Enterprise Season 3 really was great.
- Thread starter HotRod
- Start date
Im actually up to season 3 in my Enterprise rewatch. Surprisingly I'm enjoying the show, even season 1-2, way more than I did during its initial run. Something about the show is incredibly...endearing. I still despise Archer, or moreso Scott Bakula's performance. Reed was fare more creepier than I remember. Season 3 has been terrific and my most recent episode, Twilight, is top tier Trek. Though, is it just me or has Mayweather been more non-existent than usual? In the first 8 episodes so far, I feel as though he's had less than 5 minutes on scene collectively. Trip, T'Pol and Phlox continue to be the standout characters.
Season 3 did what virtually all of Voyager refused to: see the crew actually work.
The continuity of ship damage, their uniforms getting worn down, not to mention how tired they all looked is exactly the level of detail that made this show eventually more beyond being just another Trek show.
The continuity of ship damage, their uniforms getting worn down, not to mention how tired they all looked is exactly the level of detail that made this show eventually more beyond being just another Trek show.
Enterprise season 3 is the only season of any Trek that I have watched more than once. I love it
I’m honestly kind of surprised that any long-running member in a community as “hardcore” as TrekBBS would refrain from watching nearly any Star Trek season!
Out of all the series I own which is TNG, Voyager, Disco, DS9, Enterprise season 3 is the only one I have watched at least 3 times compared to the rest of the stuff I own. I just think it's that good.
Season 4 may have been more technically polished writing and prequel-wise, but for me Season 3 was the one I had a soft spot for and enjoy re-watching the most.
Honestly, I think what made Season 3 so compelling wasn’t just the Xindi arc itself, but how it gave ENT a real sense of momentum and purpose. For the first time, the show felt like it had stakes — and not just for the crew, but for Earth itself. That ticking clock added tension even to the quieter episodes.
Sure, the premise of the Xindi “test attack” was a bit contrived, but once the arc got going, it leaned into character development in a way the earlier seasons hadn’t. Episodes like Similitude, Azati Prime, and The Forgotten weren’t just plot-heavy — they were emotionally resonant. You could feel the toll the mission was taking on Archer and the crew. Some characters of course suffered from that (Travis, as usual).
And Coto’s influence really did sharpen things. From Similitude onward, the writing felt tighter, the pacing more deliberate, and the moral complexity deeper. It was still Star Trek, but with a darker edge that suited the story. The Xindi themselves became richer as a culture, their internal dynamics, and the humanoid characters in particularly became a bit more layered. I do wish the Reptilian characters had been a bit less bwa ha ha, but still.
It was also the most beautiful season aesthetically - really polished production work, expensive, and actually it still holds up today which is a feat for TV back in the early noughties. They added a sense of colour, vibrancy with the aliens, the visual look of the show etc. It felt elevated as if the production was going all out.
Some of the character work was a bit questionable - and it does taint it for me knowing Blalock hated the Trellium storyline, but her performance as T'Pol was nuanced and really enjoyable to watch. It just reminded me what a an underrated pro she is, as despite clearly voicing her hatred of the story with a passion and how Trip/T'Pol was handled, she still threw her all into it, massages and all.
For me, Season 3 had a sense of momentum and freshness to it I just personally still find rewarding. It felt like they upped the stakes. The production was fantastic, it felt revitalised. There were a couple of clunkers, but for the most part they still drove the arc forward. They managed an arc overall successfully for a 23 episode season, which is hard to do.
If anything, S3 makes me wonder what that story replaced with the Romulan war under Coto could have looked like. I think it would have been absolutely fantastic.
Honestly, I think what made Season 3 so compelling wasn’t just the Xindi arc itself, but how it gave ENT a real sense of momentum and purpose. For the first time, the show felt like it had stakes — and not just for the crew, but for Earth itself. That ticking clock added tension even to the quieter episodes.
Sure, the premise of the Xindi “test attack” was a bit contrived, but once the arc got going, it leaned into character development in a way the earlier seasons hadn’t. Episodes like Similitude, Azati Prime, and The Forgotten weren’t just plot-heavy — they were emotionally resonant. You could feel the toll the mission was taking on Archer and the crew. Some characters of course suffered from that (Travis, as usual).
And Coto’s influence really did sharpen things. From Similitude onward, the writing felt tighter, the pacing more deliberate, and the moral complexity deeper. It was still Star Trek, but with a darker edge that suited the story. The Xindi themselves became richer as a culture, their internal dynamics, and the humanoid characters in particularly became a bit more layered. I do wish the Reptilian characters had been a bit less bwa ha ha, but still.
It was also the most beautiful season aesthetically - really polished production work, expensive, and actually it still holds up today which is a feat for TV back in the early noughties. They added a sense of colour, vibrancy with the aliens, the visual look of the show etc. It felt elevated as if the production was going all out.
Some of the character work was a bit questionable - and it does taint it for me knowing Blalock hated the Trellium storyline, but her performance as T'Pol was nuanced and really enjoyable to watch. It just reminded me what a an underrated pro she is, as despite clearly voicing her hatred of the story with a passion and how Trip/T'Pol was handled, she still threw her all into it, massages and all.
For me, Season 3 had a sense of momentum and freshness to it I just personally still find rewarding. It felt like they upped the stakes. The production was fantastic, it felt revitalised. There were a couple of clunkers, but for the most part they still drove the arc forward. They managed an arc overall successfully for a 23 episode season, which is hard to do.
If anything, S3 makes me wonder what that story replaced with the Romulan war under Coto could have looked like. I think it would have been absolutely fantastic.
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Thank you, @Mr J, for an outstanding point-by-point summation of why Season 3 is my favorite of the series. Well said!
I would add... Shran. Terrific love-hate interaction between him and Archer, and also the way Shran gleefully needles T'Pol.
Shran's "The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one!" is a line for the ages.
I would add... Shran. Terrific love-hate interaction between him and Archer, and also the way Shran gleefully needles T'Pol.
Shran's "The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one!" is a line for the ages.
Shran is so cool, very well played by Jeffery Combs
Yes, they followed through the potential of the Shran/Archer relationship and added a couple of extra layers of complexity that sharpened it. It really worked, and made his cameo in the finale feel earned, and that in turn set the stage really nicely for Season 4. It was a good example overall of how the season added some nuance and complexity to character arcs. There was just this little extra touch of dilemma, a few extra shades of grey - just that little bit more complexity as they were all challenged in their own ways by the story.
I do wish we'd had some earth ships in Zero Hour getting battered around to up the stakes of the climax a little more (e.g. the fleet was destroyed, all is lost - could have replaced the random little station getting blown up) but overall it was a super strong season IMO.
It always irked me that in Storm Front pt2 Enterprise was greeted by dozens of Starfleet ships - like where were you all a day or two ago?!?
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This is pretty much how I feel about Season 3. On and on and on. And then, when they finally save the world and make it home, the rug gets jerked out from under them (and us) and they have to fight alien Nazis in an altered timeline before finally, finally making it back.
