Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship Enterprise, registration NX-01. In this episode, Enterprise attempts to avert a war, and is caught in a crossfire between Vulcan and Andorian starships. Meanwhile. Captain Archer, Commander T'Pol and T'Pau aim to take the Kir'Shara to the Vulcan capital, and use it to reveal Administrator V'Las' plot to the rest of the Vulcan High Command.
In addition to the guest stars returning from the previous arc episodes, or the episode "Home", Jeffrey Combs returned as Shran. The episode was shot across seven days using mostly standing sets, with only an Andorian brig built specifically for this episode. "Kir'Shara" also saw the return of the Vulcan lirpa, a weapon which had been first introduced in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Amok Time". The episode originally aired on December 3, 2004 on UPN. It received a Nielsen rating of 2.1/4 percent, which equalled the highest ratings seen during the fourth season. It was warmly received by critics who praised Combs' performance and noted that this episode was an indication of the improving quality of the series. However, there was mixed opinion regarding the ending of the episode.
Plot
Enterprise heads to Andoria after Ambassador Soval informs them that the Vulcans believe they have been developing Xindi weapon technology. Soval guides Enterprise to a nebula where the Andorian fleet is hiding. Commander Shran is dubious, and abducts and tortures Soval. After believing him, Enterprise joins a fleet of six Andorian ships to intercept the Vulcans. Commander Tucker attempts to buy time by ordering Enterprise directly between the two fleets — this works for a while until Administrator V'Las orders them to be targeted too.
Meanwhile, at The Forge, Captain Archer, Commander T'Pol and T'Pau, having found the sacred Kir'Shara[lower-alpha 1] (which the Syrrannites believe will usher a Vulcan enlightenment), endeavor to take it to the capital. En route, T'Pol and T'Pau discuss the taboo of mind-melds, and T'Pau offers to mind-meld with T'Pol. She states the meld is safe when performed by those trained in the art, and that Pa'nar Syndrome is merely the by-product of an improperly conducted meld. The trio are then attacked by Major Talok and Vulcan commandos, and T'Pol is captured while the others escape. She tells her captors that they are headed to Mount Seleya in order to mislead them from their true destination.
She is then taken to the capital. Archer and T'Pau also arrive after T'Pol's husband, Koss, provides transporter security codes. They present the Kir'Shara to the High Command and reveal that the embassy bombing was merely a pretext to weaken the pacifist Syrrannites prior to the Andorian strike. Visibly angered, V'Las lunges for the Kir'Shara, but is stunned by High Minister Kuvak, who orders the fleet to stand down. Enterprise returns to Vulcan, and Koss visits to release T'Pol from their marriage. Meanwhile, the Vulcan High Command is dissolved, granting Earth greater autonomy, and the katra of Surak is transferred to a Vulcan high priest. V'Las, relieved of his post, meets secretly with Talok, revealed to be a Romulan agent, who states that the reunification of their worlds is only a matter of time.
Production
Like "Home", "Kir'Shara" was written by Michael Sussman and was his third script during the fourth season. David Livingston directed the episode, which was his second episode of the season having previously directed "Borderland". Most of the guest stars had appeared in the previous episode "Awakening", including Robert Foxworth as Administrator V'Las, Kara Zediker as T'Pau and John Rubinstein as Kuvak. In addition, Michael Reilly Burke resumes his role as Koss for the third time, having appeared in the role both in "Home" and "The Forge". Also appearing, having appeared in "Home", was Jack Donner as a Vulcan priest.[1] Donner appeared in The Original Series episode "The Enterprise Incident" as the Romulan Commander Subcommander Tal.[2] "Kir'Shara" also saw the return of Jeffrey Combs as the Andorian Commander Shran for the sixth time as well as Gary Graham as Ambassador Soval, who has appeared as a recurring character in Enterprise since the pilot episode "Broken Bow".[1]Todd Stashwick plays Talok, later known for his role as Captain Shaw in the third season of Star Trek: Picard.[3]
Filming began on October 4, 2004 and continued until October 12. Despite the desert locations, all filming took place on soundstages. These represented a variety of places throughout the Vulcan desert-like Forge. The remaining sets used were either standing sets, or those which had been constructed for the previous two episodes. The exceptions to that were two sets to represent scenes on board Commander Shran's Andorian vessel. The Andorian bridge set, which had been used previously in the series, had a single wall brought out of storage in order to appear as a backdrop for Shran when he appears on the Enterprise viewscreen. The Andorian brig was built specifically for this episode for scenes with Shran and Soval.[1]
Re-appearing in "Kir'Shara" were the traditional Vulcan weapon, the lirpa, which was first introduced in The Original Series episode "Amok Time". The lirpa is a long shaft with a crescent blade on one end and a spiked cudgel on the other. Brand new props were built for this episode, modifying the original design by making them more lightweight. They were wielded in "Kir'Shara" by Vulcan commandos, who were all played by stunt actors in non-speaking roles. Additional stunt doubles were required for Archer, T'Pol, T'Pau and Talok while two puppeteers were needed for the Andorian antennae seen on screen.[1]
Themes
"Kir'Shara" followed up the events of the previous two episodes in the story arc as well some of the elements seen earlier in the season in the episode "Home". "The Forge" sees Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) travel into the Vulcan desert known as the Forge in order to find a renegade faction of Vulcans, known as the Syrrannites. During the journey, Archer has the katra of Surak transferred into him. In "Awakening", the duo meet the Syrrannites and find out they are peaceful. After Enterprise leaves orbit, the Vulcans start bombarding the caves where the Syrrannites are located, killing T'Pol's mother, T'Les (Joanna Cassidy).
