Star Trek: Enterprise has ended its run, the first time that there won’t be a first-run Star Trek series on TV since 1987.
Fans of the show have been harshly critical of the series finale, These Are The Voyages…
And they were right to be.
Instead of a swan song to Enterprise, we got another episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which the crew of the NX-01 were but incidental characters. Granted, it was great to see the return of a TV classic, but not as a way to end another series. TATV was an interesting attempt to try and tie two generations of Trek together, but it gave short shrift to the very show it was trying to send off.
And the death of Commander Tucker was pointless and stupid. Why in the world would Trip blow himself up for nothing when there was any number of solutions that didn’t involve self-immolation. It was terrible plotting and a pointless death for the character. His sacrifice wasn’t noble, wasn’t worth anything, and was an artificial and contrived plot point.
The preceding episode, Terra Prime was a far better finale for the series and actually tried to deal with issues in a respectful and interesting way. TATV consigned the series’ characters to what was essentially a B-plot.
The problem with Trek is that it’s fallen firmly into formula. Head honchos Rick Berman and Brannon Braga have allowed Trek to hash over the same plots we’ve already seen a million times over. Trek needed fresh blood a long while ago, and the best Trek writers like Ronald D. Moore, Ira Steven Behr, and David Hewitt Wolfe had long since left the franchise for other opportunities.
>Trek will return to TV at some point – it’s too ingrained into American pop culture for there not to be a return to the well at some point in the future. When it does, hopefully it will be with new blood and a new direction that will provide America with a positive view of the future they helps us deal with the issues of today.
I agree that Terra Prime was a much better finale. The Riker/Troi idea would have made a fine episode midseason, but to bring these guys in was insulting to the current cast, but not because it gave short shrift to the Enterprise character (I think many got fine scenes), but because Riker and Troi aren’t Enterprise. It’s like having your older brother come home from college with his buddies and crash your graduation party.
It was a rude decision that didn’t respect the hard work of the actors on this series – very hard work in past seasons because of weak stories and aimless writing.
This season was the best of the 4. Manny Coto knew how to make Enterprise it’s own show, he had vision and a plan to instill some meaning, and he paid more attention to character than anyone did over the first 3 years. If Enterprise had ended after its 3d year, I wouldn’t have missed it, but because of its 4th season, I will.
But Galactica returns in July. 🙂
Yeah, I just finished watching it tonight. I was terribly disappointed.
It reminded me, more than anything, of the last episode of Seinfeld. Just pointless suffering inflicted on the characters, and no real resolution of anything. The Tripp/T’Pol romance? Over for 6 years by the time of the finale. Why? Who knows? The T’Pol/Archer romance suggested by that one weird time-travely episode? Never explored again.
What did Archer do next? What about T’Pol? What about any of them? What the hell did Archer say in the famous speech? Do we even get a hint? Did he use Tripp’s sacrifice as a theme?
Could we have seen maybe a little more emotion as any of the characters said good bye? Aside from the awkward and insufficient Archer-T’Pol hug. Come to think of it, though, do we even know if any of the characters were going to have to say goodbye? Or were they mostly going to follow Archer?
Although, come to think of it, who cares? The whole thing was a holodeck simulation! It was all made up. Most of the conversations that we’re supposed to care about never “really” happened (yes, I do remember that it’s still just a show). We’ve no more reason to believe that the holodeck’s recreation of these characters was any more accurate than it’s recreation of Leah Brahms?
Blah. I hated it.