Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 1
£39.82
Captain Archer & co s first year of adventures. - Enterprise is a vastly underrated show, both by the general public, and by Star Trek fandom. After seven years of Captain Janeway s frothy, delta quadrant exploits Enterprise is immediately a breath of fresh air(don t get me wrong I love Voyager but Enterprise is a completely different kettle of fish). The show is darker, visually much more arresting, and with characters that are much more realistic and recognisable. Setting this show in the 22nd century (200 years before Voyager/DS9/Next Gen and 100 years before Kirk&co) enables the human characters to be much more like us than in any other Star Trek series. They have similar attitudes to life, relationships etc, and they like to watch TV & movies, Captain Archer even has a pet dog on board. This all adds to make the show much more accessible to the public at large.Scott Bakula is a fantastic leading man, and the two main supporting characters of Trip and T Pol(Connor Trinneer and Jolene Blalock) are equally arresting, and overall the cast is probably the strongest of all the modern trek series. The episodes themselves are entertaining fair with few classics, but as far as first seasons go thich is of much higher quality that Next Gen, Ds9 or Voyager (all of which had atrocious first seasons). All in all this a strong start to an entertaining show!
Hmm - It was ok, but... - I have a problem with Enterprise. The episodes I liked, I liked a lot, the ones I disliked... oh dear.It s the amount of borrowing from later events (ie OST & ST:TNG). For example, discovering evidence of Borg so close to Earth - given their short range at the time - and no-one recognising them sometime later (TNG). Or the holodeck - and that the Klingons let them go just for a toy ?
Captain Kirk was inspired by this load of old cobblers? - Ever since the Star Trek franchise returned with the Next Generation it s been subject to the laws of diminishing returns, and just when everyone thought Trek couldn t sink any lower than it already had with Voyager, along came Enterprise to hammer the final nails into the coffin. Apparently later seasons of Enterprise did eventually improve on this dull as ditch water first season, but like most people by then I was long past caring. This is what happens when you let accountants take over a series in an attempt to squeeze as much money out of a dying franchise as possible. Dull dull dull dull dull dull dull. Thank god for Farscape and Galactica.
Gene Rodberry must be spinning in his grave - As a life long Star Trek fan, I can still remember the excitement of watching the very first Star Trek - TOS episode in the 60s and have been hooked ever since.I can still remember watching the First Start Trek - Enterprise episode but not for the same reason. Of all the Star Trek spin offs this is the differently the worst with only the special effects saving it. The characters are bland, 2 dimensional stereotypes having none of the interaction between characters from the other series.The series struggled with poor stories and had to invent a temporal war (which didn t fit in the history of the Star Trek universe) in an attempt to liven it up. If you are only want great special effects watch this series, if you want a character driven story then get the first 2 series of Star Trek-TOS
Brilliant - This is a great series. Now I liked the star trek episodes I saw as a kid, and decided to watch them in order, hearing about Enterprise I wanted to watch that before the Original Series.It s a far cry from the other series, without tractor beams and warp 8 etc, however this allows the characters to rely on their abilities rather than the technology!Being a fan of Quantum Leap, I was amazed by Scott Bakula, he s an amazing actor and gives a great performance as Captain Jonathan Archer. To me he is more of a relatable character than perhaps Kirk or Picard.The other cast all also amazing, T Pol, Trip and the others all give their all to make this an amazing series, I recommend it to any star trek fans, or just a general lover of sci-fi, a great character driven series!