Wow, Deus has major issues. I loved Zero hour! Figure it this way, season finales always end with a big "WAIT, what happened?". With Zero hour it was even better. You think it was all resolved in a single episode. Obviously Archer isn't dead. But still, it's all good! Earth is safe, and the Xindi weapon went bye-bye. We can all breathe. But then ... wait? This IS a finale right?? Oh yes...
That was my reactions. I mean, this episode didn’t need to leave off with the obvious cliffhanger: do they destroy the weapon? It creates an all new issue. How'd they go back in time, and what's up with the alien Nazi.
I happened really enjoyed it. And my message to Deus is this: Dude, lighten up. What's up with your anti-enterprise reviews??? It's a good show, give it some credit. All star trek shows have flaws, but they still made it on the air. It pisses me off how much criticism Enterprise is getting. "To boldly go where no one has gone before" right? They're trying. The show isn't TNG, DS9, or Voyager ... and thank God! I love all the series' (truly!) but it was time for something different. Enterprise is breaking the mold, and I'll be a faithful watcher for as long as it airs!
PS:I hope they fire Deus!
Deus, I always do appreciate your insights, but we were not disappointed with this ep, especially after reading so many negative reviews here at TrekWeb before seeing it. Sure, the writing was pretty weak in many ways. We always like to see Jeff Coombs as Shran, but his "O'Deus ex machina" appearance just in the nick of time was very contrived.
But this was a good "popcorn ep" without much brains, but with a lot of action. A lot of elements were good, like Archer blowing up the Reptilian and the implosion of the spheres. Nice visuals and edge-of-the-seat action. This is what has been lacking from Trek since TOS. So I give B&B a gold star for entertainment value.
The cliffhanger was pretty lame and out of place after so much suspense. But it did leave us scratching our heads, which was the whole idea. So the cheap device at least had its intended effect.
So anyway, this ep left us with some high hopes for the fall! Deus, have a nice summer break!
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GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it's just a TV show!.... You've turned an enjoyable little job, that I did as a lark for a few years, into a COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME! -- William Shatner on Saturday Night Live (1986)
Did anyone recognize the species of the alien in the Nazi uniform at the end? Yes, yes, I know it looks like a vampire from Buffy. Seriously, though, I have the disturbing feeling I've seen this species before in a Star Trek episode.
This is going to keep me up all night.
I know of only two occasion where the Nazis have been used in Star Trek. The first instance was the City on the Edge of Forever in TOS and they didn't even appear in that episode but were merely mentioned when the alternate timeline was explained as having won World War II. The second occasion I know of was in a Star Trek Voyager that involved the Hirogen but if memory serves me they were only Holodeck recreations so they don't really count.
If anyone could let me know what other Star Trek episodes have featured the Nazie and what the circumstances were I'd appreaciate it because as far as I can remember this is the first time in Star Trek that a character has been thrown back in time into the midst of World War II since Archer appeared to be in a battlefield tent. While the Nazis may have appeared on Star Trek before I can't recall any episode where they appeared in similar circumstances to their appearance on Enterprise.
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TOS "Patterns of Force":
Enough already. And any "time travel" version of them is irrelevent. In the above case, they were on a planet that supposedly parallels Earth (due to the exposure and influence of a historian, "John Gill", who had been living on the planet and thought to incorporate that form of government on the planet in order to try to bring the 2 fractured peoples back together to function "efficiently", assuming a more "benign" leader).
However, Hitler the man, his government, and that whole era is overdone in the genre, the entertainment industry in general, and in history compared to the countless thousands and thousands of years of history that have passed.
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"I think the show talked to people through the characters. They're stories that speak to the heart. They talk about love, they talk about friendship, they talk about loyalty, they talk about patriotism, exploration, curiosity, reaching out... And I think all those things still touch people. Even when you look at a 30-year old show, it still has something to say." - D.C. Fontana, Sci Fi Channel Special Edition TOS 1998
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"If the season finale involves the re-built USS Reliant coming back in time to the 21st Century crewed by Moogie, Dr. Selar, Morn, Transporter Chief Kyle, and the Salt Vampire, then we'll know that Coto has gone too far." - tomba1701
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I think the main problem most people have with B&B using the Nazis isn't that they've "only" been featured in a couple prior Trek episodes, but that they've routinely been used in movies and books and television and dinner theatres ad nauseam. They're stale as villains; we were oversaturated with them as villains back in the Seventies, and we quite honestly expect more. Something, ANYTHING that doesn't feel as familiar as "oh, look, it's the Nazis again, but look, they're different because of X."
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Must be because I never watch anything but Star Trek these days that I've lost track of other movies and series. Star Trek has been all I cared about for the last 10 years and counting.
That's why I know what to expect from an episode and the series as a whole. I know that nothing sensationally will come from Trek but I can enjoy familiar things as well. Only people who need something extraordinary to watch will be bored with Enterprise, and such people are victims of an endless stream of silly entertainment on TV - they are not victims of supposedly "poor" management from B&B.
