How would you re-imagine and reboot Enterprise?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Enterprise' started by Jedi Marso, May 3, 2022.

  1. Paul755

    Paul755 Commodore Commodore

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    Honestly, the only major overhaul I would make from what we did get is to start the series off with the same storytelling structure we got in S4. A 2-3 episode story arc followed up by 1 or 2 bottle episodes.
     
  2. Dee1891

    Dee1891 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I don't care. I don't want one for this series or any other Trek series.
     
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  3. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Ok.

    Well, someone cares, some where.
     
  4. Ray Hardgrit

    Ray Hardgrit Commodore Commodore

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    I think Enterprise is kind of unique when it comes to Star Trek series, as it's the only one about properly historic events: the mission of Earth's first explorer ship, the creation of the Federation etc. Star Trek's an infinite story engine like Doctor Who, it never needs rebooting, but you can only tell the origin story once.

    That said I'd only ever be interested in a reboot of Enterprise under one condition: it's Commander Jack Ransom's holodeck program on the Cerritos that he goes to whenever he needs to make a tough decision.
     
  5. FederationHistorian

    FederationHistorian Commodore Commodore

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    If its live action.

    TAS set the precedence of animation being decanonized if TPTB wills it unless the episode was really exceptional i.e “Yesteryear”.

    An animation covering everything from the run up to the Romulan War to the USS Kelvin – or the reign of Empress Sato to Emperor Georgiou if you fancy mirror universe stuff - would likely produce some great episodes that would be worthy of being converted to live action, and thus permanently canon.

    Its definitely a direction to go in, although it should be the era in general and not just the NX-01.
     
  6. dupersuper

    dupersuper Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Or of a creator saying it is...which he also said about some of the movies...
     
  7. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Or they could do something kinda like the Prodigy episode "Kobyashi". In animation, they can visit the NX01 on the holodeck any time. In live action, it'd have to be Picard or Michael Burnham visiting Pike's Enterprise, which has potential even if it's never been properly realised.
     
  8. FederationHistorian

    FederationHistorian Commodore Commodore

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    Or Picard and Burnham visit Archer’s home in upstate New York.

    Or visit T’Pol on Vulcan.

    Or Hoshi in Brazil.

    Or the rest of the NX-01 crew at Starfleet HQ, or 22nd century Boston, or 22nd century Mars or 22nd century Jupiter Station. Or one of the many planets the NX-01 crew visited, but set decades later in the 2170s/2180s. Chabon even acknowledged that Freecloud was settled in 2180; it's not impossible to imagine a member of the NX-01 crew visiting it in its early stages of development.

    There is no rule that says that anyone from the live action shows have to visit the NX-01 crew on the NX-01 in live action. Or any NX crew on an NX class vessel for that matter. Visiting the crew on the condition that its the NX-01 only is something made up by someone that doesn't want to revisit the crew at all.
     
  9. Golbolco

    Golbolco Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    Hi all,


    I created an account specifically to discuss this idea! I recently finished my first viewing of Enterprise, and while I loved it, I admit that I am a relative newcomer to Trek and so I don't share some of the same frustrations that longtime viewers have/had. Some of my ideas to rewrite the series are similar to many of yours, but I have some key differences.


    My working title might be Star Trek: The First Voyages, although it contains "voyages" and of course it's running up close to Voyager's airing, so maybe that's repetitive.


    Premise


    My first problem is simple: I don't really think that the starship needs to be called the Enterprise. TAS gives us the Bonaventure as a candidate for the first warp-capable starship, and while it looks far too much like a Constitution-class for my tastes, I like the name. There's no reason that the ship can't later be rechristened the Enterprise either, right?


