New to enterprise..

[Kathryn-janeway]

Hi Guys,
Now that iv finally discovered DS9 after all these years, and i am very fond of the series. I also like voyager aswell..
Im thinking of buying enterprise, season one, as i have watched some enterprise eps on re-runs, but i am not sure yet about enterprise.
So here are a few questions i would like to ask.

Is enterprise a good a series overall?

Is enterprise like voyager, rather than DS9?

Is there good character development?

Thank you

 

[Shatnertage]

Hi Guys,
Now that iv finally discovered DS9 after all these years, and i am very fond of the series. I also like voyager aswell..
Im thinking of buying enterprise, season one, as i have watched some enterprise eps on re-runs, but i am not sure yet about enterprise.
So here are a few questions i would like to ask.

Is enterprise a good a series overall?

Is enterprise like voyager, rather than DS9?

Is there good character development?

Thank you

1. Opinions vary, but I think it's a good series, and personally enjoy watching it more than VOY.

2. It feels very different from both--it's dark at times like DS9, and they're often in uncharted space like VOY, but it's not really like either.

3. IMHO, there's not consistent development for all the regulars throughout the series, but the three leads each grow in different ways during the series, as do supporting characters like Soval, Shran, and Degra. For the most part, I'd say there are good character moments that make the show enjoyable.

StarTrek.com now has full ENT episodes available to watch online here:http://www.startrek.com/videos/star-trek-enterprise
You might want to watch a few of those to get an idea of how you feel about the characters before committing to a purchase.

Here's a few episodes I'd watch to get a feel for the show, in no particular order:

Breaking the Ice (s1, ep8)--in some ways an "average" episode, it sets the tone for the human/Vulcan dynamic for much of the series

Shuttlepod One (s1, ep16)--you said you're interested in character development, and this is basically two of the regulars interacting with each other for an hour

Carbon Creek (s2, ep2)--almost not a Trek episode at all, but it gives you a feel for how the show could stretch the format

Singularity (s2, ep9)--if you don't mind some comic elements in your Trek, this is a great episode since we see the crew's personalities taken to the extreme

Observer Effect (s4, ep11)--one of my personal favorites, it's immediately identifiable as Trek, and you get a sense of what the show is trying to say about humanity

Keep in mind there's plenty of difference of opinion here, and that this isn't a "best-of" list, just a representative sample. I didn't include anything from s3 because it forms a big arc, and most of s4 is taken up by mini-arcs. This might be a good starting point.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Is enterprise a good a series overall?

Is enterprise like voyager, rather than DS9?

Is there good character development?

It's definitely a good series, though it does have it's low points (especially in the first two seasons). It's my second favorite show in the franchise behind DS9, and I definitely enjoy it more than VOY. I won't say the first two seasons are bad, because they're not and I firmly enjoyed them, but they are pretty lackluster when compared to other Trek shows.

In the first two seasons it's bascially "VOY done a little better." There's better internal continuity and MUCH less technobabble (virtually none). However, it's still mostly standalone episodes dealing with exploring the unknown. In season three, it really begins to look like DS9 in that it becomes highly serialized, even more so than DS9 was - at least for the third season. Season Four finally embraces the prequel nature of the series and, with DS9 levels of serialization, begins to show the foundation of the Federation.

There is good character development, but it's uneven. Archer, T'Pol, and Tucker all develop quite a bit through the course of the show, but the road to that development has more than its fair share of highs and lows. The supporting cast also develops, but at a much slower scale and rate as the Big Three. Every now and then an episode will focus on Sato, Reed, or Phlox and some good things will come from it. Mayweather is the only character that goes absolutely nowhere - he's the Harry Kim or Geordi La Forge of ENT.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

It's a bit like TNG and DS9, actually.

Season 1 sucked, Season 2 saw a few improvements, Season 3 was a major breakthrough and in Season 4 it finally had found its stride. And then it got cancelled.

So the problem is, ENT consists of only four seasons instead of the full seven. This means the show struggles for half of its run to get off the ground.

Anyway, if you think that Season 1 is bland and boring, let it be said that it gets much better later.

 

[Noname Given]

IMO - it's the closest thing to TOS, since TOS (and as an old TOS fan that's what I found more refreshing about it myself.)

I think it did have good character development overall; and of the 4 seasons, while (imo) Season 2 is the weakest; overall Season 2 still has more good that outright bad episodes (something for example I can't say about TNG's first 2 seasons; or DS9's first season).

