"Babel One" is the twelfth episode of the
fourth season of the American
science fiction television
Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary ...
series ''
Star Trek: Enterprise
''Star Trek: Enterprise'', titled simply ''Enterprise'' for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on Uni ...
'', and originally aired on January 28, 2005. The episode was written by
Mike Sussman and
André Bormanis
Andre Bormanis (born February 13, 1959) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and author of the book ''Star Trek: Science Logs''. Bormanis is most notable for his involvement in the long-running ''Star Trek'' franchise, and was the scie ...
, and directed by
David Straiton
David Straiton is a Canadian television director.
Career
His directorial debut was a special of the Nickelodeon series '' Weinerville''. Some of his other television credits include: ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'', '' Dark Angel'', '' Fastlan ...
. "Babel One" was the first of a three-part story which continued in the episodes "
United
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
" and "
The Aenar". The arc was intended to precede the Romulan War which had been mentioned in previously aired episodes of the franchise, while "Babel One" was a reference to the ''
Star Trek: The Original Series
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...
'' episode "
Journey to Babel
"Journey to Babel" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on November 17, 1967.
In the episode, '' ...
".
Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first
Starfleet
Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
starship ''
Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterpris ...
'', registration NX-01. In this episode, ''Enterprise'' is ferrying a
Tellarite Ambassador, when they respond to distress calls from
Andorian
Andorians are a fictional race of humanoid extraterrestrials in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were created by writer D. C. Fontana. Within the ''Star Trek'' narrative, they are native to the blue icy Class M moon, ...
vessel under attack. Pursuing the mysterious attacking vessel, they begin to uncover a plot to derail cooperative relations between the Tellarites, Andorians and Humans.
The guest cast included several actors who had previously appeared in the franchise, including
Lee Arenberg
Lee Arenberg (born July 18, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Pintel, one of Captain Barbossa's crew, in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean film series''. He also had a recurring role as the dwarf Grumpy in the television ...
,
Brian Thompson
Brian Earl Thompson (born August 28, 1959) is an American actor. His career began with a small role in the 1984 film ''The Terminator''. He played the villainous "Night Slasher" in the 1986 film '' Cobra''. His first named role was on ''Werew ...
and
Jeffrey Combs
Jeffrey Alan Combs (born September 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for starring in horror films, such as ''Re-Animator'', and appearances playing a number of characters in the ''Star Trek'' and the DC animated universe television fr ...
. It also featured Molly Brink for the second time as Lieutenant Talas. The episode required extensive make-up for the guest cast, with Brink undergoing more than four and a half hours of work prior to filming for her first day on set as she had to be painted blue head to toe in addition to the normal prosthetics. Reviewers were positive of the episode, calling it an improvement on the previous week's "
Observer Effect", and praised the ending. Although
Nielsen ratings of 1.7/3 percent showed an improvement over the previous episode, the number of actual viewers was the lowest yet for the series with 2.53 million watching the episode on the first broadcast.
Plot
It is November 2154, and Captain
Archer
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
and Ensign
Sato spend time preparing for the arrival of Ambassador Gral and the
Tellarite delegation, by practicing being blunt, complaining, and arguing. En route to the trade summit on "Babel One", they detect a distress call from the
Andorian
Andorians are a fictional race of humanoid extraterrestrials in the American science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. They were created by writer D. C. Fontana. Within the ''Star Trek'' narrative, they are native to the blue icy Class M moon, ...
warship, ''Kumari'', now under attack. ''
Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterpris ...
'' alters its course to assist, and arrives to find Commander
Shran
This is a list of recurring characters from the live-action science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', which originally aired on UPN between 2001 and 2005. The television show takes place in the 22nd century of the ''Star Tre ...
, Lieutenant
Talas, and 17 other survivors in escape-pods. Archer goes to meet him in Sickbay, and an angry Shran claims that both the Andorian Ambassador's and his ship were attacked and destroyed by a powerful Tellarite vessel.
Scans of the debris indicate Tellarite weapon signatures, and recovered sensor data shows a Tellarite vessel firing. With both delegations on board, and accusations of duplicity rising between the groups, Archer considers taking the Andorians to their homeworld. At full warp, ''Enterprise'' is suddenly attacked by an Andorian ship. When attempts at communicating fail, Archer demands that Shran intervene — he complies by explaining how to knock out its shields — but the attempt is ineffective. ''Enterprise'' is spared only when the attacking ship has to retreat because of a fluctuating power grid. T'Pol then notices that the "Andorian" and "Tellarite" ships have the same energy signature. The alien vessel is then tracked, and it appears to be capable of holographically disguising itself. Shran is unconvinced, and using Talas as a distraction, manages to escape and capture Gral, before order is restored. However, when Archer convinces Shran to examine the evidence, a member of the Tellarite delegation is able to wrest a weapon from Talas, and shoots her.
Meanwhile, Commander
Tucker, Lieutenant
Malcolm Reed and two MACOs beam aboard the ship, only to find it deserted and without life support. Although the MACOs are beamed back, the transporter is damaged before Tucker and Reed can be rescued. They are able to locate an oxygen supply within the ship's systems, but become stranded when the vessel warps away, and make their way to an empty bridge. On
Romulus, it is revealed that the ship is actually a drone, controlled by a pilot under the command of Romulan Admiral Valdore, supported by a scientist called Nijil, in an attempt to prevent a regional détente.
