I love Enterprise.

[eyeresist]

Yeah I don't understand why so many people complain of the Xindi arc. When I watched that season for the first time I was glued to the TV watching episode after episode wondering what was going to happen next.
I have a brother that makes fun of the fact Tucker and T'Pol got together. I found it awesome myself, and interesting because of the polar opposites they were. And the friendship at the end that her and Archer have.

I love the Archer/T'Pol friendship. In a way I think their friendship is deeper than Trip/T'Pol's romance.

I found the Xindi arc gripping on first watch, but now I feel it drags a bit. Still good though. OTOH, I've found my appreciation for the high points of the first two seasons has risen.

 

[T'Arwen]

Yeah I don't understand why so many people complain of the Xindi arc. When I watched that season for the first time I was glued to the TV watching episode after episode wondering what was going to happen next.
I have a brother that makes fun of the fact Tucker and T'Pol got together. I found it awesome myself, and interesting because of the polar opposites they were. And the friendship at the end that her and Archer have.

I love the Archer/T'Pol friendship. In a way I think their friendship is deeper than Trip/T'Pol's romance.

I found the Xindi arc gripping on first watch, but now I feel it drags a bit. Still good though. OTOH, I've found my appreciation for the high points of the first two seasons has risen.

In all fairness, the Archer/T'Pol friendship got better treatment from the writers than Trip/T'Pol's romance. There's an extensive thread on how the romance's potential got wasted here (http://triaxiansilk.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1820&hilit=best+romance). I have to admit, the hug between Archer and T'Pol in TATV showed how far their friendship had come, as much as I hate the episode.

Those who hate season 3 simply cannot get past that the Xindi (and their attempted destruction of Earth) were never mentioned in other Treks. Yes, that totally erases any other merits the story had

 

[Paradise City]

It actually never occurred to me until reading this thread that Xindi aren't mentioned in TOS, lol.

I'm not necessarily opposed to the Xindi stuff. However Earth seems to be getting threatened every other week these days and time travel is just beating the dead horse within the inch of its carcass. Those are my general criticisms of that. But the idea that aliens are misleading other aliens into giving our heroes a hiding, isn't a bad one. And earth getting a roasting was certainly an incredible sight if you are going to go down that road.

It didn't help that I originally watched these episodes out of sequence. You need to engage with the arc to get what's going on otherwise there's confusion.

 

[Yanks]

It actually never occurred to me until reading this thread that Xindi aren't mentioned in TOS, lol.

I'm not necessarily opposed to the Xindi stuff. However Earth seems to be getting threatened every other week these days and time travel is just beating the dead horse within the inch of its carcass. Those are my general criticisms of that. But the idea that aliens are misleading other aliens into giving our heroes a hiding, isn't a bad one. And earth getting a roasting was certainly an incredible sight if you are going to go down that road.

It didn't help that I originally watched these episodes out of sequence. You need to engage with the arc to get what's going on otherwise there's confusion.

For folks that have a "Xindi" fit... they could have just made the "Xendi" (from the Xendi Kabu system in 'Bloodlines'). That race was mentioned in TNG.

I'm one of the biggest 'Enterprise' supporters you'll find, but the test strike on Earth was just epically stupid. From the Xindi standpoint, why the hell would you tip off your enemy, an enemy that is going to destroy your home planet? Why not test on a moon or abandoned planet or something in the expanse - far away from Earth? .... from a Earth history standpoint, you'd think something like that swath would be in the history books, along with being attacked by aliens. I don't advocate that all races mentioned in ENT had to be seen or mentioned in the following (timeline) trek series, but this was too impactful to just happen.

From either viewpoint, the writers botched it there.

But after that, Season 3 rocked.

...right up until our heroes didn't make it home.

 

[fireproof78]

In my experience the third season receives the least amount of bashing out of the four. Never seen it spoken of badly except by people who dislike the entire series.

Perhaps its just the people around me then. I know I don't agree with them.

I loved the Xindi arc too. It might not have felt like Trek until the middle of the season but it gave some much needed direction to the series. In my experience, the people who hate season 3 are very anal about continuity.

I don't know. I'm not anal about continuity, unless its something major that is made a big deal out of by the show itself. Then, I expect it to have an impact at some point in time (not beaming through the shields, for instance).

