Hey fellow Trekkies, I was just wondering what people thoughts were on Enterprise overall? At the time it was on I was too interested only watching it occasionally. However having since watched it all I found it very enjoyable and far superior to STD. THOUGHTS?
I enjoyed it. I binge watched the entire serial on Netflix a few months ago. I thought the technology was too advanced in the Star Trek sense, but I did like the low deck heights, smaller rooms, the bridge and the shuttlebay. Engineering was only so-so. I wasn't a big fan of how the Enterprise got its ass kicked by everyone; what no weapons?. External look of the ship didn't thrill me; too big and too knobby/platy for me; I like smooth traditional ships. Vulcan "supremacy" over Earth didn't seem to fit canon, but it cause friction and gave us internal political drama. Who'd explore the galaxy with only one ship, then get into a war? I liked Scott Bakula's Archer, but he was a little stiff. Jolene Blalock is beautiful, but seems a little uneasy in her T'Pol role; I don't think she was that good of an actor. The rest of the crew were excellent actors and crew characters, especially Conner Trinneer's Trip. I liked his Texas accent. Best guest start was Jeffery Combs as the Andorian Shran. Disliked the portrayal of most of the Alien races, except the Andorians and the Vulcans. The Romulans, Klingons, Suliban, Xindi, blah. Orions were okay. I'm a beagle lover (had/have 3 so far), so, I wanted to see more Porthos. Getting them to stay in one spot and look cute is hard enough; I know it.
Loved it from the start, still love it today I'm currently watching from the start This evening I watched "Shockwave" I and II, "Carbon Creek", "Minefield" and "Dead Stop" There's so much ill will for Enterprise that I don't understand.
ENT is my favorite of the post-TOS shows (I put TOS in its own category of wonderful because it started it all). I loved the characters and their interaction. I think that was a great strength of the show, and the actors were all wonderful. The duplicitous power-hungry Vulcans who had to reconnect with Surak's teachings to shape up. The Trip/T'Pol romance as a metaphor for human/Vulcan relations, the development of the Archer/T'Pol partnership. Shran and Soval. Porthos. The Xindi War and how it tested everyone. Great production values and direction and music. The writing could be exasperating in its inconsistency, but when it was on, it was great. Some of my fave eps: Observer Effect, Similitude, Twilight, The Forgotten, Damage, the Vulcan arc, and all the Shran episodes. Plus offbeat eps like North Star and E2. I was really upset when the show was robbed of its last 3 seasons. I wanted to see more.
Enterprise is one of my favorite Star trek shows I still enjoy watching because of the characters. I really liked Trip&T'pol's relationship. The storyarcs with the Vulcans and Andorians was really good storytelling and how things changed between both races in all four seasons is one of my favorite things in this series.Especially the Xindi war story arc was a very complex season 3 story arc. I was so disappointed we didn't get seven seasons .
It lacks the poetry of the original Trek, but its heart is in the right place. If anything, it's a western wearing sci-fi trappings. And I've always loved westerns. Archer and crew tamed a frontier. The trailblazers for all those who would follow. That ship of theirs took more of a pounding than a can of beans on the firing range. And mostly put back together with blood, sweat, tears...and hope. I enjoyed seeing the founding of the Federation.
ENT is my favorite ST show after TOS, while it is most hopeful show. They have go through to darkest times, every major character have to look in the eyes of their own devil, but at the end there is always hope. Assuming "the societies like Vulcan or Andor never changed with the time, but human society did it successfully" is a huge inconsistently way of thinking. It is great, ENT did not choose this way. Losing naivety/ paradise is the one of the oldest story of human culture (from Gilgamesh to Bible, to Quran) so what story arc could be better for a prequel? It is something about my own history, I am witness and (as all others who lived in the country at that time) victim of a civil war. I know what I am talking about. I could see with my blank eyes that same person can be a hero or a traitor/murder within seconds. I know literally real meaning of racism, hate, discrimination, fanaticism etc. So, I do not care about political correctness etiquette, since I think this kind of exaggerated misuse of language/ mindset blurring the real meaning of the words/movements. From this point where I stand, I can say TNG fails, DS9 fails (OK, Garak can be a real person and would get my empathy but not Kira, not Odo, not Bashir and definitely not Sisco), VOY has only 7 in this aspect (Do you ever know a former follower of cults/religions or former extremists? ). So to say like Bechdel Test, I have my own Sekundant Test and ENT is with distance winner! Don't get me wrong, I really like all ST shows, but if I am honest ENT is the most realistic one to me. Of course, there are very weak written episodes, but the actors/actresses give always their very best, all of them. I wish Phlox/ Sato/ Mayweather/ Reed have more play time and can tell us new/undone stories. I wish TnT as an allegory of emotion/logic could proceed more dimensional. I wish we could see more about Archers diplomatic skills at the founding of Federation, more Shran, more Soval..And Romulan War! I cannot understand the people who "hate" ENT. It is so pointless. Even TOS has some canon problems, Roddenberry changed oft enough his meaning about some issues. ENT additionally challenged with technological development and being retro than TOS. Intro is a good choice for me, it shows very well ENT's spirit. I ignore TATV and the following novels, they all did not happen, never!
