TheGodBen Revisits Enterprise

[TheGodBen]

If you found yourself in the Voyager forum at some point in the last seven months then you probably saw the thread about the "hater" (now "semi-hater") who decided to revisit that show, rate each episode and come up with a numerical average to determine whether he still thought it was a below-average show. Well, I am that hater, and on Tuesday night I finally watched Endgame and ended my rewatch. Roughly one season into that thread I started getting requests that I use the same format to judge Enterprise, and even though I'm not an Enterprise hater I agreed to review it once I was finished watching Voyager. So here I am.

Some background info: I have only watched Enterprise once, and that was while it was airing on TV. I have seen some of the episodes two or three times, but for the majority I only watched them once as they aired on Sky One, so this will be my first rewatch of the show. I liked Enterprise in many ways, although it certainly had its rough patches; I think season 1 was okay, season 2 was pretty bad, season 3 was pretty good and season 4 was average. I currently rank the Trek series like this:

DS9 > TNG > TOS > ENT > VOY

The format works as follows; I watch an episode (usually one a day, but that can fluctuate) then I rate it between 0 and 5 stars, including half-stars. At the end of each season I create some graphs, determine the average score for the season, judge the individual writers and detail how I would have done things differently had I been the head writer. (Here's an example.) This is a scale I once wrote up to explain my scoring mechanism:

0: Not worthy of my ridicule
½: Awful
*: Bad
*½: Poor
**: Meh
**½: Average
***: Enjoyable
***½: Good
****: Very good
****½: Great
*****: Exceptional

I also have a controversial rule where I deduct half a star from episodes which I deem as TNG episodes. Enterprise is a different series from TNG and it has the unique opportunity to show us how humanity first ventured into deep-space and began the formation of the Federation, so I view every episode that could have been easily adapted to work on TNG (or any other Trek series) to be a wasted opportunity. If an episode contains some element which can only have been used on Enterprise, or where the characters drive the plot as opposed to the plot driving the characters, then there is no problem. Some people considered this rule to be unfair, but I think it is a valid complaint about an episode and it is one I am going to stick to.

I also like to count things, and on Voyager I counted the number of photon torpedoes they fired (96 from a supply of 38), shuttles they lost (16) and the number of times we saw Ensign Kim die (a disappointing 3 times). On Enterprise I've decided to count the number of space-faring alien species they encounter who magically disappear by the TOS or TNG era, such as the Suliban and the Tandarans. I'm not going to deduct points for these, I'm just going to count them, so if you have any suggestions for other Enterprise-specific things I can count then tell me and I'll keep a look out for them.

If all goes as planned then tonight I'll be settling down to watch Broken Bow as the beginning of my journey, and I hope that this thread is as successful at sparking interesting discussions as the Voyager thread was.

[Dane_Whitman]

I've just started watching TOS-R so I won't be joining you on this one. Though I will be reading ofcourse. I hope you enjoy Enterprise once again.

[Count Zero]

Well, I'm intrigued but your TNG rule will probably drag ENT down considerably.
Other things you could count are "Archer gets beaten up" and "T'Pol is right but nobody listens to her".

[HopefulRomantic]

I'm not quite clear why you use TNG as The Barometer By Which All Things Are Measured, but hey, it's your thread.

Question: if an episode that you deem "could have been easily adapted to work on TNG" ends up being executed more effectively as an Enterprise episode, do you add half a star?

on Voyager I counted the number of photon torpedoes they fired (96 from a supply of 38), shuttles they lost (16) and the number of times we saw Ensign Kim die (a disappointing 3 times)

This is hilarious. Talk about accountability. I suppose you could count how many times Trip dies/nearly dies.

[Deranged Nasat]

I loved your Voyager thread, TheGodBen, and I'm looking forward to this one.

[Yug]

HopefulRomantic wrote:

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This is hilarious. Talk about accountability. I suppose you could cound how many times Trip dies/nearly dies.

I know right? Further than that, track all the episodes where anybody is trapped waiting for help for the full hour... Trapped on an asteroid-- HELP!, trapped on a desert planet-- HELP! trapped in a shuttle drifting in space-- HELP!... Trapped on the godamn hull of yer own fuckin' ship... HELP HELP HELP!

To boldly get stuck, where no one got stuck before !!!

