Enterprise 10-08-04

Menexenus · Oct 10, 2004

D'oh! I forgot that the premier of Enterprise was Friday. Anybody know if UPN plans to re-run it any time soon? (For example, I recall that UPN used to replay episodes of Voyager late on Sunday nights. Do they do the same with Enterprise?)

Mark · Oct 10, 2004

There's no need for spoiler tags unless you are posting information that is definitely in an upcoming episode. Conjecture about future episodes or discussion about the episode denoted in the thread title requires no spoiler tags.

Anyway...

Why would anyone in World War II era even think to consider that tech from the future had been brought back in time? It simply is not a consideration. At most, it might be suspected that some sort of technology has been created that hadn't yet existed, and that is a continual concern in all eras by all adversaries.

BTW, I've been saying since season one that with the introduction of the "temporal cold war" anything they do is fair game since they can clean it up later.

Viking Bastard · Oct 10, 2004

Well, I liked it. For the most part. A bit *too* X-Filesian, that is, in the sense that we got a lot of
new questions but few answers. I feel pretty confident that we'll get answers next episode, though.
I do not feel as confident that we'll get satisfying answers. I'm especially mystified of what Silik's
role will be. Y'know, if it turns out that 'Future Guy' is actually working to save Earth and the UFP
I'd be thrilled. I love those kinda twists. I kinda doubt it, but y'know, it'd be kewl. Nevertheless, I
eagarly await to discover Future Guy's identity (I hope we will).

One thing, concerning whether Vosk is Future Guy, he'd know Archer/Enterprise, right?

Funny how they finally are able to make the TCW kinda interesting, but only when they're tieing
it up. It's the classic X-Files dilemma. If you just keep asking questions, but never answer any,
mysteries get uninteresting fast. If every TCW episode had had answers to some of the questions
posed in the last TCW appearance (which then would create new questions to answer next time),
they'd be able to make something worthwhile out of it. Y'know, I kinda like the concept of the TCW,
but the execution has been absolutely horrible.

drothgery · Oct 10, 2004

Mark said:
Why would anyone in World War II era even think to consider that tech from the future had been brought back in time? It simply is not a consideration. At most, it might be suspected that some sort of technology has been created that hadn't yet existed, and that is a continual concern in all eras by all adversaries.

I'm not saying would. But any tech that isn't an incremental advance on already known principles is going to have a lot of people going "that ain't right".

It occurs to me that even in the timeline Archer's in, the Allies almost certainly still win WWII, albeit in a somewhat Pyrhhic victory. There's really not much defense against a nuclear bomb.

Umbran · Oct 10, 2004

Mark said:
Why would anyone in World War II era even think to consider that tech from the future had been brought back in time? It simply is not a consideration.

H.G. Wells published The Time Machine in 1895. War of the Worlds came along in 1898. Heinlein, Asimov, and EE "Doc" Smith were all publishing major works before 1944. In the US, 1941 marked the greatest number of Sci-fi/fantasy magazine titles ever published.

The ideas of time travel, aliens, and outside meddling in human affairs were already well established in the literature by 1944

Wolf72 · Oct 10, 2004

ooh, I liked that episode.

bugged me how travis and tripp got caught though.

myrdden · Oct 10, 2004

Wolf72 said:
ooh, I liked that episode.

bugged me how travis and tripp got caught though.

I found that if a separated the "Star Trek" elements from the episode and thought of it as generic sci-fi (as oposed to a Star Trek episode), I actually found it entertaining. It was kind of interesting to see an alternate earth.

I'm just biding my time, waiting for Coto's new take of the series to kick in so the TCW can be adandoned with impunity.

I will say that the capture of Tripp and Travis bugged me as well. And I also thought the acting was unusually bland in this episode as well.

Mark · Oct 10, 2004

drothgery said:
I'm not saying would. But any tech that isn't an incremental advance on already known principles is going to have a lot of people going "that ain't right".

"that ain't right" is a far cry from "that's from the future!" For instance, the success rate of early torpedoes in WWII was extremely low on both sides of the ocean. The ability to properly calibrate proximity sensors came late, and came first to the USA. There were engagements where, literally, dozens of torpedoes went undetonated, even bouncing off of targets, leading to both sides running out of ammunition and leaving the scene to fight another day. Taking what was, perhaps, a 95-99% failure rate for torpedoes early in the war and changing it to even 50% success would have devastated one side or the other. All it would have taken was some advanced understanding of magnetic fields that was figured out by US scientists/engineers a few years later.

drothgery said:
It occurs to me that even in the timeline Archer's in, the Allies almost certainly still win WWII, albeit in a somewhat Pyrhhic victory. There's really not much defense against a nuclear bomb.

It's amazing how close a lot of the players (US, Soviets, Germans, Japanese) were to achieving that goal of having the first atomic weapon. Diverting resources to defend North America might have changed who won that race.

Mark · Oct 10, 2004

Menexenus said:
D'oh! I forgot that the premier of Enterprise was Friday. Anybody know if UPN plans to re-run it any time soon? (For example, I recall that UPN used to replay episodes of Voyager late on Sunday nights. Do they do the same with Enterprise?)

It's scheduled in Chicago, these days, for Friday at 7pm (central) and Sunday at 9pm.

Mark · Oct 10, 2004

Wolf72 said:
bugged me how travis and tripp got caught though.

myrdden said:
I will say that the capture of Tripp and Travis bugged me as well. And I also thought the acting was unusually bland in this episode as well.

That might be the old trick of just getting them half way inside. It's easier to have them captured and escape, to gain access to inside technology, than it is to have them have to completely infiltrate. If the writers get really desperate, they can even allow an attack on the facility to cause one of the prison cell walls suddenly crumble...