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History and specifics [ ]

When Xindus was destroyed in the 2030s decade , the surviving races spread out across the Expanse. On 22 March , 2153 , the Xindi launched an attack on Earth and killed millions of Humans . Investigation eventually revealed that the Xindi had been manipulated for decades by an advanced extra-dimensional civilization hoping to alter the course of history by encouraging them to destroy Earth. ( ENT episode & novelization : The Expanse )

The Xindi had joined the United Federation of Planets by 2311 . ( ST reference : Federation: The First 150 Years ; TNG short story : " Meet with Triumph and Disaster ")

Xindi species [ ]

Six species of Xindi evolved on Xindus, and all but one species survived the cataclysm which destroyed their original homeworld. The remaining species are bound together by the Xindi Council . Despite mutual distrust and hostility, the five have made every effort to remain united, fearing a second devastating war like the conflict responsible for the loss of their homeworld.

• Xindi-Aquatics
• Xindi-Arboreals
• Xindi-Avians
• Xindi-Insectoids
• Xindi-Primates
• Xindi-Reptilians

The Arboreals are perhaps the most peaceful of the Xindi races, only striking out violently when attacked by others. They are known to be somewhat lethargic, although they grow agitated when around water, which seems to invoke a phobic reaction in most Arboreals. As their name indicates, they prefer to shelter in trees. Of the other four races, they are most closely allied with the Primates, who are also of mammalian stock.

The Aquatics are complicated and enigmatic and have been known to over-analyze, taking an excruciatingly long period of time to come to decisions. Xindi-Aquatic communication is highly complex and, since the Aquatics are underwater beings, they do not use their mouths, instead generating sounds through organs near their gills. When using the past tense, they switch to SONAR. They respond better to visual stimuli, however, and are extremely suspicious of the spoken word. They admire boldness and confidence and treat hushed tones with suspicion. ( ENT episode : " The Council ")

The Insectoids are the most numerous species, a consequence of their rapid rate of reproduction. They are asexual, and lay eggs. Their average life expectancy is twelve years. The Insectoid language is a clicking dialog that is the most unusual and complex of all Xindi languages. In fact, there are 67 dialects. Insectoids have names that grow longer and more difficult to pronounce as they grow older. They interpret raised voices as a sign of hostility. They are quick to make decisions and are often in alliance with the Reptilians. ( ENT episode : " The Council ")

The Primates are the Xindi race most closely resembling Humans. They are typically stereotyped as honest and trustworthy by other Xindi, but on balance are often convinced of their intellectual superiority over the other races. Nowhere near as aggressive as Reptilians or Insectoids, they are in fact possibly the most arrogant of the five species. Given their comparatively soft skin, they are not seen as being very resilient. Their engineering know-how is greatly respected, however. ( ENT episode : " The Shipment ")

The Reptilians are the most aggressive and militaristic of the Xindi. They are perceived as being untrustworthy and impatient by the other races, but are often called upon to defend all Xindi in times of war. Military rank often determines social status. Despite a history of conflict with the Insectoids, this is the race they most frequently associate with, to the point of sharing spacecraft. Reptilians are cold blooded, and bask under thermal lamps when aboard ships or otherwise cut off from direct solar energy. ( ENT episode : " The Shipment ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ], external link [ ].

• Xindi article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Lamarr class
• 2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 3 Odyssey class

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Discovery's dma plan means star trek's earth is being attacked for the 9th time.

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Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 10 - "The Galactic Barrier"

The Dark Matter Anomaly is en route to Earth in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, which makes it the 9th major attack on the Terran homeworld across two Star Trek timelines. As the USS Discovery was about to cross the Galactic Barrier in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, episode 10, President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) informed Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) that the second DMA was headed towards Ni'Var (formerly known as Vulcan), Saturn's moon Titan, and Earth. The DMA, which is a massive mining device used by Species 10C to harvest boronite, would completely annihilate Earth the way the original anomaly destroyed Cleveland Booker's (David Ajala) homeworld Kwejian.

In Star Trek, Earth was the home of the United Federation of Planets' headquarters, Starfleet Headquarters, and Starfleet Academy for centuries before The Burn in Star Trek: Discovery season 3 led to the collapse of the Federation, which lasted over a hundred years. By 3188, Earth seceded from the Federation and became an isolationist world. Earth is only now opening friendly talks with the Federation. But from the 22nd to the 25th century of Star Trek, Earth was the centerpiece world of the Alpha Quadrant, designated Sector 001. This made Earth an attractive target of alien races who had declared war on the Federation . Starfleet capably defended Earth from myriad threats, although some conflicts were close calls where the Terran homeworld teetered on the brink. Earth has also been attacked in various Star Trek alternate realities and possible futures that were averted by Starfleet's heroes.

Related: Discovery's Saru Romance Continues An Old Star Trek TOS Problem

In the 22nd century era of Star Trek: Enterprise , the Xindi unleashed a weapon on Earth that attacked from Florida to Venezuela and killed millions. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) later destroyed a second Xindi weapon targeting Earth. Star Trek: The Original Series didn't depict Earth under alien attack until Star Trek: The Motion Picture when the Starship Enterprise intercepted V'Ger before it could destroy the planet. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , a Probe searching for humpback whales entered Earthspace and nearly ravaged the world until Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew brought two humpback whales back from the 20th century to stop the Probe.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation 's 24th-century era, Earth was attacked by the Federation's greatest enemy, the Borg. The cybernetic beings were defeated after  TNG' s Battle of Wolf 359 and, in Star Trek: First Contact , Captain Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) USS Enterprise-E stopped the Borg Queen's (Alice Krige) plan to assimilate Earth in the 21st century. The Dominion War on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine led to Earth being targeted by the Founders from the Gamma Quadrant . When Changelings infiltrated Earth, rogue elements in Starfleet attempted a military coup to take control of the planet that was stopped by Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). When the Dominion War was in full swing, the Breen launched a surprise attack on Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco.

Earth was also memorably attacked in the alternate Kelvin timeline of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. After he destroyed the planet Vulcan in Star Trek 2009, the Romulan time traveler Nero (Eric Bana) targeted Earth for annihilation before he was defeated by Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the Starship Enterprise. Abrams' sequel,  Star Trek Into Darkness , also depicted a terrorist bombing in London and attacks on Starfleet Headquarters by Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch).

The DMA isn't the first time Star Trek: Discovery has shown the Earth under attack but it's easily the greatest threat the third rock from the sun has faced. In Star Trek: Discovery season 3, raiders from Titan attacked Earth for its dilithium supplies until Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery brokered a meeting and negotiation between United Earth Defense Forces and Titan. However, the Dark Matter Anomaly is a proven planet-killer and it's possible that Star Trek: Discovery could follow J.J. Abrams' Star Trek 's example so that the DMA destroys Earth in the 32nd century of Star Trek's Prime Timeline .

Next:  Discovery's Biggest DMA Mistake Could Doom Star Trek's Federation

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Star Trek: Who Are The Xindi?

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• The Xindi, a complex and diverse alien species in the Star Trek universe, have a history marked by civil war and manipulation by the mysterious Sphere Builders.
• The Xindi initially believed Earth was developing a superweapon to destroy their world, leading to tensions with the Enterprise crew who sought to prevent an attack.
• The Xindi Council consists of five species: Primates, Arboreals, Aquatics, Reptilians, and Insectoids. Each species has unique characteristics and played a role in the alliance to prevent the attack on Earth.

The vast universe of Star Trek features a myriad of alien species , each with its unique characteristics and quirks. Among these, the Xindi are one of the show's many villains, and are among the most intriguing and enigmatic races of the franchise. To delve into the depths of their existence, it is vital to know their history and the challenges they have posed to Starfleet. "The Xindi," the premiere episode of Season 3 of Star Trek: Enterprise, kicked off this species' arc. A veteran Trek helmer, Allan Kroeker, directed the installment, written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.

It all started in the 2150s, when six unique subspecies lived in the strange world of Xindus. A subspecies of the Xindi, the Xindi Avians, went extinct due to an internal war. The five other subspecies that survived found a common ground and created the Xindi Council. They invaded Earth in the 2150s, changing the course of interplanetary affairs. The history of the Xindi is complex, marked by civil war and the influence of mysterious Sphere Builders. It’s a tale of diversity, strife, and the potential for unity within the vastness of the Star Trek universe.

The great starships of Star Trek get most of the attention, but Starfleet relies on its smaller vessels just as much.

Relationship Between the Xindi and the Federation

Upon making first contact, there was tension between the Xindi and the Enterprise crew due to Reptilians relaying misinformation to other Xindi subspecies. They falsely told the other Xindi that the Earth developing a superweapon to destroy their world for their secret agenda. The other Xindi believed that humanity would eventually become a threat, and thus planned an attack on the Earth. As the crew of the USS Enterprise, under the leadership of Captain Jonathan Archer, learned more about the situation and interacted with various Xindi species, they uncovered the deception and sought to prevent the attack.

When the crew realized that the other four species believed this false information, Captain Archer tried to build trust between them. The Primates were the most cooperative among the Xindi, realizing that humans were not their enemy. The Primates, Arboreals, Aquatics, and Insectoids of the Xindi, along with the Enterprise team uncovered the manipulation and deception by the Reptilians. Together, they allied to prevent the attack. This alliance developed friendly relations between the Xindi species and the United Federation of Planets.

The Xindi's Complex History

The history of the Xindi has been marked by a complex combination of internal divisions and external forces. It has become integral to Star Trek's exploration of diversity, conflict, and potential unity in a rapidly expanding universe.

It all began with the Xindi Civil War, a mysterious event that marked a historical turning point. This conflict resulted from a web of tension among the Xindi subspecies. Disagreements over the fate of the Xindi homeworld and the perceived threat of an unknown enemy caused these tensions to erupt into violence. The conflict demonstrated the complexity of Xindi culture and the difficulties of reconciling so many different species. It also showed the effects of external influences on Xindi's internal dynamics.

The mysterious Sphere Builders emerged as a powerful force behind the scenes, further complicating Xindi affairs. Their use of temporal technology and control over Xindi leaders led to an existential crisis for the Xindi.

