To Boldly Go Where Others Have Been Before

I've found myself in an odd position recently, in discovering something that most SciFi fans have known intimately for many years; I am discovering Star Trek. When I say "discovering", I am not new to Star Trek, I have seen perhaps 100 episodes over the years but without context.

Before I start let me explain that when I was growing up, there seemed to be a divide, you were either a Trekkie, or a Star Wars fan; very few people were both. Star Wars grabbed me like nothing has since. When we grow up, we go through phases, we grow out of stuff we once held very dear. Occasionally something sticks with us into adulthood to some degree.

For me, I've always been a Star Wars fan, albeit it's about the novels in the Expanded Universe, and recently the Clone Wars cartoon series, more than the movies. George Lucas is a terrible director. The point is that I was always on the other side of that divide, so Star Trek was an occasional curiosity to pass an hour with rather than anything worth following.

I am no stranger to Kirk, Bones, Picard, Data, Warf, Cisco, Odo, Janeway et all, I have seen enough episodes, or parts of them with enough attention to recognize them and have a vague idea of their roles on the shows. With most of the lead characters I knew which shows they were from too. The one I never grasped at the time they were being broadcast was Enterprise.

I knew Archer only because a Trekkie mate informed me when Enterprise was still at the first few episodes, that the character had been planned as Geoff, but changed to Johnathon after Lord Archer was in the news as a jailed peer. I have no idea if this is true or not, I am not a Trekkie, I never have been and never will be, I can only go on what I'm told. This isn't important, my point is that with Enterprise, the only lead character I knew was Archer, the rest didn't have enough time to soak into my memory.

At the time, the reason Enterprise fell flat with me, was the theme music. I hate cheesy US mainstream soft rock with a passion. That's multiplied with US centric "savior of the universe" lyrics. More than the theme tune on it's own, I felt at the time and still do, that Star Trek theme music should be instrumental, like every other series. Enterprise broke that by putting a tune I found cringe worthy at the start of every episode. As a result I saw the pilot and perhaps three more episodes from season one or parts of them.

Like anything else, context is king. As I only ever saw Star Trek episodes when I was at other people's houses, and them being Trekkies, the conversation came round to "did you tape last nights episode? I didn't see it" I quite often found myself in a sitting room with an episode or two playing. I had no idea what brought them to that point, so I missed any subtle scenes that built on previous episodes, I also had no interest in any cliffhangers. As far as I understood, Star Trek were almost like Peter Pan, they never age, and everything resets for the next episode. It's pretty obvious that I was totally wrong on that assumption.

I have now watched Enterprise from start to finish and was incredibly impressed. I love the idea of the first Enterprise, as well as how the technology we see later on in the time line was first tired. I did remember watching an episode at broadcast about how nervous they were to use the transporter. I like how we're introduced to various species.

All stories work because of the smart artificial restrictions put in place by the writers. Where is the suspense if you can flick a switch and pull the away crew from the clutches of any enemy? Interference blocking the signal strands the away crew without that escape route. I loved the idea that every species the Enterprise crew met were faster, more technologically advanced and were able to do things like board the ship, steal parts and disappear. I loved the idea that many of the ships they found themselves having to chase down, where faster and heavier armed.

The Temporal Cold War was an interesting idea too, although it kinda started getting a bit ridiculous. Generally I have little time for time travel stories, they are far too easy for writers to cheat the audience. I loved the series arc with the Xindi too, the idea of one species having five different species, all with factions and infighting. I noticed as the series went on, that most episodes were two or three part story arcs, this was excellent, as it allowed more depth and layers to come through. Too many TV series end on cliffhangers, where they're canceled without being able to resolve it. I'm glad Enterprise managed to end with the ends all tied up.

Casting is crucial to sell an audience. On this every Star Trek episode I've seen seems to do a pretty good job in finding the right people for the right roles. I'm not so sure about Malcolm Reid the Enterprise Security Officer. He didn't sell me as "security". He was an interesting character, but for me, would have been better as another role on the ship. To their defense, you could argue that Enterprise were an exploring vessel, so the hard ass security officer wasn't right for Enterprise. When that role was required in series three, they brought him in, with the MAKOs.

I also liked the special homages to the other parts of the timeline too, with the mirror universe two parter, although few of the cast really sold the war monger style delivery. Archer and Reid were particularly caricature like. T'Paul, Hoshi and Phlox were standouts. I also liked the last episode being played with Riker and Troi exploring history through the holodeck, that was a nice touch.

I am starting to explore Voyager, then DS9 and TNG. I now know the premise of Voyager, this is new to me. Before all I saw was an episode with a different ship, different crew, also out exploring the galaxy just like Kirk and Picard. DS9 was obviously different as it was set on a space station. The surface comparisons with Babylon 5 are obvious.

Babylon 5 was another show I only saw the odd episode of while it was being broadcast, as I kept missing shows, the schedule was fucked around, days changed, episodes shown out of sequence etc. I loved what I did see, but vowed to watch the whole lot in order. I have now done so, it's fantastic.

Like any show, it takes some time to get acclimatised to the lead characters and their various dynamics. It's also interesting to watch the actors grow into their roles as the series continues and they know their characters better. Trip and T'Paul were fascinating to watch develop in Enterprise. I know from bits and pieces of memories that the Doctor in Voyager gradually explores life outside of sick bay with the aid of new technologies.

If I have it worked out right, Star Trek is a dead franchise as far as TV series are concerned. It lasted a lot longer than most, in what 40+ years? I tip my hat to everyone involved in the Star Trek franchise, it's much better than I initially thought it was. I am not, nor will I ever be a Trekkie. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy it.