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  1. #1
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    Enterprise limps off to oblivion (spoiler alert)

    The last episode of Enterprise will soon air - if you are one of the few diehard Trekkies still watching this series - then read no further - spoiler alert - this thread reveals the final plot.

    http://tinyurl.com/9l3lz






    Jolene Blalock was right.

    The forthcoming finale of the cancelled Star Trek series, Enterprise, is indeed "appalling," as the actress told The Star in an exclusive interview in March.

    The candid quote, coming hot on the heels of the ratings-starved series' abrupt cancellation, became quite immediately notorious, quickly circulating the globe through the vast Star Trek Internet fan community.

    At the time, production was just winding down on the controversial episode, entitled "These are the Voyages," and the troubling details that had already leaked out from the set did seem to bear her out. It wasn't until the end of April that embattled producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga got around to a spin-control telephone press conference — needless to say, the Blalock quote was the first issue they were asked to address.

    "You have to remember that, under normal circumstances, most people probably would have thought this was a very cool episode," insisted Braga, its co-writer, along with Berman. "But when it's the final episode of a series, emotions are running very high."

    The central issue, they both conceded, was the conceit of framing the entire episode as a historical "holographic recreation" being viewed by guesting Next Generation actors Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis. (Brent Spiner also has a voice-over cameo.)

    "There were a couple of people who were slightly uncomfortable with the fact that we have Next Generation characters in the show, and that it is a different kind of episode," Braga allowed. "But there were no serious complaints, and none of the actors have seen the episode, so they can't be dissatisfied with how it turned out."

    Perhaps not. But everything that's wrong with the finale would have been abundantly clear from reading the script. And, indeed, the episode's most fatal flaws are conveniently indicative of how the series itself initially went wrong, plunging into a ratings spiral from which it never recovered.

    Or, to again quote Blalock from that same Star interview, "We started out with 13 million viewers on the pilot, and we somehow managed to drive 11 million of them away."

    "There were some grumblings," Berman confirmed, "about the fact that we brought Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis in from another series, and that the feeling was that if this was going to be the finale of Enterprise, then why bring characters in from another series? But I think when people see the episode and realize what we were able to truly do — pay the respect to our characters the way we have, we've couched it in a unique fashion of being able to look back on them, and I think it's going to ... it's going to be a very positive response (from) the Enterprise crew."

    Maybe in the Mirror Universe — the bizarro, "evil twin" opposite dimension where the last few, vastly improved, Enterprise episodes have been set.

    Here in the real world, the Enterprise actors have every right to be incensed. "These are the Voyages" robs their characters (and their fans) of any significant long-term development or satisfying sense of closure.

    The story jumps them six years into their own future, as the Enterprise returns to Earth to be decommissioned, and its Captain Archer to historically address signing of the first "Federation" charter. So far so good.

    But no, it's all really just a holographic program, being viewed by Commander William Riker and Counsellor Deanna Troi on the Next Generation Enterprise, somewhere in the margins of a not particularly memorable episode ("The Pegasus") from the middle of its seventh season.

    What are they doing here? This is not their show. They ultimately serve no legitimate narrative purpose. And even if they did — to be brutally honest, the two actors are very obviously a full decade older than they were when the original episode aired.

    Even this would be acceptable were the actual Enterprise cast not also so superficially dismissed. Blalock's T'Pol is particularly ill-served, and (the spoiler sensitive should skip straight to the next paragraph) ... a major character is pointlessly killed off in service of a pointless plot device. And then, the greatest of all insults to an actor, the whole thing abruptly ends just as series star Scott Bakula is about to deliver his big speech.

    How is all this reflective of Enterprise's larger ills? It is really a question of squandered potential — Berman and Braga, having crafted the show's most promising concept and characters, very quickly proved to have absolutely no idea what to do with them, and seemed resolutely set on making massively wrong decisions right up until the end of that third, depressing season ... when they handed the creative reigns over to avowed Trekkie Manny Coto, and the show suddenly sprang to life. Alas, too late.

    "We felt there was more potential to come," acknowledged Braga. "We set out to do a particular kind of show that was more character-oriented, and that's what we did. We made some course corrections in the third season and took some big creative chances and we were very happy with the way they paid off. The fourth season has been a real barn burner — if I have any regret it's that it didn't last longer. But we are very happy with the show for no other reason then it was just a great group of actors playing a great group of fully realized characters."

    He's right on all but that final point. Which would also help to explain why, with so little creative investment in this current cast, they would opt instead to end the show by re-embracing their own glory days on Next Generation.

    Of course, you cannot blame Berman and Braga entirely on the ultimate failure of Enterprise.

