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Archer and Paxton represent two different directions for humanity. Archer symbolized the future to what we know as the
Federation while Paxton was the isolationist who also followed the purity ideals of Colonel Green. Paxton controlled the array on Mars and was willing to use it to destroy Starfleet Command HQ to prove his point. The purpose of the Vulcan/human baby he created was revealed as part of his broadcast to earth. Paxton used the baby to show how "alien" humanity would be if they continued their quest to join the intergalactic community. In many ways that played right into the fears of many humans as in this era, alien contacts
and associations were still something feared by them. Whether Paxton really believed in his
cause or not, it was clear that Paxton was using that fear of aliens to grab power. The classic signs of a future dictator.
Paxton presented quite an adversarial challenge for Archer. Paxton was just not one person
with a big weapon on Mars. He also had a strong and vocal support on earth. For Archer, the question was how do you stop
Paxton without playing into his hands and inciting more Terra Prime support on earth. Archer had to
devise a secretive and covert means to infiltrate Paxton's ship and stop him at all costs. Hitching a ride behind a comet was clever.
Nice special effects, too. The side chat during the Archer/Paxton fight was interesting, but in the end it
became brute force against brute force that determined the outcome and, of
course, Trip diverting the weapons targeting system to the water in San Francisco
bay instead of Starfleet HQ. This time, Trip saved the day, but Archer
still gets the main character hero credit, as well.
The most emotional and dramatic part of this story was T'Pol and Trip coping with the baby that was cloned from their genes. Despite how and why it was created, their parental instincts
definitely kicked in. Saving the baby wasn't just a matter of doing it because to was the right thing to do, but because it is what they felt they had to do at all cost. The scenes of T'Pol with the baby was very mother like and moving. Trips father
instincts kicked right in as he tried to do what he could to save T'Pol and the baby. The baby's death was very dramatic for them both. They
truly felt that they had lost their child, who they named Elizabeth (after Trips sister who died in the Xindi attack). Had the series continued, there would be no doubt that this would have been the focal point that would have brought them together as a real couple.
Reed meets up with section 31 man for the information on Mars as well as what Paxton's motivations
were behind the baby he created. The meeting in the dark ally again was kind of cool to portray the secret way that Section 31 does things. Whether he admits it or not, Reed still works for Section 31.
After the Archer saves the day, he had to do one last heroic effort - to convince the Vulcans, Andorians, and other species, that despite what had
occurred, humanity was ready to and willing to bring together an alliance of worlds together for all to benefit. This was perhaps his best moment for the last four seasons. After all he had to overcome, the things he had done, and challenges he new were yet to be faced, he was still able to tell everyone that this alliance was the best thing for all. It seemed natural for him, because he seemed to speak these words from his heart and soul - a true believe in a united
alliance. If one every wanted to know who and what Archer was really all about, this last scene of him
revealed what kind of character he truly was.
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