If I had to liken it to a 'modern' Trek series (ie post 1987); it's more like DS9 then VOY or TNG.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

Overall, a solid and very enjoyable show. Very unfairly and overly criticised/maligned IMO. The last two seasons particualrly hit their stride. Season's One and Two can be a little patchy and, dare I say it, a touch too "Bermanesque".

 

[SFRabid]

Some people say skip the first to seasons and start with the third. The problem with this is you miss a lot of setup. Especially the growth of the Andorians and Vulcans within Enterprise.

 

[Captrek]

Some people say skip the first to seasons and start with the third. The problem with this is you miss a lot of setup. Especially the growth of the Andorians and Vulcans within Enterprise.

OP might be interested in the Enterprise (abridged) thread, which discusses which episodes one should watch to avoid missing crucial setup.

 

[SFRabid]

There is also...

TheGodBen Revisits Enterprise
First-Timer's Impressions of Enterprise
The Misanthope's guide to Enterprise...

I found Ben's thread to be the most entertaining of the bunch. Not that I always agreed with the ratings, but it was done in fun.

 

[Saquist]

Hi Guys,
Now that iv finally discovered DS9 after all these years, and i am very fond of the series. I also like voyager aswell..
Im thinking of buying enterprise, season one, as i have watched some enterprise eps on re-runs, but i am not sure yet about enterprise.
So here are a few questions i would like to ask.

Is enterprise a good a series overall?

Is enterprise like voyager, rather than DS9?

Is there good character development?

Thank you

I've always been a proponent against Enterprise. I disliked the score of massive continuity errors that riddled the show and made it incompatible with TOS. I regard it as a mistake.

I watch it on sci fi every now and then but I didn't like when it was on. It had many lackings that I can now over looked now that it's cancelled.

 

[Noname Given]

Hi Guys,
Now that iv finally discovered DS9 after all these years, and i am very fond of the series. I also like voyager aswell..
Im thinking of buying enterprise, season one, as i have watched some enterprise eps on re-runs, but i am not sure yet about enterprise.
So here are a few questions i would like to ask.

Is enterprise a good a series overall?

Is enterprise like voyager, rather than DS9?

Is there good character development?

Thank you

I've always been a proponent against Enterprise. I disliked the score of massive continuity errors that riddled the show and made it incompatible with TOS. I regard it as a mistake.

As someione who watched TOS first run on NBC, I couldn't disagree more. In fact overall ENT actually has the fewest continuity errors of any Star trek series, including TOS (and TOS is my favoruite and the Star trek series I like best, but even I don't blindly ignore it's flaws or the rather high number of continuity glitches it had during it's run, and there were a lot.) personally, I always find it interesting how people want to have bulletproof continuity related to a series whos background was DESIGNED to be vague. I've posted elswhere all the conttradictions as to WHEN TOS actually took place itself during its run. It wasn't until ST:TMP that it was finally and firmly set "In the 23rd century.."

But, again, as someone who knows TOS continuity (in it's various massaged forms); nothing (with the exception of a Romulan Warbird and Mines using cloaking tech in Minefield) ENT did outright violates or really contradicts anything that followed in TOS.

 

[I am Surak]

Enterprise has T'Pol and me Surak. The show is agreeable to the Vulcan mind.

 

[SFRabid]

Hi Guys,
Now that iv finally discovered DS9 after all these years, and i am very fond of the series. I also like voyager aswell..
Im thinking of buying enterprise, season one, as i have watched some enterprise eps on re-runs, but i am not sure yet about enterprise.
So here are a few questions i would like to ask.

Is enterprise a good a series overall?

Is enterprise like voyager, rather than DS9?

Is there good character development?

Thank you

I've always been a proponent against Enterprise. I disliked the score of massive continuity errors that riddled the show and made it incompatible with TOS. I regard it as a mistake.

As someione who watched TOS first run on NBC, I couldn't disagree more. In fact overall ENT actually has the fewest continuity errors of any Star trek series, including TOS (and TOS is my favoruite and the Star trek series I like best, but even I don't blindly ignore it's flaws or the rather high number of continuity glitches it had during it's run, and there were a lot.) personally, I always find it interesting how people want to have bulletproof continuity related to a series whos background was DESIGNED to be vague. I've posted elswhere all the conttradictions as to WHEN TOS actually took place itself during its run. It wasn't until ST:TMP that it was finally and firmly set "In the 23rd century.."

