They titled this series Enterprise, but by the end of the first episode you’re starting to get
the impression that a more fitting title would have been Star Trek: Another One.
This is a review of the premiere episode of Enterprise,
“Broken Bow.” If you have not seen this episode,
and you don’t want to know what happens in it, be warned: spoilers beyond this point!
Pilots, or premiere episodes, of long-running series don’t always work as representatives of
those series as a whole. Shows that last for years and produce many episodes often change
and evolve and sometimes end up significantly different than they were in the beginning.
In certain ways this can be said of Enterprise, which, for all the complaints from fans and cast
members alike about its run being cut short, did produce nearly a hundred episodes. The focus of
the show shifted somewhat in the latter two seasons, the writers experimented a bit with
more serialized storytelling. Characters and their relationships changed and evolved during
the course of the series. But overall, in general, Enterprise ended as the same show
it was when it began, and as such, many of the weaknesses I see in the first episode,
“Broken Bow,” are present throughout the series as a whole. But, so are many of the strengths.
It had been awhile since I watched the first episode of Enterprise. Watching it
this morning, I was reminded of one of the show’s most frustrating qualities,
which is that so much of what it’s doing or trying to do is good in theory.
Because the show is set earlier in Star Trek’s fictional history than any of the previous shows,
the status quo is a lot different. The Vulcans play a more antagonistic role — not villains,
but paternalistic overseers who many humans, including a few of our main characters,
resent for holding back humanity’s progress. Enterprise is an Earth ship, not a Federation
ship — the Federation doesn’t exist yet. That means when Captain Archer and his crew run into
trouble, they aren’t operating from a position of strength like Kirk, or Picard, or Sisko, who
had the backing of one of the strongest powers in the galaxy. It’s a closer match to the situation
of the crew of Voyager, stuck in the Delta Quadrant, cut off from the rest of Starfleet.
Going along with the earlier setting, the level of technology at the disposal of our heroes is
less advanced than in previous Trek shows. The transporter is still experimental and used mostly
for cargo, meaning they use shuttlecraft to travel to and from the surfaces of planets.
There’s no such thing as a tractor beam. They don’t have phasers — they have phase pistols.
Actually, that right there gets to the problem. While I like the idea of doing a more low-tech
Star Trek show, where the tools and weapons at the heroes’ disposal is at least slightly less
like magic, in practice the tech wielded by the characters on Enterprise isn’t all that
different from what we’ve seen on other Star Trek shows. What is the difference between a
phase pistol and a phaser? I’m not talking about subtle variances in how one piece of imaginary
technology functions compared to another, the sort of minutiae known to only a few dedicated members
of the prop department or the most ardent nerds in the audience — I’m talking about,
what is the difference between a phase pistol and a phaser as far as the narrative is concerned?
If you take a phase pistol out of Captain Archer’s hand and replace it with a phaser,
how does that change what can happen next?
The answer is, it doesn’t. Phase pistols serve the same narrative function as phasers. Enterprise
doesn’t have a tractor beam, but it has a grappler, which serves the same function.
The ship doesn’t have shields, but it can polarize its hull plating, which serves the same function.
The differences are almost entirely cosmetic. They don’t force the writers to write this show
any differently than they would write any other show in this franchise. And that’s one of the
big reasons why this show, which was marketed as a bold and exciting new take on Star Trek,
a lot of the time feels like a retread. Which was a problem with Voyager, as well.
It feels like there’s no creative reason for this show to exist, like it’s here because
they needed another Star Trek show to fill the void after Voyager ended. Which is the
truth — but ideally, you don’t want that to come across quite so emphatically on-screen.
One of the other ways Enterprise tries to set itself apart from the previous entries in the
franchise is by amplifying the edginess and the sex appeal. We get Captain Archer threatening
to knock T’Pol on her ass — with one of the episode’s most painfully clunky lines of dialogue,
he really takes the long way around to get there. We get the scene of Malcolm
and Travis at the space titty club on Rigel X. We get the infamous decontamination scene,
where Trip and T’Pol disinfect themselves after an away mission by stripping and
rubbing themselves down with gel under a blue light — ya know, like you do.
Like I said earlier, some of these are good ideas in theory.
The tension between Archer and T’Pol sets up their character arc of learning to trust
each other. And, I mean, at least the writers are trying to introduce some conflict between
the people on this ship. After Voyager, which sets up what seems to be a natural
source of conflict by including members of the Maquis among the ship’s Starfleet crew,
only to mostly ignore that for the next seven years, I at least appreciate the effort. But so
much of this feels like the creators of the show are just trying a little too hard. The concept
of Archer being angry and mistrustful toward Vulcans because of how he thinks they treated
his father is fine, but the way it’s executed on-screen comes across as a little forced.
Same thing with the attempts at making this the sexy Star Trek — I have no problem in theory with
a Star Trek show jacking up the sex — no, that sounds dirty, I need another word there . . .
I have no problem with a Star Trek show juicing the sex — nailed it — but the “sexy scenes” in
Enterprise feel gratuitous, contrived, and kinda weird — and not in a good way. Alien
strippers snatching butterflies out of the air with their frog tongues? Crewmembers
decontaminating by giving each other hot oil massages? I don’t want to kink shame,
but it feels like some very specific proclivities are being catered to here.
All of that being said, there are some good things about this episode and, by extension,
about the series. Going back to the less advanced level of technology, I really,
really like the design of this Enterprise, especially the interior. The corridors are
narrower, the bridge is smaller, there are buttons and switches everywhere instead of touchscreens,
the doors don’t open automatically. Everything is metal, there are grates and handrails
everywhere you look. It feels like a ship, like a submarine. There’s a tactile reality to it.
