Revisiting Enterprise 25 years down the road

[Gratty]

As the 25th anniversary came and went, I have started watching Enterprise again from the start.

Figured I'd start a new thread after after chatting about recent viewings in a couple of others. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I'm approaching the halfway point of the first season. Tonight I watched "Fortunate Son" and "Cold Front."

I liked it then and I like it now - and it holds up.

I'm looking forward to discussing the 22nd century as I proceed.

Bring on the comments, questions and even rotten tomatoes!

"But hey, enough of my yakkin'; whaddaya say? Let's boogie!"
-Marty DiBergi

cheers

 

[Gratty]

Watched "Silent Enemy" earlier tonight.

'I find the "let's figure out Reed's favorite food" storyline more interesting than the mysterious aliens plot.

The alien stuff was fine, if fairly routine. Bonus points for not completely explaining them or their actions.

"Medically speaking, there's no accounting for taste."
-Phlox

 

[Gratty]

And then I watched "Dear Doctor."

Another great episode for Phlox, along with contemplation on Archer's part about what would become the Prime Directive.

It adds some depth to the weight of Kirk's decision (Can we call it a resolution? Probably not) in "A Private Little War."

Not that Kirk's decision needed any more depth. That was always understood.

"A hundred what?"
"A hundred ... serpents. Serpents for the Garden of Eden."
- Scott and Kirk, as Kirk requests a hundred flintlocks

 

[Riley]

I started a re-watch a few months back after not watching even one episode after the show went off the air in 2005. There are still things that annoy me, mainly all of the potential that was squandered because of the studio-mandated TCW, but the cast, production values, and many of the stories are very strong. My wife has always enjoyed TNG and is ambivalent about the other series, but she's really enjoying Enterprise. I think ENT is really made for the casual viewer like her, not the OCD old-school Trek fans who have been around since the 60s or 70s like us.

 

[Gratty]

I started a re-watch a few months back after not watching even one episode after the show went off the air in 2005. There are still things that annoy me, mainly all of the potential that was squandered because of the studio-mandated TCW, but the cast, production values, and many of the stories are very strong. My wife has always enjoyed TNG and is ambivalent about the other series, but she's really enjoying Enterprise. I think ENT is really made for the casual viewer like her, not the OCD old-school Trek fans who have been around since the 60s or 70s like us.

Agree on all points - you're describing the scene in my own living room. Every time I spin up an episode of Enterprise, my wife will remark in some way or another that while she never really followed it, she likes it.

Speaking for myself, a hardcore OCD fan of 50+ years, I'm enjoying the hell out of it nowadays, while in its original run I did tend to get worked up about any perceived inconsistencies or breaks with "tradition."

Last night I made it through three more Season One episodes:

"Shuttlepod One"

To state the obvious, this was a great little character-building bottle episode.​

"Fusion"

More great character stuff, this time for T'Pol. It also introduced us to the freewheeling hippie Vulcans, a good example of the sort of thing I had problems with in the past. Not all Vulcans act like Spock or Sarek. IDIC, indeed.​

"Rogue Planet"

This was a great SF show that could have been a TOS episode. Our crew gets to meet two new lifeforms and sort out understanding their different ways. The Wraiths in particular were especially intriguing.​

​

Even the planet itself was intriguing. I'm not sure it was scientifically viable (not sure that it wasn't, either), but it worked for the show. I kept expecting a daylight scene then I'd remember that it exists in perpetual night.​

​

-On a side, personal (and irrelevant) note, it shares its title with a 1970s Space: 1999 novel that I read back in the third grade.​

'til next time...

 

[Gratty]

I'm approaching the end of Season One. Here are some loose thoughts on my most recent batch:

“Acquisition”

Fun with Ferengi and the guest stars playing them.​

“Oasis”

This was a nice little trifle. It was nice to see Rene Auberjonois. Those are pretty much the nicest things I can say.​

“Detained”

More story arc stuff with the Suliban, with a healthy dose of “don’t judge a book by its cover” experience.​

“Vox Sola”

SF at last! Visually, it was reminiscent of a cross between The Blob and the xenomorph cocooning from Alien. The CGI alien looked pretty cool too - the early CG style actually helped its other-worldliness.​

​

Hoshi’s sharp hearing and talent for languages came to the fore, and what started as a bit of headbutting with T’Pol took a positive turn into teamwork.​

​

Who would win? The blobby alien here or the individual flying pancake alien brain cells from "Operation -- Annihilate!"?​

“Fallen Hero”

More Vulcan individualism on display here, while ultimately V’lar’s actions are proved to be quite logical.​

"Desert Crossing"

This was a cool episode with some great character stuff for Archer and Tucker. The portrayal of getting caught in the middle of the divided class/clan struggles on the planet was great fodder for pre-Prime Directive experience.​

​

Plus, CLANCY BROWN!​

​

More later.

Cheers

 

[Procutus]

I liked it then and I like it now - and it holds up.

Ditto that. While I may have had some reservations about it in the beginning, I quickly grew to like the characters and once we got past the TCW, I really began to enjoy it.

Fourth season was really, really good (save for that damn finale - 'love letter to the fans' my ass!)

 

[Procutus]

I realize that I’m jumping ahead here a bit with this one, but I had the desire to rewatch what is probably my favorite ENT episode (or to be more precise, two eps): In A Mirror, Darkly. After reading an article about the original concept that had been pitched by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens (which would have featured William Shatner’s return had it been greenlighted), I was eager to take another look at the tale we did end up with.