Xindi Diversity, Explained

Five Delphic Expanse species made the Xindi Council: Primates (humanoid-like beings), Arboreals (sloth-like humans), Aquatics (underwater mammals that resemble mosasaurs), Reptilians (lizard-like humans), and Insectoids (an amalgam of ant- and fly-like beings). There are two representatives from each species on the panel of the council. They used to hold secret meetings in a hidden chamber to plan the destruction of the Earth.

As mentioned above, the Xindi Council has five species, beginning with the Arboreals. These sloth-like humans seek refuge in the canopies of their lush, wooded worlds. Their distinct ability to navigate trees with elegance and agility differentiates them. On the other hand, the Aquatics survive at the depths of the oceans, their bodies adapting to an underwater existence. In contrast to surface-dwelling animals, their communication mechanism elaborate bioluminescent patterns.

Insectoids, as their name suggests, are insect-like creatures with a hive mentality, offering unique challenges in diplomatic relations. Their complex social structures and ability to act as a unified entity distinguish them from other Xindi. The Primates, the most humanoid of the Xindi subspecies, find themselves at the crossroads of the Xindi's diverse ecosystem. Lastly, as the name suggests, the Reptilians have similar features to the reptilians on Earth. In addition to being aggressive and ruthless, these species are also heavily involved in developing and deploying the superweapon, which would have been used to attack the Earth.

The Xindi are a fascinating exploration of the variety, strife, and potential for harmony in the universe of Star Trek and its advanced species . Their convoluted history with the Sphere Builders and Starfleet paints a picture of a race struggling with its identity while navigating the obstacles of an ever-expanding cosmos.

MORE: Star Trek: Unexplained Anomalies In The Delta Quadrant

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Is season three of Star Trek: Enterprise really 9/11 in space?

Warning: this contains a brief spoiler for the series finale of star trek: discovery, life, itself..

T he end of Star Trek: Discovery gave a little throwback to Star Trek: Enterprise with Kovich revealing that he was Agent Daniels. Fans of Enterprise will remember Agent Daniels for his part in the Temporal Cold War. Lina Morgan from Bells of Souls made some excellent points as to why Discovery fans should watch Enterprise following that reveleation. It really was a neat, unexpected tie-in, and I'm on board with Morgan recommending a watch with caveats.

One interesting point of view Morgan made was that the season three of Enterprise "is basically just 9/11 in space." I've never heard it phrased that way, and there's no indication that the writers had this intention. However, Enterprise debuted on September 26, 2001, just fifteen days after 9/11. Many television shows during that time did, at some point in the future, reference the tragedy. The West Wing, Law and Order, NYPD Blue, Homeland, and even the sci-fi series, Fringe, had episodes that either directly referenced 9/11 or focused on other terrorist attacks. So it certainly wouldn't be out of the question for the Xindi storyline to have come about because of 9/11.

Season two of Enterprise concluded on May 21, 2003, and the third season focused on the aftermath of the Xindi's attack on Earth with Captain Archer and the Enterprise crew trying to track down the aliens and destroy the weapon they'd used before it could be utilized again. Adding the weapon to the season kept the series from focusing on revenge. As it turns out, though, the Xindi attacked Earth because of false information that humans would destroy their world in 400 years.

I can certainly see Morgan's point of view and why others could believe that Enterprise had created its own version of 9/11. Some would say, though, that the decision to move in this direction affected Enterprise negatively along with it debuting so soon after the horrific events of 9/11. Season three was definitely much darker than the previous two seasons and took the crew members down a more painful path. Perhaps that was a reminder that viewers just didn't want at the time or they simply preferred their television watching experience to be about entertainment and escapism not the reality of the devastating attack that took place on 9/11.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as Is season three of Star Trek: Enterprise really 9/11 in space? .

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Star Trek: Enterprise

“The Xindi”

Air date: 9/10/2003 Written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga Directed by Allan Kroeker

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

"We don't have the luxury of being safe or cautious anymore." — Archer, perhaps talking about the battle for TV ratings

Review Text

In brief: Some new places, and new faces, but some hoary old techniques. Call it a mixed bag.

It's been six weeks since the Enterprise entered the Delphic Expanse. And the Xindi are well aware of its presence. In the opening minute we see a sort of Xindi roundtable council meeting, where arguments over What Enterprise Knows are being presented by several different alien species, including one that looks like a giant fly — or maybe an ant — as well as a reptilian creature and a weird kinda-walrus-thing in a tank. The fly wants to send out forces to destroy the human ship. Maybe that's justifiable since I make it a rule to kill any fly that invades my living space.

The Enterprise crew, however, is still very much in the dark. They have not come across any hard evidence pointing to the Xindi. And, so far, the weirdest thing to have happened is that some containers are bouncing around from one wall to the other in a cargo hold, because gravity seems not to be working quite right in the Delphic Expanse. For the crew, indeed, there's been a bit of wandering and waiting thus far in the Delphic Expanse. The puzzle of the Xindi, which Archer's new mission has implored he assemble, has yet to supply any pieces.

But Archer has a recently acquired lead from a cargo captain whom Reed says is of "questionable character." Archer doesn't much care about his questionable character, because We Need Answers Dammit and we're not going to find them without taking a risk or two. The Enterprise follows the lead to a world with a harsh mining facility, where apparently a Xindi laborer is known to reside.

And so begins season three with "The Xindi," a so-so premiere that invites our curiosity while also delivering several notable disappointments that invite us to think, "You're kidding, right?" Here's an episode that tells us there is not one but five distinct species of Xindi, while also giving us a story where, almost hilariously inevitably, Archer and Trip are, yes, tricked into being imprisoned and must subsequently escape and/or be rescued. Meanwhile, 7 million human deaths from " The Expanse " have for the moment been reduced via microcosm to a personal vendetta for Trip, who has nightmares about the death of his sister.

There's a nightmare sequence where Trip sees his sister about to be killed by what we might as well call the Xindi Swath. It's an effective sequence in its visual sense of stark, melodramatic contrasts — a white, pristine paradise about to go up in the flames of a hellfire. I was less than thrilled, however, by the first moment in this episode where Trip comes in contact with his first Xindi (Richard Lineback), grabs him by the collar and says, "I'm not sure why, but I'm just itching to kick the hell outta you," which is dramatic overstatement.

(1) But of course Trip knows why he feels the way he feels, and (2) that doesn't make his actions justified under the circumstances. Given the level of information Trip has, his unchecked aggression here strikes me as not unlike an American in 2003 grabbing by the collar the first random Arab he bumps into on the street and accusing him of being a terrorist. I'm not saying such an exchange couldn't (or doesn't) happen, but in the 22nd century, Trip strikes me as cavalierly un- Trek -like here, revealing pumped-up visceral aggression without the benefit of reasoned thought. It might've been nice if the story challenged Trip on this point at least a little.

Then, of course, we get to the passage where Archer Goes to Jail™, which as of right now I'm declaring is this series' most obvious cliché — the equivalent of the Shuttle Crash™ on Voyager .

It's at this point my imagination takes hold, since the story's certainly doesn't. I'm imagining the initial writing of the first draft of the "Xindi" script, where Berman and Braga have gotten to the point where Trip and Archer meet the Xindi — who might be able to direct them to his homeworld — and the door in the mining shaft is closed by the mining foreman, who has told them, tellingly and telegraphically, "Take your time." The Xindi prisoner then informs them that they, like he, have been lured into a trap of forced slave labor.

I'm imagining Braga sitting at the computer keyboard (in this particular fantasy sequence, boss Berman dictates while right-hand man Braga does the typing). Berman stops dictating, having hit a wall, and Braga then suddenly remembers an important office tool at his disposal: He looks down at his keyboard, which has one of those plastic overlays that explains what the F-keys are programmed to do. Above F12, it says "SEND ARCHER & CREWMATE TO JAIL." Braga decides now would be a good time to press this button, since F12 is an oft-used function key that writes two acts' worth of script pages in which Archer and a random crew member (with Trip's initially equal chance multiplied by three before the random selection is made) are locked into a holding cell and must then find a way to escape, preferably by crawling through caves, tunnels, and/or ventilation shafts.

Braga presses F12. Accompanied by the default Windows XP chord sound, a dialog box appears that says, "Automatically generate random imprisonment-and-jailbreak narrative?" Braga then clicks "OK," at which point 16 pages of standard jailbreak material is generated from a database of events from previous Enterprise scripts and other action movies — in this case including Archer (and the random crewmate and the tagalong guest-star prisoner) traipsing through raw sewage and then crawling up through a shaft that is about to be filled with flames that would kill them.

These events do not allow Archer and Trip and the Xindi prisoner to escape, however, as they are forced out of the shaft (flames, etc.) and caught by the guards.

About here, I'm imagining, is where Braga hits another wall and presses F11. Accompanied by the default Windows XP chord, a dialog box now appears that says, "Automatically generate shootout-and-escape sequence?" Braga clicks "OK," and this generates several minutes of sustainable action and shooting and the narrow escape of our crew and rescue team with, of course, zero casualties (unless you count the Xindi prisoner).

(Triumph voice on.) I kid, I kid. (Voice off.) I suppose it's to the credit of the production team and director Allan Kroeker that this lackluster material is somehow made watchable, almost to the point of being mildly entertaining. Completely unsurprisingly, "The Xindi" is terrific from a production standpoint, and if the writing had been up to par they might've had something here. The technical aspects of this show — the production design, the lighting, the direction, the editing, the visual effects, the action choreography, the Michael Westmore makeup — are right where they should be. The alien mining facility is a triumph of dusty, murky, grubby art design, intensely cold colors, incessantly coughing actors, and exterior CGI shots that convincingly and simply say "unfriendly."

Stephen McHattie, playing the mining facility's foreman, turns in an effective — if stylized — performance that suggests a man who has been breathing toxic air for his entire life, and probably longer. Meanwhile, Scott Bakula plays Archer in an almost unremittingly grim, no-nonsense tone. Archer is strikingly serious, of no smiles, and exudes an attitude of getting the job done so the ship can get on with its important mission.

We're also introduced to some of the ship's new Military Assault Command Operations team (MACOs), led by Major Hayes (Steven Culp). They provide much of the action in the inevitable rescue scene, but are otherwise of only limited story value. Now that they've been established, I hope future episodes will develop them or give them a purpose beyond action scenes.