Production
The episode was written by
Mike Sussman and
André Bormanis
Andre Bormanis (born February 13, 1959) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and author of the book ''Star Trek: Science Logs''. Bormanis is most notable for his involvement in the long-running ''Star Trek'' franchise, and was the scie ...
. The duo had previously collaborated on several episodes, the most recent of which season three's "
Hatchery
A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled cond ...
". Meanwhile, they had written episodes individually, with Sussman writing three episodes so far during season four and Bormanis penning "
Awakening". "Babel One" was directed by
David Straiton
David Straiton is a Canadian television director.
Career
His directorial debut was a special of the Nickelodeon series '' Weinerville''. Some of his other television credits include: ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'', '' Dark Angel'', '' Fastlan ...
, his third in season four after the second part of "
Storm Front" as well as the stand-alone episode "
Daedalus
In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, a ...
".
Filming began on November 2, 2004 and lasted until November 10. The first scene filmed was on the Andorian bridge, which had been used in previous episodes but was made to look battle damaged for this episode. Other sets used included the standing sets to represent the ''Enterprise'', as well as new sets showing the interior of the Romulan vessel. The title of the episode was an intentional reference to the ''
Star Trek: The Original Series
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...
'' episode "
Journey to Babel
"Journey to Babel" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on November 17, 1967.
In the episode, '' ...
". The three part story was intended to represent a precursor to the Romulan Wars which had been referenced in "
Balance of Terror" and "
The Defector".
[
]
Casting and make-up
The guest cast included a number of ''Star Trek'' alumni. Jeffrey Combs returned to his recurring role of Shran, for his second appearance during season four. Joining him as a returning Andorian was Molly Brink, who had previously appeared as Talas in the episode "Proving Ground
A proving ground (US) is an installation or reservation in which technology such as weapons, military tactics and automobile prototypes are experimented with or tested. Proving grounds can be operated by government bodies or civilian industries. ...
". Brian Thompson
Brian Earl Thompson (born August 28, 1959) is an American actor. His career began with a small role in the 1984 film ''The Terminator''. He played the villainous "Night Slasher" in the 1986 film '' Cobra''. His first named role was on ''Werew ...
played the Romulan Valdore, having previously appeared in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' as well as the film ''Star Trek Generations
''Star Trek Generations'' is a 1994 American science fiction film and the seventh film in the Star Trek (film series), ''Star Trek'' film series. Malcolm McDowell joins cast members from the 1960s television show ''Star Trek: The Original Ser ...
''. Another ''Deep Space Nine'' actor who portrayed a new character in this episode was Lee Arenberg
Lee Arenberg (born July 18, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Pintel, one of Captain Barbossa's crew, in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean film series''. He also had a recurring role as the dwarf Grumpy in the television ...
. He had previously appeared in a variety of roles across the franchise,[ three times as a Ferengi in ''The Next Generation'' and ''Deep Space Nine'' (including one, coincidentally also named Gral, no relation to the Tellarite Gral he plays here). He also appeared as a Malon, Pelk, in the '' Star Trek: Voyager'' episode " Juggernaut".][
The guest cast required a variety of levels of make-up to portray their alien characters. Combs' make-up took around three and a half hours each day, as did the Tellarite prosthetics. The Andorian female cast members took around four and a half hour each day to get into make-up and costume, but on the first day Brink required further make-up time as that day's shoot required her to appear in-character in her underwear. This meant that after the normal make-up schedule, she was sprayed blue from head to toe. At the end of that day's filming, the shower facilities at the studio's executive gym were used to remove the paint. Meanwhile, the Romulan make-up took three hours to apply, with all the relevant scenes completed in a single day.]
Reception
"Babel One" was first aired in the United States on UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
on January 28, 2005. The episode received a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 1.7/3 percent. This means that it was seen by 1.7 percent of all households, and 3 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. This was an increase in ratings compared to the previous week's episode, but saw a lower overall number of viewers. "Babel One" was watched by 2.53 million viewers, the lowest overall number of viewers to date for a first run episode of ''Enterprise''.
Michelle Erica Green in her review for TrekNation
TrekNation is a reference and community website for the ''Star Trek'' franchise. It also serves as a hub for its network websites: TrekToday, a news site updated nearly daily; The Trek BBS, which describes itself as the largest ''Star Trek'' ...
enjoyed the interaction between Shran and Graal, and thought it was an improvement over the previous week's " Observer Effect". She also compared it to ''The Original Series'' episode "Journey to Babel
"Journey to Babel" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on November 17, 1967.
In the episode, '' ...
", which she watched immediately prior to the ''Enterprise'' episode. She said that "On the surface "Babel One" has a very similar plot, yet it plays out like an original take on the situation rather than a retread." Jamahl Epsicokhan at his website Jammer's Reviews thought that the majority of the episode was "passable" but ultimately ended on a "good note" due to the twist in the ending.[ However, he criticised the promotional campaign by UPN, as he felt that the trailer for the episode had the "unfortunate effect of making the first 30 minutes of the plot extremely obvious to us, forcing us to watch in frustration while the characters put the pieces together". He gave the episode a rating of three out of four.]
Home media
The first home media release of the episode was on DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
; having been released as part of the season four box set on November 1, 2005 in the United States. The Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
edition was released on April 1, 2014.
References
External links
*
{{Star Trek Romulan stories
Star Trek: Enterprise (season 4) episodes
2005 American television episodes
Television episodes directed by David Straiton