| "Cold Station 12" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Trek: Enterprise episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 4 Episode 5 | ||
| Directed by | Mike Vejar | ||
| Written by | Alan Brennert | ||
| Featured music | Jay Chattaway | ||
| Production code | 405 | ||
| Original air date | November 5, 2004 (2004-11-05) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| Star Trek: Enterpriseseason 4 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Cold Station 12" is the fifth episode of thefourth season of the American science fiction television seriesStar Trek: Enterprise, the eighty-first episode overall. It was directed byMike Vejar from a script byAlan Brennert, and aired on November 5, 2004, onUPN. It comprises the middle-act of a three-episode arc, preceded by "Borderland" and followed by "The Augments".
The series follows the adventures of the firstStarfleet starshipEnterprise, registration NX-01. In this episode, after leavingEnterprise stranded, DoctorArik Soong and his Augments travel to "Cold Station 12", a secretive pathogen and bio-medical facility run byStarfleet Medical and theDenobulans, where much of this episode's plot unfolds. Once inside, they begin torturing the scientists with the goal of retrieving some 1,800 augmented embryos, allowing them to expand their race.
The production team created several new sets to represent thespace station itself, as well as re-using some from "Borderland" to represent theKlingon starship. The make-up team were required to makeBrent Spiner look younger for flashbacks and to show the progression of a character's exposure to a number of pathogens. The story-arc has been considered one of the best seen inEnterprise, and critics praised "Cold Station 12", specifically for the special effects and character development, but felt that the death scene crossed the line. On first broadcast, the episode was watched by 2.1 percent of the population according toNielsen ratings, placing it in fifth position for the timeslot.
After the escape of DoctorSoong and the Augments, CaptainArcher and his crew proceed to the coordinates Soong had provided earlier in the mission. On Trialis IV, the away team find an abandoned building where the young Augments were raised and schooled by "father" Soong. They also capture a banished member of the Augments named Udar. Nicknamed "Smike" by his Augment siblings after a handicapped character from the comic novelNicholas Nickleby byCharles Dickens, he is taken toEnterprise. Analysis reveals that although Udar's DNA is similar to the other Augments, Smike has none of their enhanced abilities, apart from superior hearing.
Meanwhile, Soong and the Augments captureBarzai, a Denobulan medical ship, and use it to enter the medical facility called Cold Station 12 (C-12). They soon overpower security and capture the scientists there, including its chief medical officer, Doctor Jeremy Lucas, DoctorPhlox's former Interspecies Medical Exchange counterpart and friend.[2] Due to security protocols, tensions begin to surface between Soong and Malik as to how to coerce Lucas into divulging the entry codes. Malik convinces Soong to torture Lucas, failing that, to expose another scientist to a deadly pathogen using a containment chamber.
Enterprise approaches within transporter range, and beams a landing party, including Phlox to the facility. They are soon detected, however, and imprisoned with the facility's staff. Meanwhile, CommanderT'Pol, having lost contact with the team, attempts to destroy the station, but the Klingon ship intervenes. Malik uses Phlox's friendship to finally coerce the security codes from Lucas (by threatening to expose him to a pathogen as well). Soong, who had previously stolen 19 genetically enhanced and frozenembryos from C-12, is now able to access the remaining 1,800, a carry-over from theEugenics Wars. Soong and the Augments then escape, but not before Malik kills Smike, helps himself to a number of pathogen samples, and sets the viral containment fields to fail.
