Hoshi is mentally contacted by an alien who offers his telepathic assistance in finding out more about the Xindi. Meanwhile, T’Pol has a theory about the anomalies of the Expanse causing Enterprise to seek out a second sphere.

Okay, I’ll give this episode one thing: it did make me laugh. Whether it was meant to or not, I’m unsure, but it did. First things first, though: the entire plot of the telepathic alien is a giant waste of time and could have been handled far quicker than it is. I appreciate that the writers are trying to bolster Hoshi’s character a bit, but once again this just isn’t working. They’ve seized upon the fact that she’s often afraid and doesn’t interact a lot with the rest of the crew and just revisited these old problems in a rather superficial way. The main purpose seems to be to put her in a selection of rather lovely short nightdresses, but that’s hardly a plot worth basing an episode around, however sexy she might look. For the first 20 minutes we have the small mystery of who Hoshi’s visitor is, which then gives way to endless discussions between her and the alien, and a predictable conclusion ripped wholesale from original Trek’s The Squire of Gothos. Also, as T’Pol is the only person on board Enterprise with any telepathic powers, wouldn’t she have been the better person to contact? Why is it Hoshi?

So, back to the laughs. Early in the series, I liked the fact that Enterprise’s crew was a bit inept. Now, two and a bit years in, you’d expect them to be a bit more on the ball. So explain these: firstly, a shuttlepod is coated in trellium so it can get through anomalies safely. Fair enough, you might think, but no one tests the damn thing! The first thing you hear is the captain and chief engineer, officers that are hardly expendable, noting that the trellium seems to work. What, no test flight at all? Isn’t this just a tad dangerous in the centre of a field of anomalies?

Secondly, after putting down on the sphere, Trip manages to activate a thruster and send the shuttlepod flying away from them. Exactly how stupid do you have to be? And surely there should be some kind of landing strut to keep the thing pinned down? The fact that they then shoot at it with phase pistols and stand completely still as it falls back to earth when anyone else would run like buggery makes them look even more stupid than they have before. My god, it’s a wonder they’ve lasted this long. At least this plotline is more enjoyable than the main one, though, and the effects are exceptional, especially some of the anomalous incidents that happen on the ship.

The problem is that there still seems to be no real plan. This episode is worth noting simply because it brings a couple of new factors to our attention, but the ongoing storyline seems to be incidental rather than driving the stories, and that’s where the problem lies. So, one star for the laughs, and one for a couple of interesting ideas, such as someone actually setting out to create the Expanse and keep ships out. Intriguing. But will it come to anything?

**

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