I'd like to know more about T'Pol's past working for the Vulcan security directorate as a agent before she joined the Enterprise in Broken bow. it would be intriguing to know about what kind of missions she went on. And her curiosity and secret fascination with humans.
If You Could Rewrite ENT?
- Thread starter Bry_Sinclair
- Start date
No offense (I hope), but this would probably resulted in the show's cancellation during the first season. I know this was one of the production teams ideas, thankfully the network insisted that the ship launch during the pilot and started the adventure immediately.
They could have engaged in more universe building than they did. Maybe part of each episode could have taken place on Earth, either as a "flash back," or a scene each week with Admiral Forrest and a small headquarters cast.
Introducing the audience to 22nd century Earth, political pressure on Starfleet (the ship had to of been expensive), interactions with the Vulcans and other species, etc..
Given the ship's mission (part of it), Archer should have already been trained in diplomacy, maybe while a junior officer serving aboard earlier starship. If not that, then simply a series of classes.
Instead of what he apparent received, which was nothing.
Archer-Make him a veteran officer who's been out there a bit. Perhaps he was on the missions that established the Deneva Colony or Vega.
Trip- Keep him as he is.
Mayweather- Go to the original concept. A veteran space traveler and Boomer who's been beyond the Earth Colonies. He's familiar with many races either first hand or by reputation. He's served on non-human ships. He also a bit of an operator, looking for deals and working angles.
T'Pol- Science officer and Vulcan Observer. I like her arc on the series, so I'd keep her pretty much the same.
Reed- I'd make him tougher, much more of a non nonsense military man. Keep him out of hijinks with Trip.
Phlox- No change.
Hoshi- Dump the scared of space stuff. She's a xeno-linguist, she wants to be out there.
Trip- Keep him as he is.
Mayweather- Go to the original concept. A veteran space traveler and Boomer who's been beyond the Earth Colonies. He's familiar with many races either first hand or by reputation. He's served on non-human ships. He also a bit of an operator, looking for deals and working angles.
T'Pol- Science officer and Vulcan Observer. I like her arc on the series, so I'd keep her pretty much the same.
Reed- I'd make him tougher, much more of a non nonsense military man. Keep him out of hijinks with Trip.
Phlox- No change.
Hoshi- Dump the scared of space stuff. She's a xeno-linguist, she wants to be out there.
More importantly, I'd recast Enterprise.
Bakula was wrong for the Archer role, and the Mayweather actor brought nothing to his role. A more charismatic actor could have made the character charming.
Bakula was wrong for the Archer role, and the Mayweather actor brought nothing to his role. A more charismatic actor could have made the character charming.
Maybe set the series immediately after the Romulan war, and have loads of flashbacks to it for character building during the series.
Add a mystery to be discovered.
Maybe something (but not the same thing) like what happened on Babylon Five with the Earth-Miniari war.
Earth won the war against the Romulans, but we aren't exactly sure how we did it.
Well the Romulans did make it to the Sol System as well, maybe not Earth but definitely on our doorstep.
No worries
I interpreted the thread as “if you could rewrite ENT (so that only you would want to watch it)” haha! The different format is likely what caused Caprica to be cancelled after one season too.
Yeh universe building could have been more apparent in ENT. They had a lot of “alien/planet of the week” like much of the rest of the franchise - at least until seasons 3 and 4.
The idea of the thread is how you'd want to have seen ENT, if you have full control on the show, so there is no wrong answers (unless you're OldTrekker719 that is).
Exactly. She should have been the ringship.
