Pick 13 essential episodes of Enterprise

Pick ESSENTIAL episodes of Enterprise

I was thinking earlier about how I'd go about re-introducing this show on TV now.

I came to the conclusion that series now, often last half as long as Star Trek did. 13 instead of 26 episodes. Less filler, more plotlines that build and build and build.

Also based on a couple of posts I'd been reading... probably a bad idea to get into the specifics of who -- they had been watching Season One, just passed half way and changed from being open-minded and impressed to very irritated. Basically saying "Don't watch Enterprise. It's not worth it." Which I felt was very harsh. I didn't understand how they could suddenly turn 360 degrees like that. I remember the likes of Oasis or Vox Sola the first time around and they didn't get under my skin. Not brilliant but not terrible. I don't know whether they plan to press on or not, but if they do, they'll obviously encounter more of the same with such a sporadic second year. This is something I imagine happened when the show was on the air, on a large scale...

So then, back to the title of this thread.

This show is one of my favourites but I'm having a little trouble thinking clearly about this. I love lists but I also hate lists, when there are so many things I would like to include but have to leave them off.

Help me create the ultimate, perfect season of Enterprise. There are what, 98 to choose from or something like 60 complete stories? The Xindi season is like one long story, with a break for North Star. Possibly E2. Depending how you slice it.

Could we condense Enterprise down to essential episodes that are everybody's favourites?

Since I'm not a TV executive, I can't schedule the results but I will watch them in a marathon, sometime in September. My way of celebrating this show having been around for 10 years.

I'm also hoping that if it we put together an overview, Enterprise being accessible online these days - those struggling with the airdate order, would give it a fairer chance. They can go back and fill in the blanks afterward, knowing the show is much better than a stretch that's putting them off.

 

I picked up a book called STAR TREK 101 (ISBN 978-0-7434-9723-7) by Terry J. Erdmann & Paula M. Block. It's a great reference book. I'm always using it, mainly in the absence of an Enterprise compendium.

They're essential episodes are:

1. Broken Bow
2. Shockwave Part I & II
3. Cogenitor
4. First Flight
5. The Expanse
6. Twilight
7. Similitude
8. Kir'Shara
9. In a Mirror, Darkly Part I & II
10. Terra Prime

There are a couple of problems with that list. Leaving off The Forge & Awakening and Demons.

The slight OCD in me also notices that'll make it more like 15 (or even 16) episodes. If I'm sticking to my own rules. Which of course, I don't have to!

 

I didn't make my list based on "favorites," though pretty much all of these episodes are high on my list. Instead I took "essential episodes" to mean those episodes which both best embody the spirit of the show and were among the most important in regards to the overall story it was trying to tell.

1. Broken Bow
2. The Andorian Incident
3. Dear Doctor
4. Cease Fire
5. First Flight
6. The Expanse
7. Twilight
8. Similitude
9. Azati Prime
10. Kir'Shara
11. Observer Effect
12. United
13. Terra Prime

 

The approach I prefer is "Which 13 episodes to skip while watching Enterprise." That way you leave seasons 3 and 4 mostly in tact while skipping horrors like Chosen Realm, Hatchery and Daedlus.

 

That's exactly the way I look at it! Find it easier to just point to those I don't like so much. It's probably not even that huge a list. Which is a pain when it comes to doing episodes I think are great. There's so much stuff in Enterprise I liked.

I'll keep working on my list, but I usually give up or I'll get too preoccupied by it.

Telling somebody not to watch something is a lot harder than you think and therein lies the problem. They're obviously going to and just think Enterprise never recovered from a late Season 1 lull or the highs and lows in what followed after.

We sort of need to devise a fan-approved run that tells the whole story, but leaves out what caused a fall-off in viewers originally. Working with what we've got, how we'd have liked everything to play out and for some of the episodes to be optional. Unless if you like it enough to appreciate the warts too!

