Wizdar

I don’t normally start these things, but I just wanted to see if anybody wants to post speculation.

Will we actually see any “titillation” going on here? Or is the prospect of seeing N’Pol’s jugs just preview hype to boost sagging ratings? Are Archer and the cranky Vulcan gonna shower together? Will there be wood aboard Enterprise? Will Prothos get into the act?

I’m voting in favor of a totally misleading promotional effort by Paramount.

das Monkey

I better post now and get it out of the way. I "speculate" I won't have anything nice to say after the episode airs.

das

homeslice

OK, who was smoking the wacky weed before writing that episode?

Eric F

I just saw it.

Hell, they should just rename the show Tit-Trek, Jugs in Space, Sexerprise, uh, damn. I need to read more Penthouse Letters (probably what the writers were doing just before coming up with this little gem)...

Awful and uneccessary.

mikehunt

rerun next week
already?

CaptDS9E

World Series is next week so all the channels are trying not to put first runs against it

JuryDuty

Um...that was an..."interesting" episode...I guess.

Good thing Archer had plenty of time between 3 am and 9 am to learn the foreign language and get all duded up so he could perform the ceremony perfectly...

Man, if he cared as much about his crew as he did his dog, he'd destroy everything that came in their path.

Well, at least the Birds of Prey writers aren't doing these episodes yet...

mookiemeister

I haven't watched Enterprise since middle of last season. For some reason, I just lost interest in it. For those people that have kept up with the show, is it still worth watching? And how is the show compare to previous incarnations of the series?

mikehunt

then I can forgive them

MvRojo

This season has been surprisingly good so far, except for a little bit of slowness in the Romulan episode.

The premiere was pretty good. The second episode was good. The third could have been a little better, but the fourth was a very good one.

Tonight's was pretty good. I was actually surprised. I expected a crappy episode, but got a lot of good character moments between Phlox and Archer.

Kudama

I still like this show, what the hell was up with that bat. We finally get to see this mysterious bat (Rygellian was it?) and it’s a CG earth bat!

I can sympathize with Archer after seeing N’Pol’s short shorts, but, dang, I’m not a Starfleet Officer!

That Porthos puppet wasn’t lending credence either.
In the end I realized that it would be a BAD idea for me to gain a position of authority and then take my cat with me on an interstellar mission. How could I order my little cat down on an away team? I would have reacted the same way Archer did. And I would have been a poor choice for Captain because of it. (Thank God that little kitten (Beagle) lived!)

Patman

I think you have to assume that the tree that Archer chopped up is the tree that Porthos claimed for his own.

As soon as I saw that the writers were Braga and Berman, I knew we'd get some decontamination scenes. The titilation is getting predictable and somewhat wince-inducing. Even the treadmill scene (with T'Pol's twins on display) was almost too much. The B & B boys should be ashamed of their pandering.

The episode did serve as a good character exposition of Phlox, who definitely has a richer history given his training and his marriages and extended families. I did LOL when Archer finds out that Flox even has a degree in pschology as Phlox starts to do some psycho-analyzing of Archer's curtness with T'Pol and the underlying attraction he feels for her.

Porthos is just one of the cutest beagles you'll see on TV. When he's in a scene, I tend to forget about the rest of the crew because he's just a cute pup (and I'm not even a dog person). And yes, Archer is Porthos' bitch.

So the episode is quite an uneven episode, there were some good parts, and many groan-inducing parts.

And also, why does Archer...talk...like...Captain...Kirk...when...he's...unsure...and...formulating...his...comments... and...retorts?

It's...annoying...

Bandoman

Phlox character development = good.

Forced, unconvincing, gratuitous sex = bad. (I can't friggin' believe I just said that. )

Wizdar

This was like an accident on the freeway. You know that if you look, you’re gonna have to slow down and make everybody behind you slow down too. You damn all the a-holes in front of you who slowed and are creating this traffic jam, and then you look anyway.

For those with the skill to avoid the promos, this ep was gonna be all about sex sex sex! Turns out it was almost all about Porthos. None of the Porthos haters seem to have weighed in on the issue, but I thought that part was well done (with notable exceptions, like Phlox’ toenails and tongue).

The Hall of Discipline Diplomacy scene was worthy of some stupid public access thingie. To think that people get paid to write this crap is beyond me. If this was meant to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor, it totally missed the mark.

I’m all for gratuitous sex, when it’s done well. It has never been done well on this show. Dumb & Dumber are writing virginal pubescent masturbation fantasies, the only purpose for which seems to be to generate provocative promotional hype. This is obvious, in that the scenes used in the promos came from a dream. Lots of folks seem to hate holodeck episodes. I have even less respect for dream sequences.

If there is any intelligence in the B&B camp, it’s not being demonstrated by this train wreck.

Zien

Yeah, the B&B guys should probably stop writing at all, if this is what they're into. The Porthos stuff was enjoyable. Kind of a salute to all those Odd Couple sitcoms or sitcom episodes, and done pretty well. The sex stuff was pointless ans stupid, except for the "breast-best" line. The following "lips" line pushed the joke too far. To continue with the car-wreck metaphor, though, at least it was never boring.

