Opine on Broken Bow

[Praetor]

As a gay man, how did you feel about the whole ambiguity of Malcolm thing? There was certainly something to be said about the fight he has with Hayes; that there was an element of sexual excitement in it, (ie: some of the words they use about "being up for it", Hayes getting physically jumped on, etc).

Well, I don't want to hijack the thread, but I will narrow it down to say that I was excited about the speculation that there might actually be a gay lead character on ENT (i.e. Malcolm) and the way they ended up handling it - or not handling it - felt like a cheat to me. It could have been there, it could not have been, and it felt unnecessary to handle it with such kid gloves.

Regarding the sex appeal of the characters, I should have specified that I meant the appearance of the characters - I can certainly understand your perspective regarding the characters behaviors and personalities being unattractive, though.

I'm curious to know what you thought about the introduction of the Temporal Cold War and the Suliban Cabal in 'Broken Bow'?

 

[Aviva]

Well, I don't want to hijack the thread, but I will narrow it down to say that I was excited about the speculation that there might actually be a gay lead character on ENT (i.e. Malcolm) and the way they ended up handling it - or not handling it - felt like a cheat to me. It could have been there, it could not have been, and it felt unnecessary to handle it with such kid gloves.

It might have been easier for them to have had a lesbian character, like the writers did in 'Buffy', as a gay female is more generally accessible than a gay male. T'Pol being lesbian may have indeed boosted the ratings.

I'm curious to know what you thought about the introduction of the Temporal Cold War and the Suliban Cabal in 'Broken Bow'?

To be honest, I think too much detail can complicate the story-line. I consider myself to be an 'Enterprise' fan but I couldn't give you a clear history of the Temporal Cold War because I've not taken in every minute detail of information from the episode. I'm more interested in the characters and other things that are happening rather than concentrating on the politics of the plot.

Also, seeing as you've come out as gay, let me now come out as Jewish and mention that the word 'cabal' worried me when I first heard it. Linguistically, that word comes from the same word as 'kabbalah' and it actually refers to the idea that Jews form a closed secret society from where they plot nefarious schemes against everyone else, (think Mel Gibson). I just think it's unfortunate that they used that particular word.

 

[SFRabid]

To me the best part of the cold war was learning that Daniel's faction had saved the Sulaban from the faction that appeared in Storm Front. I only wish they had not chosen the Nazi's. Space Nazi's are too cliché. They could have chosen Russia, India or even the US to be backed by the temporal aliens and changed history. At least then the premis would not be laughed at so much. Once you get past the idea of space Nazi's it is a good episode.

 

[Mach5]

I can certainly appreciate female beauty but I just find something robotic about T'Pol's appeal which just doesn't do anything for me.

Strange, she always appeared quite sensual to me, spectacular physique aside. Eye of the beholder and all that...

I could say the same for Travis! He seems like a cardboard cut-out of a character with no sexuality at all. He does nothing for me.

Agreed. To me, Travis always seemed like a 12-year old trapped in grown man's body.

I'd definitely go for Malcolm, even though he's a midget and only seems to fancy waitresses.

He has a thing for military women too, remember? He got some in "Cogenitor" (that gorgeous huge-arsed alien), and had real nice chemistry with Talas of Andoria (too bad they never went with that, could have been a great ship).

 

[Praetor]

To me the best part of the cold war was learning that Daniel's faction had saved the Sulaban from the faction that appeared in Storm Front. I only wish they had not chosen the Nazi's. Space Nazi's are too cliché. They could have chosen Russia, India or even the US to be backed by the temporal aliens and changed history. At least then the premis would not be laughed at so much. Once you get past the idea of space Nazi's it is a good episode.

Agreed.

I always wanted Future Guy to be a Romulan. From 'Broken Bow' on, I was sure he was a Romulan. His very silhouetted shape screamed Romulan to me. Plus it made Star Trek sense for Romulans to tinker with their lost war by proxy, rather than directly screwing up their own history.

 

[miriel68]

let me now come out as Jewish and mention that the word 'cabal' worried me when I first heard it. Linguistically, that word comes from the same word as 'kabbalah' and it actually refers to the idea that Jews form a closed secret society from where they plot nefarious schemes against everyone else, (think Mel Gibson). I just think it's unfortunate that they used that particular word.

Agreed. I am not Jewish, but I noticed the association and didn't like it.

I don't have much complain about TCW, however. This is not most logical storyline, sure, but then many ST (I mean ALL ST) plots would fall apart if examined carefully. And genetically enhanced Sulibans were certainly a fun to watch.
I watched Broken Bow with my husband some time ago, and even if he is not a ST fan, he genuinely enjoyed it. Said that for him it had some spirit of Star Wars...

 

[JiNX-01]

I didn't mind the decon scene because Trip and T'Pol had to strip down to their skivvies for it, I just thought it was ridiculous that they had to sit around rubbing gel on one another.

Actually, I didn't mind the decon scene so much as I did that there weren't enough people in the room.

If the spores TnT picked up were actually contagious and posed a danger to the entire crew, why didn't everybody who was in the shuttlepod with them on the return to Enterprise have to go through it too?

Could have been quite a party!

 

[commodore64]

It was a really good pilot, its only major flaws were the decon scene and the TCW stuff.

Agreed. Swap Suliban for Orions and I'd have been happier, though.

