Countdown (Star Trek: Enterprise)

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For the comic book, see Star Trek: Countdown.

"Countdown"
Star Trek: Enterprise episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 23
Directed byRobert Duncan McNeill
Written byAndré Bormanis
Chris Black
Featured musicDennis McCarthy
Production code323
Original air dateMay 19, 2004 (2004-05-19)
Guest appearances
  • Dolim
  • Jannar
  • Xindi-Primate Councilor
  • Josette DiCarlo – Sphere-Builder Woman
  • Bruce Thomas – Xindi-Reptilian Soldier
  • Andrew Borba – Xindi-Reptilian Lieutenant
  • Mary Mara – Sphere-Builder Presage
  • Ruth Williamson – Sphere-Builder Primary
  • Major Hayes
  • Paul Dean – Reptilian Technician
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Council" 		Next →
"Zero Hour"
Star Trek: Enterprise season 3
List of episodes

"Countdown" is the 23rd episode of the

Xindi
, a group of aliens that did not appear in preceding series.

In this episode, Captain

Insectoids alliance to prevent Earth's destruction by their superweapon. The weapon departs for Earth, with Archer in pursuit on board a Xindi vessel. In the midst of a battle between the two Xindi factions, an away team is sent to rescue Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park
), previously captured by the Reptilians.

"Countdown" was the first collaboration between writers

Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating
). "Countdown" was watched by 3.5 million viewers on its first broadcast. It won an Emmy award for visual effects.

Plot

Needing a third species' codes to arm the weapon,

Sphere Builders
, and not the humans, may indeed represent their true enemy.

A battle between Archer's Xindi fleet and the Reptilian-Insectoid fleet soon breaks out around the superweapon. Locating Sato on board a Reptilian ship, a small squad of MACOs, led by Major Hayes and with the support of Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, transports on board the ship to extract her. With the space battle ongoing, the transporter system is damaged so that no more than two personnel can beam out at a time. Holding off the Reptilians on the ship, Hayes sends one of his men and Sato out first, and then the rest of the team, but just as Hayes, now alone, is beaming out, a Reptilian soldier fires through his chest. Back on board Enterprise, he tells Reed who his MACO successor should be, moments before he dies.

With the "threads of time" turning against them, the Sphere Builders decide to intervene by creating spatial distortions around the weapon. The distortions hinder Enterprise and the rest of Archer's Xindi fleet, and destroy a number of Aquatic ships, which buys the Reptilians enough time to activate the codes.

Degra's
faster spaceship, taking a sickened Sato with his team to guide them through the superweapon.

Production

"Countdown" was the fourth episode of Enterprise to be directed by former Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Duncan McNeill.

This was the first episode written as a combined effort by André Bormanis and Chris Black, although Bormanis had written episodes such as "Hatchery" and "Extinction", while Black wrote "Doctor's Orders" among others. "Countdown" also saw the return of Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Duncan McNeill as director. The episode was his second during season three after previously working on "Twilight". "Countdown" had an eight-day shooting timetable versus the normal seven.[1]

Additional sets were constructed to present the interior of the Xindi-Reptilian ship, and the inside of the superweapon. Two full days of the shoot took place on the Reptilian sets, while a day was spent filming on the superweapon set. The scenes set inside the ships of the Xindi-Aquatics and the Xindi-Insectoids were created in post-production rather than using physical sets. This was in addition to the standing sets, and the Xindi specific sets built initially for previous episodes, such as the interior of Degra's ship, and the "Avian Residence" which had both been built for use on-screen in "The Council". Scenes involving the Sphere Builders; played by Josette DiCarlo, Mary Mara and Ruth Williamson; were filmed in a combined shoot featuring the scenes from both "Countdown" and "The Council". Filming concluded on March 4, although B-unit shoots continued on March 8, with McNeil directing once more. This was in addition to further B-unit filming under the direction of Dan Curry for the episode "E²" and the start of the work on the season finale, "Zero Hour" under Allan Kroeker.[1]

