1.7 : The Andorian Incident.

[Neo]

First 'Terra Nova' & 'Andorian Incident' Spoilers

A week later, UPN will be airing 'The Andorian Incident,' an episode directed by former Voyager actress Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres). The episode has already received some attention for featuring frequent Trek guest actor Jeffrey Combs, and of course it will be the first Star Trek episode since the Original Series focusing on the Andorians.

Like in the Original Series, the Andorians are a rather aggressive species, and in the Enterprise timeline they are in conflict with the Vulcans. The Andorians accuse the Vulcans of spying on them using a long-range sensor array, which they claim is hidden in an old Vulcan monastery.

In the episode, Captain Archer decides to visit this monastery, used for retreat and introspection, in order to engage in some interstellar cultural site-seeing. Unfortunately, upon arrival the crew walk into an ambush, as only shortly before a rogue team of Andorians (led by Combs' character) took over the monastery in order to find the sensor array. Getting very little help from the pacifistic Vulcans in the monastery, Archer then has to come up with a plan to defeat the Andorians.

While the Andorians will still have many of the characteristics of those seen in the Original Series, their make-up has been updated a bit to modern standards. In particular, their two antennae are more on the front of the head than on the back, and they also move around.

'The Andorian Incident' is expected to air on the 31st of October.

As usual, please be aware that Paramount has released no official plot information on these episodes yet, and until that happens any such information from unofficial sources should be treated as you would any rumour.

 

[Neo]

Episode 1:7 - 'THE ANDORIAN INCIDENT (spoilers)

'THE ANDORIAN INCIDENT'
Episode Number: 107
Production Number: ENT 40358-107
Original US Airdate: 31.10.01
Original UK Airdate: 02.04.02
Mission Date: Unknown

A militant faction of Andorians attack a Vulcan meditation Monastary because they believe that the Vulcans are hiding a long range sensor array there to spy on the Andorians. Enterprise is in the general vicinity and decides to drop in for a visit at a most inopportune time...

 

[Dave]

From what I've read the Vulcans were spying on them. Why does Archer side with them? In 'Broken Bow' he doesn't agree with them much at all, and if they were doing them same thing on Earth he would have to restrain himself again.

 

[Neo]

Soooooo true.... archer... not good

 

[Highlander II]

i missed this one -- had the vcr set - and realized it was set to tape the wrong channel!

just gotta hope UPN reruns it on Sat at 1800 like they have been - dang it!! don't ya hate it when that happens????

 

[Mellian]

I liked this episode. Especially the interaction between T'Pol and Archer. Archer doesn't so much side with the Vulcans but is taken hostage by the Andorians with them.

I don't think T'Pol knew about the survelliance equipment. She seemed surprised by it (well as but as surprised as a Vulcan can look). She followed Archer's orders even though they couldn' t help her own people.

Though why did the top 3 officers go down. I know it was just a visit to a spiritual retreat and they weren't expecting trouble. Still I would think you would be more cautious.

 

[Dru]

it was a cool ep but really come on whats with the smell thing? Why did they send a female if there so icked out by how ppl smell? I don't remember Spock or Tuvok haveing this problem. Is it only a female thing or all Vulcans? Did they find a way to get around that in the next 1 or 2 hundred years? Am I missing something?

 

[Mellian]

The smell thing is not a female thing. Remember the one monk asked her how she put up with it. I got the impression that he could smell it also.

As to how they get around it in the next hundred years or so is a good question. Maybe they just adjust to it or learn to put up with it.

 

[Highlander II]

finally saw this ep yesterday (good thing UPN runs them 2x's) -- of all the eps that have been on so far, this one is one of the best (falls right behind "Unexpected" which was funny) --
however, they don't seem to have the 'action' that the other Trek's did (and my knowledge excludes VOY b/c I didn't watch it) - sure, they have conflict, but, i dunno - there's just something about it that's not quite the same 'dynamics'-wise - and it's not only b/c of the lack of technology - it's like there's something missing and i just can't put my finger on it --

maybe it's crew interaction - the crew doesn't 'talk' much - or interact much w/ each other --- they seem almost estranged, even on the ship -- it's kind of odd ---

but still, i think there may be something else too

 

[Neo]

I have to say i enjoyed this episode... was witty.. and exciting.. Nice to see the vulcans getting their due....

