Why was the 4th season so much better than the rest?
- Thread starter K'Toska
- Start date
"Well into pre-production for season 5"? That's the first time I'm hearing about that. Sure, some writers had ideas about what they wanted to do in a hypothetical fifth season, and Doug Drexler was toying with the 3D model of the NX-01, but as far as I know pre-production for a new season doesn't start before one season is over. The cast and crew of Enterprise learned about their cancelation during the filming of "In A Mirror, Darkly".
Imagine for a second how the Vulcan arc would have turned out if every Vulcan character played it how "die hards" expect. The scenes at the VHC would have been unwatchable!
I was thinking the same thing, eyeresist! But I decided I'd give the benefit of the doubt and assume that mswood was referring to Robert Foxworth as V'Las. Though, my theory on that is that V'Las was more emotional because he was actually Romulan - though I don't know if Foxworth was intending to play it that way!
Besides, Vulcans *aspire* to be unemotional, it's not a given. Spock compensated for his human half by being more Vulcan than Vulcans.
I wouldn't take Phantom very seriously. He's not the most reliable source of information.
That said, it is very possible that the show's writing staff had already begun to start spinning out possible stories for season five. Writing staffs tend to do this sort of thing at the end of the season it seems.
We know though that filming ended for the series on March 5, 2005 (Bakula and Blalock's final scene together before the speech), with production itself ending that week on March 9 (Frakes and Sirtis had to do some green screen work), over a month after the announcement (made on February 2, 2005) that the series had been canceled. It's extremely unlikely that under those circumstances the show/production crew would be in prep for another season.
Season 4 was definitely the best season that had been made so far. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that they started to really connect Enterprise to the Star Trek world. I mean, they had the technology and the name Enterprise, but they hadn't really dealt with issues that were said to have happened in their time. In the 4th season, we see the Augments and Dr. Soong, we see tensions building up to the Romulan War, and we also see why the Klingons didn't have ridges in TOS,and even get to see the mirror universe. I think the 3-4 episode length story arcs helped as well, keeping people on the edge of their seats to see a resolution.
A lot of series don't hit their stride until the third or fourth season, because it takes time for everything to adjust. The actors have to adjust to the characters, the writers have to adjust to the actors and their characters, and the directors/producers figure out what works best with what they have.
Personally, I would have loved to see the show continue to a fifth season, and I think it would have turned out well.
A lot of series don't hit their stride until the third or fourth season, because it takes time for everything to adjust. The actors have to adjust to the characters, the writers have to adjust to the actors and their characters, and the directors/producers figure out what works best with what they have.
Personally, I would have loved to see the show continue to a fifth season, and I think it would have turned out well.
Lord No, I liked Soval since the first episode. The First Minister, is the character which is portrayed completely over the top. I might believe a human extremist group believing his rants, but not Vulcan's let alone, many of them.
It completely takes me out of the episode. And one where, especially since his part was done over more then one shooting day, I would have viewed dailies and had a nice, quite, in private discussion on how to under play emotions.
In fact for the most part I really like how the Vulcan's or portrayed, with this huge, huge exception.
And of course not all Vulcan's are going to keep their emotions tightly under control. But this is the case of a typical Vulcan, role. This is one whom his behavior had to seem viable by the Vulcan Council to earn the position of First Minister. I saw no evidence that the character could have ever managed to keep his cool under any other high pressure setting that would be acceptable to larger numbers of high ranking Vulcan's let alone the regular populace (depending on how one advances in vulcan society.
. As I have stated I actually really love the Vulcan's on Enterprise, we have seen those who embrace emotions to those who are stiffly cold and rational, and the various shades in-between. The show even got complaints by fans about this. i mean I love seeing Soval lose his control in Broken Bow in reaction to Archer. And I have no problem with scenes where we see this happen, but V'Lass seemed unhinged even by human standards from pretty much his second scene to his 2nd to last scene.
In fact I think His portrayal might have been better suited for the leader in Terra Prime, and had that actor, who gave a fairly restrained performance for the most part, gave a much more believable performance then for a Vulcan who managed to climb all the way to First Minister. Or for that matter his performance in the two part DS9 episode where he is orchestrating a military Coup, Foxworth gave a much more nuanced performance, so it's not the actors talents that I question.
I mean there is so much to love and really like in the Vulcan Arc, that to this day, every time i watch it, the performance just annoys me to know end.
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For me, the worst Vulcan in ENT was young T'Pau.
Juju Zombie
Lieutenant
In my opinion, it's because they finally gave up with the nonsense of the previous season's boring ass storylines! The whole Time War thing was ridiculous, certainly the way it was presented, and most of the ancillary characters they introduced along the way were either boring, annoying, or downright dislikable as an audience member.
