After (5/2005)
Monday, May 16, 2005
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Okay, so I watched the final two episodes of Enterprise last night, the first of which was the conclusion to "Terra Prime" (TP), and then the final 1 hour of new Enterprise that we'll ever see, titled "These Are The Voyages..." (TATV).
TP was the better of the two episodes...it's a shame that the series has ended, because I would have liked to see Trip and T'pol's characters grow a bit more.
TATV was noble in its efforts, and mixing in TNG with Enterprise was a great touch. However, if the ending was taken away (the "These are the voyages..." speech that intro'd TOS), this would have been ANY OTHER REGULAR SEASON EPISODE. It was not a 'finale' in any way. I liked Trip's sacrifice...I always give kudos to shows that are willing to go to that level with their main characters...and seeing the NCC 1701-D in high defintion was *sweet*...no to mention just seeing it again on TV.
So...here are my thoughts on why Enterprise failed:
- It was not canon with the rest of the Star Trek universe. Why have we never seen Denobulans again in any other series? Or even a mention of them? Why have we not heard of Archer before, or even this Enterprise. I point back to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, with Decker showing Ilia all the previous Enterprises that came before the NCC 1701. Well? Where is the NX01?
- The theme song. While it grew on me...it's not memorable or anything that I'd attach to Star Trek. Plus, it wasn't even written for Star Trek! It was written atleast a year or two earlier, before the show started.
- The title of the show...for awhile. For some time, the show was just "Enterprise", not "Star Trek: Enterprise". It took three seasons for Paramount to correct that.
- The writing...until the 4th season. It seemed like Paramount really didn't care about attaching this series to the rest of the Trek universe. Why? Finally in the 4th season we had stories that started to bridge Enterprise and TOS, including the rather well done "Into the Mirror Darkly". I mean..the Temporal Cold War?
- The "sex appeal". Why did Trek have to even go there, especially with the decon chamber? Sure, they've been doing it ever since TNG (what I call the Troi factor), with Dax, 7 of 9...then Hoshi and T'pol. Was it really needed?
- The time slot. As soon as they moved Enterprise to Friday night, the show was dead. Besides the fact that Friday nights are the second to least watched (Saturday night is the least, and Sunday and Monday are the most watched), and that the X-Files DID start and survive on Friday nights for a long time....that was a much better written show. When they moved it to Friday nights, they put Enterprise up against a very powerful scifi lineup on the SciFi channel, specifically Stargate, which was doing extremely well and was in its 8th season. You think Enterprise is going to survive that?
Before the final episode, there were rumors that Troi and Riker were going to be in the final episode, and that it was going to be a holo-novel. A part of me wished that were the case, and that Enterprise had been one large work of fiction played out on the NCC 1701-D's holodeck. This would explain a lot...(see points above about being 'canon'). I know it would piss a lot of people off...but the way they ended it still did that, with Jolene Blalock (T'Pol) saying publically that the show was ended horribly. I can't blame her.
I did like Enterprise, I really liked Trip, Archer...and the rest of the crew. I really liked the Andorian Shran. He was played wonderfully! I will miss the show...but with Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica starting back up on Friday nights, I'm sure that the feeling will pass.
TP was the better of the two episodes...it's a shame that the series has ended, because I would have liked to see Trip and T'pol's characters grow a bit more.
TATV was noble in its efforts, and mixing in TNG with Enterprise was a great touch. However, if the ending was taken away (the "These are the voyages..." speech that intro'd TOS), this would have been ANY OTHER REGULAR SEASON EPISODE. It was not a 'finale' in any way. I liked Trip's sacrifice...I always give kudos to shows that are willing to go to that level with their main characters...and seeing the NCC 1701-D in high defintion was *sweet*...no to mention just seeing it again on TV.
So...here are my thoughts on why Enterprise failed:
- It was not canon with the rest of the Star Trek universe. Why have we never seen Denobulans again in any other series? Or even a mention of them? Why have we not heard of Archer before, or even this Enterprise. I point back to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, with Decker showing Ilia all the previous Enterprises that came before the NCC 1701. Well? Where is the NX01?
- The theme song. While it grew on me...it's not memorable or anything that I'd attach to Star Trek. Plus, it wasn't even written for Star Trek! It was written atleast a year or two earlier, before the show started.
- The title of the show...for awhile. For some time, the show was just "Enterprise", not "Star Trek: Enterprise". It took three seasons for Paramount to correct that.
- The writing...until the 4th season. It seemed like Paramount really didn't care about attaching this series to the rest of the Trek universe. Why? Finally in the 4th season we had stories that started to bridge Enterprise and TOS, including the rather well done "Into the Mirror Darkly". I mean..the Temporal Cold War?
- The "sex appeal". Why did Trek have to even go there, especially with the decon chamber? Sure, they've been doing it ever since TNG (what I call the Troi factor), with Dax, 7 of 9...then Hoshi and T'pol. Was it really needed?
- The time slot. As soon as they moved Enterprise to Friday night, the show was dead. Besides the fact that Friday nights are the second to least watched (Saturday night is the least, and Sunday and Monday are the most watched), and that the X-Files DID start and survive on Friday nights for a long time....that was a much better written show. When they moved it to Friday nights, they put Enterprise up against a very powerful scifi lineup on the SciFi channel, specifically Stargate, which was doing extremely well and was in its 8th season. You think Enterprise is going to survive that?
Before the final episode, there were rumors that Troi and Riker were going to be in the final episode, and that it was going to be a holo-novel. A part of me wished that were the case, and that Enterprise had been one large work of fiction played out on the NCC 1701-D's holodeck. This would explain a lot...(see points above about being 'canon'). I know it would piss a lot of people off...but the way they ended it still did that, with Jolene Blalock (T'Pol) saying publically that the show was ended horribly. I can't blame her.
I did like Enterprise, I really liked Trip, Archer...and the rest of the crew. I really liked the Andorian Shran. He was played wonderfully! I will miss the show...but with Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis and Battlestar Galactica starting back up on Friday nights, I'm sure that the feeling will pass.
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