Now THAT would have been great.

Yeah, that would've been better.

 

[Xabitrip]

I didn't mind the decon scene because Trip and T'Pol had to strip down to their skivvies for it, I just thought it was ridiculous that they had to sit around rubbing gel on one another.

Actually, I didn't mind the decon scene so much as I did that there weren't enough people in the room.

If the spores TnT picked up were actually contagious and posed a danger to the entire crew, why didn't everybody who was in the shuttlepod with them on the return to Enterprise have to go through it too?

Could have been quite a party!

JiNX-01 you've made a really good point there, its something I'd never even thought of. Surely Archer, Malcolm and Travis should have been in decon with them - but that would obviously have spoiled the atmosphere! Although I've got to admit, yes I was being a bit shallow watching that scene and just simply enjoying watching Trip in all his glory!

 

[Aviva]

I don't have any problem with the idea of people having to take off their clothes in order to go through a process. The problem I have with that decon scene is the lack of subtletly in the way it was directed. Do you remember the lurid close-ups of body parts? You see repeated close-ups of abs and muscles and it's just a little over the top.

Also, Vulcan underwear: I'm not sure what Vulcans might wear but I think it might be slightly more sturdy than what she had on, slightly more sensible. If an actress is really gorgeous and used to be a model, surely we as the viewers are going to get that point without repeatedly being hit over the head by it? Unless we're only watching for the skin, of course???

 

[commodore64]

I don't have any problem with the idea of people having to take off their clothes in order to go through a process. The problem I have with that decon scene is the lack of subtletly in the way it was directed. Do you remember the lurid close-ups of body parts? You see repeated close-ups of abs and muscles and it's just a little over the top.

Also, Vulcan underwear: I'm not sure what Vulcans might wear but I think it might be slightly more sturdy than what she had on, slightly more sensible. If an actress is really gorgeous and used to be a model, surely we as the viewers are going to get that point without repeatedly being hit over the head by it? Unless we're only watching for the skin, of course???

Couldn't agree more. I would argue that Berman and Braga dealt with sexuality in a rather sophomoric way. The Decon scene nearly put me off Enterprise. I'm glad I gave it another chance.

 

[SFRabid]

Couldn't agree more. I would argue that Berman and Braga dealt with sexuality in a rather sophomoric way. ...

Which made me think they were trying to make a show for those with sophomoric mentality.

 

[commodore64]

Well, we watched!

 

[pookha]

I'm curious to know what you thought about the introduction of the Temporal Cold War and the Suliban Cabal in 'Broken Bow'?

if they were going to do the temporal cold war i wish they had waited until the series was more established to bring it in..

i think having it from the start put some people off.

they could have still had the suliban but at first they dont know they are being manipulated by people from the future.
really part of the suliban story ie the part were they had lost their homeworld had gotten shifted later to the xindi.

but i think they could have done something with the suliban,
we at first learn when their homeworld was destroyed some of them tried to blend in on other worlds.
others fell under the spell of some mysterious aliens who promised them a new home world.
i think promise of new homeworld is better motivation then getting bio implants..

only much later toward the end of the season with cold front do we learn then are far crazier..

 

[ltcmmanderdata]

liked it loved the klingon story and the time travel war

 

[SFRabid]

Well, we watched!

Yea, we did. But it took me 5 years to give it another try.

 

[TS-1838-SWATH]

It was a really good pilot, its only major flaws were the decon scene and the TCW stuff.

Agreed. Swap Suliban for Orions and I'd have been happier, though.

Now THAT would have been great.

Seconded

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I just watched Broken Bow for the first time this afternoon on DVD. I didn't know it was going to be longer than 43 or even 60 minutes.

The complicated plot was more like a movie than a pilot to a show that would be introducing a whole new Trek universe to us fans.

And I agree with Aviva here as I was expecting a lot more simplicity but since they made it a 2-hour series premiere (90 minutes) I guess they had to have a longer plot. I've watched some of the special features on the final disc of ENT DVDs only.
I've really only watched one episode of ENT more than once and that was Regeneration from the 'Fan Collective - Borg' DVD. I have been mulling over waiting until ENT was released on Blu-ray and watch the series for the first time (ever) in HD from the start but the ENT Blu-ray seasons may be another 2 years away.

I did like Broken Bow overall. I am gonna check out the audio and text commentary on it and the other episodes on Disc 1 [from Netflix]. I don't think at the moment I'm going to devote the Autumn and Winter to watching loads of ENT episodes just yet.

I would have liked to have seen a more NASA-like unform and Space Shuttle-like set

The blue jumpsuits are pretty NASA-like. The ENT interior is much more like a submarine with smaller corridors, walkways, etc. That served its purpose for this first ship.
I wish the medical bay and all displays were less high tech and more like TOS though. I appreciate the efforts put in to make the technology hardware for the most part 100 years predating TOS.
The medical bay is looking on the level of Voyager as far as high tech.

I felt the first time we were in Engineering next to the Warp engine when Travis and Malcom are first walking around Engineering that the sound on the 5.1 mix the warp engine overall hum and ambience was way too loud and overpowered the dialog when listening on my standard 5.1 surround speaker setup. This was my only complaint on the sound for the entire episode. Has anyone else noticed this too-loud ambience on this episode? Has it reared its head on other episodes with a scene in the Engineering?