The episode was the second of a three-part storyline, which was intended to linkEnterprise more closely toStar Trek: The Original Series with the return of genetically engineered "Augments" which had appeared alongsideKhan Noonian Singh in "Space Seed" and the movieStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It was preceded by the episode "Borderland", and followed by "The Augments".[3] Production on the episode began on August 24, 2004, and concluded on September 1. There were several swing sets created for the episode, specifically to cover the scenes filmed on board the station. It re-used the sets created for "Borderland" to represent theKlingon vessel captured by the Augments. There were also sets created to represent the compound where Soong raised the genetically altered humans, which was set up different as flashbacks to the character's childhoods were also shot for this episode. It was directed byMike Vejar, who had directed several earlier episodes ofStar Trek, most recently "Stratagem". It was written by Consulting ProducerAlan Brennert, his first writing credit in the franchise.[4]
There was some specific work required by the make-up department onBrent Spiner as during those flashbacks he was made to look younger which the team created by dying his hair darker and applying more youthful make-up. Also, the team added several different appliances to Kris Iyer to show his character go through a series of levels of infection of a number of diseases at the hands of Soong. These included coloredcontact lenses, prosthetics to make his veins appear to pulse and gel was added to his eyes to make thembloodshot.[4]
There were several guest actors in "Cold Station 12". The character, Dr. Jeremy Lucas, had been previously mentioned in the episodes "Dear Doctor" and "Doctor's Orders" as a friend of Phlox. But "Cold Station 12" marked the first occasion that the character appeared on screen, played byRichard Riehle. The actor had previously appeared in theStar Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Inner Light" as well as theStar Trek: Voyager episodes "Fair Haven" and the follow-up episode "Spirit Folk". Guest stars Spiner,Alec Newman andAbby Brammell resumed their roles from the previous episode in the trilogy, "Borderland".[4]
"Cold Station 12" was first broadcast on November 5, 2004, onUPN. According toNielsen ratings, it was watched by 2.1 percent of the population of the United States and by four percent of those watching television at the time. This put it in fifth place for the 8pm timeslot, behindTotally Outrageous Behavior andWorld's Craziest Videos onFox.[5] It had an average of 3.4 million viewers.[6] Brent Spiner was credited for the ratings boost, the best of season so far.[7]
Bill Gordon, writing for the website Sci-Fi Pulse, said that it was a "nearly flawless episode", with his one critique in his analysis of the plot being targeted at Captain Archer telling Soong that they were sending over the self-destruct code for the station. He said that there was an "epic" quality to "Cold Station 12" that made him compare it to theStar Trek film franchise, saying that it had "stellar FX shots, to first class character and story development, to a quality of writing that has been sadly lacking in theStar Trek universe of late."[8]
IGN gave the episode two out of five, and saying that it "lacks some of the flair of its predecessor and seems to take some storytelling shortcuts to get where it's going, making it feel more like the usualEnterprise episode rather than something special", but hopes that the next episode will be able to deliver on the promise of the arc's ambitious premise.[9] Michelle Erica Green ofTrekNation praised the episode, saying it was an improvement on "Borderland" and that Spiner was even better. But she found the murder of the doctor shocking and felt that it had gone too far. She said that themes raised in "Cold Station 12" mirrored those which could have appeared onThe Original Series, but that this episode didn't take the time to discuss them. She hoped that the final episode of the trilogy would cover that ground.[10]Aint It Cool News gave it three out of five.[11]
The mini-arc featuring the episodes "Borderland", "Cold Station 12" and "The Augments" were ranked the sixth best story ofEnterprise byDen of Geek writer James Hunt.[12]Screen Rant praised casting Brent Spiner as the character Arik Soong.[13]
TheUniversity of Dubuque included viewing of "Cold Station 12" alongside theDoctor Who episode "The Beast Below" in the course "Captain Picard Meets Dr. Who" to demonstrate the idea of sacrificing one person to save many.[14]
Alongside his work on the previous episode "Borderland",Vince Deadrick, Jr.'s work on "Cold Station 12" was nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award forOutstanding Stunt Coordination.[15] The award was won byMatt Taylor for his work on24.[16]
"Cold Station 12" was as part of the season the four DVD box set ofEnterprise, originally released in the United States on November 1, 2005.[17] TheBlu-ray release of the fourth season ofEnterprise was on April 1, 2014.[18]
Part two of the trilogy, "Cold Station 12" has garnered the best ratings so far this year.