But, again, as someone who knows TOS continuity (in it's various massaged forms); nothing (with the exception of a Romulan Warbird and Mines using cloaking tech in Minefield) ENT did outright violates or really contradicts anything that followed in TOS.

Well said. I don't know how people who obsess on continuity errors get through any Star Trek series. It started with episode 3 of TOS and never seemed that important to the writers.

 

[F. King Daniel]

^It started with James R. Kirk in the second pilot of TOS. The canon was broken from the get-go

Fans have just grown up with all the mistakes in TOS, the old movies and TNG, and so they've pretty much glossed them over (stuff like Klingon heads in TMP were actually explained away 30 years later by Enterprise, fixing a huge continuity error!). Type "Star Trek mistakes" into a YouTube search and see how bad Trek's record really is. Star Trek presents a good illusion of continuity, but an illusion is all it is.

FWIW, I see the cloaking devices in Enterprise as a retcon, not a mistake. Remember that in the 60's, the concept of an invisible spaceship wasn't as well-known as today. It had to be explained to the audience.

 

[I am Surak]

Enterprise is the best show of all the spin -offs. The crew is good looking and young. The clothing attractive and the sets absolutely great. The other shows have two much of an eighties miami vice feel to them with their hideous uniforms.
A bald old man as a captain? Gimme a break. To me the original Star Trek was about young good looking people making irrational decisions while exploring outer space.
The first two seasons of Enterprise felt like that again. Seasons three became too dark except for the delightful T'Pol adventures with humanity. Season four was probably the least well written.
But all in all Enterprise delivered great entertainment.

 

[JoeD80]

Is enterprise like voyager, rather than DS9?

Not exactly sure what that means, but if you're talking episodic vs. arc the first two seasons have mostly stand-alone episodes; the third has an arc running through it; and the fourth season is pretty much all 2 and 3-parters.

Is there good character development?

Depends which character you're looking at. Some of them don't get developed much at all, but others are quite interesting.

 

[TheGodBen]

There is also...

TheGodBen Revisits Enterprise
First-Timer's Impressions of Enterprise
The Misanthope's guide to Enterprise...

I found Ben's thread to be the most entertaining of the bunch. Not that I always agreed with the ratings, but it was done in fun.

I am fairly awesome.

Enterprise is the best show of all the spin -offs. The crew is good looking and young.

Seriously? This is an important factor in what makes a good show? I'm a young and attractive person myself, but I certainly wouldn't consider those things to be a vital element in a show's success.

The clothing attractive and the sets absolutely great. The other shows have two much of an eighties miami vice feel to them with their hideous uniforms.

Ah yes, the legendary 24th century uniforms with their pastel t-shirts and bright blazers. And Picard looked ridiculous with his long hair and sunglasses.

A bald old man as a captain? Gimme a break.

Oh yeah, Picard was actually bald, and he only wore sunglasses in the behind the scenes footage from Generations. And now that I think of it, the TNG era uniforms tended to be a healthy dose of black, they didn't look like Miami Vice at all.

What's wrong with a bald captain anyway?

To me the original Star Trek was about young good looking people making irrational decisions while exploring outer space.

Ah yes, the youthful Dr McCoy, he used to spend his nights partying in the ship's nightclub (never shown on screen, but it was three doors down from the ship's chapel). And let's not forget his youthful and virile friend, Scotty.

But the most youtful of them all was definitely Captain Kirk, who never wore a toupee to hide his thinning hair.

 

[Mach5]

Enterprise is the best show of all the spin -offs. The crew is good looking and young. The clothing attractive and the sets absolutely great. The other shows have two much of an eighties miami vice feel to them with their hideous uniforms.
A bald old man as a captain? Gimme a break. To me the original Star Trek was about young good looking people making irrational decisions while exploring outer space.
The first two seasons of Enterprise felt like that again. Seasons three became too dark except for the delightful T'Pol adventures with humanity. Season four was probably the least well written.
But all in all Enterprise delivered great entertainment.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Ah yes, the youthful Dr McCoy, he used to spend his nights partying in the ship's nightclub (never shown on screen, but it was three doors down from the ship's chapel).

I see what you did there. You know she was only hot for Spock so McCoy might as well have run amok (sic) with the ladies.