Sometimes I feel like I’m part of the minority who actually enjoyed Enterprise. Sure, there were some stinkers but the world was incredibly interesting and in Series 3 / 4 I really felt like it scratched that Trek lore itch for me.
If Enterprise was to be rebooted for a series 5, perhaps on Paramount+ or another streaming service, what would it look like? I don’t think Jolene Blalock would come back but I’m sure Scott Bakula could be convinced as well as most of the other actors.
I would really hope they keep the early 2000s aesthetic of the NX-01 and all of the retro low-tech gear, perhaps show a gradual transition into the aesthetic of Strange New Worlds. You could mix in some time shenanigans to explain why things look different than they did in TOS and make some fun callbacks, like In A Mirror Darkly.
There’s a lot of room to move before the series finale happens - or you could just retcon it and present it as a deep cover-up. So many opportunities! I want to hear this community’s opinions!
I loved season 3 of Enterprise, and while I didn’t think as highly of 4 as some, it was still a decent show at that point. It was a shame it was cancelled.
I’m not sure there’s much reason to pick up where the show left off though, unless it’s for a one off limited series covering the Romulan War or something. Strange New Worlds is doing the regular Star Trek thing and doing it well, so it would need to be something that really justified returning to the setting.
If I could wipe Enterprise from history and start over, I think I’d have liked it to lean more into the low tech stuff and make that the hook. The show very quickly seemed to drop that side of things, and even early on it mostly just replaced later Trek stuff with other stuff that did the same job. Polarised hull playing replaced shields, lasers replaced phasers etc. They even had a transporter. I’d like to see humanity taking its first steps to the stars without any of that stuff.
They kind of had to get up to speed quickly to even have a fighting chance against the enemy of the week. To be fair, when they went up against the Xindi it was pretty clear the NX-01 had barely any chance, it was in pieces.
Some of the best moments of the series was when they’d rig up something out of the primitive tech they had like the grappler and figure out a way to punch way above their weight in fights. So I don’t think they fully lost the scrappy underdog status.
An issue with bringing back enterprise would be that it’s literally been almost 20 years since season 4 premiered. They can do a time skip that takes place later in the 22nd century and show some early federation stories. Or they could follow another ship during the Romulan war, but it would be difficult for them to just start up with season 5 and try to carry on like normal.
I remember there was some hope that the series would come back in the age of streaming in the late 00s early 10s, but eventually the march of time makes that difficult.
I did enjoy enterprise though. It had its faults but overall was a quality series. There’s a book series that acts as a season 5 and beyond that sort of covers the romulan war era which I thought was pretty solid when I read it in the early 10s. I believe it was The Good that Men Do, Kobayashi Maru, and then romulan war books
You’re right…I am thinking it would basically be a reboot. Or some kind of time shenanigans which change history. Not sure.
I’ve been looking for the Good That Men Do for a while, no luck yet…but I hear it’s good!
the thing about Enterprise is even at its worst, it’s not an entirely bad show - the supporting cast is good, they are set in an interesting time period, and the premise is ostensibly interesting.
The main problem for me is that, setting aside the fact that the main theme comes straight from the Patch Adams soundtrack, the show is straight up boring. They came so close to something really interesting with Archer being flawed because he was the first, and perhaps even not really the right guy to be captain. But then the writers had to make him a mary sue, he fails is way to success every episode, and becomes like the ship’s alcoholic dad, constantly getting into the dumbest yelling arguments with his
wifefirst officer — who he is also canonically racist against by the way. You would think/hope they were setting him up for some growth on that, but, instead they chose to try to make a lot of the show indirectly relevant to 9/11By the time the show finally set the stage to become interesting the majority of its audience had already been alienated
What Paramount ought to realize about it is that Enterprise failed because of the writers and producers and not because of the cast or setting and it should not be very difficult to do significantly better than the original
Well said. Archer could have been such an interesting character who grows throughout the series, and I think that was much of the original plan, but I think the writers were straight up exhausted from TNG - DS9 - VOY for like 30 years and gave up trying.
9/11 allegory with the Xindi - I mean, it was a pretty big event and it’s only natural for America’s biggest sci fi show to try and tackle it. The Xindi arc was interesting and I think really good in some parts - but it didn’t feel like Trek to me. This wasn’t the show to try it on.
I feel so bad for Scott Bakula. This was going to be an absolutely defining role for him but he was given nothing to work with, and was cut loose right when the interesting stuff started showing up. I really want him to get another chance to shine, with some decent writing up to the calibre of Strange New Worlds at least.
Sometimes I feel like I’m part of the minority who actually enjoyed Enterprise.
I adore it. Archer is probably my favorite series Captain, but that comes from my love of Scott Bakula & Quantum Leap more than the writing.
I think it’s an underrated show, and was mostly dragged down due to it’s strange choice of music and intro sequence.
series 5
You’d have to do a time skip given the actors’ age.
The main focus could be Lorian - the son of T’Pol and Trip. He had appeared in an ENT episode from an alternate timelines.
The background could be that T’Pol used Trip’s DNA to get pregnant with Lorian (Dr. Phlox hints some science is required for Humans and Vulcans to reproduce in Lorian’s ENT episode, for reference). She always wanted to be a mother and chose Trip as a logical donor.
Since T’Pol and Trip had a psychic link, he appears to her in a form only she can see. Similar to Dr. Balter & Six in BSG. Or Al in Quantum Leap.
T’Pol spends her later career as a science expert, being called from planet to planet solving mysteries.
T’Pol struggles with grief in her own way and questions whether seeing Trip is a sign of mental illness or rather that Trip somehow lives on, truly, through her. They’d even argue about it. She doesn’t tell anyone - out of embarrassment or fear. But she’d say it’s illogical to discuss it until she understands it better. The show could drop red herring hints. Perhaps Trip reveals something to T’Pol she didn’t know, only for the audience to be revealed that information was always accessible, in the background.
Meanwhile, Lorian gets his first commission on Enterprise and climbs the ranks. Because he’s mixed race, he deals with a lot of prejudice along the way. The story could get a lot more detailed, revealing separatist movements, even amongst some Starfleet members wishing to leave the Federation. Or rather would prefer a defensive agreement over integration. Lorian balances the idealistic image of a hero Starfleet father he never knew - with the realities of being part of a pluralistic society that’s still learning to accepting new cultures and overcome it’s biases.
More of a spin-off, really.
First season set in 2164. Episodes include depicting the events I linked. Second season in 2165, same deal, depict all these events plus whatever new stuff the writers dream up. By filling in existing canon, half the seasons stories become really easy to break, saving time and money, and people who respect canon will have nothing to complain about. Ten year time jump explains why the actors look older. The only problem is no Trip, but he can easily cameo in a dream story or an alternate timeline, heck they could even Harry Kim him back to life.
edit: added bonus, there’s an opportunity to retcon and apologize for Code Of Honor.
