Enterprise "Vanishing Point" Talkback (Spoilers)

[RZetlin]

This episode reminded me of a cross between TNG's The Next Phase and Realm of Fear.

In the first fifteen minutes of the show I had some suspicions that:

A) Hoshi was having a dream.

B) Something went wrong with the transporter and the Doctor is trying to revive her.

The first half of the episode was boring--the pacing was slow and nothing exciting happened.

It's somewhat farfetched that Hoshi could have been through a complex imagination.

Well, it wasn't a total loss--there was a shower scene with Hoshi and she ran around in a tank top in the last half of the episode.


Rating: **1/2


(BTW: I recognized Hoshi's father as the famous baseball player from DS9)

[Joker85]

Ya know, that would have been a good episode if they hadn't totally screwed up the ending!! So, she went through the whole episode in just 2 seconds, and it was all in her mind, and they don't even bother to explain how or why? ARGGGHHH!!! This show is quickly losing my patience and if it doesn't improve soon I'll be done with it. *** only because the first 55 minutes were good, the last five crapped it up.

[rabidrednek]

I agree with the above, good show, just a bad ending. I've always felt that the "It was all a dream" ending type from any series is just a cop-out.

[RZetlin]

It's ironic that there were more transporter mishaps in the future than in the past.

From TNG to Voyageur, the transporter has been involved in turning the crew into kids, mergering two people into one, bringing people from alternate dimensions, vapourizing a few people etc.

I expected more worst issues with the transporter from the past than just a few seconds delay.

The writers could have done more to explore the early mishaps of transporter technology.

Aren't we going to get an episode where a mutant alien is formed from the mixed DNA of Archer and a fly?

Should I dare say it, Enterprise is starting to feel like Voyageur! (gasp!)

[Joe Wagner]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one to feel jipped by the ending of this episode. I think that they could have made a more convincing episode by having Hoshi reappear on the surface after she jumped through the alien teleporter, in the process putting her molecules back together again the correct way. A signal from the planets surface would have alerted the crew about the bombs on board Enterprise and Hoshi would have been beemed aboard the Enterprise with no problems. For an episode that could have been so much better the ending truly didn't do it justice.

-Joe!

[czyznyck99]

The ending was a cop-out, I guess Enterprise needed the obligatory "it's all a dream" episode. Too bad it was on Hoshi, I was actually digging the episode beforehand. Anyway, 3 stars.

Later.

[MILatino]

It started out OK, a bit slow but OK. I'm glad they focused on Hoshi and not the usual Archer/Trip/T'Pal. The ending was way too contrived and "easy". ***½ only because they used Hoshi, and underutilized character.

Now they have to start using Travis more.

[Steven C]

Yeah the ending sucked!!!!

[SilverKnight]

I knew from the first twenty minutes that it was going to end in a dream. I knew it. There were too many mistakes in the characterization--Archer actually coming to Hoshi's door to tell her something (wtf?), letting her sleep in for THREE HOURS and then sending her back to her quarters like some sort of child. No. Sorry, but no.

In a way, I'm almost glad it was a dream, so that way the craptastic characterization (that REALLY rubbed me the wrong way) of Archer could just be written off.

One thing that I've noticed; Rick Berman and Brannon Braga have written almost every episode in Season Two so far. Who else thinks they need a rest? I've heard that one of the greatest thing about Star Trek--supposedly--was the fact that they accept unsolicited scripts, some of which turn out to be some of the best in ST history.

My idea of a good episode would be one that deals with the backlash on Earth involving the mining colony that blew up. After all, it was probably classified as to what really happened, and furthermore, who the hell would believe the whole "aliens from the future sabotaged our shuttle" thing, anyway? I could see some serious drama if a family member to one of the people killed found a way onto the ship. Not to wreak havoc, of course, but just to see who and what it was that caused their family to die. And, maybe to let a piece of their mind off with the captain. No "villian of the week" thing, no "life threatening" decision, blah, blah, just a general plot/character driven episode that's not supposed to be funny.

Pardon me for my rant. It was a pretty good episode, if not for the ending.

[Good Ol' Batmanuel!]

Not a great episode, but it focused on Hoshi, so...it was very good! Yeah, her father was played by the same guy that played Buck Bokai on DS9. That was cool!

[DarkAngel]

Originally posted by czyznyck99
The ending was a cop-out, I guess Enterprise needed the obligatory "it's all a dream" episode.

I'm surprised so many of you disliked the ending. To me, that's the only thing that made the episode worthwhile. We've seen this before, a crewmember is somehow out of phase with everyone else, no one else can see or hear him and thinks he's dead, and by the end, the crew realizes what happened and a solution is found. That's where this episode seemed to be headed, so I was honestly surprised by the ending. Without it, the whole thing would have basically been a repeat of past Trek.

[Joe Wagner]

Originally posted by DarkAngel
I'm surprised so many of you disliked the ending. To me, that's the only thing that made the episode worthwhile. We've seen this before, a crewmember is somehow out of phase with everyone else, no one else can see or hear him and thinks he's dead, and by the end, the crew realizes what happened and a solution is found. That's where this episode seemed to be headed, so I was honestly surprised by the ending. Without it, the whole thing would have basically been a repeat of past Trek.

I think that could be were the problem truly lies with this episode - the fact that we had seen this storyline many times in the past and hoped that they would finally do something different with it to surprise us. Unfortunately, when we found out that they had just rehashed a bunch of old concepts it tended to leave a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, mine included. I guess I was just generally disappointed because I expected more.

-Joe!

[MILatino]

Originally posted by Joe Wagner
Unfortunately, when we found out that they had just rehashed a bunch of old concepts it tended to leave a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, mine included.

Exactly, Joe. I don't know episode titles well. This was a combination of the episodes where LaForge and Ro where accidentally phased by the transporter + the episode where Dr. Crusher is accidentally sent to an alternate collapsing universe and Will & the Traveler work to pull her back. Last week's Enterprise was the obligatory "everyone contracts an illness except one person who saves them all" episode that the writers use the first or second season of every Trek I've seen.

The writers need to tap other sources for material. Grant it fans tend to overcomplicate plots and overdo characterization (they tend to want to involve 100 characters in one story, etc.). However, some fans' storylines can be assimilated... and made to service... us.