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Enterprise
"Broken Bow"
Episodes 1.01 & 1.02
Directed by James L. Conway
Written by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga
The Star Trek franchise is the most enduring of all science fiction -- 35 years, nine feature films, four series, and even a short-lived cartoon. Trekkies are arguably the most crazed of all fandom, but have had little to be excited about the last few years. Voyager was largely unfulfilled potential. Insurrection was completely inconsequential. And Deep Space Nine ended its run over two years ago. With other shows like Farscape filling the void, and the re-emergence of Star Wars films, Trek is in trouble. Berman and Braga know this (or at least they should) and are hoping to revitalize the ailing franchise with its latest incarnation -- Enterprise, a prequel to the original series -- 100 years before Kirk, 200 or so before Picard, Janeway & Sisko. So, will it succeed?
Only time will tell. But it's off to a good start. I intentionally waited at least 24 hours before writing this review since my eventual opinion usually differs a bit from my initial reaction. I guess my expectations were low all along, so as I watched, I really enjoyed the premiere. But after reflecting on it for a day, it does suffer from some of the same old problems. It has also succeeded, however, in ways that the other series have not.
First: the crew. I'm sure you're familiar with them by now -- Capt. Jonathan Archer, Lt. Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III, Subcommander T'Pol, Lt. Malcolm Reed, Ensign Mayweather, Ensign Hoshi Sato, and Dr. Phlox. It's a solid cast, albeit similar to the others. Once again, we have exactly seven main characters. Archer is certainly a throwback to Kirk -- none of Picard's grace here. T'Pol is certainly more interesting than 7 of 9, but the similarities are uncanny. She's also the token Vulcan of the crew. We've also got a couple of completely regular guys (Reed, Mayweather, Tucker) and a doctor that seems to be channeling Ethan Philips of Neelix fame. The acting is pretty decent all around. I was most impressed with Jolene Blalock, who's character I found to be the most compelling for, uh, several reasons. What struck me first and foremost, though, is that these people seem real. Their humor is real. It's the not the terribly unfunny humor that Voyager tried to pull off every now and then. Some great subtle moments: Tucker and T'Pol arguing. As T'Pol takes the turbolift, Tucker takes the stairs and they both end up at the same place. A little later, the overly cautious Sato asks Archer if he should be standing so close to something, to which he just gives a glance that says, "probably not, but whatever."
So overall, I can live with the crew. Now the premise. Everybody knows this by now too. It's almost a century after Zeframe Cochrane's famous flight which attracted the attention of the Vulcans. Ever since, they've been watching over and guiding us, but also holding us back. Earth is anxious to step out in the galaxy, and it's patience is finite. This series will presumably show how the Federation will come about as Starfleet ventures out on its own.
As for the first episode, the storyline is this: a Klingon is wounded in Oklahoma while on the run from some aliens, and the Vulcans intend to kill him (as Klingon honor dictates) before shipping him home. But Archer and Starfleet have different ideas. Returning the Klingon home, alive, would make for a perfect first mission. The Vulcans vehemently oppose, but come to a compromise. Now this struck me as a plot hole, and I'm sure you can rationalize it somehow, but if the Vulcans really wanted to keep us home, they simply would not have given Archer the star charts. It's that simple. But instead, T'Pol comes along as the price of the star charts. Oh well, small detail I guess. What happens after that is fairly predictable -- SPOILERS AHEAD -- the Klingon is kidnapped en route, and while T'Pol reminds Archer that the mission has failed and is now over, Archer reminds her that they're not going back until that Klingon is delivered safely. And of course, in the end, he is. -- END SPOILERS
After the great set-up, the plot itself is not that special. To make matters worse, they throw in a mystery villain from the future, who is communicating with aliens in the present. It's not a bad idea, per se, but I was hoping Star Trek would abandon the crutch of time travel for at least a little while. I was also really let down that they were forced to use the transporter to save somebody, a la Picard in Insurrection. It's made clear right away that nobody is willing to try it at first, which is pretty cool for a change, but then they use it anyway because they had no choice. Well, again, I wish that they'd waited awhile before resorting to that. Seemed like a cop-out.
On the plus side again, the sets and effects were all really nice. I also liked the uniforms better. They still look like uniforms, and not the pseudo-pajamas of 24th century Starfleet. Overall the show is very well done. You can tell a lot of effort has been put in to it this time. I really liked the opening sequence, although the music will take getting used to. I was enthused when I thought "wherever you will go" by The Calling was the theme song, (you know, from the commercials) but it was something completely different. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't sure if it fit.
In the end, the episode was good, not quite great. That's pretty typical, though, as far as Trek goes. TNG's "Encounter at Far Point", DS9's "Emissary", and Voyager's "The Caretaker" were all mediocre episodes. And two of those three series were able to improve as they went.
The series as a whole has mad potential. Then again, so did Voyager. It will all depend on Berman and Braga, and the scope of their vision over the seven year run. A lot of the appeal to me right now is that the crew (except T'Pol, of course) are all wild-eyed explorers, jumping at the chance just to leave the solar system and make contact with new aliens. It worries me that once that becomes routine to them after a season or two, that I'll lose interest. If done correctly, however, showcasing the rise of humanity and the birth of the Federation could make this the best Trek of all.
Episode Rating: 7 out of 10
-- Ultra Magnus
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