'The Shipment' Delivers Praise From Critics

See Also: 'The Shipment' Episode Guide

Reviews for last Wednesday night's Enterprise episode, "The Shipment", were nearly unanimous in praising the complex Xindi-sloth and the performance of John Cothran as Gralik.

• At Trek5.com, Matt D. rated the episode Warp Three out of Five, calling Gralik "a very skilled and entertaining character" as acted by Cothran, who was "able to take a relatively forgettable TNG style of 'maverick white hat alien' and imbue that character with some unforgettable scenes." The full review of is available here. But the bigger news at Trek5 is that the site will no longer review Star Trek: Enterprise. "Truth be told, this series has never reflected Star Trek's values," wrote Matt D., who is also a site editor. "It cast as its heroes a group of xenophobic, short-fused, close-minded men." Stating that he did not wish to cast blame for "how the Trek franchise could become so unrecognizable", Matt added, "I hope the show improves. That's because I love Star Trek. I mean, I LOVE Star Trek."

• Michael Marek of The Great Link gave "The Shipment" a four out of five rating, the highest given any episode this season. He called it a "well-written episode that has no major flaws and several positive elements", praising Gralik's Scotty-like temper tantrum and the triumph of the humanistic Archer over the "edgier" captain of the Xindi arc. "I have come to the inescapable conclusion that the reason I like it is that it deviates from the qualities that make a "good" episode for the target demographic Paramount has chosen for Enterprise", he added, noting that "The Shipment" feels like a Next Generation episode and praising the character development. The full review may be found at The Great Link.

• "If 'Extinction' was the first episode of the season that actually felt like an episode of Star Trek, than 'The Shipment' was the first episode of the season primarily concerned with the Xindi story arc that actually felt like an episode of Star Trek," wrote Mike Dunham of Section 31. "There was no torture...no cheesy lines about doing “whatever is necessary” that are always more effective when left unspoken (something these writers often forget). There was no temper tantrum from Archer...he actually acted like a Starfleet Captain." Though Reed and Hayes made him cringe, he liked the Tucker storyline and gave the episode overall a B+. The full review is at Section 31.

• At Xenoclone's 'Enterprise' Power Rankings, Chris said that "Overall, 'The Shipment' is a fun episode with some goofy flaws, much like this writing pair's other episode, 'Rajiin.'" Like most reviewers he praised the performance of the guest star and the visual design of the episode, nitpicking the Xindi failure to notice non-Xindi signatures on the planet before landing and commenting that Hoshi is the universe's first Betazoid. Read the full review here.

• TrekWeb's O. Deus said that "The Shipment" delivered the goods, stating that the episode "finally kicks the Xindi arc into high gear and gives us a look at what Enterprise's third season might have been like without a lot of the interruptions." He too praised Cothran's performance and the way Dr. Phlox was worked into a storyline not primarily medical in nature. To read the entire review, in which most of the complaints centered on the unnecessary use of MACO officer Hayes, visit TrekWeb.

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