Star Trek: Enterprise

:

Season 1
  • Network: UPN
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 26, 2001
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 73
  3. Negative: 5 out of 73
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  1. Tss5078
    Feb 1, 2016
    10
    Out of all the Star Trek series and films, Enterprise is easily the most overlooked, and was the only one since the original to be cancelled. This isn't because it wasn't as good as the rest, but simply the way it was marketed. The show is in fact a prequel to Kirk's Enterprise, and does take place before the Federation, but what the show lacks in technology, is more than made up for withOut of all the Star Trek series and films, Enterprise is easily the most overlooked, and was the only one since the original to be cancelled. This isn't because it wasn't as good as the rest, but simply the way it was marketed. The show is in fact a prequel to Kirk's Enterprise, and does take place before the Federation, but what the show lacks in technology, is more than made up for with realism and some of the best character development in the Star Trek franchise.

    100 years after Zefren Cochrane's warp flight, the human race has had enough of Vulcans holding them back, and have created the first warp five star ship in human history. Over the Vulcan's objections, Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), the son of the engines designer, has been selected to Captain the ship and explore a galaxy that humans know very little about.

    This show is extremely important to the franchise and all Trekkies, as it not only shows humanities first trip out of our solar system and first contact with all the races we've come to know over the years, but the show fills in a lot of the gaps from all the other series and films! Enterprise explores the origins of Data's creator, the Eugenic Wars (which created Khan), the development of many protocols and much of the tech we see on future ships, but most important of all the series shows how the foundation for the Federation and the creation of star fleet all came together.

    Enterprise was also unique for it's character development and realism, in that it takes place in the not to distant future. We get to know the crew intimately, from their fears to their families, and we see them doing and discussing things never before seen in Star Trek. The Enterprise crew has a classic movie night, watches sports on TV, has pets, and they even talk about sex.

    The cast is lead by Scott Bakula, which was another great move by producers. Casting a veteran science fiction actor, whose been in long running series, automatically gives him that air of experience and authority that Picard had. He's also a younger man, so with no federation policies in place yet, Archer can be just as much of a risk taker as Kirk was, even more so.

    Star Trek Enterprise was extremely enjoyable, and a series people could relate to more than any other in the Star Trek franchise. The show isn't simply about the future and the Federation, it's about what it means to be human and how that compares to other species. It shows what we need to do in order to get along with and understand other cultures, but most of all it fills in so many holes from previous films and episodes, that it truly was the missing link.

    Unfortunately for Star Trek fans, the show barely made a hundred episodes, because it was on a dying network, that folded shortly after the show was cancelled, screwing us trekkies out of three more seasons. As with all the previous series, the story has been continued in books, but in this case, the books were written by the main writers of the series, and do encompass everything that would have happened in seasons five, six, and seven.    … Expand
  2. DigitalJedi
    Jun 15, 2014
    9
    The most underrated of all the Trek shows, and not just in my exclusive opinion. It's abrupt cancellation suggests to me the fickle nature of the entertainment industry in the internet age. Neither Deep Space Nine, nor Voyage had strong starts, or consistently entertaining seasons. But they existed prior to the days the heavily critical and meme driven era of the internet took hold. I'veThe most underrated of all the Trek shows, and not just in my exclusive opinion. It's abrupt cancellation suggests to me the fickle nature of the entertainment industry in the internet age. Neither Deep Space Nine, nor Voyage had strong starts, or consistently entertaining seasons. But they existed prior to the days the heavily critical and meme driven era of the internet took hold. I've suggested before, that if there had been a form of internet when the original Star Wars trilogy had premiered, they'd be as heavily derided as the prequels are online. There's a measure of peer pressure involved when discussing any type of genre series, and being for something that's normally mocked (just tell someone you liked Jar Jar), or weren't necessarily found of something with generally universal critical acclaim (maybe you weren't the greatest fan of Keaton's Batman), and you'll find yourself at the bottom of the cyber pile. And most people probably would rather just join in on the jokes, then have to defend their opinion at every turn. To the point where they think that was their opinion all along. Enterprise seems to fall victim to that way of thinking.

    Like some of it's predecessors, Enterprise didn't have the strongest start, nor the most interesting characters out the gate. The later is still not evidence of a bad, or poorly casted series, as a series normally needs to build characterization and interest in the cast before you'll ever start caring about them. Where it did fail, at first, was some of the preliminary stories weren't necessarily interesting. On Netflix, that's much easier to forgive. But if you've waited a whole week for a show that might not have captured your interest last episode, it was going to be harder to want to make the hour commitment again seven days later. Additionally, previous and current sci fi series, not just Star Treks, had set a considerably high bar for your average episode. Farscape and Babylon 5 had introduced us to the sweeping season/series long story arcs, and the self contained one-offs were not as compelling as the once were. And, let's face it, the modern-era Star Treks were found of taking risks with the more subdued, cerebral storylines that were often hit or miss. Sometimes they made you think. Sometimes they left you wondering "Wait, the episode is over already?".

