OH MY LORD!!!!!!!

IT WAS A REMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT!!!

IS!!!!!

SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!

This could possibly be my favorite episode of Enterprise yet! I was on the edge of my seat the entire episode, and when that Reman stepped out of the shadows, I fell off of my seat.

Absolutely fantastic.

You know what this means???

ROMULAN WARS!!!

Can I hear a Whoop Whoop??!!

WHOOP WHOOP!!

TIME MIXUP OF THE WEEK:
Unfortunately, I found a very glaring nit. After the weapon is destroyed, T'Pol gives the year in her starlog as 2152.

Oh well. Still a great episode.

GRADE A+

TUE

Okay, now that I'm a bit more rational, time for a more reasonable analysis.

CHEAP SFX OF THE WEEK:
The destruction of the spheres seemed oddly cheesy. They crumpled up like paper bags and then shot out a bolt of lightning.

ODD JOB OF THE WEEK:
Doctor Phlox was manning the Tactical console. Need I say more?

ODD ALIEN TACTICS OF THE WEEK:
When the Guardians are forced out of Engineering, why do they go to some power station instead of heading for the bridge? Wouldn't that be a better place to do some damage?

TRUE BLUE FRIEND OF THE WEEK:
I love Shran. It was great to see him pop up in Archer's most dire moment of need. I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

FUTURE GLIMPSE OF THE WEEK:
Speaking of which, that glimpse of the founding of the Federation was very impressive. It's a shame that they say it's 7 years away, which means we'll never get to see it in Enterprise time. I missed the first minute after that commercial, did anyone catch if Daniels mentioned what races were at that meeting?

NEGLIGENT CREWMEN OF THE WEEK:
I know they were under duress because of the loss of Archer, but why didn't Reed contact Starfleet as soon as the weapon was destroyed? If he did, why didn't he tell T'Pol that he's already spoken with them.

PAST TENSE OF THE WEEK:
Now this is a cliffhanger I did not expect. I knew we were going to get setup for season 4, but this is more than I ever saw coming. If people say Enterprise is predictable after seeing the end of this episode, they need to reevaluate their lives.

POTENTIAL SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE:
I see the possibilities for next season as well as seasons to come.
>> The Remans investigating Earth as a prelude for a Romulan invasion.
>> An Andorian/Human alliance
>> The fate of the Xindi
>> The developing relationship between T'Pol and Tucker.
>> T'Pol joining Starfleet (mentioned in "Countdown")
>> The Temporal Cold War (Daniels is still around, so I hope TPTB haven't forgotten about this stuff.)

MY THEORIES:
I suspect that Daniels saved Archer at the last moment, but he screwed up somehow and Archer ended up in the past.
I suspect that the Romulans have been watching the developing Xindi problem with concern. The Reman was sent back in time in order to aid Nazi Germany in WWII since such a regime would be more suitable for a Romulan alliance/takeover.

I suspect that the next season premiere is going to be fantastic.

This is going to be a LONG couple of months.

GREAT GREAT EPISODE.

TUE

Was that a Reman we saw there at the end? I didn't think their skin was that blue.

Yup, I think this foolishness will probably take about a season's worth to figure out.

I have to say this.

OH! MY! GOD!
Ok, I'm done!
Anyways, this was an on the edge of your seat episode. I caught T'Pol mentioning the 2152 date. I'm glad I wasn't the only one noticing that, and that I thought the date mentioned in a past episode, 2154 seemed about right. Do you think, with the fact that T'Pol was taking longer to heal, could be attributing to this? I'm also wondering, even thought Trip made the comment about Vulcans not being so tough after all, and T'Pol repeated that, is that really true. Past Vulcans haven't had that problem, in fact, suffered less, from epidemics. I wonder if something is different with T'Pol. I have my ideas, but they could be silly.
I think every main character pretty much kicked butt in this episode. Hoshi toughing it out, Travis hanging in there, Trip managing to get the spears distroyed, T'Pol pretty much keeping everyone going, Phlox just being dependable, Reed coming in to kick ASS! Archer pulling a neat little sneak to Dullim!! Oh yea, that episode was awesome!!!
I wonder what is going in with them back in time. I personally thought that maybe some Retillian Xindi were still back in time, or that they managed to set of the bio-weapon, and that is why no one was answering Enterprise. Plus, if both Archer and the Enterprise is back in time, what about Shran's ship, and Degra's ship and the big Aquatic ship? When did it happen? This episode really turned my mind into mush!!!

I haven't seen the episode yet (I'm in a UPN free zone), but are we sure that it was a Reman seen. It would be nice if it were and they were setting up the Romulans as the big bad next season. They do have all those masks leftover from Nemesis, and it would be a way to get around the "haven't ever seen a Romulan".

It should be 2154 if they say the Fed was formed in seven years, since we all know it is in 2161. I don't see how they can get around that date since it was specifically mentioned in TNG.

My one gripe with Enterprise now is, I think they've had way too much time travel. It's almost become a show about time travel. I blame Voyager for starting the notion of all these time travel agents.

"Is this the one where we discover that Future Guy is really Hal Jordan & he's decided to reboot the universe to save Coast City?"

No, it's the one in which the Giffen/Bierbaums Legion Of Super Heroes gets written off.

And once again the Killer B's have blown an opportunity to begin the genetically enhanced superhuman insurrection storyline I've been longing for.

Nazi Remans...give. Me. A. BREAK!

Is THIS what all that hype led to?

If, at the end of this ep, you were left saying: "HUH?!" like I was, gimme a hell yeah!
And if you're already looking ahead to _Andromeda's_ season closer, gimme another hell yeah!

Obvious question, but...Could there have been two endings shot, an alternate one in the event of cancellation?

Wow, that was pretty freakin' cool. And what the spheres' destructions lacked was made up for by the super weapon's destruction in spades. As for the end... sure looked like a Reman to me... my jaw was on the floor at the end, and truth be told, it hasn't yet come back up. I am EXTREMELY excited for Enterprise's fourth season! This show has to keep the quality up for it to continue though. Let's see some consistent quality from this series!!!

Remans. I didn't recognize them, mainly because I wasn't that impressed by them in Nemesis. But hey, they're serviceable villains and ought to work well in tying the Romulan conflict into the storyline. Good mention of the 2161 Federation founding, and nice to see that Archer will play an important role. His relationship with both the Vulcans and Andorians already hinted at his being instrumental in bringing everyone together.Just an observation that would have been a nice continuity touch: instead of Yosemite 3 the orbiting station should have been Space Station Salem One. Picard refers to this station as the site of a Pearl Harbor-like sneak attack upon an Earth outpost. (I don't recall which TNG episode) The Xindi attack on Yosemite 3 seemed to fit those circumstances.

NNAN. Seemed like an odd time for Phlox to be making out his will. Surely he could have made the comment about his wife's other husband keeping his drum set at a previous time, like say, the start of the mission. I realize that people do put off making wills until it's almost too late in real life, but Phlox did make that comment about Denobulans enjoying giving away stuff to various relatives.

Shouldn't Phlox have told the crew earlier about the skin effects? Yes, I know he mentioned it to T'Pol, but Trip's reaction indicates that he didn't realize it could happen & if other crewmembers had this reaction or worse it could affect their ability to do their jobs.

I'm surprised the MACO didn't have a backup weapon that he could use in a hand to hand fight with any reptilians.

Good thing destroying the spheres resulted in a nearly instant change of space over hundreds of light years.

I wonder if those religious fanatics who worship the spheres will now declare holy war on Earth for destroying the spheres?

Back during The Shipment when we first heard of the Avian Xindi I thought that it would turn out they weren't really dead and might be behind it all. Nope. I was wrong.

In The Expanse I thought the NX-02 would be finished & help with the fighting if the Xindi made it to Earth. Wrong again.

Speaking of which, why didn't Earth have some fighting ships & armed space stations? Did they really have that much faith in Archer saving the day?

Why weren't there any Vulcan ships around?

Very poor planning for defending your planet from a KNOWN THREAT!

I couldn't help but groan at the end of the show. Sheesh, more bloody time travel! Enough, already, this is supposed to be Star Trek, not Doctor Who (not that I don't enjoy DW, but if I want time travel, I'll watch DW, not Trek)!

Berman and Braga need to be fired!

It could have been worse. Instead of a Reman in a Nazi uniform, it could have have a monkey wearing Abe Lincoln's hat.

Obvious question, but...Could there have been two endings shot, an alternate one in the event of cancellation?

I read an on-line interview Scott Bakula gave a few weeks ago. He said that three different endings were shot, and that in one of them Archer was outright killed. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that had Enterprise been cancelled, the ending in which Archer was killed would have been aired, since it would have given the series some closure, IMHO.

I didn't recognize the Reman. He looked almost like a Hirogen from Voyager, especially in that uniform.

I'm not certain the crew went back in time. It seemed to me that time was changed in the past, and they are in their present seeing the result.
One of the first things they should have done was check the stars (considering their experience from E2). Like Duke said, they saw their version of a monkey in Abes hat. Question is, why are the crew still around? What protected them from the change? I didn't notice any temporal wake.

I am confused as to when the time travel, assuming it was time travel, actually occurred. Was it when the Xindi weapon was destroyed? If so, how would Enterprise have been affected?

Great show overall, but with the most disappointing, jarring ending since A.I. Didn't they do something like this in Galactica:1980?

I didn't recognize the alien as a Reman, to me it was just another alien.

I'm glad the MACO gave more of a fight instead of just surrendering. I would have liked to see him pull the knife from himself and jab it into the Xindi just before plunging over the side though. You don't "instantly" die from a knife wound.

The Federation races mentioned were the humans, Vulcan, Andorians, and Tellarites.

I really liked the crumply sphere effect, a good sound system really helped to sell it.

Archer has to ask the arboreal if they have some way they can transfer information to something portable so he can bring it to Hoshi?! I half expected the arboreal to grab a magnetic tape reel or punch cards. Apparently the Xindi haven't figured out networking yet.

I'd think that Archer, in a moment of desperation, would start plucking those things out of the reptilians head in order to distract him. But perhaps a funny cartoon "ploink" sound would have been too much.

I really liked T'Pol's expression just before taking leave of Phlox in sickbay, and her new attitude in general. Softer, less cold.

