Revisiting Enterprise
- Thread starter tomalak301
- Start date
Saquist is like that sometimes.
Neither did I.
Anyway, back on topic (For what it's worth anyway), I haven't been on this forum as long as most here have, but what's the opinion of Observer Effect. For a "stand-along" episode in a sea of arcs, I was quite surprised by this offering. Really enjoyed it and seeing the Organians again in a small nod to "Errand of Mercy." Also nice to see Hoshi again, who like Mayweather, has been pretty much ignored this season.
Neither did I.
Anyway, back on topic (For what it's worth anyway), I haven't been on this forum as long as most here have, but what's the opinion of Observer Effect. For a "stand-along" episode in a sea of arcs, I was quite surprised by this offering. Really enjoyed it and seeing the Organians again in a small nod to "Errand of Mercy." Also nice to see Hoshi again, who like Mayweather, has been pretty much ignored this season.
It's one of my favorite eps of all of Star Trek. I get the sense that I'm not in the majority here, but to me it's everything that good Trek should be. From a philosophical standpoint, I like that they made empathy, rather than a drive for exploration or all around awesomeness the defining human quality. I can't think of any performance that wasn't excellent, with lots of screen-time for everyone.
It's ENT firing on all cylinders.
Agreed! I would add the music score and direction to what makes this one so special for me.
It's my favorite Enterprise episode.
Saquist
Commodore
Neither did I.
Anyway, back on topic (For what it's worth anyway), I haven't been on this forum as long as most here have, but what's the opinion of Observer Effect. For a "stand-along" episode in a sea of arcs, I was quite surprised by this offering. Really enjoyed it and seeing the Organians again in a small nod to "Errand of Mercy." Also nice to see Hoshi again, who like Mayweather, has been pretty much ignored this season.
That's not my problem.
You want explanation then ask for it.
I'm not above answering questions if you're not above asking them.
You know, I don't understand a word you're saying
Neither did I.
Anyway, back on topic (For what it's worth anyway), I haven't been on this forum as long as most here have, but what's the opinion of Observer Effect. For a "stand-along" episode in a sea of arcs, I was quite surprised by this offering. Really enjoyed it and seeing the Organians again in a small nod to "Errand of Mercy." Also nice to see Hoshi again, who like Mayweather, has been pretty much ignored this season.
That's not my problem.
You want explanation then ask for it.
I'm not above answering questions if you're not above asking them.
Ok, could you clarify what you meant. I think I understood some of it, but when you were talking about the theme, were you talking about the Enterprise theme (Which I probably thought) or the whole imagine greater thing that Syfy has, which as a whole network it sucks.
I think he means "they are" when he types "there". And he does not like ENT and only watches it when he is stuck in a place where he does not have control of the TV.
Good for him
Good for him
The Andorian/Tellerite Trilogy (***)
Of the three trilogies, this one felt the most superficial to me, mainly because I think it would have been better served as two episodes instead of three. The first two episodes were pretty good because we got more political manuevering and closer to the Birth of the Federation. I've mentioned before that I really liked how Season 4 seemed to expand the universe, and if the Augment trilogy brought us the Orions, and the Vulcan Trilogy brought us more with the Andorian/Vulcan conflict and a deeper look into Vulcan, then this trilogy added another layer to the birth of the Star Trek universe, which I appreciated. There are hints here that this series is finally starting to feel like a prequel (Even with my misgivings about the season, a lot of it was done really well, such as this point) and I found that kind of exciting. I think if there had been a season 5 and stuff like this would have continued, Enterprise might have become a much more interesting series and maybe even more liked than it is.
Anyway, a lot of that is hyperbole so let's get back to these episodes. The first two had some really good stuff in there, such as the forming of the alliance, and I really liked the stuff with Trip and Reed on the drone. As for the drone itself, loved those graphics of how the thing moved. You definately couldn't do that with models back in the day.
