Enterprise: Season Two Essentials

Yep. Season two is over already! Crazy, right? I love this season so it was a hard call but here are my essentials:

1- Carbon Creek:
In this one, T'Pol's memaw gets stuck on 1950's Earth in a podunk coal-mining town in Pennsylvania. Being, as I am, from a small town in the Appalachian mountains, I've always had a fondness for this one. It's kind of like October Sky meets Star Trek and I'm happy about that. I love this era in Space history--right after Sputnik but right before Kennedy's historic moon speech--and I love the simple sweetness of this story.

2- Singularity:
This one takes Trek's obsession with obsession to an obsessive new level. When the crew nears a black hole, they're affected by the radiation and wig out over whatever trivial bit of business (like fixing a chair or perfecting a recipe) they happen to be working on at the time. Singularity also showcases the Archer/T'Pol friendship in a nice way.

3- Cease Fire:
Vulcans vs. Andorians and Archer's in the middle of it.
Bonus Points for featuring Suzie Plakson

4- Judgement:
Archer winds up in the Klingon high court. This one is great for showing the Klingons at a transition period in their culture. They weren't always the marauding jackwagons we see in TOS or the battle-mongering (don't get me wrong--I LOVE them) warriors we see from TNG on. Sometimes they were lawyers--really great lawyers.
Bonus Points for featuring JG Hertzler (Martok)

5- The Expanse/The Xindi:
Here's where it all falls apart (literally) for Florida and Earth in general. You're not going to get Season Three without watching this one.

Runners Up:

Stigma:
The HIV/AIDs parable seems like something that belongs more in TNG but I really enjoy this one thanks to the other stigma they light-handedly feature: open marriages.

First Flight:
Ever wonder about Archer/Trip's BFF origin story? Here it is.

Dead Stop:
Crazy town space station in the middle of nowhere that can make pan-fried catfish and fix your ship for next to nothing? Count me in. This is one of the more original-to-Enterprise episodes.