 

1 Broken Bow: Sets up the premise

2 The Andorian Incident: Archer meets Shran

3 First Flight: Backstory on Archer/Trip friendship and expands on how the Vulcans interfered in the NX project

4 The Expanse: Sets up season 3.

5 Chosen Realm: Yeah it sucked but it does provide intel on the spheres which becomes essential toward season's end

6 Proving Ground: Provides intel on the weapon

7 Stratagem: Archer learns where the weapon is

8 Azati Prime: A game changer

9 Harbinger: The crew learns more about the nature of the spheres and anomalies

10 Zero Hour: Brings the mission to a close

*11 The Vulcan Arc: Another game changer in the relationship between Earth and Vulcan

*12 The Andorian/Romulan arc: Archer takes the first steps toward fulfilling his destiny as founder of the Federation

*13 Demons/Terra Prime: Archer saves the Coalition that will one day become the Federation

*I consider story arcs to be a single story told in three parts due to network scheduling constraints.

ETA:

I can't confine such a list to 13.

I had enough trouble listing only 13 episodes as essential, but I did it from a different standpoint. I didn't choose what I consider to be "best in show" or favorites. I chose episodes that built on the premise of early exploration and and building relationships with other species. The S3 episodes were picked based on how they advanced the mission.

 

If I could expand my season from a 13 episode half-season to a 26 episode full season, it would become:

1. Broken Bow (minus direct TCW references)
2. The Andorian Incident
3. Dear Doctor
4. Cease Fire
5. First Flight
6. The Expanse (minus direct TCW references)
7. Twilight
8. Similitude
9. Proving Ground
10. Stratagem
11. Harbinger
12. Azati Prime
13. Damage
14. The Forgotten
15. The Council
16. Countdown
17. Zero Hour (minus the last couple of minutes)
18. Home
19. The Forge
20. Awakening
21. Kir'Shara
22. Observer Effect
23. Babel One
24. United (minus the Gareb reveal at the very end)
25. Demons
26. Terra Prime

 

1. Broken Bow
2. The Andorian Incident
3. Shadows of P'Jem
4. Fusion
5. The Expanse
6. The Xindi
7. Twilight
8. Atazi Prime
9. Damage
10. Zero Hour
11. The Vulcan Trilogy
12. The Andorian Trilogy
13. Demons/Terra Prime

 

Bah, I forgot about "Fusion."

 

Yeah, it's pretty lackluster, but it is where T'Pol contracts her Pa'nar Syndrome.

 

1. The Andorian Incident
2. Shadows of P'Jem
3. Fallen Hero
4. Home
5. The Forge
6. Awakening
7. Kir'Shara
8. Babel One
9. United
10. The Aenar
11. Demons
12. Terra Prime

 

Broken Bow
Fusion
Shockwave I and II
Seven
The Expanse
Damage
Twilight
The Vulcan arc
Mirror Universe eps
Finale

 

Some great ideas there, getting the whole series down to one run. Thanks for the help!

I think what I've got below probably represents a good story arc compression of Season One and Two.


0. Broken Bow

1. The Andorian Incident
2. Cold Front
3. Shadows of P'Jem
5. Fusion
6. Detained
7. Shockwave Part I
8. Shockwave Part II
9. Stigma
10. Cease Fire
11. Future Tense
12. Judgment
13. The Expanse


A lot of choices in there, ended up being based on linkage to another episode, whether here or in the next 13 episodes. Or the one after that.

I took the Pilot (or Premiere I guess) out of the equation. Cheating slightly in assuming a feature-length could kick off the series, without actually counting toward the 13.


I'll continue to work on Season 3 being done in half the time. Maybe a season of great stand alone episodes for fun... with no TCW or Xindi plot lines at all. North Star would probably look great in that line-up. A lot of others. Too many.

Of course, it suddenly occurs to me - the other option would be feed them back in and do each season as a run of 13. But I'll stay this course for now and maybe come back to that.

