Revisiting Enterprise
- Thread starter tomalak301
- Start date
I agree with your reviews of the episodes and my favourites for Season 2 are pretty much the same. 'First Flight' was well written and beautifully executed with regards to how to balance the present and flashbacks. Another good episode to showcase T'Pol and Archer's developing friendship. Carradine was very natural and bounced off Bakula very well I thought.
'Cogenitor' was also well written but I wish we had seen a little more continuity in the next few episodes. I remember thinking it strange to see Trip and Archer being easy and back on old friendly terms in the next episode.
'The Expanse' as well was a particular favourite and great season ending. It already gives us a preview of the direction Season 3 would take. Low and moody lighting and a score that enhances an atmosphere of dread (incidentally, the scores for Season 3 were usually great and balanced the action on screen very well). Love the exploration of an obsessive Archer and a vengeful Trip as well as T'Pol's personal conflict between choosing to stay with the humans or to return to Vulcan.
As Michelle Erica Green wrote in her review of 'The Xindi' on Trektoday, I agree keeping the Xindi and their numerous species a mystery would perhaps have been more interesting. We didn't need to see 'the big bad enemy' of mankind displayed all at once in the season opener - it deflates the expectancy and interest on our part a bit. A more gradual reveal would have been better.
'Cogenitor' was also well written but I wish we had seen a little more continuity in the next few episodes. I remember thinking it strange to see Trip and Archer being easy and back on old friendly terms in the next episode.
'The Expanse' as well was a particular favourite and great season ending. It already gives us a preview of the direction Season 3 would take. Low and moody lighting and a score that enhances an atmosphere of dread (incidentally, the scores for Season 3 were usually great and balanced the action on screen very well). Love the exploration of an obsessive Archer and a vengeful Trip as well as T'Pol's personal conflict between choosing to stay with the humans or to return to Vulcan.
As Michelle Erica Green wrote in her review of 'The Xindi' on Trektoday, I agree keeping the Xindi and their numerous species a mystery would perhaps have been more interesting. We didn't need to see 'the big bad enemy' of mankind displayed all at once in the season opener - it deflates the expectancy and interest on our part a bit. A more gradual reveal would have been better.
It's been a while since I've seen it (actually it's been quite a while since I've watched any Enterprise - i may have to do my own one these threads in the future) but I remember at the time thinking that this was the episode where Archer made the decision not to play the TCW game any more and make his own decisions rather than listening to Daniels or FG/Silik and being their pawn.
Unfortunately, then the Xindi attacked Earth and FG was the only one with any info on who did it so he had to go back to pawn status
Here's a question--why doesn't Porthos (OK, the dog who paid him) do the convention circuit? I'm sure fans would love a photo op with him, and he's consistently one of the most popular characters from ENT.
....paid him? oh, you mean "played" him. (Sorry, it's hard when you're a pedant.) Yes I agree, except, first of all at least two dogs played him and second, both will probably by now be dead or in rest homes for retired animal actors.
I know many people have said this, and I agree with it, (especially after watching this episode last night) Anomaly would have been a great Season opener. It keeps the Xindi hidden for a time, and I felt it connected more with The Expanse (The mention of the cloud being an example, as well as finding out about one of the spheres) than "The Xindi" did. It had that same tone, and Archer was still somewhat angry as he was in The Expanse. I think it would have made the torture scene a little more powerful in that Archer reached a breaking point after everything he's been through in that short of time. Oh, and as for Anomaly, it's a fantastic episode/season opener.
I was a pretty strong fan of Enterprise during the first two seasons - but then I took a job overseas and left North America before Season 3 came on the air. I didn't return to Canada for four years, so never saw any of Seasons 3-4 until someone gave me DVD sets just a few days ago.
I am about 2/3s of the way through Season 3, and I am really enjoying it. I think except for a couple of 'clunker' episodes, it has been great so far...
I am about 2/3s of the way through Season 3, and I am really enjoying it. I think except for a couple of 'clunker' episodes, it has been great so far...
Here are some of my thoughts on the episodes:
Regeneration: This had to have been one of the most controversial episodes ever and to this day I really don’t understand all the doom-and-gloom that preceded the episode’s actually airing. I still think two of the threads from spring 2003 are even archived. In the end it was “much to do about nothing” given that Regeneration was one of the enjoyable highlights of not just season two but of ENT’s entire run.
