Chosen Realm (14 Jan. 2004)
"Enterprise" Chosen Realm (original title)

Enterprise is taken over by religious zealots who want to use Enterprise for a war against heretics.

Director:

Roxann Dawson

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman (creator),

Stars:

Scott Bakula, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Scott Bakula	...	Captain Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley	...	Dr. Phlox
Jolene Blalock	...	Sub-Commander T'Pol
Dominic Keating	...	Lieutenant Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery	...	Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park	...	Ensign Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer	...	Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III
Conor O'Farrell	...	Pri'Nam D'Jamat
Vince Grant	...	Yarrick
Lindsey Stoddart	...	Indava
Taylor Sheridan	...	Jareb (as Tayler Sheridan)
David Youse	...	Nalbis
Gregory Wagrowski	...	Ceris
Matt Huhn	...	N.D. Triannon
Kim Fitzgerald	...	Crewman

Storyline

Enterprise answers the distress call of a Triannon ship. After taking them on board, D'Jamat, their leader, tells they are religious people visiting a sphere. They believe the Expanse, the Chosen Realm, and the Spheres were created by the Makers a 1000 years ago and that the anomalies are their breath. It soon becomes clear that these people don't have the best intentions. They take control of Enterprise and want to use it in the war against heretics. D'Jamat also orders the death of one crew member because Enterprise desecrated several spheres. Archer must choose.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Release Date:

14 January 2004 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Network Television, Paramount Television

Did You Know?

Quotes

Pri'Nam D'Jamat: The Maker's breath - it reshapes reality, allows ordinary men a glimpse of the divine.
Sub-Commander T'Pol: That "breath" nearly destroyed your ship.

User Reviews

Heavy-handed

Enterprise takes on the issue of religious fanaticism in this overbearing recycle of the old 'our new fascist friends just took over the ship' plot (i.e. see TOS - Whom Gods Destroy, The Way to Eden etc). While the episode is clearly aimed at both American fundamentalist neoconservatives and the religious extremists they consider themselves incompatible with, it makes its points so unsubtly that it is very easy to ignore.

Enterprise encounters what appears to be a derelict ship, but as they approach the ship to dock, its life support systems suddenly start to work again. The crew of the alien ship seem polite enough, but eventually it becomes clear that Enterprise's research on the spheres of The Expanse is going to be exploited as a religion-based excuse to expropriate the ship and use it to commit genocide. If any of this sounds familiar (from previous ST stories or real world history), then you are catching on.

The episode is also probability-challenged. Enterprise's security system is too vulnerable and even after the aliens show their true colors, Archer keeps trying to 'work things out'. Not one of Roxanne Dawson better directing efforts.

The final scene is worth sticking around for.