What is your honest opinion of Enterprise?

[ThomQ]

My honest opinion:

It started slow, took getting used too, and was just too meager to keep me enthousistic. I liked Archer & the Doctor, and the little bits of info about Starfleet history.
T'pal was hot but not that convincing, I hated the interior design of the ship, and didn't care too much for the redneck & brit. Most of all I Hated the theme song (especially the s03 & s04 version)..

It wasn't till the second season I got into the flow of the series (especially liked Dead Stop)..

But just when I thoroughly started to like it / became used to it, and Almost didn't mind the theme song anymore, there it was.. The season 2 finale..
I was shocked, and really annoyed when I started ep 301... The arched story line was toe-clinchingly bad, Jonathan Archer completely lost his credibility as a War Captain, and too top it off, they "Fixed" the theme song.

I didn't think they could ruin the song; it was completely out of place as a Star Trek theme to begin with. But changed it, they did.. I call it the Miley Cirus remix..
It was like a little joke from the producers, a kick in the Nads, when you're down.

It also was a little inside hint from the producers. In facto, with that song they were saying: "Heyy man, Come on, We don't care anymore, why should you?"..
So during the Mirror Universe episode I stopped caring too. Turned it off, to never be turned on again..

 

[ThomQ]

wrong topic. sorry

 

[Pemmer Harge]

I watched the majority of it (including all of Seasons 3 and 4), but I never really got into it. The first season felt like Trek by numbers to me and I didn't find it interesting at all, though curiosity led me to watch most of it. By Season 2, I was too bored with the show to bother much. I saw about a third of the episodes and there were a few I actually really liked, but it wasn't a show I felt I had to see. Eventually, having watched all of DS9 and wanting some new Trek, I decided to give Seasons 3 and 4 a chance. I thought Season 3 was massively inconsistent, but it had some genuinely excellent episodes and the story arc was OK - not DS9, but at least they were trying to take the show somewhere new. Season 4 was more consistent, but I didn't think it had as many standout episodes as the third year.

But really, my problem through all that was that I never really got into the characters. They had their moments, especially in Season 3, but it wasn't an ensemble that worked that well for me and that impacts my enjoyment of the show a lot.

I will say, though, Cogenitor, Twilight, Damage, The Forgotten, Countdown, Cold Station 12 and Demons/Terra Prime are really good episodes.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I've watched all of seasons 1 and 2 and the first 4 episodes of season 3.

The stories and most of the characters on Enterprise aren't nearly as captivating as many of those on TNG and DS9. Also, one of the things I love about Trek is its optimistic view of the future. There's enough pessimism and violence in real life, you know? So, even w/o my recent PTSD issues, Enterprise is a bit too dark for me.

That said, I do like it enough that I intend to watch the rest eventually.

It was much more of a prequel to TNG than it ever was to TOS.

Definitely.

 

[Lucky]

Well, I think the series struggled in its first two seasons trying to find a direction. The Temporal Cold War story could have been great, but it was executed poorly. There were standout episodes, like "Cogenitor," however.

The third season was a step up. The stakes were raised, the series knew where it was going, and there was genuine tension.

The fourth season was one of the best season of Trek ever. The only real stinker was the final episode. The others, the idea of doing multiple ep arcs, worked better than I ever thought it would. It was what the series should have been all along, and if the series had continued in that vein for three more seasons, it would have been much better regarded today.

 

[jimoinj]

I'm a newcomer to Enterprise, just watching it for the first time. I didn't expect much, being the only series since the 1960s to be cancelled. I was pleasantly surprised, I've taken quite a liking to it. I even like Archer as a captain. So far he's at least better than Janeway who seemed to be completely inconsistent and hypocritical on morals. The dilemmas and characters seem more realistic, a good example being Malcolm's trouble getting along with everyone. I've enjoyed T'pol also, I feel the actress has worked well with the material she was given and gives the character a real depth and presence.

 

[Scotty]

Except for season 3, which had some rather good moments, Enterprise in my opinion was just painfully dull.

So very dull........

 

[Jakks]

Honestly?

IMO, ENT had some great stuff and some not so great stuff. I do think there were some major mistakes made, but also some really cool ideas that came out of it as well.

I agree, had the show gone 7 seasons I think we'd have seen some much better stuff.

 

[timelord1010]

With the exception of TOS most Trek shows took at least a year or two to get everything right. If TNG were held to the same standards as Enterprise it would have been cancelled in it's second season with it's ratio of good to bad stories possibly being higher than Enterprise's stories.

