Enterprise Season Finale Details (Spoilers) (1 Viewer)

[Will_B]

A course correction, eh?

Sounds like they got the message to retool the show loud & clear. Best of luck to them; I want it to do well.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

It looks like they're seriously changing the direction of the show. Isn't this what we all wanted? I really don't understand criticising this

What have we complaining about? Apathetic writing, boring characters, and endless rehashing of previous Trek. The new direction is still endless rehashing of previous Trek, and it's not even rehashing GOOD Trek.

 

[Mike Broadman]

What have we complaining about? Apathetic writing, boring characters, and endless rehashing of previous Trek.

Yes, that's what we had up until now.
At least see what the changes are before bitching about it. It's a bit silly to jump on it based on a description on the internet.

 

[Jason Seaver]

At least see what the changes are before bitching about it.

Well, do they include Rick Berman and Brannon Braga being given gold watches and sent off to seek their fortunes elsewhere? Doesn't look that way.

The problem with Enterprise isn't its concept - it's the two timid, burned-out men in charge, and until they're gone, I don't forsee Trek breaking far out of its rut.

 

[DeathStar1]

>>The problem with Enterprise isn't its concept - it's the two timid, burned-out men in charge, and until they're gone, I don't forsee Trek breaking far out of its rut.>>

Exactly. Only problem is, I don't think that these two WILL be able to get any jobs if they are cut free from Trek, after the rumors of their shody work get around to the rest of the industry.

Lack of respect for their own shows, no knowledge of continuity unless it serves a story purpose. Not even getting the facts of their own shows right because 'they don't care about the shows themselves'. CONSTANT Re-Hashes of older ideas.

If this where ANY other franchise, or ANY other company, they would have been gone by the time Voyager was in it's 6th season and someone fresh had been brought in.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I said seek their fortunes, not necessarily find them.

It's really amazing - Berman and Braga have been just punching a timecard since, what, TNG's last season, alienating the fanbase and seeing steady declines in ratings. A real network would have shown them their walking papers long ago (ten years of this is unprecedented), although I suppose the revolving door of producers on Voyager (Piller, Taylor, Braga, Biller) might have distracted them.

It's getting to the point that I'm wondering if Trek needs to almost die before it gets better - for the ratings to dive far enough that B&B no longer see it as job security, and Paramount is desperate enough to hire someone young and cheap with neat ideas.

 

[Lance Nichols]

Well, I'm reasonably young (under 35) and for the chance to work on Trek, I would be cheap, and I have plenty of ideas, most of them good.

Just in case anyone from Paramount reads this

 

[Jack Briggs]

Hey, Jason, I have an idea! How about putting Star Trek on ice for about ten years? Give the franchise a rest, in other words? Bet you never heard that one before.

 

[Lance Nichols]

Jack, I think I have heard that one before. Great old sci-fi series tried it out, IIRC. Sold three seasons to a major network, went on hiatus for a while, raked in the royalties, built a massive, fanatically loyal fan base. Came back on air with new talent, similar, but updated story line. Went gang busters...

I find part of my apathy with trek is the lack of ANYTHING that is "original" or daring. I used to read every trek novel that came out. Even though they were not cannon, they fell withing the arcs of the major characters, allowed character development that was sometimes alluded to in the features, and "rang true". Not so any more, in fact the only "franchise" books I read now are the New Jedi Order novels.

Here my idea, put the TC shows on moratorium for 5 years. Put a general call out to good sci-fi authors, don't spec anything out, let the authors paint the story lines them selves. Pick ONE of the series to almost exclusively focus on, be it TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, etc. Then roll out the new series based in the same time frame as the book series that was favored. Make those books canon, or loosely so.

The DS9/TNG time frame is still good to play in, if you get some creativity in it again. Enterprise has/had lots of potential, how about the genesis of the Federation, the devastating Earth/Romulan war?

If there is demand to bring "Trek" back during the moratorium, focus on DS9. The DS crew has good potential, and has not had the storyline frozen in perpetual "same old, same old", and was not tainted by the Voyager debacle. There could be good feature length stories there.

 

[Jason Seaver]

How about putting Star Trek on ice for about ten years? Give the franchise a rest, in other words?

