I've come to really Appreciate Enterprise

[tomalak301]

Well, I finished my Enterprise rewatch last night. Season 4 had a ton of great episodes, with the best being the Vulcan Trilogy and Demons/Terra Prime, but I have to wonder if this mini-arc thing was really beneficial. The thing I loved about Season 3 was we got to see the characters really change and grow. We got to see Hoshi not be nervous, or T'Pol having to deal with addiction and withdrawl, or Archer transforming from this naive captain to something who has to put his Ethics to the test in order to complete the mission. With season 4, it almost seemed like we got a more "seasoned" captain, but maybe he was right, he did lose something in the Expanse. I will say though that to go from talking about Gazelles to that speech in Terra Prime is something to behold though. That is a hell of a speech.

Anyway, I'm starting to think the more I see Enterprise the more I like it. I still really enjoy TNG and DS9, but I think I would rank Enterprise as third favorite. I wish we could combine the character development of Season 3 and the plot development of Season 4 and you would really have a great (prequel) series. There were so many possibilities and potential that felt unrealized, and in hindsight, I am sad they cancelled the show.

 

[IrishNero]

Yes, it's a great series in its own right. If they'd had their act together from the start the way they started to get it together in the 4th season, it may have been the best ST series yet. Still, it had some great stories.

 

[kevinb]

Despite all it's flaws, I look back on a lot of the episodes, and all the characters, fondly. I haven't watched in ages, but I'm planning on going through them one by one soon and writing some reviews up.

I wouldn't bother if the show didn't have the qualities it has.

 

[Mage]

I bought the entire show last year, and also came to the conclussion that Enterprise had more going for it than we give it credit for. Sure, there were some bad episodes, and some REALLY bad episodes. But the same goes for TNG, DS9 and VOY. It didn't have the same impact on me as DS9 or TNG did, but I enjoyed it quite a lot.

 

[hux]

I think I've watched through Enterprise a couple of times now and I've always struggled with it. I can't entirely put my finger on why but it seems to drag when I watch it and it feels like an effort is required on my part. My attention wanders. It doesn't seem as fun or as engaging as the other shows

A lot of the characters leave me cold and there's something artificial about their interactions. I don't like the fact that T'pol comes across as so emotional (seems like she's on the verge of tears at all times) there's just something a bit grey about everything and everyone

There are so many things that bother me and make it difficult to enjoy. I'll watch it again of course and hopefully it will improve with each viewing but I dunno, I think it may be a lost cause

 

[Viper78]

Yes, it's a great series in its own right. If they'd had their act together from the start the way they started to get it together in the 4th season, it may have been the best ST series yet. Still, it had some great stories.

Totally agree and it's a shame it didn't get a 5th season. It was the same for TNG, DS9 and VOY, they all took a few seasons to really get going.

 

[IrishNero]

I've always liked to believe that Commander Shran became a renegade Andorian, then a member of the crew. Then maybe we could have began to see the tightening of the Federation's beginnings.

 

[JoeCabby]

Just finished watching the entire series for the first time. The first 2 seasons were brutal, but it turned out to be well worth the watch by the time it was done. The 3rd and 4th were probably some of the best seasons in all of star trek.

 

[IrishNero]

I agree. You could readily compare season 4 of Enterprise with any other Star Trek season.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I remember when I first watched season 4 sitting there thinking "this is some of the best Star Trek ever made".

And then I went on the internet and found out I was wrong

Really though it's better than heaps of fluff.

 

[Ithekro]

Basically this was a show that was begging to have a continuing storyline and arcs, yet was forced into episodic format early at the start. Yet things started to have consequences. Archer's actions on one planet would effect relations or conceptions about Earth on one down the way.

The largest problem seemed to be the seeming lack of chemistry between the crew. We were use to the Kirk-Spock-McCoy or Picard having specific chemistry with each of his crew. The interactions of the people of DS9 got very complex as time went on. Voyager has issues with this, but everyone seemed to have some interactions that felt like friendship or at least somewhat like an extended family. Archer's Enterprise seemed a little colder, even with Trip being Trip. Tucker seems to be the one with the personality. Archer had a lot to prove and a lot to learn, but then the other had to learn it from someplace. Everyone else seemed...stiff? Too professional maybe? (Though we know from Doug Drexler that at least the food was really good on set).

Something was off. Maybe it was not the cast or the writing, maybe it was because of the setting. The crew needed to be the ones that learned how they should behave on a starship. How to interact with other races. What to do and what not to do. And sometimes those missteps or things we the audiance has taken for granted the previous 35 year would seem off because they were suppose to be off.

But it got better. One thing about the third season was that Enterprise took and kept its damages. This was the one things that bothered me most while watching Voyager, and why I thought "Year of Hell" was how the ship should look. Carbon scoring, patches on the hull, unpainted sections, or mispainted sections. A cobbled on piece of alien tech here, or an obvious non-Federation hull plate there. Archer's Enterprise looks ragged by the time she gets home in season four. Yet she can still function and save the day. A character trait that fits the name, Enterprise. (I do miss the personification of the hero's starship.)