I just didn't care for the Xindi. It wasn't a threat that I felt connected to, similarly with the Temporal Cold War. It all felt very sterile, I think that might be the right word, and just not engaging.

I don't really care if it doesn't get mentioned in TOS, not really. I just didn't feel like it mattered.

 

[keith2282]

For folks that have a "Xindi" fit... they could have just made the "Xendi" (from the Xendi Kabu system in 'Bloodlines'). That race was mentioned in TNG.

I'm one of the biggest 'Enterprise' supporters you'll find, but the test strike on Earth was just epically stupid. From the Xindi standpoint, why the hell would you tip off your enemy, an enemy that is going to destroy your home planet? Why not test on a moon or abandoned planet or something in the expanse - far away from Earth? .... from a Earth history standpoint, you'd think something like that swath would be in the history books, along with being attacked by aliens. I don't advocate that all races mentioned in ENT had to be seen or mentioned in the following (timeline) trek series, but this was too impactful to just happen.

From either viewpoint, the writers botched it there.

But after that, Season 3 rocked.

...right up until our heroes didn't make it home.

Yeah the sudden jump into the Nazi time travel thing was rather abrupt and annoying end to Season 3, at least for me.
As for the weapon test on Earth, I totally agree. Earth would of offered NO resistance if they hadn't of done that. However, we wouldn't of had Season 3 then. Of course, one of those time travel people could of showed them a video of Earth getting destroyed. That would of been a much better beginning to the season, in my opinion.

 

[Ryan8bit]

I don't know. I'm not anal about continuity, unless its something major that is made a big deal out of by the show itself. Then, I expect it to have an impact at some point in time (not beaming through the shields, for instance).

I just didn't care for the Xindi.

And conversely, back then I was pretty anal about continuity, and still enjoyed the Xindi arc enough.

I don't think I was ever anal enough to complain about unseen races though. It might've been nice if they had somehow worked in some sort of background race to be the hostile race instead of the Xindi, but that might have ruined the suspense? I guess that's the trouble with prequels. I didn't mind the introduction of Denobulans, Suliban, or Xindi.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

It just occurred to me that in season 4 they had this weapon on Mars that could totally wipe stuff out in space yet when the Xindi ship is attacking Earth no one thinks to call them up and say "hey guys we could use your weapon about now"

 

[Willow]

It just occurred to me that in season 4 they had this weapon on Mars that could totally wipe stuff out in space yet when the Xindi ship is attacking Earth no one thinks to call them up and say "hey guys we could use your weapon about now"

Good point! Except, that the surprise attack was over and done with so fast that the "Mars weapon" wouldn't have helped. I suppose that they could have requested it for the anticipated second attack as a defensive measure, except that second weapon was believed to be much more massive in order to destroy the entire planet. So perhaps, the Mars weapon may not have been effective? And, i think travel to the Expanse was probably out of the question since Enterprise was the only warp 5 capable vessel at the time, and it took 3 months to get to the Expanse.

But that was an interesting point CocoPops1967. It made me think!

And as far as continuity goes, I was never the biggest fan of TOS and I don't remember ALL the details of TNG...so, continuity wasn't an issue to me unless it was within the Enterprise series itself. I'm a Trek fan generally, but not enough of a "Trekkie" to have committed all details of all series to memory.

 

[Yanks]

It just occurred to me that in season 4 they had this weapon on Mars that could totally wipe stuff out in space yet when the Xindi ship is attacking Earth no one thinks to call them up and say "hey guys we could use your weapon about now"

I don't believe it's reasonable to expect that the Verteron Array on Mars, used for shooting down asteroids, could be turned into a defensive weapon in the time it took the test weapon to pop out of the portal and fire on Earth.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

It just occurred to me that in season 4 they had this weapon on Mars that could totally wipe stuff out in space yet when the Xindi ship is attacking Earth no one thinks to call them up and say "hey guys we could use your weapon about now"

I don't believe it's reasonable to expect that the Verteron Array on Mars, used for shooting down asteroids, could be turned into a defensive weapon in the time it took the test weapon to pop out of the portal and fire on Earth.

Well it was a thought. Where was the 2nd larger weapon that they had ready to go near the end of the season? Was that in our solar system? What about that one?

