Why does Enterprise get so much flak?

[ALF]

Enterprise gets flak because it's "not very good." Upon watching the first several episodes, most of them fall squarely into this category.
Fortunately for the show itself, it did eventually "get good." Very good, in fact.
But not enough to save it from cancellation in 2005. A very dark time for sci-fi on TV in general (the whole decade).
If perhaps it had started out good and gotten better, then maybe it would be universally hailed as excellent Trek by all. Like TNG (wink)

That is the flak-causality. If you have an more questions, please feel free to PM me.

 

[BillJ]

Another thing I could've done without was rehashing all the same old species: Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Borg (wasn't it convenient Denobulans are "immune" to assimilation, and seriously how did 22nd century tech defeat them?).

Phlox wasn't immune, the process just moved more slowly through his body. I also remember him refusing to eat.

Then he exposed himself to lethal doses of radiation.

Regeneration made the Borg scary for the first time since The Best of Both Worlds I. That makes it a winner in my book.

 

[The Badger]

My problem with Enterprise was that everything was oh-so familiar. An all American captain, his friend from the deep south, and a Vulcan science officer. Klingons. Time travel. A Star Fleet ship called Enterprise. Weapons that can stun or kill. Last second transporter rescues...all these things are staples of conventional Trek. And they all appeared in Enterprise's very first episode.

It was a Star Trek series, I wasn't expecting things to be totally unfamiliar. But this was merely a rehash of overused ideas.

They should have done more with the early UFP members and other races such as the Orions. Used species only touched on previously, without having an alien of the week baddie.

Agreed. At least try to explore the lesser known areas of the past. At least the Andorians were portrayed well.

....and seriously how did 22nd century tech defeat them?).

I had assumed that the Borg seen in Regeneration were cut off from the Collective, and didn't have access to that repository of knowledge. As such their own technology was merely adaptations of what they could find, with perhaps a few improvements. 22nd century technology beat them, because they were limited to 22nd century technology themselves.

 

[Danger Ace]

Question: Why does Enterprise get so much flak?

Answer: Simply because it was aweful. Start-to-finish, top-to-bottom terrible. It was sooo bad it makes me want to undertake a Kahn-like quest for vengence against those who contaminated the "Star Trek" universe with this vile, STD of a series.

"Enterprise" was a biological weapon of mass-destruction to the body Trek, and I would love to be the mystery-man who went back in time with a degausser to set things right.

Please Note: The above is just one person expressing an opinion and in no way, shape or form should be construed as containing any real or implied threats of hostility or violence against any person(s) or entities. It is purposely written in an over-the-top style in hopes providing a chuckle along with a pointed point-of-view.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Enterprise was at least average for modern Trek, and a lot of it was pretty good. I like TOS, TNG and Enterprise better than the other shows.

 

[BillJ]

Enterprise was at least average for modern Trek, and a lot of it was pretty good. I like TOS, TNG and Enterprise better than the other shows.

I think the biggest stumbling block for me was that seasons one and two Archer seemed to be completely wrong for the job. Not because he made mistakes but because he made some blunders that just defied basic safety.

"Oh the Vulcan said I should scan the surface before going down with my people. Well fuck her. What the hell does she know?"

 

[RAMA]

Horrible scripts for the first 60% of the series.

Scripts so terrible and shitty that most people had quit watching before decent writing came in.

I don't think the scripts were terrible, they were simply not as involving to the general population at large, or didn't have a sense of urgency. I find the majority of the first two seasons far more watchable than the first 2 of Voyager.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Enterprise was at least average for modern Trek, and a lot of it was pretty good. I like TOS, TNG and Enterprise better than the other shows.

I think the biggest stumbling block for me was that seasons one and two Archer seemed to be completely wrong for the job. Not because he made mistakes but because he made some blunders that just defied basic safety.

"Oh the Vulcan said I should scan the surface before going down with my people. Well fuck her. What the hell does she know?"

Yeah, and back in 87-88 fans complained that Picard was a surrender monkey. One of the more feeble defenses of Enterprise back in the day, in fact, was to point out how much complaining was done about both TNG and DS9 during their first couple of years. No, you can't defend a show's shortcomings on the grounds that other shows have also stumbled but, like I said, Enterprise was pretty normal for modern Trek.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Phlox wasn't immune, the process just moved more slowly through his body. I also remember him refusing to eat.