    Now let's talk about technology and design: I agree with folks that in the 22nd century, Humanity shouldn't be equipped with holodecks, phasers, shields, photon torpedoes, and transporters. When other races have this technology (and that shouldn't be often), it should be novel and unusable for future Federation members. I think that this should influence the design of the starship itself: without a transporter, or transporter tech still its in infancy, she needs a bigger complement of shuttlecraft and because of that a bigger and visible hanger. The nacelles could rotate or fold in closer to the body to give it a more unique profile as well. I think the saucer portion of the starship could be more angled, similar to FASA's early warp crafts. The starship overall needs to occupy a design between First Contact's Phoenix and TOS's NCC-1701. I might even recommend a paintjob or hull resembling the off-white and grey finish of real-life NASA vehicles to establish the lineage. Also, this is probably the one show where a bridge window makes sense. As much as I like the original vessel's design and its proposed season 5 refit, I think both designs should gradually come later.


    Being that this is the 22nd century and occupies the position of being a historic prequel for the franchise, out of the gate this show should be about the creation of the Federation. There's a unique opportunity to explore the cultures that will come to compose the Federation, since Federation space really had't been that explored. Also, Humanity has had deep space-capable vehicles since at least the 1990s and warp-capable vehicles since 2063; the explored radius around Earth could probably be very wide, but still unexplored and most active colonies should only be within 25ly or so. A lot of the rubber forehead aliens in the first couple seasons become superfluous when Enterprise can be re-discovering early Human attempts at leaving Earth and establishing administration under United Earth. Over the course of the series, the principal starship's mission is to explore "new" worlds, but its mission gradually becomes a diplomatic one, establishing the coalitions, unions, and peace treaties that will one day make up the Federation.


    One more thing: being that this is a prequel going back 100 years, this show should establish itself as the third main era of the Star Trek setting. It is not merely here to set up TOS, and it is not here to recycle TNG scripts. While it will look closest to TOS in terms of setting, races, and worlds, there should also be some conventions and races that don't persist into the later eras.


    Structure


    This show deserved seven seasons and some movies. The structure of the show should largely resemble the fourth season: episodes like The Andorian Incident and Shadow of P'Jem should be concentrated into loose arcs. The Delphic Expanse expedition taking up a season is cool, and it might be worth dedicating another season towards the end to another big expedition.


    I would probably keep around 80% of episodes or their basic plots, discarding era-inappropriate episodes like Acquisition or time travel episodes like Storm Front.


    As I said, the main focus of the show would be the establishment of the Federation. There would be no Temporal Cold War or time travel episodes at all.


    Setting


    I like the rough limit of 150ly for the radius of the principal starship's exploration. That's plenty of space around Earth to explore. All of the classic TOS races should have overlapping radii within that space, with artificial limits like the Romulan minefields and the Delphic Expanse preventing complete exploration or races further away from arriving.


    I have no issue with Klingon first contact in this show, it doesn't break continuity per my interpretation of TOS. In fact, I would encourage further hostile and standoffish encounters throughout the plot, along with mixed or failed attempts to recruit them as allies from time to time. I have a peculiar vision that the early Federation-to-be space should be entangled with Klingon colonies in lieu of "space borders," and that at this time in their history the Klingon are semi-isolationist. Archer and co.'s attempts to breach that are what will eventually lead to the fateful Battle of Axanar and the Four Years War.


    The Vulcans as early antagonists makes sense to me; these Humans are still recovering from the Post-Atomic Horror, and their impatience with their new allies is justified. I think that it should have been established earlier that something was "wrong" with the Vulcan High Command, and that some Vulcans like T'Pol were keenly aware but afraid to say things out loud. The infiltration of the High Command by Romulans might have started as early as Henry Archer's research into Warp 5. If ENT had explained itself earlier, I think many of its early sins could be easier forgiven.


    There needs to be original races that become iconic for the era, even if they don't play a role in later material. Suliban are great, not sure why so many people here seem to want them off of the show; is it their connect to the Temporal Cold War? I enjoy what RPG and wargame material I've picked up, so the Year 1 setting from Star Fleet Universe intrigues me. Paravians as a network of loosely-aligned planets could be a major race; weren't the sixth Xindi race avians? Carnivons reimagined as more bestial could serve as the basis for plots involving Porthos.


    There ought not to be any of the known major races from the Alpha Quadrant such as Cardassians and Ferengi. I do like the fan theory that Denobulans are Cardassians or a lost colony's descendants, but the Delphic Expanse should prevent deeper penetration in that direction. Orions easily substitute the Ferengi as a shady mercantile race, while Tholians as being incompatible with the same environments as most races is interesting. No Borg.