This is one area where it doesn’t matter that these are only cosmetic differences, because they
contribute to the overall aesthetic of the show. It may not be all that different from any other
Star Trek show in terms of its storytelling, but at least it looks different. A little.
As is usually the case with Star Trek shows, the main cast is terrific. Scott
Bakula as Captain Archer is — well, he’s Scott Bakula, he’s one of the most innately likable
and watchable actors to ever be on television. Jolene Blalock is stuck with the same assignment
handed to Jeri Ryan when she joined Voyager — play the character who was obviously meant
to be the eye candy but make her a person. And, like Jeri Ryan, she does well with it,
projecting intelligence and confidence with a bit of smugness and faint sarcasm sprinkled
in. Vulcans are trickier to play than they look — if you lean too far into the “no emotions” thing,
you come across as flat, but if you’re too emotional you’re not acting appropriately.
Blalock is no Leonard Nimoy, but she finds that balance better than most.
The only other cast member who really pops in the first episode is John Billingsley as
Dr. Phlox. Playing the only other alien in the crew besides T’Pol, Billingsley invests Phlox
with an infectious enthusiasm for the mission and for the opportunity to learn about his
crewmates and the other life forms they’re bound to encounter on their voyages. Phlox’s enthusiasm
is cut with just the right amount of cheerful condescension — he approvingly observes that
what humans lack in biological sophistication, they make up for with their “charming optimism.”
The remaining actors do just fine playing characters that never really come to life
in this episode — though, some might say that one of the biggest problems with Enterprise is
that too many of the characters rarely if ever come to life in the rest of the series, too.
The plot of “Broken Bow” works well enough. Making humanity’s first encounter with a
Klingon the inciting incident is a good idea, and Archer and company’s attempt to transport
Klang back to the Klingon homeworld takes enough twists and turns to stay interesting. It allows
the episode to give us a sampler of familiar Star Trek tropes: we get some action aboard the ship,
we get an away mission, we get the ship getting into and out of a scrape with some other ships.
Plus, there are some character bits for Archer sprinkled in throughout, flashbacks to Archer
as a child building and flying a model spaceship while his father stands nearby
dispensing exposition and advice that is uncannily relevant to adult Archer’s present situation.
Like other elements in the episode, the flashbacks come across as forced,
and are all so brief that they feel shoehorned in at the last minute, whether or not that was
actually the case. But again, I appreciate the effort. They were trying something.
Speaking of trying something, and since I know a bunch of people will mention this in the comments
if I don’t at least say something about it — the opening credits. “Faith of the Heart.”
They were trying something, I appreciate the effort. I love the montage, it’s one of the
best opening credits montage of any Star Trek show ever — mixing in historical footage of
actual spacecraft and astronauts to link Star Trek with the real history of human spaceflight
is right up my alley, you know how I love it when they put astronaut shit in my Star Trek.
And, I like the idea of setting the credits of a Star Trek show to a pop
song — just . . . maybe pick a better song? A song that actually suits the show? And is . . . good?
Another thing they try that doesn’t work — in this episode or subsequently whenever it comes
up again in the series — is the temporal cold war storyline. It’s vague, it’s boring, I don’t care,
and it feels like the creators of the show blinked at the concept of producing a prequel
and decided to hedge their bets and throw in some more futuristic stuff. It comes across,
to me, as though the producers didn’t have enough confidence in the premise of their own show, which
doesn’t leave a great impression.
Oh! One more thing: the writers found a clever way to accomplish the hand-off. Remember,
in TNG’s first episode you’ve got the ancient Dr. McCoy making an appearance, in DS9’s first episode
you’ve got Captain Picard there, and in Voyager you’ve got Quark and the ship departing on its
mission from Deep Space Nine. But Enterprise takes place a hundred years before The Original Series
and two hundred years before the TNG-era shows. So, who’s gonna do the hand-off? Why, Zefram
Cochrane, of course, played by James Cromwell, who played him in Star Trek: First Contact.
Of course, Enterprise is set almost a hundred years after Cochrane’s first warp flight that
we see depicted in First Contact, so Cochrane doesn’t show up in person,
but through a video recording of a speech he gave a few decades earlier at the dedication
of the complex where Enterprise’s warp engine was designed and built. He says the engine will
one day power ships that will allow humanity to “go boldly, where no man has gone before!”
Like I said, it’s clever. Unfortunately, it also begins the practice of Star Trek shows
bringing James Cromwell back and then giving him nothing to do but say lines we’ve heard before so
we can go “Hey, I remember that!” See also his cameo in the most recent season of Lower Decks.
I love James Cromwell, and I’m always happy to see him getting a payday from Star Trek,
but if you all bring him back again, can you at least write something for him? Please?
Overall, “Broken Bow” is a mixed bag. There are parts of it I really like, but there are a lot
more parts of it that I really want to like, but that just don’t quite work. That’s unfortunate,
but then again, it’s also true of the rest of the series, so at least they’re consistent.
Those are my thoughts on the first episode of Enterprise. Please do share your thoughts
in the comments. If you’d like to support this channel — and I sure wish you would,
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the thanks button, or via PayPal or Venmo — links are in the description! I’ll be back
next week for a retro review of the series premiere of Star Trek: The Animated Series,
“Beyond the Farthest Star”! Eh? You thought I forgot about that one, didn’t you?
Well, I did, but only for a little bit. Thanks for watching, and take care, everybody.