My Star Trek Year

Enterprise - Kir'Shara

Kir'Shara
Star Trek: Enterprise 
Season 4, Episode 9

The Vulcan trilogy concludes with T'Pol and Archer being chased through the desert by power-mad Vulcans while Enterprise and the Andorians unite to face off against the same.

(viewed 09/05/2009)

Enterprise - Awakening

Awakening
Star Trek: Enterprise 
Season 4, Episode 8

The Dune thread continues as Vulcan dissidents discover that Archer now harbors Surak's "essence" and try to get it out. In the meantime they're bombarded almost into oblivion by the Vulcan High Command, an attack which results in the death of T'Pol's mother.

(viewed 09/04/2009)

Enterprise - The Forge

The Forge
Star Trek: Enterprise 
Season 4, Episode 7

In which the Enterprise gang enter into Dune territory. The episode finds Archer and T'Pol braving the deserts of Vulcan after an attack on the Earth embassy there. Not so bad, actually.

(viewed 09/03/2009)

TNG - Hero Worship

Hero Worship
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 5, Episode 11

Given the Star Trek franchise's somewhat dismal record with kid episodes, one tends to approach them with some measure of trepidation. This one was nothing to be worried about, however. A young boy, sole survivor of an attack on his ship, forms a close attachment to his rescuer, Data. Which all could have gone terribly wrong but was reasonably well-handled. Includes another of those great moments of Data whimsy, this one which finds him attempting to yawn. 

(viewed 09/02/2009)

TNG - Power Play

Power Play
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 5, Episode 15

After being possessed by something or other, Troi, Data and O'Brien take over the ship and proceed to spend an inordinate amount of time growling and barking at their hostages. 

(viewed 09/01/2009)

Enterprise - Azati Prime

Azati Prime
Star Trek: Enterprise
Season 3, Episode 18

Hot on the heels of the Xindi, Archer ends up in their clutches and the ship is attacked by the same. Interesting to see an attack where real damage and casualties are inflicted as opposed to simply having people bounced around in their seats a bit.

(viewed 08/30/2009)

TNG - Conundrum

Conundrum
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 5, Episode 14

Crew members lose just the right bits of their memory to allow this shaky plot to advance. Overlook these goofy lapses of logic and the episode is not half bad. 

(viewed 08/27/2009)

TNG - Silicon Avatar

Silicon Avatar
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 5, Episode 4

A great silicon monster is on the rampage. Picard gets all touchy-feely and wants to communicate with it. A visiting scientist - who hates Data at first but then becomes pals with him - votes for wiping out the creature and makes her wish come true before it's all over.

(viewed 08/25/2009)

TNG - Ensign Ro

Ensign Ro
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 5, Episode 3

Sparks fly as the Bajoran Ensign Ro comes aboard to aid in an investigation of an alleged Bajoran terrorist attack on a Federation colony. Intrigue abounds and fur flies thanks to the Ensign's pissy attitude. A nice contrast, actually, to the nicey nice stuff that seems so prevalent on much of Star Trek.

(viewed 08/23/2009)

TNG - Half A Life

Half A Life
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 4, Episode 22

Troi's mom turns up again in an episode that finds her falling for a scientist who must go to his home planet to commit ritual suicide. He rebels at first and then decides to go through with it. A decidedly more low-key and less annoying outing for the typically grating Mama Troi. 

(viewed 08/23/2009)

TNG - The Masterpiece Society

The Masterpiece Society
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 5, Episode 13

A genetically engineered insular society is about to be wiped out by a stellar core fragment. Don't you just hate when that happens? Enterprise happens along to save the day and stirs up the previously contented populace in the process. 

(viewed 08/20/2009)

Enterprise - Hatchery

Hatchery
Star Trek: Enterprise
Season 3, Episode 17

I have to confess that I wasn't expecting much from an episode about Xindi eggs. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be one of the better episodes (and not just Enterprise) that I've seen for a while. Archer faces off with his senior officers over his obsession with caring for and protecting said eggs, an obsession that may have disastrous results. A mutiny ensues, complete with some geuinely worthwhile moments of drama.

(viewed 08/19/2009)

TNG - Darmok

Darmok
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 5, Episode 2

Picard and a Tamarian captain find themselves engaging in the spirit of cooperation (after an uneasy getting to know each other period) and overcoming their language barriers so that they can fight against a mean beastie haunting the planet they're stranded on. Thoughout all of this one can hardly help being reminded of the Gorn and Abraham Lincoln episodes from TOS.

(viewed 08/19/2009)

TNG - The Nth Degree

The Nth Degree
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 4, Episode 19

TOS episode Where No Man Has Gone Before meets 2001. Maladjusted super-nerd Reg Barclay gets zapped by something or other. He turns into a supremely confident super-being who proceeds to intertwine himself with the ship's computers and refuses to come out. This being Star Trek the end finds Reg back to normal, having learned a lesson about being yourself that's better suited to an Afterschool Special. 

(viewed 08/18/2009)