My expectations for the follow-up to Zero Hour is not mounted to anything Nazi or WorldWar II. Anything is possible! Hitler may not be the leader in this setting. WorldWar II it may not be. They may not even be back in time. This is all very fluid and we'll just have to wait and see.
Star Trek can mess with ANYTHING and get away with it! That's it's strength.
I don't need to spend time typing out elaborate reviews or thoughts when you just speak the sense that is necesssary and put it in a web page.
You sum up, once again, pretty much everything I was thinking, and challenged me to think differently about the occaisonal bit too.
I felt this has been a really good season on the whole, let down by a poorish end episode, and an apalling cliffhanger. Apalling. Just... well... *shakes head*
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Lydia: "I've never lost at mortal combat yet."
Diana: "Idiot. If you had, you'd be dead." -- V, "The Champion"
If B&B knew there was a chance that ENT would survive, but if so they'd be relieved of duty, perhaps the Space Nazi ending was their way of digging such a gawdawful deep plot hole that there would be no way for Coto, et al, to save face. But B&B, safely ensconced in some new project, would be able to feign innocence. "Star Trek died on THEIR WATCH, not ours!" they would cry...
I used to get furious when Id log onto Trekweb and skim over yet another of the skewed reviews that Odeus would write. Its very clear and has been so for years that the man lets his personal opinion about creative staff color his everythought of this show and other recent star trek incarnations. When he sees something on the show as bad.... 'hey, must be B and B's fault', and when something is good its 'hey, look what they did inspite of B and B...'
Along the line I just got sick of hardly relevant reviews, and stoped reading them, but somehow the season finale review caught my attention.
I must say that Odeus wouldnt know good story telling if it came up and bit him on the ass. The realization of where Enterprise was in those last scenes was truly one of the most exciting bits of Star Trek ever. After the show ended my roomate and I ended up talking about the episode for about 30 minutes, trying to figure out ways this coulda happened and what exactly it all meant... The episode definantly begen to drag somewhere along the middle, but If ever there was a great last minute touchdown to win the game, this was it. We both cant wait for the next season premiere.
Sorry about the hastily written post, taking a break from writing a rather long paper for a Political Science class and cant bring myself to pay much attn. to speeling and grammer. lol.
To those of you out there that have enjoyed this show and this season as a whole, Dont buy the hype that Star Trek is dead, run into the ground by lousy management and other crap you may read... its simply not true. I dont know what exactly inspires bitterness among so many, but Im pretty sure that its somehow something more than the quality of the show, perhaps some mass fanboy belief that they could do it better, i dunno. In anycase I applaud B and B for yet another entertaining season of Star Trek. GOOD JOB.
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Everyone has the right to like what they like, so the fact that you believe this was one of the most exciting bits of Star Trek ever is your perogative. My first reaction after seeing Zero Hour was a desire to throw something at my TV. So it's not about opinions. Like certain parts of anatomy, we all have one...
What Deus does - and very well I believe - is look beyond the visceral reaction to the show, and consider the factors that make it successful or not. Writing, editing, direction - these and many other elements are vitally important to whether the show works. Of course these are opinions too, and anyone is free to agree or disagree with them. But I appreciate the opportunity to read someone who considers these elements, especially from someone like Deus who obviously respects the entire canon of Star Trek. I may not always agree, but I appreciate the perspective. That's what critics do - give you another perspective, not just their visceral reaction.
So after reading the review, and reconsidering the ending of Zero Hour, it's hard to escape the conclusion that exectuive producers B & B have created a big ole pile of stinkypoo here at the end of this season. They're in charge, therefore it's theirs. It's not bitterness, nor a feeling that I could do better - just a wish that THEY could better, not rely on the same tired devices (time travel and Nazis) that they have trotted out before. Nor throw in sensationalistic story elements (T'Pol's sexual awakening and drug abuse) when they could be developing the other Enterprise characters or the Xindi story. Which, btw, was overall a GREAT idea that B&B should be applauded for.
I think Deus is spot on about Enterprise and B&B, or with apologies to "Treasure Island", black spot on...
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When he sees something on the show as bad.... 'hey, must be B and B's fault', and when something is good its 'hey, look what they did inspite of B and B...'
This episode was written by B&B hence it's their responsibility. The previous episodes were not and there are marked differences in plot, quality of the dialogue and lack of technobabble.
I must say that Odeus wouldnt know good story telling if it came up and bit him on the ass. The realization of where Enterprise was in those last scenes was truly one of the most exciting bits of Star Trek ever.
True. It's not like Star Trek has ever placed its characters in a Nazi period before. Just over and over again.
To those of you out there that have enjoyed this show and this season as a whole, Dont buy the hype that Star Trek is dead, run into the ground by lousy management and other crap you may read... its simply not true.
Yup and pay no attention to those pesky ratings, the heaps of criticism or the fact that even B&B are admitting that Star Trek is near death. Keep the faith in Rick Berman alive.
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The fact that Star Trek is near death is the fault of years of oversaturation... which can be linked not just to B and B but higher powers and fan demand as well (up till recently anyways)
As for the pitiful ratings on Enterprise I dont believe it has much to do with the storytelling and much more to do with a network that is not respected and which does not publicize the show correctly...