Babel One served as a nice set up, bringing the Andorians and Tellerites together. Loved the stuff between Shran and Grall, with Archer in between them serving as mediator. There was a thread recently asking if United was the best episode of the series. Well, now after seeing it, I wouldn't call it the best, but in terms of Star Trek type episodes, I really enjoyed it. Not only the trip and reed stuff, but Archer struggling to keep the alliance together was interesting to watch and the dynamics between the three species. The duel kind of reminded me of Amok Time (Which did the duel to the death better) and I do wish we had seen more of the fleet in action. This was the first time we've seen the union of Andorians/Tellerites/Humans and I felt this big event wasn't big enough for the episode. However, the stuff to get there was enjoyable.
As for "Aener", well, that is kind of why this trilogy isn't as good as the Vulcan trilogy, Augment trilogy, or Azati Prime/Damage/The Forgotten. We're left with more questions than answers and this is where the superficial stuff came in. Why exactly are the Romulans doing this, and if they only need the Aeners to control the device, you'd think they'd be more concerned with the guy's help. Also, after the Vulcan trilogy where things got intertwined and everything seemed to come together, I got the sense here that things went in a direction they shouldn't have gone in given the last two episodes. Perhaps it's a symptom of the series coming to an end, but I wanted more political stuff, especially on the Romulans end, without them showing their faces of course. I did like the scene at the end with Trip asking for a transfer though. Looking forward to seeing the Columbia in action in the next two episodes.
Of the three trilogies, this one felt the most superficial to me, mainly because I think it would have been better served as two episodes instead of three. The first two episodes were pretty good because we got more political manuevering and closer to the Birth of the Federation. I've mentioned before that I really liked how Season 4 seemed to expand the universe, and if the Augment trilogy brought us the Orions, and the Vulcan Trilogy brought us more with the Andorian/Vulcan conflict and a deeper look into Vulcan, then this trilogy added another layer to the birth of the Star Trek universe, which I appreciated. There are hints here that this series is finally starting to feel like a prequel (Even with my misgivings about the season, a lot of it was done really well, such as this point) and I found that kind of exciting. I think if there had been a season 5 and stuff like this would have continued, Enterprise might have become a much more interesting series and maybe even more liked than it is.
Anyway, a lot of that is hyperbole so let's get back to these episodes. The first two had some really good stuff in there, such as the forming of the alliance, and I really liked the stuff with Trip and Reed on the drone. As for the drone itself, loved those graphics of how the thing moved. You definately couldn't do that with models back in the day.
Babel One served as a nice set up, bringing the Andorians and Tellerites together. Loved the stuff between Shran and Grall, with Archer in between them serving as mediator. There was a thread recently asking if United was the best episode of the series. Well, now after seeing it, I wouldn't call it the best, but in terms of Star Trek type episodes, I really enjoyed it. Not only the trip and reed stuff, but Archer struggling to keep the alliance together was interesting to watch and the dynamics between the three species. The duel kind of reminded me of Amok Time (Which did the duel to the death better) and I do wish we had seen more of the fleet in action. This was the first time we've seen the union of Andorians/Tellerites/Humans and I felt this big event wasn't big enough for the episode. However, the stuff to get there was enjoyable.
As for "Aener", well, that is kind of why this trilogy isn't as good as the Vulcan trilogy, Augment trilogy, or Azati Prime/Damage/The Forgotten. We're left with more questions than answers and this is where the superficial stuff came in. Why exactly are the Romulans doing this, and if they only need the Aeners to control the device, you'd think they'd be more concerned with the guy's help. Also, after the Vulcan trilogy where things got intertwined and everything seemed to come together, I got the sense here that things went in a direction they shouldn't have gone in given the last two episodes. Perhaps it's a symptom of the series coming to an end, but I wanted more political stuff, especially on the Romulans end, without them showing their faces of course. I did like the scene at the end with Trip asking for a transfer though. Looking forward to seeing the Columbia in action in the next two episodes.