[Pemmer Harge]

Should be interesting, though I expect I'll disagree with you a fair bit. I've been watching quite a few episodes on TV and so far this is my least favourite Star Trek. I haven't given up on it yet, mainly because I want to see the episode with Andreas Katsulas. I'm trying to keep an open mind, since I hear seasons 3 and 4 are better, but I doubt I'll be able to find time to see all the episodes, so it may be a while before I watch to the end.

[Tallis Rhul]

HopefulRomantic wrote:

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I'm not quite clear why you use TNG as The Barometer By Which All Things Are Measured, but hey, it's your thread.

He isn't, he's just saying that Enterprise shouldn't need to use TNG references to get across to the audience being as it's something different

I'm watching Enterprise for the first time, I'm a little way through season 2, so now it's a matter of honour not to get overtaken! *Rushes to the DVD player*

Looking forward to this

[Seven of Five]

Count Zero wrote:

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Well, I'm intrigued but your TNG rule will probably drag ENT down considerably.
Other things you could count are "Archer gets beaten up" and "T'Pol is right but nobody listens to her".

I'd go with Archer getting captured, with bonus points if he ends up in jail. And of course, you can count words uttered by Mayweather in each episode.

Can't wait to read your thoughts anyway TGB.

[JB2005]

Whenever Mayweather mentions being born in space.

Whenever Archer Grandstands.

[TheGodBen]

Count Zero wrote:

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Well, I'm intrigued but your TNG rule will probably drag ENT down considerably.

I'm not sure how it will turn out on Enterprise, but on Voyager it only happened about 4 or 5 times a season. Take an episode like Strange New World, on the surface I can see TNG doing an episode like that, but they gave the episode an Enterprise twist by including the human/Vulcan rivalry. Same for something like Shuttlepod One, it could have been done on TNG but it would have been an entirely different episode because on TNG they wouldn't have had the Trip/Malcolm dynamic.

Other things you could count are "Archer gets beaten up" and "T'Pol is right but nobody listens to her".

Oh, Archer getting beaten up sounds good! I remember that happening quite a few times, I began to feel embarrassed for the guy.

HopefulRomantic wrote:

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I'm not quite clear why you use TNG as The Barometer By Which All Things Are Measured, but hey, it's your thread.

I'm just using TNG as the measure because TNG was the direct predecessor to Voyager so that's what I've become used to comparing things against, but the rule is more general in that each of the Trek series should strive to be different from one another rather than rehashing old ground. Robotech Master said it better than I can in the Voyager thread:

Robotech Master wrote:

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I sort of feel that way about the various Trek shows too.

That they should be different enough to actually justify the making of a new series. If they are just churning out the same old stuff then it starts to feel more like they are milking a cash cow and less like a creative, unique opportunity to write interesting stories.

Pemmer Harge wrote:

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Should be interesting, though I expect I'll disagree with you a fair bit. I've been watching quite a few episodes on TV and so far this is my least favourite Star Trek. I haven't given up on it yet, mainly because I want to see the episode with Andreas Katsulas.

If you're in the middle of season 2 then you're at what I would consider to be the show's lowest point, and I even considered giving up on the show at that point while it was on air. But the Andreas Katsulas episode marked the turning point for me, the final few episodes of season 2 were mostly strong instalments and seasons 3 and 4 went off in entirely different directions to the first two seasons. So hang in there.

[Count Zero]

TheGodBen wrote:

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Oh, Archer getting beaten up sounds good! I remember that happening quite a few times, I began to feel embarrassed for the guy.

I think he kind of enjoyed it. At least, that's my theory.

[SFRabid]

Since the advertisement says "and the captain always gets the girl" you could count how many he gets, and how many Trip gets. Then see if they need to chagne the commercial.

Things that I wish I had counted (and I am a fan)...

How many times I said "he can't be that stupid!" when Archer did something, well, stupid.

Number of times Trip pronounced "captain" correctly.

How many outfits T'Pol manages to take on the mission. I don't remember seeing a closet. Only a couple of little drawers.

[Count Zero]

But they could make new clothing from resequenced molecules as Trip explains in Breaking The Ice.

[Pemmer Harge]

Count Zero wrote:

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But they could make new clothing from resequenced molecules as Trip explains in Breaking The Ice.

Urgh, thanks for reminding me of that!