Online Critics Praise 'Breaking the Ice'

See Also: 'Breaking the Ice' Episode Guide

After the varied reaction to last week's episode, the response to 'Breaking the Ice' has been mostly favourable so far.

Character development and understanding about the Vulcans have been cited as major plus points about the episode. Below is a round up of comments from various reviewers:

• Richard Whettestone at First TV Drama thought the episode was full of missed opportunities. "So here we have an entire episode that follows Archer's mistrust of the Vulcans because he thinks they are spying on him, yet not once was it ever brought up by anyone at any time about the fact that the Vulcans were just caught spying on the Andorian star system in 'The Andorian Incident' about one or two weeks earlier." The full review can be found here.

• ScoopMe's Matthew R. Heitzer took a long hard look at Trek's portrayal of Vulcans in his analysis. "In the olden days, of Kirk and, to a degree, Picard, the Vulcans seemed supportive if not also a little difficult with their customs and "superior" logic," he wrote. "But, obviously, not so much in the now. The Vulcans of the Archer era are condescending and arrogant, cold and distant, and not just a little suspicious. There would seem to be a disconnect between the days of Archer and those of Kirk and Picard."

• Aint it Cool News's Hercules gave the episode a three and a half star rating. He summed up the best things about the episode by writing: "The increasing sense of continuity, and the increasing sense that the producers have been holding back the better stories for sweeps. Also, one's admiration for this show's supporting cast grows with each episode, and it's easy to be especially taken with what Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinnear and Linda Park bring to the party. Oh yeah, and the Vulcan ship is pretty cool-looking." Herc's full review can be accessed by following this link.

• "The 'Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations' (IDIC) philosophy has pretty much been fired out an open airlock in Enterprise," wrote Matt D. for Trek5.com. "It's almost as if Rick Berman was abused by Vulcans as a child and Rick's suppressed memories have finally risen to the keyboard." For his full review, in which he awards the episode a Warp 2 rating, can be found here.

• Monkee loved the episode, giving it a score of 8 out of 10. She praised the crew interactions and character development, but senses warning bells sounding for Captain Archer. "Archer's got a serious problem. The Vulcans are his big blind spot," she wrote. "He is SO hostile towards them that it's affecting his judgement. Mayweather and Reed could have died because of his stubborn attempt to prove to the Vulcans that he didn't need their help, when, in fact, he did. Only T'Pol's adept handling of her Captain salvages the situation, especially when even Tucker concurs. It's okay for him to have a serious problem, though – all the great Captains have a blind spot or two – as long as he works through it. I think he will." Her full analysis can be found here at Monkee's Place.

• "'Breaking the Ice' was a pleasure to watch," wrote the Trekker Newsletter's Jacqueline Bundy. "I felt happy and satisfied long after the closing credits rolled. Maria and Andre Jacquemetton did a wonderful job with a script that had a little of everything without over reaching itself. The trailer for this episode didn't lead me to expect much, but the clever story elements and congenial performances made this my favourite episode of Enterprise thus far." She called the episode 'a real success' and awarded it a nine out of ten rating. Follow this link to the full review.

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