Ok ... I've put off writing this review for more than 45 minutes, so I guess I should finally put something into writing. The truth is, I watched "The Andorian Incident," which featured the work of Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine") as a pissed off Andorian and Roxann Dawson (Lt. Torres, "Star Trek: Voyager") as the director in an episode that connected all worlds of Star Trek except "Star Trek: The Next Generation." And my feeling about the episode is ... well, inconclusive. In any event, "The Andorian Incident" started off on the very wrong foot. Soon after we watch a Vulcan monastery get overrun by a very small Andorian military contingent, we shift over to Archer (Scott Bakula) and Trip (Conner Trinneer) looking through Vulcan star maps and deciding that it's time to pay a visit to the monastery. Couldn't there have been a better way for this story to be introduced than yet another random act? It seems like the crew of the Enterprise looking for trouble, not the other away around like it used to be. Now, we did get somewhat of an out with the plot when we learned from the monastery leader that the Andorians seem to have been making regular trips to the outpost, so that doesn't make it too far-fetched then. But still ... I don't like these kinds of coincidences. And how about them references to the original Star Trek, eh? Normally, having just the Andorians stopping by would be good enough. But nope ... the powers that be is trying to prove to some of the Original Series watchers who caught the show for the first time that "Enterprise" is here for them, and that they feel their pain. Before the second commercial break, we got seemingly countless references to "Star Trek," things like Kolinahr, the whole "new life and new civilizations" converation and Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations. Not too long after that, we even got to go into more depth about Surak and his work to purge the Vulcan people of emotions as well as Pon Farr rituals. All we needed was a Tribble and a red shirt death (which we almost got), and I think it would've been a "Star Trek" dream come true for even the purest of Trekkers. The story really wasn't too bad, however. I did like the fact that the Andorians were resurrected quite well, and I did enjoy how the makeup department successfully transformed the race from a cheesy blue-skinned creature to someone who actually did look alien. Having the Andorians strongly believe that there was some kind of spy sensor array on the planet, and then being right, was even better. We are developing much more distrust between the humans and the Vulcans, and I'm amazed that somehow, someway, the Vulcans and humans remain together by the time of Kirk and Spock (see? I can do original "Star Trek" references, too!) I was a bit worried about having Dawson behind the cameras on an episode like this, because I feared she would be thinking too much along the lines of the way they used to shoot "Voyager," which to be honest, was really quite boring. But she used her lattitude well in trying new things, most notably the the camera angles from character perspectives like during the initial Archer interrogation scene that served to foreshadow future events. But heaven help us ... caves again?!?!? Mr. Berman, Mr. Braga ... please get off the caves already! I never, ever want to do any cave exploring because I've seen more caves in the last several episodes of "Enterprise" than I ever wanted to see in my lifetime. Ick. I do have to admit that I loved the captivity talk and scenes. I bet if T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) had served on Kirk's ship (see? I did it again!), I bet she would've been in bed with the captain by the end of the pilot episode, not this far in like it took Archer to do so. But, obviously Archer doesn't have the finesse of the great Kirk (that's three), because he ended up pissing off the woman, who in turn stole all the covers. Figures. Where Archer lacks in scoring, Bakula picks up and then some in the acting department. He has so naturally folded into the role of Jonathan Archer that I haven't thought about Sam Beckett in "Quantum Leap" since the first five minutes of "Broken Bow." His conversation with T'Pol about sending in an assault force to rescue the hostages was brilliant. Without even a hint he would do it, he stops in mid-sentence and asks the staring Vulcans, "Problem?" It was so natural, it almost makes you want to think it was ad-libbed in. I won't tell you that Archer is my favorite captain yet ... but let's just say he is definitely making a case for himself. So, we get another new episode next week ... I guess we abandon the original "Star Trek" for "Enterprise" to meet "Deep Impact." ----------------- What's your thoughts on the episode? Tell us here! Michael Hinman is the news editor and co-owner of SyFy Portal. He lives in Tampa, Fla.