Of course, no review of "The Xindi" would be complete without a healthy deriding of the "Vulcan neuro-pressure" scene. Vulcan neuro-pressure, described by T'Pol as "a very intimate act," might help the grieving insomniac that is Trip sleep through the night, so Phlox talks T'Pol into giving Trip lessons in said technique. (For the writers, such a technique is probably in lieu of a mind-meld, which, as we know, the Vulcans deem illegal in this century.)

This eventually leads to a laughable scene in which both T'Pol and Trip appear shirtless for, well, no good reason. The problem with this scene is its utter and shameless transparency. It has nothing to do with sex or intimacy or characters but simply panders — like all of Enterprise 's previous attempts at pseudo-sexual material (with the exception of Hoshi's night in " Two Days and Two Nights ") — to the audience with sex-LIKE material that really has nothing at all to do with sex and everything to do with puerile snickering.

When are the producers going to grow up and get over it? Do they honestly think people tune in to their show for scenes like this? I'll tell you what — under the right circumstances and writing, I'd be much more in favor of seeing two of the characters actually having sex rather than be fed this juvenile Sexuality Lite that thinks it's funny because, tee-hee, we can put almost-naked people on the screen and show non-sex sex!

Bah. (Yep, it's F10: "Automatically create non-sexual circumstance for character 'T'Pol' to remove her shirt? [OK/Cancel]")

Anyway, enough. The bottom line is that "The Xindi," while giving us some elements that work reasonably well and laying some groundwork in terms of new faces and situations, is too much business as usual: prison breaks, shootouts, a few hints that we might be going somewhere but precious little in terms of believable Xindi motivation (aside from cartoon exclamations that they "must finish the weapon!"). We do learn, at least, that there's a mystery of contradictions here somewhere; the Xindi homeworld has (apparently) already been destroyed for over a century, which doesn't track with what Future Guy told Archer regarding the Xindi and their motives. Will this end up a mystery, or a muddle?

As I said before, this season has potential. "The Xindi" is proof that such realized potential still lies ahead of us, since it doesn't lie here.

Next week: Archer does his best impression of Janeway's interrogation in " Equinox, Part II ."

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58 comments on this post.

I sorta found the Xindo to be fairly alright people. Sure, they want to destroy Earth, but looking at it from a broader perspective they have every right to want to do so. I mean if us lowly earthlings learned aliens were going to kill us in the future, I'd want something to be done (although genocide IS a bit harsh...still, self preservation is a paramount instinct). Although, I do find it odd that a species that has five different varieties, which would have undoubtedly have had a bajillion wars with each other, wouldn't be able to think in terms of negotiating a peace to ensure the future predicted wouldn't happen. Because I can't see any justification for wanting to get revenge for people that will continue to exist should they try things a bit differently... But then, this is Trek....time travel is the puppet of the writters....*shrug*

Jeffrey Bedard

So the Xindi arc begins. Having gone back to watch this episode one thing I noticed in the council scenes is how prominent the Insectoids are. In fact the Insectoid council member gets the closing lines of the episode and the final scene. Because we saw so little of the Insectoids in this season (and they were the species which interested me the most) I enjoy whatever bits and pieces I see. I understand that from a cost perspective it's still cheaper to go with actors in makeup than CGI characters, but here was a chance for ENTERPRISE to focus on some truly non-humanoid aliens and I don't feel that took full advantage. The Archer/Trip plot of being captured is repetitive of other episodes in ST, but one thing I had forgotten was how quickly it wraps up. Most episodes with this type of plot wouldn't have rescued the crewman(men) until the last act. But act 4 of this episode as everyone back on Enterprise and Trip and T'Pol doing that stupid neuropressure stuff. I can only guess that the writers were wanting to get a Trip/T'Pol romance going. In a way I felt that since "Breaking the Ice" from S1. I can only assume that this "intimate" relaxation technique was the writer's way of getting Trip and T'Pol to relax with each other and become more comfortable. But there are more dramatically satisfying ways to do that, I would imagine. Bakula's performance is quite stunning. In the first two seasons I kept feeling Archer was too much like a John Denver/type. Overly friendly, aw shucks, thank god I'm a Starfleet boy type of thing. Starting here and through the rest of the series for the most part Archer grows up. I felt I could take the character more seriously because Bakula was. I've been enjoying this site for a couple of years now. Can't wait to read your review of ST XI. Thanks for giving us fans the chance to voice our opinions too.

So I'm watching the Xindi arc in its completion for the third time now (why? I don't know) and I noticed something I hadn't before: A whole half of a year goes by (probably longer) from the first attack on Earth to the crew of Enterprise even meeting a Xindi. The Xindi attacks Earth, it takes however many months at Warp 5 for Enterprise to get back to Earth. It takes however long for Enterprise to refitted with new weapons, the Command Center, etc. Then they have to launch and travel 5 months (!) just to reach the cloud that surrounds the Expanse. Then a further month and a half which takes us to the events of "The Xindi." Archer was definitely right when he told Forrest that Future Guy wouldn't have warned him about the Xindi if there wasn't a good chance of stopping them. You would almost think that by the time Archer and Reed were first visiting the mining facility, the full size weapon would have been near completion. The ST franchise rarely did story arcs, outside of the Klingon episodes in TNG and the Dominion War on DS9 so I think that's one reason why I keep watching the Xindi arc from time to time. But for some reason I've only just noticed just how much time has passed from "The Expanse" to "The Xindi." I don't know what that says about my attentiveness as a viewer, but at least it shows that even some of the weaker episodes of the franchise can give a viewer something new to think about after repeat viewings.

"Harder...harder...[sigh]...just like that." Bah, indeed.

Jacob T Taylor 7

So Archer couldnt see he was walking into a trap. Man this guys dim as a flashlight thats been left on for 2 days with cheap RITEAID batteries. Come on hes been in these situations before! The MACOS add a nice element. The Trip/T'pol scence I thought was really gonna be a sex scene w Pholx giving Trip some kinda stimulant (or so i thought) but it endend up being just a bunch of balognia sausage and some hand on boobs. Why cant ppl just have sex in star trek? I thought that was the doctor and sciece officer tPOL were planning for Mr. Charles Tucker anyway. Prolly would helped his drepression and let him sleep better than that stupid press my back crumb buminess. ARcher takes the starship Enterprise to the destroyed planet Xindi and pick to go thataway into the expanse and continue looking for??? who knos. Man it seems like these writers really do just wing it.

I may be in a minority here, but I think the Xindi arc was one of the best things Star Trek has ever done. If anything (and people won't like this) I find it a far more coherent and just generally better series of episodes than the finale of DS9. The key is to consider this season apart from the first two. The first two seasons were essentially Voyager-lite but with an arguably more likeable cast (no fucking Neelix on Enterprise); season three veers off into more 24-like territory, and makes this is the season when Enterprise establishes its own identity. Take it on those terms and this becomes one of the finest seasons Trek has produced, up there with season five of DS9 and the middle seasons of TNG.

Once again, despite the usual B&B-tagged shortcomings, I'm on board for this episode. I won't say yet the show is actually going somewhere, but my interest is sufficiently renewed. That said, I can only agree on Jammer's whole "F-keys" tirade. As satirical as it might be, it is probably very close to the truth, if only figuratively. Let's hope the inevitable let-down will occur as late as humanly possible.

Ok, T'Pol is hot as hell, but it's a shame the producers are treating her like this... :(

Definitely a missed opportunity with Vreenak holding the cylindrical platinum container :)

I have to agree with Jammer - the T'Pol shirtless scene was an insult to our intelligence. Ditto with the T'Pol bodysuit - as well as the 7 of 9 bodysuit and high heels. Honestly, how pathetic. As for the inter-species cooperation of the Xindi -- I wish humans could be so cooperative with the other intelligent species on Earth. Imagine developing a working relationship with whales and dolphins and chimpanzees for example -- they could teach us a lot about the necessity of protecting eco-systems - which we rely on as much as they do. The alternative is an Earth that looks like that Mordor-like mining slave camp. I have to agree with the above statement that the Xindi are just doing a pre-emptive strike to protect themselves - from the sound of it - but wouldn't it be easier to simply talk with Earth folks and work it out beforehand? Clearly they don't trust us, and perhaps not without good reason: after all, look at what we have done to our marine mammals, insects, and reptiles. Anyway, the whole scenario is totally implausible: temporal wars, stupid test weapons of mass destruction (why not just introduce a pathogen that would kill the humans and leave the flora and fauna intact?), a Delphic expanse where Vulcans go mad and Klingons get turned inside out ... Enterprise seems to oscillate between hard SF and fantasy; these segments are more on the fantasy side of it, but I have to admit, it is entertaining nonetheless.

Hehe, Jammer here sounding more bitter than Trip. I thought everyone said ENT actually got pretty decent with S3 and 4? So were they trying to go darker than DS9 or what? I'm getting the impression they were trying a bit too hard with it or something. Who knows. I erm, like the remixed opening song. Carry on.

