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Dark Reality

Watching ENT start to finish

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Well, my wife and I just watched "Broken Bow".

 

Anyone who remembers me from 2 years back (if anyone) might remember I never had anything nice to say about ENT. I feel like such a fool now. The first time I tried to watch Broken Bow, I got as far as Archer and T'Pol arguing about the mission in the engine room and gave up on it. Then, I watched it until the aliens took the Klingon and gave up. I'd always meant to give it another chance but always assumed it wouldn't ever get any better.

 

Well, it did, and not too long after I gave up on it the last couple times. Now I'm all psyched to get through the series. We finished watching it over an hour ago, and I thought she'd go to bed but she's been on her 360 ever since playing this Arcade game. We could have gotten another episode in... I guess it'll have to wait until Saturday night (at the earliest). Hope it's not too long.

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Great to see you back on the board, and great to see you giving Enterprise a viewing. I'll look forward to seeing your opinions of the episodes. There were really some first class episodes and characters in the series, I won't go into any of that though so you can find them for yourself.

 

Broken Bow had me from the theme song on. Many people hated the song but I found it appropriate to the series... (I'll put this next part in a spoiler, though it's not a story, plot or character spoiler)

Click for Spoiler:

and was really disappointed when they changed the tempo of the song in season 3.

 

Anyway, I thought Broken Bow was a great opening story for Enterprise.

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I'm with Kevin on this. Glad to see you back and glad to hear you're giving Enterprise another chance. I really enjoyed the series and wish it would have lasted longer.

 

I believe congratulations are in order. IIRC, when you had the episode watch list in your signature before I think it said you and your girlfriend were watching so is it safe to assume the two of you got married since then.

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I was one of the "not now, but maybe later" people. The first couple episodes I saw, I wasn't too impressed with. I started watching regularly at the beginning of season four. (It was those commercials about Brent Spiner appearing that got me to watch.) I've since gotten all four seasons and watched them a couple times through.

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I've watched all but the last 6 eps. It took a while but it definitely grew on me.

 

However, it'll always be at the bottom for me b/c I like my scifi set far into the future.

 

I wish, tho, it had had a longer run as I did enjoy it after some repeated viewings.

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It's good to see folks giving it a chance.

Yeah, I just wish it had happened more while it was still on the air. It may have helped get those last 3 seasons.

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Did it really need the last three seasons, though? That's what I always wondered. TOS only got what, two or three seasons? And I've never heard anyone complain about it getting cut short.

 

I know why Enterprise got cut short. Next Generation was great, and DS9 was just as good - some (like myself) say it was better, but it started during the 5th or 6th season of TNG, so it had that overlap. And Voyager was good, but it started right when TNG ended. So here's this train wreck of good shows. They should have ignored fan demand and given Trek a break between TNG and DS9. At least a year or two. Release Generations a year later, and then a year after that, DS9. DS9 runs from 1995-2002, and then give a couple years, and Voyager runs 2004-2011 - we'd still be watching it. They could have given DS9 and Voyager the exclusivity they deserved, and after 2 years of no Trek after Voyager, I think Enterprise could have been more successful. But you know what they say about hindsight and all that.

 

We've seen five episodes so far. We've been maintaining a pattern of 2 a night, but it hasn't been every night. First and foremost we watch WWE programming. Laugh if you like, but it's entertaining (it's damn entertaining - sorry, couldn't help myself) and I'm addicted. Besides, I think we kinda rushed DS9 and Voyager, and I don't want to rush ENT. I think we'll go through DS9 again, at some point in the future, and take our time with it. Maybe TNG. We did Season 1, so anything's possible (as it only got better after Riker grew a beard).

 

But, ENT...

 

Fight or Flight. Strange New World. The Unexpected. Terra Nova. Some good stuff here, nothing really great though. I'm glad I put a day or two between Strange New World and Terra Nova because both of these episodes center around cave action, and in my mind right now it's hard to separate them, even though they're about vastly different things. I think a colony on the planet in Strange New World would be interesting to watch. They get these storms that shake up this psychotropic pollen. Seeing everyone high and paranoid would usually be funny, but it worked for ENT with the Human/Vulcan hostility, which I'm beginning to like more and more as far as the plot points they can make with it. Nothing we haven't seen before but nothing bad yet.

 

Well, we gotta finish watching last night's Friday Night SmackDown... then we're gonna play some Rock Band... I freakin' love AND hate that game... but I think we'll watch 2 more episodes tonight, if the Mrs. can stay awake (she's been up all day; me, just since 5pm).

 

I believe congratulations are in order. IIRC, when you had the episode watch list in your signature before I think it said you and your girlfriend were watching so is it safe to assume the two of you got married since then.
Has it really been that long? Yes, we were married on 7-7-06 and we've been going strong for a little over 2 years. Thanks!

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Did it really need the last three seasons, though? That's what I always wondered. TOS only got what, two or three seasons? And I've never heard anyone complain about it getting cut short.

 

I know why Enterprise got cut short. Next Generation was great, and DS9 was just as good - some (like myself) say it was better, but it started during the 5th or 6th season of TNG, so it had that overlap. And Voyager was good, but it started right when TNG ended. So here's this train wreck of good shows. They should have ignored fan demand and given Trek a break between TNG and DS9. At least a year or two. Release Generations a year later, and then a year after that, DS9. DS9 runs from 1995-2002, and then give a couple years, and Voyager runs 2004-2011 - we'd still be watching it. They could have given DS9 and Voyager the exclusivity they deserved, and after 2 years of no Trek after Voyager, I think Enterprise could have been more successful. But you know what they say about hindsight and all that.

 

We've seen five episodes so far. We've been maintaining a pattern of 2 a night, but it hasn't been every night. First and foremost we watch WWE programming. Laugh if you like, but it's entertaining (it's damn entertaining - sorry, couldn't help myself) and I'm addicted. Besides, I think we kinda rushed DS9 and Voyager, and I don't want to rush ENT. I think we'll go through DS9 again, at some point in the future, and take our time with it. Maybe TNG. We did Season 1, so anything's possible (as it only got better after Riker grew a beard).

 

But, ENT...

 

Fight or Flight. Strange New World. The Unexpected. Terra Nova. Some good stuff here, nothing really great though. I'm glad I put a day or two between Strange New World and Terra Nova because both of these episodes center around cave action, and in my mind right now it's hard to separate them, even though they're about vastly different things. I think a colony on the planet in Strange New World would be interesting to watch. They get these storms that shake up this psychotropic pollen. Seeing everyone high and paranoid would usually be funny, but it worked for ENT with the Human/Vulcan hostility, which I'm beginning to like more and more as far as the plot points they can make with it. Nothing we haven't seen before but nothing bad yet.

 

Well, we gotta finish watching last night's Friday Night SmackDown... then we're gonna play some Rock Band... I freakin' love AND hate that game... but I think we'll watch 2 more episodes tonight, if the Mrs. can stay awake (she's been up all day; me, just since 5pm).

 

I believe congratulations are in order. IIRC, when you had the episode watch list in your signature before I think it said you and your girlfriend were watching so is it safe to assume the two of you got married since then.
Has it really been that long? Yes, we were married on 7-7-06 and we've been going strong for a little over 2 years. Thanks!

 

 

I do think it needed the last 3 seasons. You'll probably better understand why once you finish season 4 but there were so many stories that they could have and should have done but couldn't do because they didn't have the last 3 seasons.

 

Like TNG, if it had shut down after season 3 then the best part of the series would have been lost. If DS9 had closed it's doors after season 2 the same would be true as with Voyager. It wasn't until season 4 that I think it really got started.

 

Seasons 5, 6 and 7 of Enterprise would have been great.

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I do think it needed the last 3 seasons. You'll probably better understand why once you finish season 4 but there were so many stories that they could have and should have done but couldn't do because they didn't have the last 3 seasons.

 

Like TNG, if it had shut down after season 3 then the best part of the series would have been lost. If DS9 had closed it's doors after season 2 the same would be true as with Voyager. It wasn't until season 4 that I think it really got started.

 

Seasons 5, 6 and 7 of Enterprise would have been great.

 

 

I agree...they would have been. There were many things to explore: Vulcan self-discovery, more inter-species

interactions leading to the birth of the Federation, the possible war with the Romulans, and more.

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Great to see you back on the board, and great to see you giving Enterprise a viewing. I'll look forward to seeing your opinions of the episodes. There were really some first class episodes and characters in the series, I won't go into any of that though so you can find them for yourself.

 

Broken Bow had me from the theme song on. Many people hated the song but I found it appropriate to the series... (I'll put this next part in a spoiler, though it's not a story, plot or character spoiler)

Click for Spoiler:

and was really disappointed when they changed the tempo of the song in season 3.

 

Anyway, I thought Broken Bow was a great opening story for Enterprise.

 

 

I really liked the theme song too, I know it's contemporary, and no way sounding sci-fi, but it does have a message..

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Sorry that it's been some days. My wife and I have divided our efforts to watch Enterprise. At one point we had enough nights together to watch WWE's two better shows in our opinion (RAW and SmackDown), TNA iMPACT, and Enterprise. Now we only have 2 nights a week together *but* I can watch TV at work, and they have a DVD player. So we both made our choices - my wife chose wrestling over ENT and I now watch it at work.

 

Sunday night I watched TEN episodes. I just trucked through them. I don't believe I diminished the experience any, and it never got old. I finished off Season 1 and got well into Season 2. I watched five tonight, and I'm up to 2x14 "Stigma".

 

I've seen a lot of good episodes. "Dawn" was a blatant ripoff of "Enemy Mine" (old sci-fi film about a man and an alien who are from races who are bitter enemies, but the two work together to survive and become friends) but I actually think the Trek episode did alright. I wonder if any other episodes play off of movies like that. I know the episode "Shuttlepod One" has been done a dozen times in Trek. I probably most recently previously saw the "stranded in deep space" gimmick between Paris and Torres on Voyager, though maybe more recently. And "Dead Stop" reminded me of the game "Portal", in which you follow strange instructions in a polished-clean lab-type setting, only to find out the computer guiding you isn't your friend and tries to kill you, so you escape into the back areas and hunt her down, and destroy her. Basically what happens in this episode. I saw that thing repairing itself at the end - was that just a clever ending or does the killer automated repair station make a comeback?

 

I have cheated and looked ahead a bit, but not too much. I have looked at the end of the last episode, the beginning of "In a Mirror Darkly" and the recap at the beginning of Season 3. That rift cut into Florida was gnarly - maybe too much of a spoiler, but I can't say I didn't ask for it.

 

Oh yeah - Archer having a dog reminds me of Gene Hackman on Crimson Tide. Remember, he had a small dog as well.

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Six days and I've watched a whole season plus an episode? Wow, I'm really burning through them. I suppose in a week I should expect to be near about finished. Hell, last night, I watched thirteen episodes. 13! Well, I do work in a scale house at a lumber mill. On Sunday night, no trucks run for the first 8 hours of my shift. The next 4... it depends. I had one, maybe two trucks over the next four hours. I'm required to stay in or very close to the scale house, and they have a DVD player in there... so you do the math.

 

I'm over halfway through Season 3 now. Some good episodes. Some really good stuff. North Star, Similitude, Carpenter Street, and Stratagem, all four watched last night, four of the best I've seen. Having recently seen what's often hailed as the best western ever, "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" it was kinda neat to see Star Trek use an Old West setting. Similitude... We've seen this before with Tuvix (Voyager) and I want to say there was another similar episode. Carpenter Street - episodes where they go "back" to modern times have been cool since City on the Edge of Forever (TOS). Archer and T'Pol in that Dodge Ram truck was priceless. And Stratagem - they made the Xindi a little too weak with that memory exploit, but it's still cool how this episode was pulled off. Episodes with constant deception around every corner work real well for the most part.

 

Going back to nights past, The Expanse started out good... anything that starts with that level of mass destruction has to be good. First Flight - good episode all around, just made awesome when Trip puts that Vulcan ambassador (I keep forgetting his name) in his place. Basically the Vulcan tells Archer that the direction of the mission isn't up to him, when Trip steps up and says something like "Well it ain't up to you either, so how about you just shut up?" He could have thrown a remark in there about the ears (add "Pointy" to it) but I guess that would be racist (not unlike the Andorians calling humans "Pinkskin").

 

All in all, good, and it makes me want to keep watching, but it's still not as great, as far as great episodes go. So far the best I've seen, as far as overall impact, would have to be "Chosen Realm." It starts out basic enough, aliens taking over the ship, but the suicide bombing makes direct references to current events in the Middle East, not to mention the religious fanaticism. It's mostly an average to above-average episode, but the ending speech just "makes" the whole thing. "Your faith was going to bring peace. Here it is." Coupled with the music and the scenery and what was said and happened before, it's one of the most effective endings all around. I don't think it's as effective as Ben Sisko saying "Delete that entire log entry" or even the future end of The Visitor, but it's still pretty strong.

 

I just hope I haven't seen the best and more greatness is to come.

 

//edit: Last episode watched was 3x15 "Harbinger" (since the sig gets updated - this won't).

Edited by Dark Reality

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I've seen a lot of good episodes. "Dawn" was a blatant ripoff of "Enemy Mine" (old sci-fi film about a man and an alien who are from races who are bitter enemies, but the two work together to survive and become friends) but I actually think the Trek episode did alright.

It's been a while since I've seen these episodes (Saw them in first run and then only a few here and there in re-runs) but I do remember Dawn quite well, I really liked it and would count it as one of my "Enterprise favorites".

 

North Star, Similitude, Carpenter Street, and Stratagem, all four watched last night, four of the best I've seen. Having recently seen what's often hailed as the best western ever, "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" it was kinda neat to see Star Trek use an Old West setting. Similitude... We've seen this before with Tuvix (Voyager) and I want to say there was another similar episode. Carpenter Street - episodes where they go "back" to modern times have been cool since City on the Edge of Forever (TOS). Archer and T'Pol in that Dodge Ram truck was priceless. And Stratagem - they made the Xindi a little too weak with that memory exploit, but it's still cool how this episode was pulled off. Episodes with constant deception around every corner work real well for the most part.

 

Going back to nights past, The Expanse started out good... anything that starts with that level of mass destruction has to be good. First Flight - good episode all around, just made awesome when Trip puts that Vulcan ambassador (I keep forgetting his name) in his place. Basically the Vulcan tells Archer that the direction of the mission isn't up to him, when Trip steps up and says something like "Well it ain't up to you either, so how about you just shut up?" He could have thrown a remark in there about the ears (add "Pointy" to it) but I guess that would be racist (not unlike the Andorians calling humans "Pinkskin").

 

I just hope I haven't seen the best and more greatness is to come.

 

I loved First Flight too, awesome episode. As was North Star, those two would also be added to my list of favorites. There were only a few from Enterprise that I would have marked as "non-favorites" though. One thing that disappointed me during Enterprise was that they didn't do a dedication to to Kellie Waymire after her death. I know she only had a small role but what would it have taken to put a dedication to her in the opening credits? After all she was featured in a few episodes.

 

As for having seen the best, I think season 4 is where you start seeing what was their best. That's not to say that what came in seasons 1-3 wasn't great, but in season 4 they really started hitting their stride (like other Trek series did).

 

Never should have been canceled.

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So far Season 4 isn't impressing me much. Yep, I've rolled through Season 4, episode 5 last night. Xindi and TCW storylines done. Damn, I was hoping there'd be more to the TCW; overall it was kinda disappointing until the Xindi were involved.

 

Storm Front was kind of a mediocre 2-parter, I thought. I was only slightly amused at the alternate timeline with the Nazis in North America assisted by an alien race we hadn't seen before. The ending was kinda epic (the alien's loss as well as Trip's surprise). The augments storyline didn't impress me despite seeing Brent Spiner as a bad guy and a cameo from WWE's Big Show. Seriously, seeing Show's name in the special guest stars section is most of what kept me paying attention. Then again, I was on some pretty heavy cough syrup I won't be bringing back to work... I was under the impression I was supposed to take it literally every 4 hours. Something in it called codeine, about knocked me out. So I'm gonna leave that stuff alone and just stick to the cough drops.

 

I don't know if it's good news or bad news, but on an 8 hour shift, I can watch 7 episodes, and on a 12 hour shift, I can watch 12 or more. At that rate, I'll watch 7 episodes tonight (no reason not to) and then I'll finish it on my long shift Sunday night. I just can't believe it's over already - I do, now, wish they had gotten all seven seasons. After this, I don't know. It's going to be a toss-up between Twin Peaks and Babylon 5. A David Lynch helmed drama about a murder in the mountains, or a Deep Space Nine knockoff that gets more credit than one would think it deserves. Well, Twin Peaks is only 2 seasons, and 30 or so episodes at that, so that plus the movie, it's all pretty short, compared with B5's 5 or 6 seasons and multiple movies.

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As planned, I finished it last night.

 

I kind of feel let down. I'm not sure it should have gotten three more seasons. I mean, "These Are the Voyages..." pretty much killed it. Six years later? Troi and Riker fast-forwarding through the events of the episode on the Holodeck? The whole episode about a speech we never hear? That last bit really annoyed me. Troi even said she had to memorize the speech as a child. And we don't even get to hear it? What gives with that?

 

If "These Are the Voyages..." wasn't done, yes, I could see it going on another 2-3 years, but it needed more plot. It needed another arc like the Xindi plot. It needed more character development. More Trip+T'Pol, more on the reliance between Archer and T'Pol, maybe a little strife between Archer and Trip, more Trip+Reed friendship moments, more Mayweather/Cargo ship stuff. Maybe a little less Shran/Andorians (though the Andorian kid was cute until she called Archer "pinkskin" - isn't that almost a slur?), maybe, I dunno. It seemed like Season 4 rushed to end it.

 

Overall I feel Enterprise is vastly inferior to TNG, DS9, and even Voyager, primarily because it lacks a single great episode to the tune of "The Inner Light," "In the Pale Moonlight", or "Blink of an Eye", to pick my favorite from each series. ENT had some good moments. "North Star", "Similitude", and "Congenitor" stand out in my mind, but there are others, too - that little cluster of episodes represents some of the best ENT's done. But they fall short of the first three I named from the other series.

 

Still, I'm glad I watched it. I gave "Broken Bow" two chances before sitting down and watching the whole thing. I'm glad I went back that third time and gave it another chance, and I'm glad I saw it, and I think my opinion of Trek in general is better and better-rounded for having experienced ENT, but judging it against the other three recent series, I didn't like it as much. I still recommend it, though - it's at least as good as average Trek anywhere.

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As planned, I finished it last night.

 

I kind of feel let down. I'm not sure it should have gotten three more seasons. I mean, "These Are the Voyages..." pretty much killed it. Six years later? Troi and Riker fast-forwarding through the events of the episode on the Holodeck? The whole episode about a speech we never hear? That last bit really annoyed me. Troi even said she had to memorize the speech as a child. And we don't even get to hear it? What gives with that?

 

If "These Are the Voyages..." wasn't done, yes, I could see it going on another 2-3 years, but it needed more plot. It needed another arc like the Xindi plot. It needed more character development. More Trip+T'Pol, more on the reliance between Archer and T'Pol, maybe a little strife between Archer and Trip, more Trip+Reed friendship moments, more Mayweather/Cargo ship stuff. Maybe a little less Shran/Andorians (though the Andorian kid was cute until she called Archer "pinkskin" - isn't that almost a slur?), maybe, I dunno. It seemed like Season 4 rushed to end it.

 

Overall I feel Enterprise is vastly inferior to TNG, DS9, and even Voyager, primarily because it lacks a single great episode to the tune of "The Inner Light," "In the Pale Moonlight", or "Blink of an Eye", to pick my favorite from each series. ENT had some good moments. "North Star", "Similitude", and "Congenitor" stand out in my mind, but there are others, too - that little cluster of episodes represents some of the best ENT's done. But they fall short of the first three I named from the other series.

 

Still, I'm glad I watched it. I gave "Broken Bow" two chances before sitting down and watching the whole thing. I'm glad I went back that third time and gave it another chance, and I'm glad I saw it, and I think my opinion of Trek in general is better and better-rounded for having experienced ENT, but judging it against the other three recent series, I didn't like it as much. I still recommend it, though - it's at least as good as average Trek anywhere.

 

Remember, "These Are The Voyages..." (TATV) was specifically written to be the final episode and I agree as do most Enterprise fans (and actors) that TATV was a mistake by the writers and shouldn't have been done. Enterprise deserved it's own final episode, not a TNG episode with Enterprise in it's holodeck.

 

Also remember this though, "Inner Light" came in TNG's 5th season, "In The Pale Moon Light" was in DS9's 6th season and "Blink of an Eye" was in Voyager's 6th season. Enterprise didn't have the chance to have it's episode.

 

The direction that they could have gone in was the formation of the Federation. Shran could have been brought in onto the Enterprise as Andor's representative along side T'Pol as Vulcan's rep.

 

The 3 of them together (Human, Vulcan and Andorian) would represent the very beginnings of what would become the Federation with it's 3 main founders serving together on Enterprise.

 

Enterprise was robbed of it's own ending with TATV and it was robbed of it's possible legacy by being cancelled in season 4. Think of all the great episodes that would be lost if TNG, DS9 or Voyager were cancelled in season 4. Heck, Voyager didn't really get interesting (to me) until season 4. I definately put the first 4 seasons of Enterprise above the first 4 of Voager and above the first 3 of TNG. Nothing is above TOS or DS9 though lol

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I've recently watched all of Enterprise again, the final episode tends to piss me off more and more as time goes by. The series really did deserve better than that.

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