New Testingstan

The background monitors in season 4 all moved to having a bunch of blinking rounded rectangles... i think the art department again is trying to bridge into the TOS style. nice.

Man you've powered through this show

Late S3 and S4 was turning into a different show and it was a lot better for it. I just wish the same people had been in charge since day one.

S1 and S2 are still ok though

lemme quote your facebook comment

stofsk wrote: And that's basically my problem with Enterprise wrapped up in a neat little bow: often great ideas they don't execute the best way they could have. It's frequently and solidly ok. It occasionally reaches levels of Good. Once or twice it hits rock bottom Terrible but the worst I can say for it is that it's sometimes boring. Compared to TNG or DS9 S1 it comes off looking a lot better.

Not to mention the production values and just the overall aesthetic of the show look great. The uniforms, set design, props look great, the show was filmed in HD, holy shit even in widescreen. Like I said above the show isn't exactly Shakespeare, but I don't believe it deserves the unremitting hate it got when it was live, and I kinda feel bad I never gave it back then the chance I gave it a few months ago.

Yeah, I really agree with that. "Solidly OK reaching Good" is a fine description.

I do want to defend DS9 season one with one word though: Duet. That's the heights Enterprise has still not reached once, and I'm almost done with it now - Enterprise IMO ranges from OK to Good, sometimes boring with a few individually bad scenes. But it hasn't yet reached up to the Great level, and I doubt it will in its final episodes.

That said though, OK to Good... I actually quite enjoy anyway.

* * *

Just did "In A Mirror, Darkly" and oh what fun. I can poke all kinds of holes in it.... but it is clear that the creators have some love! The TOS stuff looked so good.

And now moving on to the next episode and nice United Earth Space Probe Agency logo hehehehe. These production values are really remarkable, and little things like that tickle me. I can't stop raving about it, I love it.

"Terra Prime" and whoa, some interesting background music! I haven't heard much of that since voyager season one (which I thought was decent, but then it got Bermanized by season two.).

The Moon and Mars both make for some nice alien worlds too

I have to admit, I'm sad to see this show coming to an end.

Maybe I spoke too soon about it not having a Great episode, I really enjoyed that Terra Prime one - a nice episode on its own, and I think it is a fine finale too. I'll have to watch it again to make that determination, but the fact that I want to watch it again is a good sign.

Whelp, time to see These Are The Voyages myself... is it as bad as I've heard? Find out next time, same Trek time, same Trek channel.

they are going to kill off trip like this?!! WTF. NON CANON.

Seriously, Terra Prime is the finale as far as I'm concerned, this these are the voyages episode sucked.

I kinda do like the names on the uniforms though, but the color gives poor contrast.

But I do kinda like this show, I think I'll purchase the dvds after all.

'Duet' is a sensational episode, but it's an episode in the same season that gave us 'Move Along Home' and that dumb episode where O'Brien was a storyteller or something. But fair cop, I haven't seen an episode of Enterprise that has reached the lofty heights TOS, TNG, DS9 and even Voyager had achieved. They've come close though. 'Carbon Creek' was good. But so far there hasn't been anything that's been as compelling as 'Duet', 'Tapestry', or 'Measure of a Man' were and continue to be.

The latest episode I watched was 'Cogenitor' which I remember hating back in the day (it was one of the few episodes of Enterprise I had watched prior to this year), but oddly enough I thought it was a solid episode this time around. I think I hated it because I started watching it half-way through and saw Trip befriend this alien person who was being shitted on by the rest of her people for no good reason, and then tragedy ensued. The full episode doesn't so much change that but make the tragedy feel more weight. I also find it hard to dislike Trip but it felt like a classic 'road to hell is paved with good intentions' type story. It was an episode with drama with no real villain and I'm surprised they pulled it off.

The previous episode (the one I alluded to on Facebook on Matt's status where I talk about the tribble in the teaser) was also solid.

Next episode on my list is 'Regeneration'

EDIT One of the things I like about Enterprise is how science fictiony it feels in a way that TNG era Trek often didn't feel. Like there's an episode of Enterprise where they face an interstellar storm or something, so they take shelter in part of the ship that can withstand the radiation. That's such a classic scifi sort of idea that it kinda flabbergasts me that it's never been done before (that I can recall, anyway). More often than not, if a similar situation would have cropped up on TNG Picard would have order Geordie to engage the whatever device so they won't be affected. And then Geordie would say some [TECH][TECH] words and then the rest of the episode will be about Troi doing whatever the fuck and who gives a fuck.

The episode that followed that Space Storm one felt like a love letter to 'Enemy Mine', again another classic scifi idea. The episode with the communicator was a great PD type story (felt like a TOS prime directive story too instead of a TNG prime directive story like 'Dear Doctor' felt). In S1 they had episodes where they landed on comets, stealth infiltrated a pre-warp society going through their renaissance period (and where we finally saw the universal translator work), had a 'man overboard' type story with 'Shuttlepod One', that early episode where they went to a planet with the hallucinogenic spores or whatever, and they went into a gas giant twice (where before in TNG era Trek I can only recall them ever doing that a grand total of one time). Enterprise keeps doing science fictiony things with its episodes, and has so far avoided the navel gazing lows the TNG era had.

Maybe I'm being unduly harsh on TNG, because it's still the superior show. But I think we tend to overemphasise the best episodes of TNG in particular, and downplay or outright ignore the terrible ones. And honestly, TNG could be very shit. 'The Naked Now', 'Code of Honor', and 'The Last Outpost'? I wouldn't cross the street to piss on those episodes if they were on fire. Hell if it were up to me, I'd be the one with the petrol and matches.

