When hit by a series of anomalies, the Enterprise is left defenceless for a ship of raiders to steal a selection of vital components and equipment. Archer’s only option is to give chase and retrieve the stolen items.

Hmmm. Well, as episodes of Enterprise go, this does count as one of the better ones. What it doesn’t really do is develop anything much; instead it shows how ill-prepared the crew is for traversing this nasty area of space. They’re still holding on to principles and they’re just going to be taken advantage of and robbed blind anywhere they go. What you do see here is Archer learning the ways of the Expanse and changing tactics accordingly.

This is where the episode scores. Realizing he’s going to get nothing helpful from a left-behind crew member of the ship that raided Enterprise, Archer stuffs him in an airlock and empties out the air until he can get some answers. It’s tough, straightforward, ethics-free and a surprising and interesting change in the captain. The question is, can this be sustained throughout the season? Or will Archer just bung everyone in an airlock until they talk?

It’s the only real hint so far that anything’s changed. Trip’s inability to sleep is a dead weight plot point already, but a tougher Archer leading by example might shake things up a bit, not to mention giving Scott Bakula a bit more range to work with, something he could really use.

One thing that’s especially notable here is that for the first time, one of the crew dies. Hopefully this will become a more regular occurrence to demonstrate the dangers of the Expanse, although obviously they can’t go overboard as there are only about 100 people on board as it is, and they can hardly nip back home to stock up on cannon fodder. The music is also a big help in generating the right atmosphere, being more bombastic here than in the past and helping keep the tension up. The effects are also top notch, although the ship’s visit to a sphere which looks suspiciously like a Dyson Sphere from TNG’s Relics may look nice but still seems derivative.

Still, in comparison to most episodes of this show, Anomaly is way ahead.

***

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