Season 4, on the other hand, showed a return to more TNG-era storytelling.
But in the end, it's like saying that having someone shoot a nail-gun into your hand versus having your testicles forcefully removed with a dull and rusty butter knife. Neither is particularly fun, but comparatively I'd enjoy the former a lot more than the latter.
Season 4, on the other hand, showed a return to more TNG-era storytelling.
But in the end, it's like saying that having someone shoot a nail-gun into your hand versus having your testicles forcefully removed with a dull and rusty butter knife. Neither is particularly fun, but comparatively I'd enjoy the former a lot more than the latter.
Ironic, considering a major criticism of seasons 1-2 is that they were too often a repeat of TNG. Season 4 is generally agreed to be much closer to TOS.
Glad you kept an open mind.
Juju Zombie
Lieutenant
Like me, everyone has their own opinion. Personally, I don't see how that's even remotely true unless you seriously romanticize TOS. At least the latter part. I can see the TNG bit, assuming they're referring to the earliest seasons of TNG. But ENT was much closer to the styles of stories told in the last few seasons of TNG than it was to TOS by a very, very large margin.
I don't think those words mean what you think they mean.
Clearly I kept an open enough mind to a) finish watching the series and b) visit a subforum dedicated to it years and years after it went off the air. Just because my final opinion of the show isn't as sunshiney as yours appears to be doesn't mean it came from a rash or ignorant position. Clearly it didn't. I just don't think it was very good as a whole while still agreeing that season 4 was the best it had to offer.
Are you kidding? Seasons 1 and 2's worst episodes were where they adhered to the TNG storytelling formula of a loosely connected A plot and B plot.
In Seasons 3 and 4 ENT pretty much threw that trope out the airlock.
Juju Zombie
Lieutenant
Clearly we have different definitions of what writing refers to. You seem to think it has to do with the way an episode is put together. I'm referring to the quality of the dialogue and character interaction.
But no, I'm not kidding. Most of the season four episodes had the same vibe as the latter seasons of TNG than the first three did. And they certainly anything like TOS.
But no, I'm not kidding. Most of the season four episodes had the same vibe as the latter seasons of TNG than the first three did. And they certainly anything like TOS.
Season 4 was better because they were brought back closer to Earth.
Star Trek's premise of exploring strange new worlds sounds exciting and sometimes it is. But my favorite part of Trek is usually when they are closer to Earth and Federation space, developing relations with worlds they've already explored.
When they're too far into deep space, yes they can be attacked by unknown aliens. But worse case, they return fire and quickly warp away. There is never any threat to Earth's interests.
But they don't have the luxury of running from the Romulans or the Dominion. Kirk had to chase a Bird of Prey halfway across the Neutral Zone just to make an example of what happens to a Romulan ship that would violate Federation space. Picard has to go into the Zone to bomb a Romulan military base knowing that it could plunge the Federation into an all out war.
But when the war starts, it's not just a quick exchange of fire between two ships anymore, entire fleets come out, ground troops are deployed. Thousands or millions of people die. Even Earth's very survival could be at stake.
Obviously there are many good episodes where their exploration takes to them meet new species. But my favorites are usually the ones where the crew is out protecting Earth's interests
Star Trek's premise of exploring strange new worlds sounds exciting and sometimes it is. But my favorite part of Trek is usually when they are closer to Earth and Federation space, developing relations with worlds they've already explored.
When they're too far into deep space, yes they can be attacked by unknown aliens. But worse case, they return fire and quickly warp away. There is never any threat to Earth's interests.
But they don't have the luxury of running from the Romulans or the Dominion. Kirk had to chase a Bird of Prey halfway across the Neutral Zone just to make an example of what happens to a Romulan ship that would violate Federation space. Picard has to go into the Zone to bomb a Romulan military base knowing that it could plunge the Federation into an all out war.
But when the war starts, it's not just a quick exchange of fire between two ships anymore, entire fleets come out, ground troops are deployed. Thousands or millions of people die. Even Earth's very survival could be at stake.
Obviously there are many good episodes where their exploration takes to them meet new species. But my favorites are usually the ones where the crew is out protecting Earth's interests
I would say that ENT s4 put a lot of emphasis on exploring the backstory of TOS, and generally had the feeling of a space opera romp. The characters remained grounded and imperfect rather than making high-minded statements about humanity and debating about the correct interpretation of the prime directive. In what way would you say s4 closely resembles TNG?
