Star Trek: 10 Times You Asked 'WHAT Were They Thinking?!'
8. Archer Is Obsessed With Hatchlings
The third season of Star Trek: Enterprise has some fantastic episodes, and some absolutely dire ones. Hatchery ranks somewhere in the middle, with a premise that could have been far better executed than what the audience was offered on-screen.
In the height of their conflict with the Xindi, there was an interesting idea to be explored in Archer seemingly switching sides. Consider that season three was already pushing Archer to his extremes. Discovering the Xindi Insectoid ship and quickly displaying an obsession with these hatchlings certainly worked to throw the audience for a loop.
However, then in quick succession, Archer begins to abandon the mission, T'Pol inspires a mutiny, the MACOs are once again displayed as fools, and it all feels a bit silly. There is no true urgency here, so when this episode is considered in the context of 'the end of Earth' - as this season was leaning so heavily on - it's very difficult not to immediately write this off as an exercise in foolishness for the sake of surprising the audience.
Scott Bakula does his best with what's given to him, though it's one of the weaker episodes of the show overall. It does get a little boost in points for the introduction of the Xindi Insectoid Assault Shuttle, and for the return of the NX-01 baseball cap.