As far as Trek’s Borg event episodes this falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. Unlike BoBW where no one knew what would happen(Would Picard survive? How much of the Federation would fall?) or Scorpion where any number of interesting directions could have been taken(the assimilation of Species 8472 might have altered the Collective) or Unimatrix Zero(would the resistance topple the Collective once and for all), Regeneration taking place in a prequel pretty much eliminated any suspense with regards to how the Borg encounter would play out. That said I liked how Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong cleverly brought the Borg into the 22nd century in a plausible manner that wasn’t contrived. They were smart writers who simply used an element that was just lying around to their advantage in crafting a Borg story.
I also liked how they leveled the playing field giving Archer a reasonable chance of defeating the Borg with their primitive 22nd century technology. The idea that the sphere was destroyed and the Borg had to assimilate the transport ship and work on upgrading it was brilliant. What worked not so well was the phase pistols that managed to get off far too many shots even if they were upgraded and Trip deactivated the Borg circuitry a bit too easily especially given the difficulty that B’elanna had in “The Gift”.
I also really liked the different approach in the teaser and act one where we don’t see the crew only the researchers in the Arctic Circle. What I thought was cool was seeing them make the intriguing discoveries about the Borg that we had already experienced. The scientists speculating about why different humanoid species would have technology embedded throughout their bodies, the examination of the nanoprobes etc. I also appreciated that the crew didn’t use the term “assimilation” which would would have been pushing it. Instead we hear them simply refer to it as “transformation”.
Too bad the rest of the show couldn’t maintain this freshness. About halfway through the story turns pretty straightforward but still entertaining to a degree. It is your garden variety chase through the ship. The episode for the most part did a good job in creating a spooky atmosphere most especially in the Arctic scenes and the final act when Reed and Archer board the transport but I didn’t find the hunt of the Borgified Tarkaleans that impressive. The lighting was too bright. It was trying to evoke First Contact but it was just too bright and the music was off in that particular sequence. However, the final scene when the NX is dead in the water as the transport sets its eyes on the ship was perfectly executed in mood and music.
A lot of elements reminded me of other Borg episodes. I wonder if Sussman and Strong had them in mind. For instance, when the female scientist revealed the Borg corpse. It seemed reminscient of Hugh’s reveal in “I, Borg” which also took place on an icy world. Or the way the NX was chasing down a renegade Borg ship that was attacking innocent bystanders in the region reminded me of “Descent”. Or the shot of Reed ordering the Tarkalean female to stop and she casts a glance in his direction before continuing seemed like an homage to an almost identical scene in “Q Who?”.
I thought it was a big cheat for the writers to conveniently leave off “We are the Borg” but include everything else in the hail. I wouldn’t have minded if it was cut off in transmission and we only hear “…org.” as Hoshi opened the channel. I also never felt that VOY’s Dark Frontier needed clarification. Some fans say it violated continuity regarding first contact with the Borg but it didn’t. I think Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky might have done a better job by inserting a line or two but Dark Frontier implies the Hansens were mavericks going on a wild goose chase to locate a race that may or may not exist based on reports most likely from various species including the El-Aurians. No one really believed in their theories. They encounter the Borg, get transported to the Delta Quadrant and are never heard from again and none of their research makes it back to Starfleet. They become a footnote. How does that undermine “Q Who”? In fact, I think this muddies things more than VOY ever did. The Hansens were working on rumors but we know from this episode there is photographic evidence and scans.
The truth is we didn’t need this extra wrinkle because the Borg were already snooping around in our region ten years before “Q Who” when the Hansens encountered that cube. And the signal shouldn’t have been received yet so how do you explain that cube snooping around? Answer: For the same reason we assumed they were in “The Neutral Zone”—they were simply expanding outward exploring our part of the galaxy as a result of expansion from the Delta Quadrant looking for new species and technologies to assimilate.[/FONT]
Also I don’t buy the idea the nanoprobes were inactive for so long that they struggled to assimilate. It certainly didn’t seem to have a problem in the blink of an eye altering and assimilating the NX circuitry. I just think that they had a hard time with Denobulan physiology. I also didn’t care for the way the Borg just abruptly beamed back to the transport ship. I think I read that Sussman intended for it to refer to the behavior of the Borg in “Q Who” when they concentrated on repairing the damaged cube but I think its presentation should have been better plus I would imagine they would have rather upgraded to the NX and abandon the transport altogether.
And that is one of the failings that hurts the episode for me. I think certain elements should have been made clearer even a simple captain’s log discussing what SF intended to do with this information and debris or maybe a last minute fade into seeing someone deleting the records and transferring them to a secret repository a la The X-Files hinting at Section 31. These little extras would have made the episode a little tighter and focused IMO and these additional flourishes would have also elevated the episode more.
