Filming out of sequence is bound to be a factor, among others.
Enterprise Season 3 really was great.
- Thread starter HotRod
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Phlox wasn't too involved in that revelation, was he? Which might explain it.
Now Randy Oglesby might remember, since Degra was at Ground Zero of that doublecross.
Now Randy Oglesby might remember, since Degra was at Ground Zero of that doublecross.
Counterpoint: I never thought the 9/11 metaphor was overdone. Certainly there were clear allusions to it, and the subsequent wars, such as when Archer crossed the line when he tortured that pirate for information, or the bit where he bombed the Xindi moon at Azati Prime, or arguably the episode when he raids that ship.
But none of that were considered 'good' things. They were either as a result of the impossible situation they were in, or, more importantly, a stain on Archer's character. Archer himself was depicted as showing great regret over his actions in subsequent episodes such as Damage and Home - he knew he had failed to live up to what he wanted to be, and what he previously thought he actually was. I doubt Picard would have made such grievous errors, but that's why I like Enterprise (and DS9) so much; the characters are flawed and make disastrous mistakes, just like in real life, but still make something good come from those mistakes.
Indeed, the 9/11 metaphor is explicitly subverted in some places by having Commander Dolim, the main villain of the season, saying 'you are either with us, or against us' - a statement famously used by George Bush, and much derided for its simplistic worldview. This is compounded at the end of the season where Earth wouldn't have been saved if it wasn't for both sides laying down their weapons and negotiating a solution that benefitted humanity and Xindi alike.
Good points, and yes, I feel "Home" made up for it. But that was in season 4, which imo was run with an entirely different premise by entirely different authors, who imo did a good job of correcting what season 3 did wrong in my view.
Okay, it was a nice touch that in the end, the ENT crew worked together with the Xindi against a common enemy, but that didn't change my overall impression of the season as a major propaganda effort. There was just too much that had gone wrong in an ugly way in that season.
I'm glad we got season 4 with its different approach, which for the first time since the start of the series did justice to the premise it was supposed to be a prequel. Season 4 reconciled me with ENT.
It would be foolish of me to say that season 3 was entirely divorced from some of the more gung-ho impulses of that time period, but I nevertheless can't reconcile what you're saying with my viewing experience. Take for example Trip's dialogue in The Expanse - "I can't wait to get in there Captain, and tell me we won't be tiptoeing around, none of that non-interference crap...", then throughout the third season he comes to an understanding with the very man that built the weapon that killed his sister, even expressing some measure of regret that Degra was subsequently murdered. That doesn't come accross as particularly ugly or militaristic.
Likewise, Archer goes out of his way to protect civilians from his intended plan to destroy a refinery by setting up blast suppressors, and even junked that plan and simply chose to trust Gralik, over the objections of the more militaristic impulses of Reed and Hayes.
Plotlines like that are baked into the structure of the season just as much as the occasions where the characters fall short of what we would wish them to be. So maybe we're arguing two sides of the same coin? Maybe the way to interpret the season is that it embodies the spirit of the time that it was produced, but nonetheless has enough going for it to comment on ways people should and shouldn't act and react in such unprecedented times?
Likewise, Archer goes out of his way to protect civilians from his intended plan to destroy a refinery by setting up blast suppressors, and even junked that plan and simply chose to trust Gralik, over the objections of the more militaristic impulses of Reed and Hayes.
Plotlines like that are baked into the structure of the season just as much as the occasions where the characters fall short of what we would wish them to be. So maybe we're arguing two sides of the same coin? Maybe the way to interpret the season is that it embodies the spirit of the time that it was produced, but nonetheless has enough going for it to comment on ways people should and shouldn't act and react in such unprecedented times?
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@SCE2Aux, both your last posts reflect my own view of Season 3 (my favorite). Well said.
I thought it was a terrific arc for Archer, an idealistic explorer who must become a leader in war - facing impossible dilemmas, increasingly isolated, doubting his own moral character as he does what he must to complete his mission and save Earth, and the galaxy.
Similitude and Damage are standouts for me, for all sorts of reasons, but also what they reveal of Archer under pressure.
I'll be honest season 3 is the only season of any Star Trek I have watched end to end more then once. I absolutely love it. Some of those decisions Archer made like the one with the warp coil. That episode really is a good one and it was a no win situation for Archer. Might be time for another rewatch soon.
What I like about that season is if you watch Anomaly and then watch Damage and saw that the Pirates were right all along, it's hard to really judge Archer's decision considering the situation he was in. The ship was battered, and he was desperate. Desperate people throw values out the window most of the time, and while you may not agree with his choices, you understood why he made them. It's that character development that I really liked about the season. This mission changed everyone and to see that progression is what good story arcs do.
Exactly right... If Voyager had been made after Enterprise I wonder how much of the show might have changed its overall tone.
It wouldn't have just been made after Enterprise, it would've been made after a season and a half of Battlestar Galactica... the series that turned Stargate into Stargate Universe. There's no way Voyager '05 wouldn't have been very different to Voyager '95.
Though maybe they would've made it bright and happy to avoid retreading Enterprise s3. Star Trek 2009 was pretty fun and shiny.
I’ve just started my Star Trek journey and I’m going the chronological route.
I found Enterprise to be enjoyable and it (now) felt nostalgic. Season 3 was a definite shift after 9/11.
Overall, loved the crew and wish they had gotten an actual final season.
I found Enterprise to be enjoyable and it (now) felt nostalgic. Season 3 was a definite shift after 9/11.
Overall, loved the crew and wish they had gotten an actual final season.
True story, and a reminder that Trek actors often don’t watch their own show.
I was talking to John Billingsley once about how much I enjoyed Season 3. He expressed his concerns about the change in direction, the 9/11 metaphor, and so forth.
I told him one thing I really appreciated was that the Enterprise and Xindi figured out the were both being manipulated by a third party, and worked together to defeat the Sphere Builders.
John replied “well, I don’t remember anything about that.”
I don't know if it was a case of the actor not watching the show. I think it's more a case of the actor considering his work to be just another job and not his entire reason for existing, like so many Star Trek fans like to think about these people.
A lot of actors, quite rightly, don’t read the whole scripts. They just learn the lines for the scenes they are in.
John is a friend of mine.
He didn’t watch the show.
Sorry, I wasn't referring to Billingsley specifically. I was just making a point that not every Star Trek actor is going to remember every little minutiae from the show years after the fact, like some fans tend to think they do.
Yeah that's the thing about fandom how some people take this stuff
Absolutely right.
I don’t remember things about jobs I did decades ago. No reason actors should.
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