This episode is a very typical Star Trek episode:
An alien creature that initially poses a threat to Enterprise and the crew and is only perceived as an intelligent and sentient creature at second glance. Ethical discussions about whether to respond with counterforce to the creature's violence, with at least one crew member voicing their deepest concerns and morally prevailing against the majority opinion. In the end, the crew manages to communicate with the creature, and it turns out that the creature isn't actually evil but is just afraid and wants to go back to its planet. The crew then helps the creature, no one is seriously injured and everyone lives happily ever after.
Basically the quintessence of Star Trek: You shouldn't brand alien beings, cultures and civilizations as evil and dangerous simply because you don't understand their language and their way of life seems different and incomprehensible.
If this had been a VOY or TNG episode, it certainly would have had a bit more substance. Instead, Archer philosophizes about water polo (who the heck watches water polo?) and Hoshi feels bullied by T'Pol (apparently no one still understands the Vulcan ways and their logic). The subplot with the alien guests who see it as an insult if someone eats food in public is a bit cheap but also a kind of foreshadowing of the misunderstandings between different species. However, Mayweather's apology seems quite ridiculous - also because Anthony Montgomery seems like a helpless young brat in this role (much worse than Wesley Crusher in my opinion). For me it's a clear miscast. As is the entire crew except Jolene Blalock as T'Pol. Everyone else doesn't fit their roles at all and seems like amateurs.