"Cold Station 12"

Written by Michael Bryant
Directed by Michael Vejar


In which the augments take over the facility holding the remaining genetically engineered embryos, and Arik Soong sees firsthand the truth about his creations...

Captain's Log - Final Analysis







Captain's Log

After a promising beginning in “Borderland”, the writers continue to redefine the tone of the series with this episode. The best aspects of the previous episode are retained, especially in terms of character development, and the writers seem to enjoy having more time to explore the social and ethical implications of genetic engineering. This feels like Star Trek, rather than the watered-down version of it that plagued the first two seasons. (The third season, while much better, felt more like an attempt to replicate “Babylon 5” or “Farscape” than a truly original and continuity-based direction.)

Soong’s relationship with the augments is key to the episode and the arc as a whole. Part of his madness is his warped belief that he is their beloved father figure; he never doubts that his “children” will follow him and retain his morals. But like the augments of old, Malik is more than willing to cast off any perceived human weakness, and needless sentiment falls in that category.

This is made perfectly clear when Enterprise arrives at the augment’s former home and finds Smike, the botched augment that the others left behind, due to his imperfections. If there was ever any doubt that the augments would stray into Khan territory, Smike’s exile wipes that doubt away. Paired with Malik’s calm but unmistakable challenge of Soong’s authority, these scenes presage the augments’ brutal decisions later in the episode.

Alec Newman continues to play Malik as a younger version of Khan, playing it to the hilt in every scene. When he manipulates Soong into believing his story, Malik displays a level of deviousness that has been missing from most “Enterprise” villains. It’s not just that Malik is trying to convince Soong that he was innocent in the murder of Raakin; Malik is also testing Soong, to see if the human really is worthy of his allegiance. From Malik’s expression, the audience can clearly see that Soong has failed the test.

In the previous episode, Malik killed the prior leader of the augments, Raakin, convinced that his way was superior. This wasn’t just an excuse to get the plot moving; it also establishes Malik as the augment with the psychological will to challenge authority figures. It makes sense that the other augments, like Persis, would be disturbed by Malik’s decision to question Soong’s authority. One wonders if some of the augments were programmed to naturally follow the strongest leader; it would make sense that those who originally created the augments wanted to control them. If that’s the case, then augments like Khan and Malik could be anomalies themselves.

The scene between Malik and Persis is perfectly written, completely in keeping with the kind of melodramatic touches that Khan would have adored. This scene echoes the kind of power play that Khan pulled on McGivers in “Space Seed”. Oddly, Persis seems to be wearing more substantial clothing when in bed with Malik than she does when leading the invasion on Cold Station 12. By the time she’s bashing in the head of that security guard, the rips in her top are wide enough to remind the audience why Malik was so determined to claim her.

Manny Coto wanted to use the fourth season to pull together the internal continuity of “Enterprise” and make sense of it in the context of the larger franchise continuity. In keeping with this mandate, the writers reveal that Cold Station 12 just happens to be a place that Phlox once worked, and where his friend in the Medical Exchange Program, Dr. Lucas, is currently working. Had Lucas shown up during the second season, it’s rather unlikely that it would be under such serious circumstances.

This provides the perfect opportunity for Phlox to get involved in the story, which finally gives the character something to do this season. The conversation between Phlox and Soong in the previous episode becomes the natural prelude to the discussion between Archer and Phlox in this episode. As Phlox mentioned earlier, the Denobulans have been applying genetic engineering to their own species for quite some time. The difference, it seems, is the maturity of the human race, or rather, it’s lack. This scene also follows up on Soong’s comment to Archer about his father. It’s great to see the conflict behind Archer’s eyes, something that gives Scott Bakula something substantial to work with.

Having already established that the remaining augment embryos have been stored next to thousands of pathogens on the same “cold station”, the writers use that plot element to their advantage. Malik uses brute force in his attempts to get the code out of Dr. Lucas, something that Soong detests but sees as necessary for the task at hand. When Malik suggests using the pathogens at their disposal to torture one of Lucas’ colleagues, Soong is horrified. Brent Spiner does an incredible job of portraying Soong’s slow descent into realization. Similarly, Newman’s ability to communicate the pride Malik feels at coming up with the idea displays his talent.