I’m torn on the wink, wink ending with the whole predestination paradox. It is a cool idea on one hand but part of me prefers the idea of the Borg just finally crossing humanity’s path along with Q’s interference. As was par for the course this season Archer/T’Pol have some nice scenes together and Phlox’s struggling with the onslaught of the nanoprobes in his system was well acted as was the effectively disconcerting shot of him inside the imaging chamber being bombarded by radiation.
A reasonably entertaining hour that is hurt to a degree by its formulaic aspects in the second half, a few contrivances and the glossing over of some important details that would have helped maintain the integrity of continuity. Had it done that it would have been an easy A but as it stands it falls short of a B+ but a tad higher than a B. And it was jarring seeing the Borg in the 22nd century. I also got a kick out of the fact that everyone was assuming B&B came up with the Borg episode and instead it was ENT’s best writers—Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong—who acquitted themselves quite well.
First Flight: Probably of the four episodes, this one was the one that comes the closest in being the most successful in pulling off the material it tackled. I had virtually no problems with it. It works on so many levels. It provides some nice backstory between FC and Broken Bow. It has a respectable sense of nostalgia and sentimentality. It captured the best the Right Stuff feel B&B said they intended with ENT with the relationships between Robinson, Trip, Forest and Archer. I liked the touches of the bar, the warp five test facilities, the Archer/T’Pol scenes onboard the shuttlepod. The episode was nicely placed as it was a touching reminder that Archer’s more innocent views as well as Earth’s innocence is about to end given the fact we were on the eve of the Xindi attack. Keith Carradine did a fabulous job and I think he would have been better cast than Bakula based on his performance. He hit all the right notes. T’Pol’s suggestion about naming the phenomenon after Archer’s late friend was poignant. B+.
The Expanse: I avoid spoilers but I don’t think anyone could have avoided knowing every detail about this episode since even TVGuide laid it all out and B&B were all over the various media outlets talking about the changes. I always felt that VOY and ENT had a lot in common and ENT’s second season reminded me in a lot of ways of VOY’s third season. Both suffered from pervasive mediocrity and both tried my patience so it was inevitable that like VOY, which underwent a shake up by bringing in the Borg and Seven of Nine, ENT does the same with a mysterious new enemy and an ongoing mission.
It was a good idea. For once it injected a sense of mystery that the show really needed. In some ways the Xindi storyline was a precursor to the more elaborate mystery based series such as LOST and Heroes but isn’t as complicated. It introduced a bunch of unanswered questions where the next season would have the crew trying to find answers and putting the pieces of this large puzzle together--Was FG telling the truth? Did the Xindi really attack Earth? Does Earth really devastate the Xindi in 400 years? If so, was it aggression on the part of humanity or was it in defense? And if it was aggression how could Archer stop the Xindi from defending themselves? Or is FG lying in order to start a war between Earth and these Xindi like he tried to do by instigating a Klingon civil war? What is the mystery of the Expanse? Who is the other faction assisting the Xindi? Are they a familiar race or a new foe the Federation encounters sometime over the next four centuries? Why do they want Earth destroyed? What evidence did they provide to convince the Xindi Earth is a threat? So a lot of questions to deal with.
I liked after a year’s absence that Silik and FG make a return appearance. I also was glad that initially the writers tied the Xindi attack to the Temporal Cold War. Not only was some attention to it way overdue but it allowed for the TCW to actually take on the gravity and epicness such a conflict deserved.
It made sense FG wouldn’t want Earth destroyed, afterall in Shockwave we know his fate and the Federation’s are intertwined. So while in the past he has undermined Archer, in this instance he might be willing to help because this was a situation where both of their interests overlap. It also makes sense he wouldn’t send Silik to thwart the Xindi. Silik has failed before and FG has the advantage of knowing about Archer in the context of history and realizes he’d have a better shot in stopping the second attack. And while Archer might have doubts about FG, Archer has nothing else to go on. FG’s tactic of not warning Archer in advance of the test attack made sense as well. He realizes Archer wouldn’t believe him and needed a sobering lesson to add some weight to his claim.
With Silik/FG making an appearance I wondered where Daniels was. Before when there was a violation of the Temporal Accords he appeared shortly thereafter. I just assumed that he vanished along with the rest of humanity in the new timeline. This actually would have been a good way of removing the temptation of the writers to bring in temporal agents as a deus ex machina and would place the survival of Earth on Archer’s shoulder. Unfortunately the writers brought him back in “Carpenter Street” which had the effect of creating some logical gaffes and led to the writers via T’Pol and Archer in that episode trying to justify why the temporal agents didn’t get involved and “The Expanse” shows a bit of this by having FG not reveal to Archer the location of the Xindi. The real reason is we would have circumvented the search for the Xindi which was a large part of the first half of the next season.
