Star Trek: Enterprise 4.5 FAQ

What’s it called?
“Cold Station 12.”

Who’s responsible?
Teleplay is credited to “Star Trek” newcomer Michael Bryant (a pseudonym perhaps for one Alan Brennert, who worked on Manny Coto’s “Odyssey 5”).

What does TV Guide say?
“Soong (Brent Spiner) realizes just how ruthless his “children” have become when the fugitive Augments raid a research facility to retrieve genetically enhanced embryos left over from the Eugenics Wars.

Any more word on how most of us missed the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s?
Unlike last week, there are no references this week to the 20th century.

Any action on the Trip/T’Pol front?
None.

The big news?
The augments are telling Soong lies, notably with regard to Raakin’s fate. Malik, who has twice a normal human’s intelligence, has decided he doesn’t like handing over leadership of the augments to Soong. And Archer wonders if Soong was right about how genetic engineering might have helped warp-drive pioneer Henry Archer.

What else is TV Guide not telling us?
On the trail of the augments, the crew meets Smike, an augment misfire who didn’t get superpowers like his “siblings.” We also learn Cold Station 12 is jointly operated by Starfleet and the Denobulans, and that Phlox’s oft-referenced human pen-pal, Dr. Jeremy Lucas, is stationed there now.

Outside of “Space Seed,” which earlier “Star Trek” episodes does “Cold Station 12” remind one of?
It’s hard to look at Smike and not be reminded of the powerless dwarf Alexander in “Plato’s Stepchildren.” And there might be a little of Gary Lockwood’s crazed-with-power “Where No Man Has Gone Before” performance in Alec Newman’s portrayal of Malik.

What’s good?
The considerable narrative momentum upgrade generally and the horrific battle of wills between Soong and Lucas in particular. Spiner’s performance is a thousand times better this week; with Soong thrust into a leadership role, the actor suddenly seems far less compelled to portray Soong as the wackiest mad genius in the Alpha Quadrant.

What’s not so good?
The green-screen embryo chamber looks pretty cheesy. I don’t think anybody’s going to be fretting too much over this week’s episode-ending “cliffhanger.” And why did Smike think Soong was the augments’ biological father?

How does it end, spoiler-boy?
“Four minutes till containment breach. There’s no way to stop it from here.” “Somewhere else?” “The primary junction.”

Herc’s rating for “Star Trek: Enterprise” 4.5?

***

The Hercules T. Strong Rating System:
***** better than we deserve
**** better than most motion pictures
*** actually worth your valuable time
** as horrible as most stuff on TV
* makes you quietly pray for bulletins

8 p.m. Friday. UPN.

I am – Hercules!!

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