25 Secrets You Didn't Know About Star Trek: Enterprise

[Trekker09]

Another thing they could have added about the music….according to Brannon Braga, they wanted to use U2’s “Beautiful Day” as the theme, but couldn’t afford the rights to it. Diane Warren, being a fan, let them have her song for next to nothing. U2 is great but that would have also been a strange choice, IMHO..

 

[Disposable_Ensign]

These quotes (from "17/25. Breaking Continuity") make we wonder whether they really gave this topic sufficient thought:

1.

Even if we ignore the fact that the Enterprise crew had an easier time dispatching the Borg with their primitive technology than the TNG cast ever did

The borg had nearly two hundred years to improve their technology and strategy before TNG. Heck, encountering these weapons probably helped the borg develop these.

2.

we are still left with only two explanations: Either Archer is terrible at writing reports and the info on the Borg never made it to Starfleet, or Picard and the gang missed the Borg chapter in their history class.

Starfleet cadets are not taught about every alien encounter ever, so this relatively brief encounter would probably not worked its way into standard curriculum. Even if this were entered in the Starfleet records, the borg may very well have blocked it from ever reaching Starfleet. Beyond that, these reports could have been dismissed as fantasy, just as Cochrane's was.

(Post 42 btw)

 

[MarkusTay]

Some of that is surprising, some not, and some I never would have guessed (I personally love Enterprise's opening).

I think T'Pau being T'pol would have been cool, but perhaps making T'Pau T'pol's mother could have been even cooler. I find that Extinction being the 'better version' of Threshold to be spot-on, even though I hadn't realized they were ever connected before. Extinction may not be good, but its not 'legendary bad' like Threshold was.

Sometimes you watch and wonder, "The actors HAD TO KNOW what they were doing was utter crap, right?
I guess its that "we're in too deep so we may as well plow through" attitude. And while I would have personally enjoyed a first season of background, because I already love Trek, casuals would have never stuck around, so starting with the ship being launched is probably the only thing saving it from a 1-season wonder. Shran as part of the crew - as much as I loved the guy - wouldn't have worked for me. He was perfect in the way they used him. I enjoyed the evolution of the Vulcans as well - it made sense to how they were initially presented, and how they changed. I just didn't like that Archer got Surak's Katra - it should have been T'Pol. Plus, that whole bit was a bit too metaphysical for my scify chops to digest properly. I mean, if we are gonna start getting into 'souls', than throw the whole transporter tech right out the window.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Shran as a regular would have been one of the many shots in the arm the show needed in a potential Season 5. I would have loved to have seen Coombs's name on the opening credits.

 

[Richard Baker]

Shran as a regular would have been one of the many shots in the arm the show needed in a potential Season 5. I would have loved to have seen Coombs's name on the opening credits.

Question is in what capacity? Shran is a great character but he operates best from a position of power. He respects Archer and cooperates, but he never could be a subordinate consultant or passive observer. If he had his own ship to command in a joint action (as with the Xindi arc) it could work, but it would make stories awkward outside that joint action.
He is a great character but finding him a permanent role in the ship that would work to everyone's advantage would be difficult without diminishing him.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Question is in what capacity? Shran is a great character but he operates best from a position of power. He respects Archer and cooperates, but he never could be a subordinate consultant or passive observer. If he had his own ship to command in a joint action (as with the Xindi arc) it could work, but it would make stories awkward outside that joint action.
He is a great character but finding him a permanent role in the ship that would work to everyone's advantage would be difficult without diminishing him.

I’d argue that T’Pol operated in a similar way at first. A depowered Vulcan with no authority.

Drama comes from conflict. T’Pol and Shran sharing a bridge is conflict already. Plus characters are often developed well when pushed into places where they aren’t comfortable.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Drama comes from conflict. T’Pol and Shran sharing a bridge is conflict already. Plus characters are often developed well when pushed into places where they aren’t comfortable.

Exactly. There's a scene in the third-season "Proving Ground" that you'll see - Archer, T'Pol, and Shran in Archer's ready room, talking. But the close quarters, as they subtly jab at each other - great conflict, entertaining and enlightening.

I don't know what I would do with Shran in the show in a re-imagining, having him aboard from the outset. But the idea that he was going to join the cast in Season 5... I imagined he would be on Enterprise in some kind of crew exchange - but he's really there as punishment for losing his ship, ordered by the Imperial Guard to be Archer's subordinate, and chafing at every turn, clashing with everyone because he's not a follower. And really push that love/hate thing he has with Archer. Both of them hate the setup, both of them have to make it work, and sometimes it just doesn't work. Archer and T'Pol had that early on, and Trip/T'Pol too.

 

[MarkusTay]

Maybe "Shran's nephew", but Shran himself, I agree, would have been 'diminished'. he was a competent captain in his own right, why be aboard Enterprise? Thats a demotion. Now, if they wanted to do a 2-3 parter with Shran aboard as an advisor (to deal with some species the Andorians have experience with), than sure - thats just a story-arc, and we could have conflict galore (Imagine both Shran and T'Pol trying to take over the Enterprise after something happens to Archer.. that would have been a great moment).

And I never felt T'Pol was diminished in any way (except maybe by the writers) - she was a strong, independent woman who never backed down, always argued with the Captain when she thought he was wrong (and as Data knows, thats the job of a second-in-command), and gave a big middle finger to the Vulcan High Command, even though she knew what she was doing was not only very 'un-Vulcan', but it could possibly leave her an outcast on her own world. You have to have some kind of backbone to risk pissing off your planet because you think you're right. And she 'sparred' with Tucker and everyone else, even getting 'snarky' as time went on. At no point did I ever see anyone 'diminish her' in any way. And honestly, she was one of the very few female characters I think Trek got right. She needed no man to define her. Sure, the writers liked their cheesecake, but that wasn't on her or the actress that played her.