Well, first you've got to be practical. Paramount will never, ever do that voluntarily - Trek's audience will have to get to the point where it's not worth making any more.

And once the franchise gets put on ice - the whole franchise; no TV, movies, books, comics, e-books, games, etc. - who knows what will happen on the other side? Sure, it could be like the first time Trek returned, and pick up xx years later with (mostly) the same continuity. Or it could be a reinvention. Or it could be just more of the same, with Paramount hiring another group of play-it-safe people to focus-group the life out of it. End result: Probably more like the average movie based on a TV show than Trek's Wrath Of Khan-to-Deep Space Nine run.

No, let Trek lie fallow, and it dies. Maybe something good will happen on the other end, but it won't be the Star Trek we know and love. What I almost want is Trek reaching the point where the return on investment is low enough that Berman & Braga are too big a chunk of the budget to keep on, but still might be worthwhile if Paramount drops it to a cable series and finds the 2004 version of Ron Moore or Robert Wolfe - talented guys who love Star Trek, and are looking to make a mark.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Season	Thoughts/Opinions/Observations
1	Episodes 1-5, Episodes 6-8, Episodes 9-14, 14, Episodes 15 & 16, Episodes 17 & 18, Episode 19, Episodes 20 & 21, Episodes 22-26

2x01 - "Shockwave, Part II"
Archer discovers that the future in which he disappeared in February 2152 has led to a drastically different history for all of humanity. As he and Daniels try to MacGuyver the shit out of things in the dystopian alternate 31st century with only the technology they have on their persons and whatever they can scavenge from the ruins, T'Pol, Trip, and the bridge officers scramble to buy time and keep the Enterprise from being destroyed.

What this episode establishes is that the Cabal, despite its advanced technology, is not much of a threat without the shadowy figure from the future giving them direction.

Meanwhile, T'Pol's defense of Archer and the Enterprise at the end of the episode further spends the bond between her and her captain and while widening the gulf between her and the Vulcan High Command. Whatever else, at this point she wholeheartedly believes in the Enterprise's mission, and more fundamentally humanity's right to embark on that mission.

And Archer, for his part, has more or less concrete proof that what they're doing matters. He returns to his ship more committed than ever to his mission.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

2x02 - "Carbon Creek"
Star Trek has told a number of stories set during the 20th century. Usually they're to save money by not having to make everything from scratch. This one is unusual in a number of respects.

First, the framing device is remarkably low stakes: T'Pol is just telling Archer and Trip a story over drinks.

Second, it's a period piece that probably didn't save a ton of money. They would have needed to track down fifties automobiles, redress a modern street to be fifties authentic, track down costumes, stage the Vulcan crash site, etc.

Third, it's not about teaching the characters anything. All of the benefit is for the audience. By the end, Archer and Trip half-believe that she just made the whole thing up. But even though it's not revelatory to character with the connection to the past events, it's revelatory about the character. T'Pol's great grandmother having spent so much time on Earth, and having developed a more nuanced understanding of humanity during that time, undoubtedly inspired T'Pol's personal investment in the Enterprise and its mission. Even before she arrived on Earth, she would have had a different perspective on humans than most Vulcans.

The revelation of how T'Pol's great grandmother earned the money for the barmaid's son to go to college was great, and really showed how that character evolved over the course of her time on Earth.

I like that Mestral's fate was never shown, and more likely than not was never known by any of the Vulcans. Given the Vulcans' longevity, the most likely outcome is that he was killed when World War III went nuclear in 2053.

The "I Love Lucy" reference was fun, given Star Trek's origins as a Desilu production.

2x03 - "Minefield"
And here are the Romulans, and an interesting conundrum for the writers. On one hand, it was inevitable that we would encounter the Romulans at some point, since "Balance of Terror" established an Earth-Romulan War over a century prior, which would place it right in this show's general timeframe. On the other hand, it's made quite clear that the events of that episode are the first time the Federation actually sees what the Romulans look like.

In "Balance of Terror", Spock heavily implied that the reason for this was because starships in this era were limited to primitive radio communications. Obviously, the people behind "Enterprise" decided not to go that route, preferring the convenience and visual appeal of instantaneous video communication. And now, a decade and a half after this episode made, when Zoom calls and Teams meetings are a regular part of many of our lives, it seems like a good call. Given the technology we have already, it would be implausible not to have video conferencing in the 22nd century.

