As Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy come to a close next year, some in the Star Trek fan community are wondering where it all “went wrong”.
I like Enterprise for the most part, I also liked most of the characters. I felt the xenophobia storyline was to cater to a certain demographic, it felt forced and badly written. I am surprised you did not mention the abomination that was the final episode, but I guess that dead horse has long been beat into glue. And yes, I am one of those that felt the final speech should have been "These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Enterprise definitely felt like Old Trek, that is why it appealed to me, but then again, I am old too.
I never understood the Enterprise hate. If they'd just had a "traditional" Star Trek opening credits, I'm convinced it would have taken far less flack, which is absurd, but that's how spoiled the fans were before the dark times.
We didn't know how good we had it back then that a dumb credits song and a few other choices (like era) could get the base so riled up and crapping on an otherwise excellent show.
And it was excellent, having aged like fine wine once some of the "not muh Star Trek' choices lost their outrage due to far, far FAR worse sins visited upon the body Trek.
That last episode though, my goodness, the only saving grace is that it can easily be reconned as "incomplete/incorrect/corrupt records" 200+ years into the future, or even just user error/poor subject knowledge on the holodeck sequence programmer.
This is actually, I think, a better example of fan reassessment than the Star Wars Prequels post Sequel era. While I'll admit softening on them after Rey "Somehow" Palpawalker, the Prequels are still objectively bad films, which is not the case for Enterprise, which was more misunderstood and unappreciated in its time
I'd say that the Star Wars prequels had great concepts, ideas & contexts/recontextualizations, basically told a great story, also politically, but told it very badly. ;)
I would suggest giving Episode 1 a generous watching (complete with behind the scenes stuff if you can get it). It used to be my least favorite. I rewatched it this past spring for the first time in years, then watched Episode 2. The level of quality, restraint, and thought in Episode 1 compared to 2 is insane. If you look at everything from world building to practical effects, to characters, Episode 1 starts to feel like the last good Star Wars. Jar Jar is annoying, but he has nothing on CGI 3P0 in the lava factory or fluop Yoda fighting.
I am in the minority that I think Episode I, while not good, was better than Episode III, which I think people overrated on nothing more than the stupid lightsaber fights. Obi Wan vs Anakin was overdone to the point of ridiculousness,cand Yoda was just character assassination (wise Master Jedi Yoda should have fought with the Force alone, not bouncing around swinging a glowstick like a Muppet on crack).
And Episode III, we don't talk about Episode III in polite company.
So, yeah, Episode I was the last Star Wars I personally find watchable, but I prefer the Phantom Edit, which helps a bit with Jar Jar and other nonsense.
My main problem with the final episode is that they killed off Trip. As for the TNG holodeck framing, I thought it was an awful choice at the time, and Berman has actually publicly apologized for what they did there, but on my media server in my chronological Star Trek playlist, that episode is properly slotted in between TNG's "The Pegasus" and DS9's "Armageddon Game", so the TNG framing doesn't really hurt anymore. But Trip is still dead, at least according to the data for that Holodeck simulation. In beta canon, Trip survived, unbeknownst to his friends & crewmates, went on undercover missions etc., but I don't believe that's a good idea… it's even more cynical than just leaving him dead. But could it be possible that Riker simply changed the simulation setup, i.e. alter the displayed history slightly to up the stakes for the NX-01 and bring the narrative more in line with what he needed with regard to his "Pegasus" conundrum? No, because Troi implicitly references Tucker's death, so the latter idea wouldn't work. So yeah, "'incomplete/incorrect/corrupt records' 200+ years into the future" is the first obvious choice. But the powers that be could just decanonize the episode, but the problem is that the ending is pretty important, that sweet moment between Archer & T'Pol, and also emotionally with the combined captains' "these are the voyages" speech, accompanied by that great orchestral main ENT theme. We would still lose quite a lot if they decanonized it. What I would do, is allocate a tiny portion of the "Star Trek United" budget, cut out or ADR Troi's remark, recut certain scenes with a few reshoots with deaged actors, so Trip survives at the end, and then release that new episode as a special with the "Star Trek United" BluRay, and replace the original ENT episode with the new version on streaming platforms.
