Broken Bow, Part 1

"Broken Bow" takes us back to where it all began. Set 150 years in our future and 100 years before Kirk, Spock and McCoy. This installment of the "Star Trek" franchise, is in my opinion the first series since "TOS" to recapture the feelings of wonder, danger and excitement of "Going Where No Man Has Gone Before". Scott Bakula is perfectly cast as Jonathan Archer, the first Captain of the first "Star Ship Enterprise". He and the entire cast truly show a true reverence for the Star Trek legacy. John Billingsley is Brilliant as the alien Dr. Phlox, and Jolene Blalock is totally luscious as the tempting but logical Vulcan science officer T'Pol. Broken Bow is in my opinion the best premier episode of any of the Treks, and I believe Gene Roddenberry would surely be proud.

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.

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.

I've seen episodes of all the Star Trek series here and there on TV throughout my life but never followed any of them devoutly. Recently, I thought it might be fun to go through them and see what the Star Trek universe has to offer me. Not really knowing where to start, I did some research and decided to take the road less traveled and watch the Star Trek series chronologically. So "Broken Bow" is where I have begun.

This double episode is a good start to the series. We got to know the main characters and it seems like the show has a nice ensemble cast with enough personality & diversity to keep it fresh for the audience. I appreciate that we're starting with a small cast of important characters and not overextending it and confusing the audience.

I liked that we're jumping straight into space exploration with Klingons and other less familiar races such as the Suliban. This new race's look and shape-shifting, wall-climbing abilities are intriguing. I hope to see more of them.

The episode didn't blow me away by any means but it's a good foundation. One possible thumbs down from me is that it seems that we're already starting up a love angle between T'Pol & Trip. Romance aboard the Enterprise is fine but let's get a few notches under our belt before we start getting into this stuff. Plus, the whole intolerant, judgmental character broadens his horizons and falls in love with someone you didn't expect is a bit played out. But we'll see... 7/10, average.

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.