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The Star Trek Enterprise appreciation and Season 4 discussion thread (this one's for the fans). (1 Viewer)

Corbin Stirn

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Wow....I am Loving Enterprise on Sci Fi. I just saw the season 3 episodes of the US Wild west and Similitude. Smilitude got to me......that was VERY well done. Anyone else like that episode? I really liked the fact that Tucker got a kiss. I've been hoping those 2 will get together. Seems like very ST series must have an old West theme show. Comments?
 

Todd H

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I been watching Enterprise since it debuted on HDNet. I didn't catch it the first time it was on so I'm seeing it for the first time. I have to say I'm enjoying it greatly. I find it less techno-babbly (is that a word?) than the other series. It seems more character and story driven. I actually look forward to watching every week.
 

Mikel_Cooperman

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Connor Trineer spoke recently at the Grand Slam Convention and he said the only reason Enterprise was renewed for a 4th season is not because of how good it was doing but because they needed enough episodes to make syndication.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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4x01 & 4x02 - "Stormfront"
It's strange that they chose to wrap up the Temporal Cold War at the beginning of the season, rather than at the end of a season, but I'm happy to leave it behind. Hopefully the rest of this final season will be free of time traveling hijinks.

It was also fun to get to see John Fleck looking like John Fleck and not one of his many alien characters.

A fun bit of UPN synergy with "Girlfriends" star Golden Brooks as Alicia Travers, Archer's caregiver in occupied Brooklyn. It was a nice period performance, and the dynamic between Archer and Travers reminded me a bit of the dynamic between Picard and Alfre Woodard's character in Star Trek: First Contact. I'm dubious that a version of World War II that went more favorably for the Nazis would have resulted in America's various ethnic factions banding together in resistance, but I certainly would like to believe that it would be true, that the horrors of this timeline might have a silver lining in advancing the cause of tolerance and equality among those who stand against Hitler and his war machine.

I liked how these two episodes took the time to give the victories their due weight. When Archer returns to Enterprise after being presumed dead, you really feel the boost in the crew's morale; sometimes one good impossible thing is enough to convince people that other good impossible things will be achievable.

And then, at the end of the episode, it was nice to see the bruised and battered Enterprise get a hero's welcome back on Earth. After the events of the third season, they've earned it.
 

Sam Favate

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Season 4 is, by far, my favorite year. There's a new showrunner and it shows. I think the show was hitting all the right notes this season. It remains one of my favorite seasons of any Star Trek, up there with TNG S3, DS9 S5 & 6 and TOS S1 & 2.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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4x03 - "Home"
With the detour of the Nazi two-parter behind them, Enterprise returns to a hero's welcome back on Earth and her senior officers must deal with the aftermath of their actions in the Delphic Expanse.

While the digital matte paintings featured in this episode are laughably amateurish by today's standards, it's fascinating to see the production team starting to realize and explore the possibilities of computer-generated visual effects to create a sense of vastness and scale that wasn't previously possible within the budget and production schedule of a Star Trek series.

During the third season, Archer did not conduct himself according to the standards we would expect of a Starfleet captain. And in this episode, he is only too aware of that. With the objectivity and distance available to us as the audience, we can know that in many cases he had no choice; he went with the least bad option that allowed him to save his homeworld and his species. But Archer being Archer, knowing the kind of captain he wanted to be and comparing it to the kind of captain he was forced to be, that doesn't alleviate any of the guilt. Fortunately the newly named captain of the NX-02 is there to give him some perspective. I really enjoyed the maturity of that relationship, the way she was both genuinely attracted to Archer and doing what Starfleet required of her to get their war hero back in the right headspace.

The storyline on Vulcan lays bare the hypocrisy of the Vulcan society at this point in time; by punishing T'Pol's mother in order to hurt T'Pol, they are no less vindictive than the emotional humans they look down upon. And while Trip has to watch the woman he loves marry another man, he conducts himself with dignity and honor. Certainly, he wins over T'Pol's mother when she sees that he is putting her daughter's needs above his own desires. Speaking of T'Pol's mother: Joanna Cassidy is great in that role. By the end of the episode, I believed that she loved her daughter deeply.