 

1. Twilight
2. Anomaly
3. The Shipment
4. Impulse
5. Similitude
6. Proving Ground
7. Stratagem
8. Harbinger
9. Azati Prime
10. Damage
11. The Forgotten
12. The Council
13. Countdown & Zero Hour

0. Storm Front

1. Home
2. Borderland
3. Cold Station 12
4. The Augments
5. The Forge
6. Awakening
7. Kir'Shara
8. Babel One
9. United
10. The Aenar
11. Affliction
12. Divergence
13. Demons & Terra Prime

0. In a Mirror, Darkly Part I & II

 

My attempt to redo Season 1 & 2 with 13 episodes per year.

Also I've moved stories around from one season to another to try to make it different. Plus include the standalones I didn't fit into my take on Seasons 3 & 4 above. I've tried to think about continuity, avoiding major contradictions. "Observer Effect" looking very different is the only major issue but I wanted to keep that somewhere. "Singularity" is a fantastic re-introduction and there's nothing better than have the characters get on each other's nerves and exaggerate their failings for that.

0. Broken Bow

1. Singularity
2. Fight or Flight
3. Civilization
4. The Andorian Incident
5. Breaking the Ice
6. Fortunate Son
7. First Flight
8. Silent Enemy
9. Shuttlepod One
10. Fusion
11. Dear Doctor
12. Shadows of P'Jem
13. Cold Front

0. Shockwave Part I & II

1. Regeneration
2. Minefield
3. Dead Stop
4. Carbon Creek
5. Fallen Hero
6. Detained
7. Stigma
8. Cease Fire
9. North Star
10. Observer Effect
11. Judgment
12. Future Tense
13. The Expanse

 

Yeah, I really can't do it. While I can easily condense one season down to 13 episodes, I can't do the whole series.

Looking at everyone's list almost all of them skip over probably my favorite aspect of Enterprise and that is the crew's reaction to basically everything (ie wonder at something as simply as a comet or a Class M planet), how they might run in fear from an encounter because they aren't prepared for what is out there.

I know a lot of fans hated seeing similar plots from the other shows, but what they seem to completely miss was that they were there to show you the difference between Enterprise and something like TOS or TNG.

 

Gave this a bit more thought, in terms of episodes to show somebody from cold.

Spent hours on it, reasoning and all that. Paragraphs on each and everyone. Just lost everything, ending with the dreaded vBulletin message. Pretty much the only time I've ever forgotten to copy everything to the clipboard, just in case. I wish I could remember what I put. Ah-well. Serves me right for being a bit eager to press 'Submit Reply'. Everything's been said before I would imagine.

1. Broken Bow
2. Cease Fire
3. North Star
4. Similitude
5/6/7. The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara
8. Observer Effect
9/10/11. Babel One/United/The Aenar
12/13. Demons/Terra Prime

 

1) Similitude
2) Azati Prime
3) Dead Stop
4) Cogenitor
5) The Andorian Incident
6) Broken Bow
7) Twilight
8) Home
9) The Observer Effect
10) Bound
11) E2
12) The Forgotten
13) Terra Prime

Honorable Mention: Damage, Shockwave I and II, Regeneration, The Xindi, The Expanse, The Vulcan Arc

 

Broken Bow
The Andorian Incident
Shadows of P'Jem
Vox Sola
Fallen Hero
Shockwave
Cease Fire
Future Tense
First Flight
Augment Arc
Vulcan Arc
United Arc
Demons/Terra Prime

 

1 Broken Bow
2 Andorian Incident
3 Regeneration
4 Borderland
5 Vulcan arc (The Forge, The Awakening, Kir'Shara)
6 Romulan Arc (Babel One, United, Aenar)
7 Klingon Arc (Afflication, Divergence)
8 In a Mirror Darkly I-II
9 Demons, Terra Prima
10 Finale