The preview foretold a knock-off of "Enemy Mine" but I didn't realize it would extend all the way to the makeup. Having already learned to like a scaly-face I freely admit enjoying this encounter with the Drac, um, the Harkonnens, um, the Arkonians. Their warriors and warships skirmish with NX-01 above and a shuttlepod-wrecked Trip below, but amused by a captain wearing his security officer's lipstick they overlook several opportunities to destroy the humans and, in the end, become fast friends. (Where they go by Kirk's day is a mystery - perhaps they are eventually destroyed by the Adreyatees.)

As usual for a Trip show ("s"Trip show?) Trinneer holds the piece together with memorable lines, quipping after taking a beating worthy of the Great Warrior or moaning in misfortune. (Must he speak slower and louder to be understood better? That was simply silly.) Somewhat unrealistically he uses all his luck points and then some, surviving being fired at, beaten up, avoiding stumbled-upon laser traps, and outplaying "hand weapon leapfrog" and "have a faceful of rock."

Nearly all the shipboard scenes - filmed with stand-ins and/or chromakeyed - were discomforting if not outright uncomfortable to watch. Continuity was no better. First the shuttlepod crashes its nose into the side of a volcano yet Trip then walks around front. The Science Officer of all people abandons the metric system. Somehow the temperature perceptibly arrives long before any light does; though visually pretty, this dawn is one of the slowest in the universe (this from at least three suns)! Untroubled by any obstacle of originality the story suffers instead a competition of incompetence.

With little tale to tell the episode drags at times but it certainly wasn't all "nak-toh," like the double chin-jerk to the right operating as our nod does. And I appreciate the peek into the science station visor; though it wasn't blue, we finally get a look-see! (And in advance I apologize for the visual, but just imagine what Phlox could do should he learn that hurl-heal trick.) "To see things we've never seen before" says the engineer, explaining the viewer's interest as well as his own. However, from among sixty-two moons (and we get the weird one!) the real story is the accomplishment up in orbit. I'm excited to see Archer's Enterprise pull a peaceful diplomatic coup even the Vulcans couldn't. They say it's always darkest just before the "Dawn" so after this one I should feel brighter and I do. I feel brighter because they finally did something right.