The subplot with Phlox getting harassed by the xenophobic guy at the bar was a potent idea that I don't think was particularly well-executed. I totally believe that the Xindi threat would have unleashed a wave of xenophobia. But Phlox's status as a member of the Enterprise crew would have changed the dynamics some; even if that fact wouldn't have preventing the guy from mouthing off, I would think that some of the other patrons at the bar would come to the defense of these three Enterprise officers.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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I got derailed from this when I shifted the focus of my limited viewing time to the October Scary Movie Challenge, but I got the "Enterprise" complete series Blu-ray super-cheap as a Black Friday deal on Amazon, so now I'm getting back to it.

As a side note: I don't know if it's a better encode, better upscaling from my Panasonic UB820 versus my Roku Ultra, or some combination of both, but the picture quality is noticeably better on the Blu-rays versus the Paramount+ stream that I'd been using to watch the series up until this point. It's a bit of a double-edged sword, though; the greater clarity of the live action elements accentuates the low res nature of some of the CG visual effects, especially the shots of the Enterprise in space.

4x04 - "Borderland"
With the Xindi War resolved, the upgraded and refitted Enterprise heads back out into space. But their mission of exploration is put on the backburner again as a new threat to Earth rears its ugly head.

It's nice to see Augments revisited; the shadow cast by Khan is so long that most of Trek avoids anything to do with the subject that isn't Khan himself; Bashir on DS9 being a notable exception.

I just wish more care went into the casting and writing of them. Ricardo Montalban wasn't exceptionally tall or exceptionally muscular, but he's had an undeniable gravitas that convinced the viewer than Khan was something more than just human. The young adults here don't have that same gravitas. They don't look superhuman, but more importantly they don't feel superhuman. If anything, their tribalism and shows of dominance make they feel more primitive rather than more intelligent. The deposed and executed leader at least had some understanding of consequences and the dangers of making enemies unnecessarily when you're feared pariahs with no allies anywhere. The new leader Malik, meanwhile, just seems to want to get laid.

I think Arik Soong would have played better for me if I'd watched this story arc before "Picard" Season 2. At this point, I'm just sick and tired of Brent Spiner playing different generations of the amoral and narcissistic Soongs. Of course, Soong was going to betray Archer. Of course, he would heedlessly create messes that our more responsible protagonists would be tasked with clearing up.

I liked the insight into the Orion slave trading operations. Up to this point, I'd know that the Orions were notorious for participating in the slave trade, but this episode showed us how they got their merchandise.
 

Sam Favate

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I always liked the Augments segment, but I also have grown tired of Spiner playing every Soong family member, most with a twinkle in the eye and an ulterior motive.
 

joshEH

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I think Arik Soong would have played better for me if I'd watched this story arc before "Picard" Season 2. At this point, I'm just sick and tired of Brent Spiner playing different generations of the amoral and narcissistic Soongs. Of course, Soong was going to betray Archer. Of course, he would heedlessly create messes that our more responsible protagonists would be tasked with clearing up.

To be sure, we did finally get a good and virtuous Soong-character in season one of Picard, with Spiner playing Altan Inigo, and it could probably be reasonably argued that Noonien Soong himself wasn't a terrible guy either, with his heart in the right place.
 

Philip Verdieck

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The fourth season is the best and I love the Vulcan three-parter.
By far. That is one of the biggest gems of Enterprise. Its amazing what they did in S4, right up until the finale. Its like giving a talk about how great S4 was then getting kicked in the groin.

I forget if the breaking the warp 3? barrier episode test pilot episode was in S4 or not.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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4x05 - "Cold Station 12"
As Soong aims to "liberate" the other Augment embryos kept in cold storage since the Eugenic Wars, his "children" begin to chafe at taking orders from a mere human, even the one who raised them.