Its not so much that Enterprise reaching the Nazi era is new, but the manner in which they got to this place is, the completely unexpected twist at the end is what was high quality.
We could argue this till the cows come home. I think B and B have created some fine Sci Fi television over the years and continue to up to this very day... you dont. And thats that mate.
Now... would like to see an infusion of new blood into to body of the beast... Most Definantly. DOes that completely negate my respect for the powers that be...no way.
Zero Hour was a massive disappointment. The writing was clumsy and haphazard, and I totally agree that after a season-long arc we deserved to see some of the celebration.
The part about destroying the spheres ... I really thought there was an obvious reason to want to destroy them, but as usual B&B missed it.
At the end of Countdown the Builders used their influence in the Enterprise dimension to protect the weapon as it launched ... nicely destroying an Aquatic ship. They created a moving cloud of that pink anomaly.
During the race in Zero Hour, we hear an offhand comment about increasing the protection/anomaly to keep Archer away ... now, what I was expecting was for the destruction of the Spheres to eliminate that protective anomaly. As the weapon drops out into our solar system, the Builders create a protective anomaly shield, only to have T'Pol destroy the Sphere network disabling that shield.
Sure, Earth's system is outside the Expanse, but they could have done some sort of whiz-bang realignment of the spheres to extend their influence ... a shot of hundreds of spheres, more even than we were led to believe in earlier episodes, turning and focussing their power to protect the weapon.
Hell, the Builders talked of some mysterious final trick up their sleeves ... why not phase in THOUSANDS of spheres, spheres even in Earth's system and above the Klingon and Vulcan homeworlds.
There'd be a reason for T'pol to diable the network, because if she didn't then Archer couldn't even get to the weapon to destroy it. She wouldn't have pulled a Janeway, she'd have pulled a Spock sacrificing herself and the entire crew in a last ditch effort to actually DO something.
There'd also be a reason for the Builders to board Enterprise to try and stop them.
There'd still be that stupid magical Phlox injection, but it might have gone down a bit better had they actually given a purpose to the destruction other than Archer's word (something that's proven extremely flexible over the past few weeks).
B&B create the rules, they should have been able to structure them such that the ending drama would have made sense. When you cut back and forth between two competing action sequences it's usually done to disguise flaws in one or both ... if there were a kind of baton passing, Enterprise nearly being destroyed to allow Archer to get near enough to the Weapon to destroy it ... the action wouldn't seem as contrived.
They need to have reasons for what they do. Why did the Aquatic ship just jettison Enterprise? It made no sense for newfound allies to just chuck their new friends out the door and turn for home.
For that matter, why bother having them taxi'd back to Earth at all, write it so Enterprise could limp back to Earth under its own power. As written, we know that the Aquatic ship is probably thrown backwards in time too, but knowing B&B that's yet another thread they'll probably ignore.
As for the ending, my first thought was that Daniels desperately tried to snatch Archer out of the Weapon as it exploded, but in the resulting release of energy sent him backwards in time ... again, this exposes the fundamental problem with having a time-travelling "helper" such as Daniels. If Archer really is so important to the Federation, they'd meddle far more, saving him at the last second just to ensure their own timeline. God knows previous Trek characters moved heaven and earth, sidestepping the Prime Directive, to preserve the timeline.
What bothered me most about the finale was the sloppiness, and in truth that's what's bothered me most about the show in general. You don't have to be an anal bastard to write something so that it makes sense and yet is still vicerally entertaining ... under B&B's watch Star Trek has become popcorn eye candy, and as someone who loved TOS and TNG for its science fiction (not science-fiction-action) that's what disappoints me most of all.
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Quote:
The part about destroying the spheres ... I really thought there was an obvious reason to want to destroy them, but as usual B&B missed it.
What?!?! The reason they wanted to destroy the spheres was to eliminate the anomalies and prevent the Expanse from becoming a trans-dimensional wasteland. Didn't you watch "Countdown?"
How can you hate this episode? It is quite possibly the best star trek episode ever written. You're just nitpicking at it b/c B&B wrote it.
Quote:
They need to have reasons for what they do. Why did the Aquatic ship just jettison Enterprise? It made no sense for newfound allies to just chuck their new friends out the door and turn for home.
Maybe they just wanted a ride home, and their newfound aquatic friends gave them that ride in gratitude for getting rid of the spheres and saving the Expanse.
It looks like B&B created a good episode, but instead of congratulating them, you just nitpick and say this episode stinks. This hatred for B&B is starting to get ridiculous. I have to admit, they ruined the first and second seasons, but they have redeemed themselves with the third. But people hate them so much that even when something as good as Zero Hour comes out, they still rant and rave about how much it stank.
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"So, how many years until your Pon Farr comes around again?"
-Trip
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Quote:
Quote:The part about destroying the spheres ... I really thought there was an obvious reason to want to destroy them, but as usual B&B missed it.
What?!?! The reason they wanted to destroy the spheres was to eliminate the anomalies and prevent the Expanse from becoming a trans-dimensional wasteland. Didn't you watch "Countdown?"