 

[Stormwatch]

My favorite episode so far--
here's why----

1) Return of the Andorians--with better makeup.
I always thought they deserved more air time.
I'll never forget the Andorian ambassidor's words
"My people are a violent race...." how violent we now have a
taste of. But this time, I can't really blame them.
2) Vulcans--are they really that good or do they have
an eye out for Andorian space? Why spy?
Why mistrust them so?
Interesting trait--the monks must've known, come on!
3) Action! It was really Trek at it's best--like old times
again.
4) Archer's "unusual" -- to say the least -- way of making
new friends. Come in an "enemy" and do something
so out of character (at least from the Andorian point of
view) and wind up having the new "friends" in your debt--
wow--way to go Archer!

My first words after seeing it--Oh, my gosh; I love this show!
That doesn't happen often.

Stormwatch

 

[Neo]

Have to say it is impressive so far...

Lets hope they can keep in going...

 

[Dave]

A great episode, the best since 'Broken Bow' IMHO, just a few of the usual nit pickings.

Quotes of the week.

Archer is becoming quite a comedian:

Archer: "So, if anyone has a suggestion I'm all ears. . . no offense!"

Archer: "Phew! I don't think those robes have been washed since the time of Sarek!"

Archer: "Information: Did you know that over 70 percent of the organisms on my homeworld are bacteria?"
Andorian: "What?"
Archer: "Here's something I think you'll find interesting: There was a man in Canton, Ohio, who once rolled a ball of string over six meters in diameter."

No wonder they didn't take Hoshi on the visit this time

The Andorians speak excellent English considering that they don't even know where Earth is. They might as well have left Hoshi on Sluggo World. The Vulcan monks speak pretty good English too, for a bunch of hermits.

Sack Reed, he's useless.

Reed, resident paranoid and weapons enthusiast, correctly observes that Enterprise should have scanned the area of the monastery for other vessels before sending the shuttle. But how could even the most passive of scans, such as what would be needed to determine where to land, miss an alien vessel parked less than a kilometer away? And after realising his mistake, he goes on to fail to spot a huge underground sensor array!


The face thing.

First, if they wanted to know where the tunnel ended, instead of Archer going and getting beaten-up again, then putting that chess piece through the mouth hole for Trip to find, why not just go to the end of the tunnel and look through it.

Secondly, why didn't they just shoot the Andorians through the eye holes in that face sculpture? They had the advantage of surprise, but lost it by blowing out the face first.

Shades of 'Wizard of Oz'

And Archer pulls away the curtain to find. . . a big ultra secret underground Vulcan spy array!

The obvious. . .

Why didn't Enterprise just beam the Andorians up and throw them in the brig? Sure would have been a whole lot simpler! If there was a reason that the transporter would only work one way in this situation, we were never enlightened.

And now we are apparently in the debt of the Andorians. What will that mean? How are the Vulcans going to react? We haven't really got many friends 'out there' yet.

 

[padders]

And other thing.. if they were so worried about using the transporter why not just transport down the weapon, and perhaps a slightly more effective one instead of one that just goes "bang" blows up the wall and achieves nothing else. Seemed rather strange!

But nit picks aside this was a really good episode. T'Pol was the most interesting in it, she seemed almost upset about the whole situation. I am not sure if she knew or not though, perhaps that was why she was anti going....?

 

[Neo]

Padders u nit picking... Well i thought u had a good point...

 

[Neo]

The Andorian Incident - Nitpickers Guide (Spoilers)