 

[Andromeda]

Pro's

- Modern visuals and picture quality, a nice change from the 90's visuals.
- Some interesting concepts and stories, although not always executed brilliantly.
- A good insight into humanity's first steps into deep space
- Dr. Phlox, who I found the most interesting character
- A strong action and adventure feel to it
- Xindi story arc (Season 3)

Cons

- Some inconsistencies with future Trek

- Bringing in the Borg and the Ferengi too early. The writers tried so hard to avoid revealing who they are.

- Characters were too "American" and came across a bit like US Marines invading Iraq. Although they were portraying our first steps into deeps space, they came across too brash and not tactile enough.

- Hoshi and Travis were incredibly dull characters with zero personality. I really wouldn't care if they got killed.

- The NX-01's technology was pretty much the same as 23rd and 24th century tech, but made to look a bit more old fashioned.

- Started to get good in Season 3 and 4, but got cancelled!

I quite enjoyed it overall, it had a lot of potential but wasn't utilised properly in the end. Definitely worth watching though if you fancy a change from the 90s Trek.

 

[BillJ]

- Characters were too "American"...

I always love when this criticism is leveled at Star Trek. It is a show produced by an American company, with American actors and produced for American audiences. Obviously it is going to reflect American values and culture.

Always wondered if people sitting around watching Doctor Who, constantly criticized it for being too "British"?

 

[Andromeda]

- Characters were too "American"...

I always love when this criticism is leveled at Star Trek. It is a show produced by an American company, with American actors and produced for American audiences. Obviously it is going to reflect American values and culture.

Always wondered if people sitting around watching Doctor Who, constantly criticized it for being too "British"?

Haha, hmm good point.

I wasn't referring to them being too American per se... but too sterotypical American "gung ho" attitude. A bit cowboy-ish perhaps?

I'm not sure if anyone else understands what I mean lol.

 

[BillJ]

Haha, hmm good point.

I wasn't referring to them being too American per se... but too sterotypical American "gung ho" attitude. A bit cowboy-ish perhaps?

I'm not sure if anyone else understands what I mean lol.

I understand exactly what you mean (see it alot on these boards), it's just not a fair criticism. It'd be like me criticizing an Indian film for being targeted at Indian audiences.

As for it being a bit "Cowboy"-ish, Star Trek was originally sold as "Wagon Train to the Stars". So in that respect its' just honoring its' roots.

 

[Noname Given]

- Characters were too "American"...

I always love when this criticism is leveled at Star Trek. It is a show produced by an American company, with American actors and produced for American audiences. Obviously it is going to reflect American values and culture.

Always wondered if people sitting around watching Doctor Who, constantly criticized it for being too "British"?

Haha, hmm good point.

I wasn't referring to them being too American per se... but too sterotypical American "gung ho" attitude. A bit cowboy-ish perhaps?

I'm not sure if anyone else understands what I mean lol.

I understand perfectly. problem is, I had no problem with that aspect as that IS EXACTLY WHAT they were going for - the old 1960ies NASA moonshot approach of - "We can do ANYTHING (even when we can't )" attitude. It wasn't supposed to represent the 'enlightened (and IMO boring) 24th century Star Trek universe; nor the more experienced, "We have procedures in place that work most of the time" style of TOS. It was the gung ho, wide eyed explorer expecting one thing, but finding out the actual exploration is not quite what we expected.

 

[BillJ]

It was the gung ho, wide eyed explorer expecting one thing, but finding out the actual exploration is not quite what we expected.

It wasn't even that most of the time, it was just 24th century Trek in the 22nd century. Unfortunately.

 

[JiNX-01]

2) Her position as XO. I can't take her seriously in that role. She doesn't strike me as having any command presence.f

This.

There was no federation at this point, how exactly would her being a Vulcan sub-commander make her the next in line for command after a Human captain, aboard a Human ship. T'Pol could be a Vulcan twenty star admiral and not be in line for command of a Human ship. Can you imagine the captain of a Vulcan ship dying and the command of the ship being given to Trip? Simply because his rank was higher than the next Vulcan officer?

Her appointment to Enterprise was at the request of the Vulcan High Command, who got Starfleet Command to agree to it. I may be mistaken, but wasn't her position as XO part of that arrangement?

It's been a while since I watched the first episodes of Season One, but I do remember the crew being very hostile to her until they warmed up to her. I like the idea of an XO being forced on Archer and everyone else against their wishes, only for them to come to accept that person as an XO and friend.

Um, T'Pol was forced on Archer only for the mission to return Klang to Kronos. She was supposed to return to Earth when the mission was completed.
At the end of Broken Bow, Archer asks T'Pol to remain on board as his science officer. There is no mention of her being made XO (at Soval's urging or anyone else's.)
T'Pol appears to be XO because she is handily available on the bridge when Archer is leaving the ship (and Tucker, his actual second in command, is either accompanying Archer or tied up in engineering).

