ENT: Demons

[FaxModem1]

The purpose of the death ray is to deal with comets for diverting their path so that they can be used for terraforming Mars by making the comets hit Mars's polar ice caps. It's why it's a 'Verteron Array' as opposed to a giant laser, It's because of it's fictional particles that they're able to traverse the entire solar system with their ability to shoot.

What's interesting to me is that Peter Weller's role here is very similar to a role he did in his early career on Lou Grant, as a leader of Neo nazis,who was secretly Jewish. Like that character, Paxton also has a secret about himself that's contrary with his beliefs.

[9ansean]

I was a little surprised this was review was posted before some other episodes it builds upon.

Chuck still hasn't reviewed Home where the earthling xenophobia after the Xindi attack was first established despite being passively mentioned it in Affliction. It was strange much like in Voyager: Imperfection when pointed out the missing borg baby, despite still having not done Collective.

Getting back to Demons I didn't even remember the Vulcan's no longer protecting earth by this point until he mentioned it. Though it least this time he established there was a long story not yet covered.

Then there's Shockwave 1&2. For all the jokes, I really didn't know what was up with Archer and a gazelle until I saw THAT episode. It would have been interesting to compared Archer's most infamous speech with Terra Prime that ends with his best speech. One that didn't just feel like a fitting conclusion to the series, but a seamless transition towards TOS. It felt like Enterprise finally had gotten "from there to here." Which made the stupidly plotted actual finally all the more pointless.

[9ansean]

You know, I don't think I ever watched this arc. I think it was about the penultimate one to the series finale, wasn't it? I just never got around to watching any more after the mirror-universe arc.

(Sometimes it happens - I have never gotten around to watching the last half of final SG-1 series, hbout half-plus of season 2 Atlantis or the movies.)

But a last-minute James Bond Villain thing isn't a bad way to end the series on (certainly a better way than the actual end they put out, which was part of the reason I never went back, since I heard enough about the finale to write it off as somethig I'd never watch).

It was the penultimate story. What's bizarre is that These Are the Voyages... actually ran the same night as Terra Prime. Despite never having quite found it's on identity Enterprise would have ended on a high note were it not for that follow up episode that pretty much killed whatever goodwill they'd finally managed to gain back in the fourth season. I only saw it last year I think (having finally made my way though all the major storylines of every complete Star Trek series saving the lengthy DS9 arc for last). It doesn't surprise me that many consider Terra Prime to be the true final for this series.

[Meushell]

It was the penultimate story. What's bizarre is that These Are the Voyages... actually ran the same night as Terra Prime. Despite never having quite found it's on identity Enterprise would have ended on a high note were it not for that follow up episode that pretty much killed whatever goodwill they'd finally managed to gain back in the fourth season. I only saw it last year I think (having finally made my way though all the major storylines of every complete Star Trek series saving the lengthy DS9 arc for last). It doesn't surprise me that many consider Terra Prime to be the true final for this series.

These Are the Voyages... is so bad that it even it even manages to screw up Terra Prime. Shran was supposed to be in Terra Prime, which would have been very entertaining, but they saved him for TAtV.

[Darth Wedgius]

I thought it was a little weird for a beam meant to divert comets to be able to make big craters in the moon. Hit a comet with something that powerful and I think you've got an ex-comet. It's something like a microwave that has settings for "perfect cuppa" and "smelt iron ore."

But then this is made by Star Trek's human engineers. What do they make that doesn't explode or rupture space time? For all their fascination with Data, their holodecks create strong AI not as an end in itself, but just as a means to create a more dangerous villain. I think Earth created Starfleet just to get these people away from Earth.

As a special note, I thought SFDebris's examples with the Martians was a nicely done illustration that conveyed the message while not entangling anyone in any of our current political troubles.

[9ansean]

As a special note, I thought SFDebris's examples with the Martians was a nicely done illustration that conveyed the message while not entangling anyone in any of our current political troubles.
[/quote]

Very much agreed.

[Sir Will]

One of the things I love about this episode is that is shows just where ENT went right where STD did not in terms of making this show feel like a prequel. The camera headpieces for example which we saw in Generations. The Universal Translator worn where the commbadge would later fill the role and yet is a throwback to the handheld UT in TOS. A conference for an actual established event in Trek history as opposed to completely new and made-up plots. The comment that the shuttlepods are gradually being phased out in favour of transporters. Add that to the uniforms, the equipment, the NX-01 and you can see where this show fits.

Pity people at the time did not realise that.

Ok, yeah, the look mostly worked throughout, though Chuck has pointed out issues with their defenses before. But as far as plots go, that was season 4. Early ENT, where they lost all the viewers, was a trainwreck. ENT could have been great if it started at season 3 or 4 levels.

[bronnt]

''Sitting unsecured'' is how the humans of Star Trek go about business lets be honest.

Literally anyone is free to wander into the engine room of the Enterprise D. And the only thing that happens when you get there is that Geordi might ask, "Can I help you?"

If you're quick and know what you're doing, you can stroll right in and eject the warp core any time you feel the urge.

[J!!]

Well come on now, it's a military starship full of responsible adult officers. It's not like they've ever got a bunch of civilians, or unvetted foreign nationals, or children running around the place. It's not like some drink fourteen year old is just gonna stumble into engineering and take over the ship.

[Beastro]

Pity people at the time did not realise that.

People did, and the show tried to some extent from that start, but what drew people's ire was what they didn't do more than what they did.

Enterprise itself is the biggest example with the nickname Akiraprise aptly applied rather than deliberately regressing and trying to think of something more primitive. They were in the right place, seeking to make the insides be a intermediary between TOS Enterprise's and those a nuke sub, but they really should have used the Enterprise seen in TMP as a baseline to advance from rather than seeking to regress from Dominion War era ships like they seemingly did.

Something like this, only with a transition to the forward disk and warp nacelles in the back would have be more fitting:

But a last-minute James Bond Villain thing isn't a bad way to end the series on (certainly a better way than the actual end they put out, which was part of the reason I never went back, since I heard enough about the finale to write it off as somethig I'd never watch).

I found it a misstep. They built up so much by actually tapping into "prequelness" in Season 4 that they undermined the the very thematic foundation of that season by effectively ending it with some random human villians.

IMO, they should have skipped forward like they had in the final episodes, but dedicated the episodes to a large arc about some crisis around, or effecting, the establishment of the Federation, not the starting process towards that years down the line. The way it went the skip ahead was rushed and the audience has no time to adjust to the changes. Ideally, the shows run would have go up to ended there, like the typical 7 seasons of a Trek show ending to that build up, but they should have at least dedicated more episodes once they got the cancellation.