Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 22

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 22
Season 4 Disk 2

Cold Station 12
The Augments and Soong raid Cold Station 12 for the remaining unborn children
of the Eugenic wars but delays mean a stand off with the Enterprise and they resort
to cold blooded murder even of their own.
We see the true colours of the "superior" human when they turn on each other and
their "father", ultimately they moral of the story is underlined, twice.

The Augments
Fleeing to an area of space called the Briar Patch with the intent of providing a secure
location to raise the next generation of Augments causes conflict between Soong and
Malik. To give them time they decide to attack a Klingon colony and provoke a war
between Earth and the Klingons using biogenic weapons.
A fitting conclusion to the Augment arc, it built on what we knew about the Eugenic
Wars and added in some Soong who paved the way for advanced artificial life, some
very nice writing.

The Forge
The Earth embassy on Vulcan is bombed and the finger is pointed at a sect who claim
to follow the path of Surak. Seeking justice T'Pol and Archer enter the Forge to seek
out this sect and discover that the High Command have blood on their hands and maybe
the answer for Vulcan is to be found in the deep desert.
An excellent Vulcan story despite my own reservations that they could be so different to
the Vulcans of the TOS era.

Awakening
Archer and T'Pol discover the Syrranites thanks to the information gleamed from Arev.
What they find confirms the High Command have been less than honest with Starfleet
and that they intended to strike at Andoria despite a peace treaty and they are even
willing to use tactical weapons against Vulcans on Vulcan.
Questionable Vulcan actions aside this was a good story and of course T'Pau
( Kara Zediker )  was a very nice addition linking the two eras. It's a shame stories
like this and others from the fourth seasons were not the core of the series from day 1,
so much lore/cannon to be exploited and built upon without affecting TNG etc.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 21

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 21
Season 4 Disk 1

Storm Front Part I & II
Archer wakes up in 1944 a world where the Nazis swept across Europe and took a very
strong foothold in the Americas helped by alien technology provided by a faction fighting
the Temporal Cold War. Daniels critically injured through temporal conflicts offers what he
can to the crew of the Enterprise and together along with Silik (nothing can kill that guy)
they attempt to defeat the aliens and right what went wrong which will reset the timeline.
The show made great use of standing backlot sets and the costuming department as well
a few familiar guest actors and while wrapping up the temporal cold war seemed a little
pat maybe it would be something relatively simple to cause it to collapse in upon itself.

Home
T'Pol returns to Vulcan to visit her mother and she takes Trip along for the ride, well you
know what I mean. Her mother T'Les played by Joanna Cassidy  isn't too happy with
having a human guest but we learn she lost her post thanks to the "scandal" of T'Pol and
the destruction of the monastery.
Meanwhile back on Earth and undercurrent of bigotry has broken out against aliens and
Phlox experiences a distasteful interaction with such men and Archer to has debrief with
Starfleet Command and the Vulcans whilst baring his soul to the new Captain of the
Columbia played by Ada Maris.
A mixed bag but an interesting look at the planet Vulcan more of which we'll see later
in the season and the seeds for the human first backlash.

Borderland
Human augments hijack a Klingon bird of prey and in response the man who helped create
them Dr Arik Soong played by Brent Spiner  is placed on board the Enterprise to search
them out. Upon entering the Borderlands the ship is raided by Orions and a number of crew
taken to be sold as slaves and Soong agrees to help.
However he refuses to help the ship search for his "children" but that is solved when the bird of
prey attacks them and Soong escapes leading his own towards their future and past.
An excellent opener to a three episode mini-arc dealing with augmented humans whose
brethren were responsible for the Eugenics and third world wars and a fantastic role for Brent.

A very strong opening for the final season of Enterprise, ok maybe space Nazis are a little
cliched but the time travel/alternate reality worked well for the show. We got a very good
look at Vulcan as well which is going to pay off and of course the first part of the Eugenic
storyline and introduction of Soong, again big bucket of pay off.

