So when October came (that’s right, we only had to wait four weeks after the US until New Trek dropped. Remember that the next time you are refreshing Amazon prime on a Friday to see if the new Lower Decks has dropped yet)
So what was the show like? Well its difficult to summarise one show in a single blog entry, but I will give it a go. I will take a look at the cast, then a season by season critique, followed by some closing thoughts.
Leading the series is the fantastic Scott Bakula as Johnathan Archer. In some senses, Archer is Starfleet royalty His father designed the Warp 5 engine that powers the titular Starship, and after century or so of Vulcan “advice” he represents a section of the Human race that is eager to go out and explore. A good man, who isn’t afraid to break the rules when necessary, and remain likable throughout, Archer was a great captain.
The rest of the cast feels like they took every other Star Trek cast member and their position, cut them up, and paste them back together to create new characters. For example, the southern country doctor becomes the southern country chief engineer. The Engineer from the British Isles becomes the Armoury Officer from the British Isles. Seven of Nine gets Spock’s job, and Neelix becomes the chief Medical Officer.
In many respects the above feels like an exaggeration, but not by much. T’Pol, the science officer was meant to replicate the success of the sex appeal shown by Seven of Nine in Voyager, and it shows. Despite the reserved nature of Vulcans, there was an abundance of sensual scenes, not the least of which were the decontamination chambers, in which characters would have to apply a variety of creams and lotions to each other.
There are some great crew moments however. The “Bromance” between Trip and Malcolm and Phlox appears to fit well with the rest of the cast. On the other hand, although some interesting ideas were explored, I don’t think Hoshi or Travis really got a good look in of big beefy moments.
Season 1 feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. In general, a lot of stories feel like they could have come from Voyager – partially because its from the same production staff. At the background of this and the second season is the idea of the Temporal Cold War. The shapeshifting Suliban Cabal guided by a shadowy figure we never quite see, and whatever faction the Federation of the Future belongs to. I always thought the temporal cold war aspect could give them an excuse to relocate the entire ship in the future if they wanted to 0 something that Discovery would do.
Despite having many established aliens – Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites, Klingons, Romulans, not to mention its own aliens, the first two seasons played with Canon a little bit by brining in races that were originally first encountered in the Next Generation. Season 2’s Mauaraders and Borg respectively. The Borg was a particularly egregious example, as their usual spiel includes their name//
On the other hand, there were some interesting ideas. The enmity between the Andorians and Vulcans, the fact that the Sulliban Cabal weren’t representative of the entire race, and the way that Romulans were used while respecting the fact that no one would know what they look like until Kirk’s time.
Season 3 was a marked departure for the show, the missions of Exploration were replaced with a season long arc about finding the Xindi, who launched a 9/11 style attack on earth. Even 2 years after the attacks, this was perhaps somewhat on the nose.
Season 4, ironically the one that was cancelled was the one that was best received. We saw our characters at their most vulnerable and relatable. It offered a hybrid of story arcs and individual episodes and it felt like a breath of fresh air. This may be because of the fact that Manny Coto took more of an active lead. Alas the cancellation hammer fell, and a finale was put together. “These Are the Voyages” is a great idea on paper. Not only would it be the finale of Enterprise, but it would be the finale of the Berman era of the show, and end to 2 decales of constant production.
Unfortunately by this point, we had begun to care about these characters, so seeing their story end via a holodeck simulation as part of a TNG episode left a bitter taste in the mouth.
Overall, Enterprise took a while to find its own voice, by the time that it did, we unfortunately lost it. It was an ambitious project, it laid the foundations for what was to come with Discovey and Strange New Worlds, ad we will explore next time.
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