would have been amazing
I would’ve destroyed the NX 01 at the end of the season 3 arc, and time jumped a few years for season 4 to the launch of the new Deadalus class hero ship (still commanded by Archer and the crew) built on better tech and the lessons learned with the NX class. They tried to reinvent the show near the end but IMO it wasn’t drastic enough. We needed faster universe development
First off, I would change the setting, slightly. Instead of having the launch of Enterprise occur well before the Earth-Romulan War, I would set the pilot right at the point of the eve of war, much in the vein of the World War II film, "Tora Tora Tora". You would get a flavor for Earth and UESPA of the 22nd Century in the lead-up to the war (with corporations opening up mining installations all along the frontier, and the resulting encroachments being dealt with harshly) before the Romulans begin to mobilize their forces, and launch an all-out assault (with everything they have) on the Sol system. Following on in the aftermath of the attack, you would see how the crew comes to terms with their new reality and how Archer leads the Enterprise into a new unknown- war. In my narrative the world and its technology are a bit removed from the one shown in Enterprise, and instead we would draw from TOS' "Balance of Terror"- where lasers, particle beam weapons, and nuclear weapons rule the day, and annular warp drive rings are the domain of Earth and other "primitive" cultures, whereas Vulcans (and Romulans by extension) make use of "bi-axial space warp drive". In my read Vulcans (and Romulans) never developed M/AM reactor technology. It is something only Earth and humanity has managed to develop (which the Vulcans think is due in part as a result of humanity's aggressive, war-like nature) and has only been installed on very few large starships such as the experimental NX Class (Archer's former command, XEV-47 Constellation was a member of this class), and the Enterprise and her sisterships at the beginning of the series. Another significant difference is there are absolutely NO transporters. Everyone gets around by gigs. travel pod, or shuttles. I could see the show running for the entire length of the Romulan War, with the end of the series culminating with the Romulans being finally routed at the Battle of Cheron by Archer and his crew, resulting in the destruction of the Enterprise and the incidental and accidental genocide of the people of Cheron (due to a miscalculation on Archer and Trip's part - think the battle over the planet Mul in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets), and the formation of the Federation. The three characters I could see dying in the course of the series are Theresa Stiles (yep, and her brother too), Malcolm Reed, and Hoshi Sato. And yeah, I could see this narrative being a problem to sell to audiences set so soon after DS9, and if it had aired during the Iraq War. Even so I think it would have made for a great prequel to TOS if it had been anything like this.
The Ship
U.S.S. Enterprise XCV-330
The Enterprise is the third Declaration class experimental space warp carrier to have been built. At the start of the series the Enterprise is a few weeks out of drydock, and the crew has been performing an in-system shakedown cruise. The vessel is an impressive sight, consisting of a set of concentric rings some 1560 meters in diameter, combined with, and connected to a central spar that yields a over two kilometer length, making the Declaration class easily the largest starship class ever built. At the bow of the vessel, the ship's crew habitat and work modules are clustered, and consist of a flight operations and docking bay module, the crew support and command module, and the cargo and service support module (the secondary hull) capped by the main sensor array and its attendant deflector array. At the other end of the spar is the Enterprise's main power source, a newly designed matter/antimatter reactor that powers not only the vessel's huge space warp drive ring, it produces the thrust for sublight speed maneuvering. Like most UESPA vessels the Enterprise and her sister ships utilize annular warp drive rings, that are expected to provide these vessels with a FTL capability with low frequency of breakdown which is vital on long patrols. Originally designed to be long-range deep space exploration vessels, the Declaration class has been re-purposed as warp capable front line carriers to support UESPA against the growing unknown threat to Earth and her allies. While the first two vessels of the class (Declaration and Voyager) were built as exploration vessels, the Enterprise was purpose-built to military specifications (and as a result the crew support and command module is of a completely different design). As a military vessel the Enterprise is equipped with state-of-the-art particle beam cannons, lasers, point defense / close-in countermeasure weapons, high-yield nuclear warheads, and a flight group of sublight speed drones and fighters. While most of the crew are fairly young and inexperienced, they are well trained and disciplined and have been looking forward to getting out into deep space. Recent events involving attacks on transports and science vessels on the frontier, and some closer to home have led to a growing concern and anxiety among the crew, but morale is high and they have faith that their CO will lead them through whatever lies ahead, he is after all, Captain Archer. Later on as the series progresses the Enterprise will have an attendant retinue of escort / screening vessels that can serve to provide UESPA / allied characters that would have a different viewpoint from those of our protagonists as they may have seen action or events that our crew have not.
The Crew
Captain Jonathan Archer
Few men in UESPA are as revered as Captain Jonathan Archer, a fact that he would sooner everyone forget or look past. His adventures aboard the UESPA exploration vessel Constellation have become legendary, and he is uncomfortable with being in the spotlight. Archer considers himself first and foremost a explorer, and a military man second. His folksy (what you might refer to as a Jimmy Stewart-esque or being "down-to-earth") demeanor at times leads those he meets to mistake it for naivete and underestimate his intellect, determination, and capabilities, much to their regret. Considered to be the epitome of a capable and experienced starship captain, he is fair to his crew, and respectful of other cultures, be they alien or from Earth. As a diplomat he is skilled with getting each side to see the other's point of view, and can argue a point as passionately or dispassionately as he sees fit. He is a ferocious, no non-sense military leader, and while he may give quarter to enemies where others will not, he is a skilled tactician that understands and knows how to utilize his ship and his crew to their best effect. Although he has a strong sense of duty, he's a bit of a renegade – he's not afraid to question orders or even disobey them if he feels in his gut that he's right. Archer is a tall man with trim salt and pepper hair, in good physical shape. Archer's biggest failing is his impatience, which can surface when he is made to wait for extended periods. Otherwise his biggest foible is his fondness for his pet dog Porthos. Porthos is now quite old for a beagle, and while his health is not poor, the dog is quite flatulent. This has led to some colourful comments among the crew as a result, which Archer is very disapproving of. He is very protective of Porthos.
