Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series) Detained (2002) User Reviews

Sam and Al face off over the Suliban

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 26 August 2020]

Archer and Mayweather find themselves detained in a Suliban internment camp.

I enjoyed this episode as both a story and social message, although the writers were making some of the dialogue bit too explicit with the episode themes.

Dean Stockwell otherwise known as Scott Bakula's 'Quantum Leap' time jumping guide Al, plays the episode's primary antagonist with a fairly complex moral outlook. The former co-stars work well together due to their established chemistry. At one point I half expected Stockwell to take out his handheld device say "Sorry Sam, Ziggy says there's a 99% chance you'll be stuck in this place till the end of the episode!"

Most characters give a pretty decent contribution to this one. Aboard the Enterprise Trip gives his expected emotional hardline response and T'Pol plays Sub-Commander Sensible as always. I was particularly pleased to see Travis with better material than he usually gets. Anthony Montgomery gives his most accomplished performance of the series so far, particularly in his challenge of the Suliban about their preconceptions of humans.

From a geeky perspective there is some good use of the transporters and no obvious issues with franchise continuity. However there are some continuity issues within the episode itself regarding the physical environment, but you can't have everything.

Unusual Alliance

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 10 December 2007]

While investigating a mysterious surge of energy with the shuttle-pod, Archer and Travis are captured by the distrustful and hostile Tandarans and sent to a detention complex in a remote planet. The warden Colonel Grat explains the misunderstandings, explaining that they are in war against the Suliban terrorist organization Cabal, and that the inmates are pacific Sulibans relocated temporarily for their own safety. He claims that he has no authority to release the earthlings and they should be sent to the central magistrate office in Tander Pride as a simple bureaucratic formality. However, Captain Archer discloses that the interns are hold imprisoned due to prejudice against their race and resolves to interfere in the fate of the Sulibans.

"Detained" is a reasonable episode with a story based on the prejudice of Americans against Japanese people that lived in USA after Pearl Harbor attack. I do not know whether the interference of Captain Archer and his unusual alliance with the Sulibans will have consequences in the future. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Detidos" ("Detained")

Wheres the closure!

[jurific · 6/10 · 23 September 2017]

Average episode about detainment camps WWII style with a theme of prejudice and racial stereotypes. Mayweather had a little speech about overcoming prejudice that sounds nothing like a real human speaking and exactly like a wordy and bad line reading from a script.

The main problem with this episode is the exactly 0 closure on the fate of the two main Sullivan characters! None! Just two scenes before the end, the hesitant Suliban, sujak or whatever,is given a federation phase pistol to go back for Dirak (or whatever). For the character it represents his moment to finally find his courage and resist. Then that's it, no resolution on that - the fate of two of the three guest stars in the episode. There is zero follow up on whether they both die or escape. It was irking.

The episode is pretty bland even for trek considering the setting and theme. Average episode, average score.

Archer's curiosity bites him in the butt yet again

[txriverotter · 6/10 · 5 July 2022]

Archer and Mayweather have been detained by the Tandarans, a militaristic group who guard their space jealously, and are terrified of the Suliban.

We learn in this episode that all Suliban aren't alike. After the captain matches so self-righteously up to a Suliban father and daughter doing their laundry, and demands to know how he could dare to do "that" to his daughter, meaning the genetic manipulation that the Suliban Cabal undergo.

As it turns it, they are not part of the Cabal, but that doesn't stop the Tandarans from detaining every Suliban they find, and treating them horribly.

The prison warden is all smiles at first and slowly reveals what a totalitarian dick he is. Really he's like most men who do what he does, he's a scared little boy trying to dominate and control anything he doesn't understand and fears. When diplomacy doesn't work to fool visitors, he'll resort to whatever means he had at his disposal.

In the end, Archer and Mayweather learns a lesson about judging a whole race by just a few, although they're sure to forget that the next episode or two, and Mayweather gives a little speech about acceptance that rolls off his tongue like frozen molasses. He wasn't that comfortable as an actor yet, that was clear, but the speech was wordy and preachy. It could've been done better and given him better material to work with.

So Enterprise comes to the rescue but Archer makes sure everyone gets out, not just him and Mayweather. But we have no follow-up, and have no idea what happens to certain characters we've come to care about during the course of the episode. Would've been nice to have that.

My last gripe is about Trip. I don't like his character, as I've stated in other reviews about this show, and in this episode he again shows why he's not fit to be an officer, bridge crew or captain. He may be an excellent engineer, but he needs to stay down in the engine room, and not have any interaction, other than his crew.

While T'Pol is conversing with the prison warden for the first time, trying to find out what's going on, Trip inserts himself and talks over her making demands. He's obnoxious, foolish and in the wrong. And yet, why is he NEVER punished for this?! He does this time and again, running his mouth when it's not his place. His character never grows or matures in the slightest over the entire arc of the series. He is by far my least favorite character in this entire series.