How can you hate this episode? It is quite possibly the best star trek episode ever written. You're just nitpicking at it b/c B&B wrote it.
Quote:They need to have reasons for what they do. Why did the Aquatic ship just jettison Enterprise? It made no sense for newfound allies to just chuck their new friends out the door and turn for home.
Maybe they just wanted a ride home, and their newfound aquatic friends gave them that ride in gratitude for getting rid of the spheres and saving the Expanse.
It looks like B&B created a good episode, but instead of congratulating them, you just nitpick and say this episode stinks. This hatred for B&B is starting to get ridiculous. I have to admit, they ruined the first and second seasons, but they have redeemed themselves with the third. But people hate them so much that even when something as good as Zero Hour comes out, they still rant and rave about how much it stank.
We all KNOW there's an underlying reason for destroying the spheres, but there was simply no urgency to do so. The way it was written, there was simply no reason for them to immediately attack the spheres while Archer went after the weapon. The reason given was that he'd given his word ... the word of a man who in the last few episodes trampled all over a series of other species to protect Earth, only to tie one hand behind his back for the final climactic battle because he'd made a promise? It's completely against what he'd done previously.
Archer attacked and crippled an alien ship to keep Enterprise going. You're saying it makes sense that now, at the very end, he'd keep his word to do something which WASN'T urgent? Sorry, but no. There were several other paths B&B could have taken to give a reason for the immediate destruction of the spheres, but they didn't.
The problem with Enterprise in this episode, besides the poor plotting and dialogue, is shifting characterisations. The finale, which, compared to the episodes that went before it, was poorly written. Character motivations changed.
Even those previous episodes had truck-sized plot holes. You're telling me the children of the second Enterprise in E2 wouldn't try like mad to preserve their own existences? Even if they did plan on making a sacrifice, wouldn't have it made sense to address such a emotional decision?
I'm a huge Star Trek and Sci-Fi fan, and the sloppy writing in Enterprise pains me to no end ... and no, I can't simply turn off my brain and enbrace it as a roller coaster ride. Why? Well, let's give an example. If, say, I tune in to Joey next fall and it sucks, will I be upset? Nope. Because I wasn't a fan of Friends.
Star Trek on the other hand, has had 5 series (including the Animated one), 10 movies and a host of fiction and video games, much of which I've enjoyed. Seeing it start to fail in Voyager due to bad writing, seeing Enterprise mired in similar bad writing, only to have a finale which destroyed the scant promise seen in the final episodes of the Xindi arc, well, that hurts. And there's an obvious tandem to blame, because they're both the bosses and they're both directly involved as writers in some of the worst Trek episodes of all time ... Berman and Braga.
I honestly don't see how someone who really likes Star Trek could be pleased with what they've done.
know what's gonna happen? enterprise the entire show/mission is one big dream (a la matrix). that's why kirk/picard/sisko/janeway never mentioned any of the crew. that's the problem with prequels in an already established franchise.
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LET THEM DIE!!!
to me the ending totally halted all the momentum and excitement the episode builded to with a totally haphazard and anti-climax ending. I was expecting a huge hero's welcome by the tiny starfleet ships to the Crew of enterprise. I expected the show to end with Enterprise in dock getting ready for its orginal mission of exploring space. Now we have to put with Nazis rulling present day usa with some reptile xindi or who know whatelse pulling the strings for who knows how along. I have had enough of seeing this battle damaged enterprise..I want the shiny mint one back. I think we have had enough of time-travel and time-lines crap, the show need to start dealing with the foundation of the federation without timelines theme dominating the show.
And also what about the kick-ass space ships we saw in Xindi part 1. Where were they when that huge super-weapon was still million miles away from earth and speeding towards it. They should have been able to detect and intercept it..I was actually expecting a big fight in the end with earth space ships duking it out with reptile and insect xindi ships in the backdrop with archer team taking down the weapon from inside. I guess they must be short on FX budget.
Not a great finale but not a letdown too
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"The mighty Star Trek would fall before us"-B&B
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That was the problem. Where were the starfleet ships much less all the orbital stations. At the very least we should have seen the orbital construction platform which housed the NX-02 Columbia. But we didn't.
Dolim asks his officer if there were any ships in the area and the officer replied that there was nothing but that ONE station.
The point is that what ever happened, either a time shift or alternate history, happened before the weapon made it to earth. There was no starfleet to defend earth much less the inhabitants of earth knowing that the weapon was on it way.
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Coop: "What's a Quantum Singularity?"
Magnaminous: "It's like a Black Hole, but portable. And with a cooler name"
For me the biggest disappointment in "Zero Hour" was the failure to address the problem with the entire Xindi storyline. The conclusion to this whole thing has to result in some resetting of time so that the initial Xindi attack on Earth never took place because said attack is never mentioned in any of the series that take place following "Enterprise." Kirk, Picard, et al make plenty of references to the Eugneic Wars but never once say anything about an alien attack on Earth that killed seven million people. Surely an event of such magnitude would have tremendous influence on all future Earth and Federation policies. So with all the talk of Earth's past on the other series they never mention this? Not likely. Therefore it was obvious from the start that somehow through time traveling that the attack would be undone. Oh well maybe next season. If not, major continuity problem for a prequel.
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In how many conversations have you had that you mentioned WWI or II? These two wars are very significate to world history, yet they are not the topic of conversation.
Just because something is not mentioned does not mean that it did not happen.
Not convinced?
If someone did not see any episode or movie of TOS, how would they know about TWO nearly devastating attacks on Earth by V'ger and the Whale probe? These are not mentioned in TNG, DS9, or Voyager. We only know about them because we watched TOS.
The same applies here.
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Coop: "What's a Quantum Singularity?"
Magnaminous: "It's like a Black Hole, but portable. And with a cooler name"
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I've used this reference in another bulletin board, but your posting reminded me of another TV series where events had to be undone - the "dream" season of Dallas!
The ST timeline and reality - so carefully constructed during TOS and TNG - has been thrown out the window. By any measure of logic and understanding of what changing time in the past means, the Enterprise - or at least the Enterprise as we know it - shouldn't even exist now.
Gene Roddenberry must be turning over in his grave...
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Quote:
By any measure of logic and understanding of what changing time in the past means, the Enterprise - or at least the Enterprise as we know it - shouldn't even exist now.
I suspect this is what B & B have had in mind all along. They've always been pretty obvious in their disregard for the original series, so this is their way of "rewriting" Trek history to eliminate Roddenberry's version.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, cigar in one hand, favorite beverage in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!"
It would seem there are two camps of people here: those who like stories with continutiy, and those who like chaos. It's the difference between people who want to know that they're going somewhere, vs. the people who like the thrills of a roller coaster.
The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and of course, everyone has the right to like what they like. But Brannan and Braga are clearly aligning themselves with the proponents of chaos theory (I'd call it "cheap thrills", but that might sound perjorative...), and are rapidly distancing themselves from the continuity camp.
I submit to anyone who liked the cliffhanger of Enterprise to compare it to the Borg cliffhanger of TNG. TNG had its share of cheesy cliffhangers too - aliens and Samuel Clemons come to mind - but their cliffhangers usually were rooted in characters, or political / social / alien situations set up by the TNG "universe." The Borg was an exceptional example.
Like many people have expressed, I had high hopes for this season, and the Xindi arc. I hoped that Enterprise had finally found its groove. When the episodes have focused on the Xindi element, they have always been entertaining, often exceptional. When the shows have veered away from that story, they have often been confusing, incomprehensible, or merely sensationalistic - T'Pol and Trip, the crew meeting their ancestors. (Did no one else wonder why the "children" were so eager to help Enterprise? Couldn't they figure out if Enterprise DIDN'T go back in time, they wouldn't exist?)
Being from the continuity school, I appreciate what Deus said about letting a story finish up. After a season-long "misson", and a string of taut, well-written episodes toward the end, why not take a 15-minute breather and let the crew bask in the glow of coming back to Earth - see relatives, T'Pol go to rehab, etc. B&B could have introduced a new arc or teaser at the very end (Romulans, Klingons, whatever) that would have served to hook us for next year without putting us on a roller coaster ride back to the Nazis.
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Quote from Curtis:
It would seem there are two camps of people here: those who like stories with continutiy, and those who like chaos. It's the difference between people who want to know that they're going somewhere, vs. the people who like the thrills of a roller coaster.
Chaos for the sake of chaos results in Jerry Springer Show type of TV entertainment. There's no sensible thought provocation in chaos without a coherent frame of reference to create meaning for a thinking audience. The Zero Hour ending is meaningless, because we can't relate it to anything we've known in the storyline. As a cliffhanger, it begs us to care about the characters finding themselves in a place where they wouldn't want to be. Trouble is, TPTB have spent nearly zero hours developing ENT's characters -- they've been used as plot-driven puppets. Why should I be concerned about plot-driven puppets whose values change with each gimmick pulled from B&B's temporal bag of tricks?
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Archer blows Dolim into TINY BLOODY BITS!
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Quote:
TPTB have spent nearly zero hours developing ENT's characters -- they've been used as plot-driven puppets.
That's really patently false. Archer's characterization has been front and center in nearly every episode this season. Trip and T'Pol and their evolving relationship has been as well -- their scenes in the last three eps prove that. Reed and Hayes also had a good amount of scenes.
Despite the fact that you may not like or agree with the directions that they took the characters, they did take them there, so saying that there has been no time invested in the characters is just false. All the last three big actioners had significant amounts of character/quiet moments.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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Quote from Steve Krutzler:
Archer's characterization has been front and center in nearly every episode this season.
Archer's character has been "front and center" in being manipulated, as needed by the plot. For example, Archer supposedly places Earth's safety (i.e. NX-01's safety) as his Number One priority while within the Expanse's environment of deadly spacial anomalies -- yet, since early in the season (Impulse), the Trellium remained in lockup while T'Pol's massage parlor was open for Tucker's 24/7 hand-job yearnings. How many needless spatial anomaly poundings did NX-01 endure, including the one in Twilight which may have led to Humanity's extinction if Captain Tucker's stupidity had prevailed?
