Star Trek Randomized Rewatch: Borderland

ENT "Borderland"

In the opening sequence of "Borderland", two genetically engineered "Augments" take over a Klingon bird-of-prey and kill its crew. Unusually for Star Trek, in addition to shooting their way through, they open a can of martial arts whoop-arse on the Klingons. The Augments are super-strong, super-intelligent, and super-aggressive. Their dress sense is ragged chic, like a tribe of Peter Pan's Lost Boys (and Girls). And they answer to one man.

That is, Dr. Arik Soong, ancestor of Data creator Noonien Soong, again played by returning Trek royalty Brent Spiner. Spiner turns in a charismatic, sarcastic performance, animating this scientist who, unlike his roboticist descendants, specializes in genetic engineering. He gets a rise out of all the characters he interacts with, and even Phlox is uncommonly hostile toward him. One highlight of the episode is a particularly heated argument Soong has with Archer in the brig about the danger and potential of genetic engineering. As seen above, director David Livingston sets up some ostentatious shots foregrounding each actor's face in turn. It's like a Brian De Palma-esque split diopter, but without the actual mechanism separating the two elements of the shot.

Eventually, Soong's hormonal übermensch "children" get the run of Enterprise embarrassingly quickly. Spiner appears to be having fun, and so thankfully balances out what is the first bad guest performance I've identified in this rewatch: Joel West as Augment Raakin. His delivery is unconvincing and his screen presence sophomoric.

While all the Augment material is being set up to continue over the course of a trilogy, most of "Borderland" itself revolves around the misadventure of T'Pol and eight other Enterprise crew members, who are kidnapped by Orion slavers, fitted with a restraining chip, and sold at auction. It helps to keep "Borderland" feel episodic, which fits my purposes, but it's not the most pleasant material.

A good showcase for Brent Spiner and a decent start to the Augments three-parter. 6/10.