1x03 Fight or Flight

[6.4/10] It makes sense that, at the dawn of deep space exploration, some members of Starfleet’s flagship crew would be excited by first contact and some would be afraid. More than at any other point in Federation history (short of...er...First Contact), this is the great unknown. Our human friends have nothing but their interactions with the Vulcans and a scant few other alien species to guide them on what it will be like to encounter a race of souls out in the stellar frontier. So an episode centered around how almost everyone in the crew feels about that is a good idea.

It’s also a good idea to spotlight some of the members of the crew beyond the Archer/T’Pol/Trip dinnertime companion crowd. “Fight or Flight” has the sense to center the episode on Hoshi, playing in the space between her excitement at applying her linguistic skills to a host of new species and dialects and her anxiety about what’s waiting in the weeds on alien ships and foreign solar system. It’s a solid approach, to dramatize the episode’s big theme by personalizing it in the individual struggle of one crewman in particular.

It’s a great idea, but a crappy execution. My god, from the very minute Hoshi’s slug was introduced as having trouble adapting to the new environment, you could practically taste the “Hooray For Metaphors!’-ness of the whole thing through the T.V. screen. Enterprise at least has the decency to have Dr. Phlox call her out for projecting her own feelings onto the little mollusk. But that’s a meager balm for how heavy-handed the episode is in trying to communicate Hoshi’s tenativness via her erstwhile pet.

There’s also nothing natural about the expressions of her concern or success. It’s too early to start calling trends on Enterprise, but there’s a soap opera quality to a number of the exchanges on the show. When Hoshi is face-to-face with the captain, or self-recriminating with Phlox, or reacting incredulously to the challenge that she speak directly with an alien, there’s a lot of indicating going on. No bit of emotion arrives subtly, either in the script or in the performance.

The same goes for Captain Archer’s plot in the episode, which centers on his contact-hungry crew encountering a disabled alien ship, and having to decide whether to stay, investigate, and help, or accept that the situation is out of his depth and move on. It’s here again that the show feels like a throwback to The Original Series, where some moral or strategic issue would come up, and Bones or some other crewmember would favor one position, Spock would favor a seemingly-callous but often pragmatic counterpoint, and Kirk would have to decide which way to go.

Here, you have the crew coming across a massacred alien ship, with the choice of whether to stick around and try to send for help from the aliens’ compatriots, at the risk of being attacked by whatever did the original damage, or getting the hell out of dodge. Naturally, T’Pol advises against intervening at all, and quickly recommends bailing once they’ve investigated the situation. Trip, who was gung-ho to see some action in the first place is aghast. And Archer initially follows his Vulcan science officer’s recommendation and balefully bails on the disabled ship, before having a moment of truth and change of heart when deciding to go back and render aid.

It’s a pretty trite and predictable trajectory for Archer, but the least you can say for it is that Enterprise is trying to fete the ethos of Star Trek. The identity of Starfleet is still being forged here. However often Starfleet command would offer some “play it safe” orders that Kirk or Picard or someone else would flout in the name of justice, the spirit of the franchise overall has always been about moral principle winning out (give or take “In the Pale Moonlight”), and so I can at least appreciate the show’s efforts to exemplify Archer setting the tone of doing the right thing, not just the easy thing, even if the delivery of it is corny as hell.

I also appreciate that we get a little touch of contrasts in how the various members of the crew feel about the prospect of First Contact. Trip is raring to go and disappointed that he doesn't get to go on the first away mission. Hoshi is scared and wishes she could get out of the first away mission. Reed is struggling to get his weapon systems working, while Mayweather, the most experienced space traveler, thinks that hostile encounters are rare. Dr. Phlox is still just excited to be a party to all the diversity and discovery. And T’Pol is concerned that the humans are being irrational and impulsive again by thirsting for contact with unknown alien species, while Archer is trying to be true to his moral principles. The show lets its theme graze every main character, which is laudable when we’re still trying to get to know them.

There’s also enough setup and payoff to appreciate here. Dr. Phlox’s mention of the aliens who are being juiced having bodily fluids in common with humans heightens the risk when the hostile vessel returns to pick up its snack and scans the Enterprise. The targetting system that Reed can’t get to work in the early stretch of the episode is fixed just in time to strike a blow against the attackers. And in the downright cheesiest part of the episode, Hoshi overcomes her reluctance and uncertainty when she throws herself into dialogue with an (eventually) friendly alien ship, rather than using the translator. Most of this is obvious and telegraph, but it’s sturdy enough.

The issue is that it’s just so trite. There was a streak of “you need to use more of your human soul, man!” in The Original Series that was provincial (to use T’Pol’s word) but forgivable given the 1960s T.V. conventions of the time. But 40 years later, it’s far less excusable and far more hokey when a new Star Trek show is trying to pull the same sort of thing. It’s all well and good to pay homage to what came before, especially when you’re exploring the beginnings of Starfleet. But all that great thematic intention makes the audience more likely to want to run than stick around and see what happens if you don’t update your approach for the here and now.