4x20 Demons

[Dimitris]

Production: 096
Season: 4 Episode: 20
Air Date: 05.06.2005

A xenophobic faction of humanity threatens to undermine talks to form a new coalition of planets.


Synopsis

On Earth for a historic Starfleet conference to ratify the coalition of planets, Archer and the crew uncover a plot by a radical xenophobic group of humans called Terra Prime, led by Paxton, who want to put an end to the increasing number and influence of aliens on Earth. Meanwhile, although T?Pol contends she has never been pregnant, she and Trip learn that Terra Prime has information about their child. Later, a female reporter from Travis' past pursues him for a story.

[Dimitris]

Cast & Creative Staff

Cast:
Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox
Jolene Blalock as T'Pol
Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery as Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer as Charles "Trip" Tucker III

Guest Cast:

Creative Staff:
Director: LeVar Burton
Written By: Manny Coto

[Dimitris]

02.18.2005
Production Report: Peter Weller Stars in "Demons"


SPOILER ALERT!!!
RoboCop himself has blasted his way into the Star Trek universe. For the third-to-last episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, Peter Weller plays the heavy in a two-part story showing that humanity's final obstacle to the future is humanity itself.

The episode is called "Demons," written by Manny Coto and directed by LeVar Burton (part 2 is called "Terra Prime," in production now). In the story, Enterprise and her crew are back home on Earth (for what — the third time this year?) to take part in talks with delegates of several other worlds to form a new "Coalition of Planets." During a formal assembly at Starfleet Command, a mortally wounded woman approaches T'Pol with evidence of a startling secret. Investigation of this evidence and the woman unveils the dangerous plans of a human isolationist movement called Terra Prime, which is based at a mining colony on the Moon called Orpheus.

In a recent STARTREK.COM interview, Coto explained that the title of the episode "refers to our own personal demons. Humanity is having one last hurdle to overcome in forming the Federation; in fact we find that the last hurdle isn't going to come from Romulans, it isn't going to come from Klingons, it comes from our own last vestiges of intolerance. There is a charismatic leader on Earth who is opposed to the forming of the Federation — who is a student of history and is taking his lessons from Colonel Green — who will be played by Peter Weller. Who, by the way, is perfect for this part."

The character played by Weller is named "John Frederick Paxton," who is formulating his scheme from the lunar mining colony (not Earth, specifically). Weller is certainly a favorite among genre fans, having achieved stardom from his title roles in "RoboCop" and "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension," along with "Naked Lunch" and numerous other credits. But his part on Enterprise probably has something to do with the fact that he starred in Odyssey 5, a Manny Coto creation.

Playing "Nathan Samuels," an Earth dignitary leading the coalition talks who is rather full of himself, is Harry Groener, another familiar face in genre fare including Star Trek. Groener was the Betazoid "Tam Elbrun" in The Next Generation's "Tin Man"; he also appeared as the "Magistrate" in Voyager's "Sacred Ground." One of his most memorable roles was that of the evil mayor of Sunnydale in the third season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — the one who, on Graduation Day, turned into a giant snake and ate Armin Shimerman.

This Friday we will meet the shady character "Harris" (in "Affliction," returning next week in "Divergence"), played by Eric Pierpoint. He will reprise that role in "Demons." Another Enterprise alumnus in this show is Tom Bergeron, the Hollywood Squares host who appeared in "Oasis" as "D'Marr." Here he plays a "Coridan Ambassador."

Principal photography on "Demons" went the usual seven days, from Friday, February 4, through last Monday, Valentine's Day. While Marvin Rush was shooting an extra day on "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" (related story), LeVar Burton started on "Demons" — with Doug Knapp serving as director of photography — doing scenes involving Anthony Montgomery as "Travis Mayweather" and an old flame who is a reporter at the conference, played by Johanna Watts.

The second day of the schedule also had overlaps with previous episodes. After eight hours of shooting in the Conference Room set on Stage 8 for "Demons," the company moved to the Bridge set on Stage 18 to greet the three green girls from "Bound" (related story), whereupon they spent four more hours doing re-shoots of the climactic scene of that show. Meanwhile on another soundstage, visual effects supervisor Dan Curry was directing numerous last-minute inserts for "Affliction" and "Divergence." Mostly these were angles on screens and monitors, utilizing hand doubles (human and Klingon) and stand-ins, though Connor Trinneer did take part in one visual effects shot.