I think I know what caused the cancellation of this Star Trek series....the opening song. I mean it was bad enough to start with, but then the tropical samba remix? that was the nail in the coffin :|

Solid 3.5 stars, excellent episode! I'm omitting from consideration anything to do with the T'Pol/Archer scene by Breman & Braga (aka Beavis & Butthead)! That was beyond stupid. In fact I'm quite sure this was the episode that stopped me from watching Enterprise way back when it was being broadcast (or pumped through cable). Just dumb, real dumb. Like Jammer rightly pointed out, it's not even sex, it's PG-13 titillation, sexual illusions. And Jammer got it perfectly about Hoshi (a natural beauty) on Risa having a normal, believable sexual encounter - with sex! And Jolene Blalock ... well, I just want to say I'm not very titillated. Her face is pretty but plain and featureless. She's model thin and seems fit. Of course, B&B must have cast her because of her decision to get cosmetic surgery on her lips and chest (at least those spots, maybe some more on her face). I just don't get the appeal, the proportions of both her lips and chest seem all wrong to me and not attractive. Before and after pics on the web show her smile just went to pot after the lip surgery. And her chest is so obviously augmented as to make her playing a Vulcan, a race that would never do something so vain, just unbelieavble. So Vulcan massage therapy allows us to see the bottom of T'pol's back and the top of her butt. Oh, and some side boob and the big payoff, T'pol holding her boobs. Teehe indeed. I mean even in September 2003 when this originally broadcast you could Google X Y Z and get what you searched for pretty easily. No need to even subscribe to Maxim. Ok, I'll cool off but this was the back breaker for me originally and I'm glad that I'm happily skipping stupid scenes like this now which lets me enjoy the good stuff Enterprise has to offer. So why 3.5 stars for The Xindi? Other than the never-to-be-mentioned-again-T'Pol-boob-scene, it was solid all the way with new aliens, a great mining world, and an excellent Xindi for them to rescue. The mining world looked great, the outside shots, the hallways, the boss's office, the mines, all excellent. It reminds me of how well they do with this sort of thing. I'm sure it cost more than Battlestar Galactica episodes but wow, the difference in quality! Sets, make up, etc all stellar. Poor ENT just needs better, more consistent writing and no T'Pol. I loved the mining boss, his scabby head, his breathing apparatus, the sci-fi/steam-punk office - did you catch the 40s style microphone he used later in the episode? And the Xindi wasn't just good or bad, he was ... both. The Reed vs the military pissyness was a little fake feeling but that's ok, they wanted a tension hook. And I liked how the military guys (and a gal!) actually were very bad arse. These are supposed to be "the best" so were talking DEVGRU/Pararescue/SFOD in space. Sure, they were toned down to tv/Trek standards but still it was a good dose of military toughness. I really, really enjoyed the Star Wars Episode II homage scenes with the Xindi multi-racial council, excellent! The insect dude, the seal-men/women, all kinds of humanoids including Rick Worthy aka Simon from BSG. He's got such a good voice. I think it's very sci-fi and very new for Trek to have a "race" actually be several races mashed together into a single alien unit. Very cool. I'm excited to forge ahead, ready to skip T'Pol teehe junk, so I can see the Xindi story unfold.

Hi Jammer, I just read all of your review and am struck by similarities and differences with my comments. We match up on the T’pol nonsense and the excellent production quality of The Xindi. But the criticism of Archer getting captured and the shootout seems a bit misplaced. This is a tv show and we’re going to have “insert action here” quite a bit. I’m not sure if it’s the same amount but I recall Kirk getting captured many times. With The Xindi, we have a whole new context in which Archer is captured ending with a shootout: a very dangerous, uncharted part of space; a dangerous planet; unknown races; and a mission to find answers and justice for an attack that cost 7 million lives by a race(s) that wants to completely destroy Earth. I mean, really, 2.5 stars? I’ve read most of your Enterprise reviews and you give 2.5 stars to a lot of turds and The Xindi seemed much fresher, more enjoyable, and better executed than your previous 2.5 star reviews. Just a side note: as soon Corporal Chang was introduced I thought to look him up since I always like to see if Trek matches the real ethnicity with that of the character in the show. Well, what do you know, they got DDK for Cp Chang! Too bad a Korean actor can’t play, I don’t know, a Korean! Corporal Chang, Chinese - Daniel Dae Kim, born in Korea Ensign Hoshi Sato, Japanese - Linda Park, born in Korea

Revisiting this to revise my comment on the opening music.... It's kind of.. flat and sedate? Whilst the old was was all action-y and rocky and had its guitar riff type bits and whatnot. It's as if the series LOST confidence. Kind of the opposite of things like DS9 o.o

John the younger

I like the idea of non-humanoids in Trek.. but the Separatists.. I mean Xindi council.. seem kinda lame.

Yes. Idea beyond earlier "Vox Sola", altough very poor executed, was far better.

This is minor but.... That hick accent of Trip's is supposed to be Floridian???

I must admit that I get a chuckle out of all your comments that trash the writers for their almost-sex scenes, as if it's some sort of transgression that can't be forgiven. After all, Captain Kirk was certainly took a vow of chastity ...

I just finished watching this. I was bored. I'm not even really sure why. I mean, the episode *looks* great. On reflection, I think there's two reasons. a} As Jammer says, practically everything that happens in the episode is a repetitive, boring stereotype that I've seen I wouldn't know how many times before. The gulag looked like something out of an Unreal Tournament map, and the overseer of it was derivative as well. b} There was very little dialogue, no character development, nothing for me to really care about. I watched Season 2's "Cease Fire," a couple of hours ago, and thought that was a lot better. I like Jeffrey Combs' character, Shran, and I especially like the fact that whenever he shows up, it means that they're working towards actually getting the Federation together, or at least it feels like that. The other thing that bothered me about this episode was the fact that they have non-Starfleet infantry on board the ship, and in these action scenes, those infantry were killing people. That's not Star Trek, or at least not in my mind.

Petrus wrote, "The other thing that bothered me about this episode was the fact that they have non-Starfleet infantry on board the ship, and in these action scenes, those infantry were killing people. That's not Star Trek, or at least not in my mind." I completely agree, those cocky Navy Seal types bothered me too. They represent the myopic- seek and destroy aspect of the military that I find repulsive and counter to the spirit that the military career represents in Star Trek. The whole depiction really felt a touch propogandic and inconsistent considering it was established that humanity's focus after the third world war and First Contact was one of peace, self improvement through knowledge and exploration. These guys would be relics of a shameful, and not-so-distant period in Earth's history and do not fit at all in this vision of the future. Given that, I doubt active training for such commandos would even exist. Lt. Reid and Star Trek's other portrayal of tactical officers fits better than these all-America jerks. Given the post 9/11 timeline, I feel like the whole Xindi arc should have been thrown in the trash in favor of the more optimistic and evolved version of humanity found in previous depictions of the the 22nd-24th centuries and I think a more peaceful, insightful and cerebral Star Trek Enterprise would have served as a better example for viewers trying to deal with the shock and aftermath of 9/11.

I didn't even recognize Stephen McHattie until I looked up the credits on Memory Alpha. They should have had him say some variation of "It's a FAAAAAKE!" in this episode. Wasted opportunity.

"I do find it odd that a species that has five different varieties, which would have undoubtedly have had a bajillion wars with each other" - Omega333 I think you're thinking too geocentrically, that's what us humans would do, perhaps the Xindi all grew up in peace. I believe the Xindi that was in the mine as a forced laborer said something along the lines of 'There are five different species of Xindi, and five different perspectives of which is the dominant species', this doesn't mean they are hostile to each other. I thought the Xindi civilization was well thought out, just poorly executed and a poor storyline, it had a lot of potential but was crushed. First off, why the hell would the Xindi tip there hand with the probe attack? If they needed to test it, why not just test it on a uninhabited world or something. Thanks to that Enterprise goes out looking for the attackers and ultimately convinces them to stop what they're doing, come on, I'm sure a civilization advanced enough to build a weapon to destroy an entire planet is smarter then that. I've watched every series of Star Trek excluding TAS, and frankly I'm a bit disappointed, it kind of feels a lot like a really long JJ Abrams film, a rubbish storyline that doesn't really make sense but a lot of action, and for me the story line is what really makes Star Trek special. There were some good episodes that I did enjoy, Enterprise did have some unique humor that I didn't see it any other series, and the whole threat of genocide was new and with better writing could have been good, personally I think Braga or whatever his name is ruined the series. Nice review Jammer, I'm not a big reader but that was a pleasure to read. Live long and prosper!

Concur with bhbor. This episode premiered during the Iraqi Freedom campaign. The utopian future of the Star Trek mythos was replaced with military protocol, which runs completely contrary to Gene Roddenberry's original vision. Here it feels forced, like so many things in this series. And more than a little modernized/urbanized. Keep in mind that mankind had already nearly destroyed itself a century earlier or so with that same militaristic mindset. This feels like the more things change the more they stay the same. It certainly lends credence to Q's depiction (not to mention judgement) of humanity in Encounter At Farpoint. "Rapid progress" indeed. Can only imagine if Archer or Janeway were on trial. They'd have signed our death certificates.

eastwest101

Bit of a shock to the system as I had been away from this for a while, as Jammer says, a very mixed bag of an episode that looks a lot better than its rather routine mechanics would suggest. In no particular order, a couple of other things spring to mind. "Hey Andromeda - I'll see your silly insect CGI alien and raise you some whale people in water tanks!" The jaunty elevator salsa mix of the opening song - oh dear. We have decided to update Ms Pouty Tight Pants wardrobe to a full colour palette Pouty Tight Pants ensemble. Nice to see some things haven't changed though - T'Pol urges caution with Archer responding by ignoring the usually clear logical advice...

To the poster complaining that the Korean-American actor Daniel Dae Kim plays a Chinese colonel on the show: actually Chang can be a Korean surname, though it is more commonly associated as a Chinese family name. The T'pol/Trip pseudo-sex scenes were just awful, please stop it now with this stupidity. The new opening music is even worse than before. The show reeked of the time period of Operation Iraqi Freedom with the military team on board and taking down the "baddies." Roddenberry's ashes must have ejected from his space capsule. The insect alien was most interesting but evidently it's the one we'll see the least amount of. Middling entertaining at best with the trademark Archer in prison plot/Archer escapes prison plot, no wonder the audience (especially Trekkies) abandoned the show.

Diamond Dave

So the soft rock horror of the theme tune got a remix? Zoiks... Tonally this has definitely made a shift to the darker end of the spectrum, what with severed fingers and commando teams breaking necks with gay abandon. While it's interesting to see where they go with it, for this episode it turned out to be basically inconsequential. There's some good action, and worthy of note is Trip's dream sequence, which unlike so many of its ilk is genuinely unsettling. And it still looks a million dollars. The T'Pol hand bra scene if of course lamentable, and you have to wonder why the series hasn't grown out of such things yet. And ultimately it all feels much like a transitional show, and somewhat unfinished because of that. 2.5 stars

MichaelMichaelMotorcycle

Two things. First, I can't believe they managed to make the theme that much worse. Please give me back the cheese ball, soft rock of the first two seasons. Second, they FINALLY fixed T'pol's eyebrows!

few thoughts.... The spatial anomaly in the cargo hold, why is it stuck there? presumably the ship is travelling through space, so they would've passsd the anomaly on their travel - yet some how its attached itself to a certain part of Enterprise. The Xindi prisoner in his dying breath gives the coordinates to the Xindi homeworld. How did the crew know how to interperate these coordinates? Also they reached that homeworld awfully quickly!

