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Originally Posted by listopencil
Update: I'm about 7 or 8 episodes into the first season of Enterprise. It's pretty good. It definitely has the feel of the original series and I'm actually enjoying the differences in the political background, regarding how Earth fits in to things and what the other races are up to. I hope Strange New Worlds is done like this show.
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Glad you're liking it. There are a lot of terrible episodes, imo, but there are quite a few good ones too.
Season 1: Great first episode, but loses a lot of momentum immediately afterward. I like many of the "getting to know the crew" episodes, but there were too many of them. I liked the sense of awe of being in space. I liked Archer being a bit naive at first, but they kept him that way too long. The TCW stuff is good. The Andorian stuff is great. I ended up liking about half of the season's episodes. Favorite episode: Fallen Hero. Least favorite: Dear Doctor.
Season 2: The writers seem to have run out of ideas. There are several episodes that are...umm..."inspired" by other stories. The first few episodes very strong though. I particularly liked Minefield & Dead Stop. After that it hits a wall with a lot of mediocre to terrible episodes. There's still some good stuff to be found though. Favorite episode: First Flight. Least favorite: tie between A Night in Sickbay and Cogenitor. Or maybe Precious Cargo. Or maybe Bounty.
Season 3: A big improvement. the Xindi plot is a bit slipshod, but still interesting.The war gives the show some needed tension and drama. And we finally start to see some "high concept" stories like Similitude. There are still a few skipable episodes, and 2 or 3 truly terrible ones. One negative: Bakula doesn't play angry well. Favorite episode: Twilight. Runner up: Azati Prime/Damage/The Forgotten. Least favorite: Extinction.
Season 4 - My favorite. I think it's one of the most consistently good seasons in all of Trek. Not the best season, but a season that had very few bad episodes. Daedelus and These are the Voyages are the only two bad eps. T'Pol finally stops having to suffer through decon scenes and massage sessions. Archer is written better. It's a prequel done right, imo. It connects to and expands upon what came before and does so imaginatively. I also like the multipart format because it allows time for action and character development. Favorite episode: Observer Effect. Least favorite: These Are the Voyages.
Top ten episodes:
Twilight
Observer Effect
First Flight
Dead Stop
Similitude
Judgment
Proving Ground
The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara
Babel One/United/The Aenar
Azati Prime/Damage/The Forgotten
Final random thoughts:
- B&B should have bowed out after season 1.
- The cast is very likeable
- Jolene Blalok is a trooper for putting up with all the crap done to her character.
- The makeup artists did an exceptional job. Their stuff looks better than the stuff done 15 years later.
- For all the negatives, the show still featured a lot of very good episodes and deserved a few more seasons.