Red Dog

I actually liked this episode. Of course, I'm a fan of T&A so that helps. Phlox is my favorite character on the show, so I was happy to see his character get a lot of airtime.

JuryDuty

Yeah, Wizdar, but I think we want to know how you really feel.

It seemed very uneven to me too. When the whole bat scene came up, my first thought was, "The writers are assuming we CARE about the bat." Personally, I think it's silly that the captain is chasing a bat at 2 in the morning.

EVERY moment between Archer and T'Pol was forced beyond reason. I don't buy any of it, save T'Pol's words to Archer at the very end about how it's a good thing they're not attracted to each other.

Getting to know Phlox was the only redeeming part of this episode.

cooper2000

There was nothing on last night and we were flipping the channel. It landed on Enterprise. Since we havent watched since last year, we thought we would give it a shot.
Boring.
We didnt make it through the whole episode, so in answer to your Question Mooky, dont expect much if you are tuning back in.
Is it suppose to be cute that we watch the Doctor clipping his toe nails and feeding it to the plant?
The whole treadmill scene between T'Pol and Archer wasnt any good either, it just layed there.
HELP! Get this show new writers Fast.
How do B&B sleep at night churning out this crap????!!!!????

Wizdar

Be careful what you ask for. I've got more.

CharlesC

Ok episode.

Phlox rules.

Titties good, ass hanging out of underpants better.

I couldn't really believe that Archer would sacrifice the ships health for his stupid dog. I wouldn't even bring my dog into the office, much less to a foriegn planet which I knew was inhabited by easily offended folks. He just seems too stupid compared to Picard.

grunter

Ok - clearly I watched a completely different episode than everyone else who's posted in this thread. Because IMHO, that was the BEST episode of "Enterprise" yet. It was light, breezy, full of plausible attempts to maintain continuity and just all around (capital-F) Fun. The only drawback to the whole episode was the painfully fake operating closeups on Porthos while he was being "hyper-hydrated" during the pituitary gland transplant.

Rather than just coast on subtle sexual tension for seasons on end (igniting the imaginations of the fan-fic writers - see all that over-the-top Janeway/7 of 9/Chakotay slash fiction), they actually brought the issue right up front and addressed it with a clever (for modern Trek), light touch. Archer has never been more likeable. T'Pol has never been more "human." Phlox has never been more multi-faceted. And finally, finally, finally we get away from what I deem to be the "filler" characters: Malcolm, Mayweather, Hoshi, and Trip. Those are the four characters that desperately need personality transplants in my opinion. Malcolm's recent skewering on the outer hull of the ship via some alien mine was the most agonizingly boring episode of the show yet. All of his supposed stiff-upper-lipped character development could have been summed up in about 10 minutes of screen time.

And the details that they nailed in this episode were just so friggin' right. The smirk and look of "get me out of this" to Trip as Archer offered the log slice to the persnickety aliens. The water polo video playing on Archer's computer monitor as he impatiently bounced the water polo ball off the bulkhead. The curious collection of futuristic work-out equipment in the ship's metallic gym. The throwback to the original series with the triangle shaped graphic body monitors above Archer's head. Phlox snipping his gnarly toenails. Phlox' implication that he "missed some of his co-husbands too" - perhaps (and I'm reaching most likely here) a nod to all the controversy in recent years about Trek not acknowledging a gay, lesbian or (in this case) potentially "bi" sexuality on the show. The cliche funeral dream sequence with all the characters dressed in 1950's era basic black. Porthos' "origin" and the reference to the no-cheese rule. This episode was just chockful of marvelous little details that just made it all come together and feel "right."

Had this been a Next Generation episode - it would have landed mid-way through that series' watershed third season. "Enterprise" has at least improved on that time-line by deepening the characters a third of the way through the second season.

Good "Trek" doesn't need to be tense, balls-out ship-to-ship showdowns in outer space. Sometimes these little episodes - "bottled" though they may be - do far more to expand the mythos of Roddenberry's future universe.

I - for one - absolutely adored that episode.

Red Dog

Hey I said that I liked the episode. The fact that I did automatically makes one of my favorites.

TOS was very successful at inserting the comedic episodes into the mix. That is what this episode reminded me of.

I like the episodes where they have to deal with aliens who have different customs and strange rules. This is what initial exploration would be like. I think it is entirely realistic that Archer would have the hots for T'Pol. What red-blooded male would not?

Slumbering Fist

Hey, they said they wanted a retun to the original, and there was no more obvious T&A scifi show than the original Trek.

Bacula stinks. I dont know what has happened to him, but he doesnt seem genuine at all on this show. He's dull and always seems forced in his emotions.

I'm just curious how many damned episodes are they going to revolve mainly around two characters in a confined area. Its old already.

Patman

I think I'll only be happy if Porthos bags N'pol.

Wizdar

TOS T&A? Naw. There were exceptions, of course, but mostly it was legs legs legs.