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Archer blows Dolim into TINY BLOODY BITS!
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In other words, characters shouldn't have inner conflict or behave in contradictory manners, the way real people do?
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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Quote from Steve Krutzler:
In other words, characters shouldn't have inner conflict or behave in contradictory manners, the way real people do?
The writers didn't have Archer deal with the consequences of his decision in any way that showed us whether he had inner conflict or if he had become an oblivious fool with a crush on T'Pol. And, despite the magnitude of the ongoing risk, none of the other characters had boo to say about it. Zero character development, all around.
Plot-driven puppets, one and all.
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Archer blows Dolim into TINY BLOODY BITS!
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Oh yeah, Archer going on endlessly in episode after episode about making "unethical" decisions and about "not being willing to sacrifice one more person" etc etc sure amounts to "zero" depiction of inner conflict.
Sorry, not buying it.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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Quote from Steve Krutzler:
Oh yeah, Archer going on endlessly in episode after episode about making "unethical" decisions and about "not being willing to sacrifice one more person" etc etc sure amounts to "zero" depiction of inner conflict.
Yes, it amounts to zero, when the depiction is identical to stubborn stupidity. Doing one thing while saying another doesn't default to a manifestation of inner conflict -- a hypocrite's ignorance can be their bliss, for example. It's only by seeing how Archer deals with the consequences of his decisions that we may know if there's inner conflict, hypocrisy, schizophrenia, stupidity, or something else.
The writers barely bother to think. Based on the plot, character behavior is made routine and monotone: Archer jeopardizes his crew -- and all life on Earth -- by leaving his ship naked to deadly anomalies. He isn't made to deal with the harsh consequences, and no one takes him to task for it.
Plot-driven puppets.
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Earth fighter-aircraft from "Zero Hour"
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Well said! I like both continuity and chaos, and that's why I have no problem with Zero Hour. If pushed towards an extreme, I may prefer continuity but a little randomness is GREAT. It's sci-fi, mind you, so there are fewer rules than in ordinary storytelling.
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Thanks for the compliment, and I agree that sometimes a roller coaster ride is just fine. But Star Dreck...ooops sorry, Trek...has always prided itself on creating a future reality that is consistent and plausible. I will grant some leeway for the new series because they are going back to the beginning, and in the interest of good stories they are bringing in new aliens - such as the Suliban - who SHOULD have appeared in the later incarnations such as TOS and TNG. But no big deal. Maybe in the future the Suliban just lie around comtemplating their antenna, (sorry, cheap shot...)
However, when you start screwing around with Earth's history, you are undermining the very premise of Star Trek - how we Earthlings got to space in the first place. B&B have played fast and loose with this before, but this time they have really gone WAY out there. It's one thing to bring Nazis and other folks into a Voyager scenario, but the possible changes of reality that occur due to human history being altered from WWII and forward are almost too much to fathom.
If you like to read, I would suggest a book called "What If", a collection from notable historians, who discuss how human history has dangled on a thread so many times, and our life now is really due to a series of lucky and happy coincidences.
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but their cliffhangers usually were rooted in characters, or political / social / alien situations set up by the TNG "universe."
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why this episode was such a failure. B&B's strategy as of late, in light of their failure to keep the audience engaged throughout the season, is to bombard them with special effects, dubious storylines and contrived cliffhangers, designed to excite the more impressionable among us. This doomed experiment is finally coming to fruition, and we're now beginning to realize what some of us have been saying all along; a successful drama is built on time proven elements of good storytelling, solid, believable characters and a sensible, credible story that keeps up with the audience's willingness to suspend reality. This is no secret ladies and gentlemen, it has been this way for hundreds of years, from Homer to Shakespeare to any good modern writer.
Zero Hour reaked of desperation, even to the point where I lost engagement with the characters and the story. For every ridiculously contrived crisis they somehow found an equally ridiculous solution. There were times when I actually felt insulted by their pandering, do they take us for bumbling idiots?
How are you supposed to produce a successful series when the very audience you're trying to impress loses sympathy for the main characters? Can anyone honestly confess to looking up to Archer? To Trip? To Mayweather!!?? To wanting to emulate them? To admiring them to any respectable degree? Do they "tower"? Loom large? B&B's inability to develop meaningful, respectable characters has left them with their only remaining card, shock antics, and so I therefore agree wholeheartedly with Deus' review.
When you approach the series with a critical mind, the whole thing starts to fall apart. I actually dread season four. At this point, it would be an act of mercy on the part of The Powers That Be to terminate once and for all B&B's creative involvement with the Star Trek series. We've suffered enough already, how much more can we bear?
I can understand where you're comming from - a letdown compared to what happened before. But I give the episode a pass because those last 5 minutes were just a left-field completely random thing to throw at the audience. If anything, it was unexpected and kept me, as a viewer, interested. In the end, you should be wanting to tune in next week (or next season) to see what the hell is going on.
