Finally the show starts to tap into arcs and storylines handed to them on a golden platter…things like the formation of the Federation, Romulan threat, Andorians/Vulcans/Tellarites, Orion slave girls…
Enterprise was given these plots as potential story ideas long before the show began, not intentionally of course, but these untapped sources for stories, which do NOT disrupt continuity, were ready for the taking. The producers and writers squandered those opportunities for three years, only hinting at them but never fully exploring those possibilities, then they only half achieved them here throughout this season.
Unfortunately the sad conclusion I must come to is this: if this had been the first season of Enterprise, it might have had many great years to improve upon itself. In reality, it feels like the rocky first season of the other Trek spin-offs, but it’s the FOURTH. While the whole season is filled with these 2 and 3 part mini-arcs, most of them fall flat in their last episode…leaving lame or unsatisfactory conclusions to most of the plots. I do think this was the perfect format for the series, they just struggled to find good conclusions.
Had this been the first season, they could have found their feet and maybe gone onto to be one of the best Trek series. But Berman and Braga dragged their feet for three years, losing viewers and fans slowly but steadily…and by the time they began to take a backseat to Manny Coto, there was hardly a show left to save, or an audience left to watch it.
NEXT TIME: Whole Series Recap