Episode Report Card Keckler: B+ | 83 USERS: C+ YOU GRADE IT Blue Swayed Crews
By Keckler | Season 3 | Episode 13 | Aired on 2004.01.21
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Still hot on the trail of the Xindi and their Weapon of Math Destruction (What? The Xindi are from Barcelona!), Quantum gets visited by an old friend in the shape of a little blue pill that helps you sleep when you have a headache. Excedrin P.M. aka Shran the Andorian drops in to lend a blue hand to Quantum's Quest. Excedrin P.M. appears to be incensed that the Vulcans aren't lifting a pointy finger to help the humans and says he owes Quantum big for helping avert that little war last year. Thrilled with all the help he can get, Quantum allows Excedrin P.M. and his blue friends all over the ship. Reed gets assigned a strapping femme fatale to help him with some security and weapons stuff. In between bouts of work, they flirt and drink coffee together. And in between bouts of Reed being smart, Andorianna fiddles with stuff she probably shouldn't be fiddling with. The Xindi hold another Round Table and yell at Mr. Man because he still only has a prototype of the weapon ready. While Quantum and T'Pol hide on their ship, Excedrin P.M. and his ship fly into the Xindi test zone and try to stall things and get in the way while furtively taking scans of everything. Mr. Man tells them to bugger off and tests his prototype. It fails and he gets into big trouble with the Round Table. At this point, Excedrin P.M. swoops in and steals the weapon. Quantum is all thrilled about this until it becomes obvious that the Andorians don't plan on giving the weapon to the humans. Instead, Excedrin P.M, plans to lug it home to his home planet so that the Vulcans won't think about stepping one pointy toe over their side of the room ever again. Quantum is dumped in space until his ship picks him up. Excedrin P.M. thinks he's homefree until Quantum catches up with him and detonates the weapon in their cargo hold. The Andorians have no choice but to release it to explode ineffectually in space. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
I'm going to scare a lot of my longtime readers (and probably my boss) and say that I don't want this show to be cancelled.
Now that you've all picked yourself off the floor, I'm going to explain my reasons, which may yet prove that I'm feverish with Stockholm Syndrome. First and foremost, the plots and writing have really improved. Yes, I was bored out of my screaming SKULL with "Shipment," and "Rajiin" wasn't even good enough to be deemed laughable, but with "Carpenter Street" and "Twilight," they are chutes and ladders above the first season.
But the bottom line is, I firmly believe the actors deserve more of a chance. Okay, yes, I also firmly believe that Scott Bakula needs to sit on a counter and thaw out a little bit more before Cpt. Quantum warms my heart the way Sam Beckett did, but I think he's headed in that direction. Plus, the black shirt is yummy, and I've heard that if Bakula has his way we could have Enterprise: Once More With Beaming! Seriously, think about it: it would be singing where no Trek has sung before. Jolene Blalock has settled into her Vulcan role and, save for those few times when the directors or writers make her get emotional, she's done an excellent job developing her character. Dominic Keating -- whom I've always liked to some degree -- is still managing to be as good as he ever was and even brings a little more humor to his role when he's not making bathroom jokes. John Billingsley is just perfect in every way. As is Porthos, of course. Connor Trinneer is perhaps the one actor on this show who has me completely flummoxed. Back in the early years I was writing recipes that included a heaping cup of "Shut up, Trip!," but now with his deliveries and facial expressions, he has managed to gallop so far away from the good ol' boy persona that I actually like him. I'm sorry I can't say more about Linda Park and Anthony Montgomery, but I can't judge what I don't really see.
That said, I'm still going to mercilessly snark on the show when the show deserves it. Does that make me a hypocrite? No, not in the least. It just means that regardless of cancellation rumors, I'm still going to call 'em as I see 'em. Finally, I would be very sorry to see this show go, because I feel that if there's a new Trek show running anywhere, all is right with the world.
Before I even comment on the episode I'm going to say one more thing that is directed only at Bermaga and not at the actors or writers: WHERE THE HELL IS KELLIE WAYMIRE'S TRIBUTE?! Yeah, yeah, Berman was quoted as saying that they were trying to find a way of paying their respects, blah-blah blow-it-up-our-asses-some-more cakes; yet Everwood -- the show that had her on for ONE SINGLE EPISODE -- still had MORE CLASS than the show that had her on SEVERAL TIMES when they put an "In memory of" at the end of the freakin' episode! What's the matter, Bermaga? You too cool to acknowledge the passing of an actor? Too wrapped up in your fancy suits and pin-striped egos to care? Would it REALLY have taken SO much out of you to slap in an "In memory of" line post-production after the news of her death came out? Screw you. Anything you do now will be pointless and insulting to her memory. You blew it. If it weren't for the fact that I honestly think the actors and the writers deserve more of a chance after this season's improvement, I'd tell you to shove this show so far up your collective ASSES that you'd still be flossing it out of your teeth come Christmas.