SCI-FI Wire Article (posted by Dennis Bailey):
Producers and cast of UPN's Enterprise revealed details to SCI FI Wire about the show's coming sea-change as it enters its third season, including new cast members, evolution of key characters and a dramatic new story arc. The series' new direction was set in motion in last season's finale, when a new alien threat (the Xindi) revealed themselves, and Enterprise set off into the dangerous Delphic Expanse to confront them.
"What you see are guys that have spent the entire hiatus trying to position the show and new scripts and new ideas, and they're rethinking everything," star Scott Bakula (Capt. Archer) said in an interview at UPN's fall press preview. "I'm saying to them every day, 'Think out of the box.' ... And they're saying, 'Let's do this.' And everybody is doing that. They spent all of their energy creating this new place. And now they're peopling it. And we're discovering it."
If only that actually said something ...
I realize that press junkets aren't a reflection of reality, but nothing I see here or elsewhere out of this particular junket sounds like anyone has an ounce of actual information. What they
do choose to say, including this snippet from Bakula, still leaves me with the distinct impression of chaos, with no one actually having any idea what they want to do, or
need to do. Not very good PR; if they can't come up with something that at least gives the
impression that they're focused and determined, why are they even being permitted press access?
Executive producers Brannon Braga and Rick Berman and the cast revealed several key changes in interviews and during a press conference on July 22:
The Enterprise crew will be joined by new characters, members of a Military Assault Command Operations, or MACO. "They're kind of semi-recurring and will be used on certain away missions," Braga said. Those characters have yet to be cast.
Will someone please remove the following words from B&B's public vocabulary:
And please explain that there is no such concept as "
semi-recurring" ...
Archer will get a little darker, a bit more driven in his mission to stop the Xindi. "The idea of being the peaceful 'We-come-in-friendship' [guy], ... that guy is gone," Bakula said.
How long ago was
Trek supposed to show positive characters, even amidst negative situations, and to do otherwise was anathema, even for the executives to consider? After two years of a show where they can't even approach the concept of a crewperson dying, now it sounds like we're using
The Shield as our model ...
T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) will no longer be under the control of the Vulcan High Command and will begin to explore emotions and humanity. She'll also get a new look: new hair, new costumes. "We've got color, and that's always exciting," Blalock said.
Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. It was a bad idea with 7 of 9, and they haven't apparently learned anything. The chief value of a character such as T'Pol is that she
isn't human, and can thus provide an external view into humanity. Make her just another pilgrim on the path to humanity, just as Data and Seven and the Doctor, and you might as well peel off the ears and call her "Jill." But, hey, at least we've got exciting colors ...
Trip (Connor Trinneer) will grieve for his sister and struggle to balance a need for revenge with his sense of duty to Starfleet. Seeking help from T'Pol, he may find himself more intimately involved with her than ever before.
... well, as long as she's not going to be a Vulcan anyway, this is about as exciting to me as oatmeal. I don't share
Dennis's unfounded assurance that the folks who've never been able to create a decent relationship between any two people, of the same or different species, may find a magic path this time. I expect we could see just as good a job with a relationship between Phlox and Porthos, except for the fact Billingsley is the only actor in the cast who could probably pull it off.
The Temporal Cold War and the Suliban storyline will become an integral part of the Xindi arc later in the season, Berman said.
"... because we decided from the very beginning that this show
will be based upon the TCW, and dammit we're going to force every square peg into a round hole. If those fanfic writers can make
Buffy fit with
The Prisoner, we can do this, because at least we're getting paid more."
Crying Trip with Exploring Her Emotions T'Pol. Yes, I like this. 
However, you have cause to rejoice. This angry Archer business sounds as if it will play to Scott's strengths. Angry, worried, tired, angsty, in need of comfort and support Archer.....think about it. It could be goooooooood. 
No more boy scout Archer. 
