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3-04 Rajiin
Reviewed by Kevin Thomas Riley
A beautiful alien sex slave working for the Xindi tricks Archer & Co. That brief description makes the episode Rajiin sound rather dreadful, but surprisingly it isn't. It isn't very stellar either, overall it's pretty average, but Rajiin - that's the alien sex slave - turned out to be a somewhat interesting character. At least she managed to rise above the inherent clichés such a concept normally evokes.
Strictly speaking there was really no need for an alien sex slave. There could be tons of other alternatives for the Xindi to acquire the necessary information about human physiology, but I guess the temptation for the writers and producers to show off some scantily clad female in distress was too great to pass up. But, as I said, Rajiin managed to rise above it and we actually got a character that was sympathetic in many ways. It's clear that she wasn't to keen on her mission but that she had no real choice in the matter. By the end, when she protests before the Xindi council, it is too late. And we don't know what eventually happens to her. It would've been nice if we at some point got a follow-up about her fate. Alas, that and other things that happened during the mission in the Expanse (and the series as a whole) weren't addressed later on.
It has been said that the Xindi arc was Star Trek's take on 9-11. While not entirely correct, there are some elements on the show that can be said to have been inspired by it, particularly the Xindi probe attack that started it all. Rajiin (and the episode Carpenter Street) can be said to address the issue of biological warfare. Everyone remembers the mysterious anthrax mail sent during the autumn of 2001, and the claim that Saddam Hussein was developing bioweapons (among other things). It makes sense for the Xindi to try out alternative methods of destroying the human race besides just blowing up the Earth. That storyline could've been made much more interesting than it was, but that's not really the fault of this episode. That failure rests more with the snooze-fest that is Carpenter Street, but that's a topic for another review.
Another lost opportunity, which also isn't the fault of this episode, is the fact that of the people onboard the Enterprise that Rajiin managed to scan, were all those who had been the victims of the mutagenic Loque'eque virus from Extinction (Archer, Hoshi and T'Pol). It was even stated by Phlox in the beginning of the episode that they still hadn't fully recovered. That means that there is a strong possibility that the information Rajiin obtained was tainted by that virus, which could possibly make whatever bioweapon the Xindi makes useless. But that was never followed up on, and after Carpenter Street the issue became moot anyway.
Archer doesn't manage too well in this episode. For one thing his actions don't mesh with his stand in Cogenitor. There he dressed down Trip for coming to the aid of what was nothing more than a sex slave, in effect saying it was none of their business to interfere with another culture like that (leaving aside the fact that Archer had done so numerous times in the past). So if he was condoning slavery in alien societies (abhorrent though that view is), why did he suddenly feel the need to help Rajiin? Was it because she was a beautiful and female alien sex slave instead of a plain sex slave of a third gender? And Archer had no qualms about almost killing the Osaarian prisoner in Anomaly, but he tries nothing of the sort with Rajiin. Why not? Because was a beautiful and female alien sex slave? Gah, can you spell hypocrisy? But I realize that isn't new to the Archer character. Consistence isn't something normally associated with him.
To make matters worse he lets her roam free onboard his ship, thereby allowing her to scan both him and Hoshi, and perform quite a disturbing form of "rape" on T'Pol while trying to scan the Vulcan. That scene was probably put in to titillate some adolescent male viewers with its semi-lesbian undertones. Poor T'Pol, she can never seem to catch a break. I don't know how many times her character has been abused and violated by now.
I really liked the Trip/T'Pol scenes. Their neuro-pressure sessions always runs the risk of just coming off as being gratuitous, an excuse to show two attractive actors rubbing skin in their jammies. Fortunately the writers have managed to make them behave as two adults, even talking about the obvious gossip that must surround those sessions. The discussion between Trip and T'Pol came off as mature and realistic. It also showed that they have reached a new comfort level with each other. I must also add that this wouldn't have been possible had it not been for the performances by Connor Trinneer and Jolene Blalock, and the great chemistry between them.
It was also nice to see that their neuro-pressure had an effect on the plot of the episode. Had it not been for a scheduled session with T'Pol, Trip wouldn't have interrupted when Rajiin was trying out her thing on T'Pol. I also like the scenes where Trip and T'Pol are working together. They do compliment each other so well, even if they managed to blow up a small research lab trying to synthesize some highly explosive liquid Trellium-D.
Getting a formula for effective use of Trellium-D, which is needed to insulate the hull against the anomalies, is what made them meet Rajiin in the first place. So they went down on an alien planet to meet B'Rat Ud, a chemist, when they also stumbled on Rajiin. I suppose stumble is the wrong word since she was obviously planted and the chemist must have been in on it. I loved the visuals of the alien "Venetian" city and the bustling market place. The outfits on the slave market were nice, reminding me of some Bill Theiss costumes on the original series. B'Rat Ud was rather funny and I liked the touch of Trip and Malcolm selling him Earth spices instead of the usual tech stuff. Spices have played a large role in trade on Earth and that was even mentioned in the episode. Heh, when they get back they may try and trade some triticale!
The Xindi are unfortunately turning out to be rather clichéd. I do like the concept of five (originally six) Xindi species, even if the science behind them is rather murky. But why do they have to be portrayed so that the more alien ones, the Reptilians and the Insectoids, are the sinister ones while the more human-looking, the Primates and the Arboreals, are the moderate ones, with the Aquatics somewhere in the middle? So naturally it was the Reptilians and the Insectoids that acted on their own when they commissioned Rajiin and then led a boarding party to retrieve her from the Enterprise. On Babylon 5 they turned viewer expectations on its head with the Narn and the Centauri. Oh well, can't have everything I guess…
So, taking account of the fact that this is an Expanse arc episode and that I did enjoy it, even though it had its faults, I'll give Rajiin a grade of 5+ on my 10-graded scale.
T’Pol isn’t concerned though, but we do get some hints that a relationship between them would be against some kind of Starfleet regulations in case Captain Clueless catches on. I find it a little odd seeing as T’Pol is apparently a civilian anyway (*sigh* 
) and it seems to me that as a department head, Trip might have some leeway as opposed to say something going on between the captain and his first officer.
TPTB seem to have a thing for T’Pol getting raped I find repugnant, not so much for the rapes themselves, but because they seem to have no lasting effects and there are no follow-ups, so basically it’s just a spur of the moment thing that lasts for a small portion of that one episode and is forgotten. 
), Archer shrugs it off and then treated her like crap in the last sickbay scene, and I'm officially in the "Blow 
