Season 3 - Xindi Arc - some of the best TREK ever!!

[Stag]

Before you get out your flame guns, hear me out.

Just finished watching the entire season 3 DVD collection featuring the Xindi arc and I really believe that with a few exceptions, this is some of the best televised TREK ever. I think the problem was that so may fans had turned off on ENT by that time that it never got a fair chance.

The main problem is (at least for me) that we all know that Earth will survive since it exists a mere hundred or so years later in Kirk's time. Perhaps a replacement planet that had an ambiguous future in TREK-lore such as Denobula. Replacing Trip's angst with Phlox's and eliminating the Trip/T'Pol meditation sessions. (Perhaps replace it with an honest relationship starting between them instead of contriving something). The other story related nitpick I have is that as originally described the Expanse was a Bermuda Triangle type area where Klingons, Vulcans and just about everyone else was afraid to travel because they go insane - Vulcan zombies - puh-leeze. I would much prefer they described it as a place where anomolies caused severe damage to ships and they simply avoided the area.

The episodes had some enjoyable cliffhangers and nice twists. The tension really started to build as the season progressed and if watching the shows back to back, one gets a sense of time running out. One also gets a sense that the ship really is on its own and repairs, crew replacements and supplies are not readily available. The regularly battered NX-01 as the season progressed was a nice touch. Shran showing up was a welcome addition and further reinforced my thoughts that Shran should have showed up again near the end to assist Archer. Of course there were a few weak episodes - 'Exile' and 'North Star' come to mind.

One could easily imagine Kirk and the TOS cast going through these episodes and the good ole original NCC-1701 handling this mission. The interactions between Degra, the Xindi Council and Archer had Archer reminding me much of Kirk. If only he had a gold tunic instead of the blue jumpsuit, or maybe the green wrap around tunic - LOL.

The only real letdown was the ending of course which lead to the space Nazis. This I believe was simply away to tie up the entire temporal cold war/Suliban story line which was kind of aimless.

I am watching all of ENT seasons on DVD and really enjoying the show more then I ever did when it was broadcast. The characters developed nicely, well, except for Mayweather which sort of went backwards in development and Phlox can equal McCoy and the EMH-1 of Voyager in the pantheon of witty Starfleet physicians. My only great wish was that the NX-01 looked a little less like a TNG-era Akira-class and more like a TOS Constitution predecessor.

 

[Pemmer Harge]

The third season has its ups and downs. Overall, I didn't much like the first half, despite some good episodes like Anomaly, Twilight and Similitude. A lot of episodes seemed to play out in the same way and the characters felt pretty incidental.

The second half is a lot better and I'd rank Stratagem, Damage, The Forgotten and Countdown as some of Enterprise's best episodes. The story arc had some problems (for instance, I never found the Reptilians compelling as villains and the Xindi politicking never worked for me) but it did gain momentum and excitement towards the end.

For the most part, the characters on Enterprise don't appeal to me very much, but they were probably best used and developed during Season 3, particularly Tucker, Reed and T'Pol.

Overall, for all its flaws it's probably my favourite season of Enterprise.

 

[SFRabid]

Season 3 - Xindi Arc - some of the best TREK ever!!

Yes. I feel the same way.

 

[Shatnertage]

I also agree. I really like the look of the show--it just seems more contemporary to me (probably because it was made 9-5 years ago).

They missed some opportunities, but overall there's good storytelling. I like how Degra starts out by doing something horrible for what he thinks is a good cause, and Archer ends up doing several horrible things for what he thinks is a good cause. There's some really interesting stuff here, and I'll take it over subspace anomaly of the week any day.


I'd have left the sphere builders/time travel out of it, and just had the Xindi get stirred up by another Alpha/Beta quadrant race. I'd say Romulans, but then you've got continuity issues, so who knows?

 

[JiNX-01]

Season 3 is actually my favorite season (closely followed by S4, of course).

-Trip stopped being the comic relief.
-Scott was finally given material that he could sink his talent into.
-Twilight might have disappointed some because of the reset button, but I really liked Twilight. It was neat seeing Captain Tucker, Reed with a beard, T'Pol as a civilian.
-The supporting cast got a little more to do.
-I loved the introduction of the MACOS (and I really liked Major Hayes/Steven Culp. Such a shame Hayes was killed off.)
-The ship is wrecked in Azati Prime and remains that way for the rest of the season (no quick fixes here!)
-No reset button at the end of E2. They remembered!
-Similitude. Another morality play with an unhappy ending.
-Damage: Archer's actions in this episode evoke parallels to the desperation in the later seasons of DS9. I could totally see Sisko doing the same thing, if that's what it took.
-I like that it wasn't an easy sell when Archer was trying to convince Degra and Co. that humanity wasn't the threat.
-Impulse was a pretty cool, creepy episode.
-Zero Hour was another episode where Archer did things he might not have, especially when he forces Hoshi to accompany him back to the weapon.