I didn't watch the whole thing, but it just felt a little weak. Like someone trying to write Star Trek and never quite getting there. The premise seemed a little gimmicky, as if they thought just having that odd twist would make the show interesting. T'Pol kinda sums it up for me. Vulcan science officer who happens to be a hot woman in body-hugging clothes? Seen it before, Enterprise.
Ohh yeah, thank you for the reminding, I forget it totally. That's another point: People who did not watch/read the show/book/quote have more accurate and sometimes unchangeable/arrogant/unqualified meaning about the object of desire. It is not a problem of ENT and I am not sure if it is a phenomenon of modern times. So that's why I avoid the social media (with two exceptions and one of them is Trekbbs) and honestly such cases discourage me to continue.
Jack Donner plays the Vulcan Priest who removes Surak's katra from Archer. I was immediately struck by his face -- he played Sub-Commander Tal years before in "The Enterprise Incident"! He was born to play that priest. His features are chiselled from solid, ancient stone millennia old with a voice seasoned dry by endless arid winds. His appearance was merely a blip on screen, but Casting nailed it perfectly. I suspect he really is Vulcan...
^^ Jack Donner also appeared earlier in Season 4 -- he was the Vulcan priest who married T'Pol and Koss in "Home." Nice touch, using him for ENT.
I need to review "Home" again, then! Upon reflection, Tal is my favorite Romulan. His elocution is word perfect.
Nice to see all the Enterprise love here!! Just love the series. T'Pol is my favorite Star Trek character and my #1 Star Trek episode is Carbon Creek. IMO it should have been the 1st 10-year trek series. .... right up to the founding of the Federation to include the Romulan War. IMO one of if not the best DVD in all the Trek series!!
I blame it on preconceptions. When Enterprise didn't fit their narrow view, they bashed it. I agree - pointless. No series had more "canon" issues than TOS. Enterprise had only one canon violation.
I thought it was a missed opportunity with what I thought were the best cast assembled for a Star Trek series; instead of bridging things to transition to what we know of Star Trek, it constantly trumped TOS by implying they did it first. I was hoping to see a pioneering series where the show would give us a notion the aliens we saw were far far away but maybe by season 4 we might see an Andorian or a Klingon. Nope, the fan service was on full throttle on day 1, and kept implying whatever was done on TOS was all wrong while what they're doing is true. I hoped to see the crew wearing some form of the uniforms from The Cage -- Avocado Green/ Command, Blue/ Science, and Peach/ Operations, but... maybe it'll happen in comic book form. Geez!!! Oh wait!!! Disco is f^cking things up even more so -- sigh!
I did not like ENT at all at the time, and gave up on the show after the second season. To me it was nothing more than a continuation of VOY with a new cast and a new ship, but essentially the same show. There were certain aspects of the show I did like, but there were other factors that ruined those aspects. For example, I really liked the Trip character because I felt he was the most believable, but I couldn't stand that he was made to be some countrified hick doing a bad McCoy impersonation. I also liked Phlox because John Billingsley is a good actor (and I liked that his society was polyamorous), but by this time I was getting real sick of Michael Westmore's makeup and thought Phlox looked more like a nice Cardassian than the "exotic" alien he was originally described as. And then once I saw that the show was going to essentially be a 9-11 metaphor, I was done.
Although I liked the first episode, the first two seasons felt like Star Trek made to fulfil a contractual obligation. It was nothing we hadn't seen before on TNG or VOY, but with the "it's a prequel so these rehashed episode concepts are actually the first time!" The third season was a HUGE improvement, and got me excited about Trek for the first time in a long time. I couldn't wait to see what happened next! Season 4 was enjoyable, but leant too heavily on continuity porn. The finale was horrible. Discovery is at least trying something different. It's a bit hit-and-miss, but I'm far more invested this early on than I was in Enterprise. Modern shows that don't impress early don't get the chances ENT had. The Orville continues the ENT S1-2 formula storytelling, which at this point makes me feel warm and nostalgic.