I consider "Way of the Warrior" (DS9) to be a second pilot. Likewise, VOY didn't really get going until Seven joined.
ENT never crystallized. It doesn't have any 'classic' episodes, though there are some likable characters.
Disagree. It's been a while and I was a lad when I saw it, but I remember ENT got really good around season 3 with the Xindi war and only got better from there. It had pretty decent episode of the week adventures for s1-2 as well, I need to rewatch but certainly better then what we have now.
Look at it again with honest eyes. Trip is the only thing holding those years together.
Yes. Archer even goes full Jack Bauer at some point. The Nazi Aliens were in season 4 where they helped the Germans win WWII and invade America, so they're not exactly the Xindi. That Temporal Cold War was some serious tism.
Yeah, the temporal cold war doesn't interest me either. I guess I'd be only interested in the stuff that actually works as a TOS prequel and expands that lore. I really was hoping they'd do the Romulan war or use that one Colonel Green character that once fought Abraham Lincoln.
They really missed a trick with Green.
They use the legacy of Colonel Green in season 4 whenever they're on Earth. They were building up to a Romulan War too, but got cancelled before they could. I'm of the opinion that the reason why no one knows what the Romulans look like despite modern viewscreens is because President Archer ordered the use of nukes and dumped so many nukes in space that the background radiation blocked out all visuals for nearly a century.
There's some debates as supposedly some scripts had it marked... but I will say I actually believe you as it’s very in characters for George to try and retcon things as the plan all along.
Xindi was like Way of the Warrior. A second pilot. SFDebris will be discussing it very soon.
I know this is damning by faint praise... but Marcus seemed a little more, I don't know, animated? Paxton looks like he's hung over.
I admit its been... what 19 years sense I saw it on television? But I can say with certainty I really enjoyed Scott Bakula's performance. The writing might not have been perfect for the first 2 seasons, but the acting was consistently good as I recall.
Xindi arc I remember was basically the show's version of the dominion war. It got kinda kickass actually. Especially when they brought on feddie navy seals.
Archer really did miss his calling. He's a perfectly fine Marine captain. The problem is they make this crayon eater a Navy captain.
I like the episodes with the Andorian guy and his red eyed waifu. There was also one with a Tellerite that's not bad. Sad we didn't get into more of the various aliens (the one with the green sluts wasn't great, it just rehashjed the TOS episode).
ENT would've benefited more sticking to established Star Trek canon of Earth and the Klingons going to war following first contact gone bad. Followed with the newly formed Federation going to war with the Romulans. Both war fought with "primitive" lasers and atomic weapons.
Which is where they wanted to go in the beginning. I think DS9 met with similar resistance: it was originally going to be land-based. The studio said "no" to location shooting.
Much of this era is about closing off dead routes for the franchise to take. "North Star" took the Original Series concept of Wyatt Earp in space. The "Borderland" trilogy is obsessed with Khan. The bit at the end is too cute about the cybernetics. The Orion Slave Girls are a real clunker. The big punchline is that Hoshi becomes the Terran Empress.
There really does need to be a comic book crossover that does this.
I mean, look at the face Obi-Wan pulls when Han says the line.