Star Trek: Enterprise Reactions?

So, what did you think of it? The theme song has to go. Commander Tucker ("Kumanduh Tuckah") needs to get a personality other than "he'll be just like McCoy, only clumsy and stupid". Is it really necessary to rehash "cold emotionless Vulcans vs. thoughtless, reckless humans"? That plot device was old thirty years ago and it's physically painful to watch now. How can armor plating go "offline"? Electromagnetic shields maybe, but one of the virtues of a hunk of steel is that it doesn't go "offline". And what's with the soft porn? I was waiting for the bow-chicka-bow-wow music to kick in. CT: I didn't get to see it! I don't get UPN! Curses!

Comments

Spoiler-tastic

[signe]

Wow, Michael. Could you post a few more spoilers on the top of the front page? I don't think there are enough.

Seriously. Not everyone watched or even *could* watch Enterprise tonight. You could have at least had the courtesy to hide the spoilers "under the fold", so to speak.

Now, for my opinion (some spoiler content).

It looks good as far as a stand-alone show is concerned. But it seems to break from the "known" Star Trek history, as described by the other shows and movies (not books and fanfic). For instance, we're looking at the later appearance of the Klingons, when Worf told us that something happened to change their appearance that "we don't like to talk about". And Picard told us that the war with the Klingons was sparked by a botched first contact with them. But that contact didn't seem to be botched.

I'm a little disappointed with how contrived the disinfectant scene was. And the way the camera paused during it was just silly. And Archer's whole thing with staying on the station after he set the maglock charge was pointless. First, it should have been longer than 5 seconds. Second, there was noone shooting at him, so there wasn't really a reason to set it and stand there, rather than setting it and running.

I think I'll wait for a couple more episodes to reevaluate that and see if I really care about this series. As it is, I can take it or leave it.

-Todd

Re:Spoiler-tastic

[cthugha]

My own personal theory regarding the disappearing, reappearing Klingon forehead ridges is that it's some kind of ritual mutilation that became fashionable circa the 23rd century (think: circumcision with power tools) but in the "present time" (i.e. the 24th century) is considered disgusting and repulsive, hence Worf's embarrassment in that DS9 tribbles 'n' time travel episode.

What have we learned so far?

[Chas]

C'mon people.

Star Trek: The Original: First season
-Wooden acting, hokey stories, lotsa work to be done.

Star Trek: TNG: First Season
-Wooden acting, hokey stories, lotsa work to be done (just watch some of them fer chrissakes!).

DS9: First Season:
-Wooden acting, hokey stories, lotsa work to be done.

Voyager: First season (and second, and third...)
-Wooden acting, hokey stories, lotsa work to be done.

Give the series a little time to put down some roots.

Sheesh.

1950

[michaelmalak]

Here's the original subject that Slashdot's "Lameness filter" censored:
1950 meets 2001 meets 2150

We knew it would be a problem, and it's interesting to see it play out on the screen. Humans have achieved world peace, yet captains and admirals are all white males. Computers have speech capability, yet voice-activation is not yet invented. And, of course what we all expected -- no gender-neutral language yet.

I LIKED it

[E1ven]

I think you need to lay off a little, Micheal.

It was a good beginning for the series. I think there is a lot of potential for the characters, The Dr in particular.

While I'm not sure where the 29th centure guy is going to go, or wht they'll do with him, it is a plot hook, and presumabily will develop into a story arch. Which is what everyone says they like.
The Jello scene did perhaps go a bit over the line, it serverd a usefull purpose in allowing the chracters to intereact.
Without it, you'd be asking "Why the hell didn't she take the ship and run. I thought Vulcans were logical."
I think you may be slamming it because your expectations were too high. It was good television, and good startrek.

There are some reviews of it at http://www.revolutionsf.com/article/441.html

Re:It's not perfect... but I like it

[David Price]

This is the later Klingon look, but in TNG Worf says "something happened" to change the Klingons' appearance that they don't discuss.

