Should ENT have used the "EM pistol" longer in the show?

[davidant32]

In the first episode, we see the crew firing energy bursts instead of the familiar energy stream. IIRC, these weapons are phased () out of the show during the pilot episode, or soon thereafter. Why not keep the EM pistol rather than immediately switch to the familiar phase pistol?

Personally, I thought the idea of firing energy bursts was cool and helped distinguish the show from the other Treks. I wish they had continued as such for the rest of the series.

Thoughts?

[Skywalker]

Yes, I think it should have remained their primary sidearm throughout the whole show. I liked that it was a pulse weapon instead of a beam weapon, but that's not why I prefer it over the phase pistol. The EM-33 had no stun setting. ENT was supposed to be a bit more contemporary than other Treks, due to its relative closeness to our own timeframe, and it was also supposed to be a bit grittier. Having the crew use a sidearm that could only wound or kill, with no easy option like a stun setting, would have fit that idea perfectly.

[C.E. Evans]

Hanukkah Solo wrote:

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Yes, I think it should have remained their primary sidearm throughout the whole show. I liked that it was a pulse weapon instead of a beam weapon, but that's not why I prefer it over the phase pistol. The EM-33 had no stun setting. ENT was supposed to be a bit more contemporary than other Treks, due to its relative closeness to our own timeframe, and it was also supposed to be a bit grittier. Having the crew use a sidearm that could only wound or kill, with no easy option like a stun setting, would have fit that idea perfectly.

Nothing more I could add to this.

[Christopher]

Maybe that was the producers' original intent, for all we know. Berman & Braga originally wanted the show to be truer to its prequel roots -- no transporters, no time travelers from the future -- but the network was wary of the prequel approach and insisted on including more familiar Trek elements. Maybe that happened with the weaponry as well.

[ChristopherPike]

They managed to fix that slightly in Season 3, when the MACOs came onboard. They had rifles which I assume wouldn't have been Starfleet issue. The front of the barrel resembled the EM-33 but were longer, and held from under the shoulder.

That moment in the pilot with Archer giving covering fire, a pistol in each hand, was a particularly cool moment. Nothing screams sci-fi prequel better than a lack of beams, and projectile like bolt weaponary that ricochets, recoils and occasionally misses.

Of course, once we were shown aliens with more more advanced tech were accustomed from Voyager backwards...

It was a shame they lost that original away team jacket too. Those vivid blue ones in a quilted leather.

They reappeared, worn by the crew during "Oasis" and then gone... in favour of the dull grey canvas-looking ones.

[R. Star]

Doesn't really matter. Enterprise called a lot of the familiar techs something else to sound "primitive" across the board rather uniformly, even though they did the exact same thing. One less instance of it really wouldn't have mattered.

[Gaith]

Maybe it was a cost/practicality issue? Small numbers of beams being easier to direct on set/animate later than large numbers of bursts?

[teacake]

ChristopherPike wrote:

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It was a shame they lost that original away team jacket too. Those vivid blue ones in a quilted leather.

They reappeared, worn by the crew during "Oasis" and then gone... in favour of the dull grey canvas-looking ones.

I loved those quilted leather jackets. Extremely attractive.

[The Wormhole]

Those EM Pistols looked really cool, like actual guns as opposed to the bulky "ray gun" like phase pistols. I always thought it a shame we never saw more of them. Hell, Borken Bow was the only time we saw one fired, I think. The MACOs left them holstered most of the time.

Hell, I wouldn't have minded the use of "phase pistols" if they had used that design for them.