I actually thought casting Bakula was one of the strongest moves for ENTERPRISE. He was well suited for the role, which in some ways is a mirror of his QUANTUM LEAP days.
ENTERPRISE had its flaws, but the casting and portayal for Archer is not one of them.
Consider the era of that series... humans have barely left Earth, space was REALLY vast as it was largely unexplored, and Starfleet was a young pup. Archer reflected that. It brought a sense of realism to the show. He helped bring that sense of wonder during the first couple seasons, which was something the franchise was lacking for a long time. Even DS9, by far my favorite series, lacked that quality for the most part.
I would honestly argue that Bakula helped bring the TREK back in STAR TREK.
ENTERPRISE had its flaws, but the casting and portayal for Archer is not one of them.
Consider the era of that series... humans have barely left Earth, space was REALLY vast as it was largely unexplored, and Starfleet was a young pup. Archer reflected that. It brought a sense of realism to the show. He helped bring that sense of wonder during the first couple seasons, which was something the franchise was lacking for a long time. Even DS9, by far my favorite series, lacked that quality for the most part.
I would honestly argue that Bakula helped bring the TREK back in STAR TREK.