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Typhon Station is a very fastpaced PBeM RPG with skilled, experienced
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We have three stations to post from, SB 185, USS Odyssey, and USS
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from home.
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Come join a Star Trek PBeM adventure of a lifetime. Be a part of the crew and family that is the USS Wraith as we seek out new life and new civilizations.
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Posted:
15:44:19 on October 23 2001
By: Steve Krutzler
Dept: ENTERPRISE Reviews | www.stenterprise.com
Trek in Review
Written for TrekWeb by Steve Perry, edited by Steve Krutzler
An "Unexpected" Surprise
By no means a great episode, but certainly no abomination either. "Unexpected" worked because it was humorous, but not too obviously so. No sledgehammer was needed, and it had enough drama, thanks to the Klingons, to keep the viewer interested if you thought the jokes fell flat.
I for one didn't find the jokes flat. "I can see my house from here!" had
me rolling, though I couldn't tell you why. Actually, I thought the
funniest scene involved the steward delivering the food at precisely the
wrong moment (and don't you love that they have a steward?). Ok, maybe some
of the jokes didn't take; I found Trip's worrying over guard rails to be a little cliched.
What I liked best, though, was that it had an actual story with at least some
merit to it. There have been more than a few Trek episodes that have been
further up the funny scale. All too often, though, they're just an excuse to
be funny. Think of holodeck adventures like Our Man Bashir or Bride of
Chaotica, or the many DS9 Ferengi comedies - comedies in name if not in
implementation - that were just irrelevant romps. An occasional Ferengi
episode - "The Magnificent Ferengi" comes to mind - actually sorta worked,
because it had a story. "Ferengi Love Songs," on the other hand, didn't, to
put it mildly.
This was helped immeasurably not only by the contact with the Klingons, who
seem really, really "bad" for the first time in Trek since, oh, Star Trek III,
but also by the fact it had an actual plot that was seamlessly integrated
into that Klingon contact. Nothing felt forced about what happened, and so
the humor seemed more natural. Plus, touches like noting that it was the
first male pregnancy ever recorded gave it an impact that made it much more
than the Arnie film "Junior" in space.
Going back to the arrival of the Klingons, others have commented that it had
a terrific retro-TOS feel. I agree (who else loved those freaked-out,
Altered State of Drugachussetts sets?). This sets up all sorts of
possibilities - maybe the "first contact" with Klingons was disastrous after
all. I have no take whatsoever on the "Klingons are using 100 year old
ships" issue, because I really don't care. It was dang cool seeing that old
battle cruiser open fire, and I'm hoping it sets up some serious tensions
with Starfleet and the Klingons. Let's have a massacre of innocent humans
or something at the hands of the Klingons, Brannon!
With all this said, I do have two problems with the episode. First, it was
admittedly fluff. This could have addressed some sort of serious issue,
even if it was whether or not Trip was going to be a deadbeat dad. I'd
almost rather NOT have the abortion issue touched, but there was something
remarkably flippant about the way all of this was dealt with that it
probably offended more people than it would have had the show taken a side.
Trip was never really in danger, it never really seemed like it was his
responsibility, but it was also never asked if he was "violated" by what
happened. Baby in the pericardium? What? All the questions surrounding
the pregnancy, as well as potentially interesting side issues, were cleared
out in favor of jokes and plot resolution.
Second, and somewhat related, despite containing a good mix of drama and humor,
not a lot of thought was put into some of the details, and I do mean things
such as how old a certain battle cruiser might be. For every nice touch - I
thought the entire decompression sequence, with nifty camera work, was just
terrific - there were other problems. I found the use of holotechnology
aggravating, as it really is way too early, I find the bad science
distasteful (one of my hopes for this show is that, since the science is a
little more foreseeable, we'd get less off the wall predictions), and it
made no sense why the Klingons would want it. As a I suggested above, even
some of the jokes, such as the guardrail one and similar "hormonal" humor,
were cheap and easy. Braga and Berman got the story credit here - it's
enough to make you wonder if they were overtaxed at the start of the show,
because in many ways it felt like a hurried effort.
Not so much a problem as a source of concern: Captain Archer. He continues
to be too eager to make mistakes. Perfectly understandable, and indeed a
GOOD thing. But T'Pol is right a little often, and this makes me worried
than we could have a Janeway syndrome afoor - a flawed captain who never
learns from mistakes. Five hours in, that's a premature worry, but it's
something to watch. We could probably use a good strong Archer episode
soon...
All in all, a perfectly respectable episode. At this point, TNG had already
pulled off a couple of really painful hours, as had Voyager. DS9, like
Enterprise is now, started with a string of solid episodes with no clear
stinkers. That's good; given that this is also the third time around for
some of these writers, it's also enough to expect more. The next couple of
episodes look like potential home runs, but we'll see.
Grade: 8.5
About the Authors
Steve Perry is not the former lead singer of Journey. He is, however, a long time fan of all Trek, yes, even Voyager. He is currently in law school.O. Deus has been a TrekWeb visitor since the site's 1996 inception. Along with being an ardent poster, he is a freelance journalist based in New York City. Deus has written reviews for TrekWeb for over a year and shares the duties with Steve Perry.
TrekWeb Reviews
"Shockwave" (Deus)
"Two Days and Two Nights"
"Fallen Hero" & "Desert Crossing" (Deus)
"Vox Sola" (Deus)
"Detained" (Deus)
"Oasis" (Krutzler)
"Acquisition" (Williams)
"Rogue Planet" (Deus)
"Fusion" (Deus)
"Shuttlepod One" (Deus)
"Shadows of P'Jem" (Deus)
"Sleeping Dogs" (Deus)
"Dear Doctor" (Deus)
"Silent Enemy" (Deus)
Mid-season 1 (Deus)
"Cold Front" (Krutzler)
"Fortunate Son" (Perry)
"Civilization" (Perry)
"Breaking The Ice" (Perry)
"The Andorian Incident" (Perry)
"The Andorian Incident" (Deus)
"Terra Nova" (Deus)
"Unexpected" (Perry)
"Unexpected" (Deus)
"Strange New World" (Perry)
"Fight or Flight" (Perry)
STENTERPRISE.com
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