Final Edit I swear

I think one of the things that Enterprise has that the other shows lacked was the highest production values. Like they are not afraid to put on EVA suits and have scenes where they're out in space doing EVA sort of things. They never even had EVA suits in TNG. If I could point to any one thing I think Enterprise got right that the other shows didn't, it's stuff like that. It kinda stuns me thinking about it how we never see anyone on TNG, DS9, or Voyager wear a vacc suit (whereas even in TOS they had vacc suits and hostile environmental suits). You're in space guys, it's gonna come up at least once that you might have to do an EVA or land on a comet or visit a planet that isn't M-class.

They did use space suits in Voyager, several times (at least after First Contact came out, I'm pretty sure they got hand me down gear from the movie production). A couple that come to mind are "Demon" and "Friendship One" (errr I think).

But yeah, I agree Enterprise did a lot of cool things and looked great doing them.

BTW I just started going through TOS again and wow it has been such a long time. Like, I vaguely remember the stories but I don't remember very many details at all. It is like it is new again

I meant TNG the show, though now that I think about it I do recall them using a vacc suit on Voyager at least once.

Haha Regeneration is off to a good start.

'Maybe we should quarantine these things because we have no idea what we're dealing with.'
'I'm sure it'll be fine.'

Man Regeneration was actually pretty cool

And Reed got an ATTABOY from me

'How 'bout instead of faffing about with frequency modulation I just up the power on our guns to 11'

And wouldn't you know it, that was way more effective too.

Today is the 50th anniversary. The radio had DC Fontana on.

another little Enterprise praise: I just remembered at some point, I remember Archer saying "we'll land 1,000 kilometers away". like the y remembered planets are large!

"Miri", I kinda love seeing the blueshirts going through folders, using microscopes, it just feels like SCIENCE!

Though, if I were on that landing party, I would have vaporized every last annoying kid immediately.

and lol they spend the first minute making a big deal of how it is Earth... but then forget about it entirely. whatever.

Balance of Terror: Commander Hansen dies vs Romulans.
The Best of Both Worlds: Admiral Hanson dies vs Borg.

mang season 1 of TOS is so good.

Kirk orders "warp factor one" a lot, like half the episodes end that way. I wonder why so slow.

heh. 'Battlelines' from DS9.

Bashir: Commander? You should see this!
Sisko: What's the problem Doctor?

Darn right

I remember liking that episode.... but it has been a while since I saw it last.

"Court Martial" does Kirk really have an "EJECT POD" button right next to "Red Alert" and the communication button on his chair? Doesn't that seem a little prone to easy accidental ejections?! eeek.

but i enjoyed the rest of the episode.

adr wrote:I remember liking that episode.... but it has been a while since I saw it last.

It's almost as good as that one time in SG-1

Siler: It'll take 24 hours to fix

Hammond: You've got 12!

Siler: Sorry Sir, it doesn't work like that. 24 is the best I can do.

"Spock, I suspect you're becoming more and more human all the time."

"Captain, I see no reason to stand here and be insulted."


this is what television is supposed to be!

Crazedwraith wrote:heh. 'Battlelines' from DS9.

Bashir: Commander? You should see this!
Sisko: What's the problem Doctor?

Darn right

i don't get it

adr wrote:"Court Martial" does Kirk really have an "EJECT POD" button right next to "Red Alert" and the communication button on his chair? Doesn't that seem a little prone to easy accidental ejections?! eeek.

but i enjoyed the rest of the episode.

Barf. It's Perry Mason IN SPAAAAAAACE and really, really dumb.

If the episode had been about whether or not Kirk lied or was mistaken or whether the computer properly logged the event (and tbh, I think the episode could have handled this a LOT better), and if there had been multiple testimonies from people with different viewpoints on the event in question Rashomon style, and if the legal argument had been better argued, and Kirk's defence was actually fucking competent, I'd like the episode a hell of a lot more.

Instead Cogley waives his right to cross-examining every witness, puts the defendant on the stand to attest his innocence, then gets predictably sandbagged by the prosecutor giving 'damning' evidence of the computer log - evidence EVERYONE should have known well before the trial even began, all for faux drama of Kirk going 'wat' and then the very next scene Cogley going 'shit son, maybe you are lying. Let's change our plea'

The fucking bird lawyer from Futurama would have made a more competent defence than that.

Then they get saved by Spock apparently doing what NOBODY else thought to do (and gods even he only thought to do it AFTER the trial began and the most devastating part of it too!), and actually tested the computer for errors and malfunction. Then zomg Spock and Bones come in to interrupt the court long enough to tell Cogley that they have new evidence and he gives the most ridiculous speech about it too. I mean it's fucking absurd for him to go on about how his clients rights and how he needs to confront the one witness against him that he hasn't been allowed to (???). Just fucking tell the court 'oh hey we did your job for you because apparently nobody on the prosecution's side even bothered to test the Enterprise computer for malfunctions.' Then the episode concludes because they all beam up EVEN THE JUDGES (???) to hear the rest of the defence case and for some reason they evacuate the ship bar one person who's been ALIVE THE WHOLE TIME DUN DUN DUN. Except the episode never bothers to explain how Ben Finney was alive or been staying alive without detection all this time.

I want to like this episode because the first half is pretty engaging but then it just gets derailed in the second half ugh

Stofsk wrote:

Crazedwraith wrote:heh. 'Battlelines' from DS9.

Bashir: Commander? You should see this!
Sisko: What's the problem Doctor?

Darn right

i don't get it

Usually in that situation The Captain rushes down to see what the subordinate is talking about. Sisko is like 'fuck that, just use your words and tell me.'