TNG gave a bit of an out by redefining the Romulans as an extremely secretive, overly paranoid civilization. The Romulans communicate via audio not because they can't communicate via video but because they don't want to give the enemy any more information than is absolutely necessary.

The Romulan technology here doesn't appear to be significantly less advanced than the technology in "Balance of Terror", suggesting that the Romulans have an overwhelming technological advantage over Earth at this point in the story. Obviously, that will change at some point since the Earth-Romulan War will be fought to a stalemate. But at this point, the Enterprise had no choice but to run, and limping away at that.

I was intrigued by the fact that they used the anti-cloaking technology Daniels had provided them with in the first season finale to locate and avoid the rest of the mines, suggesting more ripples from the Temporal Cold War. In the original timeline, how did they escape the minefield? Or did they never even approach that planet in the timeline where the Paraagan colony hadn't been destroyed?

2x04 - "Dead Stop"
This episode deals with the immediate fallout of the previous episode, with the Enterprise crippled by the damage from the Romulan mine. Their long-range communications are shot. And in their current state they can't go faster than Warp 2, which means a decade long journey back to Earth for repairs. Unlike the 24th century, when any needed parts can simply be replicated, this Enterprise is limited to the parts and materials on hand.

Archer decides to lean on karma after all of the Enterprise's good deeds and sends out a distress call. A passing Tellarite mining freighter passes along coordinates to a repair facility only three and a half days away at Warp 2. The automated repair facility seems too good to be true; it repairs the Enterprise in less than two days, and the compensation in return seems very reasonable.

But of course it is too good to be true. Mayweather gets deceived into violating its terms of use, and then abducted to be integrated into the repair facility's processing power. While the station requires token payment for its repairs, its real compensation appears to be in the form of information through its scans and organic computing power by drawing in life forms with complex brains and integrating them into the whole. A lot of its tactics and methods are reminiscent of the Borg. It is entirely possible that the Borg originated with a facility similar to this.

Interesting to see a Vaadwaur among the bodies integrated into the computing core, given that it is a Delta Quadrant species first seen in "Voyager".

2x05 - "A Night in Sickbay"
It was a strange choice to build such a comic episode around Archer's dog being on death's door.

I liked the idea of telling the story of one overnight stretch where Archer can't sleep, and what the ship gets up to when its main crew is normally fast asleep. Particularly his attempts to sleep in sickbay. Anybody who's spent any time in a hospital knows how difficult it is to sleep in one, and Phlox's menagerie only adds to those problems.

This being a Berman-scripted episode, you can count on some gratuitous female nudity. I hope T'Pol's carefully worded rejection of Archer's veiled inquiry of attraction is as far as anything sexual or romantic goes between the two of them. It seemed to come out of nowhere, and damages what has been the show's strongest platonic male-female bond.

John Billingsley continues to be one of this show's MVPs, and did great work even the script had him playing romantic gossip.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

2x06 - "Marauders"
One of the fun things about Enterprise being Earth's first long-range exploration vessel is that they're alone out there, and don't have the Federation's vast resources to rely on. It means having to barter for what they need, and sometimes make do with what they have. It's an aspect I'd wish we'd seen more of on "Voyager" during its trip through the Delta Quadrant.

There's a fun Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven vibe to this episode. My only real issue is that the Klingons are all allowed to run off with their tales between their legs. I felt like at least some of the Klingons should have died.

2x07 - "The Seventh"
The Vulcans coming to T'Pol with a double-secret mission isn't exactly new territory for this show, but her coming to the captain and seeking his assistance is. There's an incredible vulnerability to T'Pol throughout this episode; she leans heavily on Archer when she can't trust herself, Archer proves himself worthy of that trust.