    Characters


    I like all of the main cast in Enterprise. I don't want to do away with any of them. I'll simply outline each main character's arc:


    Jonathan Archer is fine as-is. He is a statesman, in fact to some extent he is the ideal Federation man. His PTSD from the Delphic Expanse adventure should be expanded upon, and he should get deeper into Vulcan philosophy after his experience with Surak. His romance with Hernandez can also be expanded upon. Archer should start out far more flawed than Kirk or Picard, and he should pay for the risks and unethical decisions he makes.


    Trip Tucker is one of if not my favorite character on ENT and he should remain the same. I like his role as representing Humanity’s values to other aliens, and the friction that causes. He should support the Federation’s founding because he supports his friend Archer. I think it goes without saying that These Are the Voyages doesn’t happen on this show; if Trip dies, it’s not like this.


    T’Pol is a great character as well. I don’t think it’s necessary to give her a Romulan father; by my estimation, the differences between Vulcans and Romulans are cultural rather than genetic and her struggles with emotions don’t need to be explained with some parentage reveal. In a world where ENT doesn’t get the cancellation it got, her daughter with Trip should survive and their relationship, while always rocky, will persist throughout the latter half of the series. (As a side note, I think their child’s name should be T’lizabeth, signifying both sides of her ancestry.)


    Phlox deserved to have the loose ends with his family and homeworld wrapped up. I don’t think that Denobulans need to go extinct or anything, the Federation is a big place; I just think that some closure for a great character was very deserved. The idea that the complex kinship of his species is unsustainable and causes inbreeding can tie back into the series’ genetic engineering arcs. His estranged son should have appeared in an arc as well.


    Hoshi Sato deserved a bigger presence on the show. As a polyglot living before universal translators were perfected, she should have been a computational linguist and omnipresent at almost every first contact. When she isn’t present should be critical and noted by the protagonists. Also, her relationship with T’Pol should have been more positive, since she would likely use the Vulcan databases for reference.


    Malcolm Reed didn’t need to be a member of Section 31, but I like the idea that he represents the military tradition of Humanity. The MACOs (not a fan of the acronym) should have always been present on the starship for precautionary measures, and should have been another point of tension for the Vulcans; Reed would therefore mediate between the senior officers and the military element.


    Travis Mayweather needs a facelift as well. Having been born and raised in Space, Mayweather should have been an active participant in second contact events and diplomacy with human colonies. He knows the lay of the land in a way that nobody else does; he’s streetwise, if there were streets out there. He should also represent the mercantile tradition of Humanity, having grown up on a cargo freighter.


    Shran becoming a member of the Enterprise is a cool idea, especially as the Romulan War heats up as the series progresses. He deserves a bigger role overall, because I’d like to focus more on the Andorian-Vulcan Troubles in the early seasons. I’m not sure what rank he would take while aboard Archer’s starship; Ambassador, maybe?


    Plot


    This series is the third major era of Star Trek following TOS, TAS and its films, and TNG-DS9-VOY and its films. I think ENT is worthy of seven seasons, a couple movies, and maybe even its own spin-off equivalents to DS9 and VOY.


    Season 1 of ENT should have two major arcs, which are subtly intertwined: first is the instability being caused by the Suliban Cabal. I want to take the ideas presented in ENT: Detained and expand them: the Suliban’s homeworld was destroyed causing a diaspora across local space. Some were accepted, other persecuted. A few decades ago, a Suliban terrorist cell became disenchanted with their species’ chance of survival in their present state, so they made a deal with the devil and agreed to the genetic augmentation of their offspring. Enter Arik “Soong” Singh (Brent Spiner), replacing Future Guy as the Suliban benefactor. ENT was in a unique position in being decently close to play with the three major events in Human “prehistory:” the Eugenics Wars, World War III and Colonel Green, and Zephram Cochrane inventing warp drive. Brent Spiner’s character also provides a decent explanation for an oft-asked question: why is it that genetic engineering is banned within Federation space when only Earth abused it? The answer is that augmentation didn’t really stop, it just got pushed to the frontier where it caused further destabilization. Silik is a Suliban Khan: he is highly intelligent and physically superior to most of his species, but amounts mostly to a petty despot. Non-augmented Suliban should play a larger role in the fight against the Cabal as well. The second major arc is the Andorian-Vulcan Troubles. I think that the show handles this well already, but needs more nuance in showing that the Andorians are as flawed as the Vulcans and there needs to be dialog on the decline of the Vulcan High Command in recent decades. In general, the myth arcs need to be touched on sooner. Cut to the chase.