It was cool to meet Doctor Lucas after being referenced for so long as the recipient of Phlox's subspace letters. Another memorable performance from Richard Riehle, one of the great character actors of his generation.

I found Udar, the Augment without any (but one) of the Augment enhancements, an interesting character that I would have liked to learn more about. Clearly Soong selected his embryo on purpose. Was his anomalous condition the result of mistakes in his genetic code made by the 20th century genetists who created him, that Soong was simply unaware of? Or did Soong deliberately strip away his enhancements, perhaps to use him as a human control to compare the others against?

I found the conversation between Archer and Phlox in the mess intriguing as well; the Denobulans used genetic engineering to enhance their species without suffering any Eugenics Wars of their own. This would seem to indicate that creating tyrants like Khan is not inevitable. On the other hand, the fact that the genetic engineering ban is extended to the whole Federation by the 24th century would seem to indicate that it is the Denobulans that are the outliers rather than the humans, since I doubt such a ban would be extended if humanity was the only species to have problems with it.
 

Sam Favate

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The difference between the Federation and the Denobulians was striking. It was a mature way to look at the issue, and show that the Federation wasn’t always right. It was refreshing.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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4x06 - "The Augments"
I appreciated that this story was over and done with in three episodes. Once Malik crossed the lines he did in the previous episode, it was clear that Earth would never allow Soong's Augments to fade off into the sunset. So I'm glad they didn't drag out the consequences for his actions. I wish more series would tell more stories over fewer episodes, rather than try and stretch out a story to fit the episode order.

The most interesting part of this episode for me was seeing Soong realize that Archer et al was right and he was wrong, and then the steps he was willing to take to contain the fallout of his error.

I'm struck by the fact that the problem with genetic engineering is the same problem as eugenics, only much more acute: humanity cannot perfect itself, because it doesn't have the wisdom or knowledge to know which traits to nurture and which traits to prune. In the Prime continuity, humanity developed genetic engineering decades earlier than in our timeline. They knew how to make people stronger, smarter, more resistant to disease and harsh environments. But they didn't know how to make them noble and collaborative and selfless. The violent ends of the Augments were made inevitable by flawed designs.

I would have liked to see Persis survive, though, because she was willing to pursue Soong's more moderate course. If she had been the only one of the Augments left, could she have accomplished great things on behalf of humanity? Or, with all of the fiercer and stronger competition eliminated from the board, would she ultimately have tried to dominate and control as Malik did?

I'm also curious about the genetic lineage for the Augments. We know from La'an Noonien-Singh on "Strange New Worlds" that the original Augments left behind descendants when they were exiled. We also know from genetic testing that nearly every Briton who isn't descended from immigrants is a descendant of Edward III. Given their power, positions of autocratic authority, and enhanced virility, it makes sense that the Augments who reigned during the Eugenic Wars would have had lots of sex with lots of different people. To what degree did they pass along their enhancements, and to what degree did that shape humanity in the generations to come?

I kind of wish that Enterprise had been forced to destroy the Augments' Bird of Prey. Having Malik destroy it himself felt like a bit of a cop out to keep our heroes' hands clean.

It was fun to have the Briar Patch from Star Trek: Insurrection name dropped here. To think, if Malik had just listened to his father, the Augments wouldn't only have been safe -- they could have lived forever!

I have mixed feelings about the coda with Soong back in his prison cell. I like the idea that Starfleet is archiving all of his writings, in the hopes that future generations with more wisdom and caution might be able to use his ideas in a productive way. But having him muse about switching from genetics to cybernetics felt like it wrapped the Soong lineage into too neat of a little bow.

To be sure, we did finally get a good and virtuous Soong-character in season one of Picard, with Spiner playing Altan Inigo, and it could probably be reasonably argued that Noonien Soong himself wasn't a terrible guy either, with his heart in the right place.
I wouldn't say any of the Soong characters, except maybe Adam Soong, are wholly evil. Arik, Noonian, and Altan Inigo were all acting in accordance with discernable moral principles that were guided by sincerely held beliefs.

