the delphic expanse

Discuss how great the crew looks in their desert togs here!

Okay, I should have probably named this thread a more respectable "The Seven Samurai" in space, but you know - A Bug's Life felt right.

First thing, this episode has some great stuff in it - stuff I didn't remember because I was hung up on the idea that it made Klingons into buffoons. Seriously, these are people who killed Kirk's son without blinking an eye - they should not be defeated with A-Team style bloodless hijinks. And I recognize that they didn't - at this point - want to make the show that violent - but still.

However, re-watching, I think the writers were as aware as the audience about this. We learn that the Klingon's aren't just bullies - they've killed colonists, including un-armed ones. T'Pol says - and rightfully - that the solution would be to kill all the Klingons.

So, I think there's an awareness that the bloodless solution is a bit off. But, I can fanwank, if need be, that these were not the brightest Klingons and they weren't associated with the High Command and their humiliation is not something other Klingons would bother avenging.

During the rewatch tonight, we all joked that a screen appeared at the end reading "A few months later, more Klingons returned and killed the colonists. The End" And actually, if that had happened - it would have been a really interesting companion to Cogenitor - and Desert Crossing and any episode that made it clear that interfering had consequences.

Okay, aside from that:

It's nice to see the crew working together well. And looking fabulous, fabulous and fabulous in their desert outfits. Dirty and fabulous.

T'Pol has her Buffy moment.

Trip has interactions with orphan boy, which are sweet. And I hope the schematics Trip gives him at the end don't contain any classified information.

Speaking as the biggest Akira Kurosawa fan of all time, I always think of The Seven Samurai when I watch this episode.

As for the whole Klingon issue, I'm always too distracted by the lovely tailoring of those desert outfits, whether it be displaying the lovely assets of T'Pol or the guys. Just:

I also enjoy the set design as well.

And two days later, the Klingons come back with more warriors and a more powerful ship and destroy the colony for daring to stand up to them.

This episode has always been among my favorite "fun" episodes to watch. Yes, it's a serious situation, with the miners being threatened by the Klingons, but maybe it's because the Klingons are such bad Klingons in that they apparently are the screw-ups of the Klingon empire. Think about it. How lousy at being a Klingon do you have to be before the Klingon High Council won't support you? If Klingons have thugs, these guys are them.

There are a lot of little things, some of which have been mentioned, that make this episode entertaining for me. The young boy's fascination with the shuttlepod and then Trip finding him in it; Hoshi showing the miners how to use the rifle while Malcolm looks on with a smile after she asks to do it; Trip telling the boy that Malcolm says he has to be taller than the gun he's using; T'Pol kicking Klingon a**; and even Jon's "give a man a fish" quotation, which I will admit, made me cringe when I first saw the scene but now seems to be part of Jon's persona as far as telling parables/stories.

And this is one of those episodes where everyone, even Travis, gets something to do. I really like seeing the crew work together.

I'll admit I wonder if the Klingons came back after Enterprise left. I also wonder if Enterprise left some weapons behind for the miners to use, just in case. It's one thing to teach them to fight; it's another to have the tools to do it well.

Again, the episode had more acknowledgement that I remembered about just how dangerous Klingons were - and real death was a part of the episode, albeit off screen. Later, with Regeneration, we get real death - and worse, the people killed used to be human. Same goes with Impulse, and consequences of that are shown. I wonder if the writers learned from the bloodlessness in this episode.

But, as Kathy Rose says above, putting that aside - it's great to see the crew working together well and accomplishing a goal. I get pleasure when I see that - same thing in Shockwave and the end of Dead Stop. Yes, we're clever and skilled and you shouldn't mess with us.

The scene where Hoshi gives shooting lessons is cool.

I like the Jon as a man of parables idea! He does do that more than once, doesn't he? :LOL