The initial attack on Earth in the teaser was striking in its low-key assault. The way it quietly and swiftly appears out of nowhere before carving up a portion of Earth with a beam as the probe gyrates every few seconds as it recharges. The visual shot of the scar through Florida as seen from orbit was chilling as well.
I liked the idea of T’Pol resigning her commission with the VHC. She was always heading in that direction as she grew closer with the crew. This was one of the few clear and engaging character arcs the show devised. The crew’s shock at seeing the aftermath in the wake of their bittersweet homecoming was pitch perfect. The Expanse seemed intriguing and mysterious after hearing about it driving Vulcans mad and Klingons being turned inside out. At the time I figured the Expanse would be the perfect playground for sci-fi anomalies of the week stories but surprisingly the writers pretty much avoided them in season three. The Klingon plot was extraneous. I never saw this as a strong allegory on 911 even though it was inspired to some degree by it. The visuals were good.
Once again the episode has some flaws and probably should have been a major two hour season finale event allowing more time to develop everything including the reactions on Earth, seeing the crew back home in the wake of the attack, Trip interacting with his family but it was a big step in the right direction and ultimately was the right creative decision given how well season three for the most part turned out. It’s a solid B.
The Xindi: This wasn't quite the big turnaround episode I was expecting but it was decent. I liked the Xindi council and would become a big fan of seeing things from their perspective all season. The Expanse was eerie and mysterious as captured well by the disruptions in sleep and the cargo bay scene. I could have done without the prison break subplot. This was an episode that isn't great in its own right but the seeds it plants for later is what I always take away from it.
Regeneration: This had to have been one of the most controversial episodes ever and to this day I really don’t understand all the doom-and-gloom that preceded the episode’s actually airing. I still think two of the threads from spring 2003 are even archived. In the end it was “much to do about nothing” given that Regeneration was one of the enjoyable highlights of not just season two but of ENT’s entire run.
As far as Trek’s Borg event episodes this falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. Unlike BoBW where no one knew what would happen(Would Picard survive? How much of the Federation would fall?) or Scorpion where any number of interesting directions could have been taken(the assimilation of Species 8472 might have altered the Collective) or Unimatrix Zero(would the resistance topple the Collective once and for all), Regeneration taking place in a prequel pretty much eliminated any suspense with regards to how the Borg encounter would play out. That said I liked how Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong cleverly brought the Borg into the 22nd century in a plausible manner that wasn’t contrived. They were smart writers who simply used an element that was just lying around to their advantage in crafting a Borg story.
I also liked how they leveled the playing field giving Archer a reasonable chance of defeating the Borg with their primitive 22nd century technology. The idea that the sphere was destroyed and the Borg had to assimilate the transport ship and work on upgrading it was brilliant. What worked not so well was the phase pistols that managed to get off far too many shots even if they were upgraded and Trip deactivated the Borg circuitry a bit too easily especially given the difficulty that B’elanna had in “The Gift”.
I also really liked the different approach in the teaser and act one where we don’t see the crew only the researchers in the Arctic Circle. What I thought was cool was seeing them make the intriguing discoveries about the Borg that we had already experienced. The scientists speculating about why different humanoid species would have technology embedded throughout their bodies, the examination of the nanoprobes etc. I also appreciated that the crew didn’t use the term “assimilation” which would would have been pushing it. Instead we hear them simply refer to it as “transformation”.
Too bad the rest of the show couldn’t maintain this freshness. About halfway through the story turns pretty straightforward but still entertaining to a degree. It is your garden variety chase through the ship. The episode for the most part did a good job in creating a spooky atmosphere most especially in the Arctic scenes and the final act when Reed and Archer board the transport but I didn’t find the hunt of the Borgified Tarkaleans that impressive. The lighting was too bright. It was trying to evoke First Contact but it was just too bright and the music was off in that particular sequence. However, the final scene when the NX is dead in the water as the transport sets its eyes on the ship was perfectly executed in mood and music.
A lot of elements reminded me of other Borg episodes. I wonder if Sussman and Strong had them in mind. For instance, when the female scientist revealed the Borg corpse. It seemed reminscient of Hugh’s reveal in “I, Borg” which also took place on an icy world. Or the way the NX was chasing down a renegade Borg ship that was attacking innocent bystanders in the region reminded me of “Descent”. Or the shot of Reed ordering the Tarkalean female to stop and she casts a glance in his direction before continuing seemed like an homage to an almost identical scene in “Q Who?”.
