Enterprise Review: “First Flight”

Part one of our double feature.

Enterprise LogoRegeneration

 

Cast & Crew

Director: LeVar Burton
Written By: John Shiban & Chris Black

Starring
Scott Bakula as Captain
Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Chief
Engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander
T’Pol
Dominic Keating as Lt.
Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery
as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi
Sato
John Billingsley
as Dr. Phlox

Guest Cast
Keith Carradine as Robinson
Michael Canavan as Vulcan
Vaughn Armstrong as Admiral Forrest
Victor Bevine as Flight Controller
Brigid Brannagh as Ruby
John B. Moody as Security Officer

Airdate Information

Originally Aired: May 14, 2003
Season: Two
Episode: Twenty-Five
Production: 050

This Week on EnterpriseWhat Happened

Review

:::Snore::::

Did John Shiban forget how to write after he left X-Files? I mean, on one hand, this is sort of what we’re looking for (historical fiction), but it’s told so poorly and so predictably, that it just doesn’t matter. We know just how everything turns out; from the new engine’s a success to the fact that those last two charges will somehow, remarkably, find the dark matter nebula.

High Point

Um… We finally figure out what Tucker’s nickname means?

Low Point

Right before every commercial break, they try to leave us with a mini cliffhanger. We know Robinson lives, we know the engine works, and we know the project succeeds. Where’s the suspense?

The Scores

Originality: Go rent the “The Right Stuff.” 3 out of 6.

Effects: Visually stunning, but ultimately pointless. 5 out of 6.

Story: It’s nice to get some backstory, but it’s just not that interesting. 2 out of 6.

Acting: Keith Carradine wasn’t too bad as a guest actor. He was actually giving it some effort. Everyone else seemed to be coasting. 4 out of 6.

Emotional Response: Utterly, painfully, predictable episode. 1 out of 6.

Production: I did like the fact that the NX-Alpha and Beta looked like an upgrade to Cochrane’s Phoenix. Someone’s paying attention. 4 out of 6

Overall: In the end, we gain nothing, we lose nothing. 3 out of 6.

Total: 22 out of 42

Episode Media

From StarTrek.com

Next Time on Enterprise (May 21, 2003) *Season Finale*

Next Time on EnterpriseThe Expanse

A probe from an unknown alien source unleashes a devastating assault upon Earth. Enterprise is recalled, and along the way home Captain Archer acquires information that the perpetrators come from a region of space known as the Delphic Expanse — a place where very bizarre things happen, and from which few ships that enter ever return. Starfleet must now decide whether to risk sending the NX-01 into the Delphic Expanse to prevent a possible second attack. [Video Teaser]

Additional Notes and Comments

If you’re interested in what’s in TheAngryMob’s review queue, check out my What’s Coming page.

TheAngrymob

10 replies on “Enterprise Review: “First Flight””

  1. NX-Alpha and Beta

    Production: I did like the fact that the NX-Alpha and Beta looked like an upgrade to Cochrane’s Phoenix. Someone’s paying attention. 4 out of 6

    Here’s my problem with the similarity to the Phoenix. The phoenix was a old nuke missle. Why would there be any reason to make the NXs look anything like that? Since the project was a lot bigger than Cochrane’s “garage project”, I would expect funding for some new design.

    • Re: NX-Alpha and Beta

      Production: I did like the fact that the NX-Alpha and Beta looked like an upgrade to Cochrane’s Phoenix. Someone’s paying attention. 4 out of 6

      Here’s my problem with the similarity to the Phoenix. The phoenix was a old nuke missle. Why would there be any reason to make the NXs look anything like that? Since the project was a lot bigger than Cochrane’s “garage project”, I would expect funding for some new design.

      Just some ideas:

      1) The test ship didn’t need to be much more elaborate than a chassis for the engine and cockpit. Extra design isn’t neccessary until you know it works.

      2) The ship was assembled on, launched from, and supposedly returned to land on Earth’s surface, so it needed to be somewhat more aerodynamic in shape than a larger ship assembled in a space dock.

      Continuity question:

      Was a “Robinson Dark Matter Nebula” ever referred to in one of the other series that the writers might have been trying to reference?

  2. Sounds familiar…
    ” Visually stunning, but ultimately pointless.”

    Someone’s been to the movies lately… ;-)

    • Re: Sounds familiar…

      Someone’s been to the movies lately… ;-)

      Hey, if Star Trek writers get to rip stuff off left and right…

  3. Ick
    I wonder if someone was thinking “We wrote a really boring episode, can someone whip up a Naked T’Pol episode to air right after it?”

    If only the Naked T’Pol episode wasn’t also really boring…

    • degrading handling of T’Its.
      This week on Springer: horny aliens in the Decontamination Chamber!

      I wonder if someone was thinking “We wrote a really boring episode, can someone whip up a Naked T’Pol episode to air right after it?”

      I have nothing against either Trek Historical Fic or even Sex Trek, if it’s done well, but after these travesties, my wife and I have finally, completely given up on Enterprise.

      • Re: degrading handling of T’Its.
        The naked T’Pol episode was rather gratuitous… but she does have nice legs.

  4. It wasn’t so bad….
    The background was nice, but that was all it had. The ships were cool too. The story was the biggest problem. There was no real emotional response generated from the flashbacks. I can’t help think that there could have been had the episode been written better.

  5. More lows than highs
    High points:

    • Trip’s name solved
    • Fleshing out the history of Archer and Trip
    • Naming of nebula suggestion from T’Its (thoughtful touch)

    Low points:

    • T’Its proved wrong *again*. I would have really liked those last two charges to have found nothing. This wouldn’t mean that human’s were rubbish at space travel, it would simply mean that the Vulcan science officer was actually right about science for a change. Why is it that, every time T’Its disagrees with something scientific (think: time travel), she ends up being wrong about it?
    • “Whoever commands the first warp 5 starship wont be able to ask starfleet every time there’s a problem, or the Vulcans.. Unless he takes one along with him.” GROAN. I half expected him to wink at us.
    • I got the impression Archer and Robinson were test pilots in the NX program. Why would one of the test pilots, ie Archer, be running Mission Control? It also seemed utterly ridiculous that they would only have a couple of people looking at computer screens in this Mission Control scenario. Also, since when are top mega ace test pilots worn out looking men in their mid-forties? Why would these test pilots also spend their time getting drunk and fighting with one another? This doesn’t seem like the behaviour of The Best of the Best to me.
    • Why would they have to do a YEAR of simulations at the suggestion of the Vulcans if they just proved the engine worked, whatever the circumstances of the test flight?
    • Yet another episode with little or no Hoshi screen time. Hey, I’ve got eyes, you know!
    • The bad editing, or script, when Trip asks to speak freely and says “That’s your father’s life’s work. I can’t believe you’re letting them do this” or something like that. Then it was the next scene and I was left thinking “eh? That was, well, pointless.”

    Hey, I know this was pretty negative and, on the whole, I enjoyed the episode for what it was. I think I’m suffering a bit, as many are on this site, from the whole “expecting it to be bad” syndrome and, therefore, not giving it as much credit as maybe I should. Oh well.

    • Re: More lows than highs

    • I got the impression Archer and Robinson were test pilots in the NX program. Why would one of the test pilots, ie Archer, be running Mission Control?
    • Pretty sure it’s standard practice at NASA to have all communications routed through one person who’s familiar to the crew. This was certainly true during Apollo. They’d usually pick another member of the crew programme as they all knew each other pretty well and spare crew have nothing important to do during the flight anyway. Archer wasn’t running Mission Control, he was just failing to let his supervisor get a word in.

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