De Reviews "Proving Ground"

My sincere apologies for the tardiness of this review. Real life has gotten in the way once again, but things seem to have settled down for now. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be catching up on these reviews as repeats are aired at 9p.m. after the oh-so intelligent series, The Mullets (good going UPN :-/) And now, on with the review…

Jeffrey Combs is one of those guest stars that always seems to bring his best game to episodes where he appears. I was first exposed to him long ago when he starred in the film Re-Animator (which went on to spawn a couple of sequels) and was more than excited when he began appearing on DS9. The man is incredibly talented and manages to portray a range of emotions, even when under heavy makeup and prosthetics. His appearances as Shran on this series have always been a delight to watch and this outing was no different.

"Proving Ground" could have easily been another middling outing that has been all-too common this season. Thankfully, there was enough decent writing to put it above the usual Enterprise fare.

The recaps at the beginning of the episodes are a welcome addition. By providing some background about the storyline, it allows for the unfamiliar viewer to become acquainted enough with the story so far. Unfortunately, this particular recap suffers due to not providing any background on Archer's history with the Andorians. To the new viewer, Archer's relationship with Shran sort of appears out of nowhere.

This episode does a pretty good job of establishing a little more background for an alien race that has more or less been forgotten since their first appearance in "Journey to Babel." T'Pol sheds a little more light on the origins of Vulcan-Andorian relations, as does Shran during his conversation with his superior
officer. One item I noted was the spacious bridge of the Andorian starship. Could the bridge of Picard’s Enterprise on TNG be attributed to the blue guys? It's an interesting prospect at least.

This episode is soaking in series continuity. Obviously Shran's appearance stems from previous episodes, but it's noted that the Enterprise crew has found the Xindi proving ground by somehow locating the radiolytic signature planted in the kemocite back in "The Shipment." When Shran comes aboard, you'll notice the crew busy with repairs from the events in "Chosen Realm," the previous episode. Nice attention to detail.

However, I wasn’t thrilled with T'Pol’s line about reconstructing the database erased by the Triannon zealots last week. I cannot believe vital data isn't backed up on a daily or semi-daily basis. If T'Pol's assertion is to mean reconstructing the database from backups, that's another story but it's not the impression that came to mind.

As the crew prepares to steal the superweapon prototype (it seems part of the prediction in "Twilight" has come true), Shran brings up the death of Trip's sister. Trip's sanguine reaction was a bit of a disappointment considering that issue was the fire fueling his now non-existent rage, which was allegedly responsible for his need for Vulcan massages (nice and absent this week). Sure, it was good to see that issue brought up again (and not by his clone) but I was really hoping for Trip to take offense and really give it to a stranger who really had no business talking to him about it.

The plot is pretty straightforward with plenty of scheming going on - scheming to steal the weapon from the Xindi, scheming to sabotage the Enterprise and scheming to steal the stolen superweapon from the sabotaged Enterprise. It would seem Shran's orders to betray Archer come straight from the home office. These orders are hard for our favorite Andorian to swallow as he's come to like and trust Archer. Ditto Talas and her burgeoning friendship with Reed. It's interesting how Shran has come to be one of the most rounded characters in the series and he isn't even a regular! Imagine if this kind of characterization were applied to Mayweather or Sato.

A short aside regarding the theft of the prototype from Enterprise: If Archer had the activation codes; it would stand to reason that the Xindi did too. Why didn't they just destroy the prototype once it was stolen?

"Favors build alliances," Shran told Archer. Prior to limping out of the Expanse after Archer detonated the prototype, someone in the Andorian crew passed along scans of the weapon to Enterprise. Was it Shran or Talas? The episode doesn’t make it clear, but it helps set up the kind of future humanity will have with the Andorians. This isn't the kind of overt Federation building that the majority of fandom seems to want, but it does build upon the events of last season's "Cease Fire" to show how humanity becomes an integral part of what will become the United Federation of Planets.

Anyhoo, a few notes:

• I liked the mention of Bikini Atoll upon finding the Xindi proving ground. It provided a nice frame of reference for the viewer at home especially considering the doomsday parallels involved.


• Another great reference was Reed's mention of the crew not having done much exploring since entering the Expanse. It's good to know that particular human nuance hasn’t been erased this season.


• Was anyone else puzzled by the angry reaction of the Xindi Council after the test? Sure, the prototype didn't totally destroy the moon but it looked like it had done enough to render a planet more or less uninhabitable.

To wrap up:

Writing: Great work from Chris Black this week. There were a couple of hiccups, but we were mostly treated to a strong outing.

Directing: David Livingston continues doing what he knows best. This guy really knows how to work a camera.

Acting: Jeffrey Combs dazzled as he always does but Molly Brink (as Talas) had a few iffy, cardboard moments. Particularly strong work from Bakula and Trineer again this week.

Talk about one-upmanship. This episode blew "Chosen Realm" out of the water and I happened to like "Chosen Realm." I think I speak for many a fan, when I say that Shran needs to appear more often on this series. He's both a terrific foil for Archer as well as a character you can really care about. Although not without a couple of head-scratching moments, I'd like more episodes like this please. Grade: A-.

NEXT WEEK: Enterprise meets Mission Impossible.

"I need all the caffeine I can get."
--Malcolm Reed or the mantra of college students the night before finals
- posted by De @ 5:49 PM