Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series) The Forge (2004) User Reviews

Excellent Episode

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 21 February 2010]

In the United Earth Embassy in Vulcan, Admiral Maxwell Forrest and Ambassador Soval are discussing the technical cooperation between their people when there is a blowup killing thirty-one Earthlings including Forrest and twelve Vulcans. Captain Archer is assigned to investigate the attack and the Vulcan chief investigator Stel suggests the responsibility of the Andorians or the dissident Syranites for the attempt with the support of the Administrator V'Las. Lt. Reed and Ensign Mayweather discover in the debris a hidden bomb that has not exploded with the DNA of the Syranite T'Pau. Meanwhile T'Pol receives from her husband Koss an ancient object delivered by her mother and she finds a map with the location where her mother and the Syranites are hidden in the desert The Forge, a place where technology does not work. Archer and T'Pol head to The Forge to seek out T'Pau. Meanwhile Dr. Phlox discovers that the DNA in the bomb has been manipulated and Ambassador Soval is convinced by Commander Tucker to perform the forbidden mind melt with a survivor to disclose the surprising truth.

"The Forge" is an excellent episode of Enterprise. The screenplay is very well written and the engaging story is a must-see. The chameleon Jolene Blalock is extremely gorgeous in the role of T'Pol and for me she is one of the greatest attraction of this fantastic series. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "No Deserto de Vulcano" ("In the Desert of Vulcan")

Rest in Peace, Admiral

[Samuel-Shovel · 8/10 · 28 February 2018]

"The Forge" takes place on the planet of Vulcan. A bomb has gone off inside the Earth embassy, killing dozens of humans and Vulcans in the process, including Admiral Forrest. The blame is initially placed on Andorians, then by a minority sect of Vulcans known as Syrrannites. T'Pol's mother happens to be a member of this sect and many of them head into hiding. But an investigation by the crew of the Enterprise unearths a conspiracy placing the blame on members on the High Council. Archer and T'Pol head off on a pilgrimage within a hostile desert of Vulcan known as The Forge to locate the sanctuary of the Syrrannites and get to the bottom of the terrorist attack.

Right off the back end of the Augments story arc we quickly dive back into another one regarding the relationship between Earth & Vulcan. The Vulcans have always been depicted as more nefarious on ST:E than on shows further along chronologically and this episode is no exception. According to the trivia section of IMDb, this miniseries of episodes intends to clean up the Vulcans image and explain away the differences in their demeanor. So far it's off to a good start.

The references and "fan service" as one review deems it maybe a bit much but I don't think it occurred enough nor was blatant enough for me not to enjoy this episode. Ambassador Soval is at his best in this episode. It looks to be a monumental event for both Vulcans and the relationship they have with the humans.

Trouble on Vulcan

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 11 June 2010]

Just as the Vulcans are discussing whether or not they should engage in join operations with Earth a bomb is detonated in Earth's embassy on Vulcan. They are quick to point their fingers at the Andorians but when Captain Archer points out that they would have nothing to gain from such an attack it is suggested that there is a possibility that Syrranites were involved. These aren't another race but a Vulcan sect who are considered heretics due to their different interpretation Surak' teachings. Surak was the Vulcan for ending their violent ways and developing their belief in pure logic. A search of the embassy leads to the discovery of an unexploded bomb which has the DNA of a leading Syrranite and soon after T'Pol is visited by her husband who informs her that her mother is with the Syrranites and gives her an artefact which maps a path to where they can be found. She is in a desert known as The Forge which can't be accessed by transporter due to the electrical activity there. Archer and T'Pol beam down to the edge of The Forge and go in on foot and end up meeting a Syrranite who, after being critically injured, puts his hand on Archer's face and says something in Vulcan; after this Archer's behaviour starts to change subtly and he knows things only a Syrranite would know. While Archer and T'Pol are out of contact on the surface the Vulcan Ambassador Suval mind melds with the only witness to the bombing, a security guard in a coma, and learns the real bomber was working for the Vulcan High Command.

This was a gripping episode which had the feel of a murder mystery in some ways; suspects were set up only to be proved innocent and those one least suspect turn out to be guilty. There is also plenty of action including the initial explosion, the finding of the second device which explodes just as the away team beam out and an animal attack and violent storm in The Forge. Regulars Scott Bakula and Jolene Blalock put in good performances as Archer and T'Pol and are ably supported by guest star Gary Graham who plays Suval.

Oh, those nasty and tricky Vulcans.

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 14 April 2015]

One aspect of "Star Trek: Enterprise" that I enjoyed was its treatment of the Vulcans. While the Vulcans were pretty cool folks by the time of "Star Trek", here in this prequel, the Vulcans are generally haughty, difficult and cannot be trusted. This episode and the next two are excellent bridges--one that connects the better Vulcans to the jerk-faces you often see in "Star Trek: Enterprise"!

When the show begins, there's an explosion at the Earth embassy on Vulcan. Lots of folks are killed and the evidence seems to indicate a strange sect of Vulcans, the Syrrannites, are responsible. Some of the Vulcan High Command really have a strong dislike for these mystical Vulcans and they are thrilled when the Enterprise send T'Pol and Archer to capture the killer. This trip takes them to a super-inhospitable desert and a strange meeting indeed with one of the Syrrannites...a Syrrannite who gives Archer a most peculiar gift at the end of the show.

This is a very exciting episode but more importantly it fills in a lot of gaps and is an excellent look at the evolution of the Vulcans from a bunch of jerk-faces to a bunch of mystical semi-jerk-faces. Well worth seeing.

A Vulcan Conspiracy?

