ENTERPRISE – Season 3 Review
Page 7 of 10In “Exile”, Hoshi gets kidnapped, ho-hum: “Hoshi’s beauty to Tarquin’s beast never quite works because Maury Sterling’s performance as the alien is equally bland. It’s hard to feel for the guy he’s so mechanical. The problem is we don’t see his desperation. He acts like it at times but is not convincing and it seems more like an afterthought than the way he feels. Paired with the Hoshi character it makes for a rather dull and predictable hour.”
The second reset-button episode of the season, “E²”, is not much better. From the review: “For the most part, this is basically a filler episode and a derivative one at that. We’ve seen this before, that is, a story dealing with the descendants of a Starfleet crew (see DS9’s “Children of Time”) and as time travel episodes go, this one is fairly predictable. The storyline does advance in the sense that Archer finally gets to rendezvous with Degra but overall, what goes on in the episode, is reset at the end.” Also: ” The main plot deals with Lorian and his decision to continue the mission to save Earth by stealing the plasma injectors and meeting up with Degra. Frankly I don’t and didn’t particularly care about it. David Andrews does a good job as Lorian but in the end, all is reset so the story is somewhat pointless. Nonetheless, we do find out that T’Pol will indeed continue to have emotions and that she will at least consider getting together with Trip. The only other lasting effect is that of Reed’s future dating plans.”
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS:
Overall grade for the season: B+. Season 1 and 2 both had averages of B-. Season 1 had 69% or 18 out of 26 episodes that were above average; Season 2, 17/26 or 65% and Season 3, 18/24 or 75%. There were only 24 episodes for season 3 however so if there had been 26, the % might have been lower or higher. But since Season 1 and 2 had no A+ episodes while Season 3 had 6 and had no C- or D+ episodes, I would say that season 3 was by far a vast improvement over season 1 and 2.
CHARACTER CHANGES:
Captain Jonathan Archer:
Archer has come a long way from the wide-eyed explorer to the solemn, savior of humankind. He’s done some unethical things to achieve this. He’s not the pure, innocent Captain we met in “Broken Bow”. This is a plus as he’s grown much as a character. Scott Bakula’s acting has certainly improved from his stiff, wooden renditions in the first season to the passionate expression we see in this third season. Last seen, he was in what appeared to be a Nazi field hospital, unconscious. Overlooking him was a Nazi officer.
T’Pol:
She is no longer a Vulcan sub-commander having resigned from her post. She wants to join Starfleet. She is still however, second in command technically but with Archer presumed dead, she is now acting-Captain. Her relationship with Trip is ongoing and more serious. Her addiction to Trellium-D has made her more emotional which will be interesting to watch next season. Last seen in command of the Enterprise which is now in the past, albeit in an altered timeline.
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