Star Trek Retro Review: "Borderland" (ENT) | The Augments

[@olencone4005]

Those Soong genes are incredible! Every generation for centuries looks exactly like Brent Spiner! :P

[@PostalHeathen]

My headcanon is that they're actually all the same guy, and he's either naturally immortal like that Flint guy from TOS, or else halted his own aging through his genetics work in the 21st century.

[@glamourweaver]

@@PostalHeathen”the seed is strong”

[@ThommyofThenn]

The seed is strong 😂

[@CAP198462]

@@olencone4005 Soong? I thought his name was Oakun.

[@musicalnotextr]

A big reason why Season 4 had a bunch of two or three-parters is because they had their budget slashed for the season and felt they could make the budget go further by having sets and resources be used for more than one episodes.

[@VanessaB]

"Oh wow, they actually got Brent Spiner to come back for this? Awesome, can't go wrong with an episode where they actually brought a legacy actor back" - Me, 2004

[@SupremeFenix274]

To be fair, he is delightful being a massive pos in this episode.

[@KassFireborn]

I remember feeling that way when Voyager had George Takei, and then the actual episode... certainly was an episode.

[@Rybe33]

Best part of the episode is hte way the orion just picks T'pol up to show her off for the auction while she looks like maybe mildly inconvenienced. I don't know why it just cracks me up. My dude is impressively strong, and I just imagine the discussions on like deciding how to block that scene, like "oh, can you maybe lift her up a bit?" "sure, like THIS?"

[@disky01]

The guy who played the leader of the augments in these episodes, Alec Newman, also played Paul Atreides in the Sci-Fi Channel's adaptation of Dune, which was by far the best adaptation of the books at the time. It was really weird to see him play the villain but I think he did well. He's also Adam Smasher in Cyberpunk 2077 and Edgerunners! Wild!

[@Hugh_I]

thank you! I just remembered again that Malik's actor somehow felt familiar. Guess that 20 year old and long forgotten but resurfaced feeling has finally been resolved.

[@disky01]

​@@Hugh_IGlad to be of service, haha

[@sethyeaton6185]

​@@disky01@hugh_i I'm here to present you with the award for "Most sane and normal use of the KZbin comment section". Congratulations!

[@CAP198462]

Wow, so this episode is full of guest stars.

[@davidmcdonald1898]

I'm so glad you pointed that out. I also think the mini-series was the best in terms of narrative. All the nuances were there. It was gratifying to see Newman in another role that showed his versatility.

[@ShinGallon]

The instant you said "Mike Nelson" I started trying to think of a MST3K joke to write in the comments, but then discovered I didn't have to!

[@CCJJ160Channels]

13:46 - “And hey, ‘Big Show’s having a f-ing ball, ain’t he?!” 😂😅🤣

[@vincenthernandez1646]

This was the episode that made me start to wonder if the Soongs were a series of clones and some form of immortality was their goal.

[@gretchenhill7366]

I loved this episode (all 3 parts, really). Brent Spiner always makes a great "villain". I always liked Alec Newman, too, who played Malik. (Newman played a great role on "Angel" season 5, too.) BTW, I assume the "Ensign Mike" you mention refers to Ensign Jeffrey Pierce? Admittedly, my requirements for enjoying a show differ from a lot of people. As a sociologist, I'm used to finding a lot of meaning and nuance in stories where "nothing happens." Although it's been over 10 years since I watched this story arc, I seem to remember the final episode being pretty interesting from a social sci fi perspective.

[@DigiRangerScott]

even in Master of Disguise?

[@caseyontiveros2776]

Every time you said "Borderland," I can hear Madonna echo "Borderline." Every. Damn. Time.