    Season 2 is ENT’s weakest, in my opinion. There needed to be more focus on the show’s mythology as we build up to the Xindi attack. Shockwave should end with Brent Spiner’s character being captured and sent to prison on Earth. One additional arc in this season will be Archer’s own stint in Klingon court and prison; this should serve as one of the main sources of Human-Klingon friction, but it deserves bigger emphasis than what the show actually gave us. It should be shown to immediately affect existing Humans on the frontier attempting to interact and deal with Klingons. The episode Marauders could have served as the opener to this arc rather than being a Seven Samurai homage. We get enough of those in Star Wars!


    Season 3 is great as-is, but with no Temporal Cold War, there deserves to be some tweaking. Carpenter Street is immediately taken off the docket, though I like Twilight as it’s not a traditional time travel story. E2 might also be taken off, though I like the original proposal that it is the NX-02 having fallen into a time corridor and become a generational ship. In general, the Xindi don’t have a strong unifying design whether in starship and technology or in their five variants, but I’m out of ideas on that one. The Sphere-Builders should still exist as a threat, perceiving Earth and Humanity as a definitive roadblock in expanding the Delphic Expanse. Destroying the spheres will set up exploration of the Alpha Quadrant later on.


    Season 4 is where everything starts coming together. No Storm Front, the season opens with Home and progresses to the Augment arc immediately. In the Augment arc, Soong/Singh should be revealed to be part of the Romulan conspiracy to destabilize Vulcan space. The Cabal persists into this season since Silik doesn’t die in Storm Front. The Vulcan revolution, Andorian-Tellarite talks, and Terra Prime remain mostly the same and tie into the greater Romulan War arc beginning shortly. The biggest change is that the Klingon forehead episodes are unnecessary; if Paravians from SFU are in play, then the origin of the Gorn could be shown in place of that (in such a way that doesn’t achieve first contact prior to TOS: Arena).


    Season 5 launches straight into the Earth-Romulan War. Valdore and Vrax should become regular villains, while Shran joins the crew of the NX-01. The NX-01 isn’t a warship, though; its primary mission is that of diplomacy with Human colonies in the Beta Quadrant near to the Romulan minefields, along with discovering clues about who the Romulans are (ultimately unsuccessful, of course.) Those ancient Vulcan-Romulan ruins scattered throughout Federation space deserve deeper exploration, which might tie into Archer’s character arc starting with his Surak experience. With no Storm Front, Silik’s death is moved to this season in a similar fashion where he sacrifices himself to save Archer; it might also be a good move to resolve the Cabal arc by sending the surviving Suliban colonies through a wormhole to the Delta Quadrant before the Romulans can wipe them out.


    Seasons 6 and 7 continue on the same lines as Season 5. Arcs would include the Klingons willingly segregating themselves from the Earth-Romulan War; the establishment of Starbases and Starfleet chapters on worlds in the Coalition of Planets; the Denobulans fully explored and given closure. Porthos transcending his limitations as a canine is an entertaining idea to me. Although Humans and Romulans ought to never meet, Remans used as ground forces is still on the table: when Humans figure out that they’re biologically Vulcanoid, the protagonists should surmise that they probably descend from Vulcan slaves. In a way, they’re right. I have plenty more ideas for these latter seasons, but I’m coming up on 3000 words.


    There would be no These Are the Voyages. The series finale might still jump ahead, but ENT deserves a true finale that bridges it to the rest of the franchise. I like to think that in a world where ENT got its footing faster, there would be no Kelvinverse films. ENT instead serves as a launch point for a new movie series, beginning with the end of the Romulan War and the founding of the Federation. Again, plenty of ideas, but this post is getting too long!