Jolene Blalock has been one of the best at portraying a Vulcan the way Leonard Nimoy portrayed a Vulcan, both in the specific cadence of Spock's speech, and the wry sense of humor underlying many observations. But Spock was half-human, and as he allowed himself to express that side of himself more, there was a certain integration of the dueling sides of his nature. T'Pol is not half-human, and her emotions are not particularly well integrated into the whole of her being. So when they begin to peek through here, Blalock has to take an entirely different approach than Nimoy did. Her emotions bubble up unpredictably, and then erupt like a geyser, suddenly and briefly. There's both beauty and irony in the fact that her lengthy service among humans has better prepared her to come to terms with them than the first time around.

I was glad to see that Menos actually was transporting biotoxins. While I've been really enjoying the shades of gray that this show has introduced to the Vulcans, they are as a general rule honest and benevolent. It didn't sit right to me that they would lie to T'Pol to manipulate her into doing their dirty work. I find it much easier to believe that a hardened criminal would lie to T'Pol to manipulate her into letting him go.

After the early episodes where there was some dispute between T'Pol and Trip as to who was the next-most senior officer after the captain, Trip finally gets his chance to sit in the chair -- and quickly discovers that he wants nothing to do with it.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

2x08 - "The Communicator"
This is another Prime Directive episode: While covertly observing a pre-warp culture, Reed either drops his communicator or his communicator is pickpocketed, and he doesn't realize it's gone until their back on the Enterprise. In accordance with T'Pol's warnings about contaminating pre-warp cultures, Reed and the captain go down to retrieve it and end up getting caught in the middle of the planet's brewing civil war.

As Trip works furiously to try and activate the captured Suliban cell ship -- with some very unusual side effects -- Malcolm and Archer face the gallows and have to decide how much they're willing to sacrifice in order to limit the cultural contamination.

What I liked about this episode is it took the idea of noninterference from an abstract principle imposed by the Vulcans and transformed it into a moral stance taken by Archer. Ultimately, he decided even his life and the life of his tactical officer weren't worth misdirecting billions of lives, and untold lives to come.

And even though all of the technology is successfully retrieved, the episode ends on an unsettled note: Even their interactions have caused cultural contamination, as the chancellor's forces have been led to believe that their enemies in the alliance have advanced new technology which will inevitably change their strategies and alter the timing and intensity of their attacks.

2x09 - "Singularity"
I'm just not a big fan of episodes where some technobabble causes all of the crew to act extremely out of character.

It was a fun backstory to the origins of the starship red alert, and the logic behind it was underlined when it saved the severely understaffed Enterprise during a critical moment.

Dr. Phlox going all Mengele on Mayweather was somehow both funny and deeply, deeply disturbing.

2x10 - "Vanishing Point"
This episode fell into another genre of episodes I'm not a fan of: The "it was all a dream" episode.

Sato's anxiety about the transporter is well-founded; I still suspect that it just atomizes people, killing them instantly, and then creates a perfect copy of them on the transporter pad who believes they're the original person.

But it's pretty clear early on that this isn't a regular transporter malfunction story. She keeps hearing Trip's voice periodically, and nobody else is acting in character. If she can walk through walls, then it doesn't make sense that she wouldn't have just fallen through the floor into space. And her inability to translate the alien language is another clue: the language centers of our brains are meant to be used when conscious, are are far less active when dreaming.

By the end of the episode, I didn't feel like it actually contributed anything to the ongoing story.

 

[Sam Favate]

This episode fell into another genre of episodes I'm not a fan of: The "it was all a dream" episode.
...
By the end of the episode, I didn't feel like it actually contributed anything to the ongoing story.

Oh yeah, I hate that trope. Unfortunately, it seems to be Brannon Braga's stock-in-trade. How this guy rose through the ranks is something I will never understand.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

2x11 - "Precious Cargo"
I think they were going for a Han and Leia dynamic between Trip and the kidnapped future monarch, but it just didn't work at all. Padma Lakshmi is gorgeous, but this was one of her first acting jobs and it really shows.

Nor did David A. Goodman's script do any of the actors any favors. Every beat is just completely obvious, and the two kidnappers are so ineffectual that they don't make for compelling antagonists.

Nothing about the episode works. The "ruse", if you can call it that, to trick the kidnapper left behind has no dramatic heft, and we don't actually get to see the payoff anyway.