Speaking about "Awakening", show runnerManny Coto had previously said that he envisaged the story arc to be about a Vulcan reformation as a metaphor to the real-world 16th century Protestant Reformation with T'Pau playing the role of Martin Luther.[4] This view was supported by the 2010 book Star Trek As Myth, which saw the original Vulcan religion prior to the Reformation arc seen from "The Forge" onwards as equating to the Catholic Church while the Syrannites were the Protestants.[5] In doing so, Administrator V'Las is therefore linked to the Antichrist in much the same way that the Protestant Reformation saw the Pope as the Antichrist. In this role, the Romulans in the story take the place of the subversive devils to form an unholy alliance.[6][7]
It was also suggested that the Kir'Shara itself was similar in context to the Nag Hammadi library,[8] which was a collection of thirteen codices found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 that date back to between the 2nd to 5th centuries.[9][10] Unlike those codices, the Vulcan High Council attempts to suppress the revelation of the Kir'Shara in a similar manner to the Catholic Church's suppression seen in other fictional works such as Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code or James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy.[5]
Reception
"Kir'Shara" was first aired in the United States on UPN on December 3, 2004. The broadcast saw the episode come in fourth place during the timeslot, with a Nielsen rating of 2.1/4 percent. This means that it was seen by 2.1 percent of all households, and 4 percent of all those watching television at the time of broadcast. It gained higher ratings than The WB, who aired What I Like About You and Grounded for Life.[11] The ratings equalled the highest ratings of the season so far, which were previously achieved by "Borderland", "Cold Station 12" and "The Augments".[12]
TV Guide listed "Kir'Shara" on its Hot List for the day.[13]IGN gave the episode 4.5 out of 5 and said that the show "finally grows up and becomes a Star Trek series this week".[14] It described "Kir'Shara" as "far from a perfectly executed Trek story but they get enough right to make it a lot easier to overlook the few things they miss."[14] It said that there had been an overall improvement in the fourth season, and that "this could become some of the best Star Trek ever made".[14] In Matthew Kappell's book Star Trek As Myth, he said that he felt that the revelation that the previous Vulcan administration was working with the Romulans all along "suddenly makes sense of years of previously incomprehensible Vulcan policy" and linked to The Next Generation episode "Unification".[7]
Herc, in his review for Ain't It Cool News, praised the reliability of Jeffrey Combs as Shran, but thought that there were no major surprises. Herc did say that the biggest shock was the revelation that the Romulans were behind the bombing of the Human Embassy. He gave it a rating of three out of five.[15] Michelle Erica Green reviewed the episode for TrekNation, calling it an "absolutely gripping episode" except for the "ludicrousness of the ending".[16] She made the admission about the ending that, "I suppose the Romulans had to show up at some point, I guess Vulcan is as good a place as any."[16] She thought that the torture scenes were "pointless", but was pleased with the characterisation seen in Archer, T'Pol and Tucker.[16] Jamahl Epsicokhan at his website Jammer's Reviews said that the episode was "not perfect, but good" with an "intriguing" ending.[17] He also praised Jeffrey Combs as Shran, and thought that the torture scenes were potent but that the ending was rushed. He gave the episode a rating of three out of four.[17]
In 2018, Screen Rant praised casting actress Kara Zediker as the Vulcan character T'Pau.[18] In 2020, James Whitbrook of Io9 highlighted this episode as a "must watch" episode of the series.[19]
In 2021, The Digital Fix said this was the best episode of the fourth season, calling it a "well-paced, satisfying resolution" to the Vulcan storyline in the series. They felt the episode successfully capitalizes on the story elements established the previous episode "The Forge".[20]
Home media release
The first home media release of "Kir'Shara" was in the season four DVD box set of Enterprise, originally released in the United States on November 1, 2005.[21] The Blu-ray edition was released on April 1, 2014.[22]
Notes
↑ The Kir'Shara is a religious relic in the shape of a tetrahedron, or triangular pyramid, approximately three times as tall as it is wide at its base. It has ancient Vulcan writing carved on its three sides.
