ENT 3x12-13: "Chosen Realm" and "Proving Ground"

[Zeke]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]It just occurred to me: 5MV is a fairly prominent [iost_uid0]Enterprise[/iost_uid0] site, with big forums, and yet we don't have regular [iost_uid0]Enterprise[/iost_uid0] threads -- even though Science Fiction is one of the forums! Chalk it up to laziness on my part... I used to start these threads regularly. In fact, I even used to do daily "Roundup" threads listing the sf reruns that were on that day. I no longer pretend to have that kind of time, but I still think it was a good idea, so maybe I'll recruit someone to do it for me.

Anyway, [iost_uid0]Enterprise[/iost_uid0]. Week before last we had "Chosen Realm," a religious message show. I had this exchange with my brother partway through....
Me: "Know what's subtle about this episode?"
Him: "What?"
Me: "Absolutely nothing."
I still think that pretty much sums it up. The episode had a message and it wasn't going to let us leave without cramming that message into every brain cell in our heads. To its credit, it was careful to get that message right: it wasn't "religion is bad," it was "blowing up people [iost_uid0]for[/iost_uid0] religion is bad." And there were good moments, particularly Archer's clever use of the transporter. But the episode was very predictable and just didn't have much point.

"Proving Ground," on the other hand, was barrels of fun. It was an interesting twist on the usual "Are they on our side or not?" story -- the answer to that question actually changed partway through when Shran got the order to steal the weapon. Reed, who's been a bit underused this year, got a B-plot to play with and another not-quite love interest (this show has a [iost_uid0]good[/iost_uid0] record with female Andorians). The ending was satisfying too; it got Archer the data he needed without cheapening his sacrifice, and I don't know about you, but I was glad to see the goodwill between Archer and Shran wasn't lost for good.

Thought for the day: how did this encounter with Shran turn out in the "Twilight"-verse, with T'Pol in command?[/colorost_uid0]