My feelings on watching this season three debut are that it's likely to be harder to review episodes in isolation given the serialised plot line (no 'z' in serialised. I'm Tasmanian. It's in the part of the world you can't see from space). The mining/prison business is disappointing - and why do I get the feeling that guy's going to shoot up that liquid platinum - but the rest of the episode is working on a slower, larger scale, setting up plot developments. I get a feeling much of this story arc might consist of balancing acts between the longer term goals of the season and the immediate concerns of the episode. The presence of the military on board may or may not work. So far, not enough for me to judge where all this is going, but I m cautiously optimistic. BTW, I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but isn't the premise of this season rather like the premise of 'Crusade', the aborted Bab5 spinoff?

Was genuinely looking for an improvement in ENT with the new Xindi arc to start S3 but this episode didn't deliver. Another episode that goes over all the usual ENT cliches (prison break, shootout, attempted escape, rescue, and stupid quasi-sex scene between T'Pol/Tripp). Have to give credit for the production of the dusty mining colony - ENT does create the desolate, prison atmosphere well. A new set of challenges for ENT kicks off - with an OK episode. Have to say it doesn't feel like Star Trek though (maybe its the MACOs), but I could say that about a number of S2 and S1 episodes. Archer has a more serious, determined character - hopefully he makes more intelligent decisions going forward. But this is an improvement for him. Perhaps also signals a darker direction for ENT. When an individual episode is part of a larger arc, it can be weak on its own. This episode gets 2.5 stars out of 4 - ok but not good nor totally bad.

Got my popcorn, having a ball.

I've got faith to believe, No one's gonna bend nor break me... love it

Aw man, seriously to the reviewer "John" about 11 comments above; some of us are watching this show for the first time. Thanks for giving away the end of the season. :(

I don't know why some people have a problem with having military people on board. I mean they were at war after all. And complaining that they killed people? wut? Starfleet ships and personnel kill people all the time. What do you think happens when they blow up another ship? All the people onboard miraculously transport to safety? Janeway killed who knows how many countless numbers of species 8472 with biological warfare. All the captains kill people constantly, actually. Decent episode. 2 1/2 stars

"Try not to breathe." "Yes, sir." Okay, let's jump into Season 3. The intro song has been remixed; it still doesn't work for a Star Trek series but it's an improvement. Less background vocals and such. On the Xindi story or what little I know of it so far, you could definitely see it as a cautionary tale about the ethics of pre-emptive strikes in war; the Xindi are so wound up they decide to attack Earth FOUR HUNDRED YEARS in advance. Four hundred years is a lot of time to, say, contact Earth and attempt to change that future constructively ... but no, let's just use this knowledge of the future to start the war on OUR terms. This must not be a very peaceful or rational species we're dealing with. The whole thing is more or less a shotgun blast to the face of Star Trek canon, setting a precedent that would affect the rest of this series and probably all future ST series as well, because you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube ... so it had better be a DAMN good story arc. I like the physical portrayal of the Xindi council; unlike many Trek aliens, they are composed of several different subspecies, all of which have evolved in different directions. You've got the main species that are kind of reptilian, but also the insect representative (who seems to be the most hostile), the manatee-like Xindi who live in the water, and a few others. Nice. About the mines Archer and Trip are confined in: I have to say they're one of the best sets I've seen on the series, and so unhealthy to work in that even the wretched owner guy (slavemaster, really) needs to take periodic huffs of oxygen or whatever is in that mask of his. The whole bit is representative of ENT's attempt to go dark DS9-style, with some success, although it doesn't have the same authenticity yet. You can take or leave the Trip/T'Pol scene; I would rather have left it, and all the other typically silly non-sex scenes as a thing of the past (a little early for sweeps week, wasn't it?). And speaking of bad precedents, this show really should have resisted the temptation to put a skintight bodysuit on a female character. If crew members are supposed to be equals regardless of species or gender, then just dress them all in a similar uniform and move on instead of jerking off the viewers. "This show is meant to portray a vision of a more enlightened future, when mature men and women boldly go where no one has ... HEY LOOK, BOOBZ!!" Come on writers, get serious or quit Star Trek. This show should be better than that. I'm a little curious about why a Xindi homeworld that will supposedly be toast in 400 years has been destroyed ALREADY - 120 years in the past, at that. I don't get it. I'm with Jammer; interesting new direction, but uninspired writing and some juvenile stunts drag it down as a season premiere.

This is a brilliant episode that stands up to repeat viewings. Generally superbly acted, well written and perfectly paced. The interactions on the alien surface were all excellent and Trip made a good double act with the Xindi. Of course, the renowned Trekkie hatred of their own franchise has earned the episode a lower rating and more criticism than it deserves. My only problems are that they could have connected it more to Trek lore with the alien superintendent wanting latinum rather than platinum (which would no doubt provoke fresh and thoughtless outrage about "only Ferengi use latinum", and that the aliens introduced here are never seen again. Far more thought was put into looks and atmosphere than we ever saw in the other Treks.

I'm shallow. I admit I have a Xindi reptillian brain when I say T'Pol gives me a raging case of Pon Farr.

Rattrap Maximize!

So. I actually *liked* the opening song for the first two seasons. I know, I know. But this weird island remix? That's not a good thing. That's bad. I love the MACOs. It's incredibly refreshing to *finally* have a platoon of appropriately trained and equipped infantry on a Starfleet ship. On a slight tangent from the above; It's always been a bone of contention of mine that Starfleet tries so hard to define itself as a non-military force, despite being THE arm of the Federation which conducts every military activity, up to and including total war. Every Starfleet vessel should be staffed with MACOs from ENT through VOY and beyond. It makes absolutely no sense to fly headlong into deep, unknown, often hostile space, relying on a frankly insufficient "security team" for the inevitable combat scenarios. My only fear with the MACOs is that they're being deliberately setup as a sort of 'thematic effigy' to be burned at the alter of 'Gene Roddenberry's Vision™', and will eventually be revealed to be stereotypically 'military jock bully' types. This will be used to show how 'enlightened' and 'superior' the non-military, pacifist, Starfleet Way is in comparison. Maybe they won't do this. I really hope they don't do this. On a related note, I *really* can't stand Reed. The guy has such an aggressive, overbearing inferiority complex, it's insane. It really feels like every time he opens his mouth, it's to whine, complain, or fish for sympathy. It's absolutely grating. His unilateral measuring contest with Maj. Hayes over who should do what on the rescue mission was immature to the point of being unprofessional. I'm glad T'Pol agreed with Hayes. Speaking of T'Pol, let's talk about THAT scene. No, not the not-sex-but-Trek-sex scene with Trip, but rather the earlier scene with Phlox. The scene that somehow *no one* is talking about. I have the utmost respect for Phlox. He might just be my favorite character so far. But, the hell?! His pressuring T'Pol into committing a very intimate act with a crewmate was plain unsettling. I get that Denobulan (and Vulcan, for that matter) ethics aren't necessarily in lockstep with human ethics, but T'Pol and Trip were *both* clearly uncomfortable with the idea, yet Phlox pressed on anyway. He both pressured T'Pol into the act, and lied to Trip about a treatment, so as to set up the encounter. I *get* that he wanted to help Trip relax, so he can focus and perform while on the job, but really. Would he pressure Sato into having sex with Reed, to help him get over himself? Because that's essentially what he did. This feels unprofessional, unethical, and wrong. Maybe it could almost work if the whole Xindi situation became incredibly desperate, urgent, and dire, but this is literally the beginning of the arc. We're not there yet. As an aside to T'Pol, sexuality, and feminism -- I find it interesting that during TOS, it was considered a show of sexual liberation and female agency, that women could wear somewhat... accentuating attire. From TNG through ENT, however, dressing this way developed a presumption of sexual objectification. Having said that, I also do believe that there was a concerted effort (from B&B? The network?) to overly sexualize T'Pol (and Seven before her), and it would have been gratifying to see T'Pol switch to a Starfleet uniform in this episode. The prison break was... eh. The MACO shootout was enjoyable, largely because of how cathartic it is to see a competent combat team at work in the Star Trek universe. But seriously -- enough with the kidnapped/imprisoned captain. The one time it worked, there were four lights.

Simon Blake

" largely because of how cathartic it is to see a competent combat team at work in the Star Trek universe" This! I'm bingeing ST:ENT with my wife and we watched this last night. One thing we both noticed was how refreshing it is to see characters *and actors* who seem to know how to go into a room full of hostile armed people and deal with them efficiently. I've lost count of the times I've seen obviously entirely untrained actors enter a killing room skull-first with their weapon pointed at the floor and shouted "That's not how you clear a room!". This time the MACOs dropped in, and pretty much took out the major threats where possible in a single well-aimed shot. No popping out from behind plastic barrels to wildly ping something in the vague direction of the target, like in every other Trek firefight.

That T'Pol/Tripp sex-but-no-sex scene was just awfull. For all and any future Star Trek screewriters and/or producers: Do NOT force sex into Star Trek because fanservice! We've got them Rule 34 ***** for that, thank You very much. And on another note: why did T'Pol cover her breasts ? No, really, a legit question. I, as a viewer watching a tv show, know why. But from the character's POV: why would a Vulcan do it. Humans cover themselves when nude because they are shy/feel ashamed. But these are emotions which the Vulcans should not have or have them surpressed. Maybe it is cannon somehow, I'm not that much into Star Trek, but it seems strange to me.

I'm not sure if modesty is innately about shame or shyness. Vulcan society is quite heavy on ritual, which presumably helps sustain the suppression of their emotions -- maybe a sense of modesty is part of that. I suppose you could extend this to asking why they would ever wear clothes, except in situations where the temperature demands it. I suppose the simplest answer is that has internalized human norms and is enacting modesty not for her own sake but for Trip's.

Archer was a crappy captain. Getting overly annoyed easily, blowing off crewmembers, snapping at them, getting aggravated easily and showing up senior officers. This guy is a horrible captain.

And what is it with the doctor using the female 1st officer as a tool to give a Male commanding officer a massage?

Sean J Hagins

Ah, a spritely tune is added to the opening music! This is more about my love of insects than anything else, but I still think the Xindi-Insectiods are cool looking! A shame they weren't used more often. One thing though is that I would like to see them exhibit superhuman strength. If a mantid species somehow really was man size, it could leap a multi-storied building, and lift an 18-wheeler!

