Let's talk about Star Trek: Enterprise

[EntelechyFuff]

Specifically, let's talk about what's wrong with it and why it is the black sheep of the series.

Seriously, someone tell me, because my wife and I are watching it now and can't figure out why it is so maligned. For context, we watched TNG, TOS, DS9, tried to watch VOY (couldn't even finish the first season, and Picard.

Enterprise seems alright in comparison to these. It's no DS9 or TNG, but certainly more entertaining than Voyager (which hand waves its premise way too fast) and Picard (which didn't seem to know what it wanted to be doing).

Enterprise does the "fish out of water, gotta improvise all the time" theme way better than Voyager ever did. Yes, I've seen Dear Doctor and yes, I consider their decision in this episode to be utterly moronic. However, most episodes are fine and increasingly I'm finding that I like these characters.

So what's so bad about Enterprise? Is it something I haven't encountered yet (most of the way through S1)? Has some horrible aspect of the show passed me by unnoticed?

 

[FaceHugger]

I don't know either. It hit all the high notes long time Star Trek fans wanted out of a series. The leads were all charismatic.

My guess is that it came out on network TV when many had already transitioned to streaming media. So it suffered for viewers because of it.

 

[BossAttack]

Well, even at its absolute best it's mediocre. Archer is such a bland Captain who typically bumbles into success as opposed to taking any charge. Also, the Xindi plot destroys its original concept to chase a weak 9/11 allegory.

 

[DrForester]

Problem was all the characters were awful. The incompetence went well beyond "it's my first day"



I was hyped too. I grew up with Quantum Leap and was excited for Captain Bakula. But it just never came together.

I'm no big fan of Voyager, but Voyager could occasionally be brilliant and put out some outstanding episodes. Enterprise at it's very best was just OK.

 

[John Dunbar]

My guess is that it came out on network TV when many had already transitioned to streaming media. So it suffered for viewers because of it.

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people were doing that in 2001?

 

[B.K.]

My guess is that it came out on network TV when many had already transitioned to streaming media. So it suffered for viewers because of it.

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It premiered in 2001. Streaming wasn't a thing back then. I would say that one of the things that probably hurt it the most was that it was on UPN, instead of being a first run syndication. No one watched UPN.

 

[Cerulean_skylark]

I don't know either. It hit all the high notes long time Star Trek fans wanted out of a series. The leads were all charismatic.

My guess is that it came out on network TV when many had already transitioned to streaming media. So it suffered for viewers because of it.

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no it did not. At least in Canada I don't even know if Netflix was available and when it was it was a dvd rental service.

 

[gforguava]

I'm not sure if there is a singular satisfactory answer.

Archer really, really sucks.
Most of the cast are wasted.
It doesn't really have a standout anything you can point to(Voyager at least had Picardo as the Doctor).

I personally put it ahead of Voyager, at the very least.

 

[Nemesis121]

Season 1 and 2 are bad, season 3 and 4 were actually good with long running story similar to DS9 Dominion plot.

 

[Meows]

I loved season three of Enterprise, it was one of my favorite seasons of Trek. We watched the whole show in 2018 and had a good time watching it - the worst aspects seemed to be they just didn't know what to do with Scott Bakula and reusing ideas from older shows to the point where it must have gotten stale for some users? I really liked Trip, T'Pol, and Phlox.

The finale is the worst finale I've ever seen and I watched Game of Thrones.

 

[Avengers23]

Starts with

 

[TooFriendly]

Yeah I didn't watch all of it, but I thought it was great at the time and I loved the premise.

worst opening song of them all though. God I hate it.

 

[DrForester]

Starts with

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[JackRandom]

The main problems i have with Enterprise are twofold:
2. The characters are, outside of Archer and maybe Phlox, completely forgettable.
1. the premise is "they're out there, blazing the trail, they don't the techniques, resources, or technology from the other three shows that have been airing non-stop since the 80s, so the situations and solutions are going to be brand new!" And... then they're just not. too many of the solutions end up being that they invent whatever the technology is that they're missing.. right there, in that episode.

 

[Exist 2 Inspire]

For me personally the crew did not click at all. It being a prequel wasn't ideal either, i rather liked how the shows moved forward in time. Also some really dumb stuff in there too from stupid retcons to the cringeworthy "decontamination gel" scene.

 

[Dekuman]

I like it, it's more political in the sense of world building and defining the political structure of the pre federation races by virtue of its place in the canon, and the uncertainty around its status for sure hurt it as the final season was all over the place. That said, episodes like Carbon Creek are still some of the finest Trek IMHO.