Red 2 - Trailer

More of the same which since I enjoyed the first movie is exactly what I want:)

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 20

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 20
Season 3 Disk 6

E²
A dangerous short cut leads to a temporal fracture which throws the Enterprise back
over a century and eventually the two ships once again meet each other, the descendants
of the original crew failed to stop the Xindi attack but offer their help to but ultimately are
willing to sacrifice the original Enterprise.
A top notch episode with time travel and cause and effect in play which all seem to be side
stepped these days with the alternate timeline/dimension but here it's good old fashioned
cause and effect. There is a lot of humour and drama to be had as we discover who paired
with who and the advances in technology and new aliens on board the old ship but it's
T'Pol whose still alive who holds the key to the future despite the misgivings of her own son.

The Council
Archer finally gets to address the Xindi council and offers up the evidence they have
gathered from both the attacks on Earth and the sphere builders, some of the council
are willing to listen but others are too eager to embrace the promises made by the builders
and the power that they belive will come with it. As Archer pleads with the Council a strike
team is sent to a sphere to gather more evidence but before any resolution is reached Degra
becomes the victim of his own beliefs.
Another very good episode as the story builds to it's conclusion, everything is being
ramped up as the Xindi begin to doubt the word of the sphere builders but the Reptilians
and Insectoids the most aggressive of the species break away, no doubt in their mind.

Countdown
Hoshi is tortured by the Reptilians in the hopes she will be able to break the encryption
on the weapon which would allow it to be launched without the consensus required but
a rescue mission is launched with the MACO's
suffering casualties. The friendly Xindi finally throw in with the humans and engage the
Rep/Insect fleet but the sphere builders interfere creating anomalies which cause devastation
amongst the allies. Again another solid episode with spectacular space combat and one on
one fighting as the MACO's storm the weapon but as with all good stories the bad guys
escape and we go down to the wire.

Zero Hour
Archer and a few of his crew on board Degra's former ship chase down the weapon
and are joined by Shran and his warship, once again Archers decisions to do the right
thing is paying off in spades but they are all still relying on the ENterprise to destory the
focal sphere in the network. If they can destory Sphere 41 then the whole chain will collapse
and maybe the Expanse will cease to be but the risk is huge, wait too long and everyone on
board the ship will be dead. Meanwhile Daniels pays Archer a visit and shows him the birth
of the Federation which requires Archer to be part of it's inception but he fails to convince
Archer not to sacrifice his life in the attempt to destroy the weapon.
When the dust settles the Enterprise is returned to Earth via one of the Aquatic ships to be
told that Archer did not survive but upon approaching the Earth they find a sky void of
satellites and communications and then a shuttle is attacked by prop drive fighters, something
has disrupted the timeline.

What an absolutely fantastic batch of episodes to wrap up the Xindi story arc, it has been
a wonderful example of serialised story telling and while there were one or two clunkers
mostly when trying to do a standalone episode everyone involved should be proud of the
work they have done.

Disk 7
Lots of Extras

The Xindi Saga Begins
Enterprise Moments
Connor Trinneer (Profile)
Roxann Dawson (A Day in the Life)
Outtakes
Behind the Camera (Marvin Rush)
Enterprise Secrets
Commentaries
Deleted Scenes

Dennys Ilic with Tricia & Katee

Tricia and Katee having fun on a photoshoot with Dennys Ilic and may I say thankyou very much for posting the video, two amazing women on and off screen.
Official Site
Acting Outlaws

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 19

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 19
Season 3 Disk 5

Hatchery
A crashed Xindi ship is discovered and the landing party find that the crew has
sacrificed their lives to maintain the life support for their unborn offspring.
Archer becomes obsessed with keeping the young Insectoids alive and a
mutiny onboard the Enterprise leads to a direct confrontation.
An interesting episode but kinda falls flat over the lack of backbone by the
senior officers and Doctor when faced with a captain obviously not acting
normally or within mission parameters.

