Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 2

Rating: NR

Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment

Release Date: July 26, 2005
Review posted: July 29, 2005

Reviewed by Dennis Landmann

SYNOPSIS

Set in the 22nd century, a hundred years before James T. Kirk helmed the famous starship of the same name, ENTERPRISE takes place in an era when interstellar travel is still in its infancy. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) has assembled a crew of brave explorers to chart the galaxy on a revolutionary spacecraft: Enterprise NX-01. As the first human beings to venture into deep space, these pioneers will experience the wonder and mystery of the final frontier as they seek out new life and new civilizations.

CRITIQUE

With an average first season, I thought executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga really needed to up the ante telling better good stories and develop the characters more, but they achieved the opposite. Season 2 is weaker than the first one, and among fans it’s considered the worst; in the end the majority of the 26 episodes speak for themselves – the stories are just not interesting enough (plus they don’t really advance the show or the characters much) and some even recycle plot ideas from past Star Trek shows (like Carbon Creek).

Berman and Braga pitched this series as a prequel to the original series and also wanted to focus more on the characters, but Season 2 of Enterprise fails to tell interesting character specific stories. Captain Archer’s (Scott Bakula) personality and leadership switches positions this season (he is too selfish in the dreadful A Night in Sickbay, but then again makes a good case for himself in Judgment and First Flight), and Commander “Trip” Tucker (Connor Trinneer) too often looks for trouble (Cogenitor for example) with his attitude and actions which is painful to watch sometimes, plus he can’t get enough of beautiful women (Precious Cargo). Probably the most interesting character is Lieutenant Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) who seems to have good ideas and appears more rational than Trip, however I didn’t particularly like his behavior in Minefield (otherwise it’s a good episode).

The character of T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) is featured in some good episodes such as The Seventh and Singularity, but of course she has to go through the obligatory Vulcan mating ritual Pon’Farr like every Vulcan in Trek history in Bounty. Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park), who works communications on the bridge, gets some prime time in Vanishing Point, while pilot Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery), the most underwritten character, visits family and friends in the lame Horizon. Doctor Phlox (John Billingsley) is prominently featured in Sickbay where we find out about his creatures and all, and something dramatic happens to him in Regeneration.

The second season is not all disappointing because there are some pretty good episodes, like Shockwave Part 2, Cease Fire, Future Tense, Regeneration, First Flight, and The Expanse. Other likeable episodes include Dead Stop, The Seventh and The Catwalk. The worst episodes (they are basically just too boring) are Carbon Creek, A Night in Sickbay, Precious Cargo, Horizon, and Cogenitor.

Despite a weak season, I’m looking forward to the third season’s Xindi story arc set up in The Expanse, and of course the fourth season where the show finally hit its stride. Unfortunately, Season 2 turned away too many viewers to make it past four seasons, but more on that and other things in my reviews for those sets coming up later this year.

Disc 1:

Shockwave Part 2; Carbon Creek; Minefield, Dead Stop

Disc 2:

A Night in Sickbay; Marauders; The Seventh; The Communicator

Disc 3:

Singularity; Vanishing Point; Precious Cargo; The Catwalk

Disc 4:

Dawn; Stigma; Cease Fire; Future Tense

Disc 5:

Canamar; The Crossing; Judgment; Horizon

Disc 6:

The Breach; Cogenitor; Regeneration; First Flight

Disc 7:

Bounty; The Expanse; Special Features

THE VIDEO

Paramount presents Enterprise in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. Colors look vibrant and well saturated. The print quality is sharp and detailed, though there is a bit of grain (considerable amount in very dark and overly bright scenes) and some shimmering going on, but these few flaws don't distract too much. English subtitles are available.

THE AUDIO

Paramount presents Enterprise in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand coming from the front speakers, which emit noise free audio. Sound effects and music are presented clearly also. The rear speakers are active from time to time, but not always. While not offering a great surround experience, Enterprise sounds better than on TV.

THE EXTRAS

The audio commentaries by Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong on Dead Stop and Regeneration is pretty informative as both engage in relaxed discussions about the episodes, referring to specific scenes and remembering stories from the production, and also discussing the intentions and fan reactions to Regeneration.

There is text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda on Stigma and First Flight. Some of the comments are interesting, but other information doesn't really say much (like identifying the guest actors and listing some of their previous works on other shows).

Deleted Scenes are presented in anamorphic widescreen for ? episodes including ?. These are good to watch once and see what was cut out. The extended scenes are colorized while the rest of the scene is shown in black and white. The scenes aren't fully produced as evidenced by the lack of sound and visual effects, but the video quality is nearly the same as the episodes themselves.

Enterprise Moments: Season 2 (19:07) features interviews with several cast members and crew (Rick Berman, Brannon Braga) talking about several episodes of the season, including Shockwave, and what made them stand out in their minds.

Enterprise Profile: Jolene Blalock (14:25) focuses on the character of T'Pol. Blalock comes off as a nice person (she's a good-looking woman but someone applied too much make-up here). She talks about working with the cast, her experiences playing her character, and her career, among other things.

LeVar Burton - Star Trek Director (6:59) features an interview with the actor/director where he discusses the episode First Flight and gives us his thoughts.

Enterprise Secrets (4:47) follows first assistant director David Trotti showing us some sets and revealing "secrets".

A Night in Sickbay (11:14) is a discussion about the episode (which I didn't care for). Not a terribly interesting featurette.

Enterprise Outtakes (11:09) is full of line flubbing, mishaps and bursts of laughter from the cast. This reel is two minutes longer than the outtakes from the Season 1 set.

There's also a Photo Gallery with numerous pictures from the set. Lastly, there is the Borg Invasion Trailer (0:31).

Lastly I found three Easter eggs (referred to here as NX-01 files) hidden inside the special features menu. They're good to watch once, but I like the previous Trek Easter eggs more.

Inside the packaging is a great and informative booklet that lists episode synopses and much more.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The second season is a disappointment and there are a few strong episodes, yet that’s not really a consolation. The only good thing is that The Expanse sets up a season long story arc in Season 3. The extras are not terribly interesting as they are mostly shallow and don’t dig very deep into the making of the show (the best thing would be a comprehensive documentary on the making of an important episode - hopefully we’ll see this on the Season 4 DVD, but I’m not holding my breath), however the audio commentaries are worth a listen. Since this set has such a huge price tag, I recommend renting the discs with the best episodes on them.

VERDICT: RENT IT

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