If I recall correctly, this was in an episode that was an intentionally campy retrospective; Worf's comment was a joke on the part of the writers. Don't think of this as a continuity error; rather, think of it as the new series taking advantage of better makeup techniques in order to better represent the Klingons.

Star Trek, despite its geeky appeal, does not have to have absolute internal consistency. :)

Have to say, I liked it.

[weslocke]

*Spoilers* (Just in case) :)

The dislike/prejudice between the Vulcans and Humans was well explained, and made quite a lot of sense as far as I was concerned. Actually did a lot for me... think it's good for there to be a bit of distrust/tension on the bridge.

Another thing I enjoyed was the Klingon, though mostly because it was the first. That's one of the nice things about this show... we get to see all the firsts. The first 'Phase Pistols' (read, phasers), the first time at Rigel-X, the first Klingon encounter, etc.

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing what alienates the Klingons and Starfleet (Though is it just me or did it sound like the Vulcan ambassador talking to the just-introduced aliens? Possibly it was, his interaction is discovered, and the Klinzhai find fault with Starfleet also since they're allies of the Vulcans? Hmmm...)

And people keep talking about the decon scene (Read: Shower scene). What purpose did it play? To show that the vulcan's stacked, that's why. Worked quite well too, as far as I was concerned.

But there was one thing that just absolutely bugged the crap out of me. That's the transporter. Berman had said that they wouldn't have one in this series, mostly since it was too much of a plot safety-net. When the writers couldn't think of a plausible method to do something, out came the transporter. Then what does he go and do? He hands them back the safety net. (Though the 'Leap' effect was pretty neat)

Which reminds me, wouldn't the transporter systems need to be newer than 300yrs for Bones to always be worked up about the 'newfangled gadgets'? If something's been around for that long, I don't think someone would have that sort of reaction.

But overall I have to say that I'm looking forward to the coming episodes of 'Quantum Enterprise'.

What I liked

[pandaba]

Here's what I liked:

Vulcan vs. Human interactions: The pilot had a nice twist by pitting the two races together on a governmental level where representatives of each could display their predjudice, mistrust, and fear of each other. This was perfectly believable. As insufferable as the rather pretentious and overprotective vulcans are and as impulsive and basically untrustworthy as humans are, I'm surprised the two never ended up in a war on opposite sides. Obviously the vulcan / human thing has been overdone in the past but it was always on a mano y mano level , never at the level of governments maneuvering for control of a situation.

The tribute to green (and other coloured) Orion slave girls: Remembering Christopher Pike's Talos induced vision of a visit to Rigel's slave markets was a nice touch.

I didn't think the disinfectant scene was too pr0nish... To me, it actually seemed as if the director had vague arty pretensions and thought the sensuality of the scene, mixed with the harsh dialogue, would create a lovely bit of dissonance. I think he almost succeeded in this effect.

I really liked the joy these ship-board geeks found in their technology, such as "warp 4.5!" or the sweet spot. TOS had a similar love of technology but the later series seemed to lose their joy in what could be done and what the possibilities are.

I like that the characters finally have a measure of humanity. They're occasionally noble, often shortsighted, easily amused and excited, sometimes brave, usually susceptible to blind predjudice, quarrelsome, hypocritical, and driven by baser instincts they usually dont try to understand. This is a return to the happier days of TOS when (wo)men were (wo)men and even when Kirk would give a sanctimonious speech about his / Federation ideals at the end of an episode, you could hardly forget that he spent the bulk of the episode violating almost every single one of the Federation's sacred beliefs and rules. That sort of willful inconsistency and hypocrisy is typical of almost every human who has held any sort of real power. That is how people would really act, not as the insufferable, always correct robot that was Picard / Janeway. Most leaders will always have more Shatner than Stewart in them. For example Bush's line: "We value our freedom and we value America. That's why we're going to ban any real encryption because freedom is a wonderful thing." could have just as easily been spoken by Kirk in some vague defense of the Prime Directive after he topples a planet's leader and sleeps with all the green and lavender women with iron brassieres he could grab.