Azari Prime
The Enterprise uses a Xindi ship to recon the world where the weapon is
being constructed. Archer decides to lead a do or die mission to destroy
it but Daniels appears and shows him the future that can be created if
Archer helps to create the Federation which in time will face down the
very people who built the spheres.
A wonderful episode which spells out a lot of events which have lead to
where Archer and the Enterprise are and Archer accepting the bigger
picture that peace is not going to be achieved through another violent act.

Damage

Archer is returned to a badly damaged Enterprise but they still assist another
vessel in distress that is until they have to make a rendezvous with Degra and
without warp capability the mission will fail. An assault against the other vessel
is led by Archer leaving the aliens with only sub-light propulsion.
A big moral and ethical dilemma for Archer but you can hardly say he was wrong
in making the choice he did but easy to see how many ships/species have been
forced to act in a similar manner within the Expanse.

The ForgottenDegra meets with Enterprise and is shown the evidence of the Sphere builders
and time manipulation by the Reptilians. Tripp has issues and acts like an idiot
undermining his Captain, the mission and his own rank and responsibilities on
board the ship.
I was pulling my hair out in frustration at the ridiculous antics of Tripp during the
episode, it was weak drama to say the least but if we take it seriously the guy
has no place in command.

James Bond (A Personal List)

I fancied watching a Bond movie last night and as always it was a question of which one of the "official" 23 features I wanted to settle down with, there are of course some that are never going to be considered for a re-watch but others are always high on the list.
So as I was watching Goldfinger on Blu-ray I jiggled around the 23 movies and came up with a list, it may not be the same list if I had to do it again later in the year but for now this is my own personal Bond list with my favourite movie to watch listed first.
It's worth noting this doesn't reflect my opinion of the actors, production quality, eye candy etc just how entertaining the movies are:)

Live and Let Die
The Spy Who Loved Me
Goldfinger
Casino Royale
For Your Eyes Only
Moonraker
You Only Live Twice
Diamonds Are Forever
Skyfall
Thunderball
Dr. No
From Russia With Love
Licence to Kill
The Man with the Golden Gun
Tomorrow Never Dies
The Living Daylights
Octopussy
GoldenEye
The World is Not Enough
A View to a Kill
Quantum of Solace
Die Another Day
On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 18

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 18
Season 3 Disk 4

Proving Ground
The location of the Xindi test site is discovered and the Andorians come
along for the ride but maybe not purely to pay off a debt.
Excellent episode, lots of action and humour with a plenty of drama and
lets not forget some great visuals. That said some of the Andorian makeup
didn't hold up too well in the very brightly lit close up scenes.

Stratagem
Degra and Archer are alone in a ship, it's supposedly years after the Earth
has been destroyed and the Reptilians have taken over and now the once
enemies are friends. A solid episode, a nice idea which was played out well
although obviously that only really works the first time you watch the episode.

Harbinger
A pod with an alien inside is discovered in a spatial anomaly, they believe he
may be one of the builders of the spheres. Meanwhile Malcolm and the MACO
commander Hayes come to blows over what appears to me to be down to
Reeds own self doubt/confidence. On the up side Tripp and T'Pol get it on
after she experiences a little jealousy as Tripp spends time with Amanda Cole
played by Noa Tishby.

Doctors Orders
The crew are put into a deep sleep as the ship transverses a dangerous area
of space with only Phlox left to maintain pretty much everything, oh there is
of course Porthos and maybe T'Pol depending upon your state of mind.
Another top notch Phlox story with John Billingsley doing an excellent job
carrying the episode and exploring the mindset of his people when faced with
being isolated.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 17

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 17
Season 3 Disk 3

North Star
Enterprise and the wild western.
I skipped it.

Similitude
An accident leaves Tripp close to death but Phlox grows a clone with the intent
to harvest the required material but the Clone ( Sim ) is as real as Tripp ever was
and truth be told actually a bit better. A very deep episode with dark overtones
which asks a lot of questions, wasn't sure I was going to enjoy re-watching it but it
still holds up.

