…where three television series and nine movies have gone before.
Or something like that, right?
But hey — they’re doing it with style. Gotta admit, I thought last nights premiere of Enterprise, “Broken Bow,”, was pretty darn cool. Finally, it really does look like we’ve got a new entry to the Star Trek universe that just might be able to carry on the torch and keep viewers interested. It’s about time.
Things I liked:
The ship — especially the interiors. It really does look something like a cross between a starship and a submarine. Very cramped interiors, walkways going around the various parts of engineering…very nice look. Besides, I’ve always liked the design of the Star Trek universe.
The technology — they seem do be doing a credible job of placing the technology somewhere between what we have today and what was thought the future could look like in the original series, from the sliders on the transporter to T’Pol’s viewer on the science station. With nobody really trusting the transporters yet, it’ll be nice to have extra-vehicular missions using shuttlecraft the majority of the time (one of my favorite TOS episodes was The Galileo Seven, a premise which wouldn’t have worked without a shuttlecraft — sometimes the transporters made things a bit too convenient, I think). The use of an actual grappling hook device rather than a tractor beam was a very nice touch.
The cast — I have to say, I think they just may have done a good job here. I wasn’t sure what to think when I heard that Scott Bakula was going to be the new captain, but I ended up really liking Cpt. Scott Archer. The rest of the regulars came off well too — about my only reservations are with Ensign Hoshi Sato (while the constant nervousness about whether the ship is about to explode around her ears is amusing, the writers will have to tread carefully not to make it just flat-out annoying) and Dr. Phlox (reminds me a bit too much of characters like Neelix [VOY] and the early Ferengi [TNG/DS9] — good ideas that didn’t hold up well over the long run), but as this is solely based on a 2-hour first episode, these characters could become much more than they seem in a season or two. I was also pleasantly surprised with Sub-Commander T’Pol. Considering the jumpsuit they’ve put her in just screams out, “Look at me! I’m the resident token sex object!” she actually ended up with a character much more thought out than I at first expected. She also has that wonderful trick of managing to smile without actually doing it — I think it’s something in the eyes, but it’s something I haven’t really seen an actor pull off with a Vulcan character since Spock and Sarek.
The fact that the show is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen. Very cool — now if only I had a high-def TV and receiver to watch the thing on!
Things i’m iffy on:
Okay, what was the point to the decontamination scene? Or, rather, was there a point beyond titillation? Admittedly, it wasn’t bad as far as prime-time titillation goes, and I have to give them props — not only did they have T’Pol strip down to her skivvies, but they also had Commander Charles Tucker in there (either for the women or the gay men in the audience, or both) — but it seemed out of place, and clumsily done. Either the two of them were just helping each other with the decontamination gel, or they were flirting, but the scene played like a clumsy mix of both. Ah, well — at least it was good eye candy, right?
The opening theme. Y’know, assuming I ever get in a situation where I can watch this show on a weekly basis, I think that song is going to grate on me more and more every time. The visuals during the credit sequence are nice, I like the exploration theme — but did they have to go to some horrid, cheezy, adult-contemporary soft-rock ballad? Ugh. That can go, as far as I’m concerned — and it can go as far away as possible.
Overall
A good, solid B+, I think. I’ll catch more episodes when I can — whenever that may be — we just might finally have another worthy contender to the Star Trek universe here.