My Review- 'Cold Front'

WARNING! IT'S GETTING WINDY. THERE'S A 'COLD FRONT' AND LOOK THERE'S SPOILERS TOO.

The Temporal Cold War is a nice idea I feel. It's original, but exciting. 'Broken Bow' only scratched the surface of the Temporal Cold War and we were left with many unanswered questions. The same goes here. Indeed Id go as far to say there are more unanswered questions.

STORYLINE  

DS9 is my favourite Trek series so far. As a result I was pleased to see that the episode was pretty DS9ish in several ways. Firstly there's the fact that it is obviously part of a much larger arc, DS9 had loads of arcs (sometimes to its detriment as if you didn't tune in regularly you could be confused to what was happening) Secondly Silik is obviously being made Arch-Nemesis rather like Gul Dukat to Sisko. There were episodes when Dukat was downright evil. There were episodes when Dukat seemed friendly, kind but there was always that sense of sliminess behind it all. I get the same vibe from Silik and I must say I like it. Then there's Daniels and Silik. Comments from both seem to suggest that neither can be described as the proverbial 'good guys' which is something else which is very DS9ish (for example 'For the Cause') Do I believe that either side is telling the whole truth? Not on your life. Do I believe that either side is interested in preserving history? Yet again, not on your life. There's definite evidence that Daniels isnt a good guy. Daniels is from the 31st Century (900 years after the 22nd Century) and we know that in the 29th Century (thanks to a certain Voyager's 'Relativity') Starfleet does the same practical job as Daniels says he does here. Now maybe a new organisation was created, 200 years is a lot of time speaking purely historically. (Think how different life is for you than the inhabitants of the year 1802) but I think that with the obvious evidence that humans exist in the 31st Century it's more than possible that Starfleet still does. I have a theory, it may be a little whimsy but I like it. I believe that Daniels may be from Section 31, or its 31st Century equivalent. Now, would that not be the coolest thing? However Im getting of track. The episode was generally excellent, with only one major worry. Daniels tells Archer to tell as few people as possible about what's happening. Fine, I can accept Archer would tell Trip and T'Pol, maybe the rest of the senior staff but when Daniels is in engineering and walks through the wall there are other members of the crew IN THE ROOM! (And dont tell me there aren't, we see them when engineering is evacuated.) All they had to do was look around and say "Oh look, a man walking through a wall!" One other problem is that Daniels shouldn't really be telling Archer all this stuff if he is telling the truth but I can accept this. There's a distinct lack of subtlety in this episode, when it comes to the advanced technology and although I dont mind that from Archer (he tends to have "I'll do what I want and to hell with the consequences" beliefs) I cant accept that from someone from 31st Century Earth would have that lack of subtlety, or allow it, considering what we know of 24th Century humans. So what about 'Future Guy' as he is delightfully named? Where do I think he comes from? Well Daniels says he comes from a time before him that leaves the distinct possibility of the three eras we've seen so far. 29th Century, 23rd Century and 24th Century. If I were to bet on what century 'Future Guy' comes from Id stick my money on 24th Century. I suspect many fans in their fever to see more of the 24th Century will attempt to get Future Guy to be an inhabitant of that time. If I know how the writers think I would also bet my money on 24th Century. Id say 23rd Century was too unadvanced, while 29th would be TOO advanced. But once again my excitement for this episode takes me off-track. I enjoyed the earlier scenes with the pilgrims, particularly the one in Engineering showing that being religious doesnt mean you dont understand science, or shun it. It's a common misconception among atheists. I have a religious Grandfather, not only is he adept with PCs he's learning so fast he may be better than me now. Einstein was a devout Jew etc. I liked Archer's comment about keeping an open mind. That's exactly how I feel on the matter of religion. I also believe that Archer's finished decision of letting the Suliban go is a good idea. For all he knows he could catch up with them to find they're rendezvousing with a couple of mega-super-duper battleships. I also liked the ending, it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and I cant wait for the next episode in the arc.

Another scene I enjoyed was the scene with Sato and Mayweather on the bridge. Unconnected to the storyline? Yes, but it shows that they're having a whale of a time and I liked it. Childish? Also yes, but considering these are two young Ensigns I think that is perfectly likely. Hell, it's what Id do! Now we're done, onto the ship?

THE SHIP  

Not much to say, cept the effect of the panels blowing of before the warp cascade was cheesy, although I can understand why it did that it felt a little too.... timed. There should be a slight bit more randomness.

GIVE THE SULIBAN A PROPER SHIP! :D

THE CHARACTERS  

Daniels is certainly presented as the more sympathetic character than Silik, but I think that's a cover. Daniels has been aboard the Enterprise since it launched right, well then he must be a pretty good actor. He rarely gives a straight answer, although you could theorize that's due to some kind of temporal thing I prefer to think that's he's hiding the truth. Daniels also LOOKS like a good guy. Daniels looks like the type of guy you could have a few drinks with in a bar and would help you stumble home. Whereas Silik, Silik is almost snake-like.

Archer is stuck in the middle and Scott Bakula generally does a good job. Archer is clearly under pressure, and his reactions are certainly understandable. He doesnt know what's going on completely and he knows both sides aren't telling the whole truth. His reactions are typical Archer (direct, quick, occasionally reckless) and the characterisation in this ep for Archer was pristine.

STAR TREK NOTES.  

Lots of mentioning of previous eps for continuity buffs. Although the mention of 'Unexpected' brought the memories flooding back. THE PAIN! THE PAIN!

T'Pol's claim that the Vulcans had never encountered time travel was a little weird. Considering how often Kirk and the gang bumped into time travel I was very surprised.

Phlox's fascination with the pilgrims religion was great and typical Phlox. As the 'discover of humanity character' (a la Data) you'd expect him to do that.

I also liked the mention that religions on Earth still exist. After all there are certain areas of Earth (Southern US, Italy, Africa, the Middle East, Asia) which are so fanatical about their religion it ain't gonna die out in 150 years, WWIII or no WWIII.

Rating (out of 10): 9.5/10. Great, excellent, but the occasional nitpick, particularly to do with the lack of subtlety. My enthusiasm for this ep is so much that this is the longest review since Broken Bow. (Broken Bow took up 23kb, this is the second largest with 10kb)