Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series) Fight or Flight (2001) User Reviews

A Code of Behavior

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 18 October 2007]

After two weeks in space, the only contact of the Enterprise's crew has been with a dying worm. Lieutenant Malcolm Reed is trying to align the scanners of the defense system with the support of Ensign Travis Mayweather; Dr. Phlox is researching a slug and a bat that have been brought aboard; Ensign Hoshi Sato is bored and feeling upset for the slug. When Enterprise sees a spacecraft adrift in space, Captain Jonathan Archer decides to go on board with Reed and Hoshi to contact the crew, but they find fifteen dead crewman. Sub-Commander T'Pol advises to leave the place for the safety of the Enterprise and crew. After an argument with T'Pol about code of behavior. Captain Archer decides to return to the craft with Dr. Phlox, Ensign Hoshi and the engineer Reed, and make contact with the planet of the crewman. Dr. Phlox finds that a component of the body of the aliens has been drained by the killers, and they are surprised by the spaceship that has killed the crew. When the situation is dramatic and critical, Hoshi contacts another craft from the breed that had been murdered, the Axanar.

"Fight or Flight" is a reasonable episode of Enterprise with a greater participation of the insecure Hoshi. T'Pol is more restraint by Captain Archer, but her advices are sensate and wise, contrasting with the impulsive Captain Archer. The preoccupation with the slug is silly, and the attitude of leaving the worm in another planet is irresponsible with the environment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Luta ou Fuga" ("Fight or Runaway")

Will someone just slap Hoshi?!

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 16 March 2015]

This is not a particularly great episode because it mostly focuses on Hoshi--and she is a particularly weak and hard to like character. Having her being a bit uncertain would have worked but having her being THAT indecisive and filled with neuroses was NOT a good thing at all. At every turn, she's annoying the audience with her stupid fears. One minute she's afraid she'll be space sick, another she's upset her cabin faces the wrong direction, another she's worried about going into a confined space and another she's worried about her linguistic skills during a first contact. I felt like yelling 'man up' or something like it during so much of the show. On a planet with billions of people, couldn't they have come up with someone more qualified, less stupid and more capable than this mess of a woman?! Plus, I am sure a lot of women cringed to see such a weak female leading character and she's nothing like any of the much more capable and less annoying guys!

The purpose of the episode is to show Hoshi evolving very quickly (and a bit TOO quickly) to become more confident on the ship. While an interesting episode in most ways, she isn't. Perhaps she'll get better--I'll have to revisit this in future episodes.

Hoshi coming through in the clutch.

[thevacinstaller · 7/10 · 25 February 2023]

I don't know ---- I think I would freak out a bit too if I discovered a bunch of dead bodies hanging from the ceiling having fluid extracted from them.

As the title suggests --- this episode is about whether or not to investigate/help this ship in distress. This series definitely has that frontiersman feeling going for it and we get the saddest crew dinner scene ever with Archer looking like a sad dog for not furthering the investigation. Looks like he was right in this particular case and he even made a friend!

I have no problem with Hoshi being in over her head here. This crew is exploring space for the first time and that has to be intimidating. This is also an exploration of someone 'green' learning as they go ---- With all other series we have had a group of experienced officers on hand but this is all new to everyone. It turns out all she needed was encouraging dad support from Archer to push past her anxiety.

Dr Phlox is engaging right out of the gate. Seems like a fully formed character and I like how he truly feels alien ---- In his mannerism, ideals, beliefs.

This was a pretty good episode. I guess it's better that we do not know what the purpose of sucking the fluid out of these aliens was?!

Exploration, fear and more clashes between logic and humanity

[snoozejonc · 7/10 · 15 August 2020]

During the first couple of weeks of exploration the Enterprise comes across another ship and makes a nasty discovery.

I found this episode to be on par with the first. The plot isn't as exciting but it does cover a few more themes. The nature of exploration and the inherent danger that goes along with it. Also fear and self doubt are big factors in how some of the characters are portrayed, particularly Ensign Hoshi.

It's understandable that some may find Hoshi difficult to tolerate during this episode, however I do quite like this perspective on a Star Trek character. For so many years we are presented with characters who do extraordinary things on a weekly basis that take supreme skill and confidence levels. In this instance, we witness someone who has ability but no confidence and gets completely overwhelmed by situations. I found it refreshing. Things do get resolved in a rather silly way at the end, but I suppose we can't have everything.

