Anyone else think season 3 really killed it??

[arch101]

I stopped watching after season 2 because I thought the show was just BAD and I was really busy anyway. I saw year 3 years later and it totally changed my opinion of the show. Year 4 just capped it for me but I think year 3 is one of the best seasons of any of the Trek shows.
It should be noted that DS9 is my favorite Trek series so I might be biased towards the season-long story arc format.

 

[gblews]

At least to me it did.
S3 started with "Vampire Nazis From Outer Space" and ended with the predictable rescue of the world in the very last second. Add to that the utter crap they called "'Temporal Cold War" and you have the reason why it was already way too late when S4 finally showed what the show should have been.

I think someone has already pointed out that the "Vampire Space Nazis" you refer to did not start out season 3, but ended season 4. Let me also point out that the Temporal Cold War was hardly visible at all in season 3. As I recall, it popped up only in the form of a couple of appearances by Daniels before being mercifully and summarily put to rest in the first two episodes of season 4.

On topic; season 3 was the first season that had higher ratings for it's last episode than for the season's opening episode. If season 3 had not been as successful as it was, there might not have been a season 4. Also, season 3 had some of Ent's (and Star Trek's) very best and unique episodes.

 

[Brian25]

It's interesting to hear everyones thoughts on this. I notice someone who liked the season pointed out they're a Niners fan and baised towards long story arcs. I must admit I was always predomanantly a Nineres fan also and loved the dominion war story. THe thinkg with DS9 though was that the dominon was introduced in a very skillful, cumlative way. THye where introduced back in s2 and slwoly escalated as avillian throghoput s3 & 4 quite subtly, like trying to provoke fed v. kling war in s4. It's sort of similar to 1930 europe with the rise of Nazism and how the Nazis started slowly by anexing the Rhineland and then Austria, aiding Franco in Spain; then Czech and the war broke out over Poland. I guess my point is by the time war began it was towards the end of seaosn 5 and the dominon had been on the seen for a couple of years and we knew them. In Ent it's like hereare the xindi, we have never ehard of them, they'll blow up earth, lets spend a season stopping them, and yes, as someone else pointed out, it's a prequel so the earth can't be in any danger because the shows viewership is form the 24th cent trek...

 

[xortex]

The two and three part arcs that cannabilized TOS was wearying as if trying to blunt the audience into submission. A terrible idea for one episode is a terrible idea for three or a whole season if not developed correctly. BB is a thinker and breaker of new ground, he is not a mare ( a developer) of those thoughts hence the wrong directions of things.

 

[TheGodBen]

I think back to the first episode of s5 of voy, I forget the name, but basicallythey get stuck in this part of space where there are no stars, just a few other shps trapped there and some nocturnal people who make clicking noises. Now imagine if this opening episode had been dragged out for teh entire season, crusing through this void and trying to save the clicking aliens or some shit.

I actually suggested this once. Not a full season, but a multi-episode arc of being in this unusually empty area of space where absolutely nothing was happening every week so that the crew were forced to focus on internal problems rather than forced external threats. I still think it would have worked with the right writers.

I loved season 3 of Enterprise, or at least liked it very much (and yes, I'm a Niner). The plot about the Xindi weapon wasn't that great and everyone knew that Earth wasn't going to be destroyed, but I really admired the risks they took with the characters that season. The Xindi arc was really just a shell to base some very solid character and morality stories in, such as Archer resorting to piracy, or Trip struggling to get over the death of his sister. The season was distracted far too many times with superfluous stories about the usual aliens of the week, but overall it was solid and probably my favourite season of Trek post-DS9.

As I said in the DS9 forum when asked if the Dominion War ultimately hurt the franchise, I don't care because I found it enjoyable. I'd rather one season of really strong Trek than seven seasons of the crap that Enterprise was churning out in season 2.

 

[Bertie]

Season 3 is fine. More than fine, really — the last half of it or at least third of it is one of the best runs of episodes that Trek had.

Things I like about Season 3:

• It basically paid off its premise fully, without leaving loose ends, contradictions, and unfinished mini-plots all over the place. (Sure, they should have tossed in a throwaway line about a certain ship without a warp-coil needing a rescue or something, but that's almost nitpicking).
• While it was certainly was Trek's response to the 9/11+Bush era, it didn't fall into the trap of being totally consumed by contemporary allegory. (Whether there might have been any other space sci-fi shows running that did fall into this trap is probably a topic for, uh, a different forum on these boards).
• It was some of the most legitimate science fiction to be seen in recent Trek — there's some real sci-fi world building being attempted there with the Xindi and the five species and their back stories plus the spheres and the Sphere Builders. Unfortunately, this stuff aired at a time in which interest in core science fiction stuff like this was at an all time low and desire for "realism" and "grittiness" was at an all-time high, so it never got any respect.

The problem with Season 3, for me anyway, was that it is basically disconnected not only from the rest of Trek but even from the rest of Enterprise. It is just kind of like a one year long miniseries, just sort of "out there".

