#ent4

Here we are at the end of an era. This is the final episode of eighteen straight years of Star Trek on television.

There are so many things that make this whole premise fall apart. Riker and Troi are noticeably older. They just look wrong. It's really distracting. And why is the holodeck changing Riker's clothes? That never happened on TNG. On the plus side, the CG version of the Enterprise-D looks awesome.

I find the choice to kill off one of the regular characters strange. DS9, far and away the darkest Star Trek series, had a sad ending but no one died. Trip's death is kind of awkward. He goes into the medical scanner and then they just cut to T'Pol packing up his things. And why do they put Riker's scene with Trip after his death? It's all too quick. It doesn't have the weight that it should.

I love TNG and I've never like Enterprise, but even I think this whole episode is ill-conceived. What are you saying about this show that you turn its series finale into a minor plot point in an episode of a different show?

I'm not sure how I feel about Enterprise now that I've watched it all. It definitely has its moments, but I never liked Archer. And it's tough for a really nerdy Trek fan like me to accept so much of what the show does.

Paxton refers to the greatest threat that humanity has ever faced and then shows the baby. Really? That's your pitch? That people should be afraid of a cute little baby?

I still don't understand this plan. Paxton says the baby is an abomination and a freak and a threat to everything. Then why did you create it?

T'Pol is as awkward with the baby as you would expect. It's pretty funny actually.

"It hurts as if she were my own child." Aww, this ending is tougher than I was expecting. The final scene between Trip and T'Pol is really heartbreaking.

There better be a really good explanation for this Trip/T'Pol baby because it makes no sense to me why Terra Prime would want this kid.

Travis seems to want absolutely nothing to do with this woman until she kisses him. Then he's talking about giving up everything to stay on Earth with her. It's a pretty dramatic turn.

I didn't realize this ship is the one that disappeared in "The Tholian Web." That's great. The bodies on the bridge are even positioned exactly where they should be.

Archer is in the wraparound uniform. Of course he is. It makes sense that the characters would put on these uniforms because they came over in EV suits and they need something to wear. It seems like a little bit of a stretch that they would make sure to wear the proper color for their jobs, but why not?

Dude, there is a Gorn loose on the ship. I suddenly feel that I have been much too hard on this show in the past.

It doesn't reach the level of "Trials and Tribble-ations," but this episode is delightful.

Great teaser and there's a whole Terran Empire opening credits sequence. I'm digging this already.

They've taken this opportunity to have both T'Pol and Hoshi show a whole lot of skin, but it fits with the mirror universe episode from the original series. So I'll let it go this time.

The Tholian is really cool. Phlox takes so much glee in torturing it.

I'm disappointed that no one has an evil Spock goatee, but Trip's scars are pretty ridiculous.

I love that this is just a mirror universe story and it doesn't involve any characters crossing between universes.

The Constitution-class ship looks fantastic and the Tholians are making a web. We've reached a whole new level of original series fan service. Just listen to those sound effects on the bridge.

The Orion captain talks about the Gorn and Travis mentions Deltans. The references just keep coming.

Hey guys, having men guard the Orion women? Maybe a bad idea? Just a thought.

I'm not sure this concept that Orion men are actually slaves to the women makes any sense, but it's interesting.

I feel like they're overdoing it with Trip's ability in this story. His replacement as chief engineer seems totally incompetent. Is there really no one else in all of Starfleet that can do this job?

Trip is going from one ship to another at warp via a cable? That's pretty crazy. But couldn't he have told someone how to fix it? Does he really have to be there? I guess they do a pretty good job of justifying it.

The away team to rescue Phlox from the Klingons consists of Captain Archer. No really. That's it.

"You're welcome to call with any questions." Aw Phlox, you still don't understand Klingons at all, do you?

I was just going to joke that Archer should develop cranial ridges and then he totally does. Well played.