A solid 4 stars. A little tired of Archer getting captured so often but enjoyed the story nonetheless. Thought the review got too criticising and spent too much time trying to be funny/witty with all due respect to Jammer. The massage scenes I had absolutely no problem with despite being a deliberate push by the writing team, because a) Kirk and Riker were both depicted as horny as hell at times and no eyebrows were raised, and b) Jolene Blaylock looked fantastic!! Sad the review doesn't point out her change from the drab Vulcan colors, the fuller hairstyle, and the subtle embraces of more humanized behaviour. I am enjoying Enterprise tremendously and though I loved the tone of the first 2 seasons, I'm interested to see where this new shift takes us, stern/sullen Archer notwithstanding. On a parting note, all the bitching about implied sex and the tone and pace of the story in the comments seemed to have worked, as Star Trek has now given us (as I write this at the end of 2020) gratuitous, gritty, obscenity-laced and gender-fluid themed Trek series (cause who sleeps with whom is so important to the story, right) like Discovery and to some extent, Picard...series that parents have to now think twice about watching with their kids.

Sorry - solid 3 stars

Frake's Nightmare

Yep, this is definitely the bunch that I'd want the fate of the world to hang on. Hard to imagine anyone better.....oh, I just did. Don't quite know why the army types are using pigeon shit stained camo though?

Regarding Nancy's comment from 2013 about Trip having a "hick accent" which somehow contradicts his being from Florida: I believe Trip said his family hails from the northern part of the state, more specifically the Panama City Beach area. As a Floridian, I can attest his accent is not out of place for the panhandle area. Anyway, watching this again after 18 or so years, I'm going to agree with Jammer's rating. I will say Stephen McHattie gives a great guest performance as the psychopathic foreman; I found myself enthralled by his speaking and inflections. He was the highlight of the episode, in my opinion. As for the T'Pol/Trip final scene...why exactly did she need Trip to practice on her first? I mean. I know they say why in the episode, but I'm talking about in terms of common sense, here. The last time I got a massage, I didn't need to practice on the masseuse first. And if I was reluctant to get one, giving one wouldn't have put me any more at ease.

If memory serves, it was "the network" that pushed for more sexy stuff, not the writers or B&B. I enjoyed this, was very impressed with The MACO and LOVED it when T'Pol shoved it in Malcolm's face and sided with Hayes. Malcolm is such a whiny bioch sometimes. Grow up man. Yes, Archer get's captured once again, but this time it's actually realistic. Better than most of the Klingon stuff IMO. Yes, Trip is "over the top" with anger and wouldn't you be? I didn't have such a hard time as some here with the neuro-pressure sessions. We all know why it's in there, but I trust Phlox's word here. He can't keep pumping Trip full of drugs every time he needs to sleep. "Sexy-but-no-sex" has been in Trek from 1967. It's ALWAYS pushed the envelope for what is allowed on TV... this doesn't bother me. The DECON chamber didn't either. This is better than Dax wanted to marry everyone and leave star fleet on a whim. 3 stars from me "On a parting note, all the bitching about implied sex and the tone and pace of the story in the comments seemed to have worked, as Star Trek has now given us (as I write this at the end of 2020) gratuitous, gritty, obscenity-laced and gender-fluid themed Trek series (cause who sleeps with whom is so important to the story, right) like Discovery and to some extent, Picard...series that parents have to now think twice about watching with their kids." Spot on Ray. Sadly.

"gratuitous, gritty, obscenity-laced and gender-fluid themed Trek series" "Spot on Ray. Sadly." No, not really. While Discovery is somewhat gratuitous and gritty, when is it obscenity- laced? And for anybody who wants to know why gender fluid was included in this sentence. Intolerance. Naming three bad things and then adding gender fluid. Well, hello bigotry.

For me, what it comes down to is whether something is gratuitous or not. So for ENT, these decon chamber scenes ("Broken Bow", "Sleeping Dogs" etc.) are largely gratuitous and therefore detract from the overall viewing experience. TOS/TNG would not have gone there and this is just a trend in television and in Trek over the past few decades. The way the implied sex, innuendos etc. was handled in TOS/TNG was much more dignified than what ENT was -- whether it be B&B's choice or the network's. I would remind that B&B are the writers responsible for most of the worst ENT episodes in S1 & S2. Now we got nu Trek and I agree with Ray that you do have to think twice about watching it with kids -- and I'd argue kids should not watch it. Plenty of gratuitous gender-bending, swearing, nihilism. It's what television is these days. But I'd also add that in rare cases, the gender-bending theme that DSC tries so hard to push can be used in a sensible way to tell a good story -- I keep coming back to "Forget Me Not". What a shame it is that you can't watch the Trek that's produced these days with kids, whereas you used to be able to -- TOS was awesome that way. Now, knowing what the show-runners for nu Trek are like, I'm really thinking "Prodigy" is going to be unsuitable for kids...

"It's what television is these days." I think we will soon see a general shift in themes. People want more positivity. Stuff like Ted Lasso is an early sign. I have pretty high bar for negative news but even I find myself looking more for soothing content were people have hope and avoiding just negativity. Still the NuTrek writing staff will probably not notice this developing trend.

God damn. PROOF READING!

Glad to see Enterprise adopting a story arc, which was badly needed to focus the series. I liked the prison break story as well, which seems to be a recurring theme now. It was this episode where I began to dislike Malcolm due to his unnecessary competition with the marines. Malcolm is a tactical/security officer of a starship, not a special forces operative trained for hostage rescues. Since Starfleet is not a military organization, his primary role is defense and protection. Neither he nor his "security team" (random redshirt of the week) should have left the ship to rescue the captain. They lacked the training and equipment for the job. Furthermore, their primary role is to protect the ship, which was in danger of attack. The marines, in contrast, are the right people for any type of advanced combat operations. They had the weapons and training to get the job done, and Malcolm just seemed to be ineffective and in the way on the rescue mission. The writers created unnecessary conflict here, and expected viewers to side with Malcolm. All it did was turn me against him.

Ray wrote: "On a parting note, all the bitching about implied sex and the tone and pace of the story in the comments seemed to have worked, as Star Trek has now given us (as I write this at the end of 2020) gratuitous, gritty, obscenity-laced and gender-fluid themed Trek series (cause who sleeps with whom is so important to the story, right) like Discovery and to some extent, Picard...series that parents have to now think twice about watching with their kids. " It seems someone fails to understand Star Trek has always been progressive, it's just that progressive has luckily evolved from the 60's to today, because we've gotten a bit closer to a Star Trek society, at least in some ways. Economic inequality both nationally and internationally is still a big issue though. And sexism is less prevalent but certainly still existing, particularly towards nonbinary people as you yourself contribute to the ridicule of. ----- Anyway I like the new variation of the intro theme! Much better! @Booming: It would be refreshing with more positive sci-fi, as Trek has often been, unlike most other sci-fi, and the news of today. Bad news attract more attention, and social media rewards that which gets attention with even more of it. And so there's an overabundance of negative news, which easily makes it seem like we're in a hopeless downward spiral. I think positive visions can literally help us get there.

I found this episode entertaining. It certainly wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination. However, I agree with Jammer's take on the visual effects being superb in this episode. The shoot-out sequence was well handled and I really enjoyed it.

Grim, gritty, violent episode, great stuff! I really enjoyed it. Some great sets, make-up, bad guys, awesome phaser fight! This gives me hope!

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Star Trek: Discovery

Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things alien. Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things alien. Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things alien.

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• Trivia The Starfleet vessels seen in the first season, including the Discovery, the Shenzou and the redesigned Enterprise, were all designed by production artist John Eaves. Eaves' work with Star Trek spans three decades. Probably his most notable contribution was the design of the Enterprise-E for Star Trek: First Contact (1996) .
• Goofs With Michael being the adoptive sister of Spock, the series has many flashbacks to their childhood and upbringing on Vulcan. Spock's Vulcan half-brother, Sybok, does not appear nor is mention during these scenes. In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) , Spock says that he and Sybok grew up together. However, since it's never stated when Sybok joined Sarek's home - only that he did so following his mother's death - or when he was exiled from the family, it's not impossible Sybok moved in after Burnham, and left before she graduated (the two extremes of the flashbacks). Also, since Sybok was never mentioned before Star Trek V, it seems reasonable the family never spoke of him again after his estrangement.
• Alternate versions The serif-font legends and subtitles in the "broadcast" episodes are absent from the DVD versions, where they are replaced with the standard DVD subtitles.
• Connections Featured in MsMojo: Top 10 Female Lead TV Shows You Should Be Watching in 2017 (2017)

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What ultimately happened to the USS Discovery in the 'Star Trek: Discovery' series finale?

Strangely, the Star Trek: Discovery ship's far-future fate was revealed in 2018 'Short Trek' episode 'Calypso'.

What happens to Discovery at the end of season 5?

How is the uss discovery sentient.

• What happens next?
• What is Zora's final mission?

Over five seasons of "Star Trek: Discoverywe got to know Michael Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery, but the show's final scene is reserved for its eponymous starship. In the series finale " Life, Itself ", self-aware computer Zora fires up the spore drive for the final time to embark on one last mission. 

We still have no idea why she's given a top-secret Red Directive to wait indefinitely at these particular coordinates, but a 2018 " Short Trek " episode "Calypso" has already revealed the next stage of her journey. Here's what's in store for Zora and Discovery a millennium down the line — watch out for spoilers. (And if you need a refresher on all things Trek, check out our Star Trek streaming guide for how to watch nearly every series on Paramount Plus .)

Paramount+ Essential (ads): $5.99 /mo Paramount+ with SHOWTIME (no ads): $11.99 /mo

Catch up on the adventures of Michael Burnham and the crew of the Discovery on Paramount+. As the home of Star Trek, signing up means you'll also get access to an enormous library of other Star Trek shows and movies.

Several decades after the Discovery crew tracked down the Progenitor technology — long enough for Admiral Michael Burnham and Cleveland Booker to see their son, Leto, rise to the rank of Starfleet captain — the ship is assigned one final mission.

Burnham arrives on the bridge to give the ship's sentient computer, Zora (voiced by Annabelle Wallis), her briefing. "I'm going to bring you to a set of coordinates in deep space," explains the admiral. "Then me and your crew will leave. After that, you wait."