The Romulans are an extraterrestrial race in the American science fiction franchise Star Trek. They first appeared in the series Star Trek (1966–1969). They have appeared in most subsequent Star Trek releases, including The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds, and Lower Decks. They appear in the Star Trek feature films Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and Star Trek (2009). They also appear in various other spin-off media, including books, comics, toys and games.
Vulcans, sometimes referred to as Vulcanians, are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the Star Trek universe and media franchise. In the various Star Trek television series and films, they are noted for their attempt to live by logic and reason with as little interference from emotion as possible. Known for their pronounced eyebrows and pointed ears, they originate from the fictional planet Vulcan. In the Star Trek universe, they were the first extraterrestrial species to make contact with humans.
Jonathan Archer is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. He is one of the protagonists of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, where he was portrayed by Scott Bakula.
T'Pol is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. Portrayed by Jolene Blalock in the series Star Trek: Enterprise, she is a Vulcan who serves as the science officer aboard the starship Enterprise (NX-01).
Surak is a fictional character in the backstory of the Star Trek television series and franchises. He is portrayed as the most important philosopher in the history of the planet Vulcan. During an Earth-like "modern age", when the Vulcans are technological but emotionally driven and violent, Surak founds a movement which reforms the Vulcan way of thinking and lifestyle and leads to the world of logically-reasoning and emotion-suppressing Vulcans known from the TV series. This period in Vulcan history is referred to as the "Time of Awakening".
"Proving Ground" is the thirteenth episode from the third season of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It's the sixty-fifth episode of the series, first airing on January 21, 2004. This is a science fiction episode about a spaceship dealing with an attack on Earth by aliens in the 22nd century. The episode continues the Xindi story arc, opening with a montage of scenes from previous shows. Archer and a recurring character, the Andorian Captain Shran, take on the Xindi in an uncertain alliance.
"Awakening" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise, and originally aired on November 26, 2004 on UPN. The script was written by André Bormanis and the episode was directed by Star Trek: Voyager alumna Roxann Dawson. The episode was the first of the season for both Bormanis and Dawson. The episode is the second of a three-part episode arc which started in "The Forge" and concludes in "Kir'Shara".
"United" is the 13th episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise and the 89th episode overall. It was first broadcast on the UPN network on February 4, 2005. It is the second of a three-part story which included the previous episode "Babel One", and the following episode, "The Aenar". "United" was written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens from a story idea by show runner Manny Coto. It was directed by David Livingston, his third of the season.
"Shadows of P'Jem" is the fifteenth episode of television series Star Trek: Enterprise, and was written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Mike Vejar served as director for the episode.
"The Andorian Incident" is the seventh episode of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, and was written by Brannon Braga, Fred Dekker and Rick Berman. Roxann Dawson served as director for the episode. As one of the most significant of the first-season episodes, the events of "The Andorian Incident" would continue to resonate into the third and fourth seasons. This would, in particular, affect T'Pol and her family.
"The Aenar" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise, and originally aired on February 11, 2005. It was written by André Bormanis from a story by Manny Coto, and was directed by Mike Vejar. "The Aenar" was the third installment of a three-part story which concluded the events of episodes "Babel One" and "United".
"Babel One" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise, and originally aired on January 28, 2005. The episode was written by Mike Sussman and André Bormanis, and directed by David Straiton. "Babel One" was the first of a three-part story which continued in the episodes "United" and "The Aenar". The arc was intended to precede the Romulan War which had been mentioned in previously aired episodes of the franchise, while "Babel One" was a reference to the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Journey to Babel".
"The Forge" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of the American science-fiction television Star Trek: Enterprise, and originally aired on November 19, 2004, on UPN. Directed by Michael Grossman, the script was written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, and formed the first part of a three-episode arc which continued in "Awakening" and concluded in "Kir'Shara".
"Cease Fire" is the 41st episode of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, the 15th episode of the second season. The series, set in the 22nd century of the Star Trek universe, follows the crew of Earth's faster-than-light spaceship, Enterprise, as they explore the galaxy under command of Captain Jonathan Archer.
"Stigma" is the fortieth episode of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, the fourteenth of the second season. This science fiction episode has a story about a spacecraft crew in the 22nd century, dealing with an alien disease, and also a morality play about sexually transmitted diseases.
"Fusion" is the seventeenth episode of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. Set in the 22nd century, the science fiction television episode is about a spaceship exploring a galaxy filled with alien life. It aired on UPN on February 27, 2002.
"The Seventh" is the thirty-third episode of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, the seventh of the second season. In the Star Trek universe, a spaceship has set out from Earth in the 2100s to explore the galaxy.
The third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise commenced airing on UPN in the United States on September 10, 2003 and concluded on May 26, 2004 after 24 episodes. Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship Enterprise, registration NX-01, and its crew.
References
Kapell, Matthew (2010). Star Trek As Myth. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN9780786455942.
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