    Given the chance, though, while ignoring any preconceived ideas, and the show had it's decided shining moments, and strong story arcs. Complaints that the show messed with Star Trek's timeline might be forgetting that almost every series retconned Star Trek history in small ways. And closer inspection of some of those complaints often reveals a lack of understanding, or a lack of having viewed the series in it's entirety. Character development happened early on, in spite of some of the less compelling early stories. But the introduction of the Xindi in Season 3, and Archer's struggles with the realization that Starfleet can't just be about exploration, but also defense, and sometimes offense (a Navy/NASA hybrid), give us some of the most thoughtful, and downright exciting episodes in the whole series. The show also throws us some out right fan appreciation in the form of filling in some details in specific Trek history, such as Data's ancestry, the consequences of a previous series crew's time travel adventures, why Klingons looked so different in the original series, and how we could have an century long rivalry with the Romulans without ever knowing what they looked like.    … Expand
  3. ReidW
    Jul 17, 2016
    0
    Just awful. The characters are moved along only by the plot-device of "We're idiots and never think things through"

    Fart jokes, juvenile thoughts on sexually, and they let a genocide happen because "evolution wills it to be so". Archer hides alcohol in the shuttlepod, cares more about his dog than crew mates, gets overwhelmed in almost every close combat situation, and constantly acts    Just awful. The characters are moved along only by the plot-device of "We're idiots and never think things through"

    Fart jokes, juvenile thoughts on sexually, and they let a genocide happen because "evolution wills it to be so". Archer hides alcohol in the shuttlepod, cares more about his dog than crew mates, gets overwhelmed in almost every close combat situation, and constantly acts like a crazy person, ignoring all reason. This show is the worst star trek .

