What is 'Enterprise' missing?

[John Crichton]

The thing is that while we are told these things, they are not shown properly. I never get the feeling that they are all alone and are more like us, I'm just told so.

That's what makes good TV writing. This is after all a visual medium.

Hmmm, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I think the baseball caps, the other 2 things I mentioned, the dog and the submarine look and feel of the ship's interior are few of the ways they show what we are discussing. there are more, I'm sure, but I can't think of them right now.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

Quick Question

Obviously this Enterprise is a far cry from the ships that shall later carry its name.

This Enterprise is the galaxies whipping boy. So has the Enterprise suceeded in defeating ANYONE in direct space combat yet? Or has everyone pretty well slapped them around with ease?

 

[John Crichton]

Hmmm, they gave the Suliban a good whuppin, but only with help from the future Daniels. Otherwise I'd say they have been slapped around pretty good by everyone else...

I don't know if this would mess with continuity, but I think that because the ship lacks sheilding it can't stay in a fight that long. They can do a decent amount of damage with their phase cannons and torpedoes but a few hits and they are out of the fight. The polorized shield plating isn't doing a whole lot for them.

EDIT: As for the continuity, when did Starfleet finally have the ability to give a ship sheilding like the stuff in TOS and beyond?

 

[myrdden]

There is much about the Trek universe and history that hasn't been explored or fleshed out. People above mentioned the show being about the characters on the show and their adventures rather than the universe as a whole. I agree with this. Yes, there are events that have already happened that have somewhat shaped what this show is restricted to. But that does not completely limit what the writers can do. I hardly recall anything in any of the previous series mentioning the specifics how the Federation was formed. There is alot of breathing room there!

The people who make the show have already proven to me that they can make excellent episodes. At this point I can count them on one hand. All they need to do is have some consistancy.

This is EXACTLY what I have been feeling! I am hopeful it will get better as TNG and DS9 picked it up quite a bit with the third season.

I too feel that ST canon isn't a problem. Yes there will be a war with the Romulans and yes the Federation will be formed. But we have little or no information (on screen info anyways) on how these events came to be. There are tons of things that can be explored since this is the beginning of the rest of the saga.

As John C. stated, consistency is key with a succesful franchise. Right now they seem to be all over the place.

Myrdden

 

[myrdden]

I ask again. What would you do? What would you have them do? If something is missing, what would you add? Where should they go? Which parts of the galaxy should they explore? Who should they contact and why? If they should be doing something new, what is the new thing they should be doing?

I wouldn't mind seeing the Orions in a few episodes. Haven't heard much about them and the TOS made them sound like pretty devious maffia types.

I would like to see more episodes that build towards the formation of the Federation, like the Andorian episode a week or two ago. ST sometimes moves way too slowly in developing series arcs - part of the downside of the episodic genre I suppose.

One thing I think the show has done reasonably well, and would like continued, is the 'deus ex machina' of advanced technology. Unreliable transporters; no tractor beam; limited shields; no inverted tachyons/obscure particle; no temporal anomalies (no wait...they have had that...) and so forth. The show really needs to demonstrate that early space exploration was challenging and required resourceful people. With a substantial reduction in technology, I would think this should be relatively easy. For me, the show has been pretty decent on this point. Except for the universal translator, poor Hoshi doesn't seem to be doing much lately.

I would like to see more imaginative episodes. Many of them seem derivative from previous series. While some may say that's the problem with such an old franchise, I don't necessarily see it that way. I don't think this series is tired. ENT represents a whole new way of looking at the ST universe - naely from the beginning.

I add more later.

Myrdden

 

[Ranger REG]

I don't really see that as a big continuity thing myself.

But I do. Something like that is like saying the cell phone should have been invented before wireless radio. Or firearms & bullets comes before bows & arrows.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

It needs Rick Berman out and Ira Behr in.

OR

It needs to be left alone for a decade and let a new team come in and do something with the realm of ST.