I was also rather surprised that they wrapped up most of the story in this episode. I half expected a cheesy cliffhanger (like when Archer was hanging off the rail -- ouch!) but when it concluded with about 15 minutes left I was happy to see some character scenes as well.

Another point...
Just how poor are Enterprise sensors?
Were they broke?
Why couldn't they know the condition of Earth without sending a pod?

And Travis said something about seeing a command center. It sounded like a building that both he & Trip recognized. Does Travis know any more details? Did the center look like what he expected? When they get closer will they find an ape wearing a hat?

I can (possibly) understand how Archer got into 1941(?). But how did Enterprise get there? Surely the Aquatics wouldn't mess up that badly!

Also, why wouldn't they be scanning on all frequencies (including radio)? That's what Uhura did in Tomorrow is Yesterday(TOS), IIRC. Of course, then they would have known immediately that something was wrong.

In addition, Trip tells Travis to land somewhere (I think on the pad behind the Command center). Shouldn't Travis have said, "I don't see the Command Center"?

Overall, I enjoyed the episode - the action, the character development we've seen with Hoshi and Malcolm continuing, the conflict within Archer getting less crazy about "WE HAVE TO SAVE THE EARTH" yet still toughening (does that make sense?). I also liked the almost throw-away scene between T'rip and T'Pol in Engineering when she pointed out that, if they didn't succeed, Vulcan would be destroyed eventually. Besides the writing and plot advancement in that scene, I think Connor Trineer and Jolene Blalock played their characters extremely well. In fact, Trip and T'Pol have become my favorite characters recently, T'Pol's whole crack addiction aside.

I'm am also gratful that the whole Xindi/Guardians storyline wasn't left wide open, that the Killer Sphere is destroyed and the Xindi are now grateful to Earth for saving their collective backsides from the Sphere Builders.

As mentioned by others, Daniels is turning out to be a real harpie! "You can't die, you are critical to the founding of the Federation!" Blah-blah-blah, yackety-schmackety, you twit. I'd pay good money to see Archer set phasers to •••••-slap on his former mess hall steward.

I have my doubts about the mysterious Nazi being Reman. I know I'm getting my sci-fi all confused, but he really looked more like a Drakh than a Reman. It would be an interesting twist on the Romulan Wars, and it would make sense, though...well, about as much sense as the ending makes now.

What changed, that P-51s are shooting at the shuttlepod and Archer's a prisoner of the Nazis? Is it time travel back to the 20th century, or was something in space-time was altered so that human evolution was somehow delayer and WWII takes place in the mid-22nd century now? (And, God help me, will Daniels again have to put in an appearance to set everything straight?)

I don't think it's time travel. If it were, it either happened when the spheres asplode, or when Archer made the WMD go blooey. If it was the former, then how is Archer in the same time frame - Nazis, WWII - since the Killer Bocci Ball exploded before Enterprise destroyed the spheres? If it is the latter, then why wasn't the Expanse changed so that Enterprise wasn't there, the Xindi hadn't built their weapon, etc.?

Is it a nit, or is it intentional that Trip and Mayweather didn't notice the changes in San Francisco? The sh'pod sensors can detect things tens of thousands of miles away, but can't tell the difference in the buildings of a mid-20th century San Francisco vs. a mid-22nd century San Francisco? Could it be that they were flying over a San Francisco of the mid-22nd century where 20th century tech is used? But then there wouldn't be some facilities at Starfleet like shuttlepod landing pads, etc. To borrow from Ricky Ricardo, "Oh, B&B, you got some 'splain' to do!"

I have a feeling the season premiere is either going to be very, very good (clever, thought-provoking, intelligent) or very, very bad. I give it even odds - the show's been very, very bad before, but the latter half of this season showed a great improvement, I think.

INFLUX: "Great show overall, but with the most disappointing, jarring ending since A.I. Didn't they do something like this in Galactica:1980?"

I thought exactly the same thing. There was a "Galactica 1980" episode where a rouge human went back in time to WWII to help the Nazis and bring earth up to a greater technological ability to help them against the Cylons. Not a great show (to put it mildly). I certainly hope they're not going to attempt something like that with "Enterprise."

Oh, and how about Archer blowing up the Reptilian Xindi commander with one of the charges? All season I'd been thinking how stupid and functionally useless those shoulder bars were, and now we see just how dangerous they are! The look on Archer's face when Snake Eyes realized what was going to happen was just so cool - er, make that cold. I had mixed feelings of "Dag, that's cold!" and "Wow, that was awesome!"

posted by Chris Todaro:
There was a "Galactica 1980 episode where a rouge human went back in time...
Um, we call them Native Americans. Oh, you didn't mean the color rouge, but rogue. J

I'll give it an A-.

With respect to the main story - the capping off of what has certainly been the best Trek season in years, I think they DID hit the main points - perhaps not as solidly as they might have.

With respect to the Sphere plotline, we got the race against time to destroy the key Sphere with the Sphere-builders making it interesting to the end. I liked the way Phlox used the info he got from the earlier ep to defeat the Sphere-builders now - it's been typical of the season where the writers really are pulling together all the threads that have been laid out in various episodes. Some people have raised the totally valid point of it being slightly ridiculous that the Xindi wouldn't send some additional ships to help Enterprise at the Sphere. Also slightly ridiculous is that the Sphere-builders would build a system which is capable of being knocked down in such complete domino effect. That aside, it was done competently - right down to Trip honoring the memory of past engineers back to Scotty with the last second save.

For the main plotline - the ultimate defeat of the Weapon - we also hit the mark. We got a nice race to the Weapon - complete with the always-welcome Jeffrey Combs/Shran (is he the MVP of all Trek guest stars? Has he passed Mark Lenard? If not, he's certainly giving him a run for his money!). I was pleased to see that we DID get a final showdown between Archer and the Xindi-reptile leader Dolum.

With respect to both of the main plotlines I liked that they got it all done. I think the direction was a bit flat though. They did everything they had to do, but it didn't seem as gripping as perhaps it should have. Contrast this with the edge-of-your-seat direction of The Council, two weeks ago. The direction here seemed a bit pedestrian - i.e. they knew what they wanted to show - they showed it - but not much more. That's what pushed me from an A+ to an A-.

Now we're left with the cliffhanger. Personally? I thought it was decent. Totally unexpected. My big concern was that they were going to leave the MAIN plotline as a cliffhanger. They didn't do that - they wrapped it up - I'm happy about that. I also like the way the whole final bit was written. As soon as we heard "no radio transmissions" what Trek fan DIDN'T think - "time travel?" And then when we hear bullets - the question is - "which era?" Seeing the WWII planes puts us where (almost) no Trek has gone before (ok - Patterns of Force, too). But, best of all, the whole ending opens up PLENTY of speculation for the summer. Is this our Earth in the past, with a single Reman (I didn't recognize him as such, but I've only seen Nemesis once - at first I thought it was a time-traveling Xindi-reptile - but on closer scrutiny, it doesn't appear to be that) working with the Nazis? Or is it an alternate timeline in which the Remans control the Nazis and perhaps the allies are losing the war? Are we in the present of another timeline? Parallel world? Who knows! Fun to speculate. Certainly too early to dismiss it as a bad idea! Give them a chance - let's see where they go with this. I would LOVE if this lead into another season long arc. Not necessarily all set in WWII era Earth - but dealing with what has happened, who made it happen, and, perhaps, leading to some dealings with the Romulans (OR the Remans). Hopefully this will NOT wrap up in the season premiere and then we're back to business as usual. However, I DID read that they were discussing extended mini-arcs for next year to make it easier for new viewers to jump on at mid-season. But perhaps the mini-arcs could have a connection to form a maxi-arc for the season?

Miscellaneous points...I liked the Archer-Hoshi interaction. Nice to see her not just shaking off the effects of the Xindi torture. I loved the reference back to the premiere ep when Archer convinced Hoshi to join him. The T'Pol-Trip interaction wasn't too painful either - there was a nice gripping of Trip's shoulder that worked really well body-language-wise. And I liked her concern over the threat to her homeworld. Phlox doing his will was perfect - I love how we keep seeing time and again that Phlox isn't quite human. Yes, I know he's NOT human - but as a general rule, "aliens' are just humans with different features. Phlox seems to be a welcome exception to this rule - he really DOES seem different in the way he looks at things an acts. I would have liked to see a bit more of Reed in this ep - but you can't have everything.

Regarding nitpicks, with respect to trivial ones - yes, T'Pol blew the date. These types of errors are really just typos - and don't bother me as much. A possible larger nit which many have raised is where were the other satellites/defenses to earth? Where was the rest of the fleet? This one is answered VERY easily: they're not there because even BEFORE the Weapon is destroyed, we're next to this WWII era Earth which HAD no orbiting satellites and fleet! We don't know what's caused the WWII era Earth to appear - but why assume it happened AFTER the Weapon was destroyed? Perhaps the shift (if a shift occurred) happened after the Xindi destroyed the one station? Or perhaps the sphere of influence of this anomalous earth didn't extend as far as that space station. Either explanation neatly answers all these questions. (Although, I admit I would have loved to see Earth's fleet hurling itself against the Weapon in a last ditch effort against the Weapon - but I'll bet COST played a big factor here - remember - Enterprise was a show on the bubble - they weren't about to mortgage the farm in a hugely expensive episode here).

All in all, as I said, this HAS been the best Trek in quite some time. I was HIGHLY skeptical last year when we learned about the Xindi War plotline. They really pleasantly surprised me with something good. Especially considering the mediocrity of the first two seasons (and, arguably, the mediocrity of the whole 7 seasons of Voyager!) (well - perhaps I'm a bit too harsh, but I DO think it was the weakest of the first 4 series). Anyway, given what they did this year - I'm looking forward to seeing them run with the ball next year! Whoo-hooo! Good Trek again! :^)

Taoiseach: "Um, we call them Native Americans. Oh, you didn't mean the color rouge, but rogue."

Sorry about the typo. Didn't mean to offend anyone.

And another observation:

The shot of Archer running to escape the explosion of the weapon reminded me of the opening to "T. J. Hooker." (I wonder if that was intentional )

Definitely looking forward to next year after this ep. So many questions... I haven't felt this way following a finale since Locutus showed up.

