Critics Deliver Positive 'Judgment'

See Also: 'Judgment' Episode Guide

Online reviewers have given Enterprise "Judgment" upbeat write-ups, with the exception of one lone dissenter who disagreed with their verdict.

• TrekWeb's O. Deus described "Judgment" as "one of the few episodes that's worthy" of the UPN's "event" billing. "Everything from the direction to the actors is just right with an episode that appears to cover a lot of ground and with each character, no matter how minor, making a distinct impression," he wrote. "The visual effects and production design departments have outdone themselves again." The complete analysis can be found here at TrekWeb.

• "Oustanding!" was the unequivocal verdict of Monkee at Monkee's place. She particularly liked all the continuity references included in David A. Goodman's teleplay:

  Lots of nice nods to Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country here. The tribunal looked much the way I remembered it, as did the penal colony, Rura Penthe. Kolos himself was a nod to the noble Klingons we'll see later: Gorkon, Worf, K'mpec, Martok, and even, to some degree, Kang. Nice continuity, too, with the events of both Broken Bow and Sleeping Dogs mentioned again. And there are bound to be repercussions. After all, Archer just escaped the Klingons, and from Rura Penthe, of all places! I look forward to seeing what happens next.

  "Judgment" scored 9.5 out of 10 in the complete analysis.

• Over at ScoopMe!, CJ Carter described "Judgment" as "almost a great Trek episode". "While entertaining, it just missed the mark to make it truly special," she wrote. "Whether the elements just didn't mesh, or if the plot holes were too big to overcome is a matter for debate. It's what wasn't said that diminished the heights the writers were trying to reach." Go here to find out more.

• 'Captain Mac' at Trek5.com awarded the episode a "well deserved" perfect score of 5 out of 5. Here's an excerpt from his review:

  I can only hope that Judgment is a sign of things to come. Forget about the impressive sets, the exciting space battles, the excellent makeup, the imaginative costumes, the deft performances and wonderful music score. This episode has what Enterprise has been in short supply of — an excellent story.

  Read Mac's complete analysis at Trek5.com.

• Although she deducted marks because of its similarity to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, T'Bonz at LowerDecks.com said "Judgment" was a "surprisingly engaging episode". She praised the performance of J.G. Hertzler as Kolos ("superb as always"), as well as the continuity touches. In the full review, the episode was awarded a score of 8.5 out of 10.

• One member of the jury who was not convinced beyond reasonable doubt was Television Without Pity's 'Keckler', who titled her review "Manura Penthe".

  And maybe I've just watched too much television my whole life, but did anyone out there really think Quantum wasn't going to escape from the "inescapable" Rura Penthe? Even his crew's breakout plan was swept under Tension's Carpet simply by paying lip service to T'Pol's diplomatic contacts. Ugh. Please - give me something, SOMETHING to prove that the Star Trek deserves to live on in all its former glory!

  "Judgment" was awarded a C minus grade overall. The 7-page Television Without Pity recap starts here.

Further information is available in the Trek Nation episode guide.

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