Other characters get a bit more screen time. Phlox has some decent moments, but his slug analogy does get old quickly. Trip gives us the opposite side of the coin to Hoshi with his desperation to get off the ship and explore dangerous environments.

Archer and T'Pol continue to clash in their methods of space exploration, this time codes of behaviour is one of what feels will be many slanging matches between the two on board Enterprise. There is only so long that dynamic can go on before it gets a bit tiresome. This type of thing worked with Spock and Bones in the original series because they had excellent chemistry and Kirk's overarching authority had a perfect blend of logic and humanity.

Despite Enterprise's many detractors I haven't felt like switching off yet.

Poor Female Representation

[nmjoe · 6/10 · 21 October 2019]

The story is decent and back to the basics of Star Trek. The series is still at the point of getting to know the characters, so that will probably be the primary focus early in season one. Unfortunately, it is already clear that the representation of women in this series is taking some huge steps back from Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager.

After seeing some very strong female characters in the previous two Star Trek series (Captain Janeway, 7 of 9, Torres, Jadzia Dax, Kira, etc.), Enterprise appears ready to go back to the weak female characters (with the possible exception of Uhura) in the original series. Yes, Enterprise does take place prior to the events of the original series, but it is still set in the future and one would hope that female characters would be depicted in a much more positive light.

With all the males being characterized as brave and curious adventure seekers, T'Pol has been limited to being a killjoy. Hoshi is whining and complaining about everything, even the location of her room, is on a space mission in spite of being claustrophobic, and is unsure about her own profession. She is given some confidence but only after the encouragement of male characters. Her screaming upon boarding the alien ship was more appropriate for a teen slasher film then for a Star Trek series.

For its time, the original series had some fairly positive and strong women. The Next Generation took that a step further and Deep Space Nine and Voyager did an excellent job of it. Hopefully, as Enterprise evolves, it will get back on that trend.

Yes, Hoshi is Really Tiresome

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 6 March 2017]

The Enterprise moves through space and nothing much is happening. Some specimens have been brought on board, but there has been no contact with sentient beings. Hoshi is complaining endlessly and Tripp is champing at the bit to get into some action. Malcolm says that the weapons systems are still not calibrated properly. Tests reveal that he is right, leaving them with imprecise defenses. The come upon a ship, seemingly dead in space. There are life forms on board. T'Pol is intent on Archer doing things by the book, but he is like Kirk, emotional and curious. The ship contains the bodies of an alien race. They are strung up by their feet, dead, and fluids are being drained from their bodies. T'Pol talks Archer into getting out of there, but afterward he is biting through nails, knowing that someone is responsible and they aren't intervening. Back to the ship and a confrontation. Hoshi's role is extremely important as she translates and speaks to get a ship to ally with them. Pretty good first regular episode.

My friend had a clear purse just like that...

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 20 January 2020]

I would see it in her garage whenever I would come visit. The same purse that Hoshi used to bring the alien slug to a new planet... I just have a couple of minor complaints about this episode and then we will get back to that Slug-Purse.

I understand Hoshi's reluctance to continue with the mission, that was not unrealistic.

I don't understand her reluctance to do her JOB. That was totally unrealistic.

Of course, this show represented some of the first people to ever travel the galaxy and visit "Brave New Worlds"- and of course these people didn't act like the crew of the Enterprize D. But still-

But Hoshi was an OFFICER, with a rank. Rather than a "rank" amateur... her reluctance to act when under pressure was not only out of character, it was not believable.

Even if she were as frustrated as she portrayed, she would have not hesitated to do her job- it's what military do. She was on the ship for one major reason, and even if she had intended to quit, she still would have done her job to the best of her ability.

Especially under the circumstances and the threat of being connected to some kind of alien device and turned into snacks.

Even the Maquis on Voyager did their jobs without question when ordered to by their captain.

The other thing going on here, finding an alien derelict in space and seeing that the crew had been subjected to a nightmare scenario, that was almost like "Alien", the creep factor was about 90%.

These two aspects of the third Enterprize episode appears to have torn the episode in half making it weird and creepy on one hand and ridiculous on the other.

