The Long Road

04/12/2003 Archived Entry: "Enterprise 2x19: Judgment"

Archer finds himself the victim of an unjust Klingon judicial system. On trial for aiding enemies of the Empire, Archer suffers through a questionable process while inspiring honour and justice in an old Klingon lawyer.

This episode was fun for a few reasons, the actor playing the Klingon lawyer was the same man that played General Martok in DS9 and Captain Duras was, of course, of the Duras family that framed (or will frame) Worf’s family. The chase through the planet’s ring and the plasma explosion were nicely done, if a little reminiscent of Attack of the Clones. The sparking gavel was a good source of humour for the housemates and I. I liked the visuals for the Klingons a lot in this episode, especially the large Klingon emblem in the court room, and the intricate forehead patterns.

There were a few things that really needed to be elaborated on in this episode that never were. How did the Klingons get a hold of Archer? What happened to the rebels? Why can a human so easily beat a Klingon in hand-to-hand combat? My general complaint about this episode was that it lacked context. It feels very much like the writers wanted an episode with Archer showing the Klingons the error of their ways so they threw a semblance of a plot together without caring about how things got there or what the consequences would be. They wanted to tell the middle part but it wasn’t even entertaining or engaging on its own.

And that ending! Talk about a Deus Ex Machina. It was so contrived; you just knew that they didn’t care about it at all. The ending was just one scene they threw in just so they could get out of the cul-de-sac they had written themselves into. LAZY.

Overall: 5/10

Replies: 1 Comment

You're still watching Enterprise? ;)

Posted by Andrea @ 04/14/2003 07:57 PM EST