Episode 91: Affliction

There is some clever work done in the two-parter that begins with "Affliction", written by Mike Sussman from a story by Manny Coto, and ends with "Divergence", written by the Reeves-Stevens pair.


These episodes finally resolve the long-standing Trek mystery surrounding the ridgeless Klingons who appear throughout TOS. You remember, the mystery that got Worf grumbling about a "long story" when challenged by his DS9 crewmates in "Trials and Tribble-ations'?


"Affliction" and "Divergence" tell that long story. And they quite cleverly tie in the Khan/Soong/Augment storyline into it as well.


It seems the Klingons, fearful that the Humans were developing a race of super soldiers using Soong's genetically enhanced Augments as the source, use several Augment embryos they saved from their destroyed bird of prey to develop their own Augment experiments.


Unfortunately, the experiments go wrong and, instead of developing a super soldier, they get a super plague that first mutates the carrier into a half-Klingon/half-Human entity, then kills him very painfully. Numerous Klingon worlds have been infected. Several have already been eradicated by the Klingon fleet.


Their solution? Kidnap Phlox from Earth and set him to work with Dr. Antaak, his Klingon disciple, on a way to stabilize the process, eliminate the plague and, if possible, create Klingon Augments.


Archer is committed to tracking Phlox down but Reid's participation in the search is interfered with by a mysterious man from his Star Fleet security past who calls on his long dormant oath and requires him to delay Enterprise's work. It seems this clandestine Star Fleet security (introduced in DS9) is working with the Klingons on the plot because a stable Klingon Empire is key to Star Fleet's future.


Meanwhile, Archer guides T'Pol through the process of performing a mind meld on Sato to help Sato remember key information from the kidnapping (yes, Archer can do anything... defeat an Andorian solider in a duel using an Andorian weapon, help a Vulcan perform a mind meld, cure the common cold). The mind meld results in T'Pol, Tucker and Sato sharing a "dream" in which Tucker appears with T'Pol in a pure white setting.


It would seem that T'Pol is not quite over Tucker yet and even Sato is now in on the situation.


Enterprise investigates the destruction of a Rigelian ship that left Earth shortly after the kidnapping and, while there, Enterprise is attacked by a Klingon bird of prey. A small boarding party, four individuals that look surprisingly like the Klingons from TOS, infects Enterprise's warp engine programming. Star Fleet security captures one of the invaders and the other three flee.


Meanwhile, Archer has discovered Reid's disloyalty and placed him the brig. There is much hand-wringing on Reid's part -- his loyalties are divided and he feels awful about undermining Archer -- and he gets the chance to chat with the Klingon in the other cell.


Phlox comes to a working relationship with his Klingon disciple but angers the Klingon General who is in charge of the facility. They have five days to accomplish their goal because that's how long it will take the Klingon fleet to get there to exterminate them all. (How is it that Klingon battle cruisers take five days to get there and Enterprise can get there in a matter of hours?)


At first, Enterprise can't go to warp but then, once they do go to warp, the Klingon computer subroutine forces them to go to maximum warp and stay there. Anything slower and the warp engines will explode. (And, no, Keanu Reaves and Sandra Bullock do not make guest appearances here with their supercharged bus).


The episode ends with Enterprise speeding along, searching for an answer before they shake apart.


The basic premise of the episode is, as I said above, quite clever: tying together the ridgeless Klingon mystery from TOS with the Augment story line is an impressive idea and well executed.


It's also a Star Trek blast from the past to see John Schuck again as a Klingon, this time as Dr. Antaak. If I am not mistaken, Schuck played the Klingon Ambassador to the Federation in The Search for Spock, swearing that there will be no peace between the Empire and the Federation while James Kirk lives.


I'm not sure I fully understand why it is a small crew of Klingon Augments that is sent to harass Enterprise, nor why they go the subtle route of installing a nasty sub-routine rather than just disabling Enterprise entirely. I also don't understand the Augment leader's motivation for telling the General upon her return that Enterprise was destroyed and her son killed.


The subplot about Reid's torn loyalties doesn't really do much for the episode, to be honest, and frankly doesn't seem necessary at all. Sometimes, I wonder if the show's creative team simply had run out ideas and were desperately trying to fill the last 10 or so episodes of Enterprise with something, anything, just so that they could all go home.


I also don't understand the Klingon motivation in involving Star Fleet secret security in this situation. Dr. Antaak makes it clear that it would be a shameful act of weakness for the Klingons to ask for help from Star Fleet to resolve the plague yet it doesn't seem to be shameful at all for the Klingons to ask for Star Fleet help to kidnap Phlox and delay Enterprise.


Further, why is Star Fleet secret security so wound up about ensuring the stability of the Klingon Empire at this point? Human/Klingon interaction has been extremely limited to this point and, with so much of the known galaxy just trying to figure itself out, why would you want the most obvious potential enemy to remain stable?


It's nice to see a female leading the Klingon Augments but I wonder why every other Klingon of any consequence in the episode is male. The doctor, the general, the soldiers, the commander of the star ships, they are all male.


It's also nice to see Sato put some of her Akido training into action, even despite the overwhelming odds against her. But I wonder, I really really wonder, why Phlox, faced with an aggressive kidnapping attempt on a dark street, doesn't show the "instinctive reaction" to danger that he displayed in a simple bar fight in "Home". Did we forget about that?