Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series) The Communicator (2002) User Reviews

Recycled concept but pretty well done

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 5 September 2020]

Reed loses his communicator on a planet and returns with Archer to retrieve it.

Not an original idea but it's a fairly strong episode. Archer and Reed play it as tight lipped as possible not to cause cultural contamination with their technology or their true identities and have to suffer for it.

This is a moral stand based on ideals created in the original series but it is as relevant today as it was back then. All you have to do is look into history where nation-states have interfered in other less developed nation-states and left nothing but war and destruction behind.

Archer and Reed are pretty good. Although the writers make Reed look like a muppet for losing the device in the first place, thank goodness all his usual hysterical pessimism is toned down and he takes what appears to be the ultimate form of punishment with stoicism. As for Archer, he stands firm as an oak tree in the face of violent interrogation which is pretty impressive.

What frustrates me is watching yet another annoyingly mistrusting, antagonistic alien species. I'm not sure how many more episodes with this formula I can take. On the other hand, each one should be judged on its own merit, so just because I've seen something similar in others I won't let it put too much of a dampener on it.

There is also a pretty funny sub-plot involving Trip Tucker and an accident he has with working on a Suliban cloaking device.

A Pretty Good Cliffhanger

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 16 March 2017]

Reed accidentally leaves his communicator behind on a planet they have visited in disguise. It's a pre-Warp planet and this could have devastating results when it comes to the Prime-Directive, which hasn't actually been named yet. Archer and Reed go down in hopes of hunting the thing down, but there is a war on, and the communicator has been found by a leader of one of the forces. The boys are accused of being spies for the other side, the Alliance, and are imprisoned. It is obvious to these people that they don't fit the physiological profile of others on the planet. Also, these guys get their phase pistols and more communicators. I'm really interested in all the criticism of this series that has been leveled in the User Reviews. Have a little bit of heart and some basic enjoyment. If you were to over-analyze any of the Star Trek incarnations, you could dismantle. Did you know that a transporter has not been invented even now?

Contaminating a Pre-Warp Culture

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 12 January 2008]

Captain Archer, Reed and Hoshi returns from a period of observation of a pre-warp civilization split in a war. Lieutenant Reed notes that he lost his communicator somewhere in the planet, and together with Archer, they return to a tavern where his scanner indicates the location. However, they are captured by militaries that have found the unknown technology and imprisoned in a military compound. Meanwhile, Trip and Travis try to find the means to activate the cloak of a Suliban ship to rescue their friends in the hostile planet.

I did not like the predictable "The Communicator" episode. The story is silly and the preoccupation of the contamination of a pre-warp culture is not applied when the rescue team fights against the militaries. Further, the capture of Reed with a weapon is worse than lost of a simple communication apparatus. In my point of view, this episode is not well resolved in spite of the explanation of T'Pol in the end. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Comunicador" ("The Communicator")

Lt. Reed is uncharacteristically dumb in this one.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 26 March 2015]

Lt. Reed is a rather 'spit and polish' sort of officer. So, the fact that he'd realize that he'd forgotten his communicator behind when they did a covert mission to a more primitive culture is pretty strange. Regardless, he and Archer go back to retrieve it and are, in fact, retrieved themselves. It seems that security folks on the planet found the communicator and now they want to cross-examine these two 'spies' that they captured. This involves a bit of torture as well as possible execution. Can they be captured and can they get rid of all traces of their presence to reduce how much they contaminated this pre-warp culture?

This is a decent episode--exciting and worth seeing even if it did seem implausible that Reed could be this stupid.

The Enterprise Loses a Walkie Talkie

[Samuel-Shovel · 6/10 · 5 November 2017]

After exploring a pre-Warp culture for the day, it is discovered that Reed has left his communicator back on the planet. It's a piece of technology too advanced for the world's current era. But soon Captain Archer & the gang find themselves prisoners in the midst of a civil war.

This episode is pretty fast paced, however it is not exactly good. Of all the crewman to leave something behind absentmindedly, Reed is one of the last that would ever do this. He's very by the book in all he does. Then to make matters work, they decide to go back and end up giving this civilization phase pistols. Great! At a certain point, you need to just cut your losses and get out of there. No reason to die over the thing! This is another episode involving one of Trip's side adventures. At least this time it's mildly entertaining. Trip attempts to fix the cloaking on the Suliban cell ship in order to save his comrades. (Side note: Not once since that episode have we mentioned that we still have this ship.) His invisible hand gives the episode a little but of humor actually kind of enjoyed it.

Overall, the premise that Reed and Archer are willing to sacrifice their lives in the name of non-contamination, even though they've already contaminated it, is ludicrous.

Conclusion: Fast-paced and full of action, but with little quality to speak of.

What?! No Pre-Exit Check List?

[critterrepairtech · 5/10 · 25 December 2021]

One would think a pre-exit check before leaving any planet (especially a pre-warp technology world) would be standard operating procedure (SOP) to prevent mishaps. Additional precautions would include pick pocket proof attire and location detection for all equipment. "Beaming up" items could be more efficient. Non-explosive self destruct options could be helpful as well. These precautions seemed obvious and yet were curiously not in place.

Lt. Reed, a military by the book type, hardly seemed likely to lose equipment. The oversight of common logistics resulted in the story line being a little bit tough to buy.

Trip and Travis had an interesting side story going with the cloaking device efforts offering some humor which kept the story somewhat afloat.

So tired of these worn out story lines.

[moakin2005 · 3/10 · 14 November 2019]

Now I see why this show only lasted four seasons. Boring!