    "You know," concluded Berman, "lots of television shows, good and bad, don't go right and it's hard to tell. I mean, there are a lot of people who criticize us for saying what I'm about to say, but I do believe that there was some degree of fatigue with the franchise.

    "I think that we found ourselves in competition with ourselves. Enterprise in many markets was running against the piece — whether it be cable or syndication of the original series, Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine —— and I think that after 18 years and 624 hours of Star Trek, the audience began to have a little bit of overkill. And I think that had a lot to do with it."

    "Yeah," agreed Braga. " I mean, you have to kind of look at it as a long 18-year trajectory, and Star Trek hit its apex during Next Generation. In fact, when Next Generation was transitioning to Deep Space Nine and Voyager, it was taking a chance at that time. There has been an erosion in the fan base, so it did not stop with Enterprise."

    "That's Brannon flying out of town," Berman laughed.

    "The fans are chasing him with scythes."

  2. #2
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    Yeah, tha last part was spot on, imo, about the erosion of the fan base beginning with DS9 and VOY, although I very much enjoyed those 2 franchises.

    It's a slap in the face a ST Franchise not running the full 7 seasons, but that's the way the cookies crumbles. Will be interesting to see if they're game enough for another ST franchise.
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  3. #3
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    Well Star Trek will be coming back.

    There is still a massive fan base throughout the world for this - thing is it's been airing new episodes for so long without a break. Paramount have already stated that they'll most likely bring it back within 5 - 10 years time for a movie.

    But don't forget Trek franchise is not over - it doesn't just consist of the TV series... they'll be releasing a new MMORPG within the next 3 years. So that should be interesting.

    Basically, there'll be no gap for people that don't want one since they're filling up other areas with Trek instead.

    Will be interesting to see if they're game enough for another ST franchise.
    It is endless - you won't see it go forever... may go for a while but it will always come back whilst we enjoy this type of media.

  4. #4
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    I personally have supported the trekunited.com fan campaign but I no longer think there's any chances of saving the show. Ever since Paramount announced the cancellation I've stopped watching Enterprise (for the first time since the first episode aired) and I won't be watching any other star trek show.

    As a loyal fan I expected it to last 7 seasons and to cover more subjects like the federation of planets in its infancy which plays a big role in the future of the "Trek" universe, too bad it won't happen.
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  5. #5
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    As a loyal fan I expected it to last 7 seasons and to cover more subjects like the federation of planets in its infancy which plays a big role in the future of the "Trek" universe, too bad it won't happen.
    Still a posibility - though not with Enteprise.

    I won't be watching any other star trek show.
    Well that's a real shame... infact rather sad that you'd say that.

  6. #6
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    Originally posted by KI-ChrisE
    Still a posibility - though not with Enteprise.



    Well that's a real shame... infact rather sad that you'd say that.
    The only way to show this is with Enterprise, they will never be able to show it again that's why I'm so mad. I think the ST producers clearly said they won't be working on a prequal again.
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  7. #7
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    I think the ST producers clearly said they won't be working on a prequal again.
    They did - but they're still interested in a movie based around it...

  8. #8
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    Re: Enterprise limps off to oblivion (spoiler alert)

    Originally posted by virginia
    How is all this reflective of Enterprise's larger ills? It is really a question of squandered potential — Berman and Braga, having crafted the show's most promising concept and characters, very quickly proved to have absolutely no idea what to do with them, and seemed resolutely set on making massively wrong decisions right up until the end of that third, depressing season
    Berman and Braga, in my opinion, are why this one failed so badly. In the past few years those guys have listened less and less to the fanbase, and been at the helm for most of the things I've found disappointing in Star Trek.

    I've been around for the start of the previous three series (Next Gen, DS9 and Voyager) and know it takes a while to warm up to a new cast. The more I watched Enterprise the less I liked them. In the end I was one of those people who just stopped watching...

    ... and this is from someone who owns box sets of the previous series and still watches them regularly, even now.
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  9. #9
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    Re: Re: Enterprise limps off to oblivion (spoiler alert)

    Originally posted by akashik
    Berman and Braga, in my opinion, are why this one failed so badly. In the past few years those guys have listened less and less to the fanbase, and been at the helm for most of the things I've found disappointing in Star Trek.
    Yes but now Manny Coto has been giving us some quality trek for the last season or so and the enterprise episodes he was involved with are comparable if not better than the best of TNG episodes. Season 4 is without a doubt the best season ever and opened the doors to an exciting 5th season, they stopped the show when it had the biggest potential and this is why I think most of us are disappointed.

    It's too bad I won't be watching any new series, this is the thank you I got for watching the show religiously for the past 4 years. I don't believe for a second that the franchise needs a brake, it's Mr. Berman who needs one!
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