The murder of Lucas’ colleague is one of the most disturbing scenes in the history of the series, and it underscores the intent of the new regime. It’s made plain that Malik is willing to go as far as he deems necessary to achieve his goals. While there’s little chance that the writers would kill off any of the main cast (that much has not changed), the previous writers seemed less than willing to mount casualties among the “red shirts”. Last season changed that, notably after Coto was brought into the writer’s room, and this episode takes that to the next level.

By the time Archer’s team arrives on the station, Soong has been pushed to the edge of his moral sanity. Already pushed to the point of self-delusional justification by Malik’s murder of the station’s deputy director, Soong cannot justify Smike’s exile. Malik lamely attempts to blame Raakin for that decision, perhaps aware that Soong was still blind to the full extent of Malik’s disregard. As long as Soong sees Malik and his followers as “wayward children”, after all, he’s still useful.

Having set the stage with the previous murder, it’s not necessary for Phlox to actually be infected with one of the pathogens. Just the thought of it is enough to push Lucas over the edge, which is exactly what Malik was trying to achieve. For all his amorality, Malik’s rationale is all too easy to understand. Soong, despite his reservations, can’t see past the promise of the augments as the future for humanity. For all that Malik has horrified him, all of that disappears once Soong is standing in the stasis chamber.

Malik’s fight with Archer echoes the similar melee between Khan and Kirk. Malik even gives the same kind of back-handed compliments (literally!). It not surprising that Malik would unleash the pathogens with no concern for the humans still trapped on the station. Nor is it shocking that he takes the genetic database of the “Top 20 Deadly Pathogens” on the way out. What is shocking, however, is Malik’s casual murder of Smike, and the fact that Persis is coming closer and closer to seeing Malik for the madman that he is. It’s quite possible that Persis will turn on Malik if Soong’s life is in danger in the next episode.

If there is one weakness of the episode, it’s the cliffhanger. It may have been meant as exciting, but it was actually quite lame. Is there any doubt that Archer will succeed? Of course not. It’s just a way to ensure that the augments get away with enough time to initiate the circumstances of the showdown with the Klingons in the third part of the story. The writers could have saved time by simply having Archer resolve the issue just before fading to black, leaving more time in the next episode for stronger storytelling.

This episode is also a good example of how effective a good set can be. The Enterprise bridge has been slightly altered to reflect something closer to the aesthetic of the original series, for instance, and there has been a concerted effort to design the temporary sets to match that “retro” look. Cold Station 12, for instance, looks like something out of the original series, with some minor exceptions. The only downside would be the incongruous feel of the CGI sets; the stasis chamber, for instance, looked horribly fake, like something any fan could drum up using Photoshop.

But those are minor complaints, and the rest of the episode more than makes up for them. As with the previous episode, Spiner and Newman do an amazing job with their guest starring roles. Unlike “Borderland”, where the depiction of the Orions took a little away from the episode as a whole, there’s a focus on the psychology of the augments and Soong’s growing inability to accept the faults of his “children”. Malik makes for a compelling villain, largely because he is the embodiment of the worst excesses of human arrogance.

The final episode in the arc should answer the Klingon question: why are the augments trying to start a war between Earth and the Klingon Empire? Equally, the episode should address the connections between Arik and Noonien Soong, his descendent. Arik Soong doesn’t look like a man who had natural children yet. The answer may be troubling, especially if Soong ends up creating a son through genetic experimentation. And of course, the augments themselves must be dealt with. All of these issues should be easy enough to tie together. If the writers can finish out this mini-arc as well as they’ve started it, this could truly be the beginning of a new era for the series.


Final Analysis

Overall, this episode builds on the best elements of the previous episode, staging this mini-arc as a tragic conflict between father and son. Spiner and Newman continue to shine, and the writers meet the challenge of giving them strong material to work with. The cliffhanger is somewhat disappointing, but it doesn’t take away from the rest of the episode.

Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 3/4

Final Rating: 9/10




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