Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Finale

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 26
Season 4 Disk 6

Terra Prime
Paxton (Peter Weller) now in control of an asteroid/comet energy based tractor/pusher
device located on Mars threatens Starfleet command and holds off the Enterprise with
both Trip and T'Pol as hostages. A daring rescue mission is under taken and secrets
revealed on both ships, the final scenes are heart breaking and would have made
a very satisfactory series conclusion. I don't know if it's reassuring or not that the human
race continues to rehash the same old issues, race, creed, colour, gender, orientation
etc etc.

These Are the Voyages...
Ok lets get this out into the open, when this episode premiered on television I hated
it with a passion, it was a knife in the back to every single person who had supported
Enterprise by watching the show and a big F**K you from Rick and Brannon.

Deep Breath.
This is the first time I've rewatched this episode since that day so lets begin with a
few comments taken during the episode.
So the Enterprise is going to be moth balled after just ten years, maybe it wasn't
really built that well or more likely the new Warp 7 engines were incompatible and
with other developments a new generation of ships was logical. Of course it is only
fitting that the NX-01 Enterprise is used as a museum ship, she made her mark in
Starfleet and the birth of the Federation.
What The F**K is Riker doing here!
Hmmm, the Enterprise D rendering looks very nice and even Riker looks pretty good
in the Enterprise blue jumpsuits perhaps the best uniforms of any series and very fitting
that Jeffrey Combs gets one more Trek appearance.
Considering it's ten years later I'm surprised how little the cast has aged, T'Pol is the
only one that has definitely altered looking more open and relaxed which is more of a
state of mind considering the extended Vulcan lifespan, her boobs look smaller.
Were the Enterprise D holodecks that advanced in creating interactive forms of real
people based on profiles and anyother data the ship carried? I guess in TNG
Moriarty was a pinnacle of creativity but with the crew of the NX-01 where is the raw
data coming from, Klingon and Romulan security would have this level of snooping but
Starfleet?
Nice touch with Trip wanting the ship to be as good as possible at retirement, a nod to
Scotty repairing his Enterprise upon returning to spacedock.
What do you mean Tucker ain't coming back!
Blimey security seems to be pretty lax onboard the ship these days and that's the way
Trip ends his voyage amongst the stars, lame.
Loved the group chat prior to the speech commencement, one final wide wide smile
from Phlox and loved the hug, they've come a long way.
The final WTF moment, you f*****g bastards this isn't TNG it's Enterprise lets hear
the critical speech Archer has been prepping for which kick starts the Federation.

Damn, the three Enterprises and voice over, not so pissed now.

Extras
Enterprise Moments
Inside the Mirror Universe
Enterprise Secrets
Visual Effects Magic
That's a Wrap!
Links to the Legacy
Outtakes
Photo Gallery
Enterprise goes to the Dogs
Westmore's Aliens
Commentaries
Deleted Scenes

So what do I think now, well I still believe Rick and Brannon had the right to do the
finale but I also believe it should have been a thank you to the fans that kept the
show on the air and who gave even more support in the final season on UPN.
The idea of doing a TNG/Enterprise crossover via the holodeck has a lot of merit
but the series finale was not the time and place, it screamed disrespect to the cast
and crew maybe even more so than the viewers.

This is the end (for now) of my Enterprise viewing, I suspect I may still watch the odd
episode during my listening to the Previously in the Alpha Quadrant podcast but for now
it's been fun and the show proved even more entertaining the second time around.
I've only skipped one episode but there were a few I'd probably skip if I rewatch within
the next year or so but that's still an impressive percentage of watchable episodes.

May the journey never end.

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 20

Star Trek Enterprise Marathon Part 20
Season 3 Disk 6

E²
A dangerous short cut leads to a temporal fracture which throws the Enterprise back
over a century and eventually the two ships once again meet each other, the descendants
of the original crew failed to stop the Xindi attack but offer their help to but ultimately are
willing to sacrifice the original Enterprise.
A top notch episode with time travel and cause and effect in play which all seem to be side
stepped these days with the alternate timeline/dimension but here it's good old fashioned
cause and effect. There is a lot of humour and drama to be had as we discover who paired
with who and the advances in technology and new aliens on board the old ship but it's
T'Pol whose still alive who holds the key to the future despite the misgivings of her own son.

The Council
Archer finally gets to address the Xindi council and offers up the evidence they have
gathered from both the attacks on Earth and the sphere builders, some of the council
are willing to listen but others are too eager to embrace the promises made by the builders
and the power that they belive will come with it. As Archer pleads with the Council a strike
team is sent to a sphere to gather more evidence but before any resolution is reached Degra
becomes the victim of his own beliefs.
Another very good episode as the story builds to it's conclusion, everything is being
ramped up as the Xindi begin to doubt the word of the sphere builders but the Reptilians
and Insectoids the most aggressive of the species break away, no doubt in their mind.

Countdown
Hoshi is tortured by the Reptilians in the hopes she will be able to break the encryption
on the weapon which would allow it to be launched without the consensus required but
a rescue mission is launched with the MACO's
suffering casualties. The friendly Xindi finally throw in with the humans and engage the
Rep/Insect fleet but the sphere builders interfere creating anomalies which cause devastation
amongst the allies. Again another solid episode with spectacular space combat and one on
one fighting as the MACO's storm the weapon but as with all good stories the bad guys
escape and we go down to the wire.

Zero Hour
Archer and a few of his crew on board Degra's former ship chase down the weapon
and are joined by Shran and his warship, once again Archers decisions to do the right
thing is paying off in spades but they are all still relying on the ENterprise to destory the
focal sphere in the network. If they can destory Sphere 41 then the whole chain will collapse
and maybe the Expanse will cease to be but the risk is huge, wait too long and everyone on
board the ship will be dead. Meanwhile Daniels pays Archer a visit and shows him the birth
of the Federation which requires Archer to be part of it's inception but he fails to convince
Archer not to sacrifice his life in the attempt to destroy the weapon.
When the dust settles the Enterprise is returned to Earth via one of the Aquatic ships to be
told that Archer did not survive but upon approaching the Earth they find a sky void of
satellites and communications and then a shuttle is attacked by prop drive fighters, something
has disrupted the timeline.

What an absolutely fantastic batch of episodes to wrap up the Xindi story arc, it has been
a wonderful example of serialised story telling and while there were one or two clunkers
mostly when trying to do a standalone episode everyone involved should be proud of the
work they have done.

Disk 7
Lots of Extras

The Xindi Saga Begins
Enterprise Moments
Connor Trinneer (Profile)
Roxann Dawson (A Day in the Life)
Outtakes
Behind the Camera (Marvin Rush)
Enterprise Secrets
Commentaries
Deleted Scenes