I will be sad to see “Enterprise” go.
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In the Fall of 2000 the world was introduced to the fifth incarnation of the "Star Trek" television franchise. Dubbed "Enterprise," taking its name from the ship of record, the series was intended to take viewers back to a time when deep space exploration was still novel rather than a matter of routine. In truth, one of the biggest problems I´ve always had with the "Star Trek" universe is just how easy everything comes. Translators work instantaneously, there are a plethora of weapons at every officer´s disposal, and most races from "The Next Generation" on are either completely peaceful or bent on the destruction of the universe. There is no ambiguity, no middle ground, and ultimately no interest for me.
So does "Enterprise" do anything differently? Yes and no. The program seems to walk a precarious line between the lighthearted nature of the original program in the sixties that, admittedly, had a lot of silly aliens and plots, and the dark, war-torn universe at the end of Deep Space Nine. While it was interesting watching this crew of the Enterprise discover technology that would become routine in later years, like Phase Pistols, the Transporter, and Photon Torpedoes, I kept feeling like all the dialogue was tongue-in-cheek, like the writers were forcing new "familiar" inventions to keep fans interested. But I would have preferred to see what came before? What came between bullets and laser weapons? How was this technology discovered? Were there any problems with it? These sorts of moments were what I wanted to experience with this program.
Furthermore the program drops us into the same sort of nonsense that plagued, in my opinion, the middle years of "Deep Space Nine," and caused me to cease watching that program; a clandestine threat working toward war. In this case it was a being from the future who was attempting to initialize conflict with the Klingons for their own purpose. I´m sorry to say that I honestly didn´t care much for the concept of a temporal cold war and felt it superfluous to the overarching narrative. It´s as if the writers weren´t confident they could put together interesting stand alone stories and needed a reason to draw people back.
As you can tell, there are things I appreciated in the program and others that rubbed me the wrong way. Let´s start with the former. The simple feel of the crew and structure of Enterprise has a naval tradition that´s closer to "Master and Commander" than "The Next Generation." Captain Jonathon Archer (Scott Bakula) is a gunslinger who takes point and runs headlong into situations he may not understand in the name of exploration. While he may be inordinately qualified for his position, he still seems insecure about all of his actions, not knowing the ultimate ramifications. It´s a solid characterization as Archer is, in fact, doing things that have never been done by Humans.
Archer is given guidance, or overseen if you prefer, by the Vulcans. One thing "Enterprise" does right is give a very different take on that species. They have always been seen as a benevolent helper of humanity, a best friend from Spock on, "Enterprise" rounds them out. They are an ancient group who hide their true motives along with their emotions. While they won´t actively sabotage the Human´s efforts in space, they are a hindrance for their lack of assistance. I love how this is done.
Beyond Archer, the crew is fairly stereotypical and feels very familiar to anyone who has experienced "Star Trek" before. Fortunately there is a good dynamic in the crew so it overcomes its stock limitations. The way the crew works on a ship that hasn´t been field-tested as thoroughly as it should have is neat, though they seem to overcome those handicaps rather simply. It takes a single episode´s breadth to encounter a problem with a system or weapon, it is struggled with and overcome, then never mentioned again. I would have liked to see more talk about uncertainty with systems and their capabilities. In the first episode everyone is worried about using the transporter… but by the third they are ready to use it in an emergency situation like it´s no big deal.
There are a couple episodes where the gap in technology is discussed at length, including the pilot where people talk about the time it takes to get from Jupiter to Earth and another which focuses on the advance of Star Fleet and what it will mean to independent space freighters, but they are entirely too few and far between. Speaking of technology, and I figure this is as good a place to mention it as any, the effects work in this show are excellent. Set design and dressing are magnificent and the properties look like actual weapons and tools, more than any other Trek program I´ve ever seen. The show looks like it could actually occur.
The one standout theme, however, comes from the character of Comm. Officer Hoshi (Linda Park). Her job is to work at translating alien dialects in the line of fire and under intense pressure and her struggling with the job, expressing frustration at failure and inability to completely comprehend is exactly what I was looking for in this show.
On the other side… the show just doesn´t seem to be having fun. While there are childlike glimpse of awe that sneak from Scott Bakula´s eyes when Captain Archer sees something neat or new, the program is too rigid in military protocols to be an adventure, which is what I want from "Star Trek." I know I´m broadcasting my expectations onto a program that has no requirement to fulfill them, but I would have liked to see people get excited about their work. Hoshi was inspired when she first heard Klingon and wanted to find out more in the pilot, but walking on an alien world is cool and it was taken for granted by the very people who should appreciate it.
In addition to the show feeling heavy there is a manufactured conflict that doesn´t seem germane to the natural flow of the show. I´ve always hated time travel stories because it´s a cop out and that doesn´t change in "Enterprise." Instead of a clear and present danger we need to create an abstract concept that can´t resonate through the rest of the program in a "temporal cold war." The very concept sounds silly and in execution it´s even worse. Instead of an organic conflict that takes time to develop, we´re thrown into the middle of something we absolutely don´t care about. Make us care about the ship first, the war second. You´d find much better reactions that way.
On the character front, we are forced to accept another 7 of 9 clone, this one a Vulcan called T´Pol. Played ably by Jolene Blalock, the character never quite worked for me because it has been done so many times before. It doesn´t help that the creators of the show were hell bent on portraying her as a sex symbol when I, personally, didn´t find her all that attractive.
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