Eyes on the Enterprise (SPOILERS)
(The following contains spoilers for the final episode of "Star Trek Enterprise". If you haven't seen the final episode yet and wish to remain a virgin. Do not read any further. Thank you.)
I watched the final episode of Star Trek Enterprise tonight(missing the 8 o'clock penultimate installment) out of respect for Star Trek and out of curiousity. I felt the major happening in the episode was handled poorly. It was arbitrary and it didn't add anything to the episode or the series. I mean, it's mentioned matter-of-factly at the beginning of the episode by Troi, so there's no dramatic tension leading up to it, save for a fake out halfway through.
I mean, what was the death of Trip supposed to accomplish dramatically? No matter what it was, it didn't succeed, unless its purpose was to confuse and infuriate the audience.
And he died in a situation that they've been in and gotten out of before. I'm sure there's other ways to demonstrate how following your instinct is better than blindly following orders. Better he should sacrifice himself against orders to save the whole ship in engineering like Spock did in Star Trek II. Maybe Archer volunteers to save the ship, but Trip knocks him out so he can do it or something. That would have had more resonance.
But it doesn't seem that his death meant much. Other than the scene with Archer and T'Pol talking about what Trip would have wanted after he died, he was forgotten and never mentioned again. In fact, it's business as usual a day or two later when Archer is set to speak at the conference. All the Enterprise personnel are in the VIP section and all they do is cheerfully talk about their next assignment or complain about how far away they are from the podium. What the hell? At least Tasha Yar had a funeral!
If I didn't know any better I'd swear they just came up with the death subplot one day over lunch when the actor who played Trip asked if he could wrap for the series early so he could make it to shoot for a new pilot. It seems that poorly thought out and executed. No wonder Jolene Blalock called the finale "appalling".
I'd not go so far as to say that, but the whole thing really shows just how little the network cared for the series at the end. They could have made a two-hour telemovie event. Instead, all you have is two separate episodes stranded alone on a Friday night masquerading as a grand sendoff. Watching this episode, I see promise, which is sad, because the show is no more...but I also see an idea that was too big for its timeslot and one that could have used more time to breathe...in airtime and writing time.
I watched the final episode of Star Trek Enterprise tonight(missing the 8 o'clock penultimate installment) out of respect for Star Trek and out of curiousity. I felt the major happening in the episode was handled poorly. It was arbitrary and it didn't add anything to the episode or the series. I mean, it's mentioned matter-of-factly at the beginning of the episode by Troi, so there's no dramatic tension leading up to it, save for a fake out halfway through.
I mean, what was the death of Trip supposed to accomplish dramatically? No matter what it was, it didn't succeed, unless its purpose was to confuse and infuriate the audience.
And he died in a situation that they've been in and gotten out of before. I'm sure there's other ways to demonstrate how following your instinct is better than blindly following orders. Better he should sacrifice himself against orders to save the whole ship in engineering like Spock did in Star Trek II. Maybe Archer volunteers to save the ship, but Trip knocks him out so he can do it or something. That would have had more resonance.
But it doesn't seem that his death meant much. Other than the scene with Archer and T'Pol talking about what Trip would have wanted after he died, he was forgotten and never mentioned again. In fact, it's business as usual a day or two later when Archer is set to speak at the conference. All the Enterprise personnel are in the VIP section and all they do is cheerfully talk about their next assignment or complain about how far away they are from the podium. What the hell? At least Tasha Yar had a funeral!
If I didn't know any better I'd swear they just came up with the death subplot one day over lunch when the actor who played Trip asked if he could wrap for the series early so he could make it to shoot for a new pilot. It seems that poorly thought out and executed. No wonder Jolene Blalock called the finale "appalling".
I'd not go so far as to say that, but the whole thing really shows just how little the network cared for the series at the end. They could have made a two-hour telemovie event. Instead, all you have is two separate episodes stranded alone on a Friday night masquerading as a grand sendoff. Watching this episode, I see promise, which is sad, because the show is no more...but I also see an idea that was too big for its timeslot and one that could have used more time to breathe...in airtime and writing time.
posted by Joe Coughlin at
1:20 AM
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