Yes, that's the novel I was referring to. It could well be a good read, but something in me dislikes the subterfuge, not in line with Trip's character, even finds it cynical. I'd just reshoot & ADR the relevant parts of that final episode, and reintroduce Trip in "Star Trek United".
I had the privilege of working with several crew members from the show, and it really was the last series that had people which truly understood what Trek is, and wanted to keep the legacy of it intact, and not simply an IP to milk for cash.
Personally I loved it. Thought it was more "near sci-fi" than any other Trek to date and the claustrophobic feel of the NX-01 had so much "submarine" story potential. A horrible shame that we never get to see the Doug Drexler NX-01 refit until a brief flash of it in Picard.
I didn't watch Enterprise till I found myself on a Netflix Star Trek binge in 2011.
I actually liked it a lot, and am a fan of Scott Bakula anyway, and was sad so many things had to come to an abrupt halt just after the show had hit its stride. I made sure to buy the Blu-rays so I can enjoy them at my leisure without a sub to whatever streaming service hosts Star Trek now (Paramount+?).
Speaking very subjectively, I never understood the fuss about Jeri Ryan on Voyager, and have always preferred Jolene, and not just with regard to her beauty. She played T'Pol with a lot of nuance, added an ethereal quality to her character, with just the right balance; and T'Pol might have been an even more integral element in the last three seasons: iirc, one episode pitch made her half-Romulan.
Seven made the Borg sexy, which is creepy and gross. T'pol made the Vulcans...less Vulcan, but in a very good way. She showed that the Vulcans were in much the same state as humanity was at that point in the Trek universe: moving down the path to what would eventually make them great, but still held back by old beliefs. Personally, I appreciate the fact that Archer's actions regarding the teachings of Surak were just as pivotal to Vulcan civilization as Vulcan "guidance" was to early post-warp Earth.
Very good points, though I wouldn't necessarily say that Seven (as a Borg) was sexy: she became sexy after her transformation, and the writers made it clear very quickly that she was already mostly human, and turned her into a dominant supe, who looked like a bimbo, and wrote her as a hierarchical challenge to the captain, and as someone that Starfleet just needed to "save", fix and orient. And her role was often restricted to internal struggles, within herself & with her past as a Borg, within the crew & their missions, so I do appreciate the fact that they opened up her character in Picard, even if was mostly off-screen as a member of the Fenris Rangers. T'Pol was set up quite differently, and they managed to have their cake and eat it, making her a foil & companion to Archer, not a semi-antagonist, but also embedding her in the politics of the time, externalizing the character, also in an active role, while not detracting from her own struggles. Fantastic role. For me, T'Pol was part of the family, and (together with Archer) a historical linchpin, while Seven always remained a psychiatrized outsider. I did like her character, but it was an acquired taste, and to me her carefully managed generic "sexiness" felt more annoying & uninviting than creepy & gross, almost like a joke… I wonder how this would have played out if they had cast the role as visually less appealing in the "traditional" sense of beauty. (Current case in point: Tanya Reynolds in "Ted Lasso" season 4.) And how dramatic would it have been, if they had made Seven (narratively) an ugly duckling, eventually having her rejoin the Borg collective, turning Janeway into a a grim Ahab, only for Seven to return triumphantly in season 7, reunite with the crew and ensure their return home… her "Descensus ad Inferos" and resurgence. VOY was still a very good show, but imho the writers dropped the ball a couple of times, with Seven, with the Maquis etc.
I liked it back when it was the only Star Trek we had after Voyager but of all those old real Star Trek series, Enterprise is the one I am least likely to watch. Too much Brandon. That's the guy who killed Star Trek, though I know it was not intentional. I'm still torn about all the shower sceens. I mean, that was not like the Star Trek I knew as a kid, but Jolene and Linda Park were difficut to look away from.