 

[Shatnertage]

Does anyone think that Archer, like Degra, should have been killed at the climax of the story? I don't just mean anti-Archerites who want to get rid of the character--I mean for the sake of redemption, or whatever you call it, or to complete his character's arc.

Once Trip confronts Degra, it's clear that the character probably isn't going to make it. As wonderful a father as he might be, how's he going to live with himself knowing that he was instrumental in the deaths of 7 million innocent people?

Archer also does things he clearly regrets--too many of them to list. Was the character still redeemable, or was it just a case of "let's not look too closely at our heroes?"

On the other hand, what if Degra lives? Does he turn himself over to Enterprise and go back to Earth to stand trial for crimes against humanity? And would Archer do the same for the crew he marooned?

Just a few things I like to mull when I re-watch this.

 

[snookumz]

I liked Archer character progression. T'Pol and Tucker relationship. one of my favorite directors James L. Conway directing "Damage".

I didn't like the episode "North Star". I thought "Storm Front" should of had nothing to do with "Zero Hour" and Mayweather. why did they bother casting a helms officer? should of done the random helmsman like in TNG.

 

[snookumz]

PS, VULCAN ZOMBIES TO MOVE FORWARD!

 

[SFRabid]

The idea of Archer sacrificing himself to destroy the Xindi weapon in intriguing but has two main problem.

1. Archer is supposed to be instrumental in forging the federation.
2. The character "Archer" was just getting good.

 

[Shatnertage]

The idea of Archer sacrificing himself to destroy the Xindi weapon in intriguing but has two main problem.

1. Archer is supposed to be instrumental in forging the federation.
2. The character "Archer" was just getting good.

True--it's just a thought. But maybe it could have been that his sacrifice was what inspired the formation of the federation.

There's no way that he should have woken up in a Nazi prison hospital, though. That was the pay-off to the season-long arc? What a kick in the nads.

Maybe I'm a little bitter-I just got done rewatching "Zero Hour." There was that quick speech from the unnamed Xindi primate councilor, then back to WWII.

One more thought--even though it was great to see Shran again, would it have been better if it was the Columbia that saved the day instead?

 

[DanCPA]

You are right. Outside of the ep about the alien that Hoshi goes and visits, I enjoyed every ep of the season.
It was nice to see Archer get off the moral high ground and get the job done. Personally, if I had been on the staff, I would have had Columbia join Enterprise in the expanse near the end and have had some combat scenes with 2 NX class ships in the expanse.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Season Four is my favorite ENT season, but Season Three is close behind.

Overall, I loved the Xindi Arc. However, there were a few things I would have done differently....

1.) Have Shran and his ship, the Kumari, join the NX-01 in the Expanse. It could have been the start of joint operations between Earth and Andoria, as TheGodBen suggested in his review thread a while back.
2.) Gotten rid of the Sphere Builders/Time Travel aspect of the arc. As it is, it's technically part of the Temporal Cold War. And the less said about that arc, the better, IMO.
3.) Gotten rid of the subspace vortexes that the Xindi used. I can forgive a lot of continuity errors by finding explanations for them myself. However, this really bothers me. Why didn't the Federation ever utilize this technology, which is obviously faster than warp drive? I would have had the Xindi have ships capable of much faster warp speeds than the NX-01.
4.) In Zero Hour, when the superweapon arrives at Earth, I would have had the Columbia there, fully launched, guarding Earth. I mean, we're supposed to believe that Earth has no defenses online when the Xindi show up to destroy the planet, even though humanity has had a year to prepare? I don't think so. I would have shown a Starfleet presence around Earth ready and waiting for the Xindi, maybe even with a few Vulcan ships there to assist them.

 

[Shatnertage]

1.) Have Shran and his ship, the Kumari, join the NX-01 in the Expanse. It could have been the start of joint operations between Earth and Andoria, as TheGodBen suggested in his review thread a while back.

Great idea.

2.) Gotten rid of the Sphere Builders/Time Travel aspect of the arc. As it is, it's technically part of the Temporal Cold War. And the less said about that arc, the better, IMO.

Even better idea.

3.) Gotten rid of the subspace vortexes that the Xindi used. I can forgive a lot of continuity errors by finding explanations for them myself. However, this really bothers me. Why didn't the Federation ever utilize this technology, which is obviously faster than warp drive? I would have had the Xindi have ships capable of much faster warp speeds than the NX-01.

Yeah, but the subspace vortex looks cool. Seriously, I was wondering why, if it took the aquatics only a day to reach Earth, they never sent a ship to Earth to investigate before launching the test weapon, or tired a peaceful approach.

Maybe you could say the the subspace vortex method worked for a while, but required a very rare unobtanium that couldn't be found after the spheres were destroyed. That would explain why Starfleet never picked it up.

4.) In Zero Hour, when the superweapon arrives at Earth, I would have had the Columbia there, fully launched, guarding Earth. I mean, we're supposed to believe that Earth has no defenses online when the Xindi show up to destroy the planet, even though humanity has had a year to prepare? I don't think so. I would have shown a Starfleet presence around Earth ready and waiting for the Xindi, maybe even with a few Vulcan ships there to assist them.

