Product Description
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Set in the 22nd century, a hundred years before James T. Kirk
helmed the famous starship of the same name, Enterprise takes
place in an era when interstellar travel is still in its infancy.
Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) has assembled a crew of
brave explorers to chart the galaxy on a revolutionary
spacecraft: Enterprise NX-01. As the first human beings to
venture into deep space, these pioneers will experience the
wonder and mystery of the final frontier as they seek out new
life and new civilizations.
.com
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Season One
Under intense scrutiny, the debut season of Enterprise earned a
passing grade from critics and Star Trek fans alike. Voyager
ended its seven-season run just four months earlier, and fans
were skeptical when Enterprise premiered (on Sept. 26, 2001, on
UPN) with a theme song ("Where My Heart Will Take Me," composed
by Diane Warren and performed by Russell Watson) that defied
Trek's revered theme-music tradition. This and other early
reservations were dispelled when "Broken Bow" got the series off
to a satisfying start, beginning in the year 2151 and
establishing a pre-Federation focus on humanity's delicate
relationship with the Vulcans, the controversial launch of the
NX-01 Enterprise on an exploratory mission, and the potentially
devastating consequences of the mysterious Temporal Cold War
involving a time-traveling splinter group of the Suliban, a
nomadic alien race. While establishing a testy relationship
between Enterprise Capt. Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and his
smart-and-sexy Vulcan Sub-Commander, T'Pol (Jolene Blalock, in a
short-banged wig and form-fitting "catsuit" that were later
redesigned), the series introduced engineer "Trip" Tucker (Connor
Trineer), whose surprise development in "Unexpected" made him a
fan favorite; communications officer Hoshi Sato (Linda Park);
helmsman Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery); weapons expert
Lt. Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating), and chief surgeon Dr. Phlox
(John Billingsley), a well-mannered Denobulan recruit from
Earth's Interspecies Medical Exchange.
As a "prequel' series that predates the original Star Trek by
150 years, Enterprise built upon established Trek lore with
episodes involving Vulcans ("Breaking the Ice"), Klingons
("ing Dogs"), the blue-skinned Andorians ("The Andorian
Incident," "Shadows of P'Jem"), and the Ferengi ("Acquisition")
while offering stand-alone episodes (notably "Dear Doctor,"
"Fortunate Son," and "Shuttlepod One") that further acquainted
fans with the Enterprise regulars. Early Trek technology is also
introduced (including "phase pistols" and the rarely used,
still-risky transporter), and the series drew strength from what
many felt would be its primary weakness: unwritten history and
the initial indecisiveness of Archer's bold foray into the
unknown. Ending with a dazzling "Shock Wave" cliffhanger that
leaves Archer stranded in a decimated Temporal Cold War future,
Enterprise set a strong foundation for the events of season 2.
The bonus features included on the Enterprise: Season One DVDs
are almost worth the price of the set, if only to see nearly nine
minutes of hilarious outtakes, maintaining a beloved tradition of
Star Trek bloopers. The (and sound) of Jolene Blalock
laughing out of character is pure gold, and it shouldn't surprise
anyone that Blalock is just as smart as she is sexy, as proven by
her astute observations (along with the rest of the Enterprise
cast) in the "Cast Impressions" featurette. It's the usual
complimentary fluff included with all Trek sets, but it's
obviously sincere, confirming fans' conviction that Enterprise
should have lasted beyond four seasons with this close-knit
ensemble. Series creators Brannon Braga and Rick Berman deliver a
typically dry commentary on "Broken Bow," setting the record
straight on debate over the show's "not retro enough" production
design (as Braga notes, "you can never please everyone") while
defining their concept of "The Right Stuff of Star Trek." As
always, Mike Okuda's text commentaries offer a wealth of Trek
trivia and detail from Trek's historical canon.
