I just finished watching the last episode of ENT (finally!) after watching it for the first time this past month or so.
I know a lot of people tend to dislike TATV, but I am not sure why? It was one of the only episodes in the series that made me tear up/cry. It kind of closed up everything nicely, had very moving scenes, and seemed pretty powerful to me. I also cried at the previous episode, that I think may have been more well-done, "Terra Prime". I am usually very critical of a series' last episode (I have ranted about Endgame on many occasions and about other shows endings that are non-Trek), but I have little criticism of TATV.
That said, I am a sucker for happy endings and prefer things that end the way I would have liked haha...so I disliked the fact that they killed off Trip and Elizabeth (T'Pol and Trip's baby).
I thought the last 4 episodes were extremely powerful and made me very moved. I feel very sad that they cancelled this show when they did because it really got better with time.
I see things all the time about wanting to bring ENT back for another season on Netflix (would be Season 5)...but to be honest, without Trip and also without the crew staying together, it wouldn't be nearly the same show. I am sure once the ENT producers were told it was not renewed for a 5th season, that is why they had to wrap everything up very quickly there at the end and sign the coalition of planets. If the show was going to last the standard 7 seasons, that would have occurred at the end of Season 7.
That said, I really loved Season 4. I thought it was very moving and powerful. But, the mushy side of me just wanted Trip and T'Pol to have a happy ending with their child, even if the child was conceived without their permission. It was obvious that they loved each other and would have taken great care of the baby. Even if the baby had died...the two still could have ended up together. Perhaps showing 6 years later that they had conceived a child of their own (since the doctor did say that by natural means, the child would have a good chance of surviving despite the mixing of DNA). I mean, they mentioned it DELIBERATELY at the end of "Terra Prime" with subtext obviously alluding to the fact that T'Pol and Trip could successfully have a child of their own...and then they didn't. What a let down that was. D:
At the beginning of the series, I wanted nothing more than for T'Pol and Archer to get together...it was obvious they cared for each other and had good chemistry...so it's funny to me that towards the end I wanted nothing more than for T'Pol to end up with Trip.
Some stuff that I believe they messed up with:
-Underdevelopment of Mayweather and Reed.
-Not explaining why Reed tends to be anti-social and doesn't get along well with his parents.
-Never resolving some arcs like the Suliban issue / temporal cold war.
-Why does Daniels "from the future" visit Archer?? I loved those scenes, but I don't think they ever really explained it fully??? It reminded me of Sisko and the prophet visits, but at least that had a concrete reasoning behind it. Maybe they DID explain it and I missed something? I might have to check on that.
-They re-used some plotlines/ideas from Voyager and DS9 that I just noticed while watching certain episodes.
-My personal preference of T'Pol and Trip not being together at the end. BOOOOOO. After all of that agonizing drama, they really should have been together. It made a lot of what they went through kind of meaningless.
Other than my above grievances...I have to say great show and I wish it had lasted longer. Also, I don't think it should be hated on as much as it is. IMO, it was a good watch and tied up loose ends that other series hadn't done.
OK, You, didn't ask but I'm going to tell you why I despise TATV:
Problem No. 1: The "framing device" is an 11-year-old episode of TNG, which means that pretty much everybody watching would already know how Riker makes his decision to tell the truth about the Pegasus device. And it bears NO RESEMBLANCE to what occurs in "This Ain't The Valentine."
Problem 2a: Bizarre characterization. Having seen "The Pegasus," I remember Riker being under a great deal of stress. In TATV, you'd think he didn't have a care in the world: smiling while having a relaxing drink with Troi in Ten Forward, inviting her to dinner... At one point Troi tells Riker she has a counseling appointment with Barclay and if she's late "Reg will be furious."
WTF?! More likely, Reg would be apologizing to her for being on time.
Problem 2b: Archer had faced danger on many occasions throughout the NX-01's travels (including a suicide mission in "Azati Prime") and yet Trip handled every one of those instances without going to pieces.
-- Also, Trip was a pretty gifted engineer and the best plan to save Archer that he could come up with was to blow himself up.
-- Also, Shran, who always seemed pretty savvy to me, couldn't tell the difference between business partners and criminals.
Problem 3: The drink, the dinner invitation and Troi going off to her appointment, along with their little tour of the NX-01 took precious time away from the regular cast and added absolutely NOTHING to this 43-minute finale. It was the very last episode of Enterprise and supposedly a farewell to all of Trek for a while (tho' the only references made to other Trek were tributes to TNG).
Problem No. 3a: According to "Bound," Trip and T'Pol were bonded mates. The excruciatingly touching scene at the end of Terra Prime is wiped out by a break-up that is mentioned but goes unexplained.
Problem No. 4: What kind of moron actually writes a SPOILER into a script?
Problem No. 5: An intruder alert is sounded and Archer and Trip dash off to confront the intruders without stopping by the armory.
Problem No. 6: Where the hell were Reed and the MACOs? Confined to their quarters?
Problem No. 7: No death scene. Did we really need one? Maybe not. But since...
Problem No. 8: ... There was no service for Trip, I think there should have been one. (Sim served Enterprise for two weeks and he got a funeral. In "A Night in Sickbay" Archer actually dreams about holding a funeral for
Porthos.)
Problem No. 9: T'Pol is alone in Trip's quarters packing up his things. Archer arrives. T'Pol gripes that Trip told her that as time passed she would miss her mother less. She wants to know why he said that. Archer, the speechmaker could come up with nothing but cliches. Besides, I doubt very much that Trip would have told T'Pol that. Does anyone who actually watched the show doubt that Trip still missed his sister?
Problem No. 10: At the signing ceremony, nobody... and I mean NOBODY among Trip's so-called friends lament his absence. Archer, T'Pol and Phlox are in the green room waiting for the ceremony to begin. Archer is fretting about his speech, T'Pol is fretting about Archer's inability to dress himself, Phlox is just as cheery and perky as ever ... Malcolm, Hoshi and Travis are in the audience either griping about their nosebleed seats or chatting about their career ambitions.
UGH.