    DS9 is way better.    … Expand
  4. jcalberta
    Jul 15, 2017
    3
    Like they say: The 'Writing' is everything. And the writing on this show stinks. Whereas previous editions of Star Trek were usually true Science Fiction this edition show has fallen down to Cowboys and Indians in space. Accompanied by terrible feats of illogical action that just can't be deflected. One can only hope it improves as it goes along, but right now it's very mundane.
  5. Necromus
    Dec 29, 2012
    7
    This is the Star Trek series which deviated most from the standard Star Trek formula. It was a very interesting premise to see the Federation forming from the start through the voyages of the first Starship Enterprise. Unfortunately, this show did not live up to what it could have been. Right away when we see the opening credits and hear the cheesy pop-music song being played we know thisThis is the Star Trek series which deviated most from the standard Star Trek formula. It was a very interesting premise to see the Federation forming from the start through the voyages of the first Starship Enterprise. Unfortunately, this show did not live up to what it could have been. Right away when we see the opening credits and hear the cheesy pop-music song being played we know this is not your standard Star Trek spin-off (I would have preferred an instrumental with the same footage personally). Once again Star Trek writers are trying to target non-Star Trek fans in vain... In my life I have learned, there are two types of people, those who love Star Trek and those who don't, you're never going to bring Star Trek to the people who don't. This is the one series where people that love Star Trek often say they don't like this series. The first season has some weak episodes, but so did TNG and Voyager so I can't really hold that against it. The thing I disliked the most about this series was the season-long story arcs. I am not fond of story arcs because I have a busy life and can't always be home at a certain time of the week to watch a show. Also, the story arcs were drawn out way longer then they needed to be drawn out. 2-3 episodes max is what I can tolerate. The original premise of them being out in space without The Federation, without shields or tractor beams, no prime directive, etc. was a great idea that could have lead to many exciting episodes. However, in no time at all there are other Federation ships around, they start thinking of a future rule set that should govern their ethics (ie: The Prime Directive), they invent force-fields, etc.. They even encounter The Borg on one occasion (although they do not actually see or figure out who The Borg are for consistency with the future series) . With all that being said it is not that bad a series to watch, and it did improve, especially in Season 4. But by that point it was already scheduled to be cancelled. But if you do watch this series you might want to skip the final episode, "These are the Voyages", it is the absolute worst Star Trek episode of any of the Star Trek series, here's why: SPOILER ALERT: instead of being just a regular episode TATV is a TNG holodeck episode -- LITERALLY!!! What I mean is they have Deanna Troy and William Riker (no joke!) on The Enterprise from TNG running a holodeck program of what happened on a historical day on the original Enterprise, sound cheesy? it is! But wait, it gets worse! We get to see cheesy, poorly produced scenes of lame flirting between Troy and Riker inbetween plays of the Holodeck program, one of the main Enterprise characters dies in a really forced, badly-directed and pointless way (the character deserved a much more meaningful and dramatic death than that at least). And all so Archer can get to Earth on time to give his speech which we wait in anticipation to hear the entire episode because it's all he's talking about! Of course we suspect it's the "To boldly go..." speech. So he finally gets to Earth at the end after he's finished saving the day in another solar system, and so now we get to see Archer read the Speech during that historical moment on the podium... OR NOT! ...Okay episodes over. NO SPEECH FROM ARCHER SHOWN AT ALL! Just a couple of 2 second shots of Star Ships from all of the series flying by in the future and... Credits 10 seconds later! I mean come on! Why were TNG characters showing up in this series? Why was it a stupid holodeck episode when you know most people even hate TNG holodeck episodes, and why? I mean WHY??? would you not show Archer starting to say his famous speech "Space, the final frontier..." I mean even if you cut to having Kirk, Picard, etc. saying portions of it afterwards it would still make sense, but nooooo we never hear it lol. The cast of Enterprise did not react well when they were presented with the script of the final episode, Jolene Blalock (T'Pol) is quoted as calling the episode "appalling". The final episode is an insult to the cast of Enterprise. Do yourself a favour if you watch this series just assume that the second last episode of season 4 is the final episode, it has a better conclusion and none of the BS of the actual final episode. But other than the final episode which is -5/10 (yes negative 5), the rest of the series was about a 7/10, worthwhile to watch but kind of disappointing.… Expand
  6. Kai82
    Nov 10, 2020
    6
    It follows the tradition of TNG, DS9 and Voyager before with a weaker first season. This does not mean it is bad or garbage. It means there are not many excellent and outstanding episodes here. Lets start at the beginning: After Voyager ended a new Star Trek show was green-lighted. They chose the idea of a prequel. It is the story of the first human spaceship that sets out to explore theIt follows the tradition of TNG, DS9 and Voyager before with a weaker first season. This does not mean it is bad or garbage. It means there are not many excellent and outstanding episodes here. Lets start at the beginning: After Voyager ended a new Star Trek show was green-lighted. They chose the idea of a prequel. It is the story of the first human spaceship that sets out to explore the realm outside of our solar system. It is set 90 years after the first contact with the Vulcans. The Vulcans wanted to protect and guide mankind because they though they were not read for space exploration yet (I think they were at least partly correct). This lead of cause to some animosity. Many things are not invented or established. The pilot episode two parter “Broken Bow” starts with a Klingon crashing on Earth hunted by Suliban pursuers (New species in Star Trek). He is shot and injured by a farmer. Captain Archer convinces his superiors to bring the Klingon to the Klingon home-world with the newest spaceship (prototype) Enterprise. It is the first grand voyage of humans into the realm outside the solar system. I will stop here because of spoilers. It is an excellent start and I wish there were more episode in this category. However like in all previous Star Trek shows the actors must adept to their characters, the interactions, themes and new ideas must be established. It is basically the testing ground of ideas versus what works or gets fan interest and can best be described as world building. The special effects look good and I think there is mostly nothing wrong visually and artistically. The soundtrack is good and the intro theme is praiseworthy. Excellent song and visuals. I think I continue with my recommendations / favorite episodes: “Broken Bow part 1 and 2”. Already described and a really good start that makes you to want to see more. “Unexpected” for the humorous situation. Even Klingons have a good taste for humor;-). “Terra Nova” for the set up, story and conclusion. I must admit that I have a problem with the 70 years and not done anything sooner. Makes no sense and is pretty unlikely. “The Andorian Incident” for the first appearance of Shran and setting up the conflict between Vulcans and Andorians. Bonus for the conclusion. “Dear Doctor” would be undoubtedly a great episode. But the argumentation for the conclusion are unconvincing and leave a bad taste. I think they committed an unforgivable crime here. In short: Great concept and idea that was wasted with weak arguments. “Detained” for the moral dilemma. Great idea and well executed. Worth to discuss because there is no black or white and no easy solution. “Two days and Two nights” for the idea were everyone gets what the others wished for;-). Also a nice change in paste and focus on interactions. The season final “Shockwave part 1” (part 2 is episode 1 in season 2). Great final episode I chose not to spoil more than the cold gets hot. Overall this has some good episodes and many unremarkable ones. I even have forgotten that I watched some of them. It is not terrible but also not remarkable enough to get a higher rating.… Expand
  7. beaner02
    Nov 1, 2016
    9
    Definitely the most underrated of any Star Trek series. This show broke the Star Trek mold and set off on its own path. It's not like the other series in the franchise, and that's a good thing. Honestly, it's a breath of fresh air in what can be a very stagnant Trekkie universe.
  8. Method__Man
    Nov 29, 2018
    8
    The first season is definitely the worst season of the show, like most start trek series. Character development improves dramatically in the second season.

