Archer discovers a secret kept by the Andorians. Originally broadcast on February 11, 2005 this is The Aenar.
The Episode:
Captain’s Starlog date undetermined
While the Romulans plan to target and attack Enterprise using the drones to prevent Earth from further unifying the various species in the Alpha Quadrant, Archer, Shran and the Enterprise crew plan their next move. Phlox determines that the pilot of the Drone exhibited Andorian like abilities in telepathy leading Shran to send this data to his home world. They soon learn that the brain patterns are very similar to another species on Andoria known as The Aenar. Travelling to Andoria, Shran and Archer go into the frozen wastes hunting for the Aenar to see if they can learn anything from them. After nearly dying of exposure, they discover an entire underground city of white skinned blind aliens who inform them that one of their own vanished some time before while collecting ice bores. The Aenar are interested in assisting Enterprise in defeating the Romulan drone but must determine if they are to be trusted.
They, of course, are and even though the Aenar refuse to help, a young female Aenar, Jhamel, who is the sister to the one who was kidnapped, wants to join with Enterprise to help stop her brother’s torment. She uses her telepathic abilities along with a device built by Phlox to reconnect to the kidnapped Aenar pilot and he is convinced to stop his attacks. The Romulans kill the pilot freeing him from his captivity and allowing Jhamel to find peace. With the drones destroyed, the Romulans are prevented from causing a war once again. Shran and Jhamel return to their homeworld seemingly now involved with one another.
Is this a ‘Good’ Episode:
Ok, so we get an all new species based on the Andorians. I mean, it would have been nice if this species had been at least mentioned in the past would have been nice, but…well…ok. That aside, I have to be frank, this episode was not the strong ending I had hoped for. I know that they would never be able to reveal the Romulans to the rest of the galaxy, at least not physically, but it felt like the writers just ran out of ideas in this one. I do find it cool that they finally expanded on the Andorians as a whole, I mean this is a rather important race that has barely ever been explored so, it makes sense in a way but it also feels rather convenient that the answer to this Romulan threat just happens to be a previously unknown species that happens to be related to one of our favorite characters. Yeah…that’s not a Deus Ex moment at all.
Overall, this is a good episode but one that really doesn’t work well with the overarching storyline. At the end of the previous episode we had a full armada ready to defend the Alpha Quadrant and….they just vanished leaving Enterprise to figure things out on their own? I was honestly expecting a full on battle in this one with Romulan ships and drones coming out. Heck, we actually see some Remans in the episode so, why use an Aenar? Why not use a Reman so that it gives them even more of a reason to hate the Romulan people. The one good thing this episode brought was the fact that Shran finds someone who cares for him and, well, Shran deserves some love.
Gleanings and Cool Bits:
- Tucker puts in his transfer request for the dumbest of reasons….he mis-calibrated a device and gives the Aenar a convulsion. So, he wants to quit Enterprise, it’s ridiculous. I mean, we know the real reason, he loves T’Pol and wants to avoid the conflict but….come on man.
Thanks for reading the Retro TV Review, I look forward to discussing the rest of the series with you, one episode at a time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! Next Review: Affliction
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Late To The Game 11/15/2021
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