Enterprise binge!

For the last few days I have been cramming in as many episodes of Star Trek Enterprise as I could before my Amazon Prime trial ran out. I remember when Enterprise was airing originally (how long ago it all seems—back when we had cable!), but I had seen almost none of it before this summer. After poking around on-line and watching most of the first season, I can see why it never did as well as the other shows, but that being said there are some things I appreciate about it.

Pros

* Trip. Not gonna lie—Trip is some mighty nice eye candy. Also, Malcolm. More eye candy. Plus, both eye candies have cute accents!

* I like that there isn’t oceans of space aboard the Enterprise. Quarters are smaller, hallways look more utilitarian, and the bridge looks more like something on a Space Shuttle. This makes the gap between our space exploration era and the ‘future’ more probable.

* I like that the captain has dinner in a private dining room with his officers—more like the naval system. There is a chef who prepares dinner, and only a few things are sort of replicated. Life is a little grittier on this first Enterprise, and some older traditions are reference.

* It’s interesting to see a crew not tied down by the Prime Directive, but at the same time seeing events pan out that cause the Prime Directive it to be created. The enthusiasm and blunders of Captain Archer are easy to identify with, and there is some great potential there for poignant story lines.

* I like that everything doesn’t just happen instantly with technology in this series. Things actually take time, and there isn’t always a hypo-spray for every injury. This gives it a nice level of believability.

Cons

* The whiney communications officer really grates on my nerves. Why is she in Star Fleet if she has no intention of going on Away Missions, or trying new things? Wuss.

* The way parts of the crew are always snipping at each other, and the constant ‘Vulcans are so restrictive!’ sub plot gets old after awhile. One of the best things about Star Trek is that every problem neatly solves itself in an hour (two if it’s a two-parter). That means that inter-crew conflict is not a major part of the plot, and they all know that when red alert is announced, everyone there has everyone else’s back. While they got better as season one went on, it still wasn’t quite up to the usual Star Trek standards.

* There are more *adult* themes and scenes in Enterprise than is usual for Star Trek—one of the things I love about the different series is that it’s an adult show without a lot of adult content. I understand it gets more and more steamy as the seasons went on.