The only other time we've seen the Kriosians was in TNG, when they'd already been conquered by the Klingons. Here, at the height of their power, with a monarchy known throughout hundreds of worlds, the civilization of Krios Prime would have been fascinating to see. But we don't see it. Instead we just have its future monarch acting like a stuck up snob while Trip is the long-suffering redneck from swamp country.

Just a complete misfire from beginning to end.

2x12 - "The Catwalk"
I really liked the concept behind this episode; while "neutronic storm" sounds to me like technobabble, cosmic radiation is a very real threat. It gets back to the core truth that space is extremely dangerous and is trying to kill you every moment of every day. Given the rarity of these faster-than-light "neutronic storms", it stands to reason that Earth's first Warp 5 vessel wouldn't be equipped to endure it or outrun it.

It also stands to reason that the warp nacelles would be far more intensively shielded than other parts of the ship that weren't regulating such extreme amounts of energy. The idea of the entire crew having to hunker down in close quarters for an extended period, with jury-rigged accommodations and controls, is a great engine for character development, as we see the ways in which the crew is brought together and pulled apart.

All of that stuff was so good that I wished they been content to make a man-versus-environment story. The whole subplot with the militia trying to commandeer the ship felt like gilding the lily to me. I would have rather spent that time seeing how the crew were enduring the far from ideal situation. I did like the idea that their invited guests were both the reason they had sufficient warning to survive the storm and the reason they almost lost the ship. Rather than being all good encounters or bad encounters, I'd like to see more encounters like this one where it's a double-edged sword.

Also: We finally get a glimpse of Chef, albeit only from the waist down.

Unfortunately, it seems to be Brannon Braga's stock-in-trade. How this guy rose through the ranks is something I will never understand.

One thing that I've noticed that's rubbed me the wrong way with this series is that Berman & Braga have given themselves the "Story by" credit on nearly every episode. Now, I suppose it's possible that they really did plan out each and every one of these episodes before passing them along to other writers to flesh out into full episodes. But it seems more likely that it was a way of grabbing a chunk of the writing royalties for every episode, because they were entrenched enough with the franchise at this point that nobody could stop them from doing it.

 

[Sam Favate]

it seems more likely that it was a way of grabbing a chunk of the writing royalties for every episode, because they were entrenched enough with the franchise at this point that nobody could stop them from doing it.

Bingo.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

2x13 - "Dawn"
Trip is testing a new auto-pilot for the shuttlepods near a gas giant with dozens upon dozens of moons. Unbeknownst to him and Enterprise, the planet is in a system claimed by the Arkonians, who aggressively assert their territorial claims. An atmospheric abnormality takes down Trip's engines, along with those of his pursuer's craft, and the two of them end up trapped on the surface of the moon with no Universal Translator to make them intelligible to one another. As the sole human and sole Arkonian work through their mutual suspicions and the difficult task of reestablishing communications, dawn is coming -- and with it, a heat that neither of them can survive.

I really liked this episode. Star Trek has done stories like it before, but I liked how stripped down this one was: All of the problems were driven by simple logistical challenges rather than clever plot twists. Captain Picard couldn't communicate with the Tamarians because their language is constructed entirely out of metaphor and he didn't have the context to understand any of the references. Really clever. But Trip can't communicate with the Arkonian in this episode because he didn't bring a Universal Translator with him. That rings true.

The Arkonians are a fun species, one of the more alien humanoid races achieved through special effects makeup -- coldblooded reptiles that look a bit like Killer Croc from Batman. The heightened nature of the situation here, and Archer's ability to keep both ships focused on the immediate task at hand, means that human relations with the Arkonians get off to a far better start than Vulcan relations with the Arkonians did.

2x14 - "Stigma"
This episode is a pretty clear allegory to the HIV crisis, and the stigma associated with a sexually transmitted disease once dismissed as "gay-related immune deficiency". Pa'nar Syndrome is similarly transmitted through intimate acts, and predominantly (at this point in the Trek timeline, at least) in a minority population that the mainstream society strongly disapproves of.

T'Pol became infected with Pa'nar as a result of the invasive mental assault endured in "Fusion" and so -- much like rape victims in our time who are infected by their HIV-positive assailants -- is seen as worthy of treatment. But T'Pol rejects this framing, because it implicitly argues that others suffering from this condition are unworthy of treatment.