I love Enterprise. I loved the characters and while I can list quite a few episodes I could have lived without, I consider it to be a fun series to watch and it's the first Trek since TOS that I liked right away. It took me at least three seasons to warm up to TNG, DS9 and VOY.

ETA:
Re: T'Pol eyebrows and ears. Jolene was a Trek fan and she hated that they didn't give her usual Vulcan ears and eyebrows. So in season 3, she and her makeup artist just went ahead and made the change. When she appeared on the set with her new look, no objections were raised.

 

[Infern0]

7/10 for me.

DS9 and TNG get 8.5/10

Voyager gets 4/10

Enterprise was a good show, with good episodes that engaged your brain and your emotions (similitude made me cry)

The writers got sidetracked and at times didnt seem to know where they wanted to take the show, but most individual episodes were of good quality, and i liked the actors. Granted i didnt care about travis, but i didn't want to see him die a horrible death, like say Neelix.

The show didn't get 7 seasons only because the franchise was kicked into a hole by Voyagers glaring faults, the franchise lost too many fans before enterprise came along for it to stand a chance, it was doomed from the start but did well with what oppertunities it was given.

Overall it was a clever and decent show, that lost its way in places but overall was consistantl above average.

 

[futureboy]

First off, to answer the threads question: expletivedeletivecapslockforever!!!!!11!!!1!!1
I can remember it so well: coming off my wtf reaction to the end of VOY, seeing that first teaser trailer... expectations were high that we could put the disastrous adventures of Janeway and Co. behind us and maybe look back on Voyager as being the really bad one. Little did I know.
Those expectations took a bit of a hit when I heard the Patch Adams song, a bit more of a hit in the SUPERSEXEDUP decontamination scene, but the pilot of ENT was not without its good bits. The Suli were intriguing, as was the idea of a temporal cold war, along with Future Guy.
And then... it just got boring. Really boring, really fast. I tuned out around the S1/2 point. After DS9 raised the bar (IMHO) I simply couldn't be content with this Trek-by-numbers pablum.
All in all, I stand in agreement with those who lay the whole mess at the feet of it's creators (who assumed baseball caps made for an edgy prequel while pretty well continuing Voyagers playbook right down to the pseudo-porn, the bland-as-butter humans and the recycled storylines).
I've since gone back and watched some of the S3/4 stuff, but, particularly after some of the amazing performances of BSG, this show just comes off as a joke.
A really bad, unfunny, Trek joke.

Now, as to the dude who said they're surprised when people get pissed about the Americanization of Trek when, after all, it's an American product: consider what the product is, or rather, what it claims to be.
A portrait of a better future, with a mature and outreaching global vision of a humanity united and striving forward together in a spirit of understanding and togetherness: a concept that is as alien to us in the present day as the aliens are to our characters. The philosophy of Trek is about as anti-american as you can get; a flat-out rejection of imperialism and capitalism and the american way (and I say that with no offence to the good people of america intended). It's a shame the show -particularly ENT- saw fit to undermine and betray that message at pretty well every turn.

 

[Gojira]

I have mixed emotions about Enterprise. In some ways I agree with those who said the series could be dull. It could be. I really didn't like the conflict between humans and Vulcans. I think for being emotionless and based in logic the Vulcans came across with a lot of anger.

In the end it was the characters that bothered me. Too much conflict amongst themselves and a few characters I never grew to be too interested in.

The show had some good episodes and the show got better as it went along. Honestly it really was getting much better when it was canceled and I think it should have had at least one more season.

 

[BillJ]

Now, as to the dude who said they're surprised when people get pissed about the Americanization of Trek when, after all, it's an American product: consider what the product is, or rather, what it claims to be.
A portrait of a better future, with a mature and outreaching global vision of a humanity united and striving forward together in a spirit of understanding and togetherness: a concept that is as alien to us in the present day as the aliens are to our characters. The philosophy of Trek is about as anti-american as you can get; a flat-out rejection of imperialism and capitalism and the american way (and I say that with no offence to the good people of america intended). It's a shame the show -particularly ENT- saw fit to undermine and betray that message at pretty well every turn.

That would be me.

Might want to go back and (re)watch Star Trek: The Original Series. This so-called "philosophy" of Trek is an illusion, the original was pitched as a "western" in space and you can't get much more "American" than that.

Some of the reasons Modern Trek failed was because it became self-important and insular. The values it was trying to preach did not match those of the audience it was trying to reach. Deep Space Nine and latter seasons of Enterprise did try to 'reverse' some of the irrational 'morality' presented in The Next Generation and Voyager. Honestly, Star Trek began to lose me around season five of The Next Generation, I no longer could relate to the people presented of the enlightened 24th century.

For a TV show/movie to succeed, they need to have characters that the audience can relate to on some level. That would need to be the primary audience, Americans in this case.