Oh, and Uhura. Thank the space gods they never did anything questionable with her... oh, wait... {shakes fist at newer movies}

 

[FederationHistorian]

I don't know what I would do with Shran in the show in a re-imagining, having him aboard from the outset. But the idea that he was going to join the cast in Season 5... I imagined he would be on Enterprise in some kind of crew exchange - but he's really there as punishment for losing his ship, ordered by the Imperial Guard to be Archer's subordinate, and chafing at every turn, clashing with everyone because he's not a follower. And really push that love/hate thing he has with Archer. Both of them hate the setup, both of them have to make it work, and sometimes it just doesn't work. Archer and T'Pol had that early on, and Trip/T'Pol too.

The bridge is designed so that Shran could be seated on Archer’s right, and T’Pol on Archer’s left, meaning the captain is dragged between two different viewpoints. And at least 3 of the founding species of the Federation are represented on the bridge. Plus the representation of space boomers through Mayweather (if he isn’t replaced by a Tellarite pilot to have all 4 founding species involved on the bridge) and Sato using her experience as a translator to act as an intermediary for all viewpoints on the bridge. Pretty much the ideal in showing what happened in the 5-6 years prior to the Federation’s founding.

Of course, Shran being seated on Archer’s right would mean moving Reed off the bridge. Where Reed goes is an unknown; either down in the armoury, joining and leading the MACOs, or leaving the ship altogether and resuming his life as a Section 31 agent. There was an out to have Reed removed entirely from the ship during the Klingon Augment virus arc and be sentenced for his role in the events, but he was kept onboard. And then the writers had already made up their minds that Trip was going to die in the S4 finale, regardless if the show returned or not, despite being one of the show's most popular characters.

Maybe "Shran's nephew", but Shran himself, I agree, would have been 'diminished'. he was a competent captain in his own right, why be aboard Enterprise? Thats a demotion. Now, if they wanted to do a 2-3 parter with Shran aboard as an advisor (to deal with some species the Andorians have experience with), than sure - thats just a story-arc, and we could have conflict galore (Imagine both Shran and T'Pol trying to take over the Enterprise after something happens to Archer.. that would have been a great moment).

Maybe make an Andorian tradition where members of the Imperial Guard are strictly prohibited from captaining anything other than an Andorian ship, as a loyalty oath to the state. And Shran, not wanting to be relegated to being a captain of an Andorian freighter, but also not wanted to give up his position in the Imperial Guard because of the political influence it carries, chose to serve under Archer instead.

 

[Kor]

It's never bothered me that the Borg's appearance changed. I don't think that First Contact changed the timeline - the idea hadn't occurred to me until I heard other people talking about it. I'm fine with aliens appearances changing as it becomes possible to do more complex cgi.

I totally agree about the music! Where are you up to on your rewatch?

I don't think he meant the Borgs' physical appearance, but the fact of them appearing, i.e. showing up, at all. So if the timeline was changed, then the events surrounding their first appearance in TNG S2 "Q Who" could have played out much differently from what we saw in that episode.

Kor

 

[Continuous Cosmos]

Was a terrific, underrated and unfortunately short lived iteration of our acclaimed franchise. Since we, for example, got a remarkable glimpse of the earliest days of starfleet and eventually the federation. Certainly a continuation in an animated or live action form would be welcomed.

 

[Oddish]

Shran as a regular would have been one of the many shots in the arm the show needed in a potential Season 5. I would have loved to have seen Coombs's name on the opening credits.

I think that Shran would have been Enterprise's equivalent to DS9's Worf and VOY's Seven: the new arrival who shook things up and made the show amazing.

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

Was a terrific, underrated and unfortunately short lived iteration of our acclaimed franchise. Since we, for example, got a remarkable glimpse of the earliest days of starfleet and eventually the federation. Certainly a continuation in an animated or live action form would be welcomed.

Your images didn't post.

 

[Continuous Cosmos]

*Was a terrific, underrated and unfortunately short lived iteration of our acclaimed franchise. Since we, for example, got a remarkable glimpse of the earliest days of starfleet and eventually the federation. Certainly a continuation in an animated or live action form would be welcomed.

 

[Continuous Cosmos]

Your images didn't post.

Yep my apologies, hence i made a repost.

 

[Sumire]

How is #24 “As it is, Enterprise was the first series since TOS to be canceled before completing the now-standard seven seasons run.” a secret? Am I missing something? I have a bad tendency to skim and sometimes miss an important word that makes all the difference.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Yep my apologies, hence i made a repost.

Fixed.

 

[Oddish]

How is #24 “As it is, Enterprise was the first series since TOS to be canceled before completing the now-standard seven seasons run.” a secret? Am I missing something? I have a bad tendency to skim and sometimes miss an important word that makes all the difference.

"Stuff you didn't know" is often actually "stuff you probably did know if you were a Trekkie".

 

[Uhura's Song]

My likely unpopular Enterprise takes:

1) I had no issue with the theme song. Kinda liked it after a while.

2) I had zero issue with the way Vulcans were portrayed. Or Archer's feelings about them. I thought it was interesting and gave a path for Archer & Shran to bond.

 

[fireproof78]

My only issue with Archer and his Vulcan antipathy led to him sharing state secrets of an ally.