But that doesn't change the fact that their arrogant pursuit of their agendas had incredibly dangerous consequences. Even in the case of Altan Inigo, his work with Bruce Maddox almost destroyed all sentient organic life in the galaxy.
 

Sam Favate

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I have mixed feelings about the coda with Soong back in his prison cell. I like the idea that Starfleet is archiving all of his writings, in the hopes that future generations with more wisdom and caution might be able to use his ideas in a productive way. But having him muse about switching from genetics to cybernetics felt like it wrapped the Soong lineage into too neat of a little bow.
I tend to agree, although when it looked like Enterprise was going to be the end of Trek for a good while (which it was), it didn't seem to be a big deal. But now they've gone to the Soong well at least two more times and, well, enough is enough.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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4x07 - "The Forge"
I knew I would enjoy this episode when Ambassador Soval explained why the Vulcans fear humanity:

"We had our wars, Admiral, just as humans did. Our planet was devastated, our civilization nearly destroyed. Logic saved us. But it took almost fifteen hundred years for us to rebuild our world and travel to the stars. You humans did the same in less than a century. There are those on the High Command who wonder what humans would achieve in the century to come, and they don't like the answer."

It gets to the heart of why the Vulcans have worked so assiduously to constrain humanity's progress, and why someone would want to target Earth's embassy on the eve of a new, more equal partnership.

It's a story that couldn't be told any earlier, because Archer had to earn Soval's respect and trust first. It's an extraordinary thing, for a senior Vulcan official to side with humanity over his own people. T'Pol was exiled for that very thing. I don't know if I would have believed that Soval would take such a drastic step if we hadn't seen his relationship with Archer evolve, and hadn't seen Forrest sacrifice himself to save Soval.

The story also gets to the heart of one of the other big questions of the series: Why are the Vulcans of "Enterprise" so different than the Vulcans of the later series? Why are customs and rituals taboo here that are seen as commonplace, even universal, in the later series? The ideological divide between the Vulcan High Command and the growing Syrrannite movement helps explain that.

When we meet "Arev", the desert wind, he immediately feels more like the Vulcans we know from later series, which drives home how different the Vulcans we've met up until this point have been.

And then, at the end, when "Arev" is dying and he has that intense moment with Archer, it doesn't feel like a cheat because we've seen it before, with Spock and Bones. When Archer awakens and knows things he couldn't possibly know, anybody who's seen The Search for Spock knows that Archer's carrying the katra of another in his head. And the question I found myself wondering as "To Be Continued..." came up on the screen: Is it the katra of "Arev", or is it the katra of Surak, whose essence we've been told was preserved after his body perished many, many centuries ago?

Looking forward to the next episode tomorrow.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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4x08 - "Awakening"
One of the brilliant things about this story arc is that it highlights the fact that the road to the founding of the Federation isn't just a coming of age story for humanity, it's a coming of age story for the Vulcans and Andorians as well.

There's a nice parallel here between Archer and Sisko; just as the Prophets needed Sisko to be their Emissary, Surak chooses Archer. Not in spite of Archer being human, but because of it: At this moment of crisis for Vulcan, Surak needed someone with the objectivity of an outsider's perspective. And Archer's embodiment of their revered leader confronts not just the xenophobic fascism of V'Las but the prejudices of the Syrrannites as well.

Aboard Enterprise, it was gratifying to see how far Trip has come as a leader. At the beginning of the series, he could barely handle routine shifts in the captain's chair when Archer and T'Pol were otherwise engaged. Now he's gone toe to toe with the leader of Earth's most powerful ally, and balanced competing priorities amidst extreme circumstances without getting anybody killed and without undermining humanity's strategic interests. He's able to look beyond the humans murdered at the embassy to see the longer term dangers of a war between the Vulcans and the Andorians.