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 29 March 2017]

An explosion at an embassy kills many earth ambassadors and several Vulcans. Archer and T'Pol are given the task of going to Vulcan to investigate. There is something amiss on the High Council. There is a group of Vulcans who are in defiance of ancient teaching. One of these is T'Pol's mother. She has joined forces with these people. She has been branded a traitor. There are many elements of past Vulcan activity that we have seen before. Apparently, for some, the use of certain elements of the Vulcan history shouldn't be put before us. What I enjoyed is that the rebel peoples are really interesting. Also, a rebel who aids Archer and his Vulcan first officer, dies in the effort but transfers information to Archer as he breathes his last.

Archer is Unrealistic

[WYAdams · 6/10 · 10 April 2020]

While Archer is supposed to be heroic, the writers make him too superhuman. He has the solution to every problem. He is a super negotiator, able to beat enemies who should destroy Enterprise and him, and on and on.

In this episode, he is chosen to be the carrier of the spirit of Surak. So once again, it is up to him to save Vulcan, Andorria, and Earth. It is getting old and tedious.

In addition, the left-wing, radical, atheist writers just couldn't stop themselves from taking a pot shot at Christianity. T'pol mentions to him that the stories of Surak's exploits seem to be greatly exaggerated as they are handed down through the ages. His response is that it sounds familiar to him. It is a clear reference to the story of Jesus Christ. How do i know? Hollywood writers never fail to take pot shots at Christianity whenever possible.

Many of the story lines are ridiculously extreme as Archer jumps from one superhuman feat to the next. There should never have been a season four.

Enterprise P.I.

[tomsly-40015 · 7/10 · 13 April 2024]

Starfleet and Earth in general seem to have a pretty big problem with a shortage of trained professionals when the Enterprise crew is sent to the site of an embassy bombing to investigate what happened. Are Mayweather and Reed now also crime scene investigators, special agents and profilers? Are there no more police organizations, planetary security and secret services? And the investigation of such an attack site is then carried out without forensics, photos, video material, etc.? And also without protective suits and gloves so as not to contaminate the evidence?

And why does Vulcan always look like a backwater planet where not a single tree grows and you don't see any signs of industry or progress? The Vulcans are a highly advanced civilization that has developed warp-capable spaceships and uses them to roam the galaxy. But there doesn't even seem to be a pub or a supermarket anywhere on their planet. Let alone huge futuristic metropolises in which millions of people live in very small spaces (like Tokyo, for example). Where are the skyscrapers? Where are the industries? Where's the neon signs and the nightlife? Even the houses look like these people live in a pre-industrial age. No monitors, no gadgets, no cars or anything like that, just nothing. You don't see any streets, sidewalks, street lights... not even normal day-to-day life: people on the way to work, families with children, old people on park benches, teenagers hanging out...

Kind of typical for Star Trek. You never actually have the feeling of having arrived in the future. As a rule, people live either in caves or in small agricultural villages. Only in Lower Decks does one get the feeling that the various alien species are actually highly developed. For example, Ferenginar looks progressive and there are TV and entertainment series and normal nightlife.

1st of 3 parts

[skinnybert · 5/10 · 18 December 2023]

See the quotes for some good moments in this first-part-of-a-trilogy episode .... I don't know why or when it became trendy to title episodes as if they were individual stories, instead of more honestly calling this ""The Vulcan Incident" (or even just "The Forge") in three parts, which would be a more honest description.

OK, 600 words on this thing ... let's talk about scripting, shall we? You what is NOT good scripting? When characters talk about nothing but The Plot. There are no ideas in this script, beyond basic appeals to (or betrayals of) clan loyalty. DS9's brave experiment was to suggest that Star Trek didn't really work as offered in previous shows -- which may be true, but look what we've had ever since: endless war. Which really shows you how much each Trek reflects the time when it was made.

Perhaps the most "inside" episode of Season 4

[Lunchbox-3 · 3/10 · 24 March 2014]

Like most of Season 4, "The Forge" is mere fan service. What is "fan service?" When a writer spends much of the screen time making references to past episodes just so fans can say "oh cool, I remember that!" even though it doesn't help the current story.

The writers decided to do an episode on Vulcan so they had to have a Sehlat (Spock's pet from "Yesteryear"), a "katra" (from Star Trek III) and of course T'Pau (from "Amok Time") and Surak (from "The Savage Curtain"); and then the Syrranite starts asking Archer the same test questions the computer asked Spock in Star Trek IV. By the time we got to the IDIC (from "Is There In Truth No Beauty?"), which most TOS fans remember was first and foremost a product placement for a medallion Gene Roddenberry was trying to sell, I was seriously groaning. Making a reference for the sake of a reference is just not interesting.

The next two episodes were slight improvements in this regard. Still, I always had a problem with "Enterprise's" portrayal of all of Spock's ancient, treasured Vulcan practices as brand-new only a hundred years earlier. Vulcans in "Enterprise" don't know much about mind-melding and even less about the katra even though they are supposed to be time- honored customs in TOS. Besides, Vulcans' life-spans are too long. Most of the characters currently alive on "Enterprise" will still be alive when "Star Trek" rolls around. When the Priestess in "Star Trek III" says the transfer of katras from one person to another "has not been done since ages past, and then only in legend" what she should have said was "this was done about a hundred years ago, successfully, also between a Human and a Vulcan, by someone who is probably still alive and a member of this council, and the katra belonged to the Jesus Christ of the Vulcan people ... so it was a pretty famous case that we should all remember."

The rest of this arc was better service for the characters of Trip and Soval but another poor showing for the Vulcan High Command, this time being run by a particularly irrational Vulcan who favors hanging on to outdated beliefs even when presented with new evidence, which is usually the act of a religious zealot, which is what he accuses the Syrranites of being. Like most of the Season 4 arcs, this could have been shortened to one episode without losing anything. That would have left room for many more stories and then even the stinkers would mercifully only take up a single precious hour of the season.