    I think that Archer also deserved a Sisko to his Picard; that is, a spin-off in the same era (more or less) which represented an ideological foil. There’s some ideas kicking around for that, along with a Voyager successor in this era too.


    As you can probably tell, I love ENT, and I think it deserved another chance. I’ve put a lot of thought into what that chance looks like. I think there’s plenty of fertile ground in the prequel era for storytelling that doesn’t retread the 24th century nor step on the toes of the 23rd. It’s a big galaxy, how could there not be more stories to tell?


    One more thing: I’ll permit only one time travel story, a direct prequel to TNG: A Matter of Time where Archer and the crew chases Berlinghoff Rasmussen into a time portal!
     
  10. Jedi Marso

    Jedi Marso Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Nice! And welcome!
     
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  11. FederationHistorian

    FederationHistorian Commodore Commodore

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    Love the Suliban Cabal arc here! It's brilliant.
     
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  12. Golbolco

    Golbolco Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    Thanks! Upon reaching the fourth season in my viewing, I metaphorically smacked my forehead. We start the series with genetically engineered villains, then come up towards the end on a brilliant scientist and legacy actor involved with genetic engineering, and never the two shall meet? I always take issue with duplicate story elements that never get combined.

    To go into some more detail: the first season already lays the groundwork for what I envision. ENT: Detained gives all the relevant background: the Suliban homeworld was destroyed in the 19th century, causing a diaspora. As it happens on Earth, diasporic communities are often met with hostilities by the communities they integrate with. Some turn to nomadism, others to crime ranging from petty to organized.

    From here I will diverge from canon: the Suliban are unique in how unremarkable they are. They are somewhat fragile despite adaptation for M-class worlds, and with a reduced and dispersed population, disease is a stronger threat for them than other races. They simply cannot physically compete with super strong races such as Vulcans and Klingons, nor do they have the mental abilities of Andorians or Orions. Independent colonies are few and far in-between because their ships don't have the best warp drives, and what successful colonies do exist eventually end up exploited by races with more weight to throw around.

    Enter the Suliban Cabal: just one of many Suliban mafias, a plot is hatched (or floated by Romulan agents) a few decades prior to the show to secure the future of the Suliban through genetic augmentation--an outlawed science on some worlds, but practiced on others with varying purpose and availability. The Cabal learns of a young scientist working among the Orions named Arik Singh, a Human whose pedigree once created the last great military leader of the 20th century back on his homeworld. While Singh regrettably is unaltered due to Earth laws, he is emphatic that it is the future for his species. The Cabal's leadership contracts Singh to begin modifying their offspring into Suliban supermen.

    Years later, Silik is the heir of the Suliban Cabal. His scheme is to disrupt planetary governments with Suliban populations and cause them to crack down on the local Suliban, which in turn drives Suliban to extremism and they sign up for the Cabal. No need for any complicated Future Guy handing down mysterious orders building towards an unknown endgame, Silik merely seeks to cobble together a Suliban Empire from his scattered people. He is an intellectual rival to Archer, and maybe a mirror for what Humans could have turned out like after World War III if they had never met the Vulcans and merely fled their world on warp ships.

    I think this even opens doors for Silik to be an ally against the Xindi. Since the Xindi seek to destroy Earth, Silik could sympathize with Humans since his own people lost their world. This in turn gives Silik an expanded role in Season 3 and ties the Xindi plot back into the initial conflict.

    The resolution to the Suliban plot will therefore hook back into the abandoned Voyager idea for Suliban in the Delta Quadrant. A number of Suliban communities are seeking a new homeworld when they find an unstable wormhole leading to a Class M planet in the Delta Quadrant; the Cabal at first opposes this effort because it disrupts the plan for the Augments to rule the existing Suliban communities, but then the Romulans begin preying on the Suliban en route to the wormhole. In an effort to save his own people, Silik puts aside his differences with the NX-01 and sacrifices himself so Archer and their people can make it to safety.

