The Enterprise is sent to pick up a disgraced Vulcan ambassador, but it seems things are not as they appear when the ship is chased by the Mazarites, the race the ambassador has been dealing with.

Enterprise is starting to become too close to some of its predecessors at this point in the season. At the start of the year it seemed there would be plenty of voyaging to new planets and places, but instead we're back to a lot of shipboard stories once again, which is a real shame. This story isn't bad for it, but it does feel as though the writer ran out of things to do after a while as the episode degenerates somewhat by the end.

The ambassador is a well-rounded character, secretive but with a sense of humour, honourable yet difficult to trust while she keeps Archer on a need to know basis. The earlier scenes between her and T'Pol are well handled by the actors concerned, and Fionnula Flanagan gives a commanding presence as the Vulcan visitor.

The problems lie in the latter half of the episode. When the Mazarites give chase, the only choices for the Enteprise are fight (which gets them little joy) or flight. When the secon of these is chosen, we suddenly realize just why Star Trek never has a good car chase: because in space there's nothing to avoid or chase around, you just keep going in a straight line and keep your fingers crossed that your pursuer can't go faster than you. Conveniently, the Mazarites can't, and there's little excitement to be had from Travis pushing the engines to warp five while Trip yells Scotty-like sentences about the engines being about to blow up. The trick used to save the ambassador is so obvious that the Mazarites are made to look very stupid for believing any of it and it would have made for a better conclusion if Archer had to come up with some plan other than keeping his fingers crossed that the Vulcan ship would pop by.

There are moments of good characterization and plotting here, but it all tails off into a disappointing and simplistic ending.

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