But... I hope whatever the situation is it gets wrapped up in the first arc of the season, then they get back to their own time or timeline (depending on if they're in the past or an alternate present, obviously) for the other arcs of the season. I definitely don't want them going from alternate timeline to alternate timeline or time travelling all over the place.. er time.. trying to get home. Scott Bakula's already been there, done that. ;)

Theory & conjecture:
SOMEONE (Remans?)was watching Away Team & Archer versus Xindi retiles.
As the Weapon O Mass Destruction was being destroyed, SOMEONE knew that Archer would win.
So, SOMEONE went back in time to change Earth history. Luckily for Archer, SOMEONE returned to altered present and saved him (unintenionally?). Luckily for Xindi & Away Team that they were just outside of the time change. And Enterprise crew were really far away. Didn't Doc from Back to Future Pt II say that a time paradox could be localized? But, does that mean that Vulcans, Andorians, & other aliens could visit Earth and wonder what happened to it?
Or, perhaps Daniels protected only Enterprise, Away Team, and Archer before he (Daniels) was removed from existence.
Or maybe the writers don't know what they're doing and we'll get to see an ape wearing a hat afterall.
Temporal Mechanics give me a headache.

I rather think that we've got an alternate universe on our hands, not time-travel per se. I'm trying not to get too worked up about it, though, seeing as it'll be many months before this deal gets resolved. I've seen some links that provide comparisons between Remans and the Evil Alien Nazi... it's not really conclusive either way. I'll try and find them and post them here.

Perhaps I should talk about the episode itself? Well, it had an awful lot to reccomend it. I cheered when I saw that Shran was going to be involved. I think it hit just about all the right notes. Trip and T'Pol managed to carry the day, preventing even Phlox from stealing the episode. He came close, but the T'Pol/Porthos scene? Aw.

Upon further reflection, the cliffhanger here reminds me of some of the cliffhangers from "Farscape".

Farscape frequently ended its seasons with a feeling of "What the frell is going on??" This cliffhanger especially reminded me of the series finale of Farscape. In that episode, everything seems to be great and Crichton and Aeryn are sharing a tender moment on a boat in an ocean. All of a sudden a never-before-seen alien ship comes soaring in and disintegrates them both. TO BE CONTINUED. It was totally out of left field and had nothing to do with what came before, but cliffhangers are supposed to pique the audience's interest for next season. This one certainly did it.

I certainly hope no one is closed minded enough to think that TPTB can't possibly know what they're doing. The last seven episodes of this season proves that they have some skills.

I'm actually glad for the cliffhanger. Over the last few weeks I was concerned that next season might end up with business as usual (re: boring). I thought that TPTB didn't really have a plan after this season. This cliffhanger shows that they have things worked out, and I can't wait to see what that Reman is doing on Earth in the past.

I don't care what anyone says. That was a Reman, plain and simple.

TUE

A Reman in charge of the Axis, and who's in charge of the Allies? Why... MY NAME IS QUARK.
So, Archer goes back in time or the Nazi's go forward in time... Who's writing this stuff? Dan Quayle!!!

Hey! Maybe we'll find out that the Defiant is on the farside of the planet looking for Dax, Sisko, and Bashir... and the Enterprise-E is orbiting looking for the Romulans who are gonna take that Picard DNA... and the Enterprise-D is chasing after the Devidians...

I liked the episode up until the end. Why the Nazis? There are plenty of oppressive regimes that could be used in place of the Nazis. I was hoping to see Colonel Green. He is said to have done some horrific things in the world.

Like what was said in other people's posts, I think the premier will do extremely well or bomb completely and a forth season won't happen.

I also want to know what temporal justification San Fransico plays in the world?

BTW, it is a Reman, I double checked the back cover of my Nemesis DVD with the paused image of the Nazi alien. One does wonder how an alien could become a member of the Nazi party to begin with? The Nazis to my recollection didn't seem like the group of people to welcome outsiders and or persons with differences...

Does discussion of this episodes end qualify as a violation of Godwin's law?

I have heard the theory that the Reman is using mind control to make the Nazis think that he/she is actually human.

Nazis were probably chosen because:
1. Their symbol is immediately recognizable.
2. They're one of the most famous evil groups in history.
3. WWII affected most of the planet.
4. A lot of people are already very familiar with them.
5. Trek has some sort of fascination with analyzing the Nazi Party.

I'm not too worked up about it. The worst that could happen is that it all turns out to be really lame. It wouldn't be any worse than Sela showing up in "Redemption" (TNG). It would just make for a crappy resolution not the end of the series.

I suspect, however, that TPTB have something up their sleeves. This is quite a hole they dug themselves into, and it would be very very unwise for them to create this cliffhanger without having some idea of where they're going with it.

TUE

Well, personally I found the entire ending sequence (before the throwback to the Nazis) to be very formulaic. It was interesting and somewhat exciting, but honestly, the entire thing was telegraphed to us: we knew from watching the last few episodes that there would be some kind of "race against time" to defuse/stop the weapon. So I really wasn't that bowled over....

....until the Nazi sequence. I'm not sure what to expect. Surely, what Daniels showed Archer couldn't have been a throw-away scene. Somehow it has to tie in to what's happening.

Why can't Daniels just tell Archer everything and then erase those memories? Then they could get around the "I'll get in trouble and so on" speeches.

and for crying out loud...

CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES DANIELS!!!!

When Shran showed up to offer his help, I thought he was going to make another attempt to steel the super-weapon Like he did in "Proving Groung" ,but he didn't. Looks like the Andorians are starting to become more friendly towards humans (pink skins)

Commander Dolum's demise was very fitting considering all the trouble he has caused.

All-in-all on of the best Star Trek episodes ever.

Oh, goody. Still yet another time travel storyline. How original. Yet again Vermin and Blahhhga have demonstrated their totally entire utter disregard for the Trekverse. How many times do they plan on using the old tired time travel plot, huh? How many times do they have to screw up the Trek continuity with it? And how soon before they're ousted and replaced by somebody who actually gives a d*mn about Star Trek? Bah! This show isn't Star Trek. It's the Un-Trek. So it is, so shall it always be.

"Bah! This show isn't Star Trek. It's the Un-Trek. So it is, so shall it always be. "

Then pretend it doesn't exist and do something else with the time you apparently think you are wasting by watching. Unless, of course, you're a masochist or something and like to watch stuff you hate. Then by all means, keep watching until your head a splode from annoyance.

Was thinking about the people & things that fell in the sphere & found myself wondering why they fell. This isn't a structure on a planet, it's the interior of a sphere in space. By itself it would only have a microgravity so anything dropped or pushed would be pulled toward the greatest mass.

Since the sphere was spinning it could be argued that what appeared to be gravity was actually centripetal force throwing things away from the center, although IIRC the 'gravity' would be greater the farther away you get from the center and near the mini-spinning thing (which I assume to be the center) would have less 'gravity'.

The other (more likely) way would be artificial gravity, but if that was used why generate gravity at the bottom of those empty spaces? Logically the 'grav plating' should only be under the areas that are actually walked upon, which if you think about it, would create something of an MC Escher effect inside. The mini-spinning thing would be up and down would be away from it.

Len - Certainly too early to dismiss it as a bad idea!
It's never too early to dismiss it as a bad idea.

Or perhaps the sphere of influence of this anomalous earth didn't extend as far as that space station.
Sorry, but later Hoshi is unable to contact the Lunar 1 colony and there are no other space stations in orbit. I find it unlikely that this one station was orbiting outside the orbit of the moon.

Was there any reference to trying to contact the Martian colonies?

TUE - it would be very very unwise for them to create this cliffhanger without having some idea of where they're going with it.
Wouldn't be the first time if they didn't know where they were going with a cliffhanger. IIRC Equinox (Voy) was written & filmed with no idea of how it would be dealt with the next year & apparently earlier cliffhangers in Voy & NextGen had sometimes been done the same way.

My recollection from reading the TNG Companion was that they always wrote the second part of the season-ending cliffhanger after the hiatus, every single time, with little or no thought beforehand for how the plot would be resolved.

But from the looks of the end of this episode, it seems like they have something in mind. I can't imagine they said, "What the he||, let's throw them back to WWII and toss a Reman in there. We'll figure out what to do with that later."

TUE

TUE,

I can totally see them doing that. With the regard that they have for continuity, which is none, it wouldn't surprise me if they came up with the plot by throwing darts at ideas on a wall.

I agree with Torque - too much time travel. Temporal mechanics gives me a headache also.

To quote Comic Book Guy - "Worst Cliffhanger Ever!"

This is the kind of thing that always bugged me about movie franchises (Friday the 13th, et al), where the last scene (or stinger) is the maniac's hand rising from the ground. It's like they have to set it up for a sequel. My feeling is they should just finish the darn story with a satisfying ending. Let the next season/movie take care of itself.

L: Or perhaps the sphere of influence of this anomalous earth didn't extend as far as that space station.
KAM: Sorry, but later Hoshi is unable to contact the Lunar 1 colony and there are no other space stations in orbit. I find it unlikely that this one station was orbiting outside the orbit of the moon.

Perhaps it was like a time wave. By the time Hoshi tried to contact the Lunar 1 colony, the wave had expanded.

MarkN: Oh, goody. Still yet another time travel storyline. How original. Yet again Vermin and Blahhhga have demonstrated their totally entire utter disregard for the Trekverse. How many times do they plan on using the old tired time travel plot, huh? How many times do they have to screw up the Trek continuity with it? And how soon before they're ousted and replaced by somebody who actually gives a d*mn about Star Trek? Bah! This show isn't Star Trek. It's the Un-Trek. So it is, so shall it always be.

Time travel episodes aren't Trek?! What shows have you been watching, starting from TOS onwards (which had, what? 3 time travel eps in 3 seasons?), time travel eps have been a staple of Trek. And THIS series has a time travel concept as one of its key premises!! (you HAVE noticed the Temporal Cold War plotline running through the 3 seasons, haven't you?!).

With respect to continuity, it's the very use of the time travel plotlines which FREES the show of continuity restraints. They've established definitively (I believe in the Carpenter St. ep) that the whole Xindi War was NOT a part of the original timeline. SO spinning off the ripples from that, all bets are off - they can now meet the Romulans (or the Remans as might be the case by the Nazi alien) with no contradiction in continuity. That being said, I think they're going to try to stick to continuity out of respect to the fans (believe it or not) - but when they screw up now, they're covered.