"For what?" Zora asks, but she doesn't get a definitive answer. 

"This is a Red Directive; we both know how transparent those are," replies Burnham, referring to the beyond-classified instructions that have become the mysterious Dr. Kovich's stock-in-trade. "I did hear a word in passing," the admiral adds. "'Craft'. I'm not sure if that's a person or a vessel or…"

That word will prove to be important, but as Burnham correctly predicts, she'll be long gone when Zora finds out what it means.

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After this emotional farewell, Discovery is waved off by an armada of Starfleet vessels and a few bars of Alexander Courage's iconic " Star Trek " theme. Then, Zora fires up the spore drive and jumps away to her mystery destination. 

Related: Star Trek: Discovery is at an end: Here are 5 things season 5 needed to fix

Starships often come to feel like characters in their own right, but never has this been as true as it is for Discovery.

Zora is much more than some glorified Siri or Alexa substitute, thanks to Discovery's 23rd century computer merging with hundreds of thousands of years of data collected by an ancient alien Sphere. Discovery was protecting this precious information when it jumped forward to 3189. 

The newly created super-computer gradually develops sentience, emotions and a personality, and decides to name herself Zora (which means "dawn" in several Alpha Quadrant languages). She's eventually recognized as a lifeform in her own right, and awarded the rank of Specialist by Starfleet.

What happens next? And what does it have to do with 'craft'?

Not a lot. For around 1,000 years, Zora sits and waits at the designated coordinates, getting some "alone time" inside some kind of interstellar storm cloud. Then she runs into an escape pod with a sole occupant — a man who calls himself Craft. 

This "reluctant" soldier (played by Aldis Hodge) hails from Alcor IV, and has spent the last decade at war with the V'draysh, which — based on comments from criminal boss Zareh in " Discovery" season 3 — appears to be a Pidgin word for the Federation. (This may explain why the enemy vessel Craft has commandeered contains an extensive collection of Earth cartoons from "the long ago".)

During their time together, Zora introduces Craft to tacos, the concept of Tuesday, and her favorite movie, 1957 Audrey Hepburn/Fred Astaire rom-com "Funny Face." She falls in love with the visitor, but he ultimately departs in the hope of finding his wife and son. She refuses to give him a lift home in Discovery, however, reasoning that she has to maintain position to complete her mission.

All this was revealed in 2018 "Short Trek" episode "Calypso", though back then — before season 2 had aired — we had no idea that Discovery would depart for the 32nd century, that the Sphere data would help Discovery's computer evolve into Zora, or that Burnham (then a science officer) would be promoted to captain. These days "Calypso" makes a lot more sense. 

So what exactly is Zora's final mission?

Beyond waiting for a long, long time, that remains unclear. But, seeing as her mission has top secret Red Directive status, it's pretty much certain that Dr Kovich — now revealed to be Temporal Agent Daniels of " Star Trek: Enterprise " fame — has a plan for Zora, and that her bumping into Craft is no accident. 

But whoever she encounters next, it's sure to have major ramifications for the galaxy — and perhaps beyond. Burnham promised a "new beginning" for Zora when she eventually comes back. Who knows what that might mean…

All five seasons of 'Star Trek: Discovery' and the 'Calypso' 'Short Trek' are now available to stream on Paramount Plus. To find out where to stream every other Star Trek movie and show, check out our Star Trek streaming guide .

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Richard's love affair with outer space started when he saw the original "Star Wars" on TV aged four, and he spent much of the ’90s watching "Star Trek”, "Babylon 5” and “The X-Files" with his mum. After studying physics at university, he became a journalist, swapped science fact for science fiction, and hit the jackpot when he joined the team at SFX, the UK's biggest sci-fi and fantasy magazine. He liked it so much he stayed there for 12 years, four of them as editor. 

He's since gone freelance and passes his time writing about "Star Wars", "Star Trek" and superheroes for the likes of SFX, Total Film, TechRadar and GamesRadar+. He has met five Doctors, two Starfleet captains and one Luke Skywalker, and once sat in the cockpit of "Red Dwarf"'s Starbug.  

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Star Trek: Discovery is cracking open a box Next Gen closed on purpose

The USS Discovery is on a mad chase across the galaxy for one of Star Trek’s biggest secrets

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Calling back to a single 30-year-old episode of television is a time-honored Star Trek tradition , one that’s led the franchise to some of its most fascinating detours. And in its two-episode season premiere, Star Trek: Discovery seems to be kicking off an entire season calling back to one particular episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation .

And not just any episode! The 1993 installment of Next Gen in question delivered a revelation so seemingly earth-shaking that it should have rewritten galactic politics on a massive scale. But then, as was the way in the 1990s era of episodic TV, nobody ever mentioned it again.

At least until now.

[ Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5.]

Writer Michelle Paradise and director Olatunde Osunsanmi lay out the connection at the end of the first of two episodes released this week, “Red Directive.” Discovery’s mission is to follow a series of ancient clues leading to a cache of ancient technology, and to get there before a couple of professional thieves, Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis), do.

The technology, as Doctor Kovich (David Cronenberg) explains, belongs to the so-called Progenitors, a barely understood ancient spacefaring species that “created life as we know it […] every humanoid species in the galaxy.” Presumably such tech holds the key to understanding how the Progenitors did that, and how that power could be used again.

The Progenitors are from the Star Trek episode “The Chase”

Kovich also calls up a helpful video presentation of the moment the Progenitors were discovered by an assembled group of Federation, Klingon, Romulan, and Cardassian captains, including Jean-Luc Picard. But you don’t have to be a Star Trek lore nerd to know you’re actually just looking at clips from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation .

Specifically, from the 20th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation ’s sixth season, “The Chase,” in which Picard and crew discover pieces of a computer program hidden inside the DNA of species from dozens of different planets. Questions abound: What does the program do? And what kind of entity could have been so ancient and powerful that it had determined the genetic legacy of most of the known galaxy before sentient life had even evolved here — and then left no trace of its existence except the genetic codes themselves?

In a nutshell, the mysterious death of Captain Picard’s old archeology professor (did you know that if he hadn’t gone into Starfleet, Jean-Luc was studying to be a space archeologist? Well, now you do) sets the captain and the Enterprise on a search for the missing DNA fragments necessary to complete his unfinished work.

The action of the episode becomes a grand chase, as Klingon and Cardassian captains come to believe the program must be a great weapon or dangerous secret. Eventually Picard and his rivals all discover the lonely planet with the final DNA strain — and when they get there, some Romulans who’ve been secretly following all of them show up, too, just to make things even more tense.

In the end, the program isn’t a weapon or a secret, but a message from an ancient race of humanoids that apparently created sentient life in our galaxy as we know it.

Actor Salome Jens appears as a Progenitor hologram, and delivers a speech that’s stirring by any standard of Star Trek monologues, telling the story of a race of sentients that took to the stars and found them empty. They had evolved too early to meet other forms of sentient life, and knew that their time was too limited to ever expect to.

“We knew that one day we would be gone; that nothing of us would survive, so we left you,” Jens’ Progenitor explains. The Progenitors seeded humanoid life across the galaxy in their own image; life that tended to evolve into bipedal, tailless, largely hairless creatures with two eyes and two arms and five fingers on each hand. And they left clues in the genetic signature of their work, broken up among the stars.

Wait, was this really all about lampshading the limits of Star Trek’s alien design?

Kinda, yes! The writers of “The Chase,” Ron Moore and Joe Menosky, were inspired by elements of Carl Sagan’s Contact , but also by Menosky’s pet fascination creating an in-universe explanation for why all the common alien species in Star Trek are basically shaped like humans (albeit with latex on their faces).

In other hands, it would be hokey and trite, but even under heavy makeup, Jens sells the hell out of her single scene on voice and stance alone — it’s no wonder she was asked back to the Trek fold to play a major antagonist role in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

“It was our hope that you would have to come together in fellowship and companionship to hear this message, and if you can see and hear me, our hope has been fulfilled,” the Progenitor hologram concludes, with gentle compassion. “You are a monument, not to our greatness, but to our existence. That was our wish: That you, too, would know life. [...] There is something of us in each of you, and so something of you in each other.”

But though “The Chase” carried a sweeping revelation, nothing ever really panned out from it. You’d think that a message of togetherness that fundamentally rewrote the origin of life in the universe would have to have tweaked Star Trek’s galactic politics a bit, right? Seems like this would give the Star Trek setting a radically different understanding of the origins of life than we have in the real world — this is literally intelligent design! At the very least there’d be some other characters talking about how humans and Vulcans, Klingons and Romulans and Ferengi and Cardassians and Trill and Bajorans, all share the same genetic ancestor.

But nope: The Pandora’s box of Progenitor lore remained closed. Gene Roddenberry’s successor and Trek producer Rick Berman seems to have been disenchanted with the episode’s reveal — and you can’t really blame him for not wanting to rock the whole cosmology of Star Trek in an episode that’s mostly about explaining how if you turn the DNA snippets like this they make a cool spiral. Now look at this computer screen with the spiral :

Except now, Star Trek: Discovery is opening the box and rocking the boat. This new mad, puzzle-box chase around the galaxy promises to expand on the Progenitors, an idea so big that not even The Next Generation was willing to touch it. It’s a tall order, but Discovery has never been more free to shake up Star Trek continuity than it is right now — we’ll have to wait for more episodes of the show’s final season to find out how free it intends to be.

Star Trek: Discovery tore itself apart for the good of Star Trek’s future

Star trek: discovery boldly goes where no trek has gone before by saying religion is... ok, actually, star trek: discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants, loading comments....

Xindi Council

• 1.1 Founding
• 1.2 Conflict with Humanity
• 2 Structure
• 3.1 Appearances
• 3.2 References
• 3.3 Apocrypha
• 3.4 External link

History [ ]

Founding [ ].