Commander Thy'lek Shran
A former member of the Andorian Imperial Guard, Shran is the Enterprise's First Officer, and most visible alien crew member. Shran's history with Captain Archer is a long and colourful one, and perhaps the most interesting of all Archer's close friends. Captain Archer made first contact with the Andorians when Shran, then Captain of Kumari, an Andorian battle cruiser, opened fire on Archer's vessel, the Constellation. Shran was in the process of boarding a suspected Tellarite smuggler when the UESPA vessel responded to their distress call. From that inauspicious beginning the two would meet on multiple occasions, verbally sparring with one another, until a grudging mutually earned respect grew into a strange friendship. Shran still prefers to address Archer by the nickname, "pink skin" but otherwise accords him his due as his CO. Over the years Shran has earned the respect and admiration of many humans, in and out of UESPA, and it was at Archer's personal request that Shran serve as his First Officer. As XO he serves as a counterpoint to T'Pau's logic and rationality with his devil's advocate approach, often with incisive, witty remarks. In some respects he is the McCoy, to T'Pau's Spock- the similarity ends there however, as Shran is definitely a military man. Shran is also a student of history, and has spent quite a bit of time reading up on Earth's history over the years and can be found discussing that topic with Trip and / or Archer at times. While he has gladly accepted the assignment aboard the Enterprise, he longs to be with his mate and their children on Andoria. Secretly he worries if the humans are getting him and his people into a conflict that may be the end of them all.
Commander Malcolm Reed
Commander Malcolm Reed serves as the Enterprise's CAG (the CO of the Carrier Flight Group). A mature man with a quick wit and smile, he is one of Archer's confidants and closest friends. He is career UESPA officer, and is considered one of the shrewdest, most capable flight group commanders in the service. Reed has a reputation being "hard as nails" and for getting results from his personnel and his machines under his command that others envy. Reed comes from a English family with a strong naval tradition, and has two sons of his own, one of which was serving on a exploration vessel that disappeared under mysterious circumstances out near the Gamma Hydra frontier. He is divorced, and while he has tried to maintain a friendship with his ex-wife over the years, the disappearance of their son has led to their recent estrangement. Reed plays the violin, and drinks on occasion with Archer and / or Tucker. His biggest demon is that he blames himself for his son's disappearance and presumed death.
Lieutenant Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Trip serves as the Enterprise's Chief Engineering Officer, the person in charge of overseeing the well-being of not only the ship's new M/AM reactor and space warp drive, but of the Enterprise as whole. He feels that the Enterprise is "his" despite the fact that Archer is the Captain, which has led to lively, friendly discussions upon that point on their off times. He is a strapping, healthy man of Southern descent in his early 40s, with a few scars that are visible on his hands. Trip is a voracious reader, and can often be found reading various works of fiction, or a engineering service manual when not otherwise involved. He has an offbeat, often sarcastic sense of humor that has drawn the ire of some flag officers. He is outspoken, and not afraid of speaking his mind, even when unbidden. Although Trip is a brilliant engineer and an outstanding officer, he is somewhat hot tempered, and can get frustrated when work is not performed to his expectations. Trip expects only the best from his Engineering staff, and while he is demanding, his people love and respect him just the same. He finds himself at pains to understand alien species and their cultures, motivations, and behaviours even after years in deep space, and this assignment is no exception. Despite this Trip will show utmost respect and decorum to aliens and other cultures, at least until they fail to reciprocate. Trip's friendship with Shran has been fraught with missteps and misunderstandings, but despite this the two (more from Shran's effort) work things out. T'Pau is what Trip likes to refer to as "special case math" and while he tries to maintain friendly relations with her, he is wary of her.