I thought it was a big cheat for the writers to conveniently leave off “We are the Borg” but include everything else in the hail. I wouldn’t have minded if it was cut off in transmission and we only hear “…org.” as Hoshi opened the channel. I also never felt that VOY’s Dark Frontier needed clarification. Some fans say it violated continuity regarding first contact with the Borg but it didn’t. I think Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky might have done a better job by inserting a line or two but Dark Frontier implies the Hansens were mavericks going on a wild goose chase to locate a race that may or may not exist based on reports most likely from various species including the El-Aurians. No one really believed in their theories. They encounter the Borg, get transported to the Delta Quadrant and are never heard from again and none of their research makes it back to Starfleet. They become a footnote. How does that undermine “Q Who”? In fact, I think this muddies things more than VOY ever did. The Hansens were working on rumors but we know from this episode there is photographic evidence and scans.
The truth is we didn’t need this extra wrinkle because the Borg were already snooping around in our region ten years before “Q Who” when the Hansens encountered that cube. And the signal shouldn’t have been received yet so how do you explain that cube snooping around? Answer: For the same reason we assumed they were in “The Neutral Zone”—they were simply expanding outward exploring our part of the galaxy as a result of expansion from the Delta Quadrant looking for new species and technologies to assimilate.[/FONT]
Also I don’t buy the idea the nanoprobes were inactive for so long that they struggled to assimilate. It certainly didn’t seem to have a problem in the blink of an eye altering and assimilating the NX circuitry. I just think that they had a hard time with Denobulan physiology. I also didn’t care for the way the Borg just abruptly beamed back to the transport ship. I think I read that Sussman intended for it to refer to the behavior of the Borg in “Q Who” when they concentrated on repairing the damaged cube but I think its presentation should have been better plus I would imagine they would have rather upgraded to the NX and abandon the transport altogether.
And that is one of the failings that hurts the episode for me. I think certain elements should have been made clearer even a simple captain’s log discussing what SF intended to do with this information and debris or maybe a last minute fade into seeing someone deleting the records and transferring them to a secret repository a la The X-Files hinting at Section 31. These little extras would have made the episode a little tighter and focused IMO and these additional flourishes would have also elevated the episode more.
I’m torn on the wink, wink ending with the whole predestination paradox. It is a cool idea on one hand but part of me prefers the idea of the Borg just finally crossing humanity’s path along with Q’s interference. As was par for the course this season Archer/T’Pol have some nice scenes together and Phlox’s struggling with the onslaught of the nanoprobes in his system was well acted as was the effectively disconcerting shot of him inside the imaging chamber being bombarded by radiation.
A reasonably entertaining hour that is hurt to a degree by its formulaic aspects in the second half, a few contrivances and the glossing over of some important details that would have helped maintain the integrity of continuity. Had it done that it would have been an easy A but as it stands it falls short of a B+ but a tad higher than a B. And it was jarring seeing the Borg in the 22nd century. I also got a kick out of the fact that everyone was assuming B&B came up with the Borg episode and instead it was ENT’s best writers—Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong—who acquitted themselves quite well.
First Flight: Probably of the four episodes, this one was the one that comes the closest in being the most successful in pulling off the material it tackled. I had virtually no problems with it. It works on so many levels. It provides some nice backstory between FC and Broken Bow. It has a respectable sense of nostalgia and sentimentality. It captured the best the Right Stuff feel B&B said they intended with ENT with the relationships between Robinson, Trip, Forest and Archer. I liked the touches of the bar, the warp five test facilities, the Archer/T’Pol scenes onboard the shuttlepod. The episode was nicely placed as it was a touching reminder that Archer’s more innocent views as well as Earth’s innocence is about to end given the fact we were on the eve of the Xindi attack. Keith Carradine did a fabulous job and I think he would have been better cast than Bakula based on his performance. He hit all the right notes. T’Pol’s suggestion about naming the phenomenon after Archer’s late friend was poignant. B+.
The Expanse: I avoid spoilers but I don’t think anyone could have avoided knowing every detail about this episode since even TVGuide laid it all out and B&B were all over the various media outlets talking about the changes. I always felt that VOY and ENT had a lot in common and ENT’s second season reminded me in a lot of ways of VOY’s third season. Both suffered from pervasive mediocrity and both tried my patience so it was inevitable that like VOY, which underwent a shake up by bringing in the Borg and Seven of Nine, ENT does the same with a mysterious new enemy and an ongoing mission.
