Episode 65: Proving Ground

And finally the Andorians appear. Out of nowhere, at just the right time, they appear in the Delphic Expanse to help Enterprise at the precise moment that the Xindi are about to test their new improved weapon.

And then the Andorians try to steal said weapon for use against the Vulcans.

And then Archer and crew foil their effort.

Actually, "Proving Ground" is a fairly strong episode. Sure, it's somewhat predictable. Sure, the Andorian timing is just a little too good to believe. But it still works as a dramatic piece and, surprise surprise, writer Chris Black manages to avoid the B&B pitfall of hyper-sexualising the Andorian tactical officer who develops feeling of mutual respect by working closely with Reid.

Enterprise finally finds the location of the Xindi "proving ground" for the new location but a dense field of anomalies stands in its way. Archer makes the brave but foolish decision of deciding to try to cross the field rather than taking the time to go around it, only to find his ship falling to pieces around him. Suddenly, a tractor beam comes from nowhere to drag Enterprise to safety and we find our old friend Schran in command of the heroic Andorian warship, offering help to Archer in his quest and raising the question of why the Vulcans didn't volunteer to help humanity save itself from extinction.

Finally, someone raises that question!

T'Pol warns Archer to be cautious in trusting the Andorians but Archer only seems to see a useful new ally.With Enterprise now fully repaired thanks to Andorian aid, the two ships head toward the proving ground to try to steal the Xindi weapon.

Since radiation from the weapon would be too much for Enterprise's bulkheads, the decision is made that the Andorian vessel will take it aboard and keep it behind shields until the radiation dissipates. Archer decides he has to be onboard the Andorian ship for the operation and so ends up being taken hostage when Schran's true plans take hold: the Andorian ship grabs the Xindi weapon and the flees at high warp, leaving Enterprise to deal with the remaining Xindi ships.

It all ends well, however, with Enterprise catching the Andorians and causing the Xindi weapon to go into overload, forcing the Andorians to jettison it into space before it explodes. As Enterprise flies merrily away from the damaged Andorian ship, someone aboard her sends a disguised data stream to Enterprise containing detailed scans of the weapon.

Is it Schran, out of loyalty to his friend and ally Archer? or is it the tactical officer, out of respect for Reid? Who knows?

"Proving Ground" turns out to be a straight forward action and intrigue yarn that works fairly well. OK, we have to accept that Enterprise is able to defeat two Xindi reptilian vessels in short order (remembering, of course, that a similar encounter at an earlier time fell decisively to the Xindi) and that Enterprise is fast enough to catch up with Andorian ship despite the latter's head start and its significantly higher top speed in the short time the Andorians slow down to enter the anomaly field but before they actually do enter it.

And, OK, we have to wonder just what happened to the three Xindi reptilians Archer dumped in the Enterprise's cargo bay after bringing them back form the 21st Century a couple of episodes ago.

Other than that, "Proving Ground" is not bad.