Star Trek: Enterprise Reviews H

This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.

I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)

Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).

“Catwalk” See this for a plot summary.

A non-political episode. I give it four stars out of five.

“Dawn” See this for a plot summary.

A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.

“Stigma” See this for a plot summary.

This episode basically uses a Vulcan disease and the stigma attached to it to discuss HIV and AIDS. A minority of Vulcans practice mind-melds which transmit the disease (Pa’nar Syndrome) There are some good lines which, as I said, are basically talking about how people with HIV/AIDS are treated. Here’s some of the better lines:

What the bigots say-

A Vulcan Dr.: “We find their behavior unacceptable- and since Pa’nar Syndrome is transmitted by these people, it’s cure is not a priority”

Another Vulcan Dr.: “Pa’nar Syndrome is a disease that is unique to an undesirable part of our population.... We don’t condone the intimate acts that these people engage in- they defy everything our society stands for.”

From Archer and T’Pol-

Captain Archer: “My number one priority here is the health of my 1st officer. If these doctors have data that can help her, I plan to get it.”

T’Pol: “They haven’t elected to do anything. They’re born with this ability.”

Archer: “We don’t hold a candle to you when it comes to narrow-mindedness.”


I give it four stars out of five.

“Cease-Fire” See this for a plot summary.

A non-political episode (although we do see that Andorian women have combat leadership positions). I give it three stars out of five.

“Future Tense” See this for a plot summary.

A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.

“Canamar” See this for a plot summary.

To a small degree this is about a law enforcement system where suspects are frequently arrested without justification and are then invariably convicted and sentenced to a penal colony. At the end, Archer says, “my engineer and I were falsely arrested. We almost wound up in Canamar. Makes me wonder how many others don’t belong there.”

I give it four stars out of five.