User Reviews

Captain Archer and the gang get another lesson in extraterrestrial diplomacy as they accidentally hitch themselves to a group of revolutionaries/terrorists (depending on your point of view). Can they detach themselves from this situation before it's too late?

Early on in the first season, Archer & Co. were constantly getting themselves into sticky situations by being too trusting or not cautious enough with alien lifeforms. More recently this seems to have gone away as the crew has become wiser to the dangers around them; all until this episode of course.

The Enterprise's Good Samaritan deed leads 2 of its officers to be caught in the crossfire. When will Archer and the crew learn to be a bit more cautious? I have a feeling it may soon come back to bite them if they're not careful.

This was an okay filler episode that didn't really do much to further the larger plot at play here. Although, we did find out that word of the Enterprise's exploits is traveling around the galaxy. This may foreshadow unwanted attention down the line. Time will tell.

Episode Note: It's always nice to see Clancy Brown. There can only be one!

Desert crossing is another excuse for putting off our crew's long-awaited visit to the pleasure planet of Risa - talk about delayed gratification!

As the episode begins, we find Archer and Trip reluctantly accepting an invitation to take a meal with the leader of a group of desert-dwelling aliens while seemingly oblivious to the fact that any change in the weather patterns will strand them down there for an indefinite period. If I didn't know better, I'd think it was just an excuse for these two leading men to get undressed and perspire a lot while participating in a contact version of the Basque game of Pelota.

Their host, Zobral, is played by the irrepressible Clancy Brown. Now, with his towering height, swirling robes and handsome, tattooed chin he was perfectly cast as this overbearing, Bedouin-type leader. Until he opened his mouth, that is. Why he essayed an Arab accent for this role, I just cannot fathom. It was absolutely awful and, instead of adding the verisimilitude which was obviously intended, took me totally out of the moment and spoiled an otherwise outstanding guest appearance.

The two crewmembers escape into the desert and make heavy weather of their trek across the dunes (Yuma, South Carolina), partly because they seem to have forgotten the part of the training manual that told them to keep their heads covered. They are, however, finally rescued with Zobal's help but must refuse him the weapons he is asking for in his fight against a much superior force.

Instead of faffing about on yet another away mission, Archer now gets to debate the difficulty inherent in choosing a side in other people's conflicts. In other words, he acts like a Captain. The episode poses the need for a clear instruction in this type of moral dilemma and points the way to the Prime Directive of non-interference.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.