 

[tomalak301]

I like Enterprise a lot and consider it my third favorite series behind TNG and DS9

 

[Yanks]

It just occurred to me that in season 4 they had this weapon on Mars that could totally wipe stuff out in space yet when the Xindi ship is attacking Earth no one thinks to call them up and say "hey guys we could use your weapon about now"

I don't believe it's reasonable to expect that the Verteron Array on Mars, used for shooting down asteroids, could be turned into a defensive weapon in the time it took the test weapon to pop out of the portal and fire on Earth.

Well it was a thought. Where was the 2nd larger weapon that they had ready to go near the end of the season? Was that in our solar system? What about that one?

I don't remember any other weapon. I do remember the Xindi Reptilian's destroying Yosemite Research Station.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I love ENTERPRISE, as much as the next Man. But I have to admit that I did not enjoy the forced "romance" betwixt Archer and Hernandez. They had no chemistry, and I was not all convinced that they'd ever been involved with eachother. I was fine with her as Captain of Columbia and all of that, I didn't care about that part. I just did not find her to be an appropriate love interest for Jonathan.

Although, when he was hiking with her and finally felt compelled to tell her what was happening to him, inside ... her sympathy seemed very genuine. When he tells her he "lost something" and doesn't know how to get it back, I believed her heart broke for him, but when she offered to help him reclaim it ... egads! It just ruined it, for me. They should've just been really good friends, maybe with a past that was very distant, but with no intentions of hooking up again, ever.

 

[eyeresist]

They were just friends.

With benefits.

 

[Willow]

They were just friends.

With benefits.

It appeared they were quite close , and possibly could have been more serious, had Jonathan not been promoted and they ended things due to the inappropriateness due to rank. I thought that their hike may have signaled a new beginning now that they were equal rank. Though with Hernandez in Columbia, it wasn't realistic. I wasn't bothered by the chemistry. I like Ada Maris.

I actually don't think that Archer "sizzled" with any of his pairings, which may have amounted to 4 the entire series? I actually preferred him without any romantic entanglements.

 

[Go-Captain]

T'Pol and Archer should have ended up together considering the averted future where she took care of him, but that was better off as going no where, even though it was one of the better episodes.

Trip and T'Pol was far more contrived. Perhaps it could have worked, and Terra Prime is great, but there is little to no build up to their relationship except a few forced scenes like the butt crack episode.

 

[2takesfrakes]

They were just friends.

With benefits.

Yes, but for whose benefit, though? Certainly not the audiences ...

It appeared they were quite close , and possibly could have been more serious, had Jonathan not been promoted and they ended things due to the inappropriateness due to rank. I thought that their hike may have signaled a new beginning now that they were equal rank. Though with Hernandez in Columbia, it wasn't realistic.

... Agreed!

I actually don't think that Archer "sizzled" with any of his pairings, which may have amounted to 4 the entire series? I actually preferred him without any romantic entanglements.

I'm in complete agreement here, as well. If the audience at home simply had to know that Archer had an active sex life, it could've been covered with a line, or two. There was never a need to actually show it. "No, things didn't work out with me and her, Trip. She realised that she couldn't handle a Man as powerful and virile as I ..."

T'Pol and Archer should have ended up together ...

Trip and T'Pol was far more contrived.

I agree that Trip & T'Pol's relationship was handled very poorly. It seemed to be more governed by a temporary need to boost ratings than for ongoing, storyline reasons. Although, had it been Archer in place of Trip, the words would've held, probably. The writing could've been kept exactly the same and had it make much more sense than what we actually got. Trip & T'Pol were both young and good-looking and had good chemistry, though. So having them together was the only pairing that offered any real story potential, which it failed to live up to. But that wasn't the actor's fault and had the screenplays not been so inferior regarding them, it probably would've helped ratings out, a lot.

 

[T'Arwen]

I liked Hernandez. I hated how one romantic night with her cured Archer of his Expanse PTSD. Their chemistry isn't as sizzling as Trip and T'Pol but worked well enough for me. Archer is an incredibly private person and I just don't see him sharing some things with anyone but Hernandez. But their reunion was good idea, bad execution. Then again, Enterprise just didn't handle romance well. Even Trip/T'Pol shippers agree that Harbinger was contrived.

 

[keith2282]

I feel like I am one of the few people that actually like the Trip/T'pol relationship...
Is something wrong with me? lol