[color=#000000
ost_uid0]I liked it. It fell short of being outstanding; a few seams were showing in places and there were bits that could have been handled better, but not bad overall -- a pretty entertaining hour of television. B+/7.5, or thereabouts.
One thing I liked a lot was Stephen McHattie's performance as the mine foreman.
After being somewhat disappointed by how little they used him in his last Trek appearance (as Vreenak in DS9's [i
ost_uid0]In the Pale Moonlight,[/i
ost_uid0]) it was great to see him get a bit more room to stretch out here. Also liked a lot of what they did with camera angles and generally getting the atmosphere of the mines on screen.
I did think, though, that Trip's characterization was sort of uneven. Neither the conversation in Archer's cabin nor his borderline-postal confrontation with the Xindi-humanoid really felt right to me. Archer himself still needs some work, as well -- he continues to be more a collection of postures and reactions than a whole, integrated person.
The Trip/T'Pol business? That's one of the things that could definitely have been handled better. Then again, it could have been a lot worse, too.
There were a few very good bits in there, but overall, it seemed sort of clunky and awkward.
Couple of spot reactions:
The MACO attack/rescue -- I don't know much of anything about [i
ost_uid0]Elite Force[/i
ost_uid0], but at the beginning, where they're rappelling down from above, I was getting a flashback to a imilar scene in [i
ost_uid0]You Only Live Twice.[i/]
Evil Future Guy lying? -- well, now [i]that[/i
ost_uid0] would come as a real surprise, wouldn't it?
Maybe more later, after I've had a chance to wake up and read MEG's review, and stuff.
Derek: I didn't watch [i
ost_uid0]Jake 2.0[/i
ost_uid0], but I've been following Tim Goodman's advance reviews and reactions. The impression I'm getting is that it's not bad, but stops far short of what it [i
ost_uid0]could[/i
ost_uid0] be. I'm sort of waiting to see what happens there.[/color
ost_uid0]