    The third season is where it really takes off. Exploring unknown space like TOS, longer darker plot lines like DS9, while keeping some interesting fantasy episode (i.e the wild west episode) similar to Voyager and TNG. Also by the    The first season is definitely the worst season of the show, like most start trek series. Character development improves dramatically in the second season.

    The third season is where it really takes off. Exploring unknown space like TOS, longer darker plot lines like DS9, while keeping some interesting fantasy episode (i.e the wild west episode) similar to Voyager and TNG.

    Also by the third season the acting becomes really quit solid, while the special effects and animations dramatically improve.

    Many critiques stem from it departing from traditional Star Trek, whereas really its a hybrid the other series. Overall a great show, cut short far too long. Leaps and bounds better than more modern attempts at star trek.

    My only real issue with the show as a whole is the stupid introduction song    … Expand
  9. WorldofLucky
    Apr 27, 2018
    5
    A very big disappointment, but not for the reasons I had ignored watching it the first time around.

    Enterprise has good actors, and the occasional great performance, especially from my favorite, Jeffrey Coombs who played the Andorian Shran with an occasional recurrent role). The sets I thought were great, along with the costuming for everyone except T'Pol (which this comes into the    A very big disappointment, but not for the reasons I had ignored watching it the first time around.

    Enterprise has good actors, and the occasional great performance, especially from my favorite, Jeffrey Coombs who played the Andorian Shran with an occasional recurrent role). The sets I thought were great, along with the costuming for everyone except T'Pol (which this comes into the problems I have).

    The problem comes down to the writing. It is the laziest, sexist, unimaginative writing that I have seen in the Star Trek universe, overall more so then even the first season of ST:NG. The number of rape/assaults that occurred randomly on the show (mostly using mind-melds as the stand in) were fairly common. They even had T'Pol who seems to be the constant recipient of this do it back to someone else. That bothered me a lot.

    Then we get into the sexist treatment of T'Pol in general, constant forcing her into those situations, combined with that stupid body fitting outfit she wore, instead of the normal uniform. The ramrod writing of trying to shoehorn her into scenes such as the decon room where they have her sweating and posing sexually while waiting for the decontamination happens.

    I also need to point out that there were very few original ideas in the series as well. Instead of taking this opportunity to maybe do something more gritty (maybe on a Babylon 5 level) they instead reworked a lot of episodes (well sometimes not even reworking) from the original series. They also tended to not tell stories linearly, instead starting from the end and going back which is not their strength (stay in your lane).

    In addition there was no actual character progression, any progress in a character that was learned in a story disappeared within two more episodes. Not even counting the fact that the behavior of the characters would sometimes be 180 degrees from what they said in other episodes. I wonder if they even had a plot bible, which is a book or data store that records all the personality traits of each character and things that happen to change them, this way multiple writers have the same base character for each of their stories and it allows them to slowly change a character.

    Overall the sad writing is what made this show sink for me. I can't blame the actors at all, they did what they could. It was a chore to finish Season 4.

    Pros: The actors worked hard on this and did make it more watchable (especially Jeffrey Coombs).

    Cons: The writing was a mess, no permanent progression, no real original ideas, just rehashing old subjects.    … Expand
  10. VendonJura
    Jan 4, 2019
    10
    This is my 3rd fav. series of all Star Trek series. I totally love this crew. It is amazing and I rlly can't remember how often I've been watching the whole series already but I am still enjoying it. Just hate the part with the Xindy.

Awards & Rankings

14
#14 Best TV Season of 2001
8
#8 Most Discussed TV Season of 2001
8
#8 Most Shared TV Season of 2001

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
66

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 18
  3. Negative: 2 out of 18
  1. People Weekly
    Reviewed by: Terry Kelleher
    Jun 27, 2013
    42
    To make new fans, show more enterprise.
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  2. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Noel Holston
    Jun 25, 2013
    70
    Rick Berman and Brannon Braga have assembled an attractive cast and found a tone -colloquial, humorous, slyly sexy -that probably will make questions about the science in this fiction moot. [26 Sep 2001]
  3. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Hal Boedeker
    Jun 25, 2013
    60
    It goes boldly and unapologetically where dozens of series have gone before.... If that's disappointing, the fifth Trek television series still has more going for it than either Deep Space Nine or Voyager did. And yet, Enterprise isn't going to challenge the supremacy of Next Generation or the beloved status of the original series. [26 Sep 2001]
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