe Vosk is right; his subordinate clearly disagrees, even if he is powerless to stop Vosk from taking action.

It would be easy to bicker over the characterization of the insurgents, given their origins, or the resolution to the plot arc. However, these elements were effectively introduced in the previous episode, and so this episode should really be judged on its own merits. Coto clearly understood what he needed to get the plot resolved as quickly as possible, and he made the sacrifice of using the first episode of the season to set the stage, based on the cliffhanger he was provided.

As such, the two episodes might have fared better as a two-hour premiere, allowing the plot thread to be resolved all at once and clearing the boards for the following week. Splitting the story in two parts (possibly mandated by the network) gave an already skeptical audience more reason to tune out. The first half wasn’t strong enough on its own to gain the interest of many in the audience, so it’s unlikely that all of them would tune in for the second part. (In fact, the ratings dropped significantly for the second part.) Add to that the fans that understand that the third episode is really the beginning of Coto’s regime, and any delay in getting to that point has to be viewed as a mistake.

If the two parts had been aired as one episode, then all the money spent on the effects during the second half would have been justified. There are some great sequences, such as the shot of Enterprise over the Earth during sunset and the battle over Manhattan. The effects for Silik were still generally weak, but at this point, it was already expecting to be so. The final scene of Enterprise arriving home at last was also very well done. In some ways, it was a bit too reminiscent of the horrible ending of the series finale for “Voyager”, but this time, at least, there is a certainty that the story won’t simply end there.

One has to wonder if the last scene between Archer and Daniels was meant as a metaphor for the relationship between Coto and his predecessors. Was this Coto’s way of telling Berman and Braga to stay out of the plot development and let him try to build things on his own? In a sense, Daniels’ little plot was the episode’s reflection of Berman and Braga’s decision to end the third season on a foolhardy cliffhanger, and it could be interpreted that Archer’s insistence that Daniels leave them alone from now on echoes Coto’s response to that cliffhanger. Whatever the case, this episode marks the end of both the TCW plot thread (presumably) and the beginning of Coto’s attempt to give the series new life.

Unfortunately, it may be too late for anyone to save the series, even someone as talented and Trek-savvy as Coto. Fans are already eagerly denouncing the information given about future plot threads, even if the complaints are usually associated with character or plot elements that were established in previous seasons. It’s disingenuous for fans to blame Coto for working with what he’s given, especially since part of his mandate is finding a way to reconcile inconsistencies with the previous incarnations of the franchise.

What Coto is truly working against, in this case, is an overall dissatisfaction with Trek’s direction over the past several years. There is a core audience out there, but even many of them are burnt out when it comes to the same old plots. Add to that the limited national audience for UPN and the fact that many Trek fans weren’t even aware that the series was still on the air, and it’s unlikely that quality has anything to do with it anymore. After all, “Farscape” and “Babylon 5” were critically acclaimed and had much better writing overall; both series struggled to find an audience and network support.

The irony is that the measures that would need to be taken to gain an audience quickly would be instantly vilified by the fandom. If Coto simply runs a strong writing staff and develops incredibly story arcs, it won’t matter to an audience that has already tuned out or dismissed the series as non-viable. Getting Shatner would sound great, but many would see it as desperation. They could really push for action and sexual content, but that was already attempted, and it was rightfully panned.

What might have helped “Enterprise” succeed is the same thing that helped the previous incarnations to succeed: different voices involved in the creative process. When it comes to “DS9” and “Voyager”, there were individuals involved at the inception and moving forward to facilitate the process of creating characters and premises. “Enterprise” only had the most general of concepts at the beginning, and the lack of a strong direction or creative impetus was apparent in the anemic second season. By then, the damage was done, and not even the strength of the Xindi arc was enough to make the series palatable again.

This is likely to be the last season for “Enterprise”, and if so, then Coto ought to take the series out on a high note. If the series does continue, it will be a miracle. Once “Enterprise” is over, however, Paramount might be better served if the franchise rests for a little while, even if just a season or two, until the right creative personnel can come up with something noteworthy to gain back the public interest.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode was an improvement on the season premiere, making the best out of the plot elements introduced in the previous episode. The Temporal Cold War plot arc was brought to a relatively satisfying conclusion, giving Manny Coto and the writing staff the chance to explore their own ground for the rest of the season. It remains to be seen, of course, if that will do anything to change the series’ apparent fate.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4

Final Rating: 7/10




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