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(1x01 & 02) And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

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(1x01 & 02) And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby entkayjay » Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:34 am

EVERYONE, ALL TOGETHER NOW: ~~It's been a long road.... gettin' from there to here... ~~

:lol:

This is the discussion thread for S1E01 and 02, Broken Bow 1 & 2! All Delphic Expanse rules of engagement apply :P

Written by: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga
Directed by: James Conway (Judgment, Damage, In A Mirror, Darkly Part 1)

There is a Rewatch Chat scheduled for 12:30am GMT (February 2) in the forum chat room. Or whenever anyone else wants to watch and chat!

Ready, set... GO!
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby JiNX-01 » Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:19 pm

OK, just got done watching the episode. I decided to take notes so I wouldn't forget anything.

The good stuff:
Visuals in opening credits: Still fantastic.
Faith of the Heart: Shoulda been sung by Scott.
I thought it was neat the way they introduced Archer and Trip checking out their "baby." Archer should have taken the wheel while Trip took notes on what Archer wanted done.
I love Cochrane's speech.
Enterprise NX-01 is gorgeous coming out of the barn.
I love Phlox. It's was fun watching him unpack his critters. And that great BIG Denobulan smile. Ha!
Travis and Trip hanging upside down in a low gravity well. Sweet spot was an odd name for it.
I loved Archer's dinner with TnT.
Forrest: Good admiral. Backs up his people.
Autopsy of the Suliban was cool. I love Phlox’s enthusiasm.
Shuttlepods: Still awesome.
Trip meets a bug. You’d think he’d never seen one before. Love how he freaks out on the station.
Sarin: Transformation cool.
Archer: That’s never happened before. Hee.
Archer tells Trip to give Klang a hand. Love the look on Trip's face.
Loved the helix. Loved watching it come apart.
Archer's beam-out: Reaction hysterical.
Trip flying the cellship. Hee. Seriously, Archer should have just taken Travis with him.

I'm throwing this in under the good just because...
Travis and Malcolm are beaming up supplies.
TRAVIS: I heard this platform's been approved for bio-transport.
REED: I presume you mean fruits and vegetables.
TRAVIS: I mean Armoury Officers and Helmsmen.
REED: I don't think I'm quite ready to have my molecules compressed into a data stream.
TRAVIS: They claim it's safe.
REED: Do they indeed. Well, I certainly hope the Captain doesn't plan on making us use it.
TRAVIS: Don't worry, from what I'm told, he wouldn't even put his dog through this thing.
I wonder if JJ Abrams was inspired by this exchange. Image

Now the bad:
I think the opening scene is flawed. It didn't do enough to justify Archer's contempt for the Vulcans. It might have worked for me if I had never seen a Vulcan. But I'm fond of Spock and Sarek. That's not to say that Soval and Co. were not arrogant and condescending. I just found Archer's hostility to be unjustified by the little exposition we got in the first two minutes. What might have sold it for me is if instead of the bland father/son moment we had been "present" at one of Henry's deaths.

Klang: Frankly, I was sick of the overuse of Klingons in TNG and DS9. It's a big Federation and a bigger galaxy. We were even subjected to having the Voyager crew come across a boatload 70,000 LY from Kronos! So for a sequel I foolishly hoped that we'd be turning our attention to species that went grossly underdeveloped in TOS. Oh well.

In BB, Malcolm and Travis are headed to engineering. Along the way, Lt. Reed mimics Commander Tucker ("Keep yer shirt on lootenant") in the presence of a junior officer. Yet, in "Minefield" Navy brat Malcolm tells Archer that he feels the captain is too chummy with subordinates.

Hoshi in Brazil: Confident. Curious.
Hoshi on NX-01: Fraidy cat.

Ready Room: T’Pol -- who purports to be rational and unemotional cops an attitude with Archer. Snubs Trip.

Hoshi: Panic attack when the ship vibrates. T'Pol suggests she might want to go lie down. I'd give money to know what Hoshi's response was.

HOSHI (enters engineering): Is it safe to stand this close to that (the warp engine)? (ME: No, it isn't. The entire engineering team has given up all hope of ever having kids).
HOSHI: There were only four words I couldn't translate. Probably just proper nouns.
ARCHER: Jelik, Sarin, Rigel, Tholia. Anything sound familiar? T'Pol?
ME (interrupting): Well, I'm no space pilot like you, but I'm pretty sure Rigel is the name of a star! You know, those shiny things in the sky that pilots use to navigate?
ARCHER: Archer to helm.
TRAVIS [OC]: Mayweather.
ARCHER: Go into the Vulcan star charts and find a system called Rigel, then set a course for the tenth planet.
TRAVIS [OC}: I don't need star charts, sir. I've known how to get to Rigel since I was 12. (OK, that isn't what he really said...)