I can't see it, myself. STAR TREK: The Next Generation was more refined, if you will. It had a lot of Class & Style. And it wore it very well. ENT always seemed to be more about trying to get ratings, to me. Not that it was a bad thing, necessarily. It's just that the focus of the two shows weren't even contrary, they were just completely different. ENT had a fourth season that let the writers and producers tap into their TREKKIE side and that's what I think makes it special to so many fans out there ...
I'm in the minority but I liked season 1 the best, with the exception of the temporal cold war. I was not a fan of that arc at all. That's probably the reason I dislike season 3 completely. And season 4 was just fan service. I don't mind the occasional wink to the audience. But when that's all you're doing, I can't stand it. There was enough time displacement, and freedom for Enterprise to develop its own identity.
I wanted ENT to be a discovery of everything for the first time. Not wanking me off with TOS references or some asinine network induced series arc that has nothing to do with Trek.
I wanted ENT to be a discovery of everything for the first time. Not wanking me off with TOS references or some asinine network induced series arc that has nothing to do with Trek.
Early Enterprise just had way too many DOA scripts. As with many things about the show: Sound premise, lacking solid execution. Similarly to Voyager, they just didn't take advantage of what they had a lot of the time.
There was, of course, the outright insulting 13+ audience grabber nonsense too (decon gel orgies, "Unexpected", all the horrible stupidity in A Night In Sickbay.)
I think the reason Season 4 is superior in most respects to the others is that it feels far more faithful to the premise of the show. Enterprise is anchored closer to Earth, and dealing with early Federation members and their early antagonists. It's moving towards the Earth-Romulan conflict, and it lays out more details of the Human-Vulcan relationship.
Also, personally, I really enjoy the Terra Prime stuff, and the sense of concern growing back on Earth. That was something we hadn't exactly seen in Trek before, because Earth had always been presented as pretty roundly solidified in it's feelings on other alien species.
I would like to point out that none of this has to do with it TYING into TOS canon or any of that. I'm just saying that the show felt more cohesive. It was telling stories that all had at least loose links towards a theme.
I also preferred some of the dimension given to the characters. Reed, Trip, and Archer all felt far more refined. Actually having some meaty drama to play. Reed got some genuine conflict that he had to play with, Trip felt less like a stereotype and Archer's bumbling buffoonery was replaced with some seasoned practicality.
That was one of my chief complaints with early Enterprise. Yes, they are pioneers, but as became clear early on, apparently Starfleet sent them out there with NO STANDING PROCEDURES for first contact or landing party situations. It literally came off as if Archer was just winging it. We didn't adapt even basic maritime/naval traditions for this kind of thing?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. The design of her wardrobe and her "look" just doesn't work. It's crass and clearly there just to exploit Jolene and the teenage audience.
They should have just given her a standard Vulcan uniform and let her wear her hair more traditionally. The eyebrows, the ears, and the performance would do just fine to remind us that she's an alien. Before anyone jumps on me for being about her looks. That's clearly what the shows intention was.
There was, of course, the outright insulting 13+ audience grabber nonsense too (decon gel orgies, "Unexpected", all the horrible stupidity in A Night In Sickbay.)
I think the reason Season 4 is superior in most respects to the others is that it feels far more faithful to the premise of the show. Enterprise is anchored closer to Earth, and dealing with early Federation members and their early antagonists. It's moving towards the Earth-Romulan conflict, and it lays out more details of the Human-Vulcan relationship.
Also, personally, I really enjoy the Terra Prime stuff, and the sense of concern growing back on Earth. That was something we hadn't exactly seen in Trek before, because Earth had always been presented as pretty roundly solidified in it's feelings on other alien species.
I would like to point out that none of this has to do with it TYING into TOS canon or any of that. I'm just saying that the show felt more cohesive. It was telling stories that all had at least loose links towards a theme.
I also preferred some of the dimension given to the characters. Reed, Trip, and Archer all felt far more refined. Actually having some meaty drama to play. Reed got some genuine conflict that he had to play with, Trip felt less like a stereotype and Archer's bumbling buffoonery was replaced with some seasoned practicality.
That was one of my chief complaints with early Enterprise. Yes, they are pioneers, but as became clear early on, apparently Starfleet sent them out there with NO STANDING PROCEDURES for first contact or landing party situations. It literally came off as if Archer was just winging it. We didn't adapt even basic maritime/naval traditions for this kind of thing?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. The design of her wardrobe and her "look" just doesn't work. It's crass and clearly there just to exploit Jolene and the teenage audience.
They should have just given her a standard Vulcan uniform and let her wear her hair more traditionally. The eyebrows, the ears, and the performance would do just fine to remind us that she's an alien. Before anyone jumps on me for being about her looks. That's clearly what the shows intention was.
