United

This episode brings the Romulans into the equation. They are far out in the galaxy and shouldn't have all that much invested. It is implied that the alliance between the Andorians and the Tellarites is not to their liking. On board the Enterprise, bad things are happening between the enemy cultures. Shran is there and he resents the Tellarites because he blames them for the loss of his ship and much of his crew. We are, however, made aware that a third party is at work here but these two refuse to listen to Archer because they suspect collusion. When the enemy ship is recognized, Trip and Malcolm find themselves investigating it, but there doesn't seem to be a crew. One of the Tellarites kills Shran's girlfriend after the Andorians face off against them. There's also a rather weak element with Shran and Archer fighting each other in a death challenge.

Enterprise pursues the Romulan drone ship and Archer contends with the fallout from the shooting of Lt. Talas.

I enjoyed the second part of the Romulan trilogy as it has a compelling plot, memorable character moments, strong performances and good sense of continuity with the franchise.

The plot contains plenty of excitement as Trip and Reed fight for survival and Archer deals with a diplomatic incident aboard Enterprise. This all unfolds in a series of solid character moments where pretty much everyone contributes, even Hoshi and Mayweather. Reed gets the opportunity to be heroic which is refreshing given his character's poor past material.

All performances are great, particularly Jeffery Coombs who gets some excellent moments as Shran and firmly establishes the character as a franchise favourite.

Much like the Babel One, United feels like its belongs in the Star Trek universe and works as prequel to the original series. Unfortunately this does not help everything that's come before it as it shows what potential was squandered in the first three seasons. However, I'll end on a positive note by remarking that it ends on another intriguing reveal that makes you need to know what happens next.

Very late in the life of "Star Trek: Enterprise" came a wonderful plot idea that make up three very memorable episodes. Part one involves attacks that exacerbate tensions between the Tellurites and Andorians. Here in part two, Malcolm and Trip go on a mission to figure out who is responsible--and they manage to sneak aboard a ship that can imitate other ships! In other words, Romulans are using this strange drone to sow anger and war because they want to destabilize the quadrant. Instead, they manage to unify these enemies because they eventually realize that they are being manipulated.

I liked this plot quite a bit. However, there was a plot involving a debt of honor and a fight to the death that seemed unnecessary and, perhaps, only there to fill out the episode. Still, the show keeps your interest and the Romulans are, as always, enjoyably bad and devious.