It was a good idea. For once it injected a sense of mystery that the show really needed. In some ways the Xindi storyline was a precursor to the more elaborate mystery based series such as LOST and Heroes but isn’t as complicated. It introduced a bunch of unanswered questions where the next season would have the crew trying to find answers and putting the pieces of this large puzzle together--Was FG telling the truth? Did the Xindi really attack Earth? Does Earth really devastate the Xindi in 400 years? If so, was it aggression on the part of humanity or was it in defense? And if it was aggression how could Archer stop the Xindi from defending themselves? Or is FG lying in order to start a war between Earth and these Xindi like he tried to do by instigating a Klingon civil war? What is the mystery of the Expanse? Who is the other faction assisting the Xindi? Are they a familiar race or a new foe the Federation encounters sometime over the next four centuries? Why do they want Earth destroyed? What evidence did they provide to convince the Xindi Earth is a threat? So a lot of questions to deal with.
I liked after a year’s absence that Silik and FG make a return appearance. I also was glad that initially the writers tied the Xindi attack to the Temporal Cold War. Not only was some attention to it way overdue but it allowed for the TCW to actually take on the gravity and epicness such a conflict deserved.
It made sense FG wouldn’t want Earth destroyed, afterall in Shockwave we know his fate and the Federation’s are intertwined. So while in the past he has undermined Archer, in this instance he might be willing to help because this was a situation where both of their interests overlap. It also makes sense he wouldn’t send Silik to thwart the Xindi. Silik has failed before and FG has the advantage of knowing about Archer in the context of history and realizes he’d have a better shot in stopping the second attack. And while Archer might have doubts about FG, Archer has nothing else to go on. FG’s tactic of not warning Archer in advance of the test attack made sense as well. He realizes Archer wouldn’t believe him and needed a sobering lesson to add some weight to his claim.
With Silik/FG making an appearance I wondered where Daniels was. Before when there was a violation of the Temporal Accords he appeared shortly thereafter. I just assumed that he vanished along with the rest of humanity in the new timeline. This actually would have been a good way of removing the temptation of the writers to bring in temporal agents as a deus ex machina and would place the survival of Earth on Archer’s shoulder. Unfortunately the writers brought him back in “Carpenter Street” which had the effect of creating some logical gaffes and led to the writers via T’Pol and Archer in that episode trying to justify why the temporal agents didn’t get involved and “The Expanse” shows a bit of this by having FG not reveal to Archer the location of the Xindi. The real reason is we would have circumvented the search for the Xindi which was a large part of the first half of the next season.
The initial attack on Earth in the teaser was striking in its low-key assault. The way it quietly and swiftly appears out of nowhere before carving up a portion of Earth with a beam as the probe gyrates every few seconds as it recharges. The visual shot of the scar through Florida as seen from orbit was chilling as well.
I liked the idea of T’Pol resigning her commission with the VHC. She was always heading in that direction as she grew closer with the crew. This was one of the few clear and engaging character arcs the show devised. The crew’s shock at seeing the aftermath in the wake of their bittersweet homecoming was pitch perfect. The Expanse seemed intriguing and mysterious after hearing about it driving Vulcans mad and Klingons being turned inside out. At the time I figured the Expanse would be the perfect playground for sci-fi anomalies of the week stories but surprisingly the writers pretty much avoided them in season three. The Klingon plot was extraneous. I never saw this as a strong allegory on 911 even though it was inspired to some degree by it. The visuals were good.
Once again the episode has some flaws and probably should have been a major two hour season finale event allowing more time to develop everything including the reactions on Earth, seeing the crew back home in the wake of the attack, Trip interacting with his family but it was a big step in the right direction and ultimately was the right creative decision given how well season three for the most part turned out. It’s a solid B.
The Xindi: This wasn't quite the big turnaround episode I was expecting but it was decent. I liked the Xindi council and would become a big fan of seeing things from their perspective all season. The Expanse was eerie and mysterious as captured well by the disruptions in sleep and the cargo bay scene. I could have done without the prison break subplot. This was an episode that isn't great in its own right but the seeds it plants for later is what I always take away from it.
Yeah it planted the seeds to what was to come, but I still think Anomaly did that much better, as well as carry that momentum from The Expanse over. The Xindi felt like stuff that Enterprise ended up turning into Cliche, like the falling into a trap, being taken prisoner and the jail break. Also, one thing I'm wondering as I rewatch season 3 is how they connect what Future Guy said about the Xindi wanting to launch a preemptive strike against humanity even though humanity didn't originally destroy the homeworld.
tomalak301;4299006Also said:
The more times I get through Season 3, the more The Shipment really stands out. Watched this one tonight, along with Exile and Twilight and I've got to say The Shipment was probably my favorite episode out of the bunch. Yeah Twilight has that "what-if" scenario and very good chemistry between Bakula and Blalock, but The Shipment is a big big episode in the overall Xindi Arc. I've mentioned before that I think Season three had a tendency to push the boundaries of Star Trek to the point where it really wasn't Star Trek anymore. The Shipment on the other hand felt like it brought things back to reality with more background on the Xindi, the Avians, and the admission that not all Xindi are evil. It seems that the only two Xindi that really were the bad guys were the reptilians and the Insectoids, and I'm glad that stayed constant all season. Still, that was great back-story and provided some much needed depth on this race that started their way to being very interesting as the season went on.