Torque said: CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES DANIELS!!!!

What if all the Daniels' scenes over the last 3 years are within the same day for Daniels. i.e. from his perspective, he's dropped in on Archer several times within a 2 hour period, from Archer's point of view its been 3 years. That explains Daniels' sartorial sameness.

What if all the Daniels' scenes over the last 3 years are within the same day for Daniels. i.e. from his perspective, he's dropped in on Archer several times within a 2 hour period, from Archer's point of view its been 3 years. That explains Daniels' sartorial sameness. -Len

Oh, it was nothing... Just all in a days work.

NIT
Archer and Daniels are standing in what appears to be a ceremonial declaration for the Federation or something of that nature... One wonders how tight security is that 1.7* humans could appear there. I don't know about anyone else but I would think that might trigger a few alarms.

*See Cold Front as to what Daniels is...

Speaking of the time-traveling "rift-hanger"
I don't know if it is such a bad thing. Or put another way, I am beginning to think that it wasn't entirely B&B fault. The Star Trek Chronology (the revised ed. for Star Trek First Contact) states that the Earth-Romulan wars were fought with primitive atomic weapons. This means that it had to take place before a time where antimatter exists. So B&B might have inherited this time travel arc from someone else and chose to add their curse to it by using the Remans. Also, using the Remans would maintain continuity of not having the Hu-mons know what a Romulan looks like.

I will now run for cover as I have just stood up for B&B.

TOS onwards (which had, what? 3 time travel eps in 3 seasons?),

Four. Tomorrow is Yesterday, Assignment Earth, The City on the Edge of Forever, and All our Yesterdays (though the last one might not really count, no big deal was made of the time travel.

Was there any reference to trying to contact the Martian colonies? KAM

No, there wasn't.

This is quite a hole they dug themselves into, and it would be very very unwise for them to create this cliffhanger without having some idea of where they're going with it. TUE

Well, as said above, this seems to have been the writers' modus operandi in the past. Plus, B&B might not care! They're not going to be working on the show as closely next year (slack will be taken up by Coto and... well, I forget whom else), so they may have gone all-out knowing they wouldn't have to clean up the mess.

For criminy's sake, will you people not be so cynical just for once???

Maybe, JUST MAYBE, this will all turn out great.
Maybe, JUST MAYBE, Brannon Braga is not the anti-christ.
And Maybe, JUST MAYBE, Enterprise is finally taking some chances and doing unexpected things.

TUE

I thought I was giving B&B a chance!!!

Maybe it was the Reptilian/Sphere Builders Plan B. Put Reptilians in the past to alter Earths "present" and the alien was really the result of Reptilians and Humans mating for a couple of hundred years?

Definitely not a Reptilian Xindi. Looks like a Reman to me.

TUE - Maybe, JUST MAYBE, Brannon Braga is not the anti-christ.
No, he's the Anti-Roddenberry.

And Maybe, JUST MAYBE, Enterprise is finally taking some chances and doing unexpected things.
Offhand I don't really remember anyone complaining about that. The complaints usually seem to revolve around lack of continuity & bad writing.

Frankly the use of Nazis in SF is a cliché. What's next? Archer & company going back to Dallas in November, 1963, to discover the alien behind the grassy knoll?
Archer: T'Pol? You shot Kennedy?
T'Pol: It was the logical thing to do.

Frankly, I find myself thinking that Stone Cold had a pretty good idea up there about tying it into the Eugenics War. We know very little about it. Heck, the Chief pointed out in the Classic Guide that Khan would have had to been born at the time the episode was filmed. The Eugenics War could very easily be tied into the whole Temporal War and involve alien science. Also Archer told a story about some ancestor who fought in the war a few episodes back which could have been tied in as well.

Instead we got a BILC moment.

TOS Time Travel eps
While it only happened at the end of the episode, The Naked Time had the ship going back in time 3 days, which could push the count up to 5 eps.

The following brief is classified TOP SECRET
Location: Vicinity of Earth (and expanding); Sol Solar System; Alpha Quadrant; Milky Way Galaxy; Continuum 47.
Earth Date: 02/14/2154 (Valentine's Day)
A summary of recent temporal events:
Capt. J. Archer of Enterprise NX-01 altered time when he died aboard a Xindi weapon. Fortunately, Earth was not destroyed, and the Federation was eventually formed. However, absent the influence of Archer, Section 31 was not created. The paradox resulted in altering the Temporal Cold War into a full blown conflict.
Recent advances by the enemy (code name Bermin):
Reman soldiers were sent into Earth's past. By the year 2154, San Francisco is no longer Star Fleet headquarters, but it is instead controlled by Nazis under the command of a Reman. The Reman have managed to insure that Earth technology did not progress beyond early 20th Century.
Response of the Federation:
Due to the nature of full scale war, Special Agent Daniels has been given permission to interfere in 2154. Two cloaked time-ships have been ordered to assist him. One time-ship extended temporal ships around the NX-01. The other protected an Away Team and Xindi near Earth in like manner. Daniels has given direct responsibility of Archer (due to the fact he is descended from Archer). However, Daniels is currently listed as MIA and the temporal status of Archer is unknown.
Prediction: Daniels will ensure the survival of Archer, the creation of Section 31, and the restoration of the timeline.
End Of Brief. Now please direct your attention to this pen for an eye exam...

I have to say I'm starting to wonder if the alien is in fact a Reman.

Take a look at this link:

http://www.triphammered.com/

Scroll down to the third picture

It looks a hell of a lot like a Reman, but it's not really quite right. I wouldn't be surprised if it did turn out to be a Reman with slightly altered makeup, but I also wouldn't be surprised now if it turned out to be another alien entirely.

TUE

Personally, I will be EXTREMELY ANGRY if the Remans come into the past. The problem with time travel is that it negates so much. If an alien race decides to fight a war with time travel, then the nature of the conflict changes dramatically. Instead of massive Dominion-style warfare, you get "commando raids" into each other's pasts. Since Trek (largely) adheres to the principle of "the minute they disappear into the past, everything changes in the present," the need to fight battles in the present is obviated.

Now, that having been said, I enjoy time travel, and I would love to watch a show where a war is fought in the past. The problem is, that show isn't Star Trek. From time to time, time travel has been used. The problem with basing an entire war around it is that time travel, as stated above, requires an entirely different playbook and runs by totally different rules. I find that the importance of a conflict is undermined when there is a "time travel plan B" in the background to try and fix things. "Carpenter Street," as a case in point: if the Xindi can go into the past once, why not again? So the bioweapon plot failed once: go back and try it again. Or, given early 21st-century Earth's terrorist problem, bring a few 22nd-century "suitcase nukes" into the past and start World War III ahead of schedule. Or actually go to World War III and make it worse. Or show up in 2063 and stop First Contact, finishing the job the Borg failed to do. Or go to 2030s San Francisco and kill Bell, preventing the Bell Riots. Or go to the 1930s and save Edith Keeler. You see the problem? Before long, there are an infinite number of battlegrounds to defend, with each one being of paramount importance. Traditional warfare is eliminated.

If we thus assume that the Remans are in the past, trying to stop Earth from becoming powerful, that will effectively destroy the premise of the Romulan Wars.

I was just watching "Nemesis" on The Movie Channel and was giving the Remans a good looking over. There seem to be quite a number of differences between their face and that of the "Nazi Alien": the skeletal ridges around the eyes seem more pronounced in the Remans; the Reman nose seems more blunt and less well-defined; and the Remans' lower canine tusks seemed to be placed differently than those of the "Nazi Alien." These are just too many points of dissimilarity for me to be comfortable accepting that "NA" is a Reman.

Of course, consider the difference between the Klingons of TOS and those of all later productions. I always figured that was due to poor shielding of the warp core in earlier Klingon ships; but Worf insisted, simply, "We don't like to talk about it!"

Maybe it's a half-reman/half-nazi.

Jesse - Or go to 2030s San Francisco and kill Bell, preventing the Bell Riots.
According to DS9 Bell was killed. ;-) Pick, pick, pick.

Then kill Sisko.

If it wasn't a Reman, then it was just another BILC moment. "Oooh, Nazis and aliens! Coool!!"

If it was a Reman, and even we still aren't sure, then the point wasn't made very well. Besides, I'd pretty much forgotten about Nemesis and made no connection whatsoever.

Temporal Mechanics gives me a headache.

According to Azati Prime, if Archer succeeds in his mission, then the SphereBuilders will be defeated at the Battle of Procyon V, with the Expanse having a volume 50000 lightyears in diameter.

Yet here, the spheres maintaining the anomalies in the Expanse are destroyed. (Which explains why we've never seen the Expanse in (Trek chronology) later series.

So for the ending we see that Enterprise has fallen back on one of the most tired cliches: NAZI craap. This show deserves to die.

ScottN: Temporal Mechanics gives me a headache.

According to Azati Prime, if Archer succeeds in his mission, then the SphereBuilders will be defeated at the Battle of Procyon V, with the Expanse having a volume 50000 lightyears in diameter.

Yet here, the spheres maintaining the anomalies in the Expanse are destroyed. (Which explains why we've never seen the Expanse in (Trek chronology) later series.

Very simple explanation - doesn't require a single chronoton particle: The Spherebuilders build a DIFFERENT expanse some time in the future - presumably w/o the silly domino effect vulnerability which allowed our heros to prevail during Zero Hour.

The reason we'd never seen this before is ALSO easily explained by 1 of 2 explanations:

1) The battle takes place AFTER Nemesis (in fact, I think that's said in Azati Prime, isn't it?)

2) The timeline has been altered by the whole TCW.

Jesse: Or go to 2030s San Francisco and kill Bell, preventing the Bell Riots.

Doesn't that happen in "Kill Bell, Vol. 2"?? (ouch!!) :^p

OK Len! For that one, you have to go watch The Episode Whose Name We Dare Not Speak(DS9).