Saquist
Commodore
I just believe Sy Fy has some serious problems in it's writing department. I'm not imagining the "Imagine Greater" Advertising Gimmick. I sort of quickly segued that though from ENTERPRISE.
ENTERPRISE has never quite done it for me. And While I'll watch decent Sc Fi if I come across it. Enterprise as a principle tends to offend me as a Trek Fan. I got into Voyager as a kid and like it but it was mediocre. ENT was more mediocrity with a host of canon violations and that just didn't fly. And while it's 3rd and fourth seasons are claimed to be "better". I see through that. The acting did settle down but the stories were "run-offs" (river analogy) from TOS. It didn't establish itself as original. Those stories were good but it was not enough to sell me on the show to revisit the series for a re watch.
Hopefully that's a bit more clear.
Actuall, they're not the only ones that want it; it's just right now, HDNet has the exclusive HD broadcast rights to the series; and they show a 3 hour block of it every weekday.
I have a feeling once the HD broadcast rights become widely available, you'll see more of ENT around the country (and in HD on SyFy too).
I liked Observer Effect a lot. Scott Bakula was really good, I though.
The 'something or other trilogy' is decent, but not as good as the Vulcan arc. It didn't feel like we really needed the third episode. Also, I thought the visit to Andoria was a wasted opportunity to give us a glimpse of Andorian society.
I thought Babel One had some good music, something I rarely notice in post-1987 Trek.
The 'something or other trilogy' is decent, but not as good as the Vulcan arc. It didn't feel like we really needed the third episode. Also, I thought the visit to Andoria was a wasted opportunity to give us a glimpse of Andorian society.
I thought Babel One had some good music, something I rarely notice in post-1987 Trek.
There was no difference between "normal" T'Pol and "Observer" T'Pol 
The other "observed" crewmembers behaved differently. The chess game was fun and what an ingenious way to tell us that something is afoot.
The other "observed" crewmembers behaved differently. The chess game was fun and what an ingenious way to tell us that something is afoot.
I never knew "Observer Effect" was so well-received. I thought it was decent when it first aired, but upon rewatching it a year or so ago on SyFy, I realized how excellent it was. Not my favorite, but it's definitely a good one.
"Twilight" remains my favorite, I think.
"Twilight" remains my favorite, I think.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to write this before or after I watched
"These Are The Voyages" but then I decided to go by my old thinking of Terra Prime was the series finale of Enterprise, TATV serves as a bit of an epilouge. So with that being said, I unofficially finished season 4 and the series last night. Some quick thoughts on the highlights and lowlights of what I saw the last few days and then so overall thoughts:
Affliction/Divergence: You know when I said this season was full of Fanwanks and stuff that I wonder was really necessary? Well, these two episodes are pretty much the example of it. While they were enjoyable on their own marits (Affliction better than Divergence) I have to wonder if this episode was really necessary. It's almost as if the producers went on to these boards (And I know you did Mr. MikeSussman and David A. Goodman ) and then wrote a reactionary response in the form of these two episodes. Also, the stuff with Trip and Columbia was really wasted here and so was Captain Hernandez. Imagine the character work we could have had and seeing the Columbia in action only to realize the plot was more important. In fact, that's kind of my reaction to this season overall but I'll get to that later. Same thing with Section 31. Here's something that could have gotten it's own episode and it ended up wasted. Other than that though, It was enjoyable for what it was, but not one of the series best.
Bound: Ugh, the stuff that represents some of Trek's worst qualities is here in an amaturish/waste of time kind of way. Didn't like this episode at all.
In A Mirror, Darkly: I don't absolutely love these episodes as much as others do, but I do find it gloriously over-the-top and I think that's what the episode goes with. There were only two things I found really really awesome about this episode. 1) the lights going up in the Defiant and the recreation of the bridge, and 2) the Tholian Web as it was meant to be seen. Still though, I found everyone overacting their parts except for Blalock (Who was great here), Park (Who was also awesome here), and Graham (Who slowly became one of my favorite actors in the series). Also, that opening sequence should have been the regular one for seasons 3 and 4. It was much more appropriate as a theme and memorable than the one we got (Even though I still contend the one we got was pretty good).