Lieutenant Hoshi Sato
Hoshi Sato is the Enterprise's Communication and Information Officer, and is an expert in mathematics and linguistics. Hoshi has a natural affinity for picking up languages, and is skilled at playing various musical instruments, including the Vulcan lyre. She joined the crew in part as a personal favour to Captain Archer, but also to conduct first-hand studies of alien languages she could not make on Earth. She does not enjoy deep space assignments. Regardless of that she is considered the best Communications Officer in the fleet. Hoshi is an introvert and something of a loner, but enjoys close friendships with those she has come to respect, namely Captain Archer and Subcommander T'Pau. In her off time Hoshi can be found listening to a variety of music and on occasion reading. She is fond of Vulcan culture and cuisine and has made some inroads in integrating some dishes with those of her native Japan. Hoshi admires and respects the Enterprise's Vulcan Liasion Officer T'Pau, mainly for her accomplishments, but in part because she appreciates T'Pau's dry Vulcan wit and wry sense of humour. When on duty together Hoshi enjoys trying evoke emotional respones from the T'Pau from her quips and comments, much in the same vein that Kirk did with Spock. Hoshi has developed a hypothesis that she has only made known to Captain Archer that the aliens harassing Earth and allied vessels are a species that are an offshoot of the Vulcans. While she has yet to accumulative significant evidence to support that conjecture, this mission will change all that.
Subcommander T'Pau
T'Pau is the Enterprise's Vulcan High Command Liaison Officer. In exchange for star charts and tactical information, the Vulcans insisted UESPA include one of their officers on the Enterprise. Not everyone is happy with this addition to the crew- Archer respects the Subcommander, but is wary of T'Pau's presence on his ship. He considers the Subcommander a capable officer, but having the Vulcan High Command effectively looking over his shoulder doesn't make him feel "warm and fuzzy" thoughts toward her. T'Pau understands the reasoning for having a Vulcan assigned to the Enterprise at this time- unknown to the humans and their allies, the Vulcan High Command suspects that the marauders attacking human vessels and settlements are descendants of one of the colony ships that left Vulcan millennia ago. While humans have achieved much in the past century, they are a young race, and can be irrational and given to emotional outbursts at times, if there is to be any hope of diffusing a conflict, or handling it with any measure of success, the Vulcan High Command believes that a Liasion Officer should be assigned. She is not a career officer, but for this assignment the Vulcan High Command felt she would garner more respect from the human crew if she was given the rank of Subcommander. T'Pau is not a creature of the military, and has no ambition to command, she is a diplomat and scientist. Her advice is of a more pragmatic nature, rather than strategic or tactical one. She offers an insight into inter-species relations that Archer does not have, and she will build a relationship with Archer on that basis. T'Pau finds humans confusing to deal with during day to day operations, and hides her confusion with her wry wit and comments. Most confusing is their proclivity to build communities, and to be in "your business" at all times, which she theorizes would seem to be an outgrowth of their primitive instincts. All the same their ability to create the most beautiful symphonies and music, coupled with their mathematical and scientific reasoning and understanding on par with some of the best Vulcan minds leads her to wonder what this young race will accomplish in the near future, and in the long term. T'Pau would never say she "enjoys" the company of Hoshi Sato, but she finds her conversations with the Comm Officer enlightening, educational, and her friend's musical aptitudes "refreshing".
Lieutenant Theresa Stiles
Theresa is the Enterprise's Chief Combat Information / Science Officer and this is Theresa's first deep space assignment. While she is more than a little enthusiastic about that, she is still very nervous about how she will perform under pressure in combat situations. Her previous assignments have all been in-system, on various science vessels, and while she is adept at handling most any form of equipment available, her fear of failure holds her back. Captain Archer handpicked Stiles for this assignment, and is aware of her feelings, but feels she is more than capable to handle the job at hand. Her sciences background includes astrophysics, geology, hydrology, meteorology, and thermodynamics. Theresa is also quite skilled at pattern recognition and cryptoanalysis, and puzzles can often be found on or near her person, on and off duty. She grew up in a large family that has a long tradition of military service, Her brother is a engineer assigned to the Declaration and they routinely comm with each other when the opportunity arises. Theresa is also something of an introvert and has a crush on Hoshi Sato but would be terrified to admit it. She is quite proficient at martial arts and is a qualified instructor.
