Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Third Season

The 2003-04 season is dominated by a single story arc in which the intrepid crew of the starship Enterprise, led by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), enters the dreaded Delphic Expanse to find and stop the Xindi, a mysterious alien race bent on destroying the Earth. Although individual episodes occasionally explore smaller, intimate themes, the 24 installments of this penultimate season are largely focused on the Xindi threat, providing a narrative cohesiveness makes for an especially taut, suspenseful year. Fine scripts—most of them either written or edited by Star Trek honcho Rick Berman—offer ample opportunities for memorable acting by supporting cast members Jolene Blalock (as Commander T'Pol), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), and Linda Park (Ensign Hoshi Sato), among others. Perhaps the best episode in the group is “Twilight,” which begins with Archer falling victim to one of the Expanse's “special anomalies”: unable to form new long-term memories, he seemingly awakens from a 12-year slumber to discover that the Xindis have destroyed Earth and a small colony of humans fights for survival. Late-season entries revolve around the Enterprise's search for a Xindi doomsday weapon due for imminent deployment against the Earth. In “Stratagem,” Archer and the crew stage an elaborate hoax designed to trick the weapon's engineer into revealing its location, while the year's last two episodes, “Countdown” and “Zero Hour,” pit them against the Xindi Reptilian and Insectoid warriors as the weapon hurtles toward Earth. The battle's outcome is by no means predetermined, and even the most jaded viewer will be kept on the edge of his or her seat. As usual, this latest installment in the Star Trek franchise comes loaded with a number of bonus features (cast profiles, text and audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, etc.). Recommended. [Note: the final set, Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Fourth Season is also newly available.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Jan. 14, 2014—Paramount, 6 discs, 1,025 min., not rated, $129.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2003-04's Star Trek: Enterprise: Season Three features an excellent transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack. Extras include audio and text commentaries on various episodes, a three-part “In a Time of War” making-of documentary (87 min.), the production featurettes “Temporal Cold War: Declassified” (20 min.), “A Day in the Life of a Director: Roxann Dawson” (18 min.), “Enterprise Profile: Connor Trinneer” (17 min.), “Behind the Camera: Marvin Rush” with the cinematographer (16 min.), “Enterprise Secrets” on locations (4 min.), and three “NX-01 File” featurettes on story and costume design (11 min. total), as well as “The Xindi Saga Begins” (13 min.), “Enterprise Moments: Season 3 (13 min.), deleted scenes (9 min.), outtakes (6 min.), a photo gallery, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for this solid third season of Enterprise.]