Several elements of the props and effects were re-used from previous episodes. The reactor core on the superweapon was a combination of the props previously used as a

transwarp effect in the Voyager episode "Hope and Fear".[2] The guest stars in "Countdown" were recurring from previous episodes,[1] although it would be the final appearance for Steven Culp as Major Hayes. Culp had appeared in the series throughout the third season since "The Xindi". During the development of "The Shipment", Culp proposed the backstory for Hayes, which was accepted by the production team. The role was not his first in the Star Trek franchise, as he had been cast and filmed for an appearance as Commander Martin Madden for the film Star Trek: Nemesis. It would have seen him as the replacement for Commander William Riker at the end of the film, but it was cut from the final version.[3]

Reception

"Countdown" was first aired in the United States on UPN on May 19, 2004. According to Nielsen Media Research, it received a 2.3/4 percent share among adults. This means that it was seen by 2.3 percent of all households, and 4 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast. The episode was watched by 3.5 million viewers. The following episode, "Zero Hour", received a 2.7/4 percent rating with the viewer number increased by 400,000.[4]

Michelle Erica Green, in her review for

Jammer's Reviews, gave the episode a rating of three out of four. He felt that the structure of the plot was the same as the previous episode, but that it had no story and was "simply plot and action skillfully assembled — a series of events framed as goal-oriented nonstop momentum." He was pleased to see an improvement in the writing of the Reed/Hayes relationship and the MACOs, although he felt the collaborative working between the two parties should have occurred earlier in the season.[6]

In 2016, Digital Trends highlighted the best episodes from each Star Trek series, and picked "Countdown" and "Zero Hour" as the winners for Star Trek: Enterprise.[7]

In 2021, The Digital Fix said that this episode, and the following episode "Zero Hour", were "an exciting end to an ambitious season."[8]

Awards

The episode won an

Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series". The episode "The Council" was also nominated.[9][10]

Home media release

The home media release of "Countdown" was as part of the season three DVD box set which was released in the United States on September 27, 2005.[11] The Blu-ray release of Enterprise was announced in early 2013,[12] and released on January 7, 2014.[13] The Blu-Ray has a surround sound 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track for English, as well as German, French, and Japanese audio tracks in Dolby audio.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Production Report: "Countdown" Ramps Up Toward Season Climax". StarTrek.com. March 9, 2004. Archived from the original on April 15, 2004. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  2. Paramount Home Entertainment
    . September 27, 2005.
  3. ^ Dennis, Neil J. (August 2004). "Steven Culp: Major Hayes Gets a Hero's Send-Off". Star Trek Communicator (151): 42–44 – via Steven-Culp.com.
  4. ^ "Episode List: Star Trek: Enterprise". TVTango. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Green, Michelle Erica. "Countdown". TrekNation. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  6. Jammer's Reviews. Archived from the original
    on March 17, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  7. ^ Ed Oswald (December 1, 2016). "Digital Trends From time travel to Tribbles: Here are the best Star Trek episodes from every series 2016". Digital Trends.
  8. ^ Baz Greenland. (2021-04-05). "Star Trek: Enterprise Revisited - A Look Back At Season Three". The Digital Fix. Archived from the original on 2021-04-16. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  9. ^ "Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series Nominees / Winners 2004". Television Academy.
  10. ^ Green, Michelle Erica (September 13, 2004). "'Enterprise' wins two Emmy Awards". TrekNation. Archived from the original on December 23, 2004. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  11. ^ Douglass Jr., Todd (September 27, 2005). "Star Trek Enterprise – The Complete 3rd Season". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  12. ^ "Enterprise Trekking To Blu-ray; Fans Helped Pick Covers". StarTrek.com. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on March 30, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  13. ^ Miller III, Randy (January 7, 2014). "Star Trek: Enterprise – Season Three (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  14. ^ "Star Trek: Enterprise - The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Review". High Def Digest. Retrieved 2021-04-20.

External links

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