SD

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I like Enterprise quite a bit. It is lacking something, though. What I think it lacks is any sense of anything truly epic, something truly larger-than-life taht challenges the heroes. The Temporal Cold War has the potential, but I'm kind of tired of Trek dealing with time travel so much. When I think of epic stories in Trek, I think of the old series, with Kirk going up against Apollo, or duking it out with Khan, or discovering giant amoebas, or racing to head off a doomsday device that seems unstoppable, or battling their own evil counterparts. Yeah, I know stuff along these lines was dealt with in later series, but they somehow seemed small when dealt with in Next Gen or some of the other series. There is very little sense that they're truly exploring - even in Enterprise, when they mention they're studying this or that phenomenon (comets, etc.), it just seems like they give quick lip service to it and then jump into the current plot involving wheeling and dealing with another human-with-a-funny-nose race of aliens. Enterprise has, thanfully, moved away from all that somewhat, but it has yet to break with all the Trek baggage it needs to shed so it can seem like they're covering new ground. B5 had its war with the Shadows, the enigmatic Vorlons, Lorien, the First Ones, etc. Old Trek had Khan, Harry Mudd, the Squire of Trelane, the Andromedan aliens, and a hint of the Cthulhu mythos. I'd love to see some of that kind of stuff in Enterprise.

 

[Viking Bastard]

It needs Rick Berman out and Ira Behr in.

Berman ain't the problem, he's just the money man of the franchise. Trek was doing fine for years while
he was running it. Later seasons of TNG, all of DS9 (and yes, I missed the Bajoran politics in later years).

It's Braga. He's a fine writer, but sucks as a producer.

I like Enterprise quite a bit. It is lacking something, though. What I think it lacks is any sense of anything truly epic, something truly larger-than-life taht challenges the heroes. The Temporal Cold War has the potential, but I'm kind of tired of Trek dealing with time travel so much. When I think of epic stories in Trek, I think of the old series, with Kirk going up against Apollo, or duking it out with Khan, or discovering giant amoebas, or racing to head off a doomsday device that seems unstoppable, or battling their own evil counterparts. Yeah, I know stuff along these lines was dealt with in later series, but they somehow seemed small when dealt with in Next Gen or some of the other series. There is very little sense that they're truly exploring - even in Enterprise, when they mention they're studying this or that phenomenon (comets, etc.), it just seems like they give quick lip service to it and then jump into the current plot involving wheeling and dealing with another human-with-a-funny-nose race of aliens. Enterprise has, thanfully, moved away from all that somewhat, but it has yet to break with all the Trek baggage it needs to shed so it can seem like they're covering new ground. B5 had its war with the Shadows, the enigmatic Vorlons, Lorien, the First Ones, etc. Old Trek had Khan, Harry Mudd, the Squire of Trelane, the Andromedan aliens, and a hint of the Cthulhu mythos. I'd love to see some of that kind of stuff in Enterprise.

Like I said: 'Oomph!'.

 

[Ranger REG]

Berman ain't the problem, he's just the money man of the franchise. Trek was doing fine for years while
he was running it. Later seasons of TNG, all of DS9 (and yes, I missed the Bajoran politics in later years).

It's Braga. He's a fine writer, but sucks as a producer.

Like I said: 'Oomph!'.

I would have believed and agreed to the statement above had it being made prior to VOYAGER sixth season opener and DEEP SPACE NINE series finale episode.

But after having read the four-part interview of Ron D. Moore from Cinescape, my feelings for Berman has changed.

According to Mr. Moore, after the DS9 series run has ended, he was invited by his then-friend Brannon Braga to join the VOYAGER writing staff. He agreed.

But just before VOYAGER sixth season begins to air, he quit, citing a hostile working environment that foster oppression and low morale under an iron-fisted leadership of tyrant in the form of an executive producer. Ron D. Moore brought his complaint to Rick Berman, but Berman defended Braga. And when Braga caught wind of the meeting, that ended the friendship. Ron couldn't tolerate the working environment and left.

His only contribution to VOYAGER? He co-wrote the story for the B'Elanna/Klingon-themed "Barge of the Dead" episode. It is one of a handful of VOY episodes that I DO like.

Then again, I may be biased since I'm a Fan of All Things Klingon.

While I'm grateful for Berman during his early management of the franchise after succeeding Roddenberry, somehow along the way he took the franchise in a different direction and became lost, no longer seeing what made Star Trek great in the first place.