After three days of shooting on the usual ship sets — Bridge, Sickbay, etc. — Burton and company moved into the standing cave sets of Stage 9, which had been white for several weeks since shooting of "The Aenar," but now they were painted gray to depict the tunnels and caves of the Orpheus lunar mining complex. Another swing set built on Stage 8 was the Orpheus Control Center, and those locations totaled another three days.

On Friday, Feb. 11, Scott Bakula had a rare day off from filming but came to the lot anyway to grant STARTREK.COM users a live chat in our offices (see related link below). During the chat he received a surprise visit from his own publicist, Jay Schwartz, who, unbeknownst to Scott, was working as a background extra on the moon-cave sets that day. Jay was costumed as a miner, with his face smudged by "lunar dust."

There was one exterior location in this schedule, but it was only a few steps away from the Star Trek soundstages. Reed meets Harris in an alleyway by the San Francisco bay, and that alley was depicted in Paramount's Wood Mill — which is already adorned with a variety of Starfleet signs and logos from past shows, though they were not included in the shots. (This location was also used in Deep Space Nine's "Little Green Men.") Optical effects in post-production will add in the view of Starfleet Command and the 22nd-century Frisco skyline.

Production climaxed on Day 7 of the schedule, last Monday, when the company took over the Paramount Theater, the same venue where Enterprise has held all its premieres, including "Broken Bow" in 2001 and "Storm Front" last year (along with many other Trek-related screenings over the years). Now instead of hosting a post-screening reception, the theater's lobby served as the Assembly Hall of Starfleet Command where the interstellar conference takes place. This beautiful set (see pictures on left) was occupied by quite the contingent of humans and aliens. A couple of dozen extra makeup artists, hair stylists and costumers were hired to help fill the set with Andorians, Tellarites, Vulcans, Denobulans, Rigellians (first shown in "Affliction"), and a few new species. The human extras consisted of four reporters (aside from Johanna Watts) and several "Starfleet Brass." One of the admirals in dress uniform is Steve D'Errico, one of the most durable faces on the Star Trek sets for years. He and working partner Lazard ("L.Z.") Ward comprise the security team guarding the sets and actor trailers for Enterprise, and before that, Voyager. You might have seen Steve at the Grand Slam conventions in Pasadena, taunting his actor friends on stage.

Shooting at the Paramount Theater stretched into Tuesday, for both this episode, #96, and Day 1 of "Terra Prime." In addition, the teaser of "Demons," taking place in a "Secret Facility" set on Stage 9, was shot on Tuesday before production of #97 commenced.

One question probably on your mind is, do we see Colonel Green in this episode, and if so, who's playing him? Colonel Green, as a reminder, was introduced in "The Savage Curtain" in the Original Series, played by Phillip Pine, as a notorious historical figure who led a genocidal war on 21st-century Earth. Weller's Paxton gains inspiration for his cause from archival footage of Green making a speech — so yes, the character is seen on a monitor. However, that footage has not been shot yet, and as far as we know, the part has not yet been cast. On set for that scene with Weller, a greenscreen was placed on the monitor for insertion of that footage later.

This is the second episode of the season for director Burton, who last took the reins on "The Augments." He managed to finish this production just in time to celebrate his birthday, which was this past Wednesday.

"Demons" is tentatively set to air April 29, with "Terra Prime" scheduled for May 6 and the season finale on May 13. Watch Episode Detail for updates.

At this time, the airdate schedule from UPN remains largely the same as previously reported, with one minor change: After "Divergence" airs next week, Enterprise will be pre-empted the following Friday, March 4. That weekend, though, the third-season "Hatchery" will be available to UPN affiliates to air per their local schedules.

The following Friday, March 11, "The Forge" will repeat, with another rerun the week after (probably "Awakening," but that's not official yet). Then "Bound" will air on March 25, followed by two more weeks of reruns. The final five new episodes will commence on April 15 with "In a Mirror, Darkly." All scheduling information is subject to change.

[Dimitris]

Plot Summmary:

At the Orpheus lunar colony, a doctor tells John Frederick Paxton that the Vulcan-Human hybrid baby girl is fighting off her fever. Paxton says that she looks so innocent he could almost forget what she represents. Meanwhile, on Earth, delegates have gathered for talks to create a united coalition of planets, including the Enterprise crew. Tucker is annoyed that Archer is not getting the respect he deserves for negotiations with the Tellarites and Andorians, but Archer congratulates politician Nathan Samuels, who thanks Sato for her development of the universal translator. Mayweather is greeted by a former girlfriend, reporter Gannett Brooks. A haggard-looking woman approaches T'Pol, says "They're going to kill her!" and collapses. As Phlox examines the woman's phase pistol wound, T'Pol looks at the hair in the vial pressed into her hand.

On Enterprise, Phlox reports that the hair comes from a half-Vulcan, half-Human baby...the offspring of T'Pol and Tucker, though T'Pol has never been pregnant. Tucker says that he believes her but he is confused when she says that she believes that there is a child and it is theirs. Samuels is terrified that news of a hybrid child could exacerbate lingering xenophobia from after the Xindi attack and Archer at first agrees to let Starfleet conduct the investigation, though privately he asks Reed to contact Harris to see if the secret organization knows anything. From Reed, Archer learns that the isolationist movement Terra Prime has something to do with the existence of the child - the murdered woman, Susan Khouri, had worked for them - and moreover that Samuels has been trying to hide his own youthful connection to the xenophobic group. In exchange for Archer's silence, Samuels promises to turn over all information on the investigation about the baby, which reveals that Susan Khouri had been living in a low-gravity environment. T'Pol suspects a lunar mining colony, which Mayweather can help her and Tucker infiltrate.

Mayweather is also getting reacquainted with Brooks, with whom he becomes intimate in a shuttlepod when she comes aboard the ship ostensibly to write a news story on the crew; he is shocked when Archer and Reed interrupt a tryst to question her, having learned that she was recently on Orpheus and moreover that she has been using the universal translator to spy on delegates at the conference. When she refuses to answer questions, Archer has her placed in the brig and tells Reed to get her a lawyer. Meanwhile Tucker and T'Pol believe they have successfully infiltrated Orpheus - where Paxton has had the doctor working on the infant killed and is injecting himself with some sort of chemical - until one of the Terra Prime leaders, Josiah, identifies Tucker by name while Paxton's crony Greaves is hunting down T'Pol. Once he has the Starfleet officers in custody, Paxton tells them that their child is safe but they cannot see her because he is busy returning Earth to its rightful owners: humans.

Launching Orpheus from the surface of the moon, Greaves uses a short burst at warp to bring the colony to Mars, where his crew takes over the verteron array built to destroy dangerous meteors and capable of destroying spaceships. Archer pursues Orpheus, and the crew hears the message Paxton is broadcasting on all subspace frequencies. He announces that he can fire on any ship or facility in the Sol system, and demonstrates by blasting a new crater on the moon. Then he says that he will not use the verteron array again so long as every non-human in the system leaves, promising a new era of human-centered consciousness.

[Dimitris]

Analysis:

Finally an episode that feels like real Star Trek...not because it gets in a cameo for Colonel Green or because it shows Tellarite and Andorian faces, but because it's about the kind of things that Star Trek was about at its best, on the original series and The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine and Voyager. "Demons" is a riveting hour of television, well-acted, with a good balance of character work and story development; there's almost no onscreen violence, with two pivotal murders committed offscreen, and an interesting, unique action sequence that does not involve any weapons save for one plot-relevant demonstration of the Martian array's firepower. As with all multi-parters, it's hard to get a sense whether this one will be able to resolve all its issues in the next hour, but there's certainly enough material to work through that it shouldn't suffer from feeling dragged out as the Mirror episodes did.

Peter Weller gives a wonderful performance as Paxton, a self-righteous racist whose confidence at present seems unassailable. He's apparently been plotting for years, and he isn't going to lose his temper or become distracted; he can cite Romeo and Juliet, ponder the innocence of an infant and speak in perfectly rational terms to T'Pol even though he believes she represents a threat to humanity. It's interesting how many of his associates, particularly the more vocally xenophobic ones, are people of color; apparently what we call racism will become a moot issue once there are different species on the planet, though one wonders how "species" is defined when Phlox explains that a Human and Vulcan should have little trouble creating a healthy embryo together, which is more than can be said for most Terran equine species. Paxton's hero Colonel Green's genocide, we learn, was not targeted against a particular ethnic or geographical group, but against people exposed to radiation which Green believed would alter the human genome for centuries. He was obsessed with the idea of impurity and decay in a manner not altogether different from 19th century racist warnings about the inevitable results of the mongrelization of the races, and Paxton takes this a step further, linking dubious genetics with residual terror from the Xindi attack and resentment of Vulcan meddling with Earth's space programs.

It wasn't so long ago that Archer was using the same us-them equation in speaking of Earth vs. Vulcan, humans vs. Suliban and Starfleet vs. Xindi. And it's frighteningly plausible, after the racism we saw directed at Phlox in "Home", that a group like Terra Prime would have success in recruiting members after something like the Xindi attack, though I was surprised to learn that they had been around when Samuels was a teenager and still existed in the same form; it would be nice to learn something about Paxton's personal stake in the group, why he was willing to convert the mining facility he inherited into the headquarters for such an organization when he has concerns that he, like Colonel Green, will probably be misunderstood by history teachers. He has no ethical qualms with killing off humans who get in his way, not only those who would betray him like Susan Khouri, but even those he suspects of becoming soft like the doctor caring for T'Pol and Tucker's offspring. Yet he seems to prefer to keep his own hands clean, letting Josiah rouse the masses in the mines and having Greaves attend to the details of running the facility. Is Paxton injecting himself with some naughty substance or with the same stuff in Khouri's system to compensate for living in low gravity? Are we going to watch him disintegrate into a panicked nutcase like Mirror Universe Archer or will he coldly and ruthlessly carry out his scheme?

I'd love to know more about Samuels, who was in essence a Hitler Youth member before becoming Pope; he says that he was young and foolish, but just as there was a specific incident that made him fear Denobulans, there must have been specific incidents that changed his mind. Then there's Gannett Brooks, who dated a man who grew up on an interstellar freighter and asked him not to accept a posting on Enterprise because she believed space exploration was the last vestige of a colonial impulse. That doesn't sound like someone I'd expect to join an Earth-first terrorist organization, and maybe there's more going on than Archer and Reed can guess...she could be working for Section 31, for all we know, or be telling the truth when she says that all she wants is dibs on the scoop. I didn't buy how quickly she claimed to fall back in love with Mayweather, which is sort of sad and may just reflect how boring Mayweather's been over the course of the series; sure, he's hot, but she's ambitious and if he actually settles down, he won't be providing any big scoops for her. I also didn't buy how quickly he fell back in love with her, one of those standard television "if they argue, it's supposed to stand in for UST" relationships.

It's much more interesting to watch Tucker and T'Pol, who seem to have taken two steps back after the two steps forward from the end of "Bound." She's calling him Trip, but they have giant trust issues and haven't worked out how to deal with the emotional overlap he blames on the Vulcan mating bond; she's right to be disturbed that he discusses his concerns with Phlox and not with her. (I so, so want to know more about this embryo transplantation procedure Phlox mentions, which could render the abortion debate moot and at the same time open a much bigger, scarier can of worms about whether individuals or the government own genetic material and who gets to decide when an embryo is just too damaged for gestation or when there are simply too many embroys that could be gestated for the planet to feed - that and the technology that was apparently used to create the baby were the most interesting aspects of the episode for me, though I expect them to be a technobabble footnote rather than a focus of the sequel.) I thought Tucker and T'Pol were pretty stupid to believe they could infiltrate Terra Prime without being recognized - T'Pol in particular, a Vulcan, and what was Archer thinking when he agreed to let her go - but emotionally it's easy to sympathize with their reasons even though it's a foolish and dangerous decision.

It's less easy to forgive Starfleet for leaving the verteron array completely unguarded while the Sol system is full of ships from across the quadrant. They're ostensibly there for a peace conference, but if Paxton could use the array to hold Earth hostage, so could the Tellarites, the Andorians, those neat-looking folk from Coridan or anyone else with a warp-capable ship and a grappling arm. It's a good thing the aliens have more integrity than Terra Prime! I doubt Paxton will see it that way, however. These are the kinds of questions that original Star Trek dealt with regularly, with the Enterprise captain professing idealism and the villain an evident representative of a move in the wrong direction. I just hope the trend continues in part two.