The Council's founding was arranged by a race of extra-dimensional beings (later called the Guardians by the Xindi), to unite the five species and help them survive after destruction of Xindus. It was not realized, at the time, that the Guardians sought to use the Xindi as pawns in the Temporal Cold War , aiming to prevent the founding of the United Federation of Planets . ( ENT : " The Council ")

Conflict with Humanity [ ]

In the late 2140s , the Guardians addressed the Council with fabricated evidence that Humans would destroy the new Xindi homeworld in the 26th century , and convinced the Council to authorize the construction of a massive weapon to be used to destroy Earth . ( ENT : " Damage ") The construction of a bio-weapon was also considered, but ultimately abandoned by the Council. ( ENT : " Rajiin ", " Carpenter Street ")

Florida is ravaged by the prototype weapon

In late March or early April 2153 , the prototype weapon conducted a test-firing on Earth, killing seven million Humans in Florida and Venezuela before self-destructing. Although the Xindi had intended their role in the attack to remain anonymous, Humanity was tipped off by the mysterious benefactor of the Suliban Cabal , himself a player in the Temporal Cold War. Starfleet subsequently dispatched the starship Enterprise NX-01 to make contact with the Xindi and end the conflict with whatever force necessary. ( ENT : " The Expanse ")

As the Humans searched for the weapon, the Council was barely able to keep the Reptilians and Insectoids from voting to destroy Enterprise . The patience of the Reptilians was decreased each time a failure occurred in the weapon project. ( ENT : " The Xindi ", " Proving Ground ")

The Council finally broke in February 2154 , when the Arboreals , Primates , and Aquatics voted to delay the launch of the completed weapon, based upon new evidence from Jonathan Archer . The Reptilians and Insectoids walked out of the Council, stealing the weapon on their own and attempting to launch it to Earth. ( ENT : " The Council ") Several deadly battles between the former allies resulted in the confirmation of Archer's story, the destruction of the weapon and nearly all of the Reptilian and Insectoid ships, and the return of the Expanse to normal space following the defeat of the Guardians. The Insectoids eventually joined the Arboreals, Aquatics, and Primates in reconvening the Council, and it was hoped that the Reptilian holdouts would eventually return as well. ( ENT : " Countdown ", " Zero Hour ")

Structure [ ]

The Council consisted of two representatives from each Xindi race. As of early 2154 , the Council representatives from each species were as follows:

• Aquatic: Kiaphet Amman'sor and her assistant
• Arboreal: Jannar and his assistant
• Insectoid: Unidentified councilor and his assistant
• Primate: Degra and his assistant
• Reptilian: Commander Dolim and his assistant

The Council chamber was located in a fortress on a planet colonized by the Avians in the 19th century BC . ( ENT : " The Council ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Xindi "
• " Proving Ground "
• " Azati Prime "
• " The Council "
• " Countdown "
• " Zero Hour "

References [ ]

• " The Forgotten "

Apocrypha [ ]

According to the reference book Federation: The First 150 Years , the Council had joined the Federation by 2311 .

Cryptic Studios ' Star Trek Online development blog states that, though they were members of the Federation by 2410 , they had remained isolated within the former Delphic Expanse for centuries. They emerged from hiding in that year to help the other major governments of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants battle the Iconians .

External link [ ]

• Xindi Council at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Jamaharon

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Published Jun 7, 2024

WARP FIVE: Michelle Paradise Details Star Trek: Discovery's Epic Conclusion

The executive producer and co-showrunner sheds light on the biggest reveals from the series finale and more!

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains story details and plot points for the fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Getty Images / StarTrek.com

Welcome to Warp Five, StarTrek.com's five question post-mortem with your favorite featured talent from the latest Star Trek episodes.

With the release of " Life, Itself ," Star Trek: Discovery conclude its five season run, which saw the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery jumping from the 23rd Century to the 32nd Century across 65 episodes.

In the series finale, Michael Burnham and her crew learn the true nature of the Progenitors' technology, the infinite diversity in infinite combinations of life itself, and the strength and connection they all possess within themselves. We all discovered Kovich's real identity , saw Saru and T'Rina love of each other culminate with a beautiful ceremony, and a glimpse to Burnham and Book's future .

Ahead of the epic conclusion, StarTrek.com had the opportunity to sit down with executive producer and co-showrunner Michelle Paradise on the series' conclusion, some of the finale's Easter eggs, what Discovery means to her, and more!

The Conclusion of Discovery

"Life, Itself"

StarTrek.com

Written by Kyle Jarrow and Michelle Paradise, "Life, Itself" had to not only wrap up the Red Directive mission , but the entire series and our ensemble cast's individual character arcs, within its 80+ minute runtime.

"It was a lot," states Paradise. "We didn't know, of course, going into the writing of the finale that it would be our series finale. Originally, we just had the season finale. Then, it was nearly a year later when we found out. We were [in the middle of] editing, and we found out it would be the series finale. Kyle was awesome and he came back for that, and we worked with Alex [Kurtzman] on it."

"It was just really important to us that we wrap everything up in a way that would not only address the plot things hanging out like 'Calypso,' for people who had watched the Short Trek , but also that it be satisfying for people who hadn't. And most importantly that we wrap up the character arcs and the emotions and give the audience an emotional experience that would feel satisfying. So that piece of it, we definitely felt the weight of that and hopefully we did all right with it."

And for the reveal of the Progenitors' gift to Burnham with the ability to create life, Paradise says, "Getting to answer that, and Burnham's decision on what to do with that technology, the choice that she made felt like the only thing really we could do. It was a really cool moment."

'Calypso' Callback

Before the coda, Star Trek: Discovery had hinted at the Star Trek: Short Treks ' " Calypso " earlier in the season with " Face the Strange " in one of the time loops.

"We definitely wanted to make sure that we tied up that loose thread," explains Paradise. "The short had U.S.S. Discovery NCC-1031, not 1031-A, out there in the future for Craft. It felt very important that once we knew that we were wrapping up the series as a whole that we address how Discovery got out there. Then once we knew that, there were other things that we needed to accomplish emotionally in that Coda piece. How can we tie up that loose end in the most efficient way possible? So bringing back the idea of a Red Directive felt like - Red Directive is now shorthand for important mission - so go do it. It felt like we could bring that back in and help use that to explain it."

Demystifying Kovich

In "Life, Itself," Burnham closes out the Red Directive mission with Kovich in his office. While admiring the meaningful relics adorning his shelves, the captain deduces 'Kovich' is his codename. He explains that his real name is its own Red Directive, before introducing himself as " Agent Daniels, U.S.S. Enterprise " to her.

"From the moment David [Cronenberg] joined as Kovich, we have all found ourselves leaning into the moment he's on-screen," Paradise reveals. "Anytime he's on-screen, the way he plays that character, we want to know more about this guy. So we knew very early, immediately, that we were going to need to eventually answer that question."

"We didn't have the answer to that question for ourselves right away," admits Paradise. "It might have been last season that we came up with that. And so this season, we have some Easter eggs along the way. He's writing on paper and it was really fun to get to do that."

Another one of Paradise's favorite Easter egg the creative team got to include was Geordi La Forge's VISOR behind Kovich on his shelf.

The U.S.S. Discovery Crew's Growth

Behind-the-Scenes of "Life, Itself"

In a rapid-fire lightning round, Paradise explains the conclusion of several Discovery 's crewmembers' arcs.

On the Kellerun first officer Rayner, Paradise shares, "Callum [Keith Rennie] is an incredible actor and just an awesome human force of nature. To watch him go from being taken down some notches in the very beginning of the season to finally sitting in that captain's chair and feeling like he belongs there again was, to me, just felt like a really powerful arc for him."

Paradise finds Dr. Hugh Culber's newfound spirituality and acceptance that he can't know everything "really human and really love." " Trek is science and mission," explains Paradise. "We're supposed to get answers, and this season has been a lot about meaning. It's got those life questions that come along with it, about where we come from. And the truth is that there are always questions that will not have answers that we can grasp at least now. To have a character, especially Culber, be able to articulate that and not just accept it, but embrace it. It's felt like something I think we're working on in ourselves."

Pivoting to Adira, Paradise says, "Adira is the quintessential ensign who comes in and has to find their place, find their voice, and feel comfortable, not only in themselves, but on the Bridge and in this world with the crew. I love the way Blu [del Barrio] has played that character throughout. And getting to watch Blu, the person, grow along with Adira, the character , and then watch Adira embrace who they are are and all the things they can do really feels like, by the end of this season/series, that they can step forward and say, 'I want to go on that mission. I'm qualified to go on that mission. I'm the best choice for that mission.' I found it inspiring and awesome, and I love the way Blu played that."

Book and Burnham's Happy Ending

At the conclusion of "Life, Itself," during Saru and T'Rina's wedding celebration, Cleveland "Book" Booker tells Michael Burnham how much clarity and renewed the Red Directive mission provided him. With his sentence commuted, he has a whole future ahead of him. At peace, they both proclaim they've never stopped loving each other. Following that, in an indeterminate time in the future, the coda shows us an older Burnham and Book enjoying a blissful life on Sanctuary Four before their son drops by with an expected visit to accompany his mom, Admiral Burnham, on her final journey with the U.S.S. Discovery .

Providing insight, "We knew going into the end of this season, we had wanted it to be a happy ending," offers Paradise. "And we wanted to bring them back together. That was the goal. So we knew at the beginning of the season, we wanted them to be as far apart as possible so that we could watch that over the course of the season."

"Then, once we found out that this would be our final season, we wanted to make sure that they had a happy ending in their [future] lives and that we got to jump forward and see that," Paradise adds. "It was really lovely getting to see them both in the aged makeup, seeming older, and giving their son the name Leto after his brother's son. It felt all very emotional."

What Discovery Means to Paradise

Closing out the discussion, Paradise reflects, "It's been the most rewarding professional experience I've had, and it has changed me so many ways, professionally and personally. How just the things that I've learned, the impact that our stories have had, just the ability to do this and to go to work every day with such incredible people, I don't even know where to begin with, how appreciative I am and how just how much I've loved it."

"I don't know that I could really put it into words," concludes Paradise. "It's been such a huge part of my life for the past 5+ years. Getting to work on this show and tell these stories and working with the people I've gotten to work with has truly been a dream. It's some of the best people you could ever hope to meet across the board. They're so talented and kind and collaborative, and a show of this size is so complex and logistically challenging. And we all came together as a team and a family unit, if you will, to make it, I think has mirrored so much of what you see on-screen as well. And it's been just truly a privilege to be part of it. I'm going to miss it. I'm going to miss it a lot."

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Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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