Critics: We Have A Winner!

See Also: 'Shockwave' Episode Guide

'Shockwave' has been almost unanimously praised by reviewers as an exciting, dramatic, and fitting conclusion to Enterprise's first season.

A round-up of nine reviews recently posted online can be found below:

• Trek 5's Matt D. and 'Captain Mac' both awarded the episode a perfect score of 5 out of 5. "Bottom line, 'Shockwave' had a good story to tell," Mac wrote. "A cliffhanger is good way to hook an audience. It will be interesting to see how Berman and Braga will get Archer and company out of the situation they've gotten them into." Read the full review here.

• Sebastian Kowald at TrekZone.de recently posted his German review of 'Shockwave.' "An interesting cliffhanger. Time travel, great action sequences - a really good episode," he wrote. Kowald awarded the episode 5+ out of 6 in the complete analysis.

• The excitement of the Temporal Cold War story arc made 'Shockwave' a winner in Gisele La Roche's book. "I love complex storylines and this one is shaping up to be quite engaging," she wrote at Voyager's Delights and StarfleetCom.Net. "So far the continuity in this show is great and I hope they keep this up. It makes for a more interesting series as it makes me want to know what is going to happen next." The episode was given an A grade in the full review, which can be found here or here.

• TrekWeb's O.Deus felt that Archer's characterisation was spot on in this episode.

  For once, Archer's awe and wonder at another 'first', namely traveling through time, is well done and even well acted. Poignant because that wonder will ultimately be shattered by the knowledge of its mundane cost. This is precisely the lesson that Archer refused to learn about space travel. Exploration has its price and quite a few of the explorers in the Enterprise opening montage knew that quite well.

  Head over to TrekWeb to read more.

• C.J. Carter at Scoop Me wrote that 'Shockwave' was an "entertaining drama and action piece." However, she did have some problems with the use of time travel. "While the story arc of the Suliban inched forward, it does raise the specter of a continuing deus ex machina for the rest of the series. [...] If Archer needs a crucial piece of info, poof, Daniels enters and tells him, and then poof, he's gone again. With any luck, use of this technique will be sparing as the arc continues to be revealed." The full review is available at Scoop Me.

• "'Shockwave' goes back to what made the premiere episode so enjoyable. There's tragedy, action, and the temporal cold war conspiracy," wrote Tim Hansen at Section 31. His colleague, Michelle Cano, agreed. "Shockwave was a strong episode, which was well acted, and well written. It was an episode that seemed to have it all...action, great effects, and an interesting story. The cliffhanger was well done, and left me wanting more." Hansen gave 'Shockwave' 8 out of 10 in his review, while Cano awarded the episode 9 out of 10 in her analysis.

• Although she would have liked to have found out more about the Temporal Cold War, the Trekker Newsletter's Jacqueline Bundy described 'Shockwave' as an "entertaining and effective episode," praising director Allan Kroeker and writers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. "Bakula turned in a good performance, as did the entire cast," she added. "Everyone got at least one scene and their individual reactions to being ordered home were effectual. Everything is in place for an thrilling conclusion." The episode scored 8 out of 10 in the full review.

• One dissenting voice was Brad at Trek 47, who felt 'Shockwave' started to unravel half-way through. Here's an extract from his review:

  I just don't like the Daniels-can-do-anything-because-he's-from-the-future attitude. I don't mind a little mystery surrounding the guy but if he's all powerful, why would he need help from Archer or anyone else from the past in the first place? Besides, the whole time travel thing has been done to death on Voyager and The Next Generation. It's just difficult to be excited about another time escapade at this point. Actually, this is probably the biggest weakness of the series: If the main story arc of a season is a tired, recycled idea, then maybe it's time to get some new ideas.

  In the complete analysis, the episode was given a B minus grade.

• In her latest article at About.com, Julia Houston (with the help of characters from Enterprise, Buffy and The X-Files) analyses this year's sci-fi finales. Here's what Buffy Summers had to say about 'Shockwave':

  I mean, think about it, each one of us produced a story about the horror of bad choices and the force of the human spirit. Captain Archer may have been wrong to trust Daniels, but maybe it's Daniels who's put his trust in the wrong sort of system. Or maybe it's the Suliban who made the wrong choice a long time ago by agreeing to be a part of the whole temporal war.

  For all the mayhem, check out About.com.

Further information about 'Shockwave' can be found in the Trek Nation episode guide.

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