I've been meaning to reply to one of these threads or the other for a while. I'm not picking this one for any reason in particular besides it being the one I'm currently viewing.
Over the course of
Enterprise's run, I haven't exactly been the most praising of fans. I watched the first season, and wasn't in love with it. But it had some elements I enjoyed, and I did have to keep reminding myself that I sat through the sixth season of Voyager (which is still, in my mind, the worst overall season of the franchise). The second season of
Enterprise I watched as well. Many episodes I wasn't thrilled with. A few I was. Maybe it was just the Trek fan in me that didn't want to stop watching. Maybe I was sifting through for the gems in the mix -- which were definitely present. At the end of season two, the new direction was announced and I was not too thrilled. Yes, the show needed to do something. But I wasn't terribly thrilled with the something that was being offered. Xindi who? We're doing a prequel why? Couldn't we do something with just a *little* more relevance to the franchise this series was a part of?
So, like many fans, I called it quits after the second season finale. I heard its prasies sung, but I stood firm. Eventually through some convincing on Zeke's part, I downloaded the first few episodes. And while yes, it was different, I just couldn't shake the feeling of "why the hell are we doing this plot anyway?" And the writing on the first few episodes hadn't significantly improved, in my estimation.
I waded through downloaded copies of the first half of the season rather slowly, with pauses of many months before I'd watch a few more. Hell, I didn't even find "Twilight" all that impressive, while seemingly everyone else on the planet did. News of cancellation wouldn't have phased me much at that point, I will admit. The season wrapped up, and speculation on the possibility of a season four ramped up. I wasn't terribly interested until I heard about the direction the season was taking. So I was intrigued enough to finally get my ass in gear and watch the rest of season three. The writing in the second half of the season seemed much improved from the first half, and I enjoyed the conclusion more than I expected to. The last ten episodes of the arc were mostly entertaining -- something I couldn't exactly say for any ten straight episodes of any other season of the show. I would say it had been at least a few years since Trek had been that good. But no matter what, I couldn't shake -- and still can't shake the feeling that we really didn't need to waste a season of this show on some until then unknown threat with vague ties to the disappointing temporal cold war. Season three was unnecessary. Yes, it was entertaining, but in the end I can't say it added much to the franchise besides good episodes. No overall significance that I would expect from a prequel show.
Yet by the time I had finished the third season, I was hearing juicier and jucier details from the fourth season. The augments arc was in full swing, and I knew I wanted to be completely caught up before the Vulcan Civil war arc was in place. Could it be? Was this the series I was looking for all along? Hell, I knew "Storm Front" wasn't going to be satisfactory. But I watched it anyway. I had to be caught up for this so called "bold new direction" that had many doubters wrapped up in it. And did I find myself enjoying it?
Absolutely. "Home" was quite enjoyable for me. The augments arc wasn't absolutely groundbreaking, but it was entertaining. Like season three, except grounded in the prequel concept. I was
blown away by the Vulcan arc. Seriously, I can't remember being so impressed with Trek in a long time. "Observer Effect" worked very well for me. "Daedalus" didn't work at all, but I can be lenient (my favorite season of the franchise
does happen to include "The Alternative Factor"
). The arc begun by "Babel One" has been nothing short of brilliant, in my opinion.
For the most part, I was NOT impressed with
Enterprise during its first few seasons. Had I been caught up with the third season during the cancellation speculation then, I probably
still would not have been terribly phased. Yes there was good writing, but where were they going with it?
But season four is, in my opinion of course, the best Trek has been consistently in a long, long time. Since the original series movies, probably. Speaking of the movies, something just feels... cinematic about this season. It's very fresh, and somewhat surreal.
There are those who will still say
Enterprise is no good. There are those who will say
Enterprise has always been good. I ask that the former please come back to the series and watch some of the arcs from this season. I had been playing crotchety TOS fan for a while, until I gave this season a chance. And I'm really,
really glad I did.
To those who have enjoyed
Enterprise all along, I can't argue with you. Everyone has different tastes in programming. Every Trek fan has different opinions on where the franchise should go. I'm not going to tell you that the first two seasons sucked. I wouldn't even if I hated every last episode. That's no way to base an argument, and it pisses me off every time I see it done.
I will say though, that
Enterprise was a series that had to succeed, or the franchise was doomed to its recent fate. Ratings had been slipping since TNG went off the air.
Voyager had the benefit of being the flagship series of the new United Paramount Network, and could securely count on a seven season run. And during its run, the ratings decline continued.
Enterprise needed to be a fresh start. Even the creators knew it -- why else would they set it in a new time period, go such a different direction with the theme song, and remove "Star Trek" from the title?
Enterprise had to stop and reverse the ratings decline. Everyone knew it. If it didn't, it would be cancelled.
The thing is, it's very difficult to have a fresh start with the same creative team involved. I'm not going to rant against Berman and Braga, as I have nothing in particular against them. But I do think a fresh start needed a fresh perspective -- their perspective was not fresh, and could never have been.
Enterprise's comparisons to
Voyager were inevitable, how could they not be? How can one help but make comparisons between
The Andromeda Strain and
Jurassic Park? How can one not compare "Romeo and Juliet" to "Hamlet"? It isn't an issue of quality. It's an issue of creative perspective. And the Berman perspective of Trek had been around for a decade. You simply don't say "it's time for something new" and not make any changes in the creative department. Berman and Braga are who they are, and they're not going to single handedly reinvent the franchise.
Enterprise promised different, but it just wasn't different enough. So people tuned out. They were tired of the same old stories. And the creative department just wasn't delivering enough "new". By the time Berman and Braga realized change was needed, half the viewers had tuned out already. And season three
still wasn't enough of a departure to get in the viewers. Once a show has lost viewers, it's very difficult to get them back. A show gets a lot of promotion at the start, but afterwards it needs quality and appeal to keep viewers coming back for more. And in the estimation of many, that just wasn't there.
It's a damn shame that by the time
Enterprise had a fresh creative perspective, the viewership was lost. The show simply couldn't afford to take a couple of seasons to find its feet like the other series had. It had to come out of the gate strong, and how do you argue that it was strong
enough when so many viewers feel otherwise?
I am watching these Save Enterprise campaigns with much interest. I would love another season. I really, really do hope they succeed. But there is a reason
Enterprise is in this danger in the first place. I sincerely hope Paramount learns from its mistakes when series six comes around.
Whatever happens in series six, one thing is certain. It needs a fresh perspective, and it needs to captivate viewers from the start. It's really the only way Star Trek can come back and stay back.