As one of the few voices that support Enterprise I know I need to present my case.
For me personally Enterprise fulfilled the broken promise of DS9 and Voyager. Here space was dangerous, gritty and real. It was certainly not perfect, but it held my interest for its entire run.
Before I break down the characters there is one component that this show had even through all of its faults: it had soul. It had character. There was a joy in what was being done that I responded to. People try to pigeon hole it as, “another attempt to beat cash out of the dead horse” and that might be true. For me the show falls on the side of Scifi that sits with Firefly, Alien/s and BSG. Unapologetic. To the point. Slightly raw. With heart.
A Characters:
Captain Archer was a noble character with perhaps a bit too much optimisim and wide-eyed approach…he was a good man, but certainly no Picard.
T’Pol fit the well tread role of Vulcan science officer also filling the eye-candy roll Six-of-Nine taught the franchise was a key component of any successful show.
Trip: For me, Trip was the heart of the show. He was passionate about his work, loyal, funny and a good person. He is they guy I would have a beer with and trust to watch my two-year-old daughter.
B Characters:
Dr. Phlox: Should have annoyed me and somehow never managed to. The token alien the actor took the right approach with him, mixing the serious with the occasionally smirkishness (yes, that’s a word…now)
Malcolm Reed: Malcolm came into his own later on. In the beginning he really didn’t have much to do, but blossomed in the war stories and exploration of his family military heritage
Mayweather/Sato: I group them as, well, perhaps together they make half an interesting character. Mayweather was the boy wonder in a man’s body, another wide-eyed optimist that reminded us that there is a certain wonder that is necessary when being in space. Sato was the one trick pony of figuring out alien dialects who never really had a fully realized character.
The show was at its best when it explored the Star Trek universe in a “Rosencrantz and Guildernstern” sort of way. Laying the groundwork for the Khan story (and twisting in the groundwork for Data was a masterful twist) which also worked to explain the lack of ridges on Star Trek TOS series…brilliant. Kudos to them.
Whether you liked the longer arc story of the war it was a calculated risk to change the fundamental way they told stories and for me, they were successful.
I look forward to your thots and responses.