Fans will love the "Enterprise Secrets" revealing low-tech
solutions to lighting the warp core and dispensing "replicator"
beverages, along with an entertaining profile of Vaughan "Admiral
Forrest" Armstrong, who holds the record for Trek guest
appearances. The other featurettes are perfunctory, but "Creating
Enterprise" provides valuable first-season perspective, and the
"Time Travel" feature offers a handy reference for the many
time-travel episodes from every Trek series. As usual, Easter
eggs (three of them, titled "NX-01 Files") are hidden on the
special-features menu, offering short interview clips culled from
the primary featurettes. The deleted scenes demonstrate how
non-essential material can be sacrificed, and because they don't
include post-production sound or visual effects, fans can see and
hear the actual soundstage atmosphere of Enterprise's principal
photography. --Jeff Shannon
Season Two
With Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) trapped in the 31st
century, season 2 of Enterprise opens with a rousing resolution
to season 1
( http://www..com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007TKH66/$%7B0%7D )'s
cliffhanger finale. The first four episodes instantly became fan
favorites: "Shockwave, Part II" advances the Suliban's role in
the Temporal Cold War; "Carbon Creek" reveals the real first
contact (albeit a secret one) between humans and Vulcans in
Pennsylvania in 1957, allowing Jolene Blalock to play T'Pol's
"second foremother" in a Sputnik-era scenario; in "Minefield,"
Reed (Dominick Keating) is nearly killed by an explosive device
attached to Enterprise's hull; the damage is repaired in "Dead
Stop," featuring award-winning digital modeling effects as the
disabled Enterprise encounters a mysterious automated space
station. Season 2 also emphasizes Archer's ongoing friction with
the Vulcan High Command, exacerbated when T'Pol's career is
threatened (in "Stigma") by her involuntary involvement with
ostracized mind-melders. Connections to the original Star Trek
(series and films) continue with episodes involving Tellarites,
Tholians, Klingons, Andorians, and even a brief appearance by a
Tribble (one of many occasions for humor in Dr. Phlox's bay,
the setting of many of the season's finest dialogue-driven
scenes). Early warp-drive history is also explored in "First
Flight," a Right Stuff-like episode guest-starring Keith
Carradine as Archer's friend and rival in breaking the Warp 2
barrier.
Consisting primarily of stand-alone episodes that integrate
ongoing story arcs, season 2 showcases the primary cast with
generally good results: Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) visits
the "boomer" cargo ship he was raised on in "Horizon"; Hoshi
(Linda Park) experiences unsettling transporter symptoms in
"Vanishing Point"; and Tucker (Connor Trineer) plays a pivotal
role in several episodes, notably "Dawn," "Precious Cargo" and
"Cogenitor." And while "Regeneration" provoked controversy among
fans for introducing the yet unnamed Borg in an early Starfleet
context, it's a fine episode (with echoes of The Thing) that
holds up to scrutiny, while others (including "The Crossing,"
"The Breach" and "Cogenitor") feel somewhat recycled, indicating
the challenge of finding new ideas in the Star Trek canon.
Overall, however, season 2 is consistently strong, with several
episodes directed by cast alumni from previous Trek series,
including NextGen's LeVar Burton, and Voyager's Roxanne Dawson
and Robert Duncan McNeill. They all lead up to a devastating
attack on Earth (with seven million casualties, including Trip's
younger sister) in "The Expanse," ending the season with
high-stakes mystery as Enterprise enters a treacherous region of
space in search of the Xindi, an enemy race that factors heavily
in season 3.
