Like most other Star Trek fans, I had my doubts about how the producers would be able to fit the Borg in with the Enterprise series, maintain continuity, and tell a good story. Well, they've done just that and did a good job at it. This show definitely had a lot of action and suspense going for it - very much like the Borg episode from TNG, 'Q Who?', and the two-part episode 'The Best of Both Worlds'. I think that there was actually a good feeling of being entertained while watching this episode.

What a shocker for Archer! The Borg is something that really came as a serious challenge for Archer. After all, 24th century Starfleet technology and tactics could barely compete with the Borg. Considering how fast the Borg were assimilating and enhancing 22nd technology, I started to get the feeling that the Borg would have it's own transwarp hub built by the end of the episode. For Archer, he just got lucky at the right time and at the right place. It's a good thing that he never gave up.  The sacrifices of life that he had to make repeatedly, will certainly way heavy on his emotions in the future. Here is a character that basically believes that he can and it's his duty to save people. Yet, when faced with innocent life that had been assimilated by the Borg, Archer felt very useless, defenseless, helpless, and shocked. These events will certainly not go over easy for him, but over time it should add more dynamics to his character. As far as Phlox being "almost" assimilated by the Borg, well, it's a good thing that he only sleeps once a year. The constant nightmares of sleeping everyday would be unnerving. Billingsley did a fine job at portraying one who is going through the early stages of assimilation. One could actually "feel" what he was experiencing as his soul was being taken away little by little. I though it was quite a moving and emotional performance.

As stated before, this Enterprise Borg theme episode fits in quite nicely with the overall Star Trek history. One could tell that there was definitely a lot of thought going into the development of this story. Of course, the Borg were never mentioned by name - only a reference by the humans as cybernetic creatures. The subspace message sent by the Borg will take about 200 years to reach their base in the Delta quadrant. Just in time for Picard to have "fun" with them. Of course, trying to make sense of how this really fits (or did fit, or will fit) into the Star Trek timeline would give you one of those famous Captain Janeway time-travel paradox headaches.  So, try not to think about it too much.