After that, you're forgiven

Happily, I don't have that one on tape! :^P

Relax, Captain, you got yourself that fourth season
Great Line: “I don’t have time for this.” –Archer to Daniels, at the end of Act 1, after Daniels has pulled Archer into the year 2161. I found this line funny, not simply because of the obvious pun, but because all the awe and wonder of traveling through time has now lost its mystique for Archer, because Archer appears to be sick of Daniels’ selective interference, and because of Archer’s disinterest in the hugely important events being witnessed.

---Critique:
---Well, what can I say that needs to be said?
After about half a dozen stellar episodes that have combined excellent suspense, great action, beautiful special effects shots, a wonderful sense of tension and fear, and fairly reasonable character work that comprises a vindication of the third season, and the best episodes in the series’ history, Zero Hour provides a worthy climax to the Xindi storyline, and a splendidly enigmatic season cliffhanger to keep fans wondering during the summer. My compliments all around to the staff of Enterprise, having easily surpassed the legacy of Voyager, and returned to the tradition of Trek series breaking out in their third season. Bravo!
---I will say that watching the Sphere-Builders attack on the Enterprise during the mission to deactivate the Spheres was more suspenseful than Archer’s mission on the Weapon, which ended a bit too soon and was a bit more anti-climatic (I think the music played a role in that), but his final showdown with Dolum, and how he dispatched him, was worth it, and because it ended at the end of Act 3, I had a feeling something would come up in Act 4 to let us know that it wasn’t all over.
---I LOVED seeing that shot of the inside of the Federation Council chamber that closed out Act 1! It was beautiful, grandiose in its size, and complete with the UFP flag! It was way better than anything we saw in ST IV or ST VI, and on a par with the similar structure seen in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
---And was I the only one who incorrectly thought that that shadowed Nazi figure who appeared in the closing shot of the episode would turn out to be Adolf Hitler?

---Notes:
---We learn in the teaser that Xindi-Reptilians toast with rodents instead of beverages.
---T’Pol tells Trip in the opening scene of Act 4 that she will be 66 years old on her next birthday. She also tells him that such personal information is considered “intimate” by Vulcans.

---Continuity Nods:
---Archer asks the Jannar if he can give Degra’s data to Hoshi on a PADD. While the devices have been used ubiquitously on Enterprise, I believe this may be the first time the word has been mentioned on the show.
---In the closing shots of Act 1, we see the Federation Council Chamber of 2161, during the founding of the organization, the first time we’ve seen such a chamber since ST VI.

---Terms:
neuroleptic compound Substance that Phlox tells T’Pol in Act 1 he can create to keep them conscious in the reconfigured space around Sphere 41 for 12-15 mintues, perhaps more, but which will not prevent epidermal decay.
Groznick The third husband of Phlox’s first wife, as he mentions in a letter to Dr. Lucas in Act 2.
Aldebaran drum set Musical instruments that Phlox loaned Groznick, whom he says is welcome to keep it in the event of his death, as he says in a letter to Dr. Lucas in in Act 2.
Indaura The daughter of Phlox’s first wife and third husband, who should be eight or nine by now, who always had a flair for plants, and to whom Phlox wishes to leave his botanical library, as he mentions in a letter to Dr. Lucas in Act 2.
Yosemite Three Research post in orbit around Earth, at which the Reptilians arrive in Act 2, before destroying it. Archer says right after this that it is usually inhabited by 30 to 40 civilians. Reed refers to it as Yosemite Station when the Enterprise returns to Earth in Act 4.
Walker One of the MACOs who engages the Sphere-Builders in Act 3, who radios the bridge to report the Sphere-Builder’s retreat from Engineering.
Lunar One colony Colony on the moon that T’Pol ordrers contacted when contact with Starfleet in Act 4 fails, and which is similarly non-responsive.

Maybe he means they were black?
Dolum says in the teaser that if the Guardians made them the dominant species before the Xindi Civil War, that Xindus would not have been destroyed, and his lieutenant, referencing the extinct Avians, adds that their “alien brothers would still fill the skies.” True, the Avians were a different species, but why would he refer to them as alien if they came from the same planet, particularly when he is expressing oneness with them by calling them “brothers”?
Does this mean mouse traps are sold on Xindus as hors d’oeuvre trays?
One more alien animal that looks just like an Earth animal: The mice with which Dolum and his lieutenants toast at the end of the teaser.
That’s weird. Usually when Trekkies want peoples’ names kept out of the credits, it’s Berman and Braga’s.
Did anyone else wish that Matt Winston and Jeffrey Combs’ names were kept out of the opening credits? Granted, I happened to catch a glimpse of Daniels in the promo commercial right before the teaser when I began editing the episode, and I admit I speculated that Shran and/or the other three NX-class Starfleet vessels (and hell, even the Avians) would show up at the final hour, but it would’ve been nice to have kept my suspense.
Maybe they could slip a few billion Viagra tablets in to the Vulcan water supply, and make Vulcans fight the Sphere-Buidlers to the death
T’Pol tells Trip in Act 1 that without humanity, there will be no one to combat the Sphere-Builders. Well, that’s not really true. Vulcan has way more advanced technology than Earth, and even if Earth is destroyed, Vulcan can certainly take up the fight against the Sphere-Builders, particularly after the Enterprise gives them all the information they’ve collected over the past several months on the Expanse, the Xindi, and the Sphere-Builders, and particularly since three or four of the Xindi species may now be on their side. So why can’t the remaining Alpha Quadrant races take up the fight to save their part of space, especially once they’re informed of the threat? If T’Pol concedes that Vulcan is equally in jeopardy, why can’t she conceive of Vulcan fighting back?
How’s this for code: the tain-kapay is-say a oron-may
After Archer goes to see Hoshi in her quarters on Degra’s ship, and she retreats to her bed, Archer tells her that Degra encrypted his schematics for the Weapon, and that she’s been trying to decipher them. Um, no, she deciphered a third arming code. Not the schematics. And for all we know, the third arming code she deciphered wasn’t even Degra’s, but could’ve been the Arboreals’, or the Aquatics’.
The enemy of my enemy is…well, I dunno what he is…
You really have to marvel at Daniels’ hypocrisy and sense of priorities. He is constantly trying to pull Archer away from his mission with the Xindi to ensure that he is there for the formation of the UFP, without telling him why he is so crucial to it and irreplaceable, even though if he bothered to appear before the Xindi Council and yank the Council members into the future like he did Archer, he might’ve prevented the launch of the Weapon, and wouldn’t have to convince Archer not to engage the Weapon. Or is this simply because Daniels really isn’t on Archers’ side, as some have suggested is evidenced by Future Guy and Silik preventing the destruction of the Enterprise in Cold Front, and informing Archer about the Xindi and the timeline in The Expanse?
They must’ve been outlawed by the same states that banned radar guns
Okay, so if there are vortices with which ships can travel about 50 lights years (the distance between Earth and the Xindi Council planet, which Dolum established in the teaser of The Xindi) in a matter of hours, maybe a day, a journey that for the Enterprise took several months, shouldn’t this revolutionize space travel for humans, and jump them far ahead of even where NextGen propulsion technology is? How come we never heard of this in the prior Trek series?
Half of the Earth vessels are out buying Valentine’s Day cards, half are off scouting for a new homeworld, and the Vulcans are just laughing their asses off at Earth being attacked
When coming out of the vortex in Act 2, Dolum’s lieutenant tells him there are no Earth ships in the vicinity. Why is this? Shouldn’t the solar system be crawling with them, not to mention their Vulcan allies? Why is the Kumari only ship around Earth to defend it?
Yeah, because usually when something named “Yosemite” gets blown up on TV, it’s by Bugs Bunny
And does someone wanna explain to me the point of the destruction of Yosemite Three in Act 2? How was this relevant to the plot? At first I thought it was some kind of Trojan horse or something, but noting came of it. The only thing I can think of was Dolum’s statement that battling the Kumari was taking them away from the Weapon, and the Xindi-Humanoid did mention when Dolum went after the station that it was changing course, but I doubt this made that much a difference, or that Starfleet would plant it there but not defend Earth with ships.
Okay, so lets’ see. We had an episode called “The Seventh.” And even though oshi was being held on the first three decks in the previous episode, the Reptilians said they were one Level 7. And now instead of six crewman, there are suddenly seven. Is it me, or is someone one the Enterprise staff pining for the days of blonde Voyager characters?
In the second scene of Act 3, Dolum’s lieutenant says that in addition to the Xindi-Primates and Arboreals on Degra’s ship, there are seven humans. In addition to Archer, Reed and Hoshi, Reed picked three MACOs for the mission in Countdown. That’s six. Where did this seventh person come from?
“Bored” being the operative word with that episode
Reed tells Archer in the beginning of Act 3 that Hoshi and the MACOs are at the transporter ready to depart. Wait, Degra’s ship has a transporter too? Up until now we only knew the Reptilians did. So why did Degra land his ship on the planet in The Shipment, rather than simply beam himself and the kemocite? (Because Archer had to board it surreptitiously.)
Just which part of his body did Phlox attach that tapeworm to?
During the Sphere-Builder attack on the Enteprise in Act 3, Corporal Kelly tells the bridge their weapons fire is just passing through the Sphere-Builders, and Trip says if the don’t get full power, the deflector pulse will take three or four minutes longer than they thought. Phlox says they don’t have three or four minutes, and tells Corporal Kelly to modify their weapons to a rotating frequency of 32.6 tera-cycles, telling T’Pol that he derived this solution by studying the Sphere-Builder in Harbinger, and get this—hopes that his memory serves him well. What? Phlox had vital data on how to repel the Sphere-Builders since that episode, and never told Reed and the MACOs until now? And even now, is only relying on memory? Up until now, Phlox has been immune to the normal operational stupidity that is often contrived on the part of the other characters. I guess there’s a first time for everything.
I guess starship bridges are the Denobulan equivalent of golf courses
And isn’t it convenient for this scene that Phlox is on the bridge, so he can tell this to Kelly, when he should be in the sickbay dealing with casualties that come in during this mission? Who’s taking care of that engineer whom the Sphere-Builders knocked off the catwalk in the closing shot of Act 2?
Uh-oh. Better not dawdle with that MACO.
During the Reptilians’ attempt to stop Archer’s team on the Weapon in Act 3, why does that one Reptilian point a gun at the MACO’s head and hold him there? Why didn’t he just shoot him?
Or worse, at getting demoted from a Kapitan to an officer. What did he do, show kindness, or something?
Is there some particular reason Trek keeps hiring J. Paul Boehmer to play Nazis? First he plays the Nazi Kapitan in The Killing Game parts I and II(VOY), and now plays an officer in this episode. I wonder if he’s upset at being somewhat typecast as a Nazi.