I felt the shirt off scene was the same as the decon scene with Tripp, Hosi and T'pol in their underwear. It was intended as cheese cake, maybe it was sweeps week.
I was in a TV room at a federal law enforcement academy when that scene came on. After just a few seconds, about a 1/2 dozen of us (male and female) bust out laughing. How to put this, it was obvious to all that T'Pol's after market equipment was ummm, cockeyed. They need better cosmetic surgeons on Vulcan.
I agree with Jamie that ENT has aged well… some real banger episodes, and the vibe of the show was great, and it still works extremely well today, especially the first two seasons. There were some canon problems, but not as harrowing as those we've had to endure under Kurtzman. Imho there is a case to be made for Les Moonves being the real assassin here, not just UPN politics. Moonves could easily have kept ENT going. And Abrams and Kurtzman could have revived Trek again, but chose to be culture vultures, probably also at the behest of Moonves. It's a shame ENT ended so early. As a big fan of the Romulans as Trek antagonists, I was really looking forward to the Romulan War, and there is now a sliver of hope since (according to Sussman) his proposed "Star Trek United" would start with NX-01 flashbacks to the Romulan War, with deaged ENT main actors, Shran, the whole shebang. As for ENT itself, I enjoyed it immediately from season 1, and as a fan of time travel films, I didn't mind the Temporal Cold War arc, though when looking back, it did last way too long. Though on the other hand, they had plans to resolve it over the final three seasons, and Archer himself supposedly played a big part in it, so I can understand why they stuck to it. The show really got better for everyone with the Xindi arc, became more modern, and then it was canceled, just as it was breaking through. A real shame. Is it canon? Of course. Is it the last proper canon entry? No. It's the last hurrah of classic Trek, the final good Trek, not as awesome as what came before, but still more than good enough. NuTrek could have been great, but was planned & executed as an abomination, and it (partially) pains me to say that NuTrek is "proper canon" too. You can erase it in your mind & create your own head canon sans Kurtzman, but that doesn't change reality. Is ENT the series that those in charge should look to when developing the next Trek era on TV? Probably not, or at least not exclusively, but it wouldn't be wrong to try to envision what ENT was going to be in the final three seasons, and weave a new thread from there into a renaissance. No more NuTrek, and back to TruTrek. And "Star Trek United" including some NX-01 flashback would be the logical spot to pick up the dropped ball again, before going post-Picard with a real plan for the next 20 years.
Seasons One and Two of Enterprise were outstanding. Really set up a tone of ‘boldly going’ into the unknown. The tensions between humans and Vulcans was lovely. The cast and the characters were excellent (Scott Bakula was maybe an odd choice after being so well known for Quantum Leap, but I guess it worked). S01E08, ‘Breaking the Ice,’ is as good an example of writing as any Trek, anywhere.
Season Three wasn’t great. As season baddies, the Xindi looked goofy and seemed to spend all their time in meetings. Bakula shouted pretty much all his lines. A lot of episodes seemed to culminate in big phaser fights. The tone for the whole season was grim and weird and just not very 'Trek'.
Season Four was hit and miss as well. A nice idea, to have a few different multi-episode arcs – but in execution, they tended to just prove a bit overlong.
Seasons Three and Four had some nice one-off episodes – the one where Archer can’t form long-term memories, for instance, and he and T’Pol are living on some planet – but it’s kind of clear why viewing figures were dropping, by this point.
I generally agree that the first two seasons were problematic, and that it turned around with the Xindi War. I loved the fourth season, but had a sense that most of the critics and fans had already written the show off after the first season or two due to a combination of their own failings with general Star Trek fatigue, and so most folks were not willing to give it another chance.
The theme song reeked! If I could, I'd replace it with an instrumental theme for any re-releases.