 

[feek61]

I love "Enterprise" and it is my second favorite series behind TOS. I personally like the way the characters were "cold" and didn't seem like friends in the first seasons; because they were not. This crew were just thrown together and did not know each other and I thought they did a good job developing the relationships from nothing. Anyway, it's too bad it couldn't get the fan-base behind it because it's a good show and better than most anything that was on at the time.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I've often wondered how the fifth season would have played out. Season one and two were both exploration focused, season three was in search of the Xindi and stopping their weapon and four was the mini arcs. But, by season four, Archer was jaded and didn't sound like he even wanted to be out there. Most episodes they were already on Earth and had to be assigned their mission which was usually at a planet they'd been to before. So, would season five Enterprise have still been relegated to Earth duty and only called out in special circumstances, or would they have gone back to the "golly gee whiz" explorers from one and two?

 

[Ithekro]

Seaon five would probably have been the leadup to the Romulan War. What Archer's role in that would be would be decided and if it was becaue of exploration, or diplomacy.

 

[eyeresist]

Archer's Enterprise seemed a little colder, even with Trip being Trip. Tucker seems to be the one with the personality. Archer had a lot to prove and a lot to learn, but then the other had to learn it from someplace. Everyone else seemed...stiff? Too professional maybe?

I've heard this criticism a few times, but I don't see how they were "colder" than the TNG crew. I never warmed to that show (found it extremely bland and often referred to it as Beige Trek), but found the ENT characters generally much more rounded and interesting.
Archer obviously has personality, even if not everybody likes it; there's Trip of course; Phlox is brimming with personality. T'Pol is a Vulcan, so therefore not extroverted, but she has a quite distinct personality, and isn't afraid to criticise human behaviour. And then there's dear old Malcolm! And there were also memorable repeat appearances by Shran and Sovak. For me, it was only Mayweather and Hoshi who let the side down.

 

[IrishNero]

T'pol was great eye candy, but her character often came off as nauseatingly angry and stand-offish. Her dry behavior was often the source of comedy though. As we saw parts of her being sorted out, Malcomb, Travis and Hoshi faded into the background as minor cast members. I can't put my finger on it really, but even though I liked Enterprise, I never really enjoyed Bakula's portrayal of Archer. To me, he just didn't suit the role, and he came off as a cardboard cutout that barked too much. -More of a tyrant rather than a Captain. Trip and Phlox were really the high points of the show.

I guess it takes a good six or seven years to really establish and explore a character, and we never really got to know most of the crew as well as we did with other series. Attempts were made to make the characters seem more warm, such as when Hoshi was working really hard to find out what kind of cake Malcomb would enjoy on his birthday, but the attempt seemed contrived and forced; it just came out of nowhere and was left hanging as a stand-alone moment. Still, I believe my concept of the characters may have changed significantly if Coto had the time to explore the characters for another season or two. I guess we'll never know.

 

[JoeCabby]

Basically this was a show that was begging to have a continuing storyline and arcs, yet was forced into episodic format early at the start. Yet things started to have consequences. Archer's actions on one planet would effect relations or conceptions about Earth on one down the way.

The largest problem seemed to be the seeming lack of chemistry between the crew. We were use to the Kirk-Spock-McCoy or Picard having specific chemistry with each of his crew. The interactions of the people of DS9 got very complex as time went on. Voyager has issues with this, but everyone seemed to have some interactions that felt like friendship or at least somewhat like an extended family. Archer's Enterprise seemed a little colder, even with Trip being Trip. Tucker seems to be the one with the personality. Archer had a lot to prove and a lot to learn, but then the other had to learn it from someplace. Everyone else seemed...stiff? Too professional maybe? (Though we know from Doug Drexler that at least the food was really good on set).

Fully agree, Other than T'Pol and Tucker and T'Pol and Archer, it seemed like everyone else was just co workers. Keep your head down and do your job.

 

[IrishNero]

...Keep your head down and do your job.

Maybe that's it: The series just hit too close to home for me.

 

[Willow]

T'pol was great eye candy, but her character often came off as nauseatingly angry and stand-offish. Her dry behavior was often the source of comedy though. As we saw parts of her being sorted out, Malcomb, Travis and Hoshi faded into the background as minor cast members. I can't put my finger on it really, but even though I liked Enterprise, I never really enjoyed Bakula's portrayal of Archer. To me, he just didn't suit the role, and he came off as a cardboard cutout that barked too much. -More of a tyrant rather than a Captain. Trip and Phlox were really the high points of the show.

I guess it takes a good six or seven years to really establish and explore a character, and we never really got to know most of the crew as well as we did with other series. Attempts were made to make the characters seem more warm, such as when Hoshi was working really hard to find out what kind of cake Malcomb would enjoy on his birthday, but the attempt seemed contrived and forced; it just came out of nowhere and was left hanging as a stand-alone moment. Still, I believe my concept of the characters may have changed significantly if Coto had the time to explore the characters for another season or two. I guess we'll never know.

I think a 5th season would have been helpful as far as fleshing out the characters.

Malcolm, Travis and Hoshi did indeed fade into the background at times.
Just curious , IrishNero, how would you view secondary characters on TOS? I've been rewatching that series for the first time since I was a preteen, and I'm amazed at how little I've seen of Uhura, Sulu and Chekov. I guess Koenig didn't start until season 2? At any rate, the actors all have a large fan following, even though I think the secondary ENT characters had more screen time. Forgive me if I'm wrong, as I've only watched about half the eps..,maybe the characters get more fleshed out in S3:

 

[IrishNero]

Actually, I believe Seasons 3 and 4 don't favor the minor characters much. But you're right in that the screen time of these minor characters is probably comparable to TOS.