 

[Mach5]

The problem with Season 3, for me anyway, was that it is basically disconnected not only from the rest of Trek but even from the rest of Enterprise. It is just kind of like a one year long miniseries, just sort of "out there".

Personally, I see nothing wrong with that.

 

[Rackon]

Not a niner, FWIW.

Season 3 redeemed Enterprise for me. I liked a few eps in S1 & S2, but thought the show really found its identity and strengths in the third year....which led into a strong S4...except for the final ep. (The less said about that the better.)

During season 3 - mostly seen in reruns BTW - I found myself looking forward to each new episode, something I hadn't done in yYEARS, not really since TNG/Unification. The long form really worked for me in this season and maintained my interest.

No version of trek has had a 100% every episode is great season. IMO Enterprise had one of the best runs in ST history in S3.

 

[Infern0]

Season 3, that was the xindi season correct?

I actually thought that was the best season in many ways. I think that what they needed to do was something, anything to spark ratings. I always say, as cheap as it would have been to do a TNG crossover, a real one, with a lot of tng cast members it would have had a chance at bringing in all the tng fans, but they didnt even try.

What annoyed me was towards the end, it was like when a boxer comes out in the last round, way down on points, knowing he needs a ko and he doesnt even TRY.

thats what season 4 felt like to me.

 

[Infern0]

By the way i'm not saying I didnt like season 4, just that it didn't do anything to bring in audiences which was the problem

 

[commodore64]

Season 3 was my favorite season.

 

[xortex]

Shran in an Enterprise uniform makes me sick. That should say it all. What Trek needed was universe building not world building - a multiverse. They needed a bigger brain for that. That's juggling many metaphysical concepts at once like an ant farm. All they had to do was develop the beginnings of the federation, the dissing of Klingons. Future guy could have been a Romulan Klingon who hated his own heratage. All they had were tiny clever little brains who loved their own stuff in bed together. Instead of trying to exploit the universe for credit and glory and money, they should have tryed to see the bigger picture of their stories ramifications for the franchise as a continuing whole but greed and altruism don't go together. Bleeding a rock and greed go together. and exclusivity and power. and hardening of the arteries.

 

[xortex]

Berman made it impossible for anybody to take risks even Brannon. He kept it all at a low even flame and boy did he count those beans.

 

[Deckerd]

Season 3 is the only one I bought, since it's the one time the producers invested in a proper story arc and didn't treat the show like a soap opera.

The end of the arc stinker though. I'll never forgive them for that.

 

[TheOriginalGuru]

I can see some of the resentments towards season 3. Let's look at the premise. The Xindi attack on Earth, was basically a way to look at the terrorist attacks on 9/11, and how vunerable and disassociated Earth was after the attack - the same feeling we all had after the attacks in New York that day. In essence, that is what Star Trek was about - looking at modern issues through the medium of a science fiction television show. Really, it was at the very heart of what the idea of what Star Trek was about!

The problem was people had begun turning away from Star Trek at this point. Voyager was ending, and the steam had already run out of that train...of course, people were giving up. Enterprise, which did have a great premise, like its counterparts, also got off to a sluggish, hit-and-miss start, but unlike the other series, the fans weren't ready to give it a shot like before, and ultimately failed because of low ratings. Something was needed to give the show the shot in the arm is needed, and because of 9/11, there was a storyline that people could relate to. Something real. Something tangible. Something that the audience could connect with.

How well was the subject handled? In my opinion, very well. I think there was a lot of forethought put into season three. We all knew what needed to happen - it was established in the end of season two. We all know how it ends, with Earth surviving. all that was left was to connect the two dots, and fill in the blanks. And, I think they did a pretty good job with the blank-filling. Okay, there were a few bumps in the road for me, such as "North Star" and "Hatchery" - and let's be honest, "Doctors Orders" was a spin off of Voyager's episode "One", although, I thought it was better written, and better acted than that Voyager episode.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

There are plenty of stories in which you know how it's going to end. The story's effectiveness depends on how you get there-- the journey. Season 3 was a great journey for me. It's my favorite season too.

Including "North Star."

 

[crouteru]

As a story arc and well-written dramatic sci-fi, season three was very good, and rekindled my interest in the series. As a part of the greater trek franchise, it was like a side story that didn't really have anything to do with the rest of the trek universe. Season four set the series back on track.

I don't really understand how anyone could prefer the first two seasons. They had their moments, but felt more like Voyager's eighth and ninth seasons.

 

[xortex]

9/11 gave them an excuse to stop the open submission policy hence more money for them , more crap for us. Two and three part crap.

 

[Drogo]

Season Three wasn't that bad. But those Space Nazis episodes were the real knife in the back for the show. Even season four could not over come that...

 

[KingstonTrekker]

Personally, I think that Season 2 killed the series. Season 2 began quite strong, then had a long series of mediocre episodes, before finishing with a strong season finale. Too many fans left the series and did not come back for the excellent Season 3 and even better Season 4. (I realize that fans left the series during Season 1 as well but this happened with each post-TNG series.)

At the Vegas Con, Braga said something like "Enterprise should have been like Season 4 from the start." I couldn't agree more!