As for Exile, it was ok, but the only good things came at the end which was pure set up for The Shipment.
Twilight was great too, like I said with the chemistry between Blalock and Bakula top notch and nice to officially see the Enterprise blown up real good. I think this makes it official that all the casts lost the ship somehow:
Original: Star Trek III
TNG: Cause and Effect and Parallels
DS9: The Station: Visionary; The Defiant: Changing Face of Evil
VOY: Timeless
and Now Enterprise: Twilight
As for Exile, it was ok, but the only good things came at the end which was pure set up for The Shipment.
Twilight was great too, like I said with the chemistry between Blalock and Bakula top notch and nice to officially see the Enterprise blown up real good. I think this makes it official that all the casts lost the ship somehow:
Original: Star Trek III
TNG: Cause and Effect and Parallels
DS9: The Station: Visionary; The Defiant: Changing Face of Evil
VOY: Timeless
and Now Enterprise: Twilight
Are we close to Azati Prime yet? Some of these episodes are just hard to muddle through. I'm talking of course North Star and Carpenter Street. Talk about two pointless episodes in a point of the season where I feel like we're going through the motions of mediocrity and the writers are just stalling. Can't get to involved in the stories because the shows won't let me get too involved. North Star is an episode I would have liked in the Second season, but here it comes across as somewhat pointless. Carpenter Street is just bad (And for some reason, the first time I saw the episode I thought Braga himself was playing that Loomis guy, but the second time around I realized they look nothing alike) with bad time travel concepts (Events, rippling through time? That's worse than the whole de-evolving into lizards in Threshold I think) and just a not so good story.
On the other hand, I liked Similitude mainly because I like Trip. It was a nice story and a little bit emotional. That being said, I know Proving Ground is likeable and it has Shran, but I still have Chosen Realm and Harbinger, and Hatchery to see before I get to why this season ended up being very good. Seriously, from Azati Prime, Damages, and The Forgotten, that is one of Star Trek's best trilogies ever.
On the other hand, I liked Similitude mainly because I like Trip. It was a nice story and a little bit emotional. That being said, I know Proving Ground is likeable and it has Shran, but I still have Chosen Realm and Harbinger, and Hatchery to see before I get to why this season ended up being very good. Seriously, from Azati Prime, Damages, and The Forgotten, that is one of Star Trek's best trilogies ever.
I loved "North Star"! Beautiful production values and direction, Archer and Trip in cowboy duds, great guest stars. And that shot of the shuttlepod landing on dusty Main Street and Archer climbing out with T'Pol at his shoulder...priceless.
But that's just me.
Even "Carpenter Street" has its moments. There's that "A Piece of the Action" vibe, watching Archer and T'Pol try to function in the 21st century. That scene where they get takeout is too funny.
Season 3 is my favorite. "Anomaly," "Impulse," "Twilight," "The Shipment," "Similitude," "Proving Ground." And the last half of the season is just dynamite.
But that's just me.
Even "Carpenter Street" has its moments. There's that "A Piece of the Action" vibe, watching Archer and T'Pol try to function in the 21st century. That scene where they get takeout is too funny.
Season 3 is my favorite. "Anomaly," "Impulse," "Twilight," "The Shipment," "Similitude," "Proving Ground." And the last half of the season is just dynamite.
^^ Hey, I liked "Carpenter Street." 
T'Pol dealing with whiny Loomis and cigarette smoke...great stuff.
I'm an unabashed ENT fan-- there's something I like about every episode. Including "Extinction," "A Night in Sickbay." "Precious Cargo." I like the characters and the setting, the production values were terrific. So I've enjoyed them all.
T'Pol dealing with whiny Loomis and cigarette smoke...great stuff.I'm an unabashed ENT fan-- there's something I like about every episode. Including "Extinction," "A Night in Sickbay." "Precious Cargo." I like the characters and the setting, the production values were terrific. So I've enjoyed them all.
I try to get as much as possible out of each episode, but I don't think I'll ever rewatch "Carpenter Street" or "Precious Cargo."
