Star Trek (ENT): First Flight

[TGLS]

Now, maybe Starfleet was desperate. They had a whole fleet wiped out over Vulcan, but it strains credulity that they didn't have anyone on Earth who could fill the role of Captain of the Enterprise.

We all remember when Christopher Pike, Captain of the Enterprise, was killed to pro-- no wait, wrong movie.

Honestly, if I did this episode, I would set it up so that Archer would be barnstorming for support, trying to get the resources and funding for the NX project and peaceful exploration, while his Adversary (I'll go with a Z name, like Zhang), is trying to secure support for a force to defend Terran interests. Both butt heads, literally, with each other, Archer seeing Zhang as a militaristic goon whose only solution for anything is to smash it with a hammer, while Zhang sees Archer as an idealistic fool who doesn't that the Earth needs to be defended against a dangerous galaxy. Then, disaster strikes! Some hooligans (Naussicans? Kzinti?) with Warp 2 ships are hassling Terran ships! Archer and Zhang begin to see the other's argument, and at the close of the episode, they both go to the Terran Government, and present a new idea, to build a fleet that will both defend and explore.

[ScreamingDoom]

Honestly, if I did this episode, I would set it up so that Archer would be barnstorming for support, trying to get the resources and funding for the NX project and peaceful exploration, while his Adversary (I'll go with a Z name, like Zhang), is trying to secure support for a force to defend Terran interests. Both butt heads, literally, with each other, Archer seeing Zhang as a militaristic goon whose only solution for anything is to smash it with a hammer, while Zhang sees Archer as an idealistic fool who doesn't that the Earth needs to be defended against a dangerous galaxy. Then, disaster strikes! Some hooligans (Naussicans? Kzinti?) with Warp 2 ships are hassling Terran ships! Archer and Zhang begin to see the other's argument, and at the close of the episode, they both go to the Terran Government, and present a new idea, to build a fleet that will both defend and explore.

I like this. I especially like the Zhang name since we also know that Earth at this time still had places in ruins from the Eugenics Wars (which were mostly in Asia). Having Zhang point out that because Earth still has midgets with cowbells, it's a bit premature to go gallivanting across the galaxy. Get stuff sorted on Earth and her space first.

I'd go even further, though. Really, the first season of Enterprise should've been this. The nascent Starfleet being formed to fight Naussican Pirates (you could use Fortunate Sun as the initiator of the season-long arc) who, now aware of the weak and easily attacked humans, have taken to concentrating on Earth. Archer wants to go out and explore, but it's a bit hard to justify that when Earth shipping is continuously being attacked. Have Archer meet the Tellerites during this (maybe save one of their ships from a pirate attack?) and start to build Earth (and Starfleet's) reputation up. Have the ending of the season be a two parter with Archer and the few ships Earth has managed to create for Starfleet going out and seeking the punch the biggest bullies(ie the largest pirate group) on the block in the face. Suddenly, Earth doesn't seem like such an easy target and the Naussicians look for more "worthy" prey elsewhere.

This would establish Starfleet, that the galaxy is a dangerous place, Earth's reputation, and one of the future founding members of the Federation all in one season.

[StrangeDevice]

Well, according to the powers-that-be at Star Trek, if it ain't on screen, it ain't canon. That's a bit of a shame because there are a lot of good off-screen stuff made by a lot of talented people, and it's a real disservice to a lot of them that what they made, licenced by the franchise itself, is not canon material.

In this case, though, it would make sense that the producers of Trek didn't hamstring Kirk by giving him a Political Officer (which also would've cast the wrong aspersions on the United Federation of Planets, making it analogous to a Communist dictatorship if they have to resort to Political Officers). Kirk has to be seen as an adventurer and a maverick. Picard could be seen as a diplomat on a leash.

Or even just allowed to exist in that nebulous half-life of "It's canon until something on television contradicts it." The Duane books about Romulan culture, Ford's two entries, Strangers from the Sky, there's a lot of really nice work out there that the higher-ups would have us shrug our shoulders at. Still, it doesn't seem to stop fans from taking them onboard anyway.

Well, I think in this case, she was assigned (rather than requested by the captain) to informally act as his watchdog on missions where he'd been a bit too cavalier and the position of PO seemed the most appropriate. She more or less gets treated the same way that the Protocol Officer in the German Raumpatrouille series does; i.e. she's instructed to remain in her quarters for the duration of the trip while the captain messes with her head to try and get her to transfer. Not exactly professional conduct, but it makes for some interesting storytelling. Particularly considering that Kirk's PO, Blaise, doesn't take it lying down.

Honestly, if I did this episode, I would set it up so that Archer would be barnstorming for support, trying to get the resources and funding for the NX project and peaceful exploration, while his Adversary (I'll go with a Z name, like Zhang), is trying to secure support for a force to defend Terran interests. Both butt heads, literally, with each other, Archer seeing Zhang as a militaristic goon whose only solution for anything is to smash it with a hammer, while Zhang sees Archer as an idealistic fool who doesn't that the Earth needs to be defended against a dangerous galaxy. Then, disaster strikes! Some hooligans (Naussicans? Kzinti?) with Warp 2 ships are hassling Terran ships! Archer and Zhang begin to see the other's argument, and at the close of the episode, they both go to the Terran Government, and present a new idea, to build a fleet that will both defend and explore.

That's a damn good idea actually. Why couldn't we have have had this?

[Asvarduil]

My thoughts on First Flight are such:

I think that - logic holes and stuff aside - that the fundamental story is actually better than some early Enterprise, and plays on the fact that Archer is A) inexperienced, and B) emotionally unstable.

That being said, T'Pol as the person prompting the flashbacks is a very weak choice. There's no reason for T'Pol to care. At all. In fact, it would be more in character for T'Pol to chide Archer for - again - letting emotions get in the way of how he does his job.

Instead, with a little modification, you could make this story work better by giving the 'facilitator' job to Hoshi, the more stereotypically feminine character. Maybe they find a scuttled ship in interstellar space, of a design that Enterprise hasn't encountered. So, Archer takes Hoshi in a shuttlepod to get close enough to establish a data linkup, and perform an in-situ analysis of the ship's data.

In doing so, the types of events cause Archer's personal drama - the death of Captain Robinson - to come to the fore. Hoshi - being a kind and understanding person - makes Archer open up, and instead of acting out in his normal, unstable 'OMG the Vulcans are after me!' thing, makes him admit that he's buckling under pressure and that, despite his talk of treating crew as family, he's really not opening up to anyone, least of all his XO.

The overwhelming majority of the script can be safely untouched in this way, yet work a lot better than it does. Heck, you can keep Starfleet sucking at security - a trend which isn't going anywhere ever, I think - and find ways to make the logic holes even mesh with the story. For instance, maybe the aliens haven't invented firewalls, making Hoshi's electronic infiltration easier.