User Reviews

While - as other reviewers note - we have seen this kind of thing before; we have not seen writers and makers join forces with Jolene Blalock to go the extra mile in dreaming up a story with some kind of Greek mythology undertones. A tender and ultra-kissable T'Pol here has the utterly thankless task of re-briefing a now-civilian Jonathan Archer with the same information basic and less basic with each new day for year after year, given his memory loss incurred at a moment when he sacrificed himself for her sake. While the makers of "Enterprise" quite often flirted with the chemistry between Archer and T'Pol in a sexual(-ish) way, here all is tenderness and mercy and devotion, and it's truly beautiful to behold. Since this is a passage-of-time episode, the emotions are piled on further in all directions, and since hugely dramatic consequences ensue for Enterprise's main mission, the story telling is surreal, enigmatic, warm and meaningful. Cleverly then, the return-to-the-meant-to-be-timeline that does prove possible leaves us actually slightly regretting that this beautiful thing we've seen no longer exists in the re-established reality. An enigmatic effect, and a tribute to the power of fine, understated performances from Bakula and Blalock, and also from John Billingsley as Phlox - yet another character here (along with Reed and Tucker), who is prepared to devote DECADES of life and unstinting work against the odds in the name of loyalty and friendship. This is the true meaning of the Trek world, and only rarely did "Enterprise" reach these heights.

But here it certainly did...

After two seasons effectively wandering in the wilderness, the third season of the Star Trek prequel series Enterprise finally saw the show starting to find its feet. Centered around the threat of a Xindi super weapon that could destroy the Earth and the hunt for it in uncharted space, the third season was a different beast from what had come before. Perhaps as an example of that, the season's eighth episode Twilight presented an intriguing tale of a possible future that not only raised the stakes of the crew's hunt but also explored two of the show's characters as well.

Mike Sussman's script for Twilight is an intriguing piece of work, following in the tradition of a number of alternate time-line episodes across the various Star Trek series. In forty-three minutes it does a lot from jumping through time to showing the potential fate of Earth if Enterprise fails on its mission. Indeed the episode does more than episode before it to establish the threat of the Xindi which, even though we saw their attack in the second season finale along with its aftermath, had always seemed vague up until now. From its teaser sequence to the climax, Twilight keenly proves that the Xindi are a threat to humanity which adds to the proverbial clock of doom hanging over the crew in episodes after this. Add in references to the Original Series in the form of Ceti Alpha V and what Trek fans will likely remember of that planet's fate and the result isn't pretty for humanity one way or the other. While the episode does employ something of a reset button, the episode's pluses overcome it thanks to solid writing on the part of Sussman.

The episode also does some interesting explorations of the Archer and T'Pol characters as well. Sussman's script deftly takes us on a journey through the characters time between the events of the present day and this possible future and it allows for some fine performances as well. Scott Bakula, who described this episode at the time as "potentially the best script we've had and the best show to date" is particularly notable for being Archer as a time always out of time who at times struggles to comprehend the enormity of the events he's missed. Jolene Blalock's T'Pol is just as well served by Sussman's script which explores the relationship between the two and T'Pol's struggle as Enterprise's captain in his absence before becoming his caretaker hinting at the bond between them. The episode's framing device is essentially a two-hander between the two which does not do it a disservice as it offers both Bakula and Blalock a chance to shine.

As a production, the episode also ranks as one of Enterprise's best efforts. Robert Duncan McNeill (who play Tom Paris on Voyager) does a strong job as director with a script that could have been difficult given the amount of time it covers as well as action sequences and more dramatic scenes. The production design of the episode also does a fine job on conveying the passage of time with wear and tear to the ship as well as Archer's dwelling on Ceti Alpha V. The episode is also one of the series special effects triumphs taking in the destruction of Earth, battle sequences and even the destruction of the Enterprise herself. The icing on the cake may well be Dennis McCarthy's score which gives the episode a music score worthy of one of Trek's big screen adventures.

