Brown Jenkin said:
I've been sticking through Enterprise despite its many flaws. I was looking forward to the season finale as it seemed among the more interesting episodes of this season. Lately I have been more bored than anything by the episodes and this seemed like it might be better. I am concearned however that including this klingon subplot will drag the episode down by just giving us more of the same tired plots. Hopefully it will be just a small part of the episode and the whole earth under attack part will hold my interest.
I think we're going to keep seeing little bits and pieces about Klingons chasing Archer in episodes here and there until they clear Archer of the charges. I don't think that Klingons are the forgiving type, nor do I think they like to let things simmer on the back burner. They'll be dogging him with whatever resources they can spare. Even when they don't use them, I think they'll be mentioned, at least in an off-handed way. I think it is a good thing and helps to raise the stakes of being out in deep space. Perpetual one-shot episodes with no long lasting consequences doesn't seem very compelling to me.
Part of the problem is that we can't sum up a history with a few pithy citations like they did in TOS and all series afterwards. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the "Vulcan Database" is fairly sketchy, probably due to them either holding back or being so involved in a near-war with the Andorians that it isn't all that well-developed. In fact, not having an extensive database may be the reason the Vulcans
are holding back. Perhaps they see the Humans as stepping off into space and being natural leaders, a role they felt they were destined to play.
Anyway, two seasons from now when they want to start building the Federation and they want to cite various conflicts with the Klingons as reasons for doing this, all of these snippets are going to need to have been the groundwork for such a leap.
Tom Cashel said:
For all the talk about a "new direction," they managed to produce the same tired old Star Trek/Enterprise plot. How many times have we seen the "getting ready for a big mission" show? Too many to count. How many times have Klingons been after the captain of the Enterprise? About three times in this season of Enterprise alone (and countless times in other shows). How many times do we have to see T'pol agonize over whether to defy the Vulcan High Command?
(Howdy, New-Groom. BTW, shoulda got married at center ice, man. Where's your sense of class?
)
Anyway, it would have been their heads if they had left old plotlines with the Klingons unresolved and of course T'Pol has to agonize over going against the Vulcan High Command. I have no idea how they would have her along if she didn't.
Tom Cashel said:
It took 45 minutes to leave spacedock! What th--?!
Forty-five minutes of showtime equaled about four months of timeline time. I believe the trip to the Expanse was said to be three months which accounts for the final fifteen minutes (approx). If the network only gave them one hour and they managed to squeeze seven months of exposition (and a hell of a lot of action) into that time I'd have to say they did a lot more than most episodes of any ST series ever did. I was impressed how well they moved things along and stil had it all make sense. In the end it looks like they aren't going to allow themselves to be saddled with the old one year equals one season like all of the others. I imagine that some of the usual diehards may not like it but if they're going to show the early formation of the Federation by the end of season seven that's how it will probably have to be.
Tom Cashel said:
I would have forgiven all of this if the episode was 2 hrs. long. Take one hour to show us all that sameness, and then take us in a new direction already! Although I was hopeful when the Suliban told Archer to "stand closer so you can see more clearly," there was no resolution to the Temporal Cold War plotline. And by ending the season where they did, there's no indication of a "new direction" except a malevolent probe and the name of a new species. Yawn.
I'd rather not have an hour of "sameness" and am glad they mixed the exposition with action and "newness" as well as they did. The TCW isn't just going to be wiped away, it seems. I think it's very cool and ambitious of them to integrate several big arcs into the series. Klingon Vengeance, TCW, Xindi Problem....very ambitious, indeed! As to how much they've given us on the new direction, how much do people need? It'll unfold over the next few seasons and I think that's much better than completely outlining the situation all at once.
Tom Cashel said:
With a second hour, they could have shown viewers and Paramount execs alike what there is to look forward to. They could have established total weirdness in the Expanse, they could have had Archer bust out his secret stash of future knowledge, they could have given us a reason--ANY reason--to tune in for another season. I don't give two bits about the timeline, or Trek continuity...I want to see something new!
Although not a traditional cliffhanger, it seems to have gotten you very curious. The second hour, as with all cliffhangers, comes as the first episode of next season, doesn't it...?
And let's face it, they are without any doubt trying to give us something new while not completely shattering the ever-more-delicate craniums of the canonites.
Tom Cashel said:
As it is, I'll be very surprised if the show doesn't get cancelled. Which is sad...they could have ended it all on a much better note. Instead, the Enterprise will likely sail off into the great unknown...never having had much of an effect on the show's "future," or the Trek mythology.
What a waste.
It's already been renewed for next year, so I do not think we'll be seeing the cancelation axe all too soon. I think we'll be seeing one of the best ST series ever. One that is willing to bend the rules a bit in various ways to give us something new, while still keeping some of the traditions alive for old timers like myself. No waste for this kid who used to watch as a child when Roddenbury first talked some network execs into putting Sci-Fi into primetime. It's kinda funny in a way that most of the people who call themselves Trek fans didn't even start watching until just after it had been cancelled and was run as a weekend filler during the daytime (and most not until it got into it's second round of reruns years later).
Brown Jenkin said:
When Malcom and Reid were talking in the ship durring drydock they mentioned that a memorial service had been held 2 months ago before they got back.
They mentioned that it would take seven weeks to return to earth, IIRC. I believe that after they had visited the surface and he pointed out the "old movie house" they returned to refit and repair the Enterprise and they used the "memorial service was two months back" line to represent the time it took to repair the ship, after they had gotten back and visited the surface. That's the impression of things I got anyway.