One issue I had with the series was its casting of extras, in particular on the Enterprise, itself. From TOS on, the casting departments made sure that the extras on each Federation starships were diverse: lots of men, lots of women, and a fair amount of people of color mixed in with the white folk (we are talking about an American show, so we were never going to get a cast that came close to reflecting the full diversity of the world's population). But I noticed early on on Enterprise just how white the extras were in the background on screen, it never got better, and bugged me the whole run of the show. I like to think that if Roddenberry had still been around, he'd have noticed it and brought it to the producers' attention. It is perhaps telling that the producers were forced to cast a second person of color in the bridge crew, and that it's been said that Nichele Nichols' Uhura had more lines of dialog than Anthony Montgomery's Travis Mayweather, whose background as having grown up in space should have been put to more use.
I like Enterprise for the most part, I also liked most of the characters. I felt the xenophobia storyline was to cater to a certain demographic, it felt forced and badly written. I am surprised you did not mention the abomination that was the final episode, but I guess that dead horse has long been beat into glue. And yes, I am one of those that felt the final speech should have been "These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Enterprise definitely felt like Old Trek, that is why it appealed to me, but then again, I am old too.
I never understood the Enterprise hate. If they'd just had a "traditional" Star Trek opening credits, I'm convinced it would have taken far less flack, which is absurd, but that's how spoiled the fans were before the dark times.
We didn't know how good we had it back then that a dumb credits song and a few other choices (like era) could get the base so riled up and crapping on an otherwise excellent show.
And it was excellent, having aged like fine wine once some of the "not muh Star Trek' choices lost their outrage due to far, far FAR worse sins visited upon the body Trek.
That last episode though, my goodness, the only saving grace is that it can easily be reconned as "incomplete/incorrect/corrupt records" 200+ years into the future, or even just user error/poor subject knowledge on the holodeck sequence programmer.
ADDENDUM:
This is actually, I think, a better example of fan reassessment than the Star Wars Prequels post Sequel era. While I'll admit softening on them after Rey "Somehow" Palpawalker, the Prequels are still objectively bad films, which is not the case for Enterprise, which was more misunderstood and unappreciated in its time
I'd say that the Star Wars prequels had great concepts, ideas & contexts/recontextualizations, basically told a great story, also politically, but told it very badly. ;)
I feel that a lot of
People responded
to those shows based
on the perceived manipulation
of 'personal' beliefs. Like
forcing 'Boomers' to watch
same-sex kissing. Even
Boomer-Allies are not
necessarily ready to
participate in
the freedoms they
helped initiate.
OT focused on 'Society's'
outdated beliefs.
NT focuses on "Your"
outdated beliefs.
(B4 U @ me/Read me!)
I would suggest giving Episode 1 a generous watching (complete with behind the scenes stuff if you can get it). It used to be my least favorite. I rewatched it this past spring for the first time in years, then watched Episode 2. The level of quality, restraint, and thought in Episode 1 compared to 2 is insane. If you look at everything from world building to practical effects, to characters, Episode 1 starts to feel like the last good Star Wars. Jar Jar is annoying, but he has nothing on CGI 3P0 in the lava factory or fluop Yoda fighting.
I am in the minority that I think Episode I, while not good, was better than Episode III, which I think people overrated on nothing more than the stupid lightsaber fights. Obi Wan vs Anakin was overdone to the point of ridiculousness,cand Yoda was just character assassination (wise Master Jedi Yoda should have fought with the Force alone, not bouncing around swinging a glowstick like a Muppet on crack).
And Episode III, we don't talk about Episode III in polite company.
So, yeah, Episode I was the last Star Wars I personally find watchable, but I prefer the Phantom Edit, which helps a bit with Jar Jar and other nonsense.
The Enterprise ending got fixed. Big time. Read the Star Trek: Enterprise novel "The Good That Men Do".
