Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Series Review

Okay, I was never a big Trekkie till I started watching Next Generation while living in the UK. Patrick Stewart got me to take Star Trek seriously. Having watched all eight series, I was certainly hungry for more...Voyager, Deep Space 9 followed.

I did not get to see Enterprise when it first aired, but I bought the series on recommendation from one of my friends. I had low expectations given some of the comments and reviews, as well (and here is the heresy) the fear that it would be similar to the original series - not my favorite Sci-fi experience...loved the characters and stories just not the low budget effects and campy acting (but then without it there would have been no franchise). Instead, I was really pulled into the story of the first Enterprise, the first warp 5 ship, the technical teething problems (and being outgunned by every alien in the galaxy), how the federation ultimately came together etc...and yes even the Temporal Cold War thread. The crew of the NX-01 consisted of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), Vulcan Science/first officer T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), Chief Engineer "Trip"  (Connor Trennier), Security Officer Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating), Communication Officer Hoshi Sato (Linda Park), Helmsman Travis (Anthony Montgomery), and Denoblian Chief Medical Officer Phlox (John Billingsly). I think all  worked well together to make this a really engaging TV series, and I think it was the first time I really began to care about the characters.

Pluses: good characterization, solid acting, interesting back stories, special effects (a lot better than previous series) and yes the steamy bits were pretty good also

Minuses: some stories are a little weak, and some of the "decontamination" scenes are a little gratuitous (but fun). The last couple of episodes fall a little flat given the cancellation of the series and the need to tie up loose ends quickly, this is awkward given the emerging relationships and story lines. Finally, the music at the beginning of each episode makes even me cringe a little, but that is what the next button is for. Overall, very sad this series ended, it had a lot of potential and great characters.