I will start off by saying by saying that I liked this Phase II episode for two reasons. One, it stood on its own merits. Two, there has not been any Trek for quite some time. The last Phase II episode was in 2009. The Star Trek movie came out in 2009. Farragut put out vignettes in 2008 and some animated episodes in 2009. Starship Exeter is Lost in Space. "Enemy Starfleet!" filled a void in the Year of our Lord 2011 (sorry, it is Eastertime).

"Enemy Starfleet!" finds the Enterprise and her crew squaring off against an alien race that has appropriated Federation technology. They are using it to gain hegemony in their sector of space. Kirk cannot morally let Federation technology be used to subjugate others and violate the Prime Directive (even if it is indirectly). I thought I would review this episode à la Larry King, i.e. in a random if not incoherent manner.

"Enemy Starfleet!" is a cool title. Kirk actually says this in a log entry…The theme from the ‘60s sci fi show "The Invaders" was worked into the soundtrack. Nice…   The captured starship Eagle had Borg-like modifications…  Paul Sieber (as the Meskan Commander Kyril) is to fanfilms as Valerie Bertinelli is to miniseries…  The long hair on Peter Kirk and some of the others kind of threw me…  Paul Sieber’s costume material reminded me of the upholstery on my grandmother’s couch. On the other hand, that’s the kind of thing William Ware Theiss would have done…  James Cawley has perfected the Shatner backward wave of the thumb…  Meghan King Johnson’s hair finally looks quite Rand-like…   Would an Andorian have been the Captain of a Pike-era Federation starship?... Spock popped the top of the Meskan jamming device like a pull tab on an old can of Schlitz. Simplest ways are the best I suppose…  John Kelley is as fully irascible as DeForest Kelly…  I am amazed at the quality of the plug and play actors for Spock, Sulu, Uhuru, and Chekov especially over the arc of this series. The casting makes up for the lack of continuity…

Speaking of Spock, Ben Tolpin directs this episode after having played Spock in the last episode, Blood and Fire. Brandon Stacy took over in Enemy Starfleet!…Chekov had a nice turn in Sickbay with young Kirk. The sarcasm was especially well placed…  Captain Kirk’s discussion with Ensign Kirk in his cabin was somewhat reminiscent of Spock’s with Garrovick in TOS’s "Obsession"…  The final lines of the show were preachy like a World War II propaganda film. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were staring into the empty transporter chamber like they were seeing "Avatar" for the first time in 3D…  Barbara Luna was great see again. How does she do it? It was her second turn on Phase II, the first being "In Harm’s Way." She worked in a little Marlena Moreau for good measure... Lots of action in this one--a pitched phaser battle on the planet, two starships stalking each other, Meskan fighters attacking both, the new Peshan/Federation vessels causing trouble…  I will never tire of hearing the word "wessels"…  William Shatner 106, James Cawley 9, Christopher Pine 1 – the number of times actors have played Captain James T. Kirk…  They did a good job of duplicating the wormhole effect from Star Trek The Motion Picture "in precise detail"…  Ralph Miller did another fine job with the sound effects (and as an extra)…  I am not sure what Kirk handed Chekov when he was promoted to Security Chief. Dickerson’s bosun whistle?... This episode clocked in at almost a full 60 minutes as compared to TOS’s standard 51 minutes or Star Trek Enterprise’s 42. This would qualify as a 90 minute network TV movie (with commercials)…  Some quotable dialog: "You were psychoanalyzing, Bones. I wasn’t listening." "Evasive means to evade."…  Nice ‘60s nod to CBS at the beginning (as current owner of Star Trek)…  I do believe I heard the famous Wilhelm scream a few times…

I give Enemy Starfleet! an A for production design and special effects, an A for casting, a B for the acting, an A for not using Phase II uniforms, and a B+ for the story (nice actioner).

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