Definitely this. Why not have ship the earth has out there, trying but failing to destroy the weapon, even civilian ships? I guess you could say that they didn't know when the attack would come, but that's even more reason to set up a robust defensive perimeter.

 

[Danny99]

As much as Earth was a poor choice to be attack, I think Denobula would have been a poor choice also. It steals the weight behind any actions of the characters outside of Phlox.

My idea is how about an earth colony. They had already established that there was Earth colonies, like Terra Nova. How about attacking one of them? Trip's sister could have been there.

 

[Admiral Shran]

If we're going to have someplace other than Earth attacked, I say attack Andoria. In response, the Imperial Guard sends Shran out to determine who's to blame and, if possible, end the threat. Shran, in turns, asks Archer to assist him in this mission. Earth's government agrees to help the Andorians as they were recently attempting to open diplomatic relations with the Andorian Empire and believe this will help Earth get a solid relationship with another interstellar power besides Vulcan. You could even have Trip's sister still be killed. Just make her a junior attache to the newly formed Earth embassy on Andoria, which was damaged in the Xindi attack.

Or, better yet, have Tellar be the planet the Xindi attack. It would have been a perfect chance to finally get the Tellarites involved in the show on a major basis. The Xindi attack Tellar for whatever reason, which cripples Tellar's economy and military capabilities. In response, they put out a call for help to anybody who will respond. Earth decides to get involved, both for humanitarian reasons and again because they want to gain an ally with a nearby interstellar power. You could even have the Andorians offer to send Shran to assist the Tellarites in the hopes of gaining Tellar as an ally against Vulcan. The three ships would each start out with their own agendas, but slowly they would merge into a cohesive unit against the Xindi and we'd see the first rumblings of the Federation.

 

[DanCPA]

4.) In Zero Hour, when the superweapon arrives at Earth, I would have had the Columbia there, fully launched, guarding Earth. I mean, we're supposed to believe that Earth has no defenses online when the Xindi show up to destroy the planet, even though humanity has had a year to prepare? I don't think so. I would have shown a Starfleet presence around Earth ready and waiting for the Xindi, maybe even with a few Vulcan ships there to assist them.

Definitely this. Why not have ship the earth has out there, trying but failing to destroy the weapon, even civilian ships? I guess you could say that they didn't know when the attack would come, but that's even more reason to set up a robust defensive perimeter.[/QUOTE]
Maybe they were expecting some sort of lead up to the arrival of the weapon

 

[arch101]

I gave up on Ent in the middle of year 1 thinking it was unfortunately just a Voyager rehash. Years later, I saw year 3 and was floored! Where did THIS come from? Is this the Ent they got in some parallel universe? Seriously, I was astounded at the vast improvement in the overall story and quality of episodes. The arced storyline allowed a much more complex and interesting story than I had seen since DS9 (of which I'm a big fan). I really enjoyed the end of episode scenes in the "war room" where they examined this week's pieces of the puzzle. Really liked the added complexity of the Sphere Builders and their technology from the future. That aspect tilted the playing field against the Ent crew. The MACO's were a great addition. A lot of the characters really grew during the season. Was impressed that scared little Hoshi from the pilot became tough and brave enough to try to kill herself rather than be used by the enemy. Shed a tear at Major Hayes' sacrifice. Liked the better score in most episodes. Enjoyed Archer's tough choices and the willingness of the producers to let him make the wrong choices once in awhile. All in all, great storytelling.

 

[commodore64]

I really liked that season 3 had a purpose and enjoyed seeing the characters go through their own personal hell(s) to complete the mission. Sure, I was disappointed in T'Pol's journey, especially the lack of closure in season 4, but .... I sure wasn't disappointed with Archer's progression. I went into the season thinking I'd hate it, and came out thinking it was the best thing that ever happened to his character.

Good season without getting into the minutia of which episodes rocked and which disappointed me.

 

[RegFan]

Season 3 of Enterprise is one of my favorite seasons of Trek, but I would have changed a few things:
1) More Shran. He could have even been made a regular character, just as they planned to do in S5.
2) No cliffhanger at the end of the season.
3) Remove the time travel aspect of the arc.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The third season of Enterprise is my favourite Trek season, ever. I loved it. It was when Enterprise stopped being "more generic Star Trek" and got an indentity of it's own. They actually did the heroic things worthy of the legendary status Daniels' kept insisting Archer and co had in the future (even if their future wasn't Daniels' future )

I thought the end was a little too easy - taking down one sphere and doing the Independance Day "Let's tell 'em how to bring those suns of bitches down!", implying there is no Expanse by TOS's time, would have been better than an ultra-clean reset button we got. But other than that, I very much enjoyed it. I thought the Xindi were some of the coolest Trek aliens ever. The lizardmen were a cheesy classic-V ripoff, but it was a good cheesy. The giant ants/insectoids were my favourite. Lots of fun.

Why wasn't Enterprise as good as season 3 from the start?