I never in a million years would have expected that ending, which is why I dig it so much. The randomness of it is what gets me . . . because I want to see where the hell they're going with it.
simply, its entertainment and the insanity of it kept me entertained.
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An elephant never forgets . . .TO KILL!
I could have lived with the episode's shortcomings until the ending. The crew of Enterprise thrust into World War II?! How many times Berman and Braga gone to that idea? Too many to count.
If Berman and Braga had any courage then Archer would have died.
BUT NO !!! Our would be hero can't perish. We have to have the temporal anomaly to explain away his demise. Archer winds up in a German Army camp being
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I shouldn't post when I'm asleep. Anyway, to finish my post.
Archer winds up in a German army camp being observed by German officers including one red eyed alien. (?!) Of course, to give this setting some historical context, we also see the shuttle craft of Enterprise while attempting an Earth landing being strafed by P-51 Mustangs.
This ending is now in my top five endings for most unsatisfying plot resolutions. The top choice is still the Voyager series ending.
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What makes everyone assuming it's WW2? If the timeline was disrupted, there are many more possibilities, including this is the right time, but Earth didn't progress as far and is about 200 years behind technologically. I say the ending rocked because we don't know what's up yet.
I could read more of these reviews. While I think it's fair of you to give credit where credit is due for the better epiodes, I just love it when you rip into it, and take out B&B when you're there. LOL.
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Dig deep piles of rubble and ruins
Towering overhead both far and wide
There's unknown tools for World War III
Einstein said 'We'll use rocks on the other side'
No survivors!
I am disappointed to see so many negative reviews about "Zero Hour". I thought it was terrific in every way. The only iffy part was when Trip and T'Pol started flirting near the end about her age. It kinda stopped the pace in its tracks a bit. Other than that, I really thought this was some of the best Trek I have seen. It made TNG seem kinda boring in comparison. Those WWII-era fighter planes over San Francisco looked amazing. What fun! Too bad we have to wait so long for the conclusion.
I am starting to wonder why I read these reviews. Everyone has an opinion, but that review seemed heavily biased toward the anti-Braga and Berman set. I never read the credits before the show begins. To be honest, I flip around to avoid commercials. I don't care who wrote the episode, I only know whether I (personally) enjoyed it or not. I bet if TOS, TNG, and DS9 had this many internet critiques, we would have all gone crazy by now.
As an aside here, I've been catching up with DS9 episodes on Spike and I cannot believe how close their storylines are to our current war on terrorism. A little prophetic at times - almost scary.
O'Deus I completely agree with what you say (first for everything!)...Zero Hour really does show the weaknesses in B&B's writing. My question for you is rather frivolous, but I was wondering nonetheless. Obviously you didn't like the episode all that much, I was just wondering why you gave it an Overall 8, whereas past episodes you have obviously liked a more have only recieved marginally higher, or even lower ratings (The Forgotten, Damage, etc.)
Really, I'm just wondering how you figure out you're Overall ranking of the episode.
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“People who are willing to give up their liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-Benjamin Franklin
I usually don't do this but since it is the end of the season and we're all in for a long hot summer and both the episode and the review have proven to be controversial; I'd like to say a few words on the subject. Not so much on the subject of the episode itself as the process of reviewing an episode.
Often when I begin a review, I don't know what the overall tone will be. I usually have all the basic facts and strenghts and weaknesses of the episode laid out before me, but the balance of whether I'll be harshly critical of those failures and view them as dragging down the episode or see the episode's strenghts as overcoming its weaknesses is something I often discover in the process of writing the review itself. Something about the actual act of putting digital words to digital paper sorts and unlocks my response to the episode to a degree beyond the simple analysis of flaws and weaknesses.
Zero Hour was not one of those reviews. There was never any doubt that I felt disappointed when I turned it off. To those attacking me for being biased against Enterprise, should consider this. There is no disappointment, without expectation. I and all those viewers here posting their complaints about being let down, could not have been let down, if they did not have hopes for Zero Hour and Enterprise as a whole.
Personally, Zero Hour recieved such a harsh review not because I dislike Enterprise but because the past few episodes set up higher expectations because of their quality that Zero Hour did not meet. So Zero Hour did not recieve a harsh review because I hate Enterprise but because I liked the episodes that preceded it. Had the previous Enterprise episodes been far more in line quality wise with Zero Hour, its review would have been gentler the way you treat an idiot nicely because there's so little you can expect from him. But once Enterprise showed that it could do much better, it becomes impossible to be satisfied with B&B's usual clumsy incompetence.
I don't however write reviews to express my like or dislike of an episode but to analyze what went right or wrong in the episode. I think I've done that here. And I am impressed by the number of people who have stepped forwards to say that the episode disappointed them and did not meet their expectations. Hopefully that message will be conveyed to B&B that Star Trek fans are prepeared to stick with Enterprise but that they want more. More than B&B can deliver but the kind of work we've seen this season from Coto, Black, Sussman and others.
