Archer is right. There is more for humanity to prove in space besides exploring gas giants or how fast their warp drive is. There's an entire community out there and Archer, along with his fellow humans, want to show that they are ready to participate with a much larger community. This Andorian/Vulcan conflict has provided a unique opportunity for the humans to "show-off" their peaceful diplomatic and negotiating skills. Indeed, humans have much to show how they not only have been able to resolve their own differences on earth, but are able to apply these same methods with other species, as well. I liked Archer's comment about "playing it by ear". I guess he sets a precedent for future Kirk-type captains.

The first half of the episode did do a decent job at establishing the basis of the story, but it was a bit boring. I felt like I was going to have to sit and watch about 30 minutes of the show before some real action came around. And guess what? I was right! The story could have definitely used some more relevant action scenes at the beginning and middle of the show in order to keep the viewer excited and on their toes. Not twiddling thumbs and waiting for the next scene of T'Pol's breasts.

The trust that has been developed between Shran and Archer played out quite well in this episode. There was none of that, 'well, we've trusted each other before in previous episodes and now we have to play the same theme all over again'. Instead, there was good drama played out on this previously established trust.  I think that more character quality has developed for both Archer and Shran as a result of this trust arc

There should have been more doubt built into the Tarah character as to weather she was the villain or not. It was way too simple and obvious that she would turned out to be the "bad girl" in this episode. I think that Trek viewers deserve far more mature character portrayal than what was seen with her.

I was amazed at how Soval had come around in just one episode to respect Archer a bit more. I thought for sure that Soval would give Archer the neck-pinch, before asking for his help.

This was a good first step towards more story telling about the pre-beginnings of the Federation. Lets hope that this story arc turns out and is written well. The ball is in the writer's court now.