And with that, my catching up with all the Trek I've missed is FINISHED!! Yay!

Richie Vest: UGH!!!!!!!!! I HATE IT. IT'S STUPID. GO BACK TO EXPLORING. I dont know if i am even going to watch the show at this point.
Luigi Novi: Hey, I’m available if ya don’t want the job any more, Richie!

TUE: IT WAS A REMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Luigi Novi: We don’t know it was a Reman. It might’ve been (the mouth and nose looked right), but it didn’t have the ears, and the Remans didn’t have red eyes. Many Trek races look superficially alike, after all. The robbers who victimized Trip and Reed in Two Days and Two Nights also looked like Remans, and even had the ears, but no one took them as Remans. Hagath’s ladyfriend from Business As Usual(DS9) looked just like a healthy Vidiian, but no one accused the creators of putting a member of a Delta Quadrant race on the station. The Soporans seen in Prodigal Daughter(DS9), looked exactly like the Vhnori from Emanations(VOY), right down to the protruding brow, the four-lobed cranium, and even the membranes extending from the outer edge of each nostril, but no one assumed that guy was a Vhnori.

TUE: When the Guardians are forced out of Engineering, why do they go to some power station instead of heading for the bridge? Wouldn't that be a better place to do some damage?
Luigi Novi: Because they know that the crew now knows how to hurt them.

Sparrow47: Was that a Reman we saw there at the end? I didn't think their skin was that blue.
Luigi Novi: That may simply have been the lighting.

Stone Cold Steven Of None: if you're already looking ahead to _Andromeda's_ season closer, gimme another hell yeah!
Luigi Novi: You mean that show is still on?

Captain Dunsel: instead of Yosemite 3 the orbiting station should have been Space Station Salem One. Picard refers to this station as the site of a Pearl Harbor-like sneak attack upon an Earth outpost. (I don't recall which TNG episode) The Xindi attack on Yosemite 3 seemed to fit those circumstances.
Luigi Novi: The Enemy(TNG). I think from the way Picard described it, comparing it to Pearl Harbor, made it sound like a far greater and more dramatic event than one in which 30 or 40 people on an unarmed research station were blown up.

KAM: Seemed like an odd time for Phlox to be making out his will. Surely he could have made the comment about his wife's other husband keeping his drum set at a previous time, like say, the start of the mission. I realize that people do put off making wills until it's almost too late in real life, but Phlox did make that comment about Denobulans enjoying giving away stuff to various relatives.
Luigi Novi: It’s possible that he did, but is simply rewriting it, much as O’Brien said he did several times in a DS9 episode, and that they do this to pass the time during moments of great tension and stress. Sickbay is empty, so what else is he to do on the eve of battle?

KAM: Shouldn't Phlox have told the crew earlier about the skin effects? Yes, I know he mentioned it to T'Pol, but Trip's reaction indicates that he didn't realize it could happen & if other crewmembers had this reaction or worse it could affect their ability to do their jobs.
Luigi Novi: In which case it’s T’Pol who neglected to inform them, since he went straight to the top, thinking the info would get announced by her.

KAM: I'm surprised the MACO didn't have a backup weapon that he could use in a hand to hand fight with any reptilians.
Luigi Novi: Who says he didn’t? He didn’t have time to go for it.

KAM: Good thing destroying the spheres resulted in a nearly instant change of space over hundreds of light years.
Luigi Novi: Where was this seen? The only area where space returned to normal immediately was that around Sphere 41.

Christopher Q: I didn't recognize the Reman. He looked almost like a Hirogen from Voyager, especially in that uniform.
Luigi Novi: He didn’t look anything like a Hirogen. Look at any photograph of a Hirogen and a Reman. He far more resembled a Reman (though he might not have been).

Christopher Q: I'm not certain the crew went back in time.
Luigi Novi: No, but Archer certainly appeared to. It certainly appeared he was in a triage tent during a war, presumably WWII.

Influx: I'm glad the MACO gave more of a fight instead of just surrendering. I would have liked to see him pull the knife from himself and jab it into the Xindi just before plunging over the side though. You don't "instantly" die from a knife wound.
Luigi Novi: I thought the same thing!

ChristopherQ: Travis said something about seeing a command center.
Luigi Novi: No, Trip simply just told Travis to set her down on the pad behind it.

ScottN: Also, why wouldn't they be scanning on all frequencies (including radio)?
Luigi Novi: Perhaps there’s a standard frequency that Hosih was using. If she uses all of them upfront, wouldn’t that require Starfleet to listen individually to each one?

ScottN: In addition, Trip tells Travis to land somewhere (I think on the pad behind the Command center). Shouldn't Travis have said, "I don't see the Command Center"?
Luigi Novi: They didn’t get there yet because the planes began attacking them.

Len: Some people have raised the totally valid point of it being slightly ridiculous that the Xindi wouldn't send some additional ships to help Enterprise at the Sphere.
Luigi Novi: Their ships weren’t fast enough to catch up in time.

Len: That aside, it was done competently - right down to Trip honoring the memory of past engineers back to Scotty with the last second save.
Luigi Novi: Huh?

Len: …the always-welcome Jeffrey Combs/Shran (is he the MVP of all Trek guest stars? Has he passed Mark Lenard?
Luigi Novi: In what way?

Chris Todaro: The shot of Archer running to escape the explosion of the weapon reminded me of the opening to "T. J. Hooker." (I wonder if that was intentional )
Luigi Novi: How is running to escape an explosion particular to that one show? Why would it be intentional? Because it reminded you of that one show means the same holds true for the director?

TUE: I don't care what anyone says. That was a Reman, plain and simple.
Luigi Novi: No, it might’ve been. It might not have been.

Torque, Son of Keplar: BTW, it is a Reman, I double checked the back cover of my Nemesis DVD with the paused image of the Nazi alien.
Luigi Novi: Btw, it may not be. There are differences I saw when I compared it to a few photos of Remans, and no one claimed the aliens in Two Days and Two Nights were Remans.

KAM: Wouldn't be the first time if they didn't know where they were going with a cliffhanger. IIRC Equinox (Voy) was written & filmed with no idea of how it would be dealt with the next year…
Luigi Novi: Ditto for Unimatrix Zero part I(VOY).

Harvey Kitzman: I can totally see them doing that. With the regard that they have for continuity, which is none…
Luigi Novi: I think they’ve done a far better job with continuity on this show than they did with Voyager.

Torque: CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES DANIELS!!!!
Luigi Novi: Um, doesn’t Archer and his crew always wear the same clothes?

Polls Voice: Archer and Daniels are standing in what appears to be a ceremonial declaration for the Federation or something of that nature... One wonders how tight security is that 1.7 (See Cold Front as to what Daniels is... ) humans could appear there. I don't know about anyone else but I would think that might trigger a few alarms.
Luigi Novi: I would think that Daniels is equipped to avoid detection. I would also think that individual genetics can only be scanned using sickbay equipment, and not small or portable devices, given that such genetic scans, such as in Stigma, Future Tense, and E² are always conducted in sickbays using large equipment.

KAM: TUE - Maybe, JUST MAYBE, Brannon Braga is not the anti-christ.

KAM: No, he's the Anti-Roddenberry.
Luigi Novi: Yeah, like Roddenberry was such a great writer.

“alien brothers would still fill the skies.”

I thought he said "avian brothers"

In the second scene of Act 3, Dolum’s lieutenant says that in addition to the Xindi-Primates and Arboreals on Degra’s ship, there are seven humans. In addition to Archer, Reed and Hoshi, Reed picked three MACOs for the mission in Countdown. That’s six. Where did this seventh person come from? - Luigi Novi

Actually, in Countdown, Reed only asks for three volunteers (and all the MACOs step forward). But when they board Degra's ship at the end, there are four MACOs (two carrying Hoshi's stretcher and two with Reed).


UGH!!!!!!!!! I HATE IT. IT'S STUPID. GO BACK TO EXPLORING. I dont know if i am even going to watch the show at this point. - Richie Vest

Actually, now that Luigi brings Richie's post up...

I don't understand, Richie... you thought the show was wonderful, and because of the end (a tease for the upcoming episode) you're going to decide to possibly stop watching altogether? Isn't that a tad rash? I mean, I understand that you didn't like the ending. And I understand that sometimes an improper ending can leave you feeling let down. But if you liked the rest of the episode so much, shouldn't you give it a chance? Far be it for me to tell you what to do... but it seems like you'd miss out on much if you let one drawback keep you from further viewing.

Then again, this is coming from a guy who will never watch a David Lynch movie after seeing the ending of Mulholland Drive.

Luigi: referencing the extinct Avians, adds that their “alien brothers would still fill the skies.” True, the Avians were a different species, but why would he refer to them as alien if they came from the same planet, particularly when he is expressing oneness with them by calling them “brothers”?

ScottN: I thought he said "avian brothers"

Scott's right (AND sorta wrong) -- the actor DID say "AVIAN brothers." But the closed caption typed "alien" - it was just a (not so infrequent) mistake by the captioners. (I actually rewound it when I saw the "alien borthers" on the screen to make sure).

Luigi:
Christopher Q: I'm not certain the crew went back in time.
Luigi Novi: No, but Archer certainly appeared to. It certainly appeared he was in a triage tent during a war, presumably WWII.
LEN: OR he was sent to a parallel universe where WWII is being fought in 2154! (pickpickpick...:^)

Len: Some people have raised the totally valid point of it being slightly ridiculous that the Xindi wouldn't send some additional ships to help Enterprise at the Sphere.
Luigi Novi: Their ships weren’t fast enough to catch up in time.
LEN: Did they establish that ALL of the Xindi ships were slower than Enterprise? I don't recall that they did.

Len: That aside, it was done competently - right down to Trip honoring the memory of past engineers back to Scotty with the last second save.
Luigi Novi: Huh?
LEN: Trip succeeds in what he's doing at the very very last second before it's too late. Something we've seen Scotty, Geordi, O'Brien, Belanna do on numerous ocassions.

