The first UK viewing: I was there (Lucky Me?) (Star Trek - Enterprise)

Member Name: mrcordel

Product:	Star Trek - Enterprise
Date:	01/05/02 (47 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks good

Disadvantages: A bit xenephobic, Too much like TOS, Re-hashed plots

On the 15th December 2001 I was invited to a screening of the pilot for the new Star Trek series, Enterprise, due here on Sky 1 in early 2002, and Summer/Autumn on Channel 4. Here is my review for Big Rag. There are some spoilers so beware! Beam me up! Enterprise is set around 150 years from now, when mankind is just starting out into the final frontier and exploring strange new worlds. The technology is primitive and the crew are a little nervous. The pilot episode "Broken Bow" deals with a mission to get a Klingon crashed on Earth back to his home. However there are dark forces willing Captain Jonathan Archer and his intrepid crew to fail...

I think this series will do well. The critics of Star Trek tend to categorise it as "dull" "ponderous" "unrealistic" "wimpy" and "uncool". Enterprise looks like it is trying to up the sexiness, action and comedy in Star Trek. For me, it isn't enough, Star Trek needs to improve the complexities of the stories and characters, while creating some genuinely interesting science fiction. There are a lot of neat ideas in Enterprise but how long can these gimmicks last? Broken Bow was too straight - forward, it didn't seem a step up in terms of story quality.

My opinion is probably quite different from most in that I enjoy the Captain Picard style of ponderous diplomacy, whereas Enterprise has a fist-fight Captain Kirk approach. A lot of people say Trek needs to get "Back to Basics" so this will appeal to them. I personally think Enterprise could be a step backwards.

What disappointed me the most was that in established Trek history the first contact with the Klingons was a disaster which led to war. This opportunity was completely wasted in Enterprise and threw Trek history out of the window. It looks like the Romulans will make an appearance soon when they didn't until Kirk's time. One of the things which drew me to Tr
ek was its consistency and established back story.

There's nothing wrong with more humour, but it needs to be (a lot) funnier, action needs to be backed up with motivation, sexiness needs to be more subtle (why did an alien woman kiss Archer for no apparent reason?). It also seemed slightly patronising that the "scared" character (Sato) was a woman. The crew often made mistakes, a neat idea perhaps, but realism? Surely if you make many mistakes in that environment you're dead.

The alien physician Dr Phlox, was excellent, eccentric and interesting with his bizarre equipment.

Bakula did a good job of making me forget about Quantum Leap, but a Vulcan/father sequence-exposition seemed tacked on. His threatening a Vulcan diplomat made me lose respect for this Captain. The other characters have promise for development, although I felt good-ole boy "Trip" was rather irritating.

Enterprise has ideas that can be developed but plot and a satisfyingly different story is the most important. For me Trek isn't dark, it has a high set of ideals, it is international in outlook, it is thoughtful and doesn't appeal to the lowest common denominator. There are plenty of dark shows out there and Trek was always unique. I just hope Enterprise doesn't throw this out the window in an attempt to be "relevant".

Summary: