I knew they were getting desperate when...

[SFRabid]

And the Xindi arc was pointless. Making the stakes the destruction of Earth in the PREQUEL was NOT good storytelling.

This cannot be expressed enough, and should be said until it is run into the ground so hard, it breaks in half.

Then what's the point of doing a prequel at all, if there's no tension or fear of failure for the chars, when we already know what's going to happen? What's the point of putting the chars into dangerous situations at all, if we know they're going to survive?

What is the point of watching a WW2 movie when you know the outcome? What is the point of watching Friends when you know they are still going to be friends the next day? Why watch all those movies that show you the end at the beginning?

A good show or movie can draw you in even if you know the end. I don't see the Xindi episodes being a waste because you know earth survives. The enjoyment of watching is to see HOW earth survives. It is the same way with thousands of other shows, movies and books. Enjoy the ride because when you reach the end, it's over.

 

[Noname Given]

What is the point of watching a WW2 movie when you know the outcome? What is the point of watching Friends when you know they are still going to be friends the next day? Why watch all those movies that show you the end at the beginning?

A good show or movie can draw you in even if you know the end. I don't see the Xindi episodes being a waste because you know earth survives. The enjoyment of watching is to see HOW earth survives. It is the same way with thousands of other shows, movies and books. Enjoy the ride because when you reach the end, it's over.

^^^
The last response should be QFT - I mean hell, by the logic of the first two posters Star Trek fans must HATE re-watching TOS, and TNG episodes; and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country must have BOMBED because a few weeks before that film was released we had Leonard Nimoy reprise 'Spock' on the TNG Unification episodes; so the suspense of TNG was RUINED for his character.

As has been stated - it's NOT the end result; because in any series; unless it's the season finale or some 'special', over-hyped episodes (Skin of Evil anyone - which was touted as the death of Tahsa Yar by NUMEROUS entertainment outlets and TV Guide WEEKS before the episode aired). You KNOW the main characters are going to be okay to contiimuye on - the interesting thing is what is shown happenng to them for the hour they're on screen that week.

 

[Anwar]

So then why do so many detractors keep using the "Xindi were useless because we knew Earth would be safe" excuse when attacking the show?

 

[SFRabid]

I have no idea.

Spoiler: Various movies and shows.

The Titanic sinks, earth survives, the dinosaurs are extinct and the US was on the winning side in WWI and WWII but lost in Vietnam.

 

[Jack Bauer]

So then why do so many detractors keep using the "Xindi were useless because we knew Earth would be safe" excuse when attacking the show?

Because they don't seem to get the idea that it's ok to know the end result and still enjoy seeing how the characters get there.

 

[Anwar]

Heh, I bet if it had been the Romulans instead of the Xindi all the haters would be going on about how great a story it was.

Honestly, there were lots of aliens that we never saw again after TOS, so why can't ENT have major aliens that are never seen again either?

 

[Noname Given]

Heh, I bet if it had been the Romulans instead of the Xindi all the haters would be going on about how great a story it was

Personally, I think they would then be complaining: "THAT was the Earth/Romulan war?! ONE Earth ship against the Romulan Empire, and they WON! Plus, they had a viewscreen and a bridge that contradicts Spock from Balance of Terror! WTF??!! Season 3 was one giant canon violation!"

 

[SFRabid]

Well I have been watching TOS on DVD and have to say, I don't care about Cannon. So much in TOS is already outdated and we are not out of the solar system yet. Why should new shows about life 100 years in the future be bound to tech ideas from the 60's? And gezzz, even TOS had cannon problems before 3 episodes were aired. Episode 1 has Spock commenting about an ancester who married a human and a few episodes later it is his mother that is human.

 

[Noname Given]

Well I have been watching TOS on DVD and have to say, I don't care about Cannon. So much in TOS is already outdated and we are not out of the solar system yet. Why should new shows about life 100 years in the future be bound to tech ideas from the 60's? And gezzz, even TOS had cannon problems before 3 episodes were aired. Episode 1 has Spock commenting about an ancester who married a human and a few episodes later it is his mother that is human.

