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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User Reviews

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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. 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
  4. 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.
  5. 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
  6. 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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