Twilight then, despite its ending, stands as one of the best episodes to come out of Enterprise. From Mike Sussman's script that finally establishes a firm threat from the Xindi while exploring the characters of Archer and T'Pol to its production values, it stands out from the pack of Enterprise's first couple of years. It's also a turning point for Enterprise as a whole and was the first sign of what the series might be capable of. On its own it stands out as one of Star Trek best alternate time-line episodes and rightfully so.

A thoroughly enjoyable alternate reality reset episode ala TNG's "All Good Things...", DS9's "The Visitor", and Voyager's "Before and After." This one serves a more effective purpose by showing us what exactly happens if they do not stop the Xindi super weapon from destroying Earth thereby setting up the consequences for the entirety of season three. If they do not complete their mission Earth will be destroyed, only 6,000 humans will remain in the galaxy, and the future of the entire quadrant are in serious question.

The episode begins with probably the single greatest teaser ever in Star Trek with its only competition coming from TNG's "Cause and Effect". The viewer is treated to the fulfillment of the Xindi plan and the destruction of Earth on a scale not even seen in big budget action movies of the present day. From there the episode kicks in, but with a truly interesting and telling story of T'Pol's sacrifice and caring for the man that saved her life instead of explosions and high powered action. This is really T'Pol's greatest performance in the entire series and she excels in every part of it. Whether it is her caring for Archer, her hidden love for the man, or just the desire to help her Captain for saving her life she gives an amazing performance which is highlighted several times in her conversations with Phlox, Trip, and Soval. This episode may center a round Archer and the parasites, but the rest of the crew really shine in this one and getting to see all the crew(except Mayweather?) years later and who they have become is really a treat with this one. The episode ends with an amazing battle against the Xindi where we get to see the bridge destroyed and the reset button pushed, but that does little to harm this charming story about T'Pol's character. This one is a true treat and a large standout in the series.

The idea of losing oneself almost entirely, unable to create memories older than a single day, is extraordinarily painful. Think dementia, but with a perfectly healthy physical body and the ability to think clearly over the course of that day--and only that day.

The episode is written with real grace. T'Pol's loyalty to Archer is sweetly, subtly handled, as is the very real possibility she will lose Archer if he recovers. The one misfire is Trip's insistence that Phlox not go through with the surgery that might retrieve the human race because Enterprise 'needs all the power it can muster.'

Seriously? With the fate of humanity at stake?

It's Star Trek Enterprise otherwise at its best.

As the Enterprise ventures further into the Expanse, a powerful set of anomalies hit the ship. Archer rescues T'Pol from under a pile of debris but gets hit by an anomaly wave for his efforts. Archer wakes up to find that his brain has been infected with unknown parasites that exist outside the space-time continuum. These parasites don't allow Archer to make new memories, so he wakes up each day to a world he does not know.

The joking of my title aside, I loved this episode. Seeing this alternate timeline where Archer is no longer involved with the battle of the Xindi was fascinating to watch. I loved the progression of the Archer-T'Pol relationship as she feels a sense of gratitude and obligation for the price that Archer took for her. It's very ambiguous what has occurred between the two living in that hut all these years.

The initial scene of Earth blowing up was very touching, even more so when you know the back story. Originally I just assumed Archer was having some kind of nightmare. Everyone's acting in this episode is top-notch and there's just the right amount of action for an Enterprise episode.

Definitely my favorite episode of ST:E (and only the 2nd that I gave 10 stars to), this is a must watch for any Star Trek fan or really just any fan of great television.

Wonderful storyline and script with a compassionate reading and portrayal by T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) who dropped her Vulcan persona as she undertook the long term care-giver role to Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) as gratitude because he saved her life. In many ways this episode brought to mind the difficulties in caring for an Alzheimer relative that loses their short term memory. In the end though, this seemed to me to be a dream sequence as Captain Archer awakens from a concussion.

This is by far amongst the best episodes of the whole series. The relationship established between Archer and T'pol is great and befitting the sacrifices made. This series of Star Trek was a tribute to excellent science fiction. Why don't they bring the TV series back? It is a mystery why the series was cancelled, the films are nowhere near the series. The characterisation and interplay is unique and I wonder why this type of relationship was not developed in more detail during later episodes. I also enjoyed the touch of the 5th planet of Alpha Ceti, coming back to Khans planet before the episode space seed in the original series. this is clever and we see the planet as it was long before Khan is marooned there. The interplay between the two in this episode is relived in the final episode of the series just before Archer addresses the federation Council. this relationship is much stronger than the one developed between T'pol and Trip . It is also far more believable. Maybe one day they will remake this series and we can once again enjoy such moments. well done to all the production, writers and cast who made this such a special episode.