My main problem with the final episode is that they killed off Trip. As for the TNG holodeck framing, I thought it was an awful choice at the time, and Berman has actually publicly apologized for what they did there, but on my media server in my chronological Star Trek playlist, that episode is properly slotted in between TNG's "The Pegasus" and DS9's "Armageddon Game", so the TNG framing doesn't really hurt anymore. But Trip is still dead, at least according to the data for that Holodeck simulation. In beta canon, Trip survived, unbeknownst to his friends & crewmates, went on undercover missions etc., but I don't believe that's a good idea… it's even more cynical than just leaving him dead. But could it be possible that Riker simply changed the simulation setup, i.e. alter the displayed history slightly to up the stakes for the NX-01 and bring the narrative more in line with what he needed with regard to his "Pegasus" conundrum? No, because Troi implicitly references Tucker's death, so the latter idea wouldn't work. So yeah, "'incomplete/incorrect/corrupt records' 200+ years into the future" is the first obvious choice. But the powers that be could just decanonize the episode, but the problem is that the ending is pretty important, that sweet moment between Archer & T'Pol, and also emotionally with the combined captains' "these are the voyages" speech, accompanied by that great orchestral main ENT theme. We would still lose quite a lot if they decanonized it. What I would do, is allocate a tiny portion of the "Star Trek United" budget, cut out or ADR Troi's remark, recut certain scenes with a few reshoots with deaged actors, so Trip survives at the end, and then release that new episode as a special with the "Star Trek United" BluRay, and replace the original ENT episode with the new version on streaming platforms.
Read the Star Trek: Enterprise novel "The Good That Men Do". It fixes the ending of Enterprise. And it's a legit good read.
Yes, that's the novel I was referring to. It could well be a good read, but something in me dislikes the subterfuge, not in line with Trip's character, even finds it cynical. I'd just reshoot & ADR the relevant parts of that final episode, and reintroduce Trip in "Star Trek United".
AI hallucination perhaps?
I had the privilege of working with several crew members from the show, and it really was the last series that had people which truly understood what Trek is, and wanted to keep the legacy of it intact, and not simply an IP to milk for cash.
Personally I loved it. Thought it was more "near sci-fi" than any other Trek to date and the claustrophobic feel of the NX-01 had so much "submarine" story potential. A horrible shame that we never get to see the Doug Drexler NX-01 refit until a brief flash of it in Picard.
Where My Heart Will Take Me is awesome and if you dont like it then we cant be friends.
I didn't watch Enterprise till I found myself on a Netflix Star Trek binge in 2011.
I actually liked it a lot, and am a fan of Scott Bakula anyway, and was sad so many things had to come to an abrupt halt just after the show had hit its stride. I made sure to buy the Blu-rays so I can enjoy them at my leisure without a sub to whatever streaming service hosts Star Trek now (Paramount+?).
Wait, there is Trek on TV after Enterprise and the six films? I didn't know that! Must have been stuck in a Mirror universe for the last 20 years. :-)
Now that I've read
your work. Thank you.
Mr. Baccula (?) is still
around. I agree with
you in that the
series "...aged well."
Just like with 'Andor'
on Disney. Star Trek
needs its own, 'Andor'
treatment. I was around
10yrs old when Star Trek
started. Along with "Batman"
the older I got, the more
I wanted to see the things
I was reading in SciFi novels.
Everything was so 'campy!'
Then, "Alien" happened.
Me and my cohort absolutely
loved Alien. All I wanted in
movies/tv was to see
Star Trek look like Alien.
To have it be that serious.
What are they afraid of?
They have so much societal
BS in it now, it's almost
dead. Star Trek never told
me how I'm supposed
to think about things until
now. And it sucks. Old Trek
said, "This is how we think,
and we're pretty cool, so
maybe think about it?"
Which worked on me.
Thank you for all your
hard work on this piece.
T'pol had very nice "lungs", and was great for that series!
Speaking very subjectively, I never understood the fuss about Jeri Ryan on Voyager, and have always preferred Jolene, and not just with regard to her beauty. She played T'Pol with a lot of nuance, added an ethereal quality to her character, with just the right balance; and T'Pol might have been an even more integral element in the last three seasons: iirc, one episode pitch made her half-Romulan.