Lieutenant Joseph "Joe" Mayweather
Joe is the Chief Helm Officer of the Enterprise. He had served under Captain Archer twice before, first as a junior Helm Officer aboard his first command, and more recently as his Chief Helm Officer aboard the Constellation. He and Archer have developed a good working understanding of the Enterprise and her capabilities during the shakedown cruise, and they continue to be surprised at how well she preforms. As a result this period has been something of a holiday for Joe. He enjoys flying the Enterprise, much more so than even he is probably aware. His love of flight is not restricted to starships though, as he also is highly adept at operating and flying all manner of small craft berthed aboard the Enterprise. Aside from his duties as helmsman and a pilot, Mayweather is something of a chef, and in his off periods can be found making dishes from a wide variety of cultures and cuisines. Of late he has grown concerned for the safety of his parents as they run a freighter along the frontier. Although he normally doesn't hear from them on a regular basis it's been a few weeks since they have contacted him, leading to his anxiety.
Doctor Phlox
Phlox is a Denobulan physician and scientist serving as the Chief Medical Offier aboard the Enterprise. He served with Archer aboard the Constellation for ten years, and when the Captain asked for him aboard the Enterprise the Denobulan jumped at the chance. That is not to say he was unhappy in his life on his homeworld, in fact quite the opposite. Phlox was very happy in his home life with wives and children, but felt his talents and medical knowledge were not being put to good use. When encountering Phlox the first thing that you notice is the twinkle in his eyes, gregarious nature and his contagious smile. While he easily puts his patients at ease, his sense of humour is "off" and he often tells jokes or makes witticisms no one understands. He is an eccentric, to put it mildly. He often finds himself at odds with the medical technology installed aboard the Enterprise's med bay. When he deems appropriate he will use other therapies or treatments that seem folksy or strange to crew who did not serve with him and Archer aboard the Constellation. As the CMO his love of humanity is especially evident in the care he provides to his fellow crew members. Phlox is a student of the human condition, and sees humanity not as a plague or disease spreading across the galaxy, but a flower to be nurtured and cared for. His compassion is not limited to humans or other sentient species- Phlox has saved the life of Archer's pet dog Porthos multiple times, and the Captain trusts him implicitly with his pet. Likewise Phlox serves as Archer's humanitarian counterpoint to Shran's cynicism and T'Pau's logic and dispassionate rationality. He has spoken at length with Archer about what to expect if the Enterprise goes on full combat duty, and has been drilling and preparing the medical staff to handle casualties quickly and efficiently. Phlox is deeply unhappy with the prospect of war.
Occasional Guest Crewmembers
Master Chief Petty Officer Ray Boothby
Officially, as COB (Chief of the Boat) Boothby serves to maintain good order and discipline among the Enlisted crew on Enterprise. Unofficially the COB serves as Archer's sounding board when he has a tough decision to make, and during those times the two can be found playing cards and drinking well into the wee hours. Boothby has a reputation of being a "hardnosed SOB" but he treats the crew fairly, and will go to great effort to see after their well being. He is the Enterprise's "Old Man".
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I disagree-I though that Backula was great as a explorer-minded captain of the first human exploratory ship who then goes through a lot of changes related to the TCW and by the end is no longer an innocent in the woods (per what he said to Ericka Hernandez on their mountain-climbing trip.) I have no problem with him, and I think that a more 'macho' actor would have messed it up.
As for Mayweather/Montgomery, the writers, Berman, and Braga failed both character and actor and gave both nothing to do beyond two episodes in the first season and one in the fourth. That was not the fault of Montgomery, period.
I'd redesign the ship to be more reminiscent of the Deadalus class. Give it a spherical primary hull, but more detailed then the TOS version, like perhaps adding a deflector to the front of the sphere, and instead of a solid tube for a secondary hull give it some curvature like the Enterprises secondary hull. Use lasers and more traditional torpedoes, perhaps nuclear armenants.
Storyline, I would have definately had the romulan war become an arc for a season, and had more dealings with species like the Orions instead of bringing back the Borg, Ferengi, etc for one of episodes.
That said, certain things I would keep. The Xindi arc, the Augment episodes, and Klingon arcs were all pretty decent and explained a lot of backstory that needed some explanation. Also, the mirror universe 2 part was fantastic, and should stay in as well. That being said, a huge portion of season 1 would be redone. Tucker pregnant? Future guy? Can it.
Storyline, I would have definately had the romulan war become an arc for a season, and had more dealings with species like the Orions instead of bringing back the Borg, Ferengi, etc for one of episodes.
That said, certain things I would keep. The Xindi arc, the Augment episodes, and Klingon arcs were all pretty decent and explained a lot of backstory that needed some explanation. Also, the mirror universe 2 part was fantastic, and should stay in as well. That being said, a huge portion of season 1 would be redone. Tucker pregnant? Future guy? Can it.
And fantastic ratings.
