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Star Trek: Enterprise: Season 1
It is a fundamental component of the human experience to need to know how things begin. While many popular stories start in medias res that is usually just a teaser to pull people in based on this hard wired curiosity for beginnings. Even in the old comic books we loved as kids ‘secret origin’ issues were typically double issues costing twenty-five or even fifty cents. We gladly paid the extra asking price in order to find out how the characters and situations began. With this powerful incentive there is little wonder that the literary device of the prequel be applied to one of the defining franchises in science fiction; ‘Star Trek.’ By 2001the Star Trek universe had already been greatly expanded with film, spin-off and a direct sequel but how things got started still amounted to a number of random bits and pieces duly noted by the legion of devoted fans. The result was a series that would not only offer sound foundation for the original Star Trek and all that followed but it took on some of the controversies and perceived mistakes and inconsistencies that have accumulated over the many years since Captain Kirk first roamed the galaxy. ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ endeavored to provide the proper setting that would naturally evolve into the universe that Kirk and Spock introduced us to. It is a mixture of the familiar and strange as we meet alien races that would persist in this universe and those that would sink into obscurity. The technology, while sufficiently in advance of our own was only just developing into the wonders that Star Trek depicted. This series begins in the year 2151, a hundred and fifty years after us and a century before the time of the original series. This temporal setting was important to the construction of the series; placing it midway not only technologically but in many ways the more important social setting for humanity. ‘Star Trek: origins went beyond telling the story within the franchise but more importantly it chronicles the ascent of mankind as the preeminent race in the galaxy. The pedigree of this series was impeccable. It was created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Berman worked as writer and producer of many installments of the franchise both for their television and cinematic versions. Braga has a similar resume extending his talents to television series including ‘24’. ‘Threshold’ and ‘Flash-forward’. Both of their names are legendary in the Sci-Fi fan base. They began with a simple premise of looking at humanity ninety years after the evens chronicled in the franchise film, ‘First Contact’ considering the effect that association with a superior alien race would have on our species. The creators of the series had the almost insurmountable task of being true to the official canon while not offending the loyal fans by diverging from the ancillary facts commonly accepted by the loyal fans. This is often cited as a potential reason why the series only lasted four seasons. Another might be the change in direction to terrorism as a central theme so soon after the horrendous events of 9-11. This show had something very important in common with the original; there was a difference in degree but both were brilliant but canceled before their time. By the year 2151 the people of Earth were getting used to the sight of visitors from other planet. It has been almost 90 years since Dr. Zefram Cochrane launched the mankind’s first wrap drive spaceship attracting the attention of the Vulcans. Since then the Vulcan high Command held a tight rein on the technology humans were allowed access to. Cochran and his research partner, Henry Archer, developed a drive capable of achieving speeds of wrap five but the Vulcans pressured Earth authorities to prevent its use. This attitude of not only technological but moral and cultural superiority resulted in many humans resenting the prolonged interference of the Vulcan. In the pivotal year 2151 an incident on a methane farm in Iowa result in mankind’s accidental contact with another race of alien’s; the Klingons. Despite serious injuries the inhabitant of the crashed craft survived barely. The Klingon Ruling council demanded his return and after many protests by the Vulcans Starfleet decided to send the first Warp 5 vessel, the Enterprise NX-01 on the mission. Partly to honor the contribution by the late Henry Archer the command of the ship was given to his son, Jonathan (Scott Bakula). For the most part Captain Archer was allowed to select his own senior staff with the exception of a Vulcan Sub-Commander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock), reporting directly to the Vulcan government. Among the human crew that Archer did select included engineer Charles Tucker III, better known as ‘Trip’ (Connor Trinneer), Security Chief Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating), Helmsman Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) and Linguistics/Communications officer Hoshi Sato (Linda Park); also alone for the experience was the Denobulan chief medical officer Doctor Phlox (John Billingsley). Forming a bridge to the original series and Next Generation this cast hit every major job function we have come to expect. In this first season the audience is treated to a view of the universe vastly different from the one inhabited by subsequent series in the franchise time line. This predates the governing body known as ‘The Federation of Planets’ and back when Starfleet was a parochial organization limited to Earth. We do get to watch the development of some of the best known gadgets in Star Trek. The phase guns are bulkier and less potent but present. The transporter is brand new and not yet fully approved from living creatures although Captain Archer gleans it potential for covert, emergency extraction of personnel. The Ship’s shields have not yet been developed leaving protection to charged hull plating. In one of the very first episodes of this inaugural season they do come across an alien race that had developed holodeck technology something the Federation would not have for a couple of centuries. In the same episode Trip encounters a beautiful female alien and starts a pattern Captain Kirk would often employ, going where no man has gone before in a very intimate fashion. The incident leaves Trip pregnant much to his chagrin. The main villains of this season are the gritty complexion Suliban who drag Archer into a temporal cold war between races capable of time travel attempting to alter the time line opposed by a group of temporal agents from the 31st century. One fact that is established here that is elucidated throughout the series is just how vital Archer would be to the future of the galaxy. Creating Enterprise Posted 03/12/11 | ||||||||
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