Abundant bonus features include a generous selection of deleted
scenes (non-essential, but interesting to fans); audio commentary
(on "Dead Stop" and "Regeneration") by writers Mike Sussman and
Phyllis Strong, who explain the challenge of writing under
constantly shifting production conditions; and text commentary
(on "Stigma" and "First Flight"), in which Trek veterans Michael
and Denise Okuda demonstrate their encyclopedic knowledge of Star
Trek fact and fiction. Six Easter eggs, known as "NX-01 Files,"
are hidden on the Special Features menus; they offer brief
glimpses into specific aspects of production, including set
recycling and art direction. "Enterprise" secrets are revealed
for those who pay meticulous attention to detail; "Inside 'A
Night in bay'" offers a behind-the-scenes assessment of that
memorable episode; and "LeVar Burton: Star Trek Director"
celebrates the actor's smooth transition to directing after his
stint on Next Generation. "Enterprise Profile: Jolene Blalock" is
a tribute to the sexy actress by her fellow cast members and
executive producers Brannon Braga and Rick Berman, including
Blalock's assessment of T'Pol's pivotal role as Enterprise's
resident Vulcan. Best of all, however, are the hilarious
outtakes: They show the cast as a family unit, combining hard
work with humor as the second season progresses. --Jeff Shannon
Season Three
Described by series cocreator Brannon Braga as "a single episode
that lasts 24 hours," the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise
is arguably the best in the show's four-season run. With the epic
"Xindi saga" as the season's primary story arc, the series found
its tonal focus in the unpredictable space of the Delphic
Expanse, where alien encounters and matter-warping spatial
anomalies forced Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) to make extreme
decisions that tested his ethical boundaries. Realizing the need
for a fresh viewpoint, Braga and cocreator Rick Berman hired
Manny Coto, a TV veteran who conceived or wrote several of the
season's finest episodes (not forgetting Mike Sussman and other
members of the series' first-rate writing staff). Coto's
involvement was instrumental in shaping the Xindi saga, which
began (with season 2's cliffhanger) when Earth was attacked by a
Xindi probe--a massive weapon which Archer must now destroy. This
vital mission dominates season 3, deriving its potent drama from
an impressive variety of characters and subplots focused on the
five-species Xindi council, which finds its voice of reason in
Primate member Degra (season regular Randy Oglesby) and rancor in
the Reptilian Commander (Scott MacDonald), pivotal characters
whose es will be tragically intertwined.
Despite lower ratings and budgetary cutbacks (as evident in
several ship-bound episodes with minimal casting), season 3 was
equally strong as a showcase for the Enterprise regulars, with
plenty of fan speculation rising from the sexy and soothing
Vulcan "neuro-pressure" sessions between the insomniac Tucker
(Connor Trinneer, better than ever) and T'Pol, whose hidden
addiction to a toxic compound allows Jolene Blalock to mine the
volatile depths of her character (who now sports a more appealing
hairstyle and wardrobe). Meanwhile, security chief Reed (Dominick
Keating) engages in heated competition with Major Hayes (reliable
guest Steven Culp, from the first season of Desperate
Housewives), the leader of NX-01's Assault Command
Operation (or MACO), which Reed views with territorial suspicion.
And while Enterprise still fumbled to develop the characters of
Hoshi (Linda Park) and Travis (Anthony Montgomery), John
Billingsley continued to bring clutch-player excellence to his
role as Dr. Phlox in several highlight episodes including
"Doctor's Orders" and "Similitude," the latter featuring equally
strong work by Trinneer in an ethically complex (and
fan-favorite) examination of the cloning--a typical example of
Star Trek at its best.
The alternate timeline of "Twilight" also honors the classic Trek
tradition, while "Harbinger" reveals the existence of the
trans-dimensional Sphere Builders, whose moon-sized creations
affect Enterprise throughout its season-long mission. Finally,
the crucial appearances of blue-skinned Andorian Shran (Jeffrey
Combs) bring both suspense and comic to the season's grim
proceedings, adding depth and tentative alliance to Enterprise's
pre-Federation politics--a crucial element that assumes greater
importance with the jaw-dropping cliffhanger of "Zero Hour" and
the surprises in store for season 4, which will bring Enterprise
ever closer to the original Star Trek timeline.
DVD features
Gathered on disc 7, the season 3 bonus features for Enterprise
are consistent with features on seasons 1 and 2: Identical in
presentation but different in content. The "Xindi Saga"
featurette summarizes the creative and practical decisions that
resulted in the season-long story arc; "Enterprise Profile"
acknowledges the popularity of "Trip" Tucker and Connor
Trinneer's successful effort to transcend the character's
"hayseed" image; and "A Day in the Life of a Director" finds
Roxann Dawson (aka B'Elanna Torres from Voyager) well in control
as she helms the episode "Exile." As with previous DVD sets,
three more "NX-01" files are hidden as "Easter eggs" on the
Special Features menus, and they include further appreciations of
the Enterprise writers, the work of costume designer Robert
Blackman, and John Billingsley's hilarious anecdote about Phlox's
prodigious sexual endowment(s). The outtakes are amusing but all
too brief, perhaps owing to the higher stakes (and lower ratings)
of a dramatically serious season. --Jeff Shannon
Season Four
Despite the near-certainty of cancellation, ratings in the cellar
and nothing left to lose, the fourth and final season of Star
Trek: Enterprise was unanimously hailed as the best. After ending
season 3 with a mind-boggling cliffhanger, series creators Rick
Berman and Brannon Braga handed show-runner duties to executive
producer Manny Coto, who rejuvenated the ging franchise by
bridging the gap between Enterprise and the future developments
of Star Trek: The Original Series. By recruiting lifelong Trek
experts Mike Sussman and the husband-and-wife team of Judith and
Garfield Reeves-Stevens to his writing staff, Coto ensured that
political events in the Enterprise timeline would lead to a
"coalition of planets," thus forming the Federation cornerstone
of Star Trek's future. But first, Coto had to find a way to
extract Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) and his battle-worn crew from
an alternate timeline--the result of the continuing Temporal Cold
War--in which the Nazis have invaded U.S. soil in 1944. In the
normal Enterprise timeline, political upheavals have left
relations between Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites, and Humans in a
state of near-disastrous chaos.