[@athane8358]

Star Trek has always had a fear of tying episode storylines together. DS9 started pitching the idea, Voyager dropped the ball then Enterprise caught it and ran. Its not until new Trek era do they really plant the seeds of future plot points in episodes. This holds them back sometimes as it makes episodes feel bottled. Restructure the episode to be about Orion slavery, during their rescue a klingon ship enters orbit. Enterprise is worried but confused when they detect humans aboard. Augments come down to the planet and help in the rescue of the captured crew. Enterprise gets some data from the Orions during the escape that shows an augmented human among the slaves, Episode ends with the scene between Archer and Soong in prison and could flow nicely into the next episodes plot without changing much.

[@realjohnlithium]

🎶 “Just repeat to yourself it’s just a cell, I should really just relax” 🎶

[@FukugawaUtake]

That BIG Orion should change jobs, he might make a good space wrestler.

[@CAP198462]

Do you think he can play Tsunkatse?

[@SeventhSwell]

Love how the Orion cage has coinvent holes anyone could crawl though if they really wanted to leave. Very kind of them.

[@bazzarr]

There was a lot of rebar in this episode. There must have been a sale on it over at the Home Depot in Hollywood.

[@richardautism]

Could one class the Bashir episodes focusing on genetically modified humans as part of your Augment series of reviews?

[@mannys7290]

I always considered Bashir as part of the larger Augment Saga.

[@steveng.clinard1766]

One could

[@scaper8]

@@mannys7290 Agreed, especially the episodes with the Jack Pack, but even some of the ones that focus more directly on him alone.

[@Murrrraaayyy]

MST3K cease and desist letter en route...

[@braedan51]

To whomever is currently occupying that dogbone scrapheap, Just repeat to yourself, "It's just a web show, I should really just relax." Disrespectfully, Wilbur Krankor, ESQ. P.S. Hea..hea...hea....hea.

[@mr.o6240]

This is one of my favorite arcs on Enterprise, it explores augments ( relating to Khan ) and even relates to androids ( Data . )

[@Professor_Scott]

Brilliant little running MST3K gag Steve!

[@mannys7290]

Enterprise is SOOOOO underrated. The way it embraced its role as an ancillary title in the Trek-verse and proceeded to seemingly take joy wrapping up or expanding upon loose ends from older Trek series was sublime.

[@hobbitronic]

It did get quite good but I can remember being young at the time and finding the first season too tedious to stick with (having had no issues with the pacing of previous Trek), only actually getting into it through re-runs. I think it actually would have benefitted a lot from existing in the modern binge-watch climate that makes it much easier to get immersed compared to weekly serialisation.

[@HOTD108_]

Remember that episode of Enterprise where everybody gets caught in a web made of cum?

[@Hugh_I]

Well it did that job pretty well in S4. But I wouldn't say that for the other seasons. S1&2 just wandered aimlessly into this terrible and contrieved time travel plot and actually avoided actually doing much in embracing it's role as a prequel that could flesh out the history of things happening later, or continue really expand on TOS plots. S4 was the only one that felt like the whole prequel thing actually served a purpose.

[@JARD7318]

@@hobbitronic Yup the 1st season and a lot of the 2nd are rough and that's coming from a lover of both this and Voyager. And I don't know if binging is the answer a lot of Enterprise and Voyager could have used another go around in the writing room.

[@mannys7290]

@Hugh_I yes it started slow and tedious. But the easter eggs and plot references/tie-ins began before s4. Voyager and even DS9 started slowly as well.....but Voyager became interesting at least and DS9 is the GOAT Trek series.

[@matthewspradling5371]

I just figured Brent Spiner wanted to act out of his usual character a little bit and I figured he had earned a moment of that haha.

[@harrybehemoth2751]

Do you remember when Brent Spiner used to show up on Night Court as the hick character?

[@Zeke_O3773]

I was surprised that genetically enhanced humans couldn’t get their hands on mothballs…

[@rokulus7910]

I had a hard time taking the augments seriously with those ridiculous outfits. They're not even convincing as worn out, ratty clothes. There's just something too clean cut about then, too sanitary, too artificial. They look like Halloween costumes.