    So there you go: I'd say that all of this puts a nice bow on the Cabal in a reimagined Enterprise. :biggrin:
     
  13. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Only one thing springs to mind: No transporters.

    (Not that the showrunners ever wanted transporters in the first place; the network bean-counters forced them to add it.)

    Apart from that, I consider ENT just fine as it is. :shrug:
     
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  14. Dukhat

    Dukhat Admiral Admiral

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    Honestly, if it were up to me, I wouldn't have made ENT at all. Or, at least, I wouldn't have made a show about the formation of the Federation. Why? Because I think most Star Trek fans have a preconceived notion of how the Federation formed, and any show attempting to depict it will never live up to anyone's expectations. And to add insult to injury, ENT had many things going against it at the time:

    1. It was being produced and written by the same people who had worked on Voyager. Hence, the show had more in common with another show that took place 200 years after it than the show it was meant to be a prequel to.

    2. UPN meddled with the show nonstop, hindering any kind of creativity or drive to make the show unique. It was basically Voyager Jr., which was also a show that suffered from UPN's influence.

    3. Nobody really knew what the show was supposed to be about. You had your crew of generic people (All-American captain, Southerner McCoy-clone engineer, token British guy, token Asian, token black guy, token weird alien crew member, and token Vulcan-with-pole-stuck-up-ass) flying through space on an ill-defined mission of 'exploration' with little sense of a bigger picture or story arc, other than...

    4. On the subject of 'story arc,' the Temporal Cold War (something mandated by UPN and which the showrunners really had no interest in doing) was a pointless waste of time and detracted from any originality for the 22nd century setting.

    5. TPTB then decided the show was going to be a 9-11 allegory with the Xindi, although that storyline really had nothing to do with the formation of the Federation.


    Instead, the show I would have created, had I been asked to do a 'prequel' to TOS, would have been a show that took place after the formation of the Federation but still far from TOS. I would have based it primarily around the Orions and their pirate raids on shipping lanes, and how the new Federation deals with them and their criminal organization & the slave trade. It would be more of a police procedural show than a retread of TNG and VOY. The technology would be more primitive...no transporters, no energy weapons. Just rifles, pistols and nukes. And there wouldn't be a specific hero ship, just small vessels that can land on planets. The show would be more about the characters rather than the ship or the technology; humans and aliens working together to make a better galaxy.
     
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  15. Gary Bitchell

    Gary Bitchell Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    1. I'd get rid of archer. He has no real personality that is consistent. He's the weakest link of Captains. His personal vendetta just makes him petty. Him carrying Surak's katra is silly.

    I'd make Trip captain. I'd get rid of T'Pol's entire Trellium-D nonsense.

    Give Travis a personality. maybe he and the actual people with space experience hate the the idea of Starfleet.

    Get Terra Prime involved form the beginning. They, not the Temporal Cold War, should be the big bad.

    Do have the Klingons. Do let first contact be disasterous. Do let it be Starfleet's fault.
     
  16. Ferengi Prime 5

    Ferengi Prime 5 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Just blow up the Acher Enterprise... We can use another starship name and class of starship... and a whole new crew... It can be set before the Federation is formed or after it being formed... I think a crew with an Andorian or two would be good.

    What we do not need the Temporal Cold War but keep the Suliban as an adversary. We do not need the Romulans showing up either. We do not need the Mirror universe or Section 31. It is all lazy writing and lazy creativity...

    The Suliban can get their arguments from another spacefaring race...The Orions were good keep them around as pirates and raiders...Play down the Vulcans... Keep the Klingons have them be our bitter rivals and stop the buddying up with them...

    I think a rule of thumb should be if the race or trope was not in the Original Star Trek and can after in the later series. They should not be used... It space let the imagination run free give us wonder...
     
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  17. Dukhat

    Dukhat Admiral Admiral

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    Ending a show about a crew on a ship, and then starting up a new show...about a crew on a ship, was their first mistake. Neither show's premise made a bit of difference. Stuck on the other side of the galaxy? The formation of the Federation? The end result was the same: A crew on a ship flying around aimlessly. The viewing audience didn't need more of the same. If that was what they were shooting for, then there was no need to end VOY. They could have just kept on going for four more years until the audience got bored and stopped watching, just like what happened to ENT.

