- Written by Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong
- Directed by David Livingston
- May 7, 2023
- UPN
- Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry
Episode Cast
- Capt. Jonathan Archer-Scott Bakula
- Dr. Phlox-John Billingsley
- Sub-Cmdr. T’Pol-Jolene Blalock
- Lt. Malcolm Reed-Dominic Keating
- Ensign Travis Mayweather-Anthony Montgomery
- Ensign Hoshi Sato-Linda Park
- Cmdr. Charles ‘Trip’ Tucker III-Connor Trinneer
- Adm. Maxwell Forrest-Vaughn Armstrong
- Cmdr. Williams-Jim Fitzpatrick
- Drake-John Short
- Rooney-Bonita Friedericy
- Dr. Moninger-Christopher Wynne
- Researcher-Adam Harrington
- Male Tarkalean-Mark Chadwick
- Foster-Paul Anthony Scott
An Arctic research team finds Borg buried in the ice and when they are accidentally revived the Enterprise NX-01 crew must stop them.
Regeneration is perhaps one of the finest if not the finest episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. Having taken place in an era that was said to be dangerous, the series rarely got to that point. This episode genuinely felt like they were in the most dangerous period of their space exploration. Enterprise being a series of the time always returned things to the status quo. It never pushed it rarely push things to the limit other than here.
The story does not open with the main cast but on Earth with the discovery of Borg presumably from First Contact. I like how the story nicely ties into events that preceded the series yet does not completely retcon things. I flashbacked to a line that I believe came from Riker in Part One of Best of Both Worlds about Starfleet knowing that the Borg were coming for a long time. It was a throwaway line that only a nerd like me would recall but it did allow for this story.
Conveniently the Borg were put into stasis because they were frozen. What I don’t get is why for study the arctic team put them in a relatively warm room. It makes no sense though it does keep things moving. Corpses would start to stink.
I need to bring something up. Regeneration makes clear there is a general aversion to replacing flesh with cybernetic parts in contrast to Star Trek today where the century later (initially) set Discovery does it rather casually with following shows continuing that template. Lt. Reed (Dominic Keating) is baffled by their willingness to exchange body parts for machines which appears to be a broadly human sentiment in the Trek world.
In referencing First Contact it explains why nobody took the Borg threat seriously despite Zefram Cochrane’s warnings in a speech he later recanted. Much like in First Contact he was known as a drunk and here he is stated as having been known for his imaginative stories which the tales of the Borg were chalked up to being.
The Borg display their regular near supernatural abilities with technology. Everything from sprouting implants to reconfiguring ships into something superior occurs. At the end we even get a nod to the group consciousness from the previously infected Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley). Phlox is perhaps the standout of the episode given the desperate measures he employs to save himself and Billingsley’s performance which communicates an understanding of the consequences of failure.
Maybe nobody thought about a search engine when they wrote this episode but considering how many times before and even since a random character put a query into a computer and it spit out information pretty quickly there is a bit done for dramatic purposes. Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) had to actually sit down and read all of Cochrane’s speeches (a clumsy nod to him knowing the man’s speeches by heart introduced in Broken Bow) in order to find his mention of the Borg is an irritant.
Even though you know things will return to normal just before the credits director David Livingston makes you nervous how that will happen. How will Phlox solve his nanoprobe infection? Can the crew save any of the converted? It pushes the boundaries of what they can do as far as they can but keeps in mind the preestablished information and events limiting what can be done. Mix that with the status quo returning aspect and you know most everything is going to be fine yet still have doubt.
Regeneration is the best Enterprise episode because it was genuinely dangerous for the crew as the era was stated to be. As a prequel to events it pushes the limits and benefits from that.