Len: …the always-welcome Jeffrey Combs/Shran (is he the MVP of all Trek guest stars? Has he passed Mark Lenard?
Luigi Novi: In what way?
LEN: They've both played multiple roles on multiple Trek series and have uniformly played those roles well.

TUE: I don't care what anyone says. That was a Reman, plain and simple.
Luigi Novi: No, it might’ve been. It might not have been.
LEN: But it sure is fun to speculate that it IS a Reman! ;^)

Mark Lenard played ONE character

Mark Lenard played ONE character

Try at least 3: Sarek, the Romulan Commander in Balance of Terror, and the Klingon captain in ST:TMP. He also did several voices in ST:TAS.

And for the record, it looks like Jeffrey Combs has played 6(!) different Trek characters, including 3 ongoing ones:

Enterprise: Shran (multiple eps) & "Krem" ("Acquisition" # 1.19)

Voyager: "Penk" ("Tsunkatse" # 6.15)

DS9: Weyoun (multiple eps), Brunt (multiple eps), and "Tiron" ("Meridian" # 3.8)

His Weyoun remains my favorite - but Shran has a chance to surpass him!

(Lenard, of course, was just superb in both of his main Trek roles)

Len: …the always-welcome Jeffrey Combs/Shran (is he the MVP of all Trek guest stars? Has he passed Mark Lenard?
Luigi Novi: In what way?
LEN: They've both played multiple roles on multiple Trek series and have uniformly played those roles well.

As far as most frequent appearances, I'd say Mark Alaimo, Whoopi Goldberg, Andrew Robinson, and maybe Diana Muldaur and Majel Roddenberry all surpass Jeffrey Combs appearances.

As for the greatest variety of characters, I believe Vaughn Armstrong (best known as Admiral Forrest) has played nearly a dozen different characters on the various Star Trek series. (The ones that come to mind are: Adm. Forrest, the Borg alien from "Survival Instict," The Kreetassan Captain in "Vox Sola," Telek R'Mor from "Eye of the Needle" and Captain Korris from "Heart of Glory")

However, Jeffrey Combs may hold a record for playing the most recurring characters on Star Trek (Weyoun, Brunt, and Shran)

TUE

Diana Muldaur doesn't count. She was a regular. Though she did have two separate guest roles on TOS.

Diana Muldaur was not a regular... she was a special guest star who happened to appear in every episode of the 2nd season.


As far as most frequent appearances, I'd say Mark Alaimo, Whoopi Goldberg, Andrew Robinson, and maybe Diana Muldaur and Majel Roddenberry all surpass Jeffrey Combs appearances. - TUE

Len didn't say "frequent appearances," he said "multiple roles." So Whoopi and Andrew don't count.


As for the greatest variety of characters, I believe Vaughn Armstrong (best known as Admiral Forrest) has played nearly a dozen different characters on the various Star Trek series. (The ones that come to mind are: Adm. Forrest, the Borg alien from "Survival Instict," The Kreetassan Captain in "Vox Sola," Telek R'Mor from "Eye of the Needle" and Captain Korris from "Heart of Glory") - TUE

As well as Gul Danar (Past Prologue), Seskal (The Dogs of War), a Vidiian (Fury), a Hirogen (Flesh & Blood), Korath (Endgame), and the Klingon captain in Sleeping Dogs.

Leslie Tompkins

"Stone Cold Steven Of None: if you're already looking ahead to _Andromeda's_ season closer, gimme another hell yeah!
Luigi Novi: You mean that show is still on?"

I don't know; it's in repeats right now. But I checked out both Enterprise's AND Andromeda's season closers - all on the same night.

Andromeda's had the stones to go Blake's 7 and just write off almost everybody - setting things up for an all new series next season, if there IS one, although I think Captain Hunt should've got it too.
While Enterprise's had action, suspense, and stuff blowing up _real_ good - for a Killer B's story it didn't completely $uck - but then they blew it with that lame@$$, buzzkiller ending. It was like they _knew_ they were good for at least one more season and decided to "reward" their fans with _this_ cr@p.

Andromeda's closer - if you can get past the lame chorale music - was the better, IMO. And that's the bottom line...if you smell what I'm cooking.

"Andromeda's closer - if you can get past the lame chorale music - was the better, IMO. And that's the bottom line...if you smell what I'm cooking. "

Beg to differ. Enterprise's season finale 1)closed out the current storyline in satisfying fashion, and 2)caused much more excitement for a Trek season ending than has been seen in a long time.

Andromeda's season finale (like the whole show more or less) left me going "meh".

You can't see me...whatcha gonna do?

Justin O'Donnell - I read an on-line interview Scott Bakula gave a few weeks ago. He said that three different endings were shot, and that in one of them Archer was outright killed.
Okayyyyyy, so the ending they used featured Nazis, an unused ending had Archer dying, so what was the other ending that they decided wasn't as good as the Nazi one???

We all assumed and hoped (I know I did) that the Enterprise would return the Illyrians’ warp coil when this was over. Did they give it to the Xindi-Humanoid along with the Illyrians’ last coordinates before the Aquatics brought them back to Earth? The fact that they had to go to Earth in the Aquatics’ ship, rather than simply go through the vortex themselves (since they have at least Warp 3.4) may suggest that they did. But if we suddenly see the Enterprise at Warp in the Season 4 premiere, we’ll have ourselves another nit!

ScottN: I thought he said "avian brothers"

Len: Scott's right (AND sorta wrong) -- the actor DID say "AVIAN brothers." But the closed caption typed "alien" - it was just a (not so infrequent) mistake by the captioners. (I actually rewound it when I saw the "alien borthers" on the screen to make sure).
Luigi Novi: Yeah, I was looking at the closed captioning. Reviewing the scene, yeah, it did sound like “Avian,” which obviously must be what it was. Don’t know why that didn’t occur to me. Thanks, guys.

Luigi Novi: In the second scene of Act 3, Dolum’s lieutenant says that in addition to the Xindi-Primates and Arboreals on Degra’s ship, there are seven humans. In addition to Archer, Reed and Hoshi, Reed picked three MACOs for the mission in Countdown. That’s six. Where did this seventh person come from?

Darth Sarcasm: Actually, in Countdown, Reed only asks for three volunteers (and all the MACOs step forward). But when they board Degra's ship at the end, there are four MACOs (two carrying Hoshi's stretcher and two with Reed).
Luigi Novi: First of all, I wasn’t disputing how many volunteers stepped forward in that earlier scene. Yes, they all did. But Reed chose three: Woods, Ramira, and Forbes. Second, there are not four at the end. There are three. One runs by Reed toward the airlock holding his rifle with both hands. The other two go past him with Hoshi. There isn’t a fourth.

(But thanks for making me review that scene. I found another nit in it. )

Len: Some people have raised the totally valid point of it being slightly ridiculous that the Xindi wouldn't send some additional ships to help Enterprise at the Sphere.

Luigi Novi: Their ships weren’t fast enough to catch up in time.

LEN: Did they establish that ALL of the Xindi ships were slower than Enterprise? I don't recall that they did.
Luigi Novi: The Enterprise is battered, and Trip told Archer he could give him Warp 3.4 “with a little coaxing” in Act 5 of Countdown. No mention was made that this status has improved.

LEN: But it sure is fun to speculate that it IS a Reman! ;^)
Luigi Novi: Yep.

KAM: Okayyyyyy, so the ending they used featured Nazis, an unused ending had Archer dying, so what was the other ending that they decided wasn't as good as the Nazi one???
Luigi Novi: He woke up and found Bobby in his shower.

TUE: I know they were under duress because of the loss of Archer, but why didn't Reed contact Starfleet as soon as the weapon was destroyed? If he did, why didn't he tell T'Pol that he's already spoken with them.
Luigi Novi: "Duress" means constraint by threat, coercion or confinement.

I knew they'd traveled back in time when T'Pol didn't find any of the spaceships, space outposts or radio transmissions. But then somebody on the bridge should have suggested that they've gone back in time.

But T'Pol should have been picking up radio transmissions on other frequencies--radio was used a lot in WW II.

Maybe a Neo-Nazi group takes over a section of California in an alternate 21st century and it's not a world war at all.

Mayweather and the others should have known something was strange a lot earlier--San Francisco, and Earth in general, should look far different in the WW II era.

KAM: Wouldn't be the first time if they didn't know where they were going with a cliffhanger. IIRC Equinox (Voy) was written & filmed with no idea of how it would be dealt with the next year…
Luigi Novi: Ditto for Unimatrix Zero part I(VOY).

I think the same goes for "Time's Arrow". At the end of part one, Mark Twain catches Guinan talking about aliens and at the beginning of part two, they totally ignore that.

Guinan and Troi should have said something to
Mark Twain to allay his fears and suspicions, but there's no indication that they said anything to him--another example of Troi's uselessness.

Bit late, but:

Overall a very good way to end the season, except Nazis (again). With an alien, yet to be determined, helping out the Germans. Based on the airplanes intercepting the shuttle pod, the year is 1944 (or 1945). The planes are P-51D Mustangs that first came out in the summer of 1944.

If the year is before 1944, then a nit. If it is 1944 and the war has taken its historical course
in our time/universe, then the Germans are losing the war.

"Now you owe me!" Great line.

LEN: Some people have raised the totally valid point of it being slightly ridiculous that the Xindi wouldn't send some additional ships to help Enterprise at the Sphere.

Luigi Novi: Their ships weren’t fast enough to catch up in time.

LEN: Did they establish that ALL of the Xindi ships were slower than Enterprise? I don't recall that they did.

Luigi Novi: The Enterprise is battered, and Trip told Archer he could give him Warp 3.4 “with a little coaxing” in Act 5 of Countdown. No mention was made that this status has improved.

LEN: I wasn't questioning Enterprise's capabilities. My question (in defending the nit that there should have been some Xindi ships with Enterprise at the Sphere) was whether there was an evidence that ALL of the XXindi ships were SLOWER than Enterprise? i.e. If Enterprise could only do Warp 3.4, weren't there any Xindi ships that could do AT LEAST Warp 3.4? And if there were, why didn't they accompany Enterprise to protect/help itat the Speheres?