Manzanar Revisited

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 13 March 2017]

I enjoyed this one. There's nothing quite like an oppressive group mistreating a culture for plot fodder. Here Archer and Mayweather find themselves in a detention center, run by Scott Bakula's old colleague Dean Stockwell. Apparently, his people have had some encounters with the Sulabon and have decided the wisest course would be to imprison the entire race, even the ones who have done nothing. What they haven't counted on is that Archer and the gang don't take well to bigotry in any form (they have also had experiences with bad Sulabon members, but still have an open mind). Of course, the bad guys don't just detain these guys; they also abuse them, even the children. This is one of the better episodes.

World War II: IN SPACE

[Samuel-Shovel · 7/10 · 6 June 2017]

After wandering into Tandaran territory, Captain Archer and Travis find themselves in an internment camp with a bunch of Suliban. The main issue with this is the fact that these Suliban are not part of the Cabal and are innocent citizens. Archer and the gain try to help them escape.

The analogy between internment camps used on Japanese-Americans during WWII is quite clear. The history lesson by Archer is unnecessary as the show disrespects its audience a little bit here by assuming we're unaware of the allegorical references. Besides this though, this is a good episode. We get to see the thought process of the Tandarans, claiming that they did this for the Sulibans' own protection, that they didn't want them falling into Cabal hands, etc. The ending climax scene felt a bit truncated but sometimes it can be hard for an episode to be condensed down to 50 minutes.

Sadly this moralistic story is all too relevant in today's society. Even now, we here murmurings of proposed internment camps for people based on their race, based on their religion. This episode goes to show us that fear is universal and it is up to the good guys to make sure that all species out there get fair treatment, even in times of war.

Kind of preachy but good.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 24 March 2015]

When the show begins, Archer and Mayweather are in a detention facility. Apparently they wandered into the space of some folks who are at war with the genetically enhanced Suliban--the same ones who have been attacking Enterprise. At first, the people holding the two seem pretty reasonable and their interrogator (Dean Stockwell) is all smiles. However, over time two problems develop--the Captain spends a lot of time with other Suliban in custody and soon realizes that they are harmless and have nothing to do with the evil Suliban AND the interrogator is a total #&$%! He is not the nice guy he seem like when the show began and is more than willing to use torture to get information. Negotating with these people just doesn't seem possible and the Captain is not about to leave all these innocent folks in custody as well.

The only problem I saw about the show is that it was an obvious parallel to interred Japanese during WWII. This was fine...but then having Archer talk about this seemed preachy and unnecessary. I think many in the audience got the parallel and didn't need the history lesson. Otherwise, quite interesting and it was nice to see Dean Stockwell playing a jerk-face.

Not good

[martintomaschek · 2/10 · 22 October 2017]

I don't like this one. I think captain Archer has severe god syndrome, acts as a dictator of micro-nation called the Enterprise, but he really should act more like a representative of Earth, which has just began to explore space, and avoid initiating potential conflict with another planet by literary assaulting it's prison facility. The writers try to make the viewers approve the captain's decisions by showing us the bruised crewman, but they were planning an escape after all, which means breaking their laws again. Also Archer's motivation to withdraw information about their encounters with the Sulivans is weak and hi is provoking a nation at war. I mean this episode is unrealistic not only from the usual points of view (tech and every alien in the universe looks human -- that is OK, cause it's sci-fi), but also diplomacy and the authority of a captain (I think the starfleet command would need to approve storming an alien prison)

A Senior Trekker writes.........................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 11 May 2022]

This is a sound "message" episode with the added bonus of some excellent performances, some careful set dressing and an industrial quantity of cosmetic-grade latex. We open with two of the Enterprise crew members captured and imprisoned with a group of un-modified Sulliban by a set of brutal guards who represent an as yet unknown alien race.

The revelations about how Archer and Mayweather got into this situation and what is going on in the camp could be summarised on the back of a postage stamp but that doesn't really detract from the strength of the performances or the overall quality of the writing.

Scott Bakula's friend and former co-star, Dean Stockwell, adds a gravitas to what could have been a one-dimensional role as the camp commandant, Colonel Grat of the combative Tandarans. Dennis Christopher and Star Trek regular Christopher Shea manage to make their performances as the Sulliban detainees project through their totally prosthetic-enclosed physiognomy. It is a great testimony to their acting skills that we actually care about their final fate and are disappointed when it is not explained at the end of the episode.

A special mention is due, however, to child actor Jessica D Stone, who managed all the arduous make-up application like a real trouper - although a glance at her profile reveals that she quickly turned her career sights to voice work not long after this appearance. At the other end of the age scale we see a brief cameo by professional dancer Wilda Taylor as a "Sulliban woman". Born in 1930, she graced a number of big budget productions in the 1950's and 60's so I'd dearly love to know how she came to be cast here under all that prosthetic while in her seventies.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.