| "Affliction" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: Enterprise episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 4 Episode 15 | ||
| Directed by | Michael Grossman[1] | ||
| Story by | Manny Coto | ||
| Teleplay by | Mike Sussman | ||
| Featured music | Velton Ray Bunch | ||
| Production code | 415 | ||
| Original air date | February 18, 2005 (2005-02-18) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Star Trek: Enterpriseseason 4 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Affliction" is the fifteenth episode of thefourth season of the American science fiction television seriesStar Trek: Enterprise, and originally aired onUPN on February 18, 2005. The script was written byMike Sussman from a story byexecutive producerManny Coto. It was the second episode ofEnterprise to be directed byMichael Grossman. The episode is the first of a two-part story, which concludes with "Divergence".
Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the firstStarfleet starshipEnterprise, registration NX-01. In "Affliction", the crew investigate the kidnapping of DoctorPhlox (John Billingsley), and the ship is attacked by a new type of Klingon. Meanwhile, Phlox is taken to a Klingon colony to work on a cure for a plague whose effects include the disappearance of the Klingon's cranial ridges.
The episode sought to answer the question of why Klingons looked different inStar Trek: The Original Series than in other series of the franchise. It also introducedSection 31, originally seen inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, to an earlier time in theStar Trek canon.
The episode featured a number of guest stars who had previous connections to the franchise, includingJames Avery who was in the running for the part ofWorf inThe Next Generation,John Schuck who played a Klingon Ambassador in twoStar Trek films, andEric Pierpoint who had appeared in several other episodes ofStar Trek previously. Some of the standing sets were redressed to appear as the interior of theColumbia, and some scenes were filmed outside at the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles, California.
Enterprise returns to Earth in time for the launch of the second NX class starship,Columbia, and CommanderTucker prepares for his transfer. Meanwhile, EnsignSato and DoctorPhlox are attacked inSan Francisco, and Phlox is kidnapped. CaptainArcher and LieutenantReed investigate the scene, and Reed is given a secret assignment by asecretive agent that he seems to know. CommanderT'Pol, seeking information from Sato, conducts her firstmind-meld, and the two realize that the attackers spoke Rigelian. They discover that a Rigelian freighter recently left orbit and head off in pursuit.
OnColumbia, Tucker ruffles a few feathers of his new team, and CaptainHernandez asks the reasons behind his transfer. Later, T'Pol, in her quarters, begins to meditate and mentally goes to her white cloud quiet place only to have a slightly confused, but still amused, Tucker show up there and start arguing with her. The moment of the shared vision (despite being on different ships) is broken when a disoriented Tucker appears to come out of a momentary daydream onColumbia.Enterprise locates a destroyed Rigelian ship, and while investigating, they are suddenly attacked and boarded. MACOs repel the attack and a captured alien is taken to Sickbay, where scanners show that despite his human appearance, he is in factKlingon. Archer then discovers Reed's complicity in evidence tampering and confines him to the brig. Archer also learns that the boarders sabotaged the ship, and he orders maximum speed in order to prevent the warp core from overloading. The ship increases speed towarp 5.2, the fastest it has ever been.
Phlox is taken toQu'Vat, a Klingon colony where General K'Vagh and Doctor Antaak seek his help to cure a Klingon plague. To Phlox's horror, K'Vagh kills an infected Klingon so that an autopsy can be performed. Phlox determines that the victim's DNA has been supplemented with that of agenetically augmented human. Phlox also learns from Antaak that they experimented with augmented DNA after the events seen in "Borderland", but it self-mutated and escaped. Antaak and Phlox are told that they have five days to cure the outbreak before it is too late. Antaak suggests that the only course of action is to create stable augmented Klingons, but Phlox refuses to assist further.