Duane: If the year is before 1944, then a nit. If it is 1944 and the war has taken its historical course in our time/universe, then the Germans are losing the war.

You're assuming we're in our universe. This could be an alternate timeline where the planes were developed quicker. Even if it's our timeline, the planes could have been developed quicker if the Nazis had alien help.

Darth Sarcasm: there are four MACOs

Are you channeling Captain Picard AGAIN????

Roger: But T'Pol should have been picking up radio transmissions on other frequencies--radio was used a lot in WW II.

I had the same comment, that Hoshi should have picked it up.

Duane Parsons: "Now you owe me!" Great line.
Luigi Novi: "He owes me." He was telling Jannar and the Xindi-Humanoid to tell Archer this.

That Hoshi...she may translate up a storm, but she's no Uhura!! :^P

Duane Parsons: "Now you owe me!" Great line.
Luigi Novi: "He owes me." He was telling Jannar and the Xindi-Humanoid to tell Archer this.

Are you sure he didn't say: "Tell Archer 'Now you owe me?'" :^P

You're assuming we're in our universe. This could be an alternate timeline where the planes were developed quicker. Even if it's our timeline, the planes could have been developed quicker if the Nazis had alien help. Len

Well, if the aliens were helping the Nazis, that wouldn't affect the United States' airforce, so the timeframe quoted should hopefully pan out to be correct.

Good point. But, still, not necessarily - b/c with alien help, the Nazi's mnight have shown technological advances that spurred the Americans to step up their own work. Remember, necessity is the mother of invention!

Surf Nazis Must Die!

I read an on-line interview Scott Bakula gave a few weeks ago. He said that three different endings were shot, and that in one of them Archer was outright killed. - Justin O'Donnell

I saw that interview on the Wayne Brady show. I thought it was clear that Bakula was being facetious. Bakula remarked about all the rumors he had heard and then immediately talked about "alternate endings."


The fact that they had to go to Earth in the Aquatics’ ship, rather than simply go through the vortex themselves (since they have at least Warp 3.4) may suggest that they did. - Luigi Novi

Or it may suggest that they were afraid of destabilizing the corridor and winding up in the past as the alternate Enterprise was... oh, wait...


First of all, I wasn’t disputing how many volunteers stepped forward in that earlier scene. Yes, they all did. But Reed chose three: Woods, Ramira, and Forbes. - Luigi Novi

Nor was I disputing that Reed was seen selecting three MACOs. What I was disputing was the "fact" that only three came with them aboard Degra's ship. I could swear there was a fourth in that scene, but I don't have a chance to review it, so I'll take your word for it. But it still wouldn't exclude the possibility that another MACO or security crewman joined them.

Maybe aliens are helping both sides. I do hope TPTB resolve the 'timeline' and get the Enterprise and crew back to their future. So many events can be done.

Given that the plan for next season is to have several "miniarcs" and given that we're only getting 22 eps next year (god willing!), I'd assume that the Alien Nazi's storyline won't last more than a few eps.

There wern't four MACO's; there were five.

Len: Are you sure he didn't say: "Tell Archer 'Now you owe me?'"
Luigi Novi: Yes, I reviewed the scene. Shran is trying to draw the Reptilian ship away from the Weapon so that Archer’s team can board it, and when he manages to do so, he screams to Degra’s ship, “GO! And tell Archer we’re not even any more. He owes ME!” The shot of the bridge of Degra’s ship shows it is the Xindi-Humanoid and Jannar that he is saying this to, probably because Shran knows that Archer’s team is no longer on the bridge, but standing by at the transporter to be beamed over.

Darth Sarcasm: But it still wouldn't exclude the possibility that another MACO or security crewman joined them.
Luigi Novi: And how would this happen, if there were only a total of six people who entered the airlock right before the ship disengaged from the airlock? Who was the seventh person? Harry Houdini?

Susan Storm Richards? ;-)

Archer discovers that the 22nd Century has been altered.
He must go back in time and become the driver of the vehicle that mows down Edith Keeler.

I thought he was going to captain Enterprise-C!

Next Tuesday, he'll captain the 1701-B!

And how would this happen, if there were only a total of six people who entered the airlock right before the ship disengaged from the airlock? Who was the seventh person? Harry Houdini? - Luigi Novi

You must have seen a different cut of the episode than I, then. Because in mine, we don't see the airlock for the entire time that Degra's ship is docked with Enterprise (which is the only way to preclude the possibility of a seventh crewmember coming aboard).

It doesn't take much imagination to conceive of the notion that a seventh crewman could have boarded before the scene Archer and the rest board. I mean, should the fact that Enterprise has 80 some-odd crewmen be a nit because we never saw all of them physically board the ship? Or do we accept the fact that most of them boarded sometime off-camera?

Anyone else see this?

http://www.reallifecomics.com/daily.php?strip_id=1205

One of the airplanes said "AS" on the side. Any idea what that means? I thought it might be "Aryan States," but it's probably German though.

The TV Guide was incorrect again. It said "Archer needs a traumatized Hoshi to disable the sphere," but she was helping them disable the Xindi weapon. So they got the sphere and the weapon mixed up again, the reverse of the way they did it with The Council. Note: this error was in the primetime grid. The listing was correct (doomsday weapon), which is odd because normally if there's a spelling (or other) mistake in the listing, it shows up in the grid and vice versa. It's almost like they went out of their way to ge it wrong.

well..it WAS a spherical weapon! :^P

The boards up to 171k.

Nove Rockhommer: One of the airplanes said "AS" on the side. Any idea what that means? I thought it might be "Aryan States," but it's probably German though.
Nope. That's a squadron designation. And the letter "I" behind is a designation of this particular plane.
(trivia: In real life, Mustang bearing this serial number served in USAAF 78th Fighter Group, code HL, which stationed in England at this time. It was lost 7 April 45 - its pilot, Lt. Robert H Talbot, was taken prisoner.)

While the alien at the end certainly isn't a Reman but obviously an Aryan (How else could he become a member of the SS with that "nose"?) I tend to assume that the USA are not a part of the Reich in this past and Archer simply landed on the bad side of the globe.

Luigi Novi: "After Archer goes to see Hoshi in her quarters on Degra’s ship, and she retreats to her bed, Archer tells her that Degra encrypted his schematics for the Weapon, and that she’s been trying to decipher them. Um, no, she deciphered a third arming code. Not the schematics. And for all we know, the third arming code she deciphered wasn’t even Degra’s, but could’ve been the Arboreals’, or the Aquatics’."

I thought Hoshi had been working on Degra's encrypted data for a little while, and that Archer was visiting to check on her progress.

I have a question about the scene of the shuttle pod flying over the bridge. Is there really that much green space around the Golden Bay Bridge?

Darth Sarcasm: Actually, in Countdown, Reed only asks for three volunteers (and all the MACOs step forward). But when they board Degra's ship at the end, there are four MACOs (two carrying Hoshi's stretcher and two with Reed).
Luigi Novi: First of all, I wasn’t disputing how many volunteers stepped forward in that earlier scene. Yes, they all did. But Reed chose three: Woods, Ramira, and Forbes. Second, there are not four at the end. There are three. One runs by Reed toward the airlock holding his rifle with both hands. The other two go past him with Hoshi. There isn’t a fourth.

Actually, (Picard voice) there are four MACOs. After the first three go by, Trip asks about his souvenir. Then Reed tells Archer, "All set, sir." Archer says, "When we're finished--" and presses some buttons or something. At that point, another MACO runs by in the direction of the airlock. Those MACOs are sneaky.

After Archer goes to see Hoshi in her quarters on Degra’s ship, and she retreats to her bed, Archer tells her that Degra encrypted his schematics for the Weapon, and that she’s been trying to decipher them. Um, no, she deciphered a third arming code. Not the schematics. - Luigi Novi

An earlier scene established that Archer wanted Hoshi to decipher the schematics.

Quote:
Xindi-Arboreal: All of Degra's schematics are encrypted.
Archer: We're gonna need Hoshi to help us.

Archer then asks for the data to be transferred to a PADD so he can take it to Hoshi.

Here's a possible nit: on the pod, when Travis and Trip hear the shooting, they look to the left (port?) side of the pod, even though the planes are coming at them from the front. Was there some reason for this that I missed?

Nove Rockhoomer: Then Reed tells Archer, "All set, sir." Archer says, "When we're finished--" and presses some buttons or something. At that point, another MACO runs by in the direction of the airlock.
Luigi Novi: Whoa. Don’t know how I missed that. Thanks, Nove.

Luigi Novi: After Archer goes to see Hoshi in her quarters on Degra’s ship, and she retreats to her bed, Archer tells her that Degra encrypted his schematics for the Weapon, and that she’s been trying to decipher them. Um, no, she deciphered a third arming code. Not the schematics.

Nove Rockhoomer: An earlier scene established that Archer wanted Hoshi to decipher the schematics.
Luigi Novi: My point is that I thought his comment about what she’s “been” doing was a reference to what Dolum had her do.

Nove Rockhoomer: Here's a possible nit: on the pod, when Travis and Trip hear the shooting, they look to the left (port?) side of the pod, even though the planes are coming at them from the front. Was there some reason for this that I missed?
Luigi Novi: Perhaps the bullets simply hit the side of the pod. Perhaps there were several planes, and the bullets that hit the pod were fired by the allies of the ones we saw in the pod’s windshield. Or maybe the planes were swerving around all over the place.

TUE: I know they were under duress because of the loss of Archer, but why didn't Reed contact Starfleet as soon as the weapon was destroyed? If he did, why didn't he tell T'Pol that he's already spoken with them.
Luigi Novi: "Duress" means constraint by threat, coercion or confinement.

Blah! I guess I should have said "they were distressed by the loss of Archer." That's what I get for not proofreading.

TUE

I have a question about the scene of the shuttle pod flying over the bridge. Is there really that much green space around the Golden Bay Bridge?

Well, Merat, I've only visited San Francisco once, but as I recall, there are sizeable chunks of park land set aside south of the Golden Gate, and the city doesn't extend north of the bridge, so there's a good deal of greenery on that side as well.

THANK YOU, NOVE! I knew I wasn't crazy... but I just didn't have the time to triple check.