[@jeffreypeterson8386]

Another fun video to ease my work. Love that Shives

[@ThommyofThenn]

I actually liked the three episode 'mini-arc' model they adopted in this era of the show

[@EnjoySackLunch]

Damn Steve, there had to be a “T’Pol Wight” joke in there somewhere!

[@ThommyofThenn]

"During his years as an outlaw geneticist" is terrific dialog

[@biohazrd]

I honestly really liked the entire Augment storyline in Enterprise.

[@BlackCover95]

If I had a nickel for every time an ancestor of Noonien Soong was a villain involved with Augments, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. Right?

[@glamourweaver]

Well the lore introduced by the second one (in order of appearance not in-universe chronology) pretty much explains the connections, so no, not that weird. Which does mean it was well done or a good writing choice.

[@patrickdodds7162]

The Jack Pack could have defeated Arik Soong's brood quite easily. Prove me wrong. *sips coffee*

[@matrixphotodesign]

I always enjoy watching Brent spiner Act, I was entertained.

[@davidraborn3654]

This was a great 3 play series for Spiner to shine. One of the better Trek stories.

[@trinastechnobabble]

I am totally with you with the whole Orion Syndicate should of been it's own episode. I kind of figured (as have never have seen Enterprise) that you were going to say that this after they capture Soong again and Archer is talking to him in the brig, that is where the episode would of ended which to me seemed to be a more logical point to end it. But hey I am a computer tech and not a script writer so what do I know. Keep up the amazing work. :)

[@CAP198462]

Stretching a story that only needs one or two episodes out over three sounds like a bad Hobbi- habit a bad habit. Still the presence of Mike Nelson explains how Enterprise stays so clean. He does a good job cleaning up the place. 5:34 : 😆 that’s some good fan service.

[@annabanana4379]

Absolutely cackling at those MST3K jokes 😭

[@reedcockrell8126]

I LOVED the Fourth Season (the Finale notwithstanding), and "Borderland" in particular. Part of what I liked was was the serialized feel that the Season had. I never really thought of the "Augments" as a three episode arc... instead I appreciated "Borderland" as an episode unto itself, and as a part of the overall Season 4 arc.

[@Hugh_I]

yeah agree. S4 is my favorite of ENT. This somewhat serialized format I personally think worked pretty well and gave those stories a grander feeling than the usual planet-of-the-week format. And I think the fact that they actually got around to care about the premise of a prequel show is what made me feel back then the show is finally finding its footing Loved the Vulcan arc for that in particular. Still wonder if it would've ended up a great show after all had they had the chance to continue.

[@deanthemachine8879]

God how I wish some of the MST3K cast did guest spots on Trek shows

[@fredrikcarlstedt393]

Soong, the most Superman of them all .

[@gregoryshipley4637]

One of my favorite sci fi/fantasy tropes is when a series does a season of stand alone episodes, with just a little bit in the B plot or background happenings each time that comes together to really set up the finale. I think that was what they were going for here. The Orion storyline is the main thing and everything else is just teeing up something bigger. Unfortunately, they chose to do all that work in a single episode rather than several. I don't think this viewpoint turns it into great story work, but I do think it's a more favorable analysis than this episode being an unnecessary prologue.

[@markmalebranche508]

I have never actually watched this episode and am only 3 minutes into Steve's review, but so far it sounds like the plot to Lilo and Stitch. I'm excited to find out what happens next. Maybe Ving Rhames will show up!

[@markmalebranche508]

Okay, there are a couple of differences between Borderland and Lilo and Stitch. And there was no Ving Rhames.

[@android_4420]

"Wehhhh elllllllll, it`s the Big Showwwwwww" Love me a pro wrestler cameo in my Star Trek. And yes that opening action sequence is especially good.

[@glamourweaver]

Yeah if two-parter started with the Augments stealing a Bird of Prey, followed by Archer interrogating Soong, and then the Augments attacking the prison and rescuing Soong and moving on with the plot of the next episode from there, I don’t think anything of value would have been lost.

