Episode 66: Strategem

After capturing Degra, the leader of the Xindi team that is developing the Earth-destroying weapon, at the weapon test site, the Enterprise crew devise a complex "Strategem" to convince him to divulge the location at which the weapon is being developed.


Written by Michael Sussman, from a story by Terry Matalas, "Strategem" represents for me the kind of episode that seems clever and suspenseful when it stands on it own but that makes absolutely no sense in the larger scheme of things.


The "Strategem" the Enterprise crew comes up with involves using drugs to erase all of Degra's recent memories, aging him three years, then loading him into a small simulated space craft with a similarly aged Archer and feeding him a story.


The story they feed him is complicated: it is now three years since Degra's last memory and, during that three-year period, the Xindi destroyed Earth, the five-species Xindi alliance fell to pieces and the Insectoids and Reptilians overthrew the government and tossed Degra and Archer into a prison cell together in hopes that they would provide lots of entertainment for their guards as they tear each other to pieces. Archer and Degra, however, managed to put aside their differences and devise an escape from their prison. They are now running for their lives on a stolen vessel, looking for a safe haven in which to hide.


The safe haven Archer would prefer is, of course, the planet upon which Degra had settled his family while the weapon was being built. Archer supposes that Degra would want his family nearby during his years of work: ergo, find his family, find the weapon.


So, in other words, the plan is to build a fake ship in the cargo bay, put it through a variety of trials and tribulations (involving simulated attacks and lots of rocking and rolling of the little ship using ship's machinery) and hope that Degra will begin to develop trust in Archer to the extent that he will give him the coordinates of his family's planet.


Everything seems to be proceeding very well (Degra has even consented to entering the coordinates of the planet into the little ship's navigational computer, encrypted of course, though the Enterprise crew easily de-encrypt the info) until a single Xindi ship is spotted on long range sensors, leading T'Pol to order Enterprise to expose itself to spatial anomalies to avoid contact. The anomalies have their expected impact and cause the simulation to flicker just long enough for Degra to spot the deception and attempt to attack Archer.


The question arises: when did Degra figure it all out (before or after the anomaly flicker) and are the coordinates he input into the computer real or fake? The coordinates are many light years away and Enterprise could waste an awful lot of time getting there if they turn out to be fake.


That leads to the implementation of a second strategy, this time outside the little ship, in which Enterprise convinces Degra it has used the Xindi space portals to arrive at his family's planet in no time at all and plan to attack. Degra shouts in defiance: "You'll never get through the facility's defenses," which, of course, confirms that the facility is, in fact, at the coordinates provided.


In many ways, it's a fun episode. And it sort of works in terms of suspense and drama.


But, honestly, would the Enterprise crew, in the situation in which they find themselves, put in the time, resources and effort necessary to put this risky stratagem into action when it has such a ridiculously low probability of success?


And is it reasonable that Enterprise would purposely enter an anomaly to avoid a single Xindi ship, thus exposing themselves to the effects of the anomaly and almost blowing all their hard work in relation to Degra?


Why not just destroy the single Xindi ship (they disabled two quite easily in the previous episode)?


And why would Degra be so suspicious from the beginning? For him to be suspicious, he would have to tell himself that he has been captured by humans, that Archer is in control, that the ship they are on and the attacks they experience are all fake, and that this is all a deception.


Would he really be that suspicious? That wise?


Would he really believe the humans would resort to such a ridiculous "Strategem" to get information out of him?


And what are the chances that the Xindi would have a single space portal that could take Enterprise so quickly from the test site for the weapon to the weapon facility that we have established is very very far away? From what we've learned in previous episodes, the Xindi portals are fairly short range only. Wouldn't Degra immediately know that there is no such portal available to Enterprise and not fall for their trick? After being suspiciously suspicious of the earlier deception, why is so quick (and stupid) to fall for the new one?


And that brings up the question of why the test site is located so very very far away from the weapon facility? That just doesn't make sense from a business efficiency standpoint.


Further, why does Archer feel it's acceptable practice to wipe the recent memories of Degra and his crew and then put them back in their ship at the test site at the end of the episode? Wouldn't it be better for the larger mission to take the leading weapon developer and his top people out of action for good?


Finally, WHAT THE HECK HAS HAPPENED TO THOSE THREE XINDI REPTILIANS ENTERPRISE CAPTURED IN 2002 IN "CARPENTER STREET"? Couldn't they have provided some information on the matters at hand?

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.