 

[Deleted member 5028]

I don't know either. It hit all the high notes long time Star Trek fans wanted out of a series. The leads were all charismatic.

My guess is that it came out on network TV when many had already transitioned to streaming media. So it suffered for viewers because of it.

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Enterprise was 01-05, so it was definitely pre streaming. It being on UPN was the problem according to Trineer

The problem was that for the nights that we were on, usually your Major League Baseball team was also on UPN locally. So, we would get preempted by whatever local sports were happening. There were also entire regions – it didn't even play in St. Louis, Scott [Bakula's] home town. So, you had these pockets of where it wasn't even on.

And then [Paramount Television Chairman] Kerry McCluggage got fired, our real fan, really quick [December, 2001]. And then the new regime came in and it was probably as early as the second season when we were like "Huh?" I don't think we got any lesser ratings than anyone else, but Next Generation. I think we all kind of sat in that same area.

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[Quixzlizx]

The fascist Terra intro was hype x10000000 compared to the default theme song.

 

[FaceHugger]

people were doing that in 2001?

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2001? Jesus. I guess I was just behind on the curve. I didn't watch an episode until around 2009. I thought that was when it came out.

Ignore me. I clearly have no idea what I am talking about with this show. (also I am usually really late on watching TV shows, years late).

 

[gforguava]

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That is so much better. How is that so much better?

 

[Htown]

Seriously, someone tell me, because my wife and I are watching it now and can't figure out why it is so maligned. For context, we watched TNG, TOS, DS9, tried to watch VOY (couldn't even finish the first season, and Picard.

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so I think part of it is that you didn't watch 7 seasons worth of Voyager, so you're less tired of the formula than most fans were when the show first aired

for what it's worth, I also liked Enterprise better than Voyager

So what's so bad about Enterprise? Is it something I haven't encountered yet (most of the way through S1)? Has some horrible aspect of the show passed me by unnoticed?

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You also haven't reached the worst part of the show yet. There's like a ten episode stretch of season 2 that is just goddamn terrible. It hasn't yet become clear that some of the ongoing plotlines go nowhere. And it's not yet obvious to you that Travis Mayweather has no reason to exist as a character.

That said, I do really like the last couple seasons of the show.



Oh also if you like the show, don't watch the last episode. It's actually insulting.

 

[Quinton]

Quinton's Memoirs, Chapter 15
Star Trek: Enterprise

Season 1: "That was pretty alright."
Season 2: "This is kind of falling apart."
Season 3: "Wow, I mostly loved that. Oh, the show might be cancelled? That's no good. I'll join #SaveEnterprise. Ah, good. It has been saved."
Season 4: "I liked that slightly less but still a fair bit. Seems most fans loved it. Oh, the show has been cancelled? That's no good. I'll join #SaveEnterprise. Ah, shucks. This accomplished nothing."

 

[BossAttack]

Ah Travis, the character whose just...there.

 

[Serebii]

I really enjoyed Enterprise. It didn't deserve the hate it got. Yeah it had some awful filler but it was really enjoyable. It also didn't disregard canon as much as people insist it did, Ferengi episode notwithstanding

Though that last episode should never have existed

 

[Dehnus]

I liked it, could do without the creepy Bermantrek fanservice with T'Pol and the over compensating for 9/11 of Season 3. Other than that, I enjoyed a lot of it. It had some interesting ideas.

 

[Won]

It tried way to hard to reference and echo previous shows. The result was something I could only watch with apathy. It had nothing "fresh" and/or interesting to offer.

And after Voyager no one needed that.

 

[Quinton]

I really enjoyed Enterprise. It didn't deserve the hate it got. Yeah it had some awful filler but it was really enjoyable. It also didn't disregard canon as much as people insist it did, Ferengi episode notwithstanding

Though that last episode should never have existed

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It's been my dream ever since CBS All Access has proven Star Trek's continued success that the producers would be willing to toss together a TV movie of sorts to replace that finale with something far better. It probably won't ever happen but given how openly creative they've been about all sorts of experimental stuff thus far I wouldn't say it's impossible.

 

[Alavard]

1) Terribly bland characters that the show can't figure out how to develop.
2) The show is a prequel series and makes sure you know it at all times. The show is obsessed with references to things that exist in the later seasons but don't yet. Sometimes it's the focus of the plot, like the Prime Directive not existing yet. Sometimes it's an offhand remark, like Malcom saying he likes the sound of 'Reed Alert', but the show constantly dangles these in your face in case you ever forget it's the prequel series.
3) The Temporal Cold War that overshadows a lot of the show is arbitrary and unfulfilling. The characters have little agency, and the plot comes and goes.