Demons/Terra Prime: Other than the Vulcan Trilogy, these were my favorite episodes of the season. The spirit of this series was there and the speech at the end was Archer's best speech. I also liked Sellers as Paxton even though I wasn't really clear why they needed to make a clone baby to prove a point. I think a little more depth could have gone into Terra Prime as a whole but it was still an excellent episode. Also, the death of Elizabeth (Even though she was a clone) was sad.
Season 4 Overall:
Alot of the things I've mentioned in various reviews kind of echo my overall thoughts on Season 4. Was it a good season? Sure it was. Was it fantastic and up there as one of Trek's best like others claim? Not really. Sure there were a lot of fanwanks and stuff to connect to Star Trek, but where was the depth in some of these stories. Where was the psychological debates and the issues and ideas at hand? Arcs like the Augments, Divergence/Affliction, and the Andorian Arc didn't go as deep as it could have. It was almost like they wanted to go through the action scenes and just scratch the surface. I think this is why I liked the Vulcan Trilogy and Demons/Terra Prime. Yeah there was action, but the ideas and thoughts were there too which made the action make more sense.
Also, this season kind of failed the characters quite a bit. Yeah, we got a lot with Trip and T'Pol and Archer in Home, but that was pretty much it. The other characters were pretty much ignored, and for Hoshi, the most development she got was in the Mirror Universe. It was kind of sad really that this series failed the characters as much as it did and Mayweather still continues to be an ant on the wall. I wonder what would have happened if the series went on, but unfortunately we won't know.
As for the series overall, I said it was the weakest of the treks when I started this thread and I'm not so sure if it's better than Voyager or not. It's not as good as TNG or DS9 (In my opinion) but it might be better than Voyager. I'm not trying to trash it, but maybe it depends on the mood. There was a lot to like about Enterprise and I will say it was worthy of the Star Trek title. As for ranking the seasons:
Season 3
Season 4
Season 1
Season 2
Now time for These Are the Voyages. That will be fun to revisit since I've only seen it once and actually thought it wasn't bad.
"These Are The Voyages" but then I decided to go by my old thinking of Terra Prime was the series finale of Enterprise, TATV serves as a bit of an epilouge. So with that being said, I unofficially finished season 4 and the series last night. Some quick thoughts on the highlights and lowlights of what I saw the last few days and then so overall thoughts:
Affliction/Divergence: You know when I said this season was full of Fanwanks and stuff that I wonder was really necessary? Well, these two episodes are pretty much the example of it. While they were enjoyable on their own marits (Affliction better than Divergence) I have to wonder if this episode was really necessary. It's almost as if the producers went on to these boards (And I know you did Mr. MikeSussman and David A. Goodman
) and then wrote a reactionary response in the form of these two episodes. Also, the stuff with Trip and Columbia was really wasted here and so was Captain Hernandez. Imagine the character work we could have had and seeing the Columbia in action only to realize the plot was more important. In fact, that's kind of my reaction to this season overall but I'll get to that later. Same thing with Section 31. Here's something that could have gotten it's own episode and it ended up wasted. Other than that though, It was enjoyable for what it was, but not one of the series best.Bound: Ugh, the stuff that represents some of Trek's worst qualities is here in an amaturish/waste of time kind of way. Didn't like this episode at all.
In A Mirror, Darkly: I don't absolutely love these episodes as much as others do, but I do find it gloriously over-the-top and I think that's what the episode goes with. There were only two things I found really really awesome about this episode. 1) the lights going up in the Defiant and the recreation of the bridge, and 2) the Tholian Web as it was meant to be seen. Still though, I found everyone overacting their parts except for Blalock (Who was great here), Park (Who was also awesome here), and Graham (Who slowly became one of my favorite actors in the series). Also, that opening sequence should have been the regular one for seasons 3 and 4. It was much more appropriate as a theme and memorable than the one we got (Even though I still contend the one we got was pretty good).
