Star Trek: Enterprise Episode Review
Season 3, Episode 2
Enterprise contends with crippling spatial anomalies and pirate raids in the unpredictable Delphic Expanse.
After an underwhelming season premiere, we finally get a proper start the Season 3 arc. "The Expanse" made much ado over how dangerous the Delphic Expanse was, committing considerable screentime in an already time-crunched episode to ominous warnings and spooky tales. In the premiere, all this amounted to was an anomaly tossing around some CGI boxes. Here, the anomalies are more visceral and with the introduction of the gigantic Spheres, the Expanse starts to properly feel like the Lost World/Bermuda Triangle in Space it is intended to be.
The writers ratchet up this new sense of danger by using the opportunity to kill off Enterprise's first redshirt. The fact that Enterprise has not yet killed one of its background crewmembers might be surprising, especially given the franchise's infamous reputation for it. While I applaud the decision not to use death as a lazy way to raise stakes, this also speaks to the general low-stakes vibe of the first two seasons of Enterprise. There was never an episode where the conflict was so dire that a crew death was warranted. In Season 1's "Strange New World," the writers planned to kill off a crewman until Scott Bakula objected because the script didn't leave room for Archer to process a moment that would affect him deeply. Rather than digging into that opportunity, writers then spent the rest of first two seasons assiduously avoiding it. "Anomaly" finally pulls the trigger, and takes full advantage of the opportunity to craft the episode's signature scene.
The crewman's death is fresh on Archer's conscience in the pivotal torture scene and fuels his actions. This is a stunning moment that hammers home the stakes of the Xindi arc and the pressure that Archer is under. But while it is certainly memorable, I'm not convinced it is a successful plot twist. It feels less like a natural choice for the character, and more like a forced shock value moment. It's clear that the writers intend to push Archer to dark places this season, but "Anomaly" is too eager. This comes too soon. Bakula does his best to pull it off, but it's too hard to reconcile this furious torturer with the boy scout we know from previous seasons.
The real problem with the scene, however, is the glorification of torture, portraying it as effective and sometimes necessary. When Archer saves the mission by suffocating his victim, it reads as Enterprise tactically condoning waterboarding. This is a shame to see in a season that is telling a 9/11 allegory. These actions are particularly uncomfortable when related so directly the horrific "enhanced interrogation techniques" employed by America at the time.
To help establish the third season's grim and dangerous atmosphere, "Anomaly" brings a strong new weapon: a new take on Trek's musical score. While most Trek music had been mandated by Rick Berman to not draw too much attention to itself, "Anomaly" adds in-your-face electronic instrumentation to intensify the pirate raid. The booming drums accompanying many space shots increases the spectacle of the encounter with the Sphere. This spacey percussion sounds right at home and would come to be adopted by the sonic palette of many Star Trek works, most notably (to me) Star Trek Online.
The Xindi aliens do not appear in this episode but hang over the proceedings. The Xindi data obtained at the end of the episode might be an intriguing hook. However, the season premiere made the mistake of showing all the Xindi in its opening scene, spoiling the mystery immediately. This drip-feed of information cannot be dramatically interesting because the audience is just waiting for the characters to catch up with what they already know. This choice sabotages much of this early-season mystery.
Spoilers ahead for future episodes. It's clear that this episode was a template from which the writers built out the rest of this season's story and tone, as key elements are reprised later: the pirate raid is directly mirrored in "Damage," the use of torture comes back to bite Archer and Hoshi in "Azati Prime" and "Countdown," and the Sphere mystery proves to be the lynchpin of the entire storyline. On rewatches, this episode becomes more interesting as the events and dialogue prove to be rife with foreshadowing. The early stretch of Season 3 really struggled to find its footing, but "Anomaly" is the early episode that fits most comfortably with the tone and style of the rest of the Xindi arc.
