For the first time, our hosts take a close look at an episode from Star Trek: Enterprise’s temporal cold war storyline. In this review of “Cold Front,” Kris and Kyle discuss time travel, Crewman Daniels, and more.
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What is in Episode 17: Cold Front – Full Review
Ready to Embark
Kyle West began the show by announcing that he and Kris Hill would finally be discussing an episode from Enterprise’s Temporal Cold War storyline.
Unlike previous episode reviews they have done, Kyle said that he and Kris would be going through the episode scene-by-scene.
When he first watched Cold Front, years ago, Kris was very intrigued by the Temporal Cold War, and how it would develop.
Silik the Henchman
It was highlighted that, in the Cold Front teaser, Silik makes his second appearance on the show. Unlike his first, Silik is presented as merely a henchman, in the opening scene.
Kyle addressed the fact that the episode tries to make the audience believe that Future Guy may be a good guy, but that his evil voice makes that impossible.
He also liked that the episode began with a teaser that did in fact tease the plot of the episode, which wasn’t always the case in early Star Trek: Enterprise episodes.
The Introduction of Crewman Daniels
“Yeah, I think they probably should have,” said Kris, when he was asked if Crewman Daniels should’ve been introduced in an earlier episode, to make his true identity more of a surprise.
Kyle used The CW Network’s The Flash as an example of a show that quietly introduced a character briefly across a season, only revealing how important she was at the end of the season.
Both agreed that were the storyline done nowadays, Daniels would’ve been introduced earlier, with his true identity revealed later.
Creative, But Familiar, Appearances
Kyle expressed his surprise at how diverse, and impressive, the makeup was for all the various aliens. Said that, at this point in Trek, designs had been getting tired and boring.
There were some similarities to Jem’Hadar designs, Kris noted, but hadn’t seen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine when he first saw this episode, so didn’t make the comparison, immediately.
Kris described one of the alien designs as reminding him of a bearded dragon, from Earth.
Religion in Trek
Enterprise’s guests’ willingness to skip their traditional fasting, during the religious event, surprised Kyle. He didn’t think that felt true to fasting traditions on Earth.
Was it a missed opportunity to have Archer reveal that he was a Christian? Kyle thought so.
Of all the Star Trek captains, Kyle felt that Archer was the one who could have been written as a practising Christian.
Travis will be Waiting a While
Kyle was particularly amused by the idea that Travis Mayweather was happy to wait until he is promoted, to sit in the Captain’s Chair.
Kris confessed that, if he was left in command of a starship, he’d be in the Chair immediately.
Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey
When discussing Silik saving Enterprise from destruction, Kyle questioned how Daniels could be unaware of that event happening.
He concludes that Daniels must come from a future where Silik always saved Enterprise, otherwise, he wouldn’t have known Archer to be so important to the United Federation of Planets.
Kyle praised Scott Bakula’s performance when Archer discovered Daniels’ true identity.
Is the Temporal Cold War, and how it began, similar to the real world nuclear weapon issues faced by 21st century Earth? Kyle floated the idea.
Kyle spun himself out, trying to work out why Daniels didn’t take Silik during the events of Broken Bow.
Both hosts discussed a recent mention of the Temporal Cold War on Star Trek: Discovery, and how it was used to explain why that show’s characters couldn’t travel back in time.
Kyle wondered if Captain Archer’s encounters with time travellers are what caused the creation of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Department of Temporal Investigations
Just Like That
Kris admitted that, on his first viewing, he assumed that Daniels had been killed off.
But, in the back of his head, he suspected time travel shenanigans might have kept Daniels alive.
Kyle called it “a non-eventful death,” but said it caught him by surprise.
They discussed various theories as to how Daniels survived, given he appears later in the season. Cloning? Projection? All got mentioned.
Ass Whooping
In the first 1.5 seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise, Archer always got beaten up, as Kyle highlighted here.
Kyle wondered why Archer wasn’t sucked out into the vacuum of space when Silik opened the shuttlepod bay doors. He concluded it was to service the plot.
How the War Ended
Kris confessed that he enjoyed the Temporal Cold War, but felt Manny Coto was dealt a shorthand with how he had to resolve it.
Every part of the story arc worked for Kyle, but he told Kris that he would’ve been disappointed if he knew in advance that it was going to end with Space Nazis, in Season 4.
Did You Know?
After they discussed their favourite moments from Cold Front, Kris brought up the working title for the episode.
Kris also revealed that a calendar date given in Cold Front creates an issue if watching Enterprise in linear order.
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