[@lisaboban]

I actually felt "I don't care about any of these people" when the series started. I watched the first season and dropped it. I am old enough to remember TOS in first run, and I've eagerly waited for every new series and movie. But I could never make it through Enterprise. And I probably never will. I'll still watch your reviews even if I haven't seen the episode!

[@rebeccawinter472]

Agreed. The arc overall is interesting - but its strength is really in setting up the Klingon augment arc, IMHO.

[@davidmcdonald1898]

Yes! Could have easily been told in two parts, and as you suggested, been much leaner. For myself, I did enjoy the performances on their own terms enough to bridge the segments that stalled. But I agree, an entire episode devoted to set-up, like this one, maybe wasn't such a good idea. Also spot on that the Orion Syndicate segment could stand alone easily and even stand out. But a shrewd decision to capitalize on it in the later episode with the three slinky Orion slave girls, along with its kinky twist, went pretty well.

[@davidmcdonald1898]

Something else that occurred to me while listening to your critique, relative to what you pointed out in Spiner's Soong: it would have been interesting to see Soong turn introspective during his incarceration, like exploring his motives for striving for human perfection, all the self-doubt, remorse, etc., only to have it undermined by the same blind ambition when reuniting with his 'kids.' Terrific vid!

[@kmac169]

While I still enjoy Enterprise and very much enjoy almost the entirety of season 4, one issue that was noticeable for me for the entire final season was it really felt like showrunners new the writing was on the wall and the show would not continue past season 4. Hell, they struggled to even be allowed to make season 4 in the first place. So that lead to the issue that for all of season 4 it felt like the showrunners were trying to cram as many things as they could that they wanted to touch on with the show over what would have been 3 more seasons into this one final season. So you wind up with multi-part story arcs like this that contain side moments that would have, as you pointed out, been better off as their own fully contained episodes.

[@f4rnsworth138]

I always felt like it was a show that could have been great but never really knew what it was doing

[@silverharloe]

10:03 for some reason when he said, "let's go steal some embryos," I thought of Leverage

[@That_Video_Guy]

'Let's break into the FBI' - was what I thought.

[@silverharloe]

Speaking of episodes that go nowhere interesting and just feel like prologue for the real episode, this retro review is just set up for (spoiler alert) Steve getting to rant that we never effing needed an explanation for the Klingon make up improvements between TOS and TNG - these entire three episodes were moot the minute Worf said, "we do not talk about it" in that one DS9 episode - which not only provided all the explanation we needed, but did so both succinctly and, to the real point, hilariously.

[@Bastian227]

Such a memorable episode, is not what I was thinking.

[@jdonvance]

3:30 If this is officially Orion Syndicate space, validated by a bona-fide galactic power through naming the region "The Borderlands," then are the people who attacked Enterprise really 'pirates'?

[@plasmaburndeath]

I was wrestling with what to comment, but then realized I just had to go all in on this before sending the comment out.

[@BlackCover95]

7:31 “Back in the day”? And which day is that??

[@davidpumpkinsjr.5108]

It's unfair to say this episode doesn't tell a complete story. It's clearly the first act of a three-act narrative. Examine the technical aspects all you want, but you can't criticize a story for being incomplete when you know full well that there is more to it. His arguments remond me of the people who saw The Phantom Menace back in '99 and were loudly angry that it didn't explain everything up to episode 4, or the people who watch Fellowship of the Ring and were mad that the story wasn't finished.

[@PaulMcElligott]

His complaint wasn’t simply that these episode didn’t tell a complete story, but that it barely told any story at all. You could’ve skipped the most of this episode and not missed a thing. And these people who complained about the phantom menace and Fellowship of the Ring, are they in the room right now? I never heard anyone say such a thing, and strawman arguments don’t help your case.

