Enterprise Season 2 is the Low Point of the Series
By
Kristin Battestella
Understandably,
Enterprise had growing pains relating to its
prequel approach in its debut season.
However, after a lot of promise in its first year, the second season of
the last Star Trek spin off sinks to
new lows and most likely put the final nail in the series’ coffin- two years in
advance.
Captain
Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), his Chief Engineer Trip Tucker (Connor
Trinneer), and Vulcan Science Officer T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) battle familiar
enemies and unseen foes as the NX-01 Enterprise – Starfleet’s first Warp 5
vessel – continues its exploration of nearby star systems. Past transgressions, galactic intrigue, and
pre-industrial first contact mistakes also make life difficult for Doctor Phlox
(John Billingsley) and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) as Enterprise is used in
Temporal Cold War tricks and betrayals – which eventually create devastating
consequences for Earth.
The
“Shockwave Part 2” cliffhanger resolution starts Enterprise’s
Year 2 off great. The offbeat “Carbon
Creek,” hints of Romulan tensions in “Minefield,” and a touch of spooky in “Dead
Stop” all build solid Star Trek mood
and science fiction atmosphere. These are unique episodes with prequel pieces
that no other Trek series could have
done, and each has the viewer returning week after week. “The Seventh” is a worthy T’Pol espionage
adventure, and “The Communicator” shows Trek
audiences how pre-industrial contact can go horribly awry. Now that we know
the crew a little better, it’s also fun to see them go nutty in “Singularity”
or camp out in “The Catwalk.” Jeffrey
Combs returns as the Andorian Shran in “Cease Fire,” and “Future Tense” is a
strong time episode that remains smartly TOS
instead of Temporal Cold War. “The Breach” also has some excellent science
fiction debates between Archer and Dr. Phlox, and these shows are a great
example of how Enterprise should always be. This crew
toes the no Prime Directive line, and sometimes the humans are the jerks of the
budding galactic community, yes. They often get into trouble by helping or not
helping alien friends and neighbors. Unlike some previous episodic Trek that kept things nice, easy, and
tidy, however, consequences can linger on Enterprise, and
“Cogenitor” is an awesome example of SF mistakes and misunderstandings that
cannot be taken back.
Thus
far, it sounds like Enterprise’s second season is nothing but glory, I
know. Unfortunately, a batch of bad
episodes sent the show’s viewership into a tailspin from which it never
recovered. After the notoriously
Freudian forced “A Night in Sickbay,” Enterprise drove itself further down with the
rehashedly bad “Precious Cargo” and the typical save the frontier town “Marauders.”
“Vanishing Point” might not be a bad show in and of itself, but the Hoshi Sato (Linda
Park) dreamt it all crux is enough to anger audiences into never watching
again. Likewise, “Dawn” is a complete Enemy
Mine joke, and the serious episodes can’t gain any momentum thanks to
unacceptable clunkers like this. Although “The Crossing” and “Horizon” are hokey
and “Stigma” is obvious in its AIDS allegory, it’s tough to take even the half
decent amid so much bad. “Canamar,”
“Judgment,” and “Bounty” also suffer from statistical retreads, for how many
times can Archer be abducted or kidnapped, hijacked or imprisoned, or taken
hostage and committed in one season? We seen the nods to Star Trek VI, love the Klingons, Tellarites, and faux pon farr.
Sadly, these are all plots we’ve seen too much already, and its all the more
infuriating here because Enterprise should be doing so much more with its
pre-Kirk designs.
“Regeneration”
encapsulates this very conundrum. On its own, this is a fine episode, complete
with superb X-Files spooky and
scares, action plotting, and big consequences. Were this simply a rogue horror
episode, no one would object to its appearance on Enterprise. Unfortunately, longtime Trek viewers will groan at the officially
unofficial appearance of the Borg, 24th century tech babble, and the
Delta Quadrant paradoxes created here. Is it a good show? Yes. Does it belong
on Enterprise?
No. “First Flight,” by contrast, shows us Archer’s motivations in the early
Warp program and provides a lovely guest performance by Keith Carradine. This bumbling San Fran base and competitive space
race storyline makes one wonder why Enterprise didn’t begin its first season on Earth
pre-launch as the producers momentarily envisaged. If you’re not going to give
us the Romulan War and the founding of the Federation, why not begin the
beguine? Likewise, “The Expanse” season finale feels cramped and time
compressed in its rush to return to Earth despite a sweetness to its
bittersweet. Why couldn’t they have traded all those clunker episodes for a few
more ending hours of a ship in mourning? Perhaps then spending too much time on
Earth under an alien attack was too close to 9/11 memories, but it would have
certainly made for some fine SF drama.
I’ve
focused more on episodes in this Year 2 analysis than characters as usual
simply because the likeable players on Enterprise are not the problem. Well, Anthony Montgomery as pilot Travis
Mayweather somehow has even less to do then he did before, but otherwise, this
cast is vastly superior to Voyager’s ensemble
bane. Despite some fine episodes and developments both good and bad for Archer,
Trip, and T’Pol, I sincerely think that if this season had been skipped in its
entirety, Enterprise might have continued beyond its four years. No cheap gimmicks, sex jokes, or humorless
thrills were spared in the dragging the bad sci-fi thru the mud here. And what makes this all really sad is that we
got this instead of all the aforementioned Federation and Romulan rumblings.
With those dynamite plots – the ones most Star
Trek audiences had been waiting for since the moment a prequel was
mentioned – who knows what glories Star
Trek might still be having on television today. Alas, Enterprise was on borrowed time once viewers
turned away from this shoddy season.
There
is quality in Season 2 of Enterprise, yes.
However, I wax nostalgic on the possibilities of what this series could
have been because this sophomore year served up such infamous crap. Only die-hard
loyalists can enjoy this season, and that’s with skipping half the shows. I
love Enterprise, I really do. The realistic players and 22nd century
opportunities do indeed come in Seasons 3 and 4, so do hang on with Enterprise despite the Year 2 iffy. Please?
No comments:
Post a Comment