TOS does indeed have numerous internal consistency/canon issues (that's were the old term YATI = Yet Another Trek Inconsistency came from during fandom in the 1970ies); BUT, to be fair, the episode where we find Spock's mother was living and human was Journey to Babel and was in the second seson of TOS; abouy 39 or so episodes after his line in Where No Man Has Gone Before.

 

[Anwar]

That, and we found out that he had always been hiding the identity of his parents from his colleagues, due to the rift between him and his father. His "An ancestor of mine was a human" line can be considered his way of explaining why he had human DNA traces if anyone did a medical scan and questioned him.

 

[RandyS]

Heh, I bet if it had been the Romulans instead of the Xindi all the haters would be going on about how great a story it was.

Honestly, there were lots of aliens that we never saw again after TOS, so why can't ENT have major aliens that are never seen again either?

Because the Xindi attack on Earth was a major event, and nobody afterwards EVER referenced it? No. I don't buy that.

The Xindi arc was pointless. That's my opinion. It cannot be changed.

Take it for what it is. A personal opinion. Agree with me or not.

Your choice.

 

[Anwar]

They never referenced V'Ger's attack on Earth or the Whale Probe in TNG+ either, yet that doesn't mean they didn't happen.

 

[cooleddie74]

Hell, James Kirk himself and his original Enterprise are only VERY rarely referenced in the later series and movies. You'd think TOS never happened if you had to base it on how future 24th century characters referenced it and its missions.

 

[Blueicus]

Clearly the reason Kirk was almost never referenced was because people in the future subscribe to the notion in the Wing Commander movie that if they died they never existed... duh!

 

[Stormrage]

Hell, James Kirk himself and his original Enterprise are only VERY rarely referenced in the later series and movies. You'd think TOS never happened if you had to base it on how future 24th century characters referenced it and its missions.

They refrenced him to much in my opinion. There was a DS9 episode with him and a couple of VOY episodes where he was mentioned. All with great awe. I couldn't stand it since I've only seen a couple of TOS episodes which were medicore in my opinion.

I've always asked when ever he is mentioned. What did Kirk do that was so special? Except start a war with the Klingons and end it all in the space of an episode which to me should have led him to being arrested.

 

[Anwar]

He didn't start the 2267 war, the war was already pretty much happening. He just had the bad luck of being involved in the first battle of it and being on a mission where the most hostility was directed.

Anywho, he saved Earth from V'Ger, from the Whale Probe, was instrumental to the Khitomer conference's success. Just from the movies.

From the TV show, I suppose considering all the amazing stuff the other Captains did maybe it's not that. But the movie stuff did play a big part in it.

 

[pookha]

Journey to Babel[/b] and was in the second seson of TOS; abouy 39 or so episodes after his line in Where No Man Has Gone Before.

uh no..
right away we learn about his human mother here..

SPOCK: However, it was well played. I regret not having learned more about this Balok. In some manner he was reminiscent of my father.
SCOTT: Then may heaven have helped your mother.
SPOCK: Quite the contrary. She considered herself a very fortunate Earth woman.

The Corbomite Maneuver


they will be referenced again including in this side of paradise were it is mentioned she was a teacher.

as for the xindi war, there actually is a line in deep space nine that could be seen as a reference to the xindi attack just as there is a line about section 31 that suggests starfleet existed before the federation.

and kirk got mentioned hardly at all in the latter series .
yeah there was the tribbles show on ds9 but not a lot more.

and as far as important aliens never being mentioned again..
well the organians and in a way the driving force behind klingon federation
relations through tos the organian treaty is never mentioned on any of the other series as far as i remember.
for that we dont know why the treaty was no longer recognized or what happened to the organians.

anwar he didnt hide that he was half human. it got referenced off and on.
some times as a side issue or light hearted moment and some times pretty big as in enemy within.

 

[cooleddie74]

A prequel of any sort is problematic for continuity unless you're really, really careful. And even the most anally retentive producers like George Lucas get details wrong when writing backstory. Some dates and events don't line up right, and characters from "older" stories never get referenced in "later" ones, even if they're supposedly more important than George Washington, Martin Luther, Galileo and da Vinci all rolled into one.