Carpenter Street
Daniels informs Archer than the Xindi are back in Earth's past working on a
bio weapon which was supposedly abandoned by their council.
Archer and T'Pol go back in time and track down the Xindi and prevent the
release of the weapon, maybe the Vulcan high command are wrong about
time travel. A pretty good time travel episode although at first it looks more like
the 70's but hookers have never really been known for top shelf styling and plenty of
older cars still on the road. Amusing that Archer wouldn't hit the guy when still bound,
he'll get over that:)

Chosen Realm
A religious faction take over the Enterprise intent on using it's weapons
to fight a war on their homeworld and are prepared to kill themselves and anyone
else to achieve their "righteous" goal. I always have trouble with this type of story,
that sort of blind dogma is so hard to understand as is the lengths the characters
are willing to go to and justify. A more evolved story when compared to the TOS
episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 16

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 16
Season 3 Disk 2

Impulse
The Enterprise find the Vulcan ship Seleya adrift in an asteroid field, the remnants of
her crew driven mad by the Trellium D, T'Pol slowly succumbs to it's effects driving
her to paranoia. Vulcan zombies in space, ok maybe that's not fair but that's what we
got and what a shame they could not have raided the ships tech.

Exile
Hoshi is contacted by a powerful telepathic being who offers to help them search
for the Xindi in exchange for a little company during his work. Hoshi agrees while
the ship goes to investigate a Sphere but Tarquin isn't going to take no for an
answer when he asks her to stay forever.
The Sphere story was ok and Hoshi needs some good screen time but this story
was a little weak and doesn't do her justice.

The Shipment
The source of the mineral used to power the Xindi weapon is discovered thanks
in part to Tarquin and Archer learns that the people responsible for creating it
were unaware of it's intended use. During a strained conversation a trust is built
leading the human and the Xindi to co-operate with the goal to prevent the
weapons use. This was a good episode in terms of removing some of the
demonising of the Xindi, yes we know they are being setup but it's good for
the crew to discover that fact.

Twilight
Archer is injured as an anomaly ripples though out the ship and his brain is
infected by some sort of dimensional parasite which removes his short term
memory. Twilight is a cracking episode, we see the effects of the failure of
the ship under T'Pols command to stop the Xindi and the remnants of our
race living in fear on an alien world. Yes the reset button is convenient but
it's a diverting episode and does add a little to the overall arc without being
critical in it's telling.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 15

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 15
Season 3 Disk 1

The Xindi
The Enterprise pays a visit to a penal colony to talk to a Xindi inmate but things
go wrong when the Captain is held captive and the crew lineup as a new workforce
for the mine. This was a solid start to the third season, we got to see the new MACO's
in action who prove to be a valuable addition to the crew and find a lead to the
homeworld of the Xindi.

Anomaly
Spatial anomalies disrupt the starship as the Expanse shows itself to be every bit as
dangerous as the crew were led to believe. A derelict ship is discovered but the
Enterprise is then attacked by another ship who steal supplies and other tech from
her. It's the chase that eventually leads to the discovery of a giant sphere hidden
within a folded area of space.
Another good episode, lots of action and Archer has to start asking himself how
far will he go to finish his mission.

Extinction
The Enterprise visits a world known to have been host to some Xindi but the landing
party are exposed to some sort of virus which mutates them into another humanoid
life form, one that is automatically exterminated by another race who fear the spread
of this contagion. A standalone episode which is pretty much average, nothing really
new with the story except to indicate how good Phlox is but always nice to see T'pol
getting down and dirty in the oh so tight outfit.

Rajin
A visit to a trading world has Archer returning with a freed pleasure slave much to his
own surprise, he treats her right but is she all that she appears to be.
Now Firefly really did this story better but Nikita Ager as Rajin played the role well
and pretty much had everyone fooled until she met T'Pol and her alien mind powers:)
Rajin was a lot of fun, worked well and gives the Xindi a lot more depth and menace.

The opening four episodes of the third season are very strong, three solid arc episodes
and a standalone is a good spread, it's going to be a good season.