Oh God. We're up to the decon scene.
Shirtless Trip = Good stuff. Image
OK, back to reality.
This scene makes no sense to me. Here's why.
1. TnT returned to the ship in the shuttlepod with four other people. If the spores TnT had been exposed to were a hazard to the entire crew, how did Archer, Hoshi, Travis and Malcolm escape exposure in such close quarters?
2: TnT's only exposed skin was from the neck up and their hands. If they had been exposed to spores (however problematical they might be), why did they have to strip and gel themselves up completely?
3. TnT appeared to be in pretty good shape, yet Trip couldn't reach the back of his legs, and neither one of them could reach their own ears. And by the way, why didn't they gel the soles of their feet?

After getting the good news that the mission is on, Archer asks T’Pol to stick around.
I've said this elsewhere and I'm going to repeat it here. I think that was not the way to go. If they wanted to generate distrust and friction (aka drama) between the humans and T'Pol, the writers should have had Soval prevail upon SFC to assign her to the NX-01 as an adviser (who would also be reporting to the VHC). Over time the crew adjusts to having her on board and her reports to the VHC become less and less frequent and eventually stop. When Soval tries to get the NX-01 recalled in "Shockwave II" she would rise to the crew's defense, setting up friction with her own people which would have been better than the forced friction of having Archer get crabby with her when she tells him something he doesn't want to hear.
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby Mistress Euclid » Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:45 pm

Of course, if we wanted everything to make sense, we wouldn't be Star Trek fans, now would we? Anyway, I thought this was a party. So, let's celebrate.

And I wish to celebrate the decon scene.

I for one adore the it, as controversial as it was a the time. As Io9 pointed out in its critical assessment of male nudity in SciFi, too often female bodies are objectified and male bodies are viewed as threatening or humiliating. They cite the decon scene as one of the few in SciFi television where male and female nudity is celebrated as equally beautiful and equally worthy of the camera and the audience's gaze. Is it over the top? Sure. But that's beside the point.

Other things I noticed on the rewatch:

As someone pointed out earlier this week, they seemed to be exploring a Malcolm/Travis friendship which was later dropped.

Trip and T'Pol do have many scenes together, far more than any other two characters by my count. The pleases me, as they are part of my OT3.

I have always loved the design of the show.

I am curious as to why Trip and not Travis was flying the Suliban ship at the end, despite the fact that I loved Trip's interaction with the Klingon.
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby Honeybee » Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:57 pm

Did you mean this

http://io9.com/#!5368280/a-tragic-video ... e-fiction-[nsfw]

at io9, Mistress? I just love Io9 and how they embrace the show, flaws and all! They aren't blind to imperfections, but they love and support the show anyway. They are always giving it love.

Anyway, I had forgotten about the last shot of Henry/Jon there at the end, nice bookend there. For some reason, I really noticed JB's handling of the technobabble in this one. She did pretty well, considering it was the pilot.

The Iowa farmer always gets me as a stereotype, but then again, I think the whole first sequence is a homage to 1950s alien films. It's definitely deliberate, I really noticed that this time.

I had also forgotten about the conversations in Vulcan (without subtitles) between T'Pol and Hoshi.

Aquarius and Mr. Smith both mentioned something about the eeriness of the room with Future Guy at the end, and I really noticed it this time. I do remember being creeped out by the Suliban on the ceiling the first time I watched. I don't think the Suliban stayed that creepy, alas, but they sure were alien in this one.

edited to add: for some reason, I couldn't get the hyperlink to work to the Io9, so you'll have to cut and past if you want to look. It is NSFW!
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby Aquarius » Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:48 pm

I don't care what anybody says. The Decon scene is a panty-melter!! :twisted:
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby paulinem » Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:50 pm

Ooo, I love the effects of the suliban, especially the scene with Archer and Silik in the Helix - awesome stuff...

I am curious as to why Trip and not Travis was flying the Suliban ship at the end, despite the fact that I loved Trip's interaction with the Klingon.



I've seen this question posed somewhere else (though for the life of me I can't remember where), and think the observation is valid. But on thinking about it, I wonder if Archer took Trip with him because, at this point, he trusts Trip more, not just with his piloting skills, but with his back (since he had known him for 8 years and he's still learning about his new crew). Tis a thought!?