Ranting aside, its nice to see the Ugly American in space again.

I think this was the best ST pilot since The Cage and the dark few first minutes of DS9. It wasn't great sci-fi but I think it'll have half a chance if the writers can resist the urge for preachiness.

Absolutely Right...

[Chasing Amy]

It was a better premiere episode than I expected. I mean, there's only *so much* you can do when you assemble a bunch of actors in an ensemble show like the ST series' and make them act before they fit with each other and their characters. No ST series has ever had a real all-encompassing central character--you have the captain as the "hub" but all the other characters are just as important to the feel of the series. That's something that always set ST apart from most other TV shows--that it's a true ensemble production.

The same is true of the writers. The writers have to know the characters and know how the actors fit into their characters' shoes (or bodysuits, in the case of 7 and the Vulcan chick...hehe...). This means by definition that both the writing and the acting in the first season of a ST series are not going to be up to par. It takes time for the actors, the characters, and the writers to all "mesh" well.

That's why I was pleasantly surprised by the passable story and acting. It's better than the first few episodes of any other ST series. It's promising.

I especially like hearkening back to the old TOS rough-and-tumble attitudes. That's something a lot of people forget--that Roddenberry set out to write a "Wagon Train to the Stars," a sort of Western set in deep space. In that respect shows like Babylon 5 and even Andromeda (yuck--sorry, but--yuck) and of course Farscape have been far closer to the concept of TOS than any of the newer ST series have been. So despite the bitching thus far, I think Roddenberry would have been very happy with this episode and with the potential of this series.

Not that there's anything wrong with the world of TNG and DS9 and even Voyager (80% of the episodes were "good enough" in the last 2 seasons, so wuite yer bitching)--as a geek I love the technobabble and the idea of having such an advanced technological framework. I love the wormholes and tachyon beams and especialy the episodes involving quantum mechanics. But there's also nothing wrong with returning to ST's shoot-from-the-hip roots. Especially since it got to a point where many average folks couldn't watch ST--my grandmother for instance was a smart woman, but she never understood half of the technical stuff they were saying and so after loyally watching TOS and then TNG for 30 years she gave up. This is a chance to recapture those people.

That said, I agree with what so many have said--the opening music has to go. What the FUCK were they thinking? I didn't know whether to laugh or scream. What they should have done and what they can still do is have Scott Bakula read off the a variation of the old standard, "Space, the final frontier..." They could reasonably inster a few anachronisms, like calling it the "spaceship Enterprise" instead of the "starship Enterprise" and such. Because, that opening music alone is enough to alienate most or the current ST fanbase, who'll view it as a sign that the show is catering to a certain uneducated demographic alone.

And finally, as for the tits--why complain? As long as the stories are good, the tits are just a bonus. How can any man woman or child with a pulse complain? I mean, did you SEE those things in the rubdown scene? Those nipples were like two stiff warp nacelles, boldly jutting out where every man would love to go... ;-)

Now excuse me while I go jerk off to the thought of a borgalicious lesbian encounter between 7 of 9 and that Vulcan chick. Mmmm, now *where* did she just put that tricorder???

Perhaps a reaction to losing a war with humans?

[FreeUser]

Interesting idea.

Perhaps it was a social/religious reaction to losing a war with humans ... emulating the appearance of those who had bested them by a minority through plastic surgery or genetic manipulation. The majority of klingons would consider this a perversion of the highest order, but if that minority had been in a position of political power or influence that would explain their frequent contact with the federation during Kirk's tenure, only to be eradicated once more traditional klingons seized back control of the council at some later date.

This would be similar to a religious group of Kzin (Ringworld, Ringworld Engineers, Throne of Ringworld, et al, by Larry Niven) who believed that humans were favored by the Gods, and so cloaked themselves in the skin of dead humans in an effort to decieve the Gods long enough to win a war and conquer earth. Said religion was of course ruthlessly suppressed by the establishment, but that didn't prevent some highly placed Kzin from practicing it and/or believing it at some deep level (e.g. Speaker-to-Animals, later Chmee).