...and one that shows Enterprise at the fullest of its potential.

We start with a shocking premise where a disoriented Archer is disturbed from rest in quarters by Enterprise being battered during an attack. When nobody from the bridge answers his hails he leaves his quarters only to be stopped by a security guard. When confronted the guard tells him that "the captain" has ordered him confined to quarters. Archer manages to knock out the guard and makes his way to the bridge where he sees Enterprise in Earth orbit engaged in battle with the Xindi. The Xindi knock Enterprise out of the fray and deploy a super-weapon which destroys the Earth. Cut to commercial ...

When we return, a story of the past unfolds where it is revealed that Archer has been infected by transdimensional parasites which keep him from forming long-term memories. We eventually discover that Archer was infected after risking his live to save T'Pol during an Enterprise encounter with an anomaly. Phlox, over time, tries everything but cannot cure Archer of these parasites which have lodged in his brain.

As the story progresses, it is revealed that, due to the failure of Enterprise's mission to locate the Xindi weapon (during the last mission Archer remembers), that the Xindi have destroyed not only Earth, but every colony settled by humans. In a scene reminiscent of "Battlestar Galactica," the ragtag survivors of humanity settle on a planet off the beaten path, where Archer finds himself with T'Pol, who resigned her commission to take care of the human who saved her now some twelve years ago, patiently retelling the story to Archer on a near daily basis as he cannot remember any of the intervening time. However, this day is different, as Phlox has finally discovered a way to remove these parasites from Archer's brain. Unfortunately, the procedure can only be performed where a warp coil is present, so they adjourn to Enterprise to perform a test procedure before eradicating them totally.

The test is a success - or so it seems, until further investigation reveals that the few parasites removed during the test were *also* removed from all the historical scans. T'Pol and Phlox posit that removing the rest of the parasites might also change time, which would give Archer the chance to continue the original mission and locate the Xindi weapon before it could be used to destroy humanity. Unfortunately, a spy is discovered who has informed the Xindi of Phlox' whereabouts, and six Xindi ships appear on the scanners and prevent the procedure from being completed.

Enterprise and Intrepid (with newly enhanced shields) move off to engage the Xindi fleet, and while they have some success, first Intrepid and then Enterprise are crippled. T'Pol and Phlox realize there may be no other chance and take Archer to Engineering where the earlier test had been performed. Unfortunately the medical unit has been crippled during the battle; Archer realizes that a controlled detonation of the engines would produce the same radiation as Phlox' procedure and tells T'Pol and Phlox to evacuate. They refuse and go about the process of setting the engines to overload. The Xindi have by now breached the Enterprise defensive, and make their way to Engineering where they kill first Phlox and T'Pol, whose efforts buy Archer just enough time to take the final actions despite being shot. With his final breath, Archer pulls the final trigger and collapses on top of T'Pol. The resulting explosion engulfs and totally destroys Enterprise as we fade to black...

Archer wakes in sick bay, twelve years earlier, where Phlox tells him he has suffered a mild concussion. T'Pau tells Archer Enterprise has left the anomaly behind.

As I've said before, I don't like Trip. He's abrasive, obnoxious and is always running his mouth when he should shut the hell up.

Most reviews here have recapped the episode, some scene by scene, so I won't do that. I'll just speak to what irked me. Other than this one thing, I loved the rest of the episode. It was well done all around.

So, towards the end of this episode, the fate of humanity rests on Dr. Phlox repairing the damage to Archer's brain, so that the timeline will be reset and give Enterprise a chance to catch the Xindi and hopefully never lose earth and billions of human beings.

But, no, Trip needs all the energy for a weapon that T'Pol points out, and Trip agrees, won't do any damn good anyway. His smartass remark about "can't just run up the white flag." makes zero sense considering they just explained that he wouldn't even need to worry about the impending battle if things go right with Archer's surgery.

