[8.5/10] One of the keys to any kind of art is layers. Whether it’s a story, a character, a performance, or a world, the idea that there’s more going on under the surface than what we immediately see, which can then be unveiled or communicated to the viewers as they go, is vital to artistic expression regardless of what form it takes. That’s a principle “Proving Ground” takes to heart, giving us layer after layer of the Andorians’ connection to our heroes, and creating an outstanding outing for Enterprise in the process.
The episode starts with the first layer of the Andorians’ intentions when they approach the Enterprise out of the blue (no pun intended): “We want to help.” At first, Archer is understandably skeptical. The humans and the Andorians haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye in any of their past encounters, even if they’ve reluctantly been on the same side of one conflict or another. T’Pol raises some legitimate (if a bit biased) concerns that the Andorians might be duplicitous, only interested in what suits them.
But Shran (who is back and great as always) makes a good case for why the Andorians would intervene on Earth’s behalf. For one thing, Shran once again owes Archer after he helped prevent a war between Andoria and Vulcan last season, and Shran doesn't like owing debts. For another, it’s plausible that even an Imperialist group like the Andorians would feel for the plight of a people who lose seven million souls in a single attack and be apt to join them in a quest for revenge and glory.
Most of all, he puts forth a self-serving reason why the Androians would be willing to join Enterprise’s crusade -- to help shift the humans to being loyal to them rather than to the Vulcans. Shran deliberately underlines the fact that none of the Vulcans joined the Enterprise’s mission or offered assistance with their mighty fleet, and that T’Pol had to resign her commission to stay with it. This is an opportunity to for the Andorians to supersede their pointy-eared rivals as Earth’s best friend, whether that gets them strategic or resource gains, or just the petty joy of winning the loyalties of the Vulcans’ designated allies out from under them.
The case is plausible enough that when Shran wants to have members of his crew board the Enterprise, help them make repairs, share sensor data between them, and assist in the mission to intercept the Xindi weapons test, it seems fair for Archer to accept, especially when the ship is in rough shape after a particularly serious encounter with an uber-anomaly. The Xindi still just feel like the Evil League of Evil right now, even with the nice touch of Gralik’s sabotage coming to fruition when their prototype is tested, but the test provides a nice excuse for the Enterprise crew and Shran’s crew to pull of a fun, joint operation.
If nothing else, it’s a hoot and a half to see Shran trying to pull of the ruse of being a representative from the “Andorian Mining Consortium” looking for a “rare” mineral called “Archerite.” Jeffrey Coombs nails every part of this episode, but the high point may come when he expertly delivers the layers of that little performance within a performance. Shran needs to come off as affable and harmless, but a harsh reception from the Xindi has him struggling to keep his natural combativeness under wraps while staying in character.
Still, we get glimpses at the Andorians’ character on the Enterprise which suggest there’s yet more to these “wig-heads” than meets the eye. Part of that comes from the B-plot of the episode, which sees Reed and Andorian Lt. Talas working to repair the ship’s tactical systems together, and bonding a bit in the process.
In truth, their trajectory is fairly predictable. They start out not wanting to help one another, find that each is talented at what they do, and eventually develop a professional respect and the beginnings of a personal friendship as they learn they’re more alike than they initially thought. Still, the two characters have good chemistry, and the script strikes the right tone, both of cultural gaps needing to be bridged, and of a common understanding that comes from the hardships of being in a military family and their dedication to their jobs.
Of course, the episode turns that connection on its head when it’s revealed that Talas sabotaged the Enterprise’s sensors so that the Andorians could steal the Xindi weapon for themselves. That adds a whole second layer to everything we’ve seen. Shran’s comments to Archer about wanting to help Earth are all part of a ruse to get in his good graces. Talas’s warming up to Reed was a calculated effort to gain his trust and, more importantly, access to his sensor panel. This uncharacteristic bit of altruism turns into a characteristic bit of opportunism from the Andorians, just like T’Pol predicted.
The show even gives them a good motvation. The Xindi weapon will finally give the Andorians the upper hand in their clashes with the Vulcans, something to motivate their adversaries to lay off the border skirmishes. The episode plays the betrayal for drama nicely, giving us a smart space heist set piece that culminates with Archer being jettisoned in an escape pod. Thankfully (also, conveniently), Archer subscribed to the “trust but verify” mantra, and made similar preparations against Andorian treachery, playing a game of chicken with them over the weapon that ends in it being destroyed, the Andorian ship being hobbled, and the Enterprise able to go on its merry way.
