'Extinction' Exterminated By Reviewers

See Also: 'Extinction' Episode Guide

Reviews for Wednesday night's Enterprise episode "Extinction" have been posted online. Most reviewers were very critical of the derivative storyline, though many praised the show's acting, directing and music.

• Jammer of Star Trek: Hypertext gave "Extinction" one and a half stars and had more praise for a Nextel commercial aired during the episode than he did for the episode itself. "This is a misguided ending to a misfire of a show", he wrote, stating that "the episode...blows its central mystery by showing us certain cards at the wrong time" and suggesting that Archer must be "on freakin' crack" for saving the alien DNA at the end. "Call it a bias, but I just don't find much entertainment value in watching savages run around while T'Pol tries to get through to them," he said. The full analysis, including comparisons to other poorly-reviewed Trek episodes, is here.

• Trek5.com's Matt D. gave "this turkey" only one star out of five, writing that every writer has at some point borrowed an idea from a greatly admired work but "you have to believe there is something horribly wrong with the Enterprise writing staff when they resort to rehashing plots from marginal episodes in the franchise's own legacy." Stating that he was embarrassed for writer Andre Bormanis, Matt D. called the first half of the episode "painfully slow" and had took issue with Archer's inconsistent moral compass at the end. The reason for the low rating may be found at Trek5.

• Gisele La Roche of Starfleetcom.net praised the director and actors for managing to take seriously and episode she called "embarrassing to watch at times." She said viewers have a hard time suspending their disbelief for plots they have seen done so many times on previous Trek series and wished for a more unusual detour from the Xindi arc than "Extinction." She also found it implausible that Tucker would have so little reaction to such intimate contact with T'Pol. To learn why she gave the episode a C+, read the full review.

• ""The first portion of "Extinction" was so bad that about halfway through as Archer and Reed gibbered and capered through the trees, I began hoping that another blackout would strike the northeast," wrote O. Deus of TrekWeb. "Of all the TNG episodes in the world to remake why in all the galaxy would Enterprise choose to remake bottom of the barrel material like 'Genesis' and 'Identity Crisis'? Throw in a premise reminiscent of fine Voyager episodes like 'Threshold', 'Nemesis', and 'Favorite Son' and you've really hit a high water mark in quality." Finding no philosophical or moral interest in the episode on top of the mediocre sci-fi premise, the potential, Deus noted, "is completely wasted." The full, scathing review is here.

• "If I had to give "Extinction" one of those meaningless letter grades that populate all online reviews, I’d give it a ‘D’. That is, a ‘D’ for Direction and Dialogue, because both were horrendously bad," wrote Chris at Xenoclone's 'Enterprise' Power Rankings. Though he liked the premise and Bakula's acting, Chris found the mutant makeup dull and thought Linda Park's acting was "like something I witnessed often in High School Theater." To find out which 45 seconds he found worth remembering, read the Xenoclone review.

• Over at Section 31, however, Mike Dunham called the episode "a step in the right direction" and said "Extinction" was "the first episode of this season that actually felt like an episode of a Star Trek series to me." He enjoyed the storyline, even Archer's "hypocritical" behavior at the ending which he found more in line with what Star Trek is all about than some of his other decisions. To find out why this "distinct stand-alone episode" rated a B+. read the review here.

• Michael Marek at The Great Link gave "Extinction" a rating of three out of five, saying that he had low expectations based on the plot synopsis and that only good acting and a strong ending saved the story. "[Scott] Bakula, probably in part due to the range of characters he played on Quantum Leap, creates an integrated characterization and makes it possible for viewers to genuinely feel sorry for the Loque’eque when they discover that their city is in ruins and their people gone," he wrote, though he was unimpressed with Linda Park and put off by the animalistic characterization of aliens who built elaborate cities. He also took issue with Trek's ongoing insistence on the plausibility of "rewriting DNA." To read more, see the full review.

• "This was another interesting episode which easily held my attention. Things are looking up this season!" wrote Litsa Guevara of TrekPulse, who gave "Extinction" an even higher rating of four out of five. Though she had scientific and technical quibbles, she praised the continuity and was pleased to see Tucker's skill in command. More of Guevara's analysis is here.

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