Finished up my partial rewatch. I focused on episodes that I don't particularly care for. For most of them my opinion didn't change, but there were some that I found to be better than I had previously thought.here Here are the episodes that I've grown to like: Civilization - Good set design. Good score. Bakula had nice chemistry with the guest actress. T'Pol (who looked fantastic with long hair) had a couple of good moments. Carbon Creek - Ironically, this is the last episode I watched during the original run. There is just something a little "off" with the script or direction or both. The Vulcan uniforms are cool. JB looks good in the 50s clothes even when she's wearing them backwards. I don't care for the ending; I wish they had left us to wonder if T'Pol was just telling a tall tale. I wonder if she's reading Strangers From the Sky? The Breach - The A story is well acted, but is a little too predictable. The B story has some nice comedic moments. North Star - A fun episode that is hampered by being stuck in the middle of the Xindi arc. The second commentary track is very informative and is worth a listen.
It was dull. I had been watching Star Trek since TOS initial run as a baby, with TNG and DS9 taped on VHS from a friend's full size satellite dish. I stopped watching ENT half-way through S1. I and daughter FINally forced ourselves to watch the series through a couple years ago. Oof.
My take on each season... Season 1: Aweosme premiere, strong first season, mostly good episodes. Season 2: Drop in quality, a bixed bag of awesome and really lame. Season 3: My favorite season, the show at its very best. Season 4: Let's ignore all preexisting storylines and originality and just rip off the original show instead. Kinda how I felt about the final season.
My take is a little different Season 1: Great first episode, but loses a lot of momentum immediately afterward. I like many of the "getting to know the crew" episodes, but there were too many of them. I liked the sense of awe of being in space. I liked Archer being a bit naive at first, but they kept him that way too long. The TCW stuff is good. The Andorian stuff is great. I ended up liking about half of the season's episodes. Favorite episode: Fallen Hero. Least favorite: Dear Doctor. Season 2: The writers seem to have run out of ideas. There are several episodes that are umm. "inspired" by other stories. The first few episodes very strong though. I particularly liked Minefield & Dead Stop. After that it hits a wall with a lot of mediocre to terrible episodes. There's still some good stuff to be found though. Favorite episode: First Flight. Least favorite: tie between A Night in Sickbay and Cogenitor. Or maybe Precious Cargo. Or maybe Bounty. Or maybe... Season 3: A big improvement. the Xindi plot isa bit slipshod, but still interesting.The war gives the show some needed tension and drama. And we finally start to see some "high concept" stories like Similitude. There are still a few skipable episodes, but 2 or 3 truly terrible ones. One negative: Bakula doesn't play angry well. Favorite episode: Twilight. runner up: Azati Prime/Damage/The Forgotten. Least favorite: Extinction. Season 4 - My favorite. I think it's one of the most consistently good seasons in all of Trek. Daedelus and These are the Voyages are the only two bad eps. T'Pol finally stops having to suffer through decon scenes and massage sessions. Archer is written better. It's a prequel done right, imo. It connects to and expands upon what came before and does so imaginatively. I also like the multipart format because it allows time for action and character development. Favorite episode: Observer Effect. Least favorite: These Are the Voyages. Top ten episodes: Twilight Observer Effect First Flight Dead Stop Similitude Judgment Proving Ground The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara Babel One/United/The Aenar Azati Prime/Damage/The Forgotten Final random thoughts: - B&B should have bowed out after season 1. - The cast is very likeable - Jolene Blalok is a trooper for putting up with all the crap done to her character. - The makeup artists did an exceptional job. Their stuff looks better than the stuff done 15 years later. - For all the negatives, the show still featured a lot of very good episodes and deserved a few more seasons.
I don't watch Star Trek anywhere near as frequent as most people here. For me, it's just a TV show. Oh, I'm a fan, but no more than any other favorite show. Anyway, I wanted Season 4 to build on established mythology from previous seasons, especially since it was expected to be the final season. Instead, the writers bailed on established storylines to pursue connections to a show I hadn't watched in years.
Part of the problem, imo, is that many of the ongoing stories just weren't very good. The Xindi storyline was over (though I wouldn't have minded a follow-up at some point), the TCW had never had a definite endgame in mind, the "baby steps into space" stories had been done to death. What was left? T'Pol's disease? T'Pol's addiction? T'Pol's breakdown after killing that dude? Those are all very similar "T'Pol freaks out" plots. Travis' Boomer background? Could be interesting, but it would revolve around the series' weakest actor. I'm drawing a blank on any other ongoing plots. So, yeah, season 4 had a lot of stories that connected to the later series, but I don't think you would need to watch those episodes first to enjoy these. Those connections are just a fun bonus for longtime fans, imo.