So that’s it, right? Simple story. The Andorians pretended to be good to get something they wanted, but it turns out they’re bad, and our heroes were prepared for it. There’s nothing wrong with that type of story, especially in genre fiction. But good art takes things a layer further, a layer more complicated, a layer more interesting, and that’s exactly what “Proving Ground” does.
Because even though Shran “graciously” refuses Archer’s help, the implication is that he secretly transmits the Andorian ship’s sensor data on the Xindi weapon to the Enterprise. When in contact with his commanding officer, Shran asks if there’s another way and preemptively rejects a commendation. Hell, for all we know Talas genuinely made a connection with Reed, but just did her job the same way Shran did. We learn that the most prominent Andorian on Enterprise is someone who pretended to have good intentions, when he truly had bad intentions (or at least, self-serving intentions), but was following orders and, left to his own devices, would have made good (or at least, better) on those original good intentions.
It adds complexity to the relationship between humans and Andorians and on the relationship between Archer and Shran. One of the best scenes in the episode, and maybe the series, sees Trip asking Shran for the Andorian’s antimatter converters. Shran demures, but expresses sympathy for the loss of Trip’s sister in the attack and empathizes with the quest for vengeance. Trip rebuffs the suggestion, saying that it’s not about revenge; it’s about keeping others from having to suffer the same fate. Shran confides a story of losing his own sibling in battle, and with that shared sort of loss between them, agrees to give Trip the technology.
Maybe it’s all an act. Maybe the tech was fairly pedestrian and it was another part of the scheme to gain the Enterprise’s trust to where the Andorians could complete their mission. But I’d like to think it was genuine, another sign that Shran continues to see potential in these “pink-skins”, enough for him to give them the smallest bits of help along the way. As Archer puts it earlier, he and Shran keep finding themselves doing favors for one another, and Shran replies that it’s how alliance are born. Alliances are never that simple, but built on layers of trust and false starts and personal relationships. Great art, in Star Trek or elsewhere, is built on the same.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-07-30T01:36:22Z
[8.5/10] One of the keys to any kind of art is layers. Whether it’s a story, a character, a performance, or a world, the idea that there’s more going on under the surface than what we immediately see, which can then be unveiled or communicated to the viewers as they go, is vital to artistic expression regardless of what form it takes. That’s a principle “Proving Ground” takes to heart, giving us layer after layer of the Andorians’ connection to our heroes, and creating an outstanding outing for Enterprise in the process.
The episode starts with the first layer of the Andorians’ intentions when they approach the Enterprise out of the blue (no pun intended): “We want to help.” At first, Archer is understandably skeptical. The humans and the Andorians haven’t exactly seen eye-to-eye in any of their past encounters, even if they’ve reluctantly been on the same side of one conflict or another. T’Pol raises some legitimate (if a bit biased) concerns that the Andorians might be duplicitous, only interested in what suits them.
But Shran (who is back and great as always) makes a good case for why the Andorians would intervene on Earth’s behalf. For one thing, Shran once again owes Archer after he helped prevent a war between Andoria and Vulcan last season, and Shran doesn't like owing debts. For another, it’s plausible that even an Imperialist group like the Andorians would feel for the plight of a people who lose seven million souls in a single attack and be apt to join them in a quest for revenge and glory.
Most of all, he puts forth a self-serving reason why the Androians would be willing to join Enterprise’s crusade -- to help shift the humans to being loyal to them rather than to the Vulcans. Shran deliberately underlines the fact that none of the Vulcans joined the Enterprise’s mission or offered assistance with their mighty fleet, and that T’Pol had to resign her commission to stay with it. This is an opportunity to for the Andorians to supersede their pointy-eared rivals as Earth’s best friend, whether that gets them strategic or resource gains, or just the petty joy of winning the loyalties of the Vulcans’ designated allies out from under them.
The case is plausible enough that when Shran wants to have members of his crew board the Enterprise, help them make repairs, share sensor data between them, and assist in the mission to intercept the Xindi weapons test, it seems fair for Archer to accept, especially when the ship is in rough shape after a particularly serious encounter with an uber-anomaly. The Xindi still just feel like the Evil League of Evil right now, even with the nice touch of Gralik’s sabotage coming to fruition when their prototype is tested, but the test provides a nice excuse for the Enterprise crew and Shran’s crew to pull of a fun, joint operation.
