n the first season's dramatic cliffhanger, "Shockwave, Part 1," the crew of the Enterprise found themselves in an impossible situation. After an
alien planet was destroyed, seemingly with Enterprise as the cause, Starfleet ordered the ship to come home. However, a crewman named Daniels convinced Archer that he was from the future and that the Suliban were actually responsible for the tragedy.
While they are investigating the incident, the Enterprise ends up being surrounded by Suliban ships who demand that Archer turn himself over to them, leaving the captain little choice but to comply. However, when Archer is hijacked by a third party to a desolate apocalyptic future, the crew of the Enterprise are left to fend for themselves, with the angry Suliban continuing to demand the missing Archer's surrender.
As the second season premieres with "Shockwave, Part 2," Archer discovers that when Daniels' people brought him into the future to save his life, it had devastating effects on the original timeline. Unfortunately, with no surviving technology and no power source, finding a way home looks like an
impossibility. Meanwhile, T'Pol agrees to let the Suliban board Enterprise to search for Archer, but they end up taking the crew hostage.
As the crew of the Enterprise attempts to find a means of escape, the Suliban take great pleasure in torturing T'Pol. In the future, there's no way Archer and Daniels can utilize time travel without technology. However they devise a plan to communicate with the Enterprise. Archer and the Enterprise crew, on both sides of the timeline, suddenly find themselves in a race against time, knowing that if they can't repair the timeline, the new events may well lead to the destruction of the human race.
Countering the Trek cliffhanger curse
While it got off to a bit of a slow start, Enterprise proved to be popular enough to bring in some good ratings for UPN. Last season's cliffhanger offered a compelling and impossible situation, with the fate of the characters left hanging in the balance. Unfortunately, as is too often the case with cliffhangers (and especially Star Trek cliffhangers), the setup is much better than the resolution.
Archer is trapped hundreds of years in the future with no technology, and the solution for getting out of the mess is far too simplistic. And while the crew's situation is played out better with more originality and humor, in the end "Shockwave, Part 2" solves the situation too easily, giving it the feel that it's a by-the-numbers resolution to the cliffhanger. No doubt "Shockwave" would have been better served if it had been expanded to another hour, rather than trying to squeeze this big story into two hours.
However, the cast is noticeably more relaxed that it was a year ago. They haven't completely jelled yet, but Enterprise is less forced in just about every way. Some of the characters still need work, but overall this is a vast improvement. In "Shockwave," Archer and T'Pol have some nice moments,
though Hoshi should stop complaining, Trip should take a pill and calm down when nasty aliens point guns at his head, and Travis should be given something to do. But as the series progresses, Enterprise will have the time to let the characters come into their own.
At the heart of it, Enterprise is entertaining, and the moments of humor come naturally out of the situation. "Shockwave, Part 2" is a prime example. No, it doesn't always make sense, and it certainly relies on too much technobabble. But it is Star Trek, and not making sense and technobabble are just par for the course. We accept the ease the characters manage while saving the universe, because there's so much other stuff to like about the show. Partially it's because Enterprise has a freshness about it and a compelling mission with interesting characters. But mostly it's because we love Star Trek and this incredible universe Gene Roddenberry thought up so many years ago.
