Enterprise is the Best Trek Ever...

I have spend the last several weeks watching Enterprise from ep 1 through 98 and I have come to the conclusion that the only series I can totally relate to is Enterprise. From the first scenes taken from the ISS all the through seeing the Enterprise finally leaving our Solar System, it works for me on every level and in every way. It is the only intro that I have actually seen in my life, from the moon landing, through the missions to Mars to the ISS, these are things that most of us have seen in our own lifetimes. I really doubt that I will ever see the events in the intros to TOS, Next Gen, DS-9 or Voyager, at the same time it takes us into a future that most of us will never see a warp 5 star-ship, and lunar colony...etc

At the same time I can better relate to the crew-members, They do have ranks, however they aren't so hung up on them, and the senior staff can talk to Capt Archer better than other crews can give their views to Kirk, Pickard, Sisko and Janeway. Transporters, Replicators.
Holodecks, Holograms, Robots, Androids and fake food and syntholhol are no where to be seen. Data does have Spot, however as a Dog person, Photos rules !!! I love the feel of Enterprise, part submarine, part star-ship, part naval vessel. I also really love all the other Treks however if I could only have one Trek Enterprise would be it. And to make it even better, they are much like Voyager without all the Technology, they are all alone, and I can't think of a threat in any other trek, besides JJ's 09 that the entire earth was trying to be destroyed, and they had all Star Fleet to help deal with the threat, We faced the same threat with just one ship. All in all, Enterprise was he best Trek at least for me, I am totally thankful for the 98ep's we did get, however, I get pissed off thinking what we missed out on not having a seasons 5,6, and 7... ENTERPRISE RULES !!!!!!!

 

Erm.... the transporter gets used a lot. And their "protein resequencer" was a food replicator by any other name. We saw a holodeck early on, in "Unexpected". Earth comes under threat quite frequently in other Treks, from the Borg, Species 8472, the Breen, the Dominion etc.

Just sayin.

 

You are right, 8472 did recreate Star Fleet Head Quarters, the holodeck was on an alien ship and Trip got knocked up in it. The Breen only attacked SF HQ, not to destroy the entire planet, The Dominion was there to occupy Earth and bring order to our planet. The Borg as evil as they were, the goal was not to destroy the planet, just to assimilate it, which is kind of like destroying it. Point being that when we were faced with being destroyed, only the NX-01 stood between us a a cloud of dust. I loved the Xindi Arc, I am totally convinced that if Enterprise was given the same chance that DS-9, Next Gen and Voyager had, it would have been great...

 

ENT is my favorite as well.
My number one reason is the relationships that are forged throughout the crew. You see it happening, you see how much they love and care about each other. They joke, they are serious, they have movie night! The captain is a regular guy that everyone can talk to.
I also agree had it been given the chance it would have been just as popular. I read the books to further the adventures but those too are ended.

 

Enterprise isn't my favorite, and the first two seasons, though they did have a few gems, are mostly just average for me (as with most of the Spin Off Series), the Xindi Arc in S3 really stepped things up, and S4 under Manny Coto was exactly what I imagined the show would be when it was first announced, and is amongst the best of the Spinoff seasons. Had Manny Coto been allowed to make the final 3 seasons, continuing on from where he left off, the show could've really become great, it's especially sad that we were robbed of Shran becoming a regular in S5.

 

I, too, did not dislike Enterprise (except for the theme song). It took a while to find its momentum, but I did like both the Xindi third season arc, and the fourth season under Manny Coto's helm. I do wish we got to see his vision for the fifth season and beyond.

 

Enterprise was my first Trek and it has a special place in my heart, but there's no denying that if you look beyond the surface, there was a shit ton of bad writing there particularly season 1 and 2. The lack of logic is almost an assault on the sense sometimes.. I can't really call it the best of the Trek shows in good conscience.

 

I am just now coming to Enterprise, mostly because it was on when i was in high school/college and couldn't watch a lot fo tv then.

I have to say it is the best Star TRek in my opinion (but i must confess I haven't seen ALL of Voyager). I know a lot of people hate the theme song, but I didn't mind it. It was different, and change is hard for people. In terms of music quality, I'd still say DS9's theme is worse.

The story line is amazing. Seasons 1-2 are good i think. On par with most of TNG, better then TOS and lightyears beyond DS9 in terms of originality, story lines, character development etc. Season 3 of Enterprise puts it above all the others in my book. Season 3 was such a perfectly told story, i haven't found a complaint for it yet. I love it. it was just brilliant.

If you havent' done it, do yourself a favor and catch all fo Season 3 (it's on Netflix instant watch).

 

I'm particularly fond of this. Visually ENT is a lot cleaner and better looking than the other Trek's, just better budget/cgi I'm assuming. I like the gritty real feel of it.