Yet again we have an episode written by B and B . Yet again it amounts to not very much and in the end is a load of B.S. ( I see a theme developing here)
I just hope two things happen in season four
1. B and B take a large step back from Enterpise and end up being exsecutive producers in name only .
2. If point one does happend I hope the new show runner(s) get out of this stupid cliffhanger A.S.A.P although I pity whoever it is who gets tasked with trying to find a way out of it.
I think most of the problem is people dont listen.
Phlox said their skin would be affected. The reason she goes after the spheres is because of the deal with the Xindi which they bring up at least once in this episode as well. Archer is on Degra's ship cause its faster then Enterprise who wouldnt have been able to open the same vortex or travel as fast.
The scene where Archer blows up the reptillian commander was very well done with the explosive in his back and the cutaway.
The scenes on the bridge were well done and almost anyone who played a Xindi was a wonderful supporting character.
I do agree that the Nazi thing has been overdone in Star Trek especially. Maybe Rick Berman likes the way the boots look.
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I think most of the problem is people dont listen.
We hear fine, thanks.
Phlox said their skin would be affected.
Yes. But it's a cheesy and basically pointless side-effect.
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The reason she goes after the spheres is because of the deal with the Xindi which they bring up at least once in this episode as well.
They had a deal. So, what? The point is there was no pressing need to risk the lives of the Enterprise crew at just that moment. The explanation T'Pol gives about Earth not being the only planet in danger is just a cheap, nonsense plot device. Vulcan, nor any planet in The Expanse was in immediate danger...not for months or even years, for if they could have "flash developed" the area the Sphere Builders would have done it and exterminated the Xindi long ago.
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"We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of our culture." ---Pastor Ray Mummert speaking of those who favor Darwinian Evolution over Intelligent Design.
"If this is your God, he's not very impressive. He has so many psychological problems; he's so insecure. He demands worship every seven days. He goes out and creates faulty Humans and then blames them for his own mistakes. He's a pretty poor excuse for a Supreme Being." ---Gene Roddenberry
If you took a look at the TrekWeb polls, you would observe that The Xindi was the third least liked episode of the season (even though it was supposed to be the big season kick off episode). Zero Hour seems to have been put in the same hands. In TV, your first and last at bats for a season should be left for your best players. You would think B&B would have learned that they're not the strongest writers on the team and to go with the same director again would spell trouble.
Deus - this was your finest review.
But at the time it was an ENJOYABLE watch, only when you analyse it you realize how pitiful the storyline is.
But at least it was fun. And it hasn't been that way in a long time. We need this every week, not just in the finale.
The only thing I want to know is was the ending...
1) Something to show UPN top brass in order to keep the show alive
or
2) The biggest gay sex act the Producers could perform on Trek before they are fired this summer.
Either way, even though it made no sense at all, you have got to admit it was spectacular. Its probably the only section of Enterprise I have watched multiple times.
Overall, the standard of SFX was terrific. The fight scenes hailed back to the Original Series. And for one brief moment, Archer was dead and we were cheering in our house. Even the Reed/T'Pol interaction was well done.
Only the physical set design let down the episode. Its now looking very dated. Very 1993. And little bonfires on the bridge of a starship are starting to look a little cheap.
Was it a Reman? Was this where Buffy monsters went after the show ended? I don't think anyone knows. But let me throw my hat into the ring and suggest... it was an Avian/5th Xindi species, with wings tied behind its uniform.
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I don't know about the 5th Xindi species - it kinda seemed to have a primate face... But how about this: what if it's some kind of freakish combination of species, say like a winged monkey?!
Oh wait, that's been done before...not that that would keep the B&B gang from doing it again.
I agree with your obesrvation about the fires; I've noticed them throughout the series. No explosions ever come from these fires, even in engineering. They shure luk purty though, all red and excitin'.
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e the Weapon, the Spheres aren't going anywhere so it's not clear why T'Pol is so desperate to destroy them even at the risk of destroying Enterprise and killing the crew
Deus.....did you watch the whole thing? Archer made a deal with the aquatics to destroy the spheres in exchange for their help. How did you miss that? The aquatics wanted it done NOW NOT LATER, and the spheres were growing ever stronger, distorting more and more space. If the spheres are destroyed, the threat to.....well, everyone.....is gone. It sends the sphere builders back to their own dimension.
The bad skin? Deus, the anomaly was becoming hospitable for the sphere builders and unhospitable for the humans. Their skin was breaking down like the skin of the alien from "Harbinger." Nothing wrong with that.
Now I think Countdown was a better ep, yes, because Rick and Brannon simply aren't as good with the sharp dialogue as Black, Coto, Sussman and company. That's true. However, since when is a WTF? ending such a bad thing? I love it that everyone's so riled up. ENT couldn't afford to go calmly, resolutely, happily, sappily into Friday nights. People needed to be talking. They're talking now. Good or ill, they're talking.
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Again not to the point of Enterprise committing suicide which is the kind of mission T'Pol goes out on. There is no emergency for destroying the Sphere. T'Pol could have taken some time to do it. Archer promised the Xindi he would have help them destroy it, not that he'd do it 5 minutes from now. Certainly it makes no sense to do it at the cost of the lives of the crew.
The bad skