"Exile"

Written by Phyllis Strong
Directed by Roxann Dawson


In which Hoshi is contacted by a lonely telepathic alien who seeks a companion in exchange for information on the Xindi, while Enterprise makes a critical discovery regarding the Expanse...

Synopsis - Analysis - Memorable Quotes - Observations


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Synopsis

As the episode begins, Hoshi is cleaning up in her quarters. She hears a voice, but no one is there. As the voice continues to call out to her, she sees a figure in the shadows. She calls security, but when she looks back, the figure is gone.

Meanwhile, Archer meets T’Pol down in the command center. T’Pol shows him a map of the anomalies that Enterprise has encountered, as well as the anomalies encountered by the Xindi vessel from which the database was taken. Based on her calculations, T’Pol determines that there must be a second sphere (like the one in “Anomaly”) interacting with the distortions emanating from the first sphere. Where the distortion waves intersect, anomalies occur. Archer orders T’Pol to set a course.

Reed checks for any intruders, but nothing can be found. Hoshi is annoyed that nothing has been found. Phlox gives her a checkup, but again, nothing can be found. Hoshi explains that she’s been hearing whispers and feeling like someone is watching her.

As Hoshi works on the Xindi database, she begins hearing the voices again, so she calls for security. Suddenly, the screens begin showing a planet, and a figure steps into view. The figure explains that he is on the planet, and then the screens all begin showing Hoshi’s face. The figure explains that he can help her find what she’s looking for. Suddenly, she hallucinates being in a gothic-style hallway, where she runs into a strange man. She runs for the nearest doors, and when she opens them, she sees a bitterly cold landscape.

The hallucination ends as Reed touches her shoulder. Hoshi explains what has happened to Archer, who asks that she be placed under observation. As Hoshi starts explaining her experiences to Phlox, she suddenly realizes that something about sickbay is wrong. Phlox appears before her, and says that he’s been in contact with her for days. Once again, she sees the figure in a secluded garden. The figure asks to see her, so they can talk about her mission.

Archer agrees to take Hoshi to the planet, when she explains the offer. Archer and Reed come along for the trip to the planet. When they land at the castle, built into a mountain, it looks exactly as Hoshi remembered from her hallucinations. However, when the now-familiar figure steps into view, he appears quite alien. He introduces himself as Tarquin, and admits that he was creating a human image when contacting Hoshi for her benefit.

He explains that he will need an object associated with the Xindi to detect and extract information about their secret weapon. Reed observes that Tarquin appears to be alone on the planet; Tarquin admits that he has been on his own for quite a long time. In return for his help, Tarquin insists that Hoshi remain on the planet with him. Hoshi convinces Archer that she doesn’t see Tarquin as a threat, and that the risk is worth the benefit.

Once Archer and Reed leave the planet, Tarquin provides Hoshi with a full meal of her favorite foods from Earth, all extracted from her memories. When Hoshi asks, Tarquin explains that his people exiled him because of his telepathy; he was considered to be a threat. Tarquin observes that Hoshi’s isolated childhood ought to provide common perspective.

As Hoshi prepares for bed, Tarquin warns her not to go outside, since the winds can be treacherous. He gives her a book written in a dead language, knowing that her love of languages should allow her to appreciate learning about a culture wiped out nearly 1000 years earlier.

Meanwhile, on Enterprise, the ship begins to experience strong anomalies as it gets closer to the second sphere. The anomalies cause massive damage, disrupting major systems and rending gaping holes in the saucer section. Archer orders Enterprise to stop well short of the sphere, and orders Trip to insulate one of the shuttlepods with Trellium-D.

Back on the planet, Hoshi sees Tarquin using a strange crystal while working with the Xindi artifact from Enterprise. He senses her presence, and invites her to watch. Tarquin explains that he still hasn’t detected any information about the Xindi weapon. He offers to let Hoshi experiment with his crystal, which he tells her is used to amplify telepathic abilities. Hoshi is able to tap into images of Enterprise’s journey, mostly violent.

Hoshi wanders through the castle, finding a garden. She looks out a window, and sees four grave markers. Tarquin finds her outside, and angrily explains that the buried dead were his companions. All of them were women with unique minds like Hoshi, who he had been able to contact. Tarquin pleads with Hoshi to remain with him, despite her mission with Enterprise. Hoshi, of course, makes it clear that she has no intention of staying. Tarquin reminds Hoshi that she has always felt apart from the rest of the crew, questioning her role and place on Enterprise. He promises to show her how to expand and use her latent abilities. She still refuses, but even as she makes herself clear, Tarquin persists.

Archer and Trip take the insulated shuttle through the cloaking barrier for the sphere, incurring some damage along the way. Still, they survive, though the pod needs repairs. Archer lands the shuttle on the sphere so that Trip can make the repairs while Archer scans the internals of the sphere. After a slight problem with the repairs, Archer and Trip return with the necessary information about the second sphere.

Tarquin informs Hoshi that Enterprise is returning shortly, and that he has gathered a great deal of information about the Xindi weapon. Hoshi reiterates that she will not stay. Tarquin understands, and tells Hoshi to keep the book that he gave her. However, when Archer arrives, he tells Hoshi that Tarquin has offered to provide ongoing information about the Xindi if Hoshi remains. When Archer becomes insistent, Hoshi realizes that it’s Tarquin, trying to trick her into remaining on the planet.

When Enterprise does arrive, the main systems and power suddenly go offline. Hoshi confronts Tarquin about his trickery. In response, Tarquin informs Hoshi that Enterprise has returned, but the ship has been rendered inoperative. Unless Hoshi agrees to remain, Tarquin will let the crew die. Knowing how important it is to Tarquin’s abilities, Hoshi threatens to destroy the focusing crystal if he doesn’t let her go. Not wanting to risk being alone for the rest of his life without the crystal, Tarquin relents.

Hoshi returns to Enterprise, but without the information that Tarquin promised. The results of Archer’s trip to the second sphere is more enlightening: there are errors in the intersections of distortion waves that can only be explained by at least 50 spheres. Archer realizes that the Expanse might have been intentionally created by someone.

Tarquin visits Hoshi in her quarters, and surprises her by revealing what he was able to extract from the Xindi artifact. Hoshi goes directly to Archer, and tells her about the visit. She shows her coordinates that Tarquin provided...coordinates for a Xindi colony where part of the particle super-weapon is being constructed.


Analysis

There’s a certain irony to this episode, beyond the mixture of cliché and oddly effective plot arcs. It lies within the very structure and conception of the episode, in light of some of the comments by Berman and Braga over the past few years. Both executive producers have admitted a lack of knowledge regarding the original series, which was apparent during the “Voyager” years and the second season of “Enterprise”.

Imagine the shock, then, of seeing a distinctly “original series” concept at the center of this episode. Hoshi’s incredibly predictable and almost intentionally clichéd struggle with Tarquin could have easily been a re-work of a third season episode of the original series. That’s not necessarily a good thing, but at the same time, it lends a certain air of respectability to the entire effort.

Classic Trek has always been about character rising above the inherent silliness of a plot. Kirk and Spock retain a certain level of dignity during the terrible “Omega Glory”, and even “The Road to Eden” has its moments. To cite a more recent example of the perfect Classic Trek charm, one can point to “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier”. The plot is ludicrous, the dialogue is horrible…and yet, the film captures character in subtle ways that are timeless.

In what almost appears to be an homage to that film, this episode blends an exploration of Hoshi’s character with higher concept plot arc elements and one truly bizarre attempt at comedy. If the exploration of Hoshi’s character seems to be lightweight, it’s not an error on the part of the episode’s author. Like the rest of the characters, with the possible exception of Phlox, the producers never took the time to actually work out character arcs or a sufficient level of background.

As a result, there’s none of the inherent thrill of seeing the iconic Kirk run into an immortal or some glowing ball o’ sentience. The audience doesn’t know Hoshi as well as they could understand Kirk. After all, Kirk was the embodiment of the swaggering naval commander of old, played with the unparalleled bluster of William Shatner. Linda Park is a good actress, but her portrayal of Hoshi doesn’t rise to the level of cultural icon.

Part of the problem is the ability of a normal audience to understand and relate to her character. This episode makes it very plain that Hoshi is not a normal human being. As such, it is hard to completely understand her thought process. How many people can relate to being isolated as a child, developed like a resource? It’s like trying to relate to Olympic gymnasts and figure skaters, or any other child prodigy. Most of the population can’t understand the loneliness of having what amounts to a superhuman talent.

On the other hand, this episode indirectly addresses Hoshi’s nature, and in the process, actually picks up one of the forgotten continuity threads of the Trek franchise. Ever since the early days of Trek, human telepaths have been more or less a rarity. But the original pilot for the original series made it clear that there were humans with latent telepathic abilities.

This episode suggests that Hoshi is one of those humans, and this indirectly explains her ability with languages. Granted, her ability goes far beyond unconsciously reading the surface context of an alien’s spoken words, since she can read and understand languages that aren’t spoken. But telepathy could simply be the more obvious facet of a much more considerable ability.

At least part of the answer is contained in this episode. Tarquin appears to have the ability to detect and draw forth embedded memories from objects, left by those who touched and interacted with that object. While this sounds ludicrous, there is actually legitimate scientific inquiry into the possibility that memory is retained within subatomic energy states, and that widens the scope of genetic and inanimate memory.

The fact that Tarquin can only communicate with certain individuals with a compatible psychic gift, for lack of a more convenient label, suggests that Hoshi’s abilities are very similar to Tarquin’s abilities. As seen in the episode, Tarquin has a certain amount of telekinetic ability as well, which would be a logical extension of the ability to detect and extract embedded information from objects.

Hoshi’s latent abilities are an extension of her own willpower, so when she’s applying her attention and will towards deciphering a language, there’s the inevitable application of her abilities as well. It wouldn’t matter, then, how the language was expressed; the key is how much of the unspoken information is available. As such, transmissions are more difficult for Hoshi than the written word or direct communication. Hoshi’s ability to quickly read through the mysterious book that Tarquin gives her speaks to the fact that Hoshi is gaining the necessary context from the book itself, unconsciously.

Unfortunately, the entire Tarquin plot plays like one of those original series episodes. The plot is so obviously “inspired” by the “beauty and the beast” concept that it’s almost ridiculous. One can tell from the very beginning what Tarquin intends, and the only thing that’s shocking about the entire exercise is the hint that it will pertain strongly to the season arc.

Once again, it’s clear that someone was paying attention to all those comparisons to “Babylon 5” and “Farscape”. This episode could have been a classic example of “Babylon 5”-style continuity, where an apparent homage to a classic theme results in a critical piece of information or revelation about a character. In this case, Tarquin’s unrequited desire for companionship results in information about the location of part of the Xindi super-weapon. To say that this revelation is unexpected is an understatement; it literally saves the Hoshi/Tarquin plot from being a total waste of time.

Equally, the episode manages to spin out more pieces of the puzzle. Despite the completely illogical events that take place when Archer and Trip explore the second sphere, the simple revelation that there is a network of spheres reveals just how much thought went into the arc. If this were another series, such a concept might be pedestrian. For Trek, this is a major step in the right direction.

A picture is forming, and the mystery of the Xindi is deepening. As predicted after “Anomaly”, the existence of the spheres provides a logical explanation for the lack of reference to the Expanse in previous incarnations of the franchise: the spatial anomalies are artificial, and therefore will either be mapped or eliminated in due time.

However, it’s not clear why the Expanse would have been created. Could the Xindi have created the spheres, in order to hide their survival following the destruction of their homeworld? If that were true, then the Xindi would have required access to technology far beyond their own, and this once again suggests a connection to the Temporal Cold War.

If the Xindi created the network, then this would also explain how they could find a way out of the Expanse to unleash their weapons on Earth. Without the impetus to find the Xindi, it’s unlikely that any other vessels would have found a way to leave the Expanse, let alone survive it. One also wonders if the location of the Expanse covers such a large volume of space that the elimination of the sphere network would open territory and commerce in the quadrant in ways that vastly impact interstellar politics. This could lead to immediate attempts at empire expansion (the Romulan Wars) and increased diplomatic ties (Federation).

Whatever the case, the mystery of the Expanse is now firmly established, with the odd physics of that region of space given a reasonable basis. Since the spheres would have required a long period of time to be built and activated, the temporal interference likely began far in the past. Hoshi’s acquisition of the book from Tarquin is likely to provide clues to the resolution of several mysteries, which again is very similar to the Book of G’Quan element of “Babylon 5”.

This episode establishes a clear pattern for the early episodes of this season. The episodes themselves are not the most inspired examples of televised drama, yet it’s clear that these apparently pedestrian events are all going to factor into the overall season arc. For once, there is a sense that events have an ongoing relevance and consequence, even if those consequences aren’t as deeply explored as one might have hoped. However, the difference is clear. The same episodes, written as they would have been during the second season, would have killed the series. By adding a sense of scope to the episodes, with hints to future plot exploration along the way, there is now a reason to actually pay attention.


Memorable Quotes

Hey, look, another episode with dialogue that is little more than serviceable...even Trip was behaving himself...


Observations

- I think it’s a little cold in Hoshi’s quarters, by the looks of things...

- What an interesting facet to Denobulan society!

- Nice of all those screens to display how gorgeous Hoshi can be...

- At least Hoshi was smart enough to get freaked out by the possibility that Tarquin was constantly reading her mind!

- Too bad there wasn’t a member of the crew on that ladder...it might have been more impressive a warning...

- And once again, there’s massive damage to the saucer with not one lost member of the crew!

- Nice of Archer to suggest that T’Pol avoid the shuttle bay after Trip gets the place messy with the Vulcan Mind-Frell insulation...

- Then again, wouldn’t she pretty much know better? She heard him give the order, after all!

- Nice of Hoshi to dress good and sexy (yet understated!) for the lonely alien...

- So Tarquin basically uses a crystal ball to amplify his powers?

- Apparently Hoshi’s telepathic ability connected her with the minds of the CGI effects department...

- Also, apparently the icy planet wasn’t as cold as her quarters!

- The scene of the shuttle falling back to the sphere, defying physics, was easily one of the most inexplicable moments of the season, if not the series...completely worthless...

- Hoshi in that pink dress and her hair down...wow!

- The revelation about the spheres is one of the best plot twists of the season...pure science fiction in the Trek tradition...

Overall, this episode is yet another example of a strong plot arc keeping an episode from being crushed by the weight of its own mediocrity. This is another episode featuring Hoshi that just doesn’t seem to come together well, no matter how hard Linda Park tries. If Berman and Braga thought that the series could survive without adding plot arc elements, this season thus far has only managed to prove the fans’ opinion that those elements were necessary.

I give it a 7/10.


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