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The storyline in "Affliction" answers an ongoing question which had begun with the pilot episode ofEnterprise, "Broken Bow". InThe Original Series, Klingons appeared mostly human, with no applied prosthetics. However, inStar Trek: The Motion Picture, they first appeared with forehead ridges and continued to appear this way through the remaining movies as well asThe Next Generation,Deep Space Nine andVoyager.[2] TheDS9 episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" references the change, with ChiefO'Brien suggesting that Klingons had been genetically modified and DoctorBashir assuming a viral mutation had taken place.[3]
Theories created by fans included the idea that the ridgeless Klingons were from a specific part of the home world, but this was discounted when three ridgeless Klingons fromThe Original Series appeared with ridges in theDeep Space Nine episode "Blood Oath".[4]The Original Series had a restricted budget, and there was no funding for any prosthetic make-up for the Klingons untilThe Motion Picture.[4] DuringThe Original Series, it was decided to use them more frequently than theRomulans, whose prosthetics were more expensive. The original ridgeless design was created after suggestions byJohn Colicos, who based them onGenghis Khan and the people of the 13th and 14th centuryMongol Empire.[5] When "Broken Bow" aired, it featured Klingons with forehead ridges, despite the series being set prior toThe Original Series.[2] On the episode's script, the old style Klingons were referred to as "type-two" and "semi-Klingons".[4]
The storyline was one of several in the fourth season ofEnterprise whichshow runnerManny Coto sought to connect the series toThe Original Series.[6] Coto also revealed in an interview with theChicago Tribune that the episode would see the start of Section 31.[7] The episode also featured the first appearance on-screen of the Rigelians, despite first being mentioned inThe Original Series and again inDS9.[8] "Affliction" marks the fifth writing credit of the fourth season for Michael Sussman, while director Michael Grossman had previously directed the episode "Hatchery".[4]
Filming took place from December 3, 2004, through to December 12. Several of the standing sets were redressed to appear as the locations on the USSColumbia, including the bridge, Captain's mess and the engineering section. The exterior scenes where Phlox and Hoshi were attacked were filmed on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles. As the New York streets backlot had already been used earlier in the season for the opening episode "Storm Front", this sequence was instead filmed in the area between the studio's Administration building and a building which had previously doubled for the high school in thesitcomHappy Days.[4]
James Avery was cast as the Klingon General K'Vagh.[9] He underwent a three-hour make-up process for the role, something he later described as a nightmare.[10][11] He had previously been involved withStar Trek in 1987, when he was the runner up toMichael Dorn to be cast asWorf inThe Next Generation. He became better known as Philip Banks inThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.[9] "Affliction" also featured a cameo byMarc Worden as a Klingon prisoner, who had previously appeared in theDeep Space Nine episodes "Sons and Daughters" and "You Are Cordially Invited" as Worf's son,Alexander Rozhenko.[12]
John Schuck was cast as the Klingon doctor Antaak,[1] having previously appeared as the Klingon Ambassador in bothStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home andStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.[13] Schuck had also appeared in episodes of bothDeep Space Nine andVoyager.[4] Eric Pierpoint had previously appeared in several episodes ofStar Trek across the various television series, including theTNG episode "Liaisons" as well as episodes ofDS9 andVoyager. He had also appeared in theEnterprise episode "Rogue Planet".[4]
Brad Greenquist appeared as a Rigelian in this episode in his second appearance onEnterprise, he too had also previously appeared in episodes ofDS9 andVoyager.[4] The other Rigelians were played by stuntmen Brian Williams and Tom Dupont, whilst Linda Park was stunt-doubled by Diana Inosanto.[4] It was the second appearance ofSeth MacFarlane, the creator of the animated television showFamily Guy, in a role inEnterprise. He had previously appeared as an unnamed character in the third-season episode "The Forgotten" but gains the name Ensign Rivers in "Affliction".[14][15]
"Affliction" originally aired onUPN, on February 18, 2005. It received a 1.8/3% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. This means that it was seen by 1.8 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and three percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This equals the ratings received by the previous episode, "The Aenar", which received the highest ratings of the fourth season so far. It finished behind programs onNBC,The WB,ABC,CBS andFox.[16][17]
IGN gave the episode 3.5 out of five, and called it "Another strong, solid episode of a series that is only getting better from week to week."[18] Michelle Erica Green reviewed this episode forTrekNation, and described it as a "rollicking good ride". Green thought that linking the reason for the Klingons' appearance change to the augmented humans from earlier in the season was a clever idea, but the introduction ofSection 31 was suspect as they hadn't been mentioned at all through the season threeXindi arc. She was pleased with the level of detail shown on screen, such as the computer-generatedtargs and Tucker changing the patch on his uniform when he transfers to theColumbia. Green said that John Billingsley "excels" in this episode, and that the ending was "perfect".[19] Jamahl Epsicokhan on his websiteJammer's Reviews, gave the episode a score of three out of four, saying that it was "solid and entertaining, but with no real signs of greatness" and thought that the cliffhanger ending was unnecessary.[20]
The two part story featuring the episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence" were ranked the fifth best story ofEnterprise byDen of Geek writer James Hunt.[2]Variety commended the performance ofJames Avery, noted for his role on theFresh Prince of Bel Air, as a Klingon General.[21]Den of Geek recommended "Affliction" and "Singularity" for the development of the character Malcolm Reed.[22] In his 2023 rewatchKeith DeCandido ofTor.com gave it 8 out of 10.[23]
In aSyFy interview, some of the cast recommended this episode as a favorite.[24]
This episode was released on home media onDVD, as part of the season four box set on November 1, 2005, in the United States,[25] and onBlu-ray, released on April 1, 2014.[26]
The makeup process was a nightmare. It took three hours to put it on and an hour to take it off.
