Star Trek: Enterprise--The Complete Second Season

With Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) trapped in the 31st century, the second season of Star Trek: Enterprise opens with a rousing resolution to the first's cliffhanger finale. Other developments were quickly forthcoming, to the delight of diehard Trekkies everywhere: The "temporal cold war" that was the series' narrative backbone is further detailed in the episode "Shockwave, Part II," while "Carbon Creek" reveals the secret first visit of Vulcans to planet Earth (specifically to Pennsylvania in 1957), allowing Jolene Blalock (who plays Vulcan sub-commander T'Pol), to play T'Pol's "second foremother" in a Sputnik-era scenario. Series ratings continued to decline (prompting premature rumors of cancellation), but the season offered some noteworthy highlights, including the fan-favorite episodes "Minefield" and "Dead Stop." The second season also emphasizes Archer's ongoing friction with the Vulcan High Command, exacerbated when T'Pol's career is threatened (in "Stigma") by her involuntary involvement with ostracized mind-melders. Connections to the original Star Trek (series and films) were also explored, with episodes involving Tellarites, Tholians, Klingons, Andorians, and even a brief appearance by a cute, furry Tribble (one of several occasions for humor in Dr. Phlox's sickbay, the setting of many of the season's finest dialogue-driven scenes). Early warp-drive history is also explored in "First Flight," a Right Stuff-like episode guest-starring Keith Carradine as Archer's friend and rival. While several of the 26 episodes collected here serve to showcase the series' primary characters, "Regeneration" provoked controversy among fans for introducing the yet unnamed Borg in an early Starfleet context, while others (including "The Crossing," "The Breach," and "Cogenitor") feel somewhat recycled, indicating the challenge of finding new ideas in the collective Star Trek canon. The season climaxes with a devastating attack on Earth in "The Expanse," ending on a note of high-stakes mystery as the Enterprise enters a treacherous region of space in search of the Xindi, an enemy race that factors heavily in the third season. As usual, Paramount's Star Trek DVD extras offer a treasure-trove of featurettes and trivia for devoted fans, including deleted scenes, writer commentary on two episodes, informative pop-up text commentary on two episodes, and six Easter eggs. Although Enterprise suffered relatively low ratings throughout its four-season run, the release of the complete sets provide a welcome opportunity to catch up on a series that deserved a better fate. Recommended. (J. Shannon)