But no, Trip still says no, stalks off, and the next scene we see the Enterprise is being shot to hell and the bridge is literally being blown off the ship.

Thanks for nothin' Trip...

"You'd make a wonderful nurse" was not only totally misogynistic and inappropriate to ever say to your second in command, it completely ruined what was a totally fine time episode.

As soon a t'pol said 14 years had past I just immediately started fast forwarding to the end I'm not interested in time lines that never happen.if they want romance between the leads then let's have it in real time.

Other reviews claimed this was one of the greatest episodes in the show so I was excited to watch it. Unfortunately I was not too impressed. The story takes place twelve years after an anomaly devastates Enterprise and leaves Captain Archer with short term memory loss, caused by a parasitic infection. Archer wakes up in what appears to be someone's living quarters and T'pol is in the kitchen, with a completely different appearance and holding a plate of oranges. This looks interesting. She then explains that the mission in the Delphic Expanse has failed, and all but 9000 or so humans were killed. Here is where the story unfortunately gets uninteresting. T'pol's explanation raises more plot questions than it raises the probably-intended emotions of tragedy and desperation. How could the other crew members fail their mission THIS badly? Why are humans still fighting the Xindi? Oh hey, humans now live on Ceti Alpha V, look at that Easter egg. After that we see Ambassador Soval scoff at T'pol wearing a Starfleet uniform and dissing humans - more correctly than ever. T'pol makes some comments about how Vulcans could have helped humans by giving them weapons - disturbing comments especially coming from her of all people. Soval and Phlox, along with the readers, are now fully aware that T'pol is in love with her former captain, Archer. Sadly this all comes off as part of this season's rewiring of her character as needy and overemotional.

It's taken Doctor Phlox over a decade, but he's finally figured out how to remove the parasites from Archer's brain. The parasites live in non linear time and the only way of removing them, short of killing them (and Archer) in a subspace implosion, requires a machine which emits series of antiproton bursts. (Oh god, isn't this the same treatment used in Voyager's infamous 'Threshold' episode?!) Upon destroying some of the parasites, Phlox goes back to his old scans and finds that they've been altered, as if the parasites had never existed. He hypothesizes that destroying all the parasites will cause time to revert to the moment before Archer was infected, curing him and rewriting time.

Finally, a Xindi vessel appears in pursuit of Dr Phlox. The humans think they are only here to finish their genocide of humans, a subplot which is mentioned multiple times but then dropped. The Xindi offense destroys Phlox's machine and kills T'pol. Archer then overloads the plasma manifolds to kill himself, which erases every last trace that the parasites ever existed. We're back to the beginning of the episode, but this time, there are thankfully no parasites.

I'm tempted to compare this episode to TNG's "Yesterday's Enterprise" due to the alternate timeline nature. "Twilight" had none of the emotion of "Yesterday's Enterprise." The desperate situation in "Yesterday's Enterprise" is revealed slowly, and heavily. There is a continuous, constant sinking feeling that culminates in a meaningful sacrifice. In "Twilight" the situation is directly described by T'pol, and although it is dire, it fails to engender any emotions or ideas on how to get out of the situation.

'Yesterday's Enterprise' had heavy undertones of reviewing your own history and acknowledging sacrifices. The fact that the story took place in an alternate past, not an alternate future, was indispensable. 'Twilight' gives little meaning to its story. Tasha Yar sacrificed herself to save the Enterprise-D in another timeline. Yar gave up a relatively comfortable life to give Enterprise-C a slightly better chance in what she knew was a suicide mission. In 'Twilight', Archer kills himself in a plasma overload, seting time back twelve years and give humanity another chance, but this seems like the better option rather than a sacrifice. In Archer's case, the Xindi were already going to kill him so his sacrifice wasn't written as emotionally. In the words of more than one English teacher I've had - so what? Why is this episode important? What's the message it sends? Is it only supposed to entertain? Because it didn't really do that either, sorry.

I think some people like this kind of episode, but I sadly didn't find it entertaining or meaningful. I do like the concept of nonlinear parasitic infection and the opening scene, but the plot could have been much better.