Kir'Shara
"Kir'Shara" | |
---|---|
Star Trek: Enterprise episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 9 |
Directed by | David Livingston |
Written by | Michael Sussman |
Production code | 409 |
Original air date | December 3, 2004 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Kir'Shara" is the ninth episode of the
Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first
In addition to the guest stars returning from the previous arc episodes, or the episode "
Plot
Enterprise heads to
Meanwhile, at The Forge, Captain
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
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",
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
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
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.
- ^ a b c d "Production Report: Combs Returns for Climactic "Kir'Shara"". Star Trek.com. October 18, 2004. Archived from the original on December 7, 2004. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ Leao, Gustavo (October 17, 2004). "TOS Romulan Jack Donner Talks 'Home', Says Coto Wants to Recapture The Essence of TOS (SPOILERS)". Trekweb. Archived from the original on November 24, 2005. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ DeCandido, Keith (25 September 2023). "Star Trek: Enterprise Rewatch: "Kir'Shara"". Tor.com. Archived from the original on 2023-10-25.
- ^ "Producers Reveal Tidbits about Season 4". Star Trek.com. July 21, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ^ a b Kapell (2010): p. 173
- ^ Kapell (2010): p. 174
- ^ a b Kapell (2010): p. 175
- ^ Kapell (2010): p. 172
- ^ "Excerpt from: The Gnostic Gospels". The Gnostic Society Library. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ^ "About the Nag Hammadi Library (The Nag Hammadi Scriptures)". The Gnostic Society Library. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ^ "NBC Skates Away with Friday Win". Zap2it. December 4, 2004. Archived from the original on December 5, 2005. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ Krutzler, Steve (December 4, 2004). ""Kir'Shara" Ends 2004 With Fast National Rating Matching Season-High". Trekweb. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ Donnelly, G.J. (December 4, 2004). "Tonight's TV Hot List". TV Guide. Archived from the original on December 4, 2004. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ a b c KJB (December 3, 2004). "Trek Report: Kir'Shara Helps Put Enterprise Back on Track". IGN. Archived from the original on December 4, 2004. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ Herc (December 3, 2004). "Star Trek: Enterprise 4.9 FAQ". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ a b c Green, Michelle Erica (December 4, 2004). "Kir'Shara". TrekNation. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ Jammer's Reviews. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
- ^ "Star Trek: 10 Casting Decisions That Hurt Enterprise (And 10 That Saved It)". ScreenRant. 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
- ^ "Star Trek: Enterprise's Must-Watch Episodes". Gizmodo. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 2021-06-13.
- ^ Baz Greenland (2021-04-21). "Star Trek: Enterprise Revisited - A Look Back At Season Four". The Digital Fix. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
- ^ Douglass Jr., Todd (October 24, 2005). "Star Trek Enterprise – The Complete Fourth Season". DVD Talk. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
- ^ "Final Season Enterprise Blu-ray Set Available April 1". StarTrek.com. December 18, 2013. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
References
- Kapell, Matthew (2010). Star Trek As Myth. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 9780786455942.
External links
- "Kir'Shara" at IMDb
- "Kir'Shara" at Memory Alpha
- "Kir'Shara" at Wayback Machine (archived from the original at StarTrek.com)