Should I give Enterprise another chance?

[Ryva Brall]

So I've seen every other Trek series (some multiple times) and I watched the first two seasons of Enterprise when it first aired, but then I lost interest. I just couldn't get into it, or force myself to care about any of the characters. But now I'm wondering, now that I'm older, if I might enjoy it more. Could someone give me some compelling reasons why I should give it another go? Does it get better after the second season?

 

[R. Star]

So I've seen every other Trek series (some multiple times) and I watched the first two seasons of Enterprise when it first aired, but then I lost interest. I just couldn't get into it, or force myself to care about any of the characters. But now I'm wondering, now that I'm older, if I might enjoy it more. Could someone give me some compelling reasons why I should give it another go? Does it get better after the second season?

It's the exact same scenario I was in when I first watched through Enterprise as a whole last year. I bailed around halfway through season 2 during the original airing also as it just wasn't entertaining to me.

I find I've softened to the show a lot more over the Trekless years, even if Enterprise has a high percentage of just plain bad episodes. Season 3 at least has a direction and for the most part season 4 was actually pretty good with some blaring exceptions.

 

[Melakon]

During first run broadcast, I missed nearly everything after season 2. I didn't get caught up until 2 months ago, and some of my opinions of early episodes are starting to change. I've not watched everything enough to fairly evaluate seasons 3 & 4 yet.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Season 3 is one long story arc. Archer gets passingly gritty for at least a few episodes. It's a compelling and interesting story, the producer changed and it's quite a differently paced show. The pedestrian qualities of season 1 and 2 disappear.

Season 4 has quite a few double and triple episodes, some of which delve into Trek history you will be familiar with from the other series. I consider Season 4 ENT to have some of the best Star Trek there is. It's even better looking than Season 3.

I was kicking myself after quitting ENT in the first two seasons after I started Season 3! I remember how exciting it was to finally watch those seasons, thinking "WOW this is such great NEW Star Trek!"

So, yes you should definitely watch it. Start with the last ep of Season 2. Even though I think you should watch it to be completist I also think you should watch it because it is so damn good.

 

[lurok]

Never made it past Broken Bow on first showing as just couldn't 'get' Archer. Watched it all way through about year-two years ago and never regretted it. Sure, there's some clunkers but it's now one of my fave series and adore T'Pol

But now I'm wondering, now that I'm older, if I might enjoy it more. Could someone give me some compelling reasons why I should give it another go?

If going to be in VOY minority, hey, may as well add ENT

Does it get better after the second season?

Yes. Sort of. Different, as others explained. Season 3/4 hint at what it could been like from beginning, but hey. So it goes. S3 has some great episodes like Twilight.

 

[R. Star]

The major problem with the season long story arc... half of the episodes are filler episodes that really have little or nothing to do with the main plot. Some of them even come at frustrating times when the main story arc is just starting to get interesting.

It's ambitious, but it was lacklusterly executed.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I thought it was great and I don't think half the episodes were filler. The "filler" bothered me less than holosuite episodes interrupting the Domnion war.

 

[R. Star]

Your precious Voyager had way more holodeck nonsense than DS9 did.

 

[lurok]

The "filler" bothered me less than holosuite episodes interrupting the Domnion war.

.

I meant to add it wasn't just Archer that initially failed to grab me. Those drab boilersuits just did nothing for me . But I've grown to love them. Or at least the people in them.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Your precious Voyager had way more holodeck nonsense than DS9 did.

Sure and TNG was full of it too, I could not stand that Dixon Hill stuff. And Worf on the Old West steam train?! BLECH.

It was the interrupting the war part that I disliked on DS9.

 

[Melakon]

I apparently mellowed in some of my early opinions. Around the beginning of this year I got some 3d meshes for Poser that resemble NX-01's bridge and corridors. I'm starting to get used to the look.

 

[Ryva Brall]

I may be alone in this, but I kinda like me some holodeck nonsense. "A little nonsense now and then..."

Ah, what the heck. I don't need much convincing. I'll give ENT another shot. It's only four seasons, after all.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

And you must of course start a review thread.

 

[Ryva Brall]

Oh, come now. Must I? You don't really want to know what I think, do you?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

We DO we do we do we do.

 

[Melakon]

They do a few "what if" type stories with "Twilight", "E2 (E squared)", and the Mirror Universe episode. Even the Temporal Cold War is sort of a bunch of "what ifs". So that helps ease the lack of a holodeck. I think part of the show's problem was they couldn't afford to go outdoors enough for location shooting. It gets claustrophobic with a bunch of ship shows in a row.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I like the claustrophobia because it contributes to how we know they are feeling very far from home, disconnected and doing frontier space. No Julian, you weren't doing frontier anything, they were.

 

[Ryva Brall]

We DO we do we do we do.

Perhaps I will. I'll try to watch it with an open mind, too. Part of my beef with ENT was that it took place before all of the other series - and before the forming of the Federation - and therefore seemed so much less Trek-y. But I'll do my best to remain impartial and unbiased this time around.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I wish it had been as un-Trekky as I had hoped.

 

[Ryva Brall]

What do you mean? You wanted it to be un-Trekky? Why?