Into this blazing cauldron of action-adventure, Coto and staff
introduced story arcs that connected to Star Trek's future,
including a three-episode arc ("Borderland," "Cold Station 12,"
and "The Augments") in which Dr. Arik Soong (played by Next
Generation alumnus Brent Spiner) and his superhuman "Augments"
chart a tragic course that would lead, in future generations, to
the creation of Spiner's cybernetic NextGen character, Data. "The
Forge," "Awakening," and "Kir'Shara" returned T'Pol (Jolene
Blalock) to her native Vulcan, where encounters with the
legendary philosopher Surak, and zealous sect called the
Syrannites, lead to pivotal history with the Vulcan High Command.
In subsequent episodes, Phlox (John Billingsley) would discover
the reason why some Klingons lack "cranial ridges" (thus solving
a vexing Star Trek mystery), and "In a Mirror, Darkly" marked and
eventful return to the "Mirror Universe" from the original series
episode "Mirror, Mirror," for what Coto aptly describes (in the
bonus featurette) as a two-part "romp," complete with a "Mirror
Universe" title sequence, the reappearance of the U.S.S. Defiant
from the original series episode "The Tholian Web," and a
glorious recreation of a "Constitution Class" starship bridge
that gave long-time Trekkies a breathtaking rush of nostalgia.
In the closing episodes, the formation of the Federation is
threatened by a radical xenophobe (Peter Weller) whose
isolationist tactics lead Trip (Connor Trinneer) and T'Pol to a
future of interspecies parenthood, and while the series-ending
"These Are The Voyages..." is considered a disappointment by
some, it provided a suitable Next Generation tribute to Star
Trek's past, present, and future. Considering the daunting
challenge of tying up loose ends while looking forward in a way
that demanding fans could appreciate, it's fair to say that
Enterprise reached a satisfying conclusion that its cast and crew
can be proud of.
DVD features
It's only fitting that Season 4's bonus features have a
bittersweet quality, celebrating the Star Trek franchise while
acknowledging its uncertain future. For the first time on any
Star Trek series, closure was imposed prematurely, and "That's a
Wrap" (a video from the Enterprise wrap party at the Roosevelt
Hotel in Hollywood) has the privileged feel of an emotional
family reunion. (Unfortunately, Jolene Blalock and Connor
Trinneer were unable to attend.) "Inside the 'Mirror' Episodes"
offers a closer look at those enjoyably nostalgic episodes ("we
put the 'Ho' back in Hoshi" jokes Mike Sussman about Linda Park's
"empress" persona), and in "Links to the Legacy," Judith and
Garfield Reeves-Stevens explain how they brought Enterprise
closer to its original Star Trek heritage. "Visual Effects Magic"
charts the astonishing advancements in digital effects since the
comparatively crude effects of Next Generation, and "Enterprise
Secrets" reveals an affectionate assembly of behind-the-scenes
personnel on the final day of shooting. There's one final Easter
egg (NX-01 File #10) about the ultimately futile "Save
Enterprise" fan protest against series cancellation (with
appreciative comments by Scott Bakula and Connor Trinneer), and
as always, the informative audio and text commentaries are
fan-essential features loaded with detailed trivia and anecdotal
history. --Jeff Shannon