Summary
I’m glad to seeStar Trek: Enterprisegetting deserved love and recognition from modernStar Trek, especially inStar Trek: Discoveryseason 5.WhenEnterprisepremiered on UPN in 2001, I was an early adopter.While I agreed with the overall then-sentiment thatEnterprisefelt like watered down retreads ofStar Trek: The Next Generation’sstories, I still enjoyed the Enterprise NX-01 crew led by Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer.Enterprisewas bristling with potential and was at its best in season 4 when UPN canceled the show.
Since then, I appreciated every unexpected shoutout toStar Trek: Enterprise, like J.J. Abrams’Star Trek(2009) referencing"Admiral Archer’s beagle", and how the NX Class USS Franklin andEnterprise-era MACO space marines were pivotal toStar Trek Beyond.Star Trek: Lower Decks' name-drops like"a Kirk sundae with Trip Tucker sprinkles"and Lt. Brad Boimler’s (Jack Quaid)mini statue of Mirror Universe Archerwere a delight.Star Trek: Discoveryseason 5 brought back the Archer Space Dock, made a Denobulan one of the all-important Progenitors scientists, and, best of all, revealed that Doctor Kovich (David Cronenberg) is really temporal Agent Daniels (Matt Winston) fromStar Trek: Enterprise.It’s gratifying how Scott Bakula’sEnterpriseis getting its just due.
Star Trek: Discovery’s Incredible Scott Bakula Enterprise Twist Explained
Star Trek: Discovery’s series finale dropped a bombshell about Doctor Kovich tying back to Star Trek: Enterprise and the Temporal Cold War.
Scott Bakula’s Enterprise Has Long Deserved Greater Recognition From Star Trek
Enterprise did not “kill the franchise,” and Star Trek knows it
For too long,Star Trek: Enterprisewas unfairly dismissed as"the show that killed the franchise". Yes,Enterprisewas the only Rick Berman-producedStar Trekseries that was canceled at season 4 instead of running 7 seasons likeStar Trek: The Next Generation.Star Trek: Enterprise’s hated series finalewas also like a scarlet letter the show still bears.Enterprisehad poor ratings on UPN, and a sizeable segment ofStar Trekfans didn’t give the prequel a chance. However, this started to turn in the 2010s whenEnterprisearrived on streaming. Viewers who bingedStar Trek: Enterprisea decade or more after it ended found what I knew watching it first run:Enterpriseis actually a really good show.
Modern Star Trek is regularly finding creative ways to homage Scott Bakula’s Captain Archer and his crew.
Recently, Scott Bakula joined his fellow luminaries ofStar Trekat the 84th annual Peabody Awards. Bakula has moved on fromStar Trekand continued his successful acting career, but it was meaningful to see Scott representingEnterprisewith huge names from past and presentStar Treklike executive producer Alex Kurtzman, Patrick Stewart, Jeri Ryan, LeVar Burton, Doug Jones, Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, and Ethan Peck.The makers of Star Trek on Paramount+’s series recognize the important roleEnterpriseplays as, essentially, the beginning ofStar Trek.While anEnterprisereunion of some sort doesn’t appear to be on the table, modernStar Trekis regularly finding creative ways to homage Scott Bakula’s Captain Archer and his crew, and it’s genuinely appreciated.
It’s Fitting Star Trek: Discovery Gave So Much Love To Scott Bakula’s Enterprise
Star Trek: Discovery picked up where Enterprise left off
Star Trek: Discoveryhas givenStar Trek: Enterprisethe most recognition, and it feels right. After all,Discoverypicked up whereEnterpriseleft off as the nextStar Trekseries 12 years after the NX-01 crew left the airwaves.Discoveryproved thatEnterprisedid notkill theStar TrekTV franchise.Rather,Discoverylaunched a new golden era forStar Trek,and it always contained genuflection toEnterprise-Discovery’s original blue Starfleet uniforms were an update of the blue jumpsuits Captain Archer and the NX-01 Enterprise crew wore. Further, when the USS Discovery arrived in the 32nd century,Earth had reverted to United Earth, which was the Terran homeworld’s designation before the founding of the United Federation of Planets.
Enterprisehas been fused intoStar Trek: Discoveryall along.
The shocking bombshell that Doctor Kovich is the aged Agent Daniels essentially means a character fromStar Trek: Enterprisehas been part ofStar Trek: Discoverysince season 3.Enterprisehas been fused intoStar Trek: Discoveryall along, and this is also brilliant as the two series bookend the thousand-yearStar Treksaga fromEnterprise’s 22nd century toDiscovery’s 32nd/33rd century (and beyond). InStar Trek: DiscoveryandStar Trek: Starfleet Academy’s future, I love that theArcher Space Dockcontinues to build and upgrade Starfleet’s armada so that the pioneering spirit of Captain Archer andStar Trek: Enterpriseis ever-present in the far future of the final frontier.