1. The tensions between the Vulcans and the Andorians have been escalating for years, they aren't exactly on good terms with each other. As a result, it's little wonder that the Andorians are suspicious. P'Jem looks peaceful and innocent, it's the perfect cover. And I really can see the logic of sending in a small ship with a small team. Except... yes, there has to be an 'except'... it's not exactly the most subtle approach you can use. Let's just say that the Andorians are right. They attack the Vulcan's temple, they search it, trying to find evidence. All the while, the Vulcans send a message to the homeworld using their oodles of equipment and suddenly the four Andorians have a Vulcan armada breathing logically down their neck. In fact, I'm curious as to why this didn't happen. Sure, the Andorians could have jumped up and down yelling 'Hah, see!? The presence of the armada proves that they have something to hide!' in which case the Vulcans would logically reply 'Not so, we were just passing through.' In which case, since it makes so much sense and if the Andorians are so sure they are right, then they should have sent a bigger team in the first place! Or at least been a little more discreet about it then going in there with weapons and beating people around the head. Did it occur to them that maybe it would only make the monks in the temple use the secret equipment to (apparently, logically) notify the homeworld quicker? How about if they cosmetically altered their appearance and snuck in there saying they were curious tourists?
2. Vulcans (once again) exhibiting un-Vulcan like behaviour. And yes, I do mean besides the entire episode. Since when do Vulcans do things in a half-assed manner? There's a star? They put it on the star chart, okay? They're not about to accidently miss a star.
3. Why is the Enterprise allowed to go to P'Jem? A fact: no love lost between Vulcans and humans. Humans went to space without the Vulcan's go ahead signal, essentially. Not only that, but Vulcans find humans loud, illogical and they really really smell. Now just picture how we'd react if some loud, noisy, smelly aliens stated in loud tones that they wanted to go and see some temple deep in Tibet. Disturb their prayer cycle, which is very delicate. We wouldn't stand for it, would we? Respect our believes, go away, what a nerve even considering it. Do you notice how completely different the situation is when it's the humans doing the interrupting?
4. When Archer, T'Pol and Tucker arrive at the monostary, there's a big bash mark in the door. Archer points out that the temple is 3000 years old, it's bound to get some damage. There's a difference between damage caused yesterday and damage caused 3000 years ago! If there's dust on the ground, bits still flaking off, if some repair hasn't been attempted...
5. Yes, I'm going to bring this up. Because Enterprise made an issue of pointing out and not continuing it. Here we have Vulcans, in a monestry in the middle of nowhere, speaking English. They should be speaking Vulcan. There should be subtitles. The Andorians barge in, make a big show of things... all the while speaking English. The Enterprise turns up, Archer, Tucker and T'Pol manage to speak to the Andorians, giving the universal translator absolutely no time to adapt to the Andorian language. I must say, it really didn't take them long to forget all about this 'alien languages' idea.
6. The Andorians referred to humans a couple of times as 'pink skins'. Why not Vulcans as well in this category? They all seemed to fit the criteria. They even went out of their way to address T'Pol as 'you and the pink skins'.
7. Why is it that on every alien planet, where there needs to be something old... there's spiders. There's always webs. I don't know what the deal is with spiders, either. They seem to think that building a web in a place that could in no way hold any bugs is a good idea.
8. Why is the transmitter kept in an area full of sacred relics? Wouldn't something like that literally be a great insult to the concept of living without technology? Why not just keep it under somebody's bed? That would be like finding the holy grail and setting up a laptop to tell people online that you found it right next to the grail. Lets see how the general world population sees you now!
9. T'Pol's starting to send mixed feelings. She's clearly worried about being associated with the humans and the Enterprise crew. She's ashamed about being around them. And yet she (admittadly grudgingly) seems to have no trouble with bunking down with the captain! I mean, sure she's going to be cold. But so are the other Vulcans. They only have their robes, and you don't see the captain offering to snuggle with any of them!
10. There seems to be a couple of glaring holes in the Captain's plan of seeing where the light source through the mask is. His plan consists of getting the **** bashed out of him, dropping a small statuette through the mask in the hall, and having Tucker see if it comes out the other side. Now to start with, you can just wander up and peer through the mask from the side of the tunnels. Have a look through, see what you can see. It would answer the questions. Secondly, the entire part the captain plays in the plan is getting his tonkers kicked in. Why didn't Trip protest this plan, or insist of having his tonkers kicked in himself? And lastly, by way of using an element of surprise, Reed and his officers beam into the prisoners room (instead of directly into the catacombs), set an explosive, and blow the face open, startling the Andorians. Just aiming the weapons through the openings and shooting the Andorians before they know where the shot is coming from would be far more effective.
11. I thought they might have gotten it out of their system with Voyager. But no, it's leaked into Enterprise. The transporters are only used occasionally. There's a heap of people on the ship who assumably have assignments. And yet Hoshi Sato, the communications officer, operates the transporter console. Would it kill her to let the more qualified officer in transporting do it?
12. Why is the great metal door which leads to a giant secret facility only disguised by a sheet? The Vulcans are advanced, well travelled, couldn't they get hold of some kind of localised cloaking device or holographic system? Even a secret door in a bookcase would have been better!
13. Why did T'Pol need to be convinced that the Andorians should be given the information and be allowed to leave? It's Archer's ship! He should have given the order himself!

 

[Dave]

A very silly episode, I've even mentioned some of those things already.

One point though, in early TOS a great play was made of Spock's alien anatomy, and more specifically his copper-based blood cells which gave his skin a greenish tinge. If this had been continued, the 'pink skins' comment would not be out of place, but Tuvok and T'Pol seems to be just like humans.

 

[Neo]

Originally posted by Dave
A very silly episode, I've even mentioned some of those things already.

OOOO but not all of them ???

 

[Dave]

So, who is being competitive now?

 

[Neo]

Love it when u get all competative