    The best thing was to just drop the format entirely. I know Berman wanted the first season to be on Earth, but that wouldn't have worked either if the ultimate goal was to just have yet another crew on another ship by the start of season 2. They even dropped the 'Star Trek' moniker at the beginning because they wanted to disassociate their new show from other Trek series (but then proceeded to go about it completely the wrong way.)
     
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  18. Golbolco

    Golbolco Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    I'll advocate for Arthur as being the most consistently ethically questionable of the captains. The standout moments like in "Dear Doctor" where he makes the call on assisting the Valakians or "Damage" where he commits an act of piracy cement for me that Archer is not a good person in the same way that Kirk and Picard are. He's not the Roddenberry evolved-human that gets talked about, but he is the person willing to make bad moves so that a better humanity might someday flourish. I think it's highly appropriate that he might have a mixed legacy and be responsible for disastrous first contacts just as often as he is responsible for breaking bread with alien races.

    If the series could be retooled, then I think focusing on Archer's flaws and his role as antagonist would be interesting. I would like to see his PTSD from the Xindi crisis be explored deeper, and I would like callbacks to earlier seasons where bad calls he made come back to bite him. I like him carrying Surak's katra because it begins to open up Archer's own healing. I can easily picture an episode where a remorseful Archer returns to the decaying Delphic Expanse to rescue that crew he stole the warp coil from, for example.

    This is a great idea! When thinking about reimagining ENT, I have felt there needs to be a character on the main cast who opposes Starfleet and perhaps the formation of the Federation in the first place. Being a blank slate, Mayweather is a good candidate to be challenging Archer and the administration. Although Mayweather isn't from Earth himself, he could have sympathies for Terra Prime's cause after witnessing plenty of conflicts between mankind and aliens on the frontier.

    I like the rule that if they weren't in TOS then they probably don't need to be in the prequel. If one thinks about it, many of the major 24th century races have earlier archetypal equivalents: Ferengi can be swapped for Orions, Breen for Tholians, Cardassians for Klingons. I still think that ENT needs an iconic race of its own; the Andorians are probably the closest to that. The Suliban could have been that, if they were developed further. Xindi weren't that, but speaking of the Xindi: the Kzinti are stated by Sulu to have fought wars against Humanity in the very early spacefaring days. Xindi and Kzinti are pretty phonetically similar, no? Maybe they should have been used instead of the Xindi, if Larry Niven was willing.

    I don't think a 26-episode Star Trek season could have spent all of that time on Earth, but I can see that your argument makes a lot of sense. An extended arc could have definitely been set there. The thing is, a crew on a spaceship is neither unique to Star Trek's premise nor something that can be disassociated from the premise. ENT could have differentiated itself from TNG and VOY in other ways, but they didn't.
     
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  19. Jedi Marso

    Jedi Marso Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2001
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    Idaho
    I'll submit that the kid raised in space between systems is probably not prime fodder for Terra Prime.

    Hoshi Sato, however, after a few blood-curdling experiences with aliens close up and personal, could very well be a prime candidate for Terra Prime. Her whole S1 persona was a variation on 'I don't belong out here.' And from there, it's an easy jump to 'we don't belong out here.' And being a linguist, she could reach a broad audience.
     
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  20. Golbolco

    Golbolco Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2022
    I like this idea even better! Though there is an argument that being a linguist, Hoshi should be able to see the benefit of cross-cultural contact. There's plenty of justifications in the other direction, though. Maybe it's her brief time sympathizing with Terra Prime that finally pushes her into developing the Universal Translator and overcoming Human-Alien friction.

    I'll instead suggest that Mayweather should be the character to sympathize with my outline for the reimagined Suliban. Presumably, Mayweather's ancestors left Earth during the Post-Atomic Horror or earlier during World War III. His people were like the Suliban in that they had no home world and were looked on with suspicion by other species. It's fitting that he's already the secondary cast member used in "Detained" where we got the most Suliban development.
     
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