Seven made the Borg sexy, which is creepy and gross. T'pol made the Vulcans...less Vulcan, but in a very good way. She showed that the Vulcans were in much the same state as humanity was at that point in the Trek universe: moving down the path to what would eventually make them great, but still held back by old beliefs. Personally, I appreciate the fact that Archer's actions regarding the teachings of Surak were just as pivotal to Vulcan civilization as Vulcan "guidance" was to early post-warp Earth.
Very good points, though I wouldn't necessarily say that Seven (as a Borg) was sexy: she became sexy after her transformation, and the writers made it clear very quickly that she was already mostly human, and turned her into a dominant supe, who looked like a bimbo, and wrote her as a hierarchical challenge to the captain, and as someone that Starfleet just needed to "save", fix and orient. And her role was often restricted to internal struggles, within herself & with her past as a Borg, within the crew & their missions, so I do appreciate the fact that they opened up her character in Picard, even if was mostly off-screen as a member of the Fenris Rangers. T'Pol was set up quite differently, and they managed to have their cake and eat it, making her a foil & companion to Archer, not a semi-antagonist, but also embedding her in the politics of the time, externalizing the character, also in an active role, while not detracting from her own struggles. Fantastic role. For me, T'Pol was part of the family, and (together with Archer) a historical linchpin, while Seven always remained a psychiatrized outsider. I did like her character, but it was an acquired taste, and to me her carefully managed generic "sexiness" felt more annoying & uninviting than creepy & gross, almost like a joke… I wonder how this would have played out if they had cast the role as visually less appealing in the "traditional" sense of beauty. (Current case in point: Tanya Reynolds in "Ted Lasso" season 4.) And how dramatic would it have been, if they had made Seven (narratively) an ugly duckling, eventually having her rejoin the Borg collective, turning Janeway into a a grim Ahab, only for Seven to return triumphantly in season 7, reunite with the crew and ensure their return home… her "Descensus ad Inferos" and resurgence. VOY was still a very good show, but imho the writers dropped the ball a couple of times, with Seven, with the Maquis etc.
I liked it back when it was the only Star Trek we had after Voyager but of all those old real Star Trek series, Enterprise is the one I am least likely to watch. Too much Brandon. That's the guy who killed Star Trek, though I know it was not intentional. I'm still torn about all the shower sceens. I mean, that was not like the Star Trek I knew as a kid, but Jolene and Linda Park were difficut to look away from.
As Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy come to a close next year...
Oh dear God, NOT SOON ENOUGH.
And... Enterprise was super Mid. Archer was kind of a "gay" Captain watching Men's Water Polo matches in his room with his shirt off.
After 911 it had NO idea where it was going and the Xindi was an analog for the terrorist attack on the USA.
It sucks quite a bit and really Star Trek sort of started to die there.
Much better than the Woke Communist Feminist Trek that followed but that's like comparing a "punch in the balls" to having ones dick shot off.
I felt the shirt off scene was the same as the decon scene with Tripp, Hosi and T'pol in their underwear. It was intended as cheese cake, maybe it was sweeps week.
That was cringe.
I was in a TV room at a federal law enforcement academy when that scene came on. After just a few seconds, about a 1/2 dozen of us (male and female) bust out laughing. How to put this, it was obvious to all that T'Pol's after market equipment was ummm, cockeyed. They need better cosmetic surgeons on Vulcan.
Still better than Voyager
Voyager was great. 7 of 9 was like my dream girl and I thought Janeway was a good Captain but that was before militant feminism took over ST.
