Introduction

“Storm Front” is the title of the first and second episodes of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise.

The episodes resolved the cliffhanger at the end of the third season finale, “Zero Hour” (S03E24).

It was Coto’s first episode as the new show runner for the series.

In this episode, after destroying the Xindi weapon, Enterprise finds itself in the 20th century during World War II with Nazis in control of the northeastern USA. Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) joins Silik (John Fleck) to stop the alien Nazis, restore the timeline, and end the Temporal Cold War.

The episodes featured the return of several recurring characters, as well as stunt casting in the form of appearances by Golden Brooks, Joe Maruzzo and Steve Schirripa. These were the first episodes of the franchise to be shot digitally rather than using film stock, and the filming of the two halves were completed together over 14 days. The first part was seen by 2.84 million viewers, increasing to 3.11 for the second episode. “Storm Front” was poorly received by the critics, with complaints directed at the pace of the episode, the ending of the Temporal Cold War and the general premise itself.

Outline

Lieutenant Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) finds the point of divergence in the timeline: the 1916 murder of Lenin, where witnesses claimed Lenin’s killer “vanished into thin air.” The removal of Lenin prevents the October Revolution from successfully taking place, causing Hitler to disregard Russia as a threat, and the full weight of the Nazi war machine is then directed at Western Europe and the United States. Vosk seeks an alliance with Enterprise, releasing Mayweather and Tucker in hopes of forging a new understanding with Archer. Medical scans soon reveal that Tucker is actually Silik in disguise and he and Archer realise they need each other’s help. They enlist the help of the Resistance to destroy the shields of the Na’kuhl complex and to help rescue Tucker.

Before they can complete the mission, Silik is killed by a guard near the conduit, and Archer is nearly shot by a confused Tucker. With the alien shields down, Enterprise then completes an atmospheric entry, flying over New York City and destroying the alien facility with photon torpedoes. The episode ends with Daniels showing Archer the threads of the timeline resetting themselves back to normal, as the Temporal Cold War finally ends with the death of Vosk.

In this connection noteworthy: the attack against World Trade Centre is shown in a scene. Archer demands that Daniels should never visit or bother Enterprise again. With their mission completed, Enterprise finally arrives back in its proper time period, where the crew are welcomed and escorted by an entire squadron of Starfleet and alien vessels.

Star Trek TV Series

You can find a full index of Star Trek TV series here.

Star Trek TV Series, Films, and Documentaries

You can find a full index of all Star Trek TV series, films, documentaries here.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Allan Kroeker.
• Writer(s): Manny Coto.
• Release Date: 15 October 2004.
• Running Time: 45 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.