Ohhh, when Archer tells T'Pol she could have done anything she wanted while he was unconscious (in sickbay), I'm always like, 'Honey, keep ya mouth shut already!' :mrgreen:

I probably have more thoughts, but I need to go do something...

I don't care what anybody says. The Decon scene is a panty-melter!!



Always grabs my attention when I'm doing other stuff! :twisted:
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby Honeybee » Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:02 pm

I like the idea that Archer brings Trip with him because he trusts Trip. Also, as an engineer, he might have a better chance of figuring out the mechanics of the ship. In any case, it gives us Trip and the Klingon, which are very fun moments.
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby mareel » Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:05 pm

Just a quick thought on the Trip vs Travis issue. I got the strong impression that Jon wanted Travis piloting the Enterprise at that point, since the whole ship and crew was going to be in potential danger there. We never really see Trip piloting Enterprise, and I don't know who Travis' backup would have been, so Jon chose to leave him at his post there.
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby Aquarius » Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:09 pm

I got that impression, too--that Travis was less expendable because Archer was counting on him to get everyone out of there.
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Re: And so it begins: Broken Bow 1 & 2!

Postby entkayjay » Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:24 pm

I've watched this twice now in the last couple of weeks. We recently got our very first big screen TV as a belated Christmas present, and hubby asked what the first thing was that I wanted to watch on it. You guessed right! :lol:

Then the other day I rewatched it with the text commentary by the Okudas, really enjoyed that. I've debated watching the audio commentary with B&B, since they are not my favorite people and I'm not sure I want to get mad. But I'm sure I'd learn a lot of cool stuff, so eventually I will.

I love this episode. I had been out of fandom proper for a good decade, including most of Trek. This following an intense period of my life where Trek and Who were everything for me: all my friends were Trekkers, I'd done some forays into writing with Trek, and I'd even met my husband at a Trek fan club meeting (dressed as the 4th Doctor, but I digress...). When we moved to north Florida we didn't have cable or satellite, and our television reception was fairly shit, so I got out of the habit of watching first DS9 and then Voyager. I still have to catch up on both of those series. As I've said before, when I found out that Scott Bakula was playing Archer, I was absolutely hooked. And I was also pleased with the premise of a prequel, as I was a little tired of seeing the same sets and situations crop up again and again. I love all Trek, but I'd love to see various bits of the Federation outside of the norm.

When I saw this for the first time, I was jazzed. The tone was great, the effects were superb, I really really liked the story, the pacing, the writing. It hit just the right note. In the text commentary, it was mentioned that the director of a pilot episode sets the tone for the rest of the series, and based on this two hours, I was highly anticipating the rest of the series.

Every time I watch Broken Bow I am reminded of how much I really loved Enterprise right out of the gate.

I love the opening scenes with Mark Moses as Henry, as well as the ones interspersed through the rest of the show and at the end. I would have adored seeing more Henry Archer throughout the entire run.

One thing the Okuda commentary brought up about Hoshi's reaction in the engine room I'd never realized: they said she had a good point, the engineering crew in TOS wore protective gear around the warp reactor! Oh yeah! And they also brought up the Rigel bit, and said it probably wasn't the same star or something, I don't remember exactly. After all, the word "Rigel" in Klingon isn't necessarily the same thing as "Rigel" in English. 8)

I hope everyone that cares caught the, uh... profile shot in decon. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: For those who don't swing that way, I'll point out it was MIGHTY cold in there, wasn't it T'Pol??????

The Iowa farmer always gets me as a stereotype, but then again, I think the whole first sequence is a homage to 1950s alien films. It's definitely deliberate, I really noticed that this time.



What I noticed and thought about this time is Soval's contempt for the "farmer". I wondered who grows the food on Vulcan, LOL!

I absolutely love the Future Guy room. The effects were uber cool, and John Fleck as Silik has been a favorite of mine. Did anyone else notice that they injected some (I want to say "humanity" but that's not right) empathy into the Suliban by having Silik note that one of his men killed in that cornfield was a friend? He asked if that could be changed. I thought that was a nice touch.

The Rigel scenes always keep my interest. They shot those in two industrial plants on location, and it added to the realism. I wish they'd been able to do more of those type later on, instead of building their own.

All in all, this episode set me up to really enjoy the series. There are things I would have liked to have seen carried over because it was a very strong pilot, imo.
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