The Andorians show up to help the mission.
So I think this plot development is normally called the ‘deus ex shran’. Forgiven, because Shran is the best recurring guest star this show has developed so far. Also, things turn out to be more complicated than they first appear.
There’s some first rate flirting between Reed and the Andorian Talas. Shran and Archer have developed their own relationship. And we even get some useful developments in the main Xindi plot. All in all a pretty good episode.
(Seriously, 90 seconds of ‘previously on’? Which still doesn’t cover the bit of background, i.e. Shran, that’s most likely to have been forgotten. I hope the writers were just running really short of time. Oh, and then they completely blow a great Shran reveal in the first act. And while I’m complaining, Bikini Atoll is completely the wrong analogy, it should be Trinity Site in New Mexico).
Callbacks: Was that a hint to the formation of the Federation with Archer and Shran?
703 down, 34 to go.