"Enterprise"

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE
2001-2005
The fifth series in the franchise, and most troubled since the classic. Though four seasons would be a nice run by most standards, its cancellation was seen as a failure. Yes, it was often stuck in "good, not great" mode, but its best stands with anything TREK produced. I'm sorry it didn't last longer, because i would have loved to see hoshi, travis, and phlox get more stories, and would have really loved seeing the archer/t'pol romance in full flower. But let's not bemoan, let's celebrate. It ran as long as the new GALACTICA. It ran as long as the original GALACTICA and TREK - combined! And at some point, it became my second-favorite TREK.
SERIES EPISODE AVERAGE: 3.0
BY SEASON:
1) 3.0
2) 2.9
3) 3.0
4) 2.9
FOUR-STAR EPISODES (season)
Unexpected (1)
Two Days and Two Nights (1)
Similitude (3)
Twilight (3)
Borderland (4)
In a Mirror, Darkly (4)
PERFORMANCES (# of episodes)
scott bakula (jonathan archer, 98) ****
Everything you could ever want in a captain.
BAKULATHON
-Civilization
-Damage
-Home
-Kir'Shara
-Twilight
jolene blalock (t'pol, 98) ***
For a relatively inexperienced actor, she held her own, and that's no small feat. T'pol's weaknesses were more the result of the writing and directing, and this speaks to ENTERPRISE's treatment of vulcans in general. Most of them were embarrassingly emotional. From t'pol (even before the trellium addiction) to soval on down, they were catty and bitchy. They had been embracing logic for a couple thousand years, yet most of them are less dispassionate than me, for corn's sake. I do not buy the berman/braga argument that these vulcans are at a less advanced stage of development. Yes, such an era would have existed, but it would have been a thousand years earlier, at least. It's an unnecessary contrivance to try to impose that reality on this time period - there are still so many things that good writers could explore concerning the subtleties of a logic-based culture. ENTERPRISE also sometimes forgets that vulcans are physically stronger than humans. But i quibble - even in the face of oft-questionable writing, jolene made us care.
T'POLATHON
-Shadows of P'Jem
-Fallen Hero
-Singularity
-Carpenter Street
connor trineer (trip, 98) ***
Excellent work, but saddled with a t'pol romance that never clicked. He had more spark with that red alien, with that kickass MACO, with that snooty chef...
TRIPATHON
-Unexpected
-Cogenitor
-Precious Cargo
-Similitude
dominic keating (reed, 96) ***
Malcolm's shortcomings had to do with what the writers didn't give him, not dominic's top-notch acting.
REEDATHON
-The Communicator
-Shuttlepod One
-Harbinger
-highlights from "Cogenitor"
-Minefield
linda park (hoshi, 96) ****
Sigh.
HOSHITHON
-Fight or Flight
-Sleeping Dogs
-Vanishing Point
-Exile
anthony montgomery (travis, 95) ****
Underused but lovely. Why didn't he and hoshi...
TRAVISTHON
-Breaking the Ice
-Detained
-Horizon
-Demons
john billingsley (dr. phlox, 93) ****
Absolutely delightful. Phloxtime never disappointed.
PHLOXATHON
-Dear Doctor
-A Night in Sickbay
-the pon farr scene from "Bounty"
-The Breach
-Doctor's Orders
vaughn armstrong (admiral forrest, 14) ***
Plus 3 other ENTs, "Heart of Glory" TNG, 3 DEEP SPACE NINEs, and 5 VOYAGERS. Impeccable.
gary graham (ambassador soval, 12) ***
Plus "Cold Fire" VOY. Nice presence, and he was dandy in ALIEN NATION.
jeffrey combs (shran, 10) ***
Plus "Acquisition", 32 DS9s, and "Tsunkatse" VOY. As he logs his third TREK recurring character (two more than any other actor?), i'd take a ship full of jeffreys into acting anytime.
COMBSATHON
-Treachery, Faith, and the Great River DS9
-The Andorian Incident
-The Aenar
-Acquisition
randy oglesby (degra, 10) ***
Plus "Unexpected", "Loud as a Whisper" TNG, 2 DS9s, and "Counterpoint" VOY. Lovely resonance.
rick worthy (jannar, 10) ***
Plus INSURRECTION, "Soldiers of the Empire" DS9, and 2 VOYAGERs. Smooth as mother's milk.
tucker smallwood (xindi councilor, 9) ***
Plus "In the Flesh" VOY. I just like saying "tucker smallwood".
scott macdonald (dolim, 8) ***
Plus "Face of the Enemy" TNG, "Caretaker" VOY, and 2 DS9s. Nasty sumbitch.
matt winston (daniels, 6) **
The temporal cold war never popped. His fault (kidding).
steven culp (major hayes, 5) ****
Woo-woo! Bravo. Go watch him in WEST WING.
john fleck (silik, 5) **
Plus "The Mind's Eye" TNG, 3 DS9s, and "Alice" VOY. The suliban never popped. Not his fault.
eric pierpoint (harris, 4) *
Plus "Rogue Planet", "Liaisons" TNG, "For the Uniform" DS9, and "Barge of the Dead" VOY. Somebody had to get one star. Am i that cruel? Of course, he too was dandy in ALIEN NATION.
kellie waymire (cutler, 3) ****
Plus "Muse" VOY. It is criminal that we never saw the flowering of the phlox/cutler romance.
ada maris (captain hernandez, 3) ****
How cool would it have been to have a whole season of archer romantically involved with both hernandez and t'pol? Or all three together? Am i the only one who sees the logic?
LEFTOVERTHON
-Broken Bow
-Future Tense
-The Expanse
-The Xindi
RELEFTOVERTHON
-Rogue Planet
-Desert Crossing
-Strategem
-Shockwave
ENTERTHON
-Unexpected
-Similitude
-Twilight
-In a Mirror, Darkly