Synopsis: STAR TREK ENTERPRISE
The fourth season of Enterprise concludes the unpopular Temporal Cold War story arc that had been a staple of the series since “Broken Bow”. The remaining episodes of season four refocus Enterprise on the series’ original prequel concept by exploring cultural shifts on Vulcan; establishing the beginnings of conflict between Earth and the Romulans; explaining the difference in appearance between the Klingons of The Original Series and those of The Next Generation; and exploring the obstacles humanity must overcome before allying with alien species.
Season 4 of Enterprise saw a lot of change behind the scenes for the show. Creator and showrunner Brannon Braga left and Manny Cotto (who worked on 24 and Dexter) took over. His intention, was to return to the original mission of exploration and truly craft a show to bridge this era with that of The Original Series. As a result we have a season that is somewhat bittersweet, really demonstrating the potential Enterprise only in its final year before cancellation. We’ve covered seasons two and three previously on Cinapse, lets dive into this, the final season.
Rather than the season long arc that spanned the previous year, Enterprise season 4 gives us several smaller arcs, each spanning 2 to 3 episodes. Some of these serve to answer questions long asked within the Trek Universe, others to ‘course correct’ or align facets of the show to bring them in line with Kirk-era continuity. Its rather nicely done. The opening two-parter resolves not only the cliffhanger that ended Season 3 but also brings to a close the ‘Temporal Cold War’ that has hamstrung the show for so long. First, we deal with the Eugenics Wars. Yes, the greatest Original Series episode “Space Seed” and greatest Trek movie The Wrath of Khan gets a prequel of sorts. We see ‘augments’, genetically engineered humans, responsible for inciting World War 3 unleashed once again. Fun nods to both and a interesting little tie in to a well known The Next Generation character. The second arc, spanning 3 episodes delves into Vulcan history and essentially reveals why the pointy eared folk of Enterprise were so unhelpful and…well douchy, compared to the cold blooded slightly less douchy folk we know in Kirks time. Another touches on how humanity/Starfleet starts to bring alien species, long in conflict with each other, into an alliance to fight a common enemy. Many of the aliens encountered in Enterprise become parts of the Federation in Kirk’s era so this is a pretty gratifying arc to see. Remember how in Kirks era the Klingons had flat heads but from the movies onwards they had ridges? Well the Affliction/ Divergence episodes reveal the truth behind this ‘secret’ that Klingons just don’t like to talk about. And finally, we get an arc delving into the ‘Mirror Universe’, another followup/prequel to a classic series episode, one that has spawned many glimpses already in Deep Space Nine. “In A Mirror Darkly” is a hell of a fun two-parter crammed with homages as well as visuals for The Original Series. Very well done.
Having these multi-episode arcs opens up the budget to have more impressive sets and CGI in the show, as the cost of showing new worlds and new civilizations across multiple episodes makes it cost effective. It helps the perspective of telling a fleshed out story as well as realizing it. There are other arcs and a few standalone episodes I haven’t mentioned. In all, the variety and depth come across well and the show never feels stale at all while ploughing through its 26 episodes.
As mentioned in previous reviews of these sets, the creators nailed the casting. Scott Bakula (Captain Archer) and company continue to do sterling work in their respective roles. After an emotionally draining and intense third season it is good to see a little more humour creep into proceedings, the characters seem somewhat more at ease with each other, even the Trip/T’Pol relationship develops far more naturally than before. The episodes give most of the cast something meaty to deal with at some point in the season and it is a pretty fitting sendoff for all of them.