[@ryebread095]

i think these episodes just increased peoples confusion between the villain Khan Noonien Singh and Data's creator, Noonien Soong

[@pagsz]

Definitely get where you're coming from with the episode feeling like filler. I didn't even remember that the Orion slave auction was part of this arc.

[@johncattley5919]

I’m not saying this arc was good or needed to be made to explore this lore, but they were fun to watch.

[@simonmoody8400]

I fairly much agree with Steve. I think, though, that he is being a tad mean towards the Augments. Persis has a character arc through the three episodes, it might be thin and the writers don't serve it very well, but it's there. (And not to jump ahead, but given she straight up sacrifices her life to save Soong, sure he doesn't know how she actually died, but he knows she died, his verdict on Augments is to utterly bin them, without a moment's thought that one did that for him, and Smike, technically an Augment, even if an underdeveloped one, was also not a lunatic either, is both cold, from someone who was passionate moments before, about his 'children', ungreatful and shows that the writers don't really care either, they spent time and effort on her character, to then have Soong discard her memory like she wasn't even worthy of taking the time to discard). But, yes, it's a shame that 70% of this 1/3 parts is used for a total side mission that has nothing to do with the rest of the story. (Okay, it shows that Soong is manipulative and cunning, but, that could have been done with a few extra lines of banter in sick bay by catching Trip or Phlox in a logic trap or some such).

[@allanolley4874]

I don't hate forced references, but sometimes they strike me as silly. And watching this you really go gee the augments costumes and hair styles really are a deliberate reference to Wrath of Kahn, but why? Definitely mildly distracting.

[@DuncanTheSinger]

Green Onions - but no Booker T joke? Steve, Steve, Steve...

[@softsilvertain]

Yes! MST3K reference! Are you a Joel, Mike, or Jonas fan? While I enjoy all three, I'm always a a Joel man.

[@hobbitronic]

I always dislike the trend of constantly revisiting the Soong family tree. It really drags Star Trek away from the significance of the humanities progress and kinda warps it into some weird chronology of the evolution of the "Soong Dynasty". Like the stories themselves are fine, some interesting and entertaining, and Spiner is always delightful, and it's fine to have them link and call back through the history, but having them literally be descendents is a so contrived. Also, why do augments always have to dress like cavemen? Like it made sense in Wrath of Khan because they'd been exiled 😅

[@Hugh_I]

I kinda like the Soong thing in ENT. His character wasn't that special, I agree with Steve here, but at least at the time it was an original clever idea to bring Spiner into the mix of a story that spans across ENT, TOS and the TNG era. However, in Picard it's just inflating Soongs in a tired rehash of old ideas, like so many tired things that made that show so terrible.

[@hobbitronic]

​@@Hugh_I Yeah, it's okay to do it once or twice but it grates when it gets dragged on, especially when it doubles up with La'an in SNW, she didn't need to be a direct descendant of Singh, it doesn't add anything to her character that couldn't have been done by having her just have augment lineage. I think in general they overdo how closely linked callbacks are just for the sake of it. It makes the universe seem much smaller as a result, as absolutely everything appears to revolve tighly around the same people.

[@TammyBeth1015]

I've been rewatching S4 to refresh my memory and I'm still generally a fan of the storytelling (not including Stormfront and the finale) but the one thing I'm reminded of, and this is going to probably get some objections, Scott Backula never got a handle on the character through the whole series. He's not a bad actor and Archer is certainly not a bad character...but he's SO BAD at playing Archer. It takes me out of a lot of scenes that should otherwise work.

[@firefly4f4]

Oh goody, is this the episode where Big Show picks up Jolene Blalock in a way that totally doesn't intentionally highlight the fact that she's busty?

[@bozhijak]

I saw what you did there!!! The Big Show... HA!

