Enterprise: “Vox Sola”

The crew of the Enterprise gets close, really close.

Enterprise LogoVox
Sola

 

Cast & Crew

Director: Roxann Dawson
Story By: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga and Fred Dekker
Teleplay By: Fred Dekker

Starring
Scott Bakula as Captain
Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Chief
Engineer Charles Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander
T’Pol
Dominic Keating as Lt.
Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery
as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi
Sato
John Billingsley
as Dr. Phlox

Guest Cast
Vaughn Armstrong as Kreetassan Captain
Joseph Will as Rostov
Renee Goldsberry as Kelly

Airdate Information

Originally Aired: May 1, 2002
Season: One
Episode: Twenty-two

Shuttlepod OneWhat
Happened

After a disasterous meeting with a Kreetassan delegation (they storm off the
ship offended by something), a gelatinous creature sneaks aboard the Enterprise
through an ajar airlock door.

Hoshi, who blames herself for the failed first contact, distracts herself by
trying to isolate some background comm noise and trying to clear up her translations
of the Kreetassan language. Meanwhile the rest of the crew is settling back
to watch their weekly movie. But the movie fails to air and what’s more, Crewman
Rostov, while isolating a environmental problem in one of the cargo hold is
snagged by the creature.

Crewman Kelly, Rostov’s crewmate, goes to check on him. Just prior to being
captured herself, she contacts the captain and informs him of the creature’s
presence. Archer and Trip, who were in the Captain’s quarters watching a water
polo match. Archer, Trip, Reed, and two security officers head to the cargo
bay to investigate. While trying to free the two captured crewmen, Archer, Trip,
and one other security guard are seized. Reed and the remaining guard fall back
and seal the cargo bay. In the process they also sever a tenticle.

T’Pol orders the remaining bridge crew to find a way to release the five captured
crew members from the creature’s grasp before they are absorbed into it forever.
Phlox, examining the severed tenticle, discovers the creature is exceptionally
sensitive to light. Armed with this information, Reed leads a team into the
cargo bay, armed with EM emitters. Their attempt fails as anything that hurts
the creature also damages the crew. T’Pol agrees to Hoshi’s suggestion that
they try and communicate with the creature.

Mayweather, who is left on the bridge to find the Kreetassan’s ship, finally
contacts them. He asks for their help in finding the creature’s homeworld, so
they can return it. Their Captain does so, but only after extracting an apology
from the Ensign for their behavior during the meeting. Apparently it’s bad form
in Kreetassan culture to put food in your mouth in front of others.

While Hoshi researches the creatures method of communication, Reed tries to
get the prototype shield generator online. He butts heads with Phlox on methodologies
of research, but they finally come to terms. Hoshi, having trouble with the
language, asks for T’Pol’s help, since the language is more math-based than
what she is used to.

With time running out, Reed sets up a working shield generator at the entrance
of the cargo bay, while Hoshi puts the final touches on her translation matrix.
Finally getting through to it, she manages to free the captured crew and get
the exact location of the creature’s home.

Using the shuttle, they deposite the creature on its home world and it rejoins
its collective body.

Review

One of the better episodes thus far. Superb effects, meaningful dialogue, and
good acting make it stand out. I guess my question is why have they been holding
out on us for so long? It seems that everyone’s getting the hang of their character.

I am, however, still confused by Phlox. He was so friendly and outgoing in
"Broken Bow" and now he’s, well, a bit of a grouch. We did that with
Voyager, and I would like to see something different. The character we
saw in "Dear Doctor" was a total keeper, I just wonder if the writer’s
aren’t getting together on this. I should, however, say that despite the character
inconsistancies, Phlox is still well acted and a good addition to the crew.

High Point

There was some truly clever camera shots in this one, but the most striking
was Hoshi’s listening to a corridor panel, when just on the other side was the
creature. Split screen done perfectly with real footage and CG.

Low Point

The "never give up" speech. Are these things trite or what? This
sort of dialogue is why I avoid sports movies like the plague.

The Scores

Originality: The organism wasn’t that original, we’ve had the Founders and
the like. What was unique was its desire to join with whatever it could find.
That sense of loss and failure to cope gives it human qualities. 4

Effects: Very cool effects for the creature and its movement throughout the
ship. Seemless transitions from real footage to CG footage (corridor to airduct).
6

Story: I can see the writers are trying build relationships here. I’m all for
that. It was also nice to feature some of the "lower deck" crewmen.
The writers often forget that the main bridge crew can’t run the ship by themselves.
4

Acting: Good stuff from Linda Park (Hoshi). Anyone else think that Jolene Blalock
is starting to look a little tired? Serious bags under her eyes, etc. Time to
cut back on the pot? 4

Emotional Response: Pretty level stuff, but I was interested in how the crew
works under pressure without the captain’s guidance. 4

Production: Excellent work on sets and creature design and construction. Very
creepy. 5

Overall: Very well-done episode. Kept my attention start to finish. 5

Total: 32 out of 42

Episode Media

From StarTrek.com

Completely Useless Trivia

  • Best as I can translate, Vox Sola means "Lonely Voice."
    Fitting, wouldn’t you say?
  • Vaughn Armstrong plays Kreetassan Captain in this episode. He also portrays
    Adm. Forrest, Capt. Archer’s commanding officer.
  • Anyone else notice that Enterprise has, to date, suffered no fatalities
    to her crew? Or did I miss one?

Featured Star Trek Web Site

If you’re like me, you’re hooked into Star Trek technology. One of the most
comprehensive sites online is the Daystrom Institute
Technical Library
. Fairly well designed and incredibly deep.

Next Time on Enterprise (May 8, 2002)

A Double-Feature! Both look great.

Next Time on EnterpriseFallen
Hero

When a Vulcan ambassador is accused of secretive criminal misconduct, Enterprise
is asked to transport her back to the Vulcans. Following an attack by a corrupt
alien race, T’Pol defends the Ambassador and, for the first time, asks Archer
for his help. Meanwhile, after the Vulcan diplomat boards the Enterprise, alien
weapons begin firing from hostile ships, putting everyone’s lives at risk. [Video
Preview
]

Next Time on EnterpriseDesert
Crossing

When Archer and Trip are invited to a desert-like planet by an alien leader
after they help fix his ship, they discover he is a terrorist who has lured
them onto his planet under false pretenses. Meanwhile, T’Pol, while in command,
faces a tough decision when she cannot locate Archer and Trip in the desert.
[Video Preview]

4 replies on “Enterprise: “Vox Sola””

  1. I didn’t like this episode
    My problem with it was simply that the alien was too… vague. The crew didn’t do much to help the others, the crew members who got caught in the “web” were just plain flat out stupid, and Hoshi was ridiculous (She uses the typical classic Star Trek “magic” to figure stuff out).

    I’ve really enjoyed most of these episodes but this one was poor.

    I did like the creation of the force field, which means at some point in this series they may actually get ship shielding.

  2. Alien?
    The first view of the alien reminded me of the movie Alien. Thankfully it didn’t play out quite that way.

  3. Crew offduty
    I was somewhat unimpressed by the alien, but I really
    liked seeing the crew in their various offduty
    activities in the first act. It’s a nice way to do
    some subtle character development.

Comments are closed.