An away team goes down to an unexplored planet, but the abrupt arrival of a storm front leaves them trapped in a system of caves where there apparently resides a strange life form that may have hostile intent...

While there's a feeling that the stories being offered up so far are very basic, the kids of things Star Trek would in recent years have taken ten minutes with, that's part of the charm as we get the first human exploration of an alien world. The sheer wonder, enjoyment and enthusiasm of the crew for their mission carries the audience along with them as well, and as long as this sense of us exploring with them continues, there's no reason why the show can't continue on this tack indefinitely. Even bringing Archer's dog along seems perfectly reasonable; after all, there's no life detected and he has to go walkies at some point.

The story itself doesn't really leave much room for interpretation, but it does focus exceptionally well on the characters. T'Pol's emotions, apparently closer to the surface than may be the case with some Vulcans, resurface and threaten to blunt her efficiency while Tucker's distrust of her race comes through loud and clear. If there's any complaint it's that these two have had a fair chunk of the screen time since the opening episode and Tucker's material could come easily from other members of the cast. It's a nice ploy to send down two 'red shirts' as part of the team too, as from start to finish we're just waiting for them to get killed somehow. We also get a look at the vagaries of the transporter, which still isn't a suitable method of movement for humans it would appear.

The answers when they come are pretty simple; the landing party have been hallucinating and T'Pol's Vulcan physiology saved her from most of the effects, but it's the way it plays out, with some really tense scenes between T'Pol and Tucker, that make you keep watching. By adding in some more back-story between Archer and Tucker and giving Scott Bakula another chance to stretch his abilities as Archer tries a variety of approaches to diffuse the situation, it brings plenty of strong interplay to the series which will hopefully remain. I still don't think Berman and Braga have really put a foot wrong, especially taking the sensible approach of writing or storylining a lot of early episodes themselves to give the show a grounding, and I await further episodes with excitement.

****

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