I’m always bugged more by individual moments than bigger things. So while T’Pol might be wearing an old fun center carpet as a uniform, and the temporal Cold War is both overly complex and excruciatingly boring neither of those things bothers me more than the following.
In season one, there is an episode titled ‘Unexpected’. In this episode Tripp becomes space pregnant from an alien space mama. During his pregnancy he is framed as becoming irrationally overconcerned about the safety of very minor or unlikely hazards.
At one point, he is in engineering and complains that if you hold onto the handrail of the elevator while it moves, your fingers will be sliced off against the scaffolding since there is no gap.
A crew member brushes him off by just saying, essentially, “Lol skill issue, just don’t hold the handguard.”
Again, Tripp is the one being framed as irrational in this discussion. Because he has a problem with a handguard that slices your fingers off.
Space hormones or not, he’s right that it’s a terrible design.
Enterprise is watchable and has that classic 90’s trek feel to it. That said, I can barely name or identify a single character on the show or tell you anything about their character, personality, hopes fears dream strengths weaknesses etc.
Captain Archer, has a pet dog, is pretty down to earth and chill I guess…that’s pretty much it…
There’s a guy with a southern accent from I dunno maybe Louisiana? He likes catfish. Those are pretty much his only defining features.
T’pol is a stoic emotionless boring Vulcan. There’s a pretty sexy and out of place scene with her and some other scantily clad attractive characters in a space sauna that didn’t seem appropriate for Star Trek but whatever. She seems annoyed and judgmental about humans. That’s about it for her personality.
The bird like doctor guy is kinda weird. Can’t tell you much about him.
That’s pretty much all I got. There’s really just nothing else to say about any of these characters. I can write books about Captain Picard, Janeway, data, sisko, et all.
Tl;Dr Poor character development bugs me the most about enterprise
Honestly dr phlox is my favorite. He’s that annoyingly cheerful kind of guy and a bit of counterpoint to “normal human things”- he could have been a great character if they just didn’t try to play up the shock value.
Also like he’s low key a sadist. Maybe more a mostly-reformed sadist? There’s definitely moments.
It definitely has its moments and it scratches that itch when you really want classic 90s Trek but you’ve watched TNG/DS9/VOY a zillion times each and want something new.
The comforting ambient hum of the engines really does the trick. That sound is conspicuously missing from New Trek (besides, you know, creative integrity?).
I swear. St:Discotheque makes more sense if you just assume the entire show, they’re all tripping balls off space shrooms.
Bitterness is a bad look.
I can tell you more about them, but obviously you’re correct that they’re nowhere near as developed as the other 90s Trek shows.
-T’Pol might be the best Vulcan character in the franchise next to SNW Spock. She has a tinge of that Enterprise Vulcan arrogance, becomes less emotionally-guarded as she spends more time among humans, has an interesting moderate attitude toward humans, and probably has the best acting on the show.
-Phlox is the best doctor in the franchise, fight me.
-Reed is a British weirdo
-Mayweather is an overly peppy cornily-acted son of a freighter captain raised in space
Captain Archer, tries very hard to be laid back but he’s actually a prep school prick at heart. Smiles like he’s running for congress. Beagle owning water polo enthusiast.
Charles “Trip” Tucker The Third. Chief engineer, catfish lover from Sarasota Florida before it’s trenched by the Xindi. Kinda happy-go-lucky at first then turned real f’n broody because of course. He works out, ends up in his boxer briefs occasionally because “See, we’ve got stuff for the girls to look at too.” Beefcake #1
Malcolm Reed, British tightass who basically has Worf’s job. Spends a lot of an episode inventing the red alert because this series fully intends break into your home at night, hold you down, squat over your face and prequel right in your mouth. Also works out, ends up in his boxer briefs occasionally too, but he’s a bit shorter. Beefcake #2
T’Pol. An attempt by Paramount to make the Seven of Nine lightning strike twice. Same stern humorless member of a conformist society who grows as a person from her outside perspective as a member of the ship’s crew, now with even more blatant thirst bait. To their credit, they almost pulled it off. Cheesecake #1-6.
Hoshi Sato, Uhura but Asian and worse. She’s the same brand of useless that Troi was. Mostly there so they could say “No, see, not all of the female cast was hired for how their nipples look in a grey tank top” but she ended up half naked a few times anyway. Cheesecake #7.
Travis Mayweather, helmsman, raised on a space ship by parents who are upset he took a job working on a space ship. Mostly just happy to be here.
Dr. Phlox, happy go lucky alien doctor, mostly used for comic relief though he delivered one of my favorite lines in all of Star Trek: “It is unethical to harm a patient; however I can inflict as much pain as I like.” Overall deserved a better Trek series.