THE PACKAGEOur previous reviews have praised these Enterprise sets for featuring a wealth of extras and season 4 is no different. A single disc pack is crammed with 6 discs containing all 26 episodes, extras and a host of new material specially recorded for blu-ray release. The most significant of these is Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise, a documentary composed of four parts; New Voices, Memorable Voyages, Final Approach and End of an Era, they chronicle the impending cancellation of the show, approach to the season as well as the aftermath for both cast and crew alike. As with past seasons, there are frank and emotional comments from people in front and behind the camera on missteps made while making the show as well as the ever pervasive influence of the studio interfering with the creative direction. It is refreshing to see such leeway given and honesty allowed in these extras. This extends to sentiments about the ill received finale, which, I will go on record as being an abortion of a episode to wrap up a show. New showrunner Manny Coto had a vision for the show once he took the reigns, to bring the mythology of the original series into the show and start the foundation of the Federation as is known during the Kirk era. There is plenty to show how Coto aimed to do this from visuals, plotlines and nod to classic episodes. It really is a fascinating set of extras looking at the innerworkings of a show gasping its last breath.
Season 4 saw a switch to 1080p digital cameras. While common now this was pretty new technology back then. As a result the transfer is very good and clean throughout. The sacrifice of this increased clarity is that it does show up some of the artifacts and low quality (compared to current day) of the CGI. That said, the quality is undeniable and the extras plenty. Any Trekkie will be more than happy with the effort put into this set.
Season four sees Star Trek Enterprise truly embrace the original remit of the show; crafting a fun, interesting vision of the time before Kirk and touching on many unanswered questions from that time, thus infusing the show with a welcome hint of nostalgia. The blu-ray is packed with extras that touch on much of the production of the show and carry a real sense of honesty and warmth towards the series as well as ponder what could have been. A solid release and a must for any Enterprise fan.
Enterprise: Season 4 is available to buy on blu-ray from April 29th. An Amazon link to buy is below.
OFFICIAL BLU-RAY DETAILS:
Disc One: Episodes: Storm Front, Storm Front, Part II, Home and Borderland Special Features: Deleted Scene on “Storm Front” (SD), Archival Mission Logs: Enterprise Moments: Season Four (SD)
Disc Two:
Episodes: Cold Station 12, The Augments, The Forge and Awakening Special Features: Episode Commentary by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Mike & Denise Okuda on “The Forge”, Text Commentary by Mike & Denise Okuda on “The Forge” (2005)
Disc Three:
Episodes: Kir’Shara, Daedalus, Observer Effect and Babel One Special Features: Episode Commentary by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Mike & Denise Okuda on “Observer Effect”.
Disc Four:
Episodes: United, The Aenar, Affliction and Divergence Special Features: Episode Commentary by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and David Livingston on “United”, Deleted Scene on “The Aenar” (SD)
Disc Five:
Episodes: Bound, In A Mirror, Darkly, In A Mirror, Darkly, Part II and Demons Special Features: Episode Commentary by Mike Sussman and Tim Gaskill on “In A Mirror, Darkly” (2005), Episode Commentary by Mike Sussman and Tim Gaskill on “In A Mirror, Darkly, Part II” (2005), Text Commentary by Mike & Denise Okuda on “In A Mirror, Darkly, Part II” (2005), Episode Commentary by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, André Bormanis, Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating on “Demons”. Deleted Scene from “In A Mirror, Darkly, Part II” (SD), Archival Mission Logs: Inside the Mirror Episodes (SD).
Disc Six:
Episodes: Terra Prime and These Are The Voyages Special Features: Episode Commentary by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, André Bormanis, Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating on “Terra Prime”. Episode Commentary by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Tim Gaskill “Terra Prime” (2005) Text Commentary by Mike & Denise Okuda “These Are The Voyages” (2005) Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise (HD) — Part One: New Voices, Part Two: Memorable Voyages, Part Three: Final Approach, Part Four: End of an Era In Conversation — Writing Star Trek: Enterprise (HD). Archival Mission Logs: Visual Effects Magic (SD), Links to the Legacy (SD), Enterprise Secrets (SD), That’s a Wrap! (SD), Enterprise Goes to the Dogs (SD), Westmore’s Aliens: Creating Dr. Phlox and Beyond (SD)
Outtakes (SD), Photo Gallery (SD), NX-01 File 10 (SD)