The show and the Hoshi character did get better as it went along, showing that Hoshi was talented not just with spoken languages but with mathematical languages as well, when she became infected in one future episode and the ship was under observation by Organians Who were reluctant to help with the ship out of a worthwhile conundrum.

She was even kidnapped by the Xindi reptilians aliens in the last episode of season three, and her talents were made to work for them.

So we know even in this episode that she was capable of communicating with another species even with limited knowledge of those spoken language. She was of course the woman who created the universal translator.

But in this episode she acts like a scared little girl which she definitely was not. Scared, maybe.

Getting back to that clear square purse that she used to bring the slug to a new planet, I was amazed that I recognized that, my friend had one exactly like that. This was an object that could have been purchased at any $.99 only store and that's probably where it was found. Because we know that guys like Dan Curry, who created a lot of objects used in Star Trek even back as far as some of the feature films of the 80s, was known to obtain some of the best props from what we would consider mundane sources. For example the prop for Jupiter station used in a couple of voyager episode, was actually created from three generic trashcan lids. And the side of the Borg cube that was used to show how the ships regenerate was constructed from an even more generic source. Don't get me started on the "hatch" of the Dyson sphere scene in next generation season six episode "relics" where were you last saw Scotty who had crashed onto the Dyson sphere.

It pleases me to no end that we continue to see the Star Trek franchise ability to create beautiful props out of basically garbage still alive in the final show of that particular franchise, that franchise which began with the motion picture in 1979 and ended with Star Trek nemesis in 2002-3.

Very few of those original people are left to work on the new Star Trek franchise of CBS. It's like Paramount owned a support crew to make great movies and with the end of the Star Trek franchise of the 80s and 90s, those people all had to find new jobs after some of them, 20 years of constant work.

Hesitant Hoshi

[Samuel-Shovel · 5/10 · 13 May 2017]

This episode has a whole lot of filler, a lot of it focused on Hoshi's self-doubt and utter lack of self-confidence. Boy, can she whine! I'm okay with a little bit of it but it felt like half this episode is listening to her ramble on about how she doesn't belong out here. This, mixed with the heavy-handed slug metaphor used to represent Hoshi's situation makes for an all too forgettable episode.

Captain Archer seems to act very similar to Captain Kirk thus far: Emotional, inquisitive, and has a bit of a temper. The rest of the crew seems solid, although we don't know much about Reed thus far and I'm interested to know a little more about his backstory. Dr. Phlox is my favorite character through the first few episodes: witty, optimistic, with a child-like curiosity.

Hopefully this is the last episode centered around Hoshi's insecurities. I'm not sure if I can handle much more of that.

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

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 24 March 2022]

The crew of the NX-01 has been out in space for a couple of weeks now and are finding it a lot less glamorous than they expected. Their first contact is with alien animal life takes the form of a slug which, in breach of every known zoological protocol of the early 21st century (never mind the late 22nd), someone takes back aboard ship as a pet.

That's a shame because the rest of the episode isn't bad. We have a spooky, deserted ship where the away team discover a group of mysterious alien corpses, suspended from whatever passes for their ankles and being systematically exsanguinated by battery-operated gadgets of some kind. Yes, Hoshi, I think a scream was definitely justified.

Confrontations and misunderstandings arise as Captain Archer battles to convince other members of this race of Slurpees that he is not responsible and that his ship and crew need help against the actual Vampires who are currently attacking the Enterprise. Presumably in the hope of sampling a completely new flavour. The episode ends with another egregious piece of ecological rule breaking when Sluggo is dropped off on a completely different planet in the hope that he/she/it will have the right environment in which to survive*.

The script moves along well and has a few funny moments while the crew are beginning to meld together despite having a Vulcan aboard who's ill-concealed disdain "sucks all the air out of a room". Scott Bakula is effortlessly in charge notwithstanding his affable personality and this seems like a bunch of people I'm going to enjoy getting to know better. I'm still finding that the submarine-style ship's interior and workaday costumes don't have a very Star Trek feel to them and the computer-generated space ships look so unconvincing that I've had to go back to watching on a small screen. I think I'll continue with this series though.

* Without a doubt it's an evolutionary catastrophe in the making. This may be something that other Trek writers might like to re-visit if they are ever short of ideas.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.