I agree with Jamie that ENT has aged well… some real banger episodes, and the vibe of the show was great, and it still works extremely well today, especially the first two seasons. There were some canon problems, but not as harrowing as those we've had to endure under Kurtzman. Imho there is a case to be made for Les Moonves being the real assassin here, not just UPN politics. Moonves could easily have kept ENT going. And Abrams and Kurtzman could have revived Trek again, but chose to be culture vultures, probably also at the behest of Moonves. It's a shame ENT ended so early. As a big fan of the Romulans as Trek antagonists, I was really looking forward to the Romulan War, and there is now a sliver of hope since (according to Sussman) his proposed "Star Trek United" would start with NX-01 flashbacks to the Romulan War, with deaged ENT main actors, Shran, the whole shebang. As for ENT itself, I enjoyed it immediately from season 1, and as a fan of time travel films, I didn't mind the Temporal Cold War arc, though when looking back, it did last way too long. Though on the other hand, they had plans to resolve it over the final three seasons, and Archer himself supposedly played a big part in it, so I can understand why they stuck to it. The show really got better for everyone with the Xindi arc, became more modern, and then it was canceled, just as it was breaking through. A real shame. Is it canon? Of course. Is it the last proper canon entry? No. It's the last hurrah of classic Trek, the final good Trek, not as awesome as what came before, but still more than good enough. NuTrek could have been great, but was planned & executed as an abomination, and it (partially) pains me to say that NuTrek is "proper canon" too. You can erase it in your mind & create your own head canon sans Kurtzman, but that doesn't change reality. Is ENT the series that those in charge should look to when developing the next Trek era on TV? Probably not, or at least not exclusively, but it wouldn't be wrong to try to envision what ENT was going to be in the final three seasons, and weave a new thread from there into a renaissance. No more NuTrek, and back to TruTrek. And "Star Trek United" including some NX-01 flashback would be the logical spot to pick up the dropped ball again, before going post-Picard with a real plan for the next 20 years.
Seasons One and Two of Enterprise were outstanding. Really set up a tone of ‘boldly going’ into the unknown. The tensions between humans and Vulcans was lovely. The cast and the characters were excellent (Scott Bakula was maybe an odd choice after being so well known for Quantum Leap, but I guess it worked). S01E08, ‘Breaking the Ice,’ is as good an example of writing as any Trek, anywhere.
Season Three wasn’t great. As season baddies, the Xindi looked goofy and seemed to spend all their time in meetings. Bakula shouted pretty much all his lines. A lot of episodes seemed to culminate in big phaser fights. The tone for the whole season was grim and weird and just not very 'Trek'.
Season Four was hit and miss as well. A nice idea, to have a few different multi-episode arcs – but in execution, they tended to just prove a bit overlong.
Seasons Three and Four had some nice one-off episodes – the one where Archer can’t form long-term memories, for instance, and he and T’Pol are living on some planet – but it’s kind of clear why viewing figures were dropping, by this point.
Before I even read
this, I’m on board!
With no TV some
years back. I watched
“Enterprise” on DVD
from start to finish.
The first couple of
episodes I almost
stopped watching. But,
slowly I began to appreciate
the writing. Then, it was
all about the writing.
Their sets looked like
high school drama club.
But, weirdly, that made it
even better. All they had
was good writing to
lean on. And it worked!
I generally agree that the first two seasons were problematic, and that it turned around with the Xindi War. I loved the fourth season, but had a sense that most of the critics and fans had already written the show off after the first season or two due to a combination of their own failings with general Star Trek fatigue, and so most folks were not willing to give it another chance.
The theme song reeked! If I could, I'd replace it with an instrumental theme for any re-releases.
One issue I had with the series was its casting of extras, in particular on the Enterprise, itself. From TOS on, the casting departments made sure that the extras on each Federation starships were diverse: lots of men, lots of women, and a fair amount of people of color mixed in with the white folk (we are talking about an American show, so we were never going to get a cast that came close to reflecting the full diversity of the world's population). But I noticed early on on Enterprise just how white the extras were in the background on screen, it never got better, and bugged me the whole run of the show. I like to think that if Roddenberry had still been around, he'd have noticed it and brought it to the producers' attention. It is perhaps telling that the producers were forced to cast a second person of color in the bridge crew, and that it's been said that Nichele Nichols' Uhura had more lines of dialog than Anthony Montgomery's Travis Mayweather, whose background as having grown up in space should have been put to more use.
I will say that Mayweather got at least one full episode as the lead and several others as an integral part. Ohura, not so much.