Then he exposed himself to lethal doses of radiation.

Regeneration made the Borg scary for the first time since The Best of Both Worlds I. That makes it a winner in my book.

I hadn't meant immune as incapable of being assimilated, but all species we've seen so far (except 8472) were assimilated within seconds just not Denobulans apparently, its one of those handy plot elements where one person isn't affected by the space anomaly/alien of the week (which really had been done to death in Trek now).

Have to admit I didn't find them scary in the episode, I was lamenting at the need for ENT to dredge the Borg up and into a story rather than doing something interesting.

 

[BillJ]

Prequel or not, there was no way they weren't going to use popular elements from other shows. Just like Voyager managed to squeeze in appearances from the Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi and another Federation starship even though the whole point of that series was to move away from using those very same elements.

 

[DalekJim]

Enterprise gets so much hate because most people that bash it haven't seen the superb final few seasons. It's not up there with DS9 or TOS as one of my favourite Trek shows but it was a very good show towards the end.

This thread has inspired me to do a rewatch of the whole show. I'd make a marathon thread but knowing my net-charisma nobody would read it . Excited for Season 3 in particular.

 

[Dale Sams]

At the time, I hated the song, the look of the show was same ol same ol, the unis didn't quite do it for me...typical post-TOS horrible, emotional acting from the Vulcans, I resented their attempts to 'sex it up'.

Now as i watch it, I like it quite a lot. The Sci-Fi is harder than usual. The fanwank is well done. And I've reconciled the sex since sex does actually happen in old school Sci-Fi books.

And I'm still on episode 7 of S3. I've still got S4 to look forward too.

 

[Danger Ace]

Enterprise was at least average for modern Trek, and a lot of it was pretty good.

I'm guessing you also prefer drinking milk after its expiration date.

 

[BillJ]

Enterprise was at least average for modern Trek, and a lot of it was pretty good.

I'm guessing you also prefer drinking milk after its expiration date.

Enterprise wasn't a bad show. It was just a show that suffered from burnout by the creative staff. And honestly, its episode hit-to-miss ratio is no worse than that of any other Trek series.

It would probably be more fondly remembered if Archer hadn't been such a dufus early on and there weren't six-hundred episodes of the Star Trek franchise preceding it.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Enterprise was at least average for modern Trek, and a lot of it was pretty good.

I'm guessing you also prefer drinking milk after its expiration date.

In that case we know that at least two careers would be poor fits for you: entertainment critic and psychic.

...and there weren't six-hundred episodes of the Star Trek franchise preceding it.

That was enough right there.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Enterprise wasn't a bad show. It was just a show that suffered from burnout by the creative staff.

Totally agree on that point. It has it moments (even in S1/2) when it was really good and some of the character work was well done, but they really should have taken a break for at least a year if not several to recharge the batteries and bring in some fresh blood.

It would probably be more fondly remembered if Archer hadn't been such a dufus early on

I find Archer to be the biggest flaw in the series. He just never comes across as Captainy, going from being a bumbling idiot to begin with to an unstable nutter in S3, but always seems flat and uninspired.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I found him a welcome improvement after Janeway.

 

[Danger Ace]

Enterprise was at least average for modern Trek, and a lot of it was pretty good.

I'm guessing you also prefer drinking milk after its expiration date.

In that case we know that at least two careers would be poor fits for you: entertainment critic and psychic.

But neither would be as poor a fit as Jolene Blalock is to a career in acting or Brannon Braga is as executive-producer of a "Star Trek" series.

 

[Skywalker]

Enterprise wasn't a bad show. It was just a show that suffered from burnout by the creative staff.

Totally agree on that point. It has it moments (even in S1/2) when it was really good and some of the character work was well done, but they really should have taken a break for at least a year if not several to recharge the batteries and bring in some fresh blood.

According to what I've read over the years, B&B did want to take at least a year off to recharge and also to refine their concept, but UPN wanted a new Trek show to start immediately, so they had to rush right in.

 

[Dream]

Archer was a buffoon, which is the main reason why I never warmed up to ENT. I have to actually like the captain to enjoy a Trek series.