Though the Reeves-Stevens’ pitch would’ve made an intriguing story (and yeah, it would’ve been cool to see the Shats ham it up as a time-displaced Tiberius from the Mirror Universe), I really think that Mike Sussman’s version was ultimately a far better story. By keeping the story set entirely within the Mirror Universe, we not only had the fun of seeing the ‘evil’ versions of the NX-01 crew, but we also got an intriguing answer to what happened to the U.S.S. Defiant from the TOS ep ‘The Tholian Web’. The story was well conceived and loaded with a multitude of ‘nerd’ moments (for me, at least), from the TOS sets, props and sound effects, to a Gorn that actually looked like a Gorn.



And seeing T’Pol and Hoshi running around half-naked in the Mirror uniforms certainly did not detract from my enjoyment.



All in all, I have nothing but praise for this two-parter and fond memories of watching it for the first time and participating in the live commentary as it happened. I would've loved to have been able to see the follow-up that Manny Coto said was planned for the fifth season.

 

[Gratty]

I realize that I’m jumping ahead here a bit with this one, but I had the desire to rewatch what is probably my favorite ENT episode (or to be more precise, two eps): In A Mirror, Darkly.

Hear, hear! ! I am looking forward to coming round to "Mirror" and the whole fourth season in general.

It's already among the episodes of Enterprise I've watched the most times.

I'm still a little (maybe more than a little) raw about Enterprise not getting a fifth season. Or a sixth or a seventh.

More later. I'm still marching through season two and I'll share some thoughts, organized or otherwise....

cheers

 

[Detached Nacelle]

Hear, hear! ! I am looking forward to coming round to "Mirror" and the whole fourth season in general.

Shame it only had 21 episodes, they could have fit another triple bill in there.

 

[Procutus]

^

Agreed.

 

[Gratty]

OK I've made it through a bunch of episodes. Picking up from last time, here are some musings on Season One moving on to Season Two....

“Two Days and Two Nights”

This was a nice little lighthearted romp. I liked the multiple storyline approach, even if they were, in the end, largely inconsequential stories.

Archer was in mild danger and Trip & Malcolm play stooges. At least Hoshi had some fun.

"Shockwave, Parts I & II"

OK, the TCW is annoying. By association, Daniels is annoying. Still, I couldn’t help but think about Back to the Future. Daniels could learn a lot from Doc Brown.

Marty McFly: What about all that talk about screwing up future events? The space-time continuum?​

Dr. Emmett Brown: Well, I figured, what the hell?​

“Carbon Creek”

This is a great example of showing more variations among Vulcans and a lot of fun. The fish-out-of-water stuff wasn't over-played, and their ability to adapt is, well, logical. Each in their own way.

I gotta say it’s a bit of a strain suspending my disbelief about Mestral staying behind.

Personal note: I met J. Paul Boehmer at one of the Vegas cons many years ago. He autographed a photo of him as Mestral holding a pool cue for me. I hung it in the room with my pool table. The pool table’s gone now, but the picture remains.​

“Minefield”

Yay, Romulans! (sort of) And it doesn’t violate continuity! Does it matter?

Archer’s attempts to connect with the living cypher, Malcolm Reed, are way more interesting. And Reed has no choice but to endure the personal questions since he’s actually nailed to the floor.

“Dead Stop”

Cool, here’s some SF. Didn’t think of this till now and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already come up - the repair station augmenting its systems with organic brains/nervous systems could be a twisted prototype or long lost cousin of the Borg. Cro Borgnon? Neanderborg?


Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow

 

[Gratty]

Shame it only had 21 episodes, they could have fit another triple bill in there.

Plus it would have kicked the series total into triple digits!

(There were 22 episodes in S4. Do you not count the finale? I could see that )

 

[Detached Nacelle]

Plus it would have kicked the series total into triple digits!

(There were 22 episodes in S4. Do you not count the finale? I could see that )

Oh I definitely counted Terra Prime in my episode count

 

[Returnee BBS]

And then I watched "Dear Doctor."

Another great episode for Phlox, along with contemplation on Archer's part about what would become the Prime Directive.

It adds some depth to the weight of Kirk's decision (Can we call it a resolution? Probably not) in "A Private Little War."

Not that Kirk's decision needed any more depth. That was always understood.

"A hundred what?"
"A hundred ... serpents. Serpents for the Garden of Eden."
- Scott and Kirk, as Kirk requests a hundred flintlocks

Over the years, I've soured on this episode.

Stargate executed the ENT premise better than ENT did.

ENT had the era to have episodes like SG-1's Icon and Ethon, episodes which argued against non-interference during early exploration.

Icon > Dear Doctor

Ethon > Dear Doctor

SNW has showed an intermediate stage between interference and non-interference.

 

[Gratty]

Over the years, I've soured on this episode.

Stargate executed the ENT premise better than ENT did.

ENT had the era to have episodes like SG-1's Icon and Ethon, episodes which argued against non-interference during early exploration.

Icon > Dear Doctor

Ethon > Dear Doctor

SNW has showed an intermediate stage between interference and non-interference.

Yeah, there have been loads of first contact stories.

I recommend First Contact (1945) by Murray Leinster.

The discussion of helping the Valakians vs the Menk in “Dear Doctor” works as a prelude to The Prime Directive, especially in that it involves long term, life and death considerations.

cheers

 

[Gratty]

"Extinction."

It's a great example of another true SF episode.

The evolution, or "de-evolution" or whatever form of DNA reprogramming isn't really new but so what? It was well done here with some interesting twists along with some great acting by the principals.

The virus "bringing people home" has some echoes of the the Kataan probe From "The Inner Light," one of the best episodes of anything ever.

Let's all remember Sir Patrick Stewart.

Also, I'm also pleasantly reminded of a cool Space: 1999 episode, "The Full Circle."

Joe Bob says check it out

cheers