...however, the show was developing into something better in its 3rd season. Like most Trek shows, it needed time to bake, and the plug was probably pulled too soon.

 

[Dehnus]

I'm not sure if there is a singular satisfactory answer.

Archer really, really sucks.
Most of the cast are wasted.
It doesn't really have a standout anything you can point to(Voyager at least had Picardo as the Doctor).

I personally put it ahead of Voyager, at the very least.

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I kind of liked Archer, just season 3 was not that enjoyable for me. That said the Doctor was an interesting character, and I liked how the Vulcans clearly showed a darker side to them. I learned to love the Andorians a lot more defending against Vulcan Colonialism :). Those things were nice :). (Not colonialism of course, but that they dealt with the Darker Side of Vulcan arrogance and thinking, which turned into colonial abuse of the Andorian people).


But yeah I did like Trip Tucker, but I'm an Engineer that likes bad movies, so I"m really biased :P. But from a non biased point of view, I liked the Doctor not as much as Picardo, but the actor that did Phlox wanted a lot of progressive points to be pushed with that character :). He gave some nice interviews on the matter heh.

 

[Serebii]

It's been my dream ever since CBS All Access has proven Star Trek's continued success that the producers would be willing to toss together a TV movie of sorts to replace that finale with something far better. It probably won't ever happen but given how openly creative they've been about all sorts of experimental stuff thus far I wouldn't say it's impossible.

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Honestly Terra Prime and Demons is a really good finale when you think about it

 

[CKOHLER]

I'm with you OP. Enterprise is great and I love the "prequel/origins" angle. The series finale was a bad decision, though.

The show is certainly is more optimistic and true to the ideals of Star Trek than the more recent shows.

 

[Dehnus]

It's been my dream ever since CBS All Access has proven Star Trek's continued success that the producers would be willing to toss together a TV movie of sorts to replace that finale with something far better. It probably won't ever happen but given how openly creative they've been about all sorts of experimental stuff thus far I wouldn't say it's impossible.

Click to shrink...

Yup, or just some new series with a new cast said just moments after that, with a different crew set in the first Romulan-Federation war, how it came to be until it's end in the final season. A bit like DS:9's overarching story with the Dominion. Never going to happen though. :)

 

[EntelechyFuff]

Sounds like the worst is yet to come then. I'll brace myself. Sad to see the implications that the temporal Cold War doesn't really go anywhere--it was set up well and frames the theme of natural vs. accelerated progress.

I can already see they're having trouble developing some of the characters--Reed, Hoshi, and Mayweather in particular have gotten featured a few times heavily, and still feel largely like nobodies.

Did this show overlap with Voyager's original run at all? That seems insane if so.

 

[Serebii]

Sounds like the worst is yet to come then. I'll brace myself. Sad to see the implications that the temporal Cold War doesn't really go anywhere--it was set up well and frames the theme of natural vs. accelerated progress.

I can already see they're having trouble developing some of the characters--Reed, Hoshi, and Mayweather in particular have gotten featured a few times heavily, and still feel largely like nobodies.

Did this show overlap with Voyager's original run at all? That seems insane if so.

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Honestly, Season 3 and Season 4 are the best Enterprise has to offer.

Season 2 has great moments but has a fair few more filler than you could care to accept

It didn't overlap with Voyager

 

[Meows]

I like Hoshi but they never really do a lot with her, unfortunately.

 

[nekkid]

I always wanted to see an anthology show that covered the gap between First Contact and Enterprise.

 

[Jimnymebob]

I honestly didn't mind Enterprise. The biggest problem is that everyone in the main crew other than Archer and Dr. Phlox are completely not memorable.
Also, the last episode is one of the stupidest finales ever.

 

[Quinton]

Honestly Terra Prime and Demons is a really good finale when you think about it

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I think I have a distant memory of us discussing this on GateWorld like a millennia ago. LOL. But yeah, I mostly agree with you. There are some oddities involved (Travis suddenly gets an ex-girlfriend subplot in the series finale; a certain downer note for two major characters) but all told it works rather nicely.

Yup, or just some new series with a new cast said just moments after that, with a different crew set in the first Romulan-Federation war, how it came to be until it's end in the final season. A bit like DS:9's overarching story with the Dominion. Never going to happen though. :)

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I'd so be down. Alas!

 

[Cheerilee]

That is so much better. How is that so much better?

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They could have also done the usual Trek thing and borrowed a nice piece of music from one of their bigger-budgeted movies.

 

[gforguava]

I like Hoshi but they never really do a lot with her, unfortunately.

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Outside of Archer, I kind of like the whole cast but a lot of the time it feels like I'm only liking the sketch of them because the show just doesn't do the work. So it feels weird to say "I like Hoshi." (and I do) when I could never really tell you why.


All this talk does make me want to give it a rewatch, I tried a few years back but I bounced off hard when confronted with my newfound dislike of Archer(I don't recall disliking him all that much on my original watch).

 

[Volimar]

I liked that they weren't able to muscle their way out of problems. They were constantly outgunned. Though I will admit a small feeling of triumph when that Klingon ship tries destroying Enterprise just as it's entering Earth space and the other Earth starships show up and kick them out of the system.

 

[zou]

dunno, only Star Trek show I ever got into. Thought it was enjoyable.

 

[Serebii]

I think I have a distant memory of us discussing this on GateWorld like a millennia ago. LOL.

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Ah yes, the times of discussing Star Trek on a Stargate forum. Good times haha

 

[jb1234]

Poor characterization was the show's biggest problem (and casting, in the case of Mayweather). I think the show could have overcome its first two seasons with more strongly defined characters. Season 3 and to a slightly lesser extent 4 work because the plot engines are a lot stronger but the characters still often feel like they're cogs.

 

[Murfield]

I thought it was at its strongest when it dealt with themes of horror, and how out-classed the enterprise was. There were some really creepy episodes about very advanced aliens hounding the enterprise. Also episodes with the Andorans were very good.

I think its big weakness is the time travel plot. Its when the show was at its weakest, felt entirely unnecessary and as though the writers had cold feet when it came to writing a prequel series. It at its strongest when dealing with the themes of the setting, like interacts between federation founding species and an ill-prepared enterprise dealing with a hostile universe.

 

[Eoin]

A lot of the reasons why it got the reception it did are rooted in the time that it was first aired.

In 2001, Star Trek had been on the air continuously for 14 years, with 21 seasons in total of TNG, DS9 and Voyager. Nobody really felt much need for more Star Trek, unless it was going to be somewhat different to those series. DS9 differentiated itself from TNG by setting itself on a space station and then running with an ongoing storyline, and that worked fine. Voyager differentiated itself from both those shows by firing Voyager off to the Delta quadrant by itself, and then... basically being TNG, and that worked.. variably.

Enterprise differentiated itself by setting itself in the past, but that meant that in order to tell stories that the audience might believe could be consequential to the wider Star Trek universe, it had to do things like the temporal cold war. It also had a tendency to cram in references to Star Trek canon that we'd seen before but were chronologically new in Enterprise. That was sometimes fun, but other times it felt a little bit like Enterprise was grabbing them just to say "we did this first".

A lot of the other factors that worked against it are kind of unfair. It first aired just about two weeks after 9/11. Not many people would have been feeling in sync with an optimistic vision of a peaceful future right at that moment. People also didn't like the theme song. The discussions I saw after the first episode (which, not being in the USA, I couldn't watch, so those discussions were my only way to learn about the show) were maybe 40% about the episode, 60% about the theme song.

After watching it through on Netflix over the past few years (in sporadic chunks), I think it's mostly okay, but "mostly okay" Star Trek wasn't ever going to excite people in the early 2000s, who had watched hundreds of episodes of Star Trek in the previous decade, the majority of which were at or above the level of "mostly okay". Enterprise probably would have needed to start off with a spectacularly good first season to overcome that.

My biggest issue with it is that there's so little character development in the show. Only T'Pol really grows as a character. Tucker does too, but to a lesser extent. Mayweather pretty much undergoes character regression. There's a few good recurring characters as well - most notably Shran, who actually has more character development in his few appearances than anyone other than (and perhaps including) T'Pol. With so few characters (DS9 had 10 main characters, Voyager had 9, Enterprise had 7), they really needed to be making every character memorable and unique beyond just their surface-level characteristics, but mostly in the show, things happen, the characters react in the way you'd expect based on those surface-level traits, and that's that.

 

[Volimar]

Imagine a scenario where Shran joins the crew. So much conflict!

Jeffrey Combs is a treasure.

 

[Vault]

Andorians are the best part of Enterprise, jeffery Combs kills it as Shran.

 

[riverfr0zen]

I enjoyed it, but I only caught it some time after 2010.

As to why it never caught the way the other shows did, well look at the release dates.

World was consumed with 9/11 at the time. I feel like by the time people were ready to really consume/follow tv sci fi shows again, shows like Lost and BSG put Enterprise severely in the category of "yesteryear" style sci-fi.

 

[Exist 2 Inspire]

They could have also done the usual Trek thing and borrowed a nice piece of music from one of their bigger-budgeted movies.

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The Generations Overture is genuinely one of my favorite Trek pieces, love it.