What is 'Enterprise' missing?

[Silver Moon]

I mentioned this in a post on last week's Enterprise episode thread, and have been thinking about it since then. The show has always seemed to be missing something, but I can't quite place my finger on what. And I'm not talking about any technology mumbo jumbo either, I'm thinking more along the lines of the cast and/or stories. Any thoughts?

 

[Brown Jenkin]

They should be building alliences for the Federation, not alienating everyone they come accross. The Andorian episode is what I would like to see more of.

 

[Piratecat]

Hot Borg-on-Vulcan action?

 

[Tsyr]

For me, my problem with Enterprise is the cast. I can't bring myself to care about them. Even voyager there were a few characters I rather liked. Nobody on enterprise is *bad* exactly... But not *good* either.

 

[Silver Moon]

Hot Borg-on-Vulcan action?

Gee, it would be difficult to have both T'Pol and Seven-of-Nine in the same scene, as they re-use the same costume for both of them.

Back to the original question. I'm thinking that perhaps they missed the mark not have a somewhat contrary older cast member for Archer to play off of, like the Sam/Al relationship back in Quantum leap.

 

[Chun-tzu]

Gee, it would be difficult to have both T'Pol and Seven-of-Nine in the same scene, as they re-use the same costume for both of them.

Um, one costume between the two of them is not a problem for me.

Seriously, Enterprise is lacking spark, creativity. They spend far too much time rehashing old ideas from previous Star Trek episodes. How ironic that a show about exploration is far too timid about heading into uncharted territory.

If I were in charge, I'd drop the one-episode=one-story format, and do more multi-episode storylines. I'd explore the show's themes much more aggressively, advancing the show's history in almost every storyline, so it feels like things are happening. Let's see some of that history being made NOW, not just hollow allusions that something important will happen sometime in the future. I might even adopt a more Buffy-esque approach to casting, where the show's cast evolves every year.

 

[John Crichton]

Can't agree on the cast. I like them. They have some personality. But since that is a personal preference I won't dwell on it. Some individual episodes have been lacking a bit but the show overall is much more entertaining to me than Voyager. If you look at the last half of the first season and the episodes that are coming out now, there is really nothing missing. The stories have been interesting and there has been some very good character building.

The first halves of each season have not been as good as the second halves, so far. I have mentioned in other threads that the main arc they seem to have going (Temporal Cold War) has been handled well and not overused. I found it to be entertaining and it's growing on me. Not the best story ever but you have to give these things time (Trek moves slowly with their plots compared to other shows).

As for the contact with alien species, they aren't going to get along with everyone. Their only ally (Vulcans) aren't exactly friends with everyone and their relative technology level isn't all that impressive. At this point in the series they aren't trying to form a federation, they are just trying to see what is out there and meet other lifeforms. And that has been represented well.

I know this all sounds rather positive but I do not love everything Star Trek. I strongly disliked Voyager and that show along with the crummy and generally sub-par Next Gen movies nearly had me disreguard anything Trek out of hand. But Enterprise has shown me that the franchise still has some life and I have enjoyed it. It's not the best Trek series but it has been, on the whole, entertaining.

 

[John Crichton]

If I were in charge, I'd drop the one-episode=one-story format, and do more multi-episode storylines. I'd explore the show's themes much more aggressively, advancing the show's history in almost every storyline, so it feels like things are happening. Let's see some of that history being made NOW, not just hollow allusions that something important will happen sometime in the future. I might even adopt a more Buffy-esque approach to casting, where the show's cast evolves every year.

With the one exception of DS9, Trek has been episodic. While I wouldn't mind more mini-arcs that string along many weeks (I've mentioned a similar feeling elsewhere) the producers haven't expressed any interest in doing so. I actually like the episodic method, when done right. They just have to keep the story moving, like in the last 3 episodes and not let it drag. As long as the individual eps are entertaining as they have shown they can be, there is no need for dramatic change.

 

[Viking Bastard]

As has been said above, ENT is just lacking some 'Oomph!', some spark, some energy.

Personally I think the best Star Trek show currently on TV is Stargate SG-1. It evokes similar feelings for me as TNG used to do.

If they're trying to get back some of those exploration-wonder-feelings from TOS and TNG back to Trek, they should watch more Stargate.

 

[jonesy]

A continuous plot (tighter and better than what DS9 had).