Broken Bow, Part 1

Before I start, I would like to say to all those hard-core Star Trek fans out there that unlearn what you have learned. Okay, I got that from Yoda, but it still holds true here. When watching and critiquing (if you're a nit-picker), one must approach the new series with an open mind.

Expectations aside, I thoroughly enjoyed Enterprise. The fifth installment into the Star Trek series franchise peaked my interest months ago when I first heard about it. I was skeptical at first, I will admit to that. I just didn't want another Star Trek: Voyager, which I spent that last 7 years faithfully watching the show with little to no satisfaction when it came to an end. But when Scott Bakula signed on, Dr. Sam Beckett himself, I denounced all skepticism and it sparked my enthusiasm for the new series. Right off the bat, Enterprise threw us into the thick of things: the Klingon, Klaang, evading the Suliban, the Vulcan/Human conflict, the problematic temporal cold war, and the cameo by James Cromwell. Okay, those are more like intriguing features than throwing us into the thick of things. What can I say? I was impressed. The matter of the title song is quite a controversy among friends. Many thought it should go. I say, keep it. It's different and in a way sentimental, paying homage to exploration and discovery. I took me five viewings of the pilot to get used to it. Enterprise delivers in every way possible that a Star Trek series should: a bold captain, a diverse crew, technobabble, transporters, phasers, shuttlepods, warp drive, and humor. For all those who don't like Enterprise, I say this to you: give the show some time. It's still a newborn, finding its own way to be unique, exciting, and most of all appealing. Remember, many people didn't get into Deep Space Nine when it first came on. It grew to be a fantastic series. It might not have rated well with the hard-core fans, but there are more than plenty enough serious fans who think so. Enterprise may very well become the best Star Trek series since The Next Generation.

Star Trek was exploration, new planets, cultures etc. All the ones that came after there was any "unknown" it was all politics and racism just the way we live now. Yes! And also, I loved Quantum Leap and Scott Bakula. He really makes "Enterprise" and I love the twist of being "before" the perfection of Star Trek, sometimes "beam me up", doesn't work! I always hate the way some people live to "bad mouth" anything and everyone. We see them for the small people they are.

Just saw Enterprise: Broken Bow, and I would have to say that it is different. It's like one hundred years before Kirk and it's interesting to see how Starfleet gets to where we know it. The uniforms are different than the standard color coordination that Star Trek has used before. It's more of a more military look. The starship shots are all computer generated, on The Next Generation they used models, boy I miss that. Great way to start off a new show, especially when they used the transporter on a human for the first time. The show looks to be promising from this pilot.

After reviewing the entire first season here in 2002 following its original airing, I gave the season 7/10 and the opening pilot 7/10 with other episodes ranging from 9/10 to awful... I vowed to give second season a chance, but the reality is that I gave up as it aired and felt uninspired and moreover couple with the dismal tenth Trek movie : Nemesis (3/10) which to me was the nail in the coffin of a fine franchise. so it was R.I.P. in 2002.

However, ten years later, and on the eve of Star Trek Into Darkness, although I was not extremely pleased with Star Trek (2009) (6/10), I decided to buy the entire Enterprise series to finally see what Enterprise season 2,3 and 4 were about, perhaps (but probably not!) tired of watching even excellent DS9 episodes for the umpteenth time and some mix/match of vibrant Voyager and dated TNG which I actually never finished in its entirety either.

Low and behold, I was absolutely hooked seeing Broken Bow in one sitting! I loved the intrigue, the tension, the action, the dialogue and the characters. T'Pol is brilliant and beautiful. Travis and Hoshi have possibly their best episode here as I remember them being underutilized after this. Phlox is enigmatic and endearing. Trip and Archer are slightly typical bravado, but solid and softened by Archer's apt back story with his father. The both makes amends with patronizing T'Pol, Trip taking his shirt off in the decon and challenging her on the bridge. The supporting character from the Ambassadors, Admirals, Klingons, Suliban (including seductive and believable Sarin) all add to the rich tapestry.

Also, the idea of the show to be early explorers is omnipresent and we are as excited as the characters to discover new civilizations and learn their peculiarities, to try new technology, etc.

Add time travel and foreign worlds who give way to amazing audio and visual effects (including sci-fi elements and sexy elements) and you have a two-hour plus episode that looks like a theatrical release. It helps that it was filmed in 16:9 way before it's time. So revising this pilot I am pumped to see Enterprise again. If nothing else and the series still feel flats, at least I can now be assured that the premise and the production was promising.

Rating changed from 7 to 9/10!

End personal log.

Captain Jonathan Archer, T'Pol and Trip meet Sarin and she explains that Klaang is a courier, bringing an important message from her to the leaders of the Klingons in Kronos about rebels Suliban that intend to promote the Temporal Cold War among the Klingons. Archer feels the need of rescuing Klaang and travels to the Suliban mother-ship with Trip to bring the Klingon back to Enterprise. T'Pol seems to understand that loyalty is an emotion that cannot be avoided by humans.

In spite of being a huge fan of Star Trek, I have not followed the episodes of "Enterprise" on cable television. I have decided to buy the DVD box of the First Season and this first episode surprised me. The adventure of the first Enterprise, Captain Jonathan Archer, the gorgeous T'Pol, Reed, Mayweather, Dr. Phlox, Hoshi and Trip is excellent, at least in this pilot. I have noted in IMDb that this episode is actually divides in two parts, but on DVD they are just one, therefore my review is valid for both. I did not like the music score theme, which I found very annoying, but this was an exception in this great show. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Broken Bow"