I also liked the Cardassian architecture on DS9. I'm not fond of the Hilton look of TNG at all and VOY is only a bit less comfy looking.

 

Yeah I too feel the same way. I'm on Episode 10, Season 3. So, far I think this has been the most plausable and realistic Trek ever. I'm buying a 1/850th scale model of the NX-01 so I can build it! I love the way the ship was designed. It has that small Ferrari F458 feel to it. I also love it because I can see us (humans) building one. Of course not with warp drive but something that looks similar.

 

Enterprise is the most lacking Trek there is, and the fault lies in what the creators set out to accomplish: make a new Trek, without it being Trek. But we do want to use Trek references. But also want it to be different. But we do want to have the signatory items like warpdrive, transporters, Klingons. But we don't want to give people the feeling they are watching something they know.

Basicly, the creators/writers didn't really know what they were going to do. And it shows in the first two seasons. They were trying to find a balance between this non-Trek Star Trek show they were producing.
Funny enough, if they had make a show about a group of humans in the future setting out to explore space in humanity's first FTL starship, it could have worked a lot better. Make sure it has NOTHING to do with Star Trek. A completely new, and original universe. Could've worked a lot better.

 

So it's not TNG, TOS or STV...who cares. In fact the show say's it is BASED on Star Trek. They never said it was going to be like all the others. I enjoy new takes. I especially loved the new 2009 movie. You have to realize this was over 100 years before the United Federation of Planets so alot is going to be different from all the Treks we know.

 

In B&B and the writers' defense, they wanted to take a year off after VOY ended so that they could fine tune the concept and hammer out what they wanted to do, but UPN didn't want to go without a Trek show and pretty much rushed them into production right away. So they had to make up a lot of the show as they went along. The network also told them to include the transporter, and some sort of time travel aspect in case the prequel idea bombed. So the safe, derivative scripts of the first two seasons might have been a result of at least part of all that.

 

You misunderstand me. Read my post again. I never said I wanted it to be an exact copy of any Trek. The problem is that the writers/creators wanted it to be Trek, but not Trek. Trek in a new way. They failed. You mentioned that it was based a 100 years before TOS (YOU DON'T SAY!), and that it would be different then the Trek we know. The problem again is, it's NOT different. It was established that things like phasers, shields photon torpedoes were quite new in TOS. However, the weapons they have are basicly the same, with a slightly different name.

Hell, Star Trek canon has estasblished that before the Federation there was no Starfleet, but UESPA. But, to make it more 'logical' for the viewers, they decided to drop that and use the word Starfleet.

Again, Trek canon establishes first contact with the Klingons was early 2200's. But, to make it more Trek, the writers just decided that that little event would be moved up by about 50 or 60 years.

All those little things, to make a series that wanted to not even have the name Star Trek (at first, it was simply called Enterprise) more like Star Trek.

Personally, I feel Trek09 did it the right way. Keep it Trek, but fresh and new. Enterprise failed there, by wanting it to be less then the Trek we knew, but ultimatly making Voyager the sequel, with lame plots and badly written characters.

 

This is incorrect. In "First Contact", Picard says first contact with the Klingons was "centuries ago"

IIRC, 2200 is from the old Star Trek Chronology book (and, based on "First Contact", was incorrect even when it was published) - which comes with a big disclaimer warning fans to take everything with a pinch of salt.

 

Yups, you're right. Forgot that little titbit. Oops. Thanks for the correction.

 

S1-2 are no where near the league of most DSN. Most of S1-2 were full of dull stories, weak characterisation etc.. That isn't to say other ST shows haven't suffered from this as well. TNG was meet with critical acclaim, DSN in terms of critical acclaim is at least equal to TNG and some critics might say it was superior.

ENT finally started to be the show it should have been from the start in S4. I suspect with a bit of tinkering most of S1-2 stories could have been at home in TNG or VOY.

I've been watching Sci-Fi TV shows for decades and ENT showed very little originality.

 

Well I've been watching Sci-Fi tv shows for decades TOO and I disagree.

:: smacks MacLeod in the head with Land of the Lost club ::

 

I've just started a rewatch this week (After a failed attempt to watch Space: 1999 that only got me through 3 episodes). I'm up to Episode 18, and I'm finding it much more enjoyable in marathon watching then watching it week to week on original airing. I remember the first two seasons as mostly being "meh" with a couple gems here and there, but maybe my Scott Bakula bias prevented me from enjoying it before.

I don't like Scott Bakula as an actor, he rubs me the wrong way for some reason, I was able to enjoy Quantum Leap despite him, though. I'm actually enjoying most of the characters more then I remember (Phlox, Hoshi, Malcom, T'Pol). I had even forgot about Hoshi and Dr. Phlox' freindship, that's been fun to observe. and of course the characters I clearly remember liking a great deal, the Vulcan Ambassador played by Gary Graham, Shran, Trip