ENT - Hatchery

[MerelyAFan]

https://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/e169.php

While I don't think it's intended, in an odd way this feels like a commentary on the original incarnation of Archer right before "Damage" and Manny Coto's efforts in season 4 finally improved his characterization. In Hatchery, he's a self-righteous, bad-tempered nutjob lashing out at anyone questioning his orders and stubbornly obsessed with an agenda and plan that puts the ship in danger. Give him a few more rants about Vulcans, and this basically could be your standard episode in season 1 or 2 without even needing the neuro-toxins.

The same kind of behavior that the show strained to make seem correct or at least understandable then is presented here as blatantly off-putting, harmful and a sign that the captain needs to be neutralized for the good of Enterprise. Again, while likely not deliberate, it's an episode that ends up being one of the last gasps of Duchess Archer, and it fittingly ends as that incarnation always should have: with a crew member blasting him with a phaser to put him down.

[Fianna]

See, to me it seemed more like a parody of the ultra-principled stands other Trek captains have made (like, say, Picard with the Silicon Entity). This is the one episode where showing empathy for a bizarre form of alien life, doing your damndest to respect their culture, and refusing to compromise your ideals in the name of pragmatism ... are all signs the captain is losing it big time.

[Nealithi]

Oddly I took this as another Phlox is an imbecile event. Like Reed asks about replacing perfectly good limbs with cybernetics and Phlox answers about organ damage.
The transporter beamed someone up with leaves spliced all over his body. "Oh he will be fine. The human skin is very durable. Oh he died, there is a toxin in the leaves apparently."
Here he is "Eh it is just a neurotoxin. Don't worry about it."

And everyone just accepts this! Not one person questioned if a neurotoxin might mean relieve the captain for a couple days.

[McAvoy]

Oddly I took this as another Phlox is an imbecile event. Like Reed asks about replacing perfectly good limbs with cybernetics and Phlox answers about organ damage.
The transporter beamed someone up with leaves spliced all over his body. "Oh he will be fine. The human skin is very durable. Oh he died, there is a toxin in the leaves apparently."
Here he is "Eh it is just a neurotoxin. Don't worry about it."

And everyone just accepts this! Not one person questioned if a neurotoxin might mean relieve the captain for a couple days.

You pretty much nailed the erratic storytelling of Enterprise. Archer's erratic and crazy characterization is already well known.

In this episode, it could be easily fixed by Phlox not finding it until after the Captain goes nuts. It is the 22nd century afterall, maybe they can't detect these things until they know something is there.

[CharlesPhipps]

But what shall happen to the hatchlings? THAT'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT!

[McAvoy]

But what shall happen to the hatchlings? THAT'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT!

Chef's Space Lobster with butter dinner for Saturday.

[Frustration]

The entire episode strikes me as something of an "idiot plot", because there's really no reason for them to take off their helmets in the first place. (Their technology isn't nearly as sophisticated as TNG's.) There could be all kinds of toxins or diseases that could require decontamination, especially since the ship had crashed.

The obvious real-world practical considerations (basically, that the actors are uncomfortable) really need to take back seat to the illusion of reality they're trying to create.

[Dragon Ball Fan]

Not sure if saving the hatchlings wasn't worth the risk, I am reminded of one of my childhood shows, Transformers Cybertron.

For context, the main conflict is an abnormal black hole that will suck up the whole universe(supplementary material says that the entire multiverse is at risk) unless they can find four mystical key like artifacts and the lock-like channeling device they go into, to awaken the Transformer God, Primus. And the stakes are doubled because Megatron/Galvatron and the rouge Starscream want to use the artifacts to speed up the destruction of the cosmos, so they can remake it in their own image.

In the specific moment I want to highlight for comparison, the good guys have three of the keys and the lock but Starscream shows up to take them.

After a battle, the keys and lock are falling towards the ground with Optimus Prime and Starscream both going after them. Starscream fires missiles at the tagalong human kids and Optimus goes to save the kids and lets Starscream have the artifacts, which directly leads to Starscream absorbing some of Primus' life force and become a superpowered skyscraper sized monstrosity.

But the Autobots are just like "Don't worry, we'll just steal the Omega Lock back." And they do, they also wake up Primus, destroy the black hole and put down Galvy for good.

The moment can be viewed here: Starting at 18:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwBHZNt_6eg

[McAvoy]

Not sure if saving the hatchlings wasn't worth the risk, I am reminded of one of my childhood shows, Transformers Cybertron.

For context, the main conflict is an abnormal black hole that will suck up the whole universe(supplementary material says that the entire multiverse is at risk) unless they can find four mystical key like artifacts and the lock-like channeling device they go into, to awaken the Transformer God, Primus. And the stakes are doubled because Megatron/Galvatron and the rouge Starscream want to use the artifacts to speed up the destruction of the cosmos, so they can remake it in their own image.

In the specific moment I want to highlight for comparison, the good guys have three of the keys and the lock but Starscream shows up to take them.

After a battle, the keys and lock are falling towards the ground with Optimus Prime and Starscream both going after them. Starscream fires missiles at the tagalong human kids and Optimus goes to save the kids and lets Starscream have the artifacts, which directly leads to Starscream absorbing some of Primus' life force and become a superpowered skyscraper sized monstrosity.

But the Autobots are just like "Don't worry, we'll just steal the Omega Lock back." And they do, they also wake up Primus, destroy the black hole and put down Galvy for good.

The moment can be viewed here: Starting at 18:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwBHZNt_6eg

Not sure that was relevant to the Enterprise episode...

[Dragon Ball Fan]

Not sure if saving the hatchlings wasn't worth the risk, I am reminded of one of my childhood shows, Transformers Cybertron.

For context, the main conflict is an abnormal black hole that will suck up the whole universe(supplementary material says that the entire multiverse is at risk) unless they can find four mystical key like artifacts and the lock-like channeling device they go into, to awaken the Transformer God, Primus. And the stakes are doubled because Megatron/Galvatron and the rouge Starscream want to use the artifacts to speed up the destruction of the cosmos, so they can remake it in their own image.

In the specific moment I want to highlight for comparison, the good guys have three of the keys and the lock but Starscream shows up to take them.

After a battle, the keys and lock are falling towards the ground with Optimus Prime and Starscream both going after them. Starscream fires missiles at the tagalong human kids and Optimus goes to save the kids and lets Starscream have the artifacts, which directly leads to Starscream absorbing some of Primus' life force and become a superpowered skyscraper sized monstrosity.

But the Autobots are just like "Don't worry, we'll just steal the Omega Lock back." And they do, they also wake up Primus, destroy the black hole and put down Galvy for good.

The moment can be viewed here: Starting at 18:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwBHZNt_6eg

Not sure that was relevant to the Enterprise episode...

It is because, if Optimus made the right call in refusing to engage in lesser of two evil-ism, why was Archer?