If nothing else, it’s a hoot and a half to see Shran trying to pull of the ruse of being a representative from the “Andorian Mining Consortium” looking for a “rare” mineral called “Archerite.” Jeffrey Coombs nails every part of this episode, but the high point may come when he expertly delivers the layers of that little performance within a performance. Shran needs to come off as affable and harmless, but a harsh reception from the Xindi has him struggling to keep his natural combativeness under wraps while staying in character.
Still, we get glimpses at the Andorians’ character on the Enterprise which suggest there’s yet more to these “wig-heads” than meets the eye. Part of that comes from the B-plot of the episode, which sees Reed and Andorian Lt. Talas working to repair the ship’s tactical systems together, and bonding a bit in the process.
In truth, their trajectory is fairly predictable. They start out not wanting to help one another, find that each is talented at what they do, and eventually develop a professional respect and the beginnings of a personal friendship as they learn they’re more alike than they initially thought. Still, the two characters have good chemistry, and the script strikes the right tone, both of cultural gaps needing to be bridged, and of a common understanding that comes from the hardships of being in a military family and their dedication to their jobs.
Of course, the episode turns that connection on its head when it’s revealed that Talas sabotaged the Enterprise’s sensors so that the Andorians could steal the Xindi weapon for themselves. That adds a whole second layer to everything we’ve seen. Shran’s comments to Archer about wanting to help Earth are all part of a ruse to get in his good graces. Talas’s warming up to Reed was a calculated effort to gain his trust and, more importantly, access to his sensor panel. This uncharacteristic bit of altruism turns into a characteristic bit of opportunism from the Andorians, just like T’Pol predicted.
The show even gives them a good motvation. The Xindi weapon will finally give the Andorians the upper hand in their clashes with the Vulcans, something to motivate their adversaries to lay off the border skirmishes. The episode plays the betrayal for drama nicely, giving us a smart space heist set piece that culminates with Archer being jettisoned in an escape pod. Thankfully (also, conveniently), Archer subscribed to the “trust but verify” mantra, and made similar preparations against Andorian treachery, playing a game of chicken with them over the weapon that ends in it being destroyed, the Andorian ship being hobbled, and the Enterprise able to go on its merry way.
So that’s it, right? Simple story. The Andorians pretended to be good to get something they wanted, but it turns out they’re bad, and our heroes were prepared for it. There’s nothing wrong with that type of story, especially in genre fiction. But good art takes things a layer further, a layer more complicated, a layer more interesting, and that’s exactly what “Proving Ground” does.
Because even though Shran “graciously” refuses Archer’s help, the implication is that he secretly transmits the Andorian ship’s sensor data on the Xindi weapon to the Enterprise. When in contact with his commanding officer, Shran asks if there’s another way and preemptively rejects a commendation. Hell, for all we know Talas genuinely made a connection with Reed, but just did her job the same way Shran did. We learn that the most prominent Andorian on Enterprise is someone who pretended to have good intentions, when he truly had bad intentions (or at least, self-serving intentions), but was following orders and, left to his own devices, would have made good (or at least, better) on those original good intentions.
It adds complexity to the relationship between humans and Andorians and on the relationship between Archer and Shran. One of the best scenes in the episode, and maybe the series, sees Trip asking Shran for the Andorian’s antimatter converters. Shran demures, but expresses sympathy for the loss of Trip’s sister in the attack and empathizes with the quest for vengeance. Trip rebuffs the suggestion, saying that it’s not about revenge; it’s about keeping others from having to suffer the same fate. Shran confides a story of losing his own sibling in battle, and with that shared sort of loss between them, agrees to give Trip the technology.
Maybe it’s all an act. Maybe the tech was fairly pedestrian and it was another part of the scheme to gain the Enterprise’s trust to where the Andorians could complete their mission. But I’d like to think it was genuine, another sign that Shran continues to see potential in these “pink-skins”, enough for him to give them the smallest bits of help along the way. As Archer puts it earlier, he and Shran keep finding themselves doing favors for one another, and Shran replies that it’s how alliance are born. Alliances are never that simple, but built on layers of trust and false starts and personal relationships. Great art, in Star Trek or elsewhere, is built on the same.