Demons/Terra Prime: Other than the Vulcan Trilogy, these were my favorite episodes of the season. The spirit of this series was there and the speech at the end was Archer's best speech. I also liked Sellers as Paxton even though I wasn't really clear why they needed to make a clone baby to prove a point. I think a little more depth could have gone into Terra Prime as a whole but it was still an excellent episode. Also, the death of Elizabeth (Even though she was a clone) was sad.
Season 4 Overall:
Alot of the things I've mentioned in various reviews kind of echo my overall thoughts on Season 4. Was it a good season? Sure it was. Was it fantastic and up there as one of Trek's best like others claim? Not really. Sure there were a lot of fanwanks and stuff to connect to Star Trek, but where was the depth in some of these stories. Where was the psychological debates and the issues and ideas at hand? Arcs like the Augments, Divergence/Affliction, and the Andorian Arc didn't go as deep as it could have. It was almost like they wanted to go through the action scenes and just scratch the surface. I think this is why I liked the Vulcan Trilogy and Demons/Terra Prime. Yeah there was action, but the ideas and thoughts were there too which made the action make more sense.
Also, this season kind of failed the characters quite a bit. Yeah, we got a lot with Trip and T'Pol and Archer in Home, but that was pretty much it. The other characters were pretty much ignored, and for Hoshi, the most development she got was in the Mirror Universe. It was kind of sad really that this series failed the characters as much as it did and Mayweather still continues to be an ant on the wall. I wonder what would have happened if the series went on, but unfortunately we won't know.
As for the series overall, I said it was the weakest of the treks when I started this thread and I'm not so sure if it's better than Voyager or not. It's not as good as TNG or DS9 (In my opinion) but it might be better than Voyager. I'm not trying to trash it, but maybe it depends on the mood. There was a lot to like about Enterprise and I will say it was worthy of the Star Trek title. As for ranking the seasons:
Season 3
Season 4
Season 1
Season 2
Now time for These Are the Voyages. That will be fun to revisit since I've only seen it once and actually thought it wasn't bad.
Observer effect is definitely one of my favorite ST epizode ever! Great story, great actors, to me that epizode captures what ST is really about.
And the final sentence from those aliens - they'll be ready in 5000 yrs - or sth like that, great!
I liked the Hoshi and Trip dialogue, hillarious, and how Phlox saw they were talking when they should've been sedated, and Reed and Travis, oh, what a great epizode, it left me thinking - this is the best show ever
And the final sentence from those aliens - they'll be ready in 5000 yrs - or sth like that, great!
I liked the Hoshi and Trip dialogue, hillarious, and how Phlox saw they were talking when they should've been sedated, and Reed and Travis, oh, what a great epizode, it left me thinking - this is the best show ever
I've just re-watched most of Enterprise, skipping most of S2 though. I've only got "Demons" and "Terra Prime" to go and I'm hesitating because then, it's over. I simply can't watch TATV again.
The most interesting thing for me in this re-watching is that the theme song has stuck in my head. I never liked it when the show was originally airing and now, I actually think the lyrics appropriate and find myself liking it.
The most interesting thing for me in this re-watching is that the theme song has stuck in my head. I never liked it when the show was originally airing and now, I actually think the lyrics appropriate and find myself liking it.
I agree with all you wrote! Just yesterday I watched In mirror darkly and now it's so hard to even decide to see demons and terra as those are the last two (at least for me
). And poooor Trip, there's no way I'm going to watch TATV ever again
And I also like theme song now even more (also theme song in mirror darkly is sooo great) still thinking whether to set it as a ringtone
People really disliked a lot of the second season... I never saw it as markedly worse than the first.
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