I've really enjoyed Joanna Cassidy as T'Pol's mother. Their scenes in this episode were fraught; underlying the logical debate about T'Les joining a group that T'Pol views as extremist is the emotional wound that T'Pol married someone she didn't love to restore T'Les's societal standing, only for T'Les to throw it all away. On some level, whether she realizes it or not, she blames her mother for torpedoing her relationship with Trip. But then, as things get more dire, she has to put those feelings aside and just be there for her mother at the end, so that they don't part with this conflict still hanging between them.

Gary Graham, who I previously only knew from the "Alien Nation" syndicated series, continues to be terrific as Soval, a sort of proto-Sarek. He has a deep investment in humanity, but everything he does in this episode is ultimately what he views as being in the best interest of the Vulcans. And he is aware enough to understand that the only way he can advance those interests is by convincing Trip that stopping the V'Las and the war he's dead set on starting is in humanity's best interest as well.

4x09 - "Kir'Shara"

A strong conclusion, as the Vulcans and Andorians retreat to old prejudices, only for Archer and Enterprise to appeal to the better angels of their natures. And, in a sign of things to come, that appeal is ultimately successful, on both sides.

I liked that the victory felt hard-won and earned. I liked that Shran abducted Soval and tortured him -- because, given the Andorians' past behavior and the enmity between the Andorians and Vulcans -- of course he would. There's no way the Andorians would risk so much on the word of a couple pink skins.

T'Pol's Pa'nar syndrome is one of the story threads that sort of got lost in the shuffle, and this was the logical time to nip it in the bud. In a way, it feels earned as well: T'Pol has to open her mind in a way that was traumatic in the past, and trust a woman she has been told is a murderer more or less solely on the basis that her late mother trusted her.

On one hand, Archer and T'Pau getting the access codes from T'Pol's husband felt like a bit of a deus ex machina. On the other hand, it was an unexpected way to wrap up their marriage storyline: He behaves honorably from beginning to end, even though T'Pol has given him very little reason to. I always lean in a little closer when the character who is the obstacle is more in the right than the character we care about.

There have been lots of insubordination plots on shows like this, so here it was nice to see Malcolm disagree with Trip's decisionmaking but still respect the chain of command and obey his orders.

I appreciated that humanity's reward for averting this crisis is to get its training wheels taken off. If it had entered the Federation still under the Vulcan's guidance and protection, Earth would never have been able to get out from under them. When the Federation is formed, Earth and Vulcan need to stand together as equals. Earth is starting to develop a reputation as a trustworthy player on the galactic stage.

The only thing that didn't quite sit well with me was the stinger, where it was revealed that V'Las was actually conspiring with the Romulans. It felt like one twist too many, and having the Romulans in the shadows pulling the Vulcans' strings felt like a cop out; I feel like the story is much more powerful if the conflict is rooted in an ideological divide purely within Vulcan society, without any outside manipulation.

I always like to see TOS actors in modern "Trek," so it was nice to see Jack Donner pop up as the Vulcan priest who receives Surak's katra from Archer. Before the modern advances in prosthetics and makeup effects, they had to cast actors whose heads and faces already did a lot of the work convincing us that the person was an alien, and Donner definitely had the perfect face for playing Romulans and Vulcans.
 

Adam Lenhardt

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4x10 - "Daedalus"
This stand alone episode, after a few multi-episode story arcs, highlighted the limitations of a prequel series. We knew that the 24th century Federation didn't have interplanetary transporters, so there was no way it would be successfully achieved here.

I still think it was a mistake introducing transporter technology in the series premiere. The limitations of not having transporters available could have opened up a lot of interesting storytelling opportunities not available to TOS and chronologically later series.

Bill Cobbs did a good job as Emory Erickson, the father of the transporter and the Daedalus of this episode's story. He never really got that breakout starring role, but he's always had a movie star's charisma.

My biggest issue with this episode is that I didn't buy Archer's behavior. The friendship between him and Quinn Erickson had never been referenced before, so we had no investment in it. And after Emory Erickson betrayed Archer's trust and got a member of Archer's crew killed, I didn't believe that Archer would allow Emory to put anybody else in his crew at risk.
 

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