"A Night in Sickbay," on the other hand, I could watch again and again.
"A Night in Sickbay," on the other hand, I could watch again and again.
^^ Hey, I liked "Carpenter Street."
I'm an unabashed ENT fan-- there's something I like about every episode. Including "Extinction," "A Night in Sickbay." "Precious Cargo." I like the characters and the setting, the production values were terrific. So I've enjoyed them all.
Even These Are The Voyages?
I loved "North Star"! Beautiful production values and direction, Archer and Trip in cowboy duds, great guest stars. And that shot of the shuttlepod landing on dusty Main Street and Archer climbing out with T'Pol at his shoulder...priceless.
But that's just me.
Even "Carpenter Street" has its moments. There's that "A Piece of the Action" vibe, watching Archer and T'Pol try to function in the 21st century. That scene where they get takeout is too funny.
Season 3 is my favorite. "Anomaly," "Impulse," "Twilight," "The Shipment," "Similitude," "Proving Ground." And the last half of the season is just dynamite.
I agree with you on 'North Star'. It could have easily been a stand-alone in Season 2 but I found it actually refreshing to take a break from the gloominess of The Expanse and the Xindi. From the actors perspective, they must have loved it. Any chance to shoot outdoors or on location and out of those uniforms!
As for 'Carpenter Street'...well, it does serve some purpose later on when Archer needs to convince Degra et al (can't give too much away...). I thought the acting was pretty top-notch from Bakula, Blalock and Leland Orser. Again, nice to be out of the ship and in different clothes.
OK, up to this point I didn't care enough to comment, but now we're onto Season 3 it is at least worth talking about!
Cogenitor - my favourite episode of the first two seasons. A moving story and it has Andreas Katsulas, so what more do you need?
The Expanse - worthy effort, but lacked impact and excitement for me.
The Xindi - OK, but a bit dull.
Anomaly - much better, the spheres are interesting and it's surprisingly dark.
Exctinction - bad Trek by numbers
Rajiin - OK. Nicely directed.
Impulse - Just some people running and shooting, isn't it?
Exile - average, but it's got spheres and actual character focus, which was refreshing at this point.
The Shipment - better. Some good plot development.
Twilight - fantastic! Best episode of Enterprise.
North Star - What? Why is this here?
Similitude - good. A bit like Tuvix, but a meaty episode.
Carpenter Street - very slight.
So, an OK season so far, but the best bits are mostly yet to come.
Cogenitor - my favourite episode of the first two seasons. A moving story and it has Andreas Katsulas, so what more do you need?
The Expanse - worthy effort, but lacked impact and excitement for me.
The Xindi - OK, but a bit dull.
Anomaly - much better, the spheres are interesting and it's surprisingly dark.
Exctinction - bad Trek by numbers
Rajiin - OK. Nicely directed.
Impulse - Just some people running and shooting, isn't it?
Exile - average, but it's got spheres and actual character focus, which was refreshing at this point.
The Shipment - better. Some good plot development.
Twilight - fantastic! Best episode of Enterprise.
North Star - What? Why is this here?
Similitude - good. A bit like Tuvix, but a meaty episode.
Carpenter Street - very slight.
So, an OK season so far, but the best bits are mostly yet to come.
I'm sorry.
I think the season turned the corner with the episodes I watched last night. Starting with Proving Ground (The cure to common Enterprise Ails? Shran) and then Stratagem and even Harbinger and Doctor's Orders, I can tell we're finally getting to the home stretch and it's time to start taking things seriously. Proving Ground and Strategem make a nice little two parter of sorts, and they had some great character work, especially finally giving Degra more depth. Also, I still smile at the fake out scene forcing Degra to confirm the weapon is on Azati Prime. Of course doesn't the whole "Fool me once" thing come into play? For being the creator of the weapon, Degra sure got fooled easily.
As for Harbinger, I listed this as one of the bad episodes, but I think it gains a lot on repeated viewings. For one, the T'Pol/Trip stuff, while gratuitous is important for later one, but also the thing with meeting the real baddies of the season is a big moment. All this time we've gotten hints about the sphere builders, but now we finally get to meet one and his evil tendencies, and it served the story well. As for Doctor's Orders, I think I liked VOY's "One" better but anything with Phlox as a lead is good.
Just a quick side note, I know if Season 5 had come it would have been more about setting up the romulan war and the Federation, but I really wish we had actually gone to Denobula. Would have been nice, even though the continuity pornographers (One of the best phrases in Trek coined by none other than Brannon Braga) would probably have had a fit. I always saw the show as what would have been good for the show, not the Trek franchise overall even though it was in the back of my mind.
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