The episode also further differentiates the mind meld within Vulcan culture during this era from what we see in TOS and thereafter. The technique has been so lost to the annals of history that it is widely believed that only those who are able to accomplish it instinctually are even capable of it.

Given how deliberate Vulcans are in all things, and consequently adverse to rapid change, it's hard to believe that there could be such a profound cultural shift in just a century -- well within the lifespan of many Vulcans. On the other hand, the century ahead will be full of rapid changes, not least of which is the founding of the Federation of Planets. So perhaps this is a rare window of opportunity.

I appreciated that Archer didn't violate T'Pol's trust, even when honoring her wishes meant he was likely to lose her as his science officer. And while the telepathic doctor did violate her trust, it was in an act of self-empowerment; he wasn't willing to put the burdens of his community onto her shoulders, so he took on those burdens himself.

Less successful for me was the subplot with Dr. Phlox's wife trying to seduce Trip. I get what they were going for trying to depict the difference in marital norms between humans and Denobulans. But given that her advances clearly made Trip uncomfortable, and given that they were working together in a professional capacity, I can't help but see it as sexual harassment.

2x15 - "Cease Fire"
This is a both a deeply consequential moment in Earth's development as a major Alpha Quadrant player, and a just plain fun character episode.

Shran might be my favorite Jeffrey Combs character yet. I enjoyed the various Weyouns on DS9, but there are so many more notes that can be played with Shran. He is pragmatic and honest, yet his agenda is frequently at odds with our protagonists. I like him, but I'm wary of him.

Gary Graham is also great as Soval, who I believe has genuinely endeavored to advance humanity toward its betterment (at least as the Vulcans see it), but just plain hates Archer's guts. Soval may claim to be free of emotion, but it's obvious that he can't stand having to rely on Archer for these negotiations. Moreover, he doesn't believe that Archer is up to the task.

By the end of the episode, Shran's faith in Archer is vindicated. And while Soval still probably hates Archer's guts, he has been forced to revise his opinion of Archer's abilities.

I'm enjoying the open antagonism and fragile peace between the Vulcans and the Andorans. It's interesting to think they'll go from where they are at the beginning of this episode to both being founding members of the Federation in less than a decade's time. When you see how crucial Archer was to establishing the cease fire, you begin to understand why the Federation wouldn't exist without him.

 

[Sam Favate]

Combs is terrific as Shran. Rumor has it that they wanted him as a series regular if there was a season 5.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

2x16 - "Future Tense"
Enterprise finds a time machine floating through space that is far bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, piloted by a being who appears human but has lots of alien DNA. Did they just find the Doctor from "Doctor Who"?

This is another episode where the Temporal Cold War plays heavily, albeit indirectly. The vessel is from the future, but it appears to have ended up at that time and place by mistake, or after suffering catastrophic damage in battle or from some kind of accident.

The Suliban are after it, presumably on the orders of their shadowy future leaders, as are the very non-humanoid Tholians, who are apparently allied with one of the other future factions.

T'Pol, who is deeply unsettled by clear evidence of something that the Vulcans have determined to be impossible, wants to destroy it lest it fall into the wrong hands. But Archer is determined to study it, to get intelligence on the forces that keep messing with his mission.

But as it becomes clear that they aren't going to be able to outmaneuver the forces mounting against them, Trip is able to trigger a distress beacon that notifies the future of the vessel's location in time and space, and it's pulled back to its correct time, where it can't contaminate the timeline further.

This episode highlighted my issues with time travel playing such a significant role in the plot for this show in particular. As humanity's maiden exploratory effort, it's no fun if the crew of the Enterprise knows what's going to happen.

2x17 - "Canamar"
This is episode is basically just "Enterprise" doing Con Air, only without the fun colorful characters and Jerry Bruckheimer's exuberant sense of excess.

The Enolians are apparently a regional mercantile power, with a number of popular (and profitable) trading posts on various worlds within its territory, and a heavy-handed law enforcement system to keep smuggling under control.

There was nothing really awful about this episode, but nothing really great either. Once the premise was established, everything played out more or less as you would expect it to from the writers of this period of Trek.