[@Hugh_I]

I would somewhat disagree with the episode having nothing happening. I mean sure, Steve is right that it didn't move the main plot all that much. But I think it is a much better example of weighing a greater plot and giving the individual episode it's own story. Much better at least than it's done in Disco or worse: Picard, where lots of episodes are indeed just pointless filler to wait for a crammed and underwhelming season finale. This episode basically introduced the greater 3-parter plot, but on it's own it kind of IS its own episode on the early Orion Syndicate. And for ENT pretty well done IMHO.

[@mgalusic]

This video is Steve sarcastically making comments about robots who make sarcastic comments about bad sci fi. It's MST3Keption.

[@aalhard]

Is this one of those rare "they shouldn't have made it" and not "at least they got paid"?

[@SavageGreywolf]

Question, weren't the Orions originally just an entire species with a bdsm switch kink? When did they become _actually_ slavers?

[@dpcbreen]

I watched season 4 four a while back and just remember the more Jeffrey Combs the better…this 3 parter isn’t great but hey it could be s2 of Picard

[@markfearon4986]

Green onions 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Cmdr1962]

I nodded off for three hours. I see ya.

[@SkylerLinux]

If your part one can't manage a "Must See" you did something wrong

[@FordLancer]

The episode Borderland was better than the movie with the same name. Heyooo!

[@philgodin6493]

I loved this 3000.

[@MicahSps]

Malak had a different path than Sungh… A Golden Path…

[@Jenifer_R_]

This is when Enterprise lost me. The obsession with continuity took over and we got a triple episode story arc just to explain why the Klingons' makeup was so crappy in the 1960s. The final episode of Discovery proved nobody has learnt anything.

[@Phrancq]

Well, it's the Big Show...

[@IanZainea1990]

Why are there so many episodes of TV that involve getting a prisoner out to help on some endeavor/mission... Seems very unrealistic haha

[@getnohappy]

Why can't any of these genetically engineered super beings sew?

[@notaname8385]

I love your content ^_^ 🎉❤

[@yourgodismean4526]

MST forever!!

[@Xostriyad]

uh... why does the still at 13:00 go so damn hard??

[@aalhard]

Well said❤ 13:40

[@andrewbesso4257]

Damn side quests!

[@christophergaus3996]

Soong was kinda a sedated Lore

[@euansmith3699]

Star Trek + Pro Wrestling + Anti-Slavery? This episode was practically written for Steve. It is a shame the authors didn't do a better job.

[@BlueBeetle1939]

At what point does Discovery qualify for retro reviewing?

[@johncattley5919]

May we all live that long

[@PhillipWrigley]

I would love it if Steve did more Discovery content. That show really rewards rewatching and close analysis.

[@Ghostie.]

6:07 HAHAHAHA!!! 🤣

[@ThisIsMeAndNotYou]

43!

[@Mephiestopholes]

Come on, Dude!! Not that kind of cliff hanger...

[@jasonpugh2908]

It's just a show, you should really just relax...

[@CaptainAndy]

An utterly needless attempt to establish some back story to the character of Noonien Soong and a flimsy excuse to involve an actor from TNG. All in all, pretty pointless.

[@kinoko5566]

Brent Spiner and Mike Nelson (The best Janeway) on this and it still sucked?!

[@mdharrisuiuc]

I love Brent Spiner but godamn did he not need to be in this series! TNG ruined Enterprise!

[@darkseid1975]

I hate these episodes so much. We could have just had the answer to the Klingon design changes being "we didnt have the money in the 1960s", but instead we get a convoluted set of episodes that never needed to exist and were generally not of the best quality.

[@jmilton041]

My issue is Shaq and Brad Williams are both humans. TOS Klingons, TNG Klingons, and DISCO Klingons all look more similar than the differences in the human race.

[@philgodin6493]

The Augments, and Soong, very boring. The Orion Syndicate lore? Very good. Enterprise needed more of the old school lore building.

[@Shintigercurl]

if you didn't make any wrestling jokes about paul wight, i would've unsubbed you instantly.

[@MKultra8815]

first post

[@oko_161]

First