Not enough emotion!

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I finally figured out what this show is missing, and what all my other shows have.

 

EMOTION

 

Sure, we have sci-fi stories, action, humor, space battles, cool looking ships, and so forth... However, where's the deep emotional stories/scenes that prvious Trek shows had?

 

My current shows:

Stargate SG-1

Enterprise

Smallville

Everwood

Jake 2.0

 

All of which, have deep emotional stories/scenes except ENT.

 

Anyone else think that "emotion" is the missing ingredient for ENT?

[subcommanderbeavis 0]

That's one of the problems that needs working on.I don't feel as emotional attached to Enterprise's main characters as I did to the characters of the previous series,even Voyager...which I didn't like all that much,but still regularly watched.

[MoulinRouge 0]

Oh I feel emotionally attached to ENT's characters. Some of them. However, that's due more to actors' skills than writing. ENT has produced some great episodes but they haven't strung enough of them together. We'll get episodes which evoke great feeling, then nothing. Shuttlepod One made me feel for Trip and Malcolm as characters very much. Cogenitor tore my heart out. Vox Sola and Desert Crossing were wonderful examples of the affection Archer has for Trip and vice versa. I sensed a great affection on Malcolm's part for Trip in "The Expanse" as he allowed Trip to lash out at him without lashing back. In other words, Malcolm was a true friend and understood that Trip wasn't angry at him, but at his sister being dead. Still, was it the writing that produced this emotion or was it Connor and Dom's apt body language and facial expressions? I credit CT and DK far more because too much time was skipped around in "The Expanse." Too many potentially emotionally meaty scenes weren't played.

 

Rick and Brannon wrote SP1, The Expanse, and Cogenitor and each time I feel it was the actors who brought emotion to the screen--not Rick and Brannon's stilted dialogue. Had it been Phlox and Travis lost in the shuttlepod would SP1 have been as poignant? No. The end of Cogenitor tore my heart out because Scott and Connor have conveyed on screen just how much these two characters love each other, and how much they hurt each other when Trip went behind Archer's back, albeit with noble intentions, and provided his captain with such a tragic demonstration of just what a lousy example Archer has set at times. Archer turning his back on Trip hurt to see. Both actors made you feel it. Then they never discussed it again even in passing. Lousy follow up even though I feel that Archer and Trip have come across as a bit emotionally distant since then--however, that could be due to the stress of the current circumstances.

 

Archer's promise not to leave T'Pol behind on a planet tonight was heartfelt, but I get the feeling that he wouldn't leave Hoshi, Trip or Malcolm behind either if they were allergic to the Trellium. Still, I liked what I sensed between captain and first officer without any contrived "swapping chromosomes" or gawd awful Night in Sickbay dialogue. I'm loving the slowly burgeoning affection between Trip and T'Pol. Connor and Jolene are incredibly evocative, non verbal actors. Whether they become platonically devoted like a brother and sister or become the first human and Vulcan to become romantic--pairing them would be a gold mine in terms of adding emotional substance to Enterprise. TPTB must see that. TnT's scenes are so much more than just a little bit of sexual tension whether the directors intended them to be so or not. What a bittersweet bit of emotional dynamite that pair could be. Letting Phlox do more isn't a bad idea either. Billingsley's talent is not to be underestimated.

 

In short, it's the writing, kids. Not enough of it. Too spotty. It's getting better, and Dominic said at the last con that more character based episodes would be on the way after the first two months of season three. Action would be the focus first and then deeper stories would be aired. "Twilight" looks to be a particularly effective, Memento like episode for Archer. Bakula said in his last chat that "Similitude," which airs Nov. 19, is written by Manny Coto, author of "Odyssey 5." Bakula opined that "Similitude" is the best episode of ENT to date. It's all wrapped up in Archer being willing to make a most unethical choice to keep Trip alive. Sounds fantastic to me, especially if the explosion that injures Trip was caused by an anomaly that could have been prevented by Trellium.

 

Sounds good. I'm hopeful. However, ENT does need to find a balance. You are right.