See Also: 'Shockwave, Part II' Episode Guide

Brannon Braga today revealed a very familiar alien race is to have a brush with the NX-01 - very soon indeed.

"I think I can say without getting into too much trouble that very early in the season we will have our first brush with the Romulans," Braga told the SciFi Wire. "Captain Archer will have a very lethal brush with the Romulans early on.

Fans worried this development might play havoc with established Star Trek canon need not be worried. "We've been very careful," Braga said. "The continuity is airtight. Believe me. We know. We know."

"We're trying to improve on the first year," he said. "We've got a great part two to the cliffhanger, which we were very pleased with, and that's terrific. And we've got, gosh, we're about seven stories in. [...] We want to capitalise more on the fact that it's a prequel. We want to have a season that maybe has even more action than it had last season. And we want to just keep the creative juices flowing."

One thing remains a priority for the Executive Producer this season. "We would like to see Archer start to really get it together, Braga said. "We still would like to see him struggling, making mistakes. In 'Shockwave II,' he's basically on trial. This whole mission's on trial. So I think season two, he's really got to prove himself. He's really got to take command and figure out how to do this right. Because he made a few blunders last year. And this year, we're hoping that we see a guy who really starts to fulfill his potential as a captain. And what that means, I have no idea."

Braga explained 'Shockwave Part II' would lead to some very interesting revelations. "We're going to learn some really interesting things about what Archer and Enterprise's role might be in the formation of the Star Trek universe. And then beyond that, we're going to wait awhile, and then come back to the Temporal Cold War. But we're not going to do it too much. We want it to be a kind of an ongoing element."

Braga also revealed former X-Files writer John Shiban will write the third episode this year. It will find Lieutenant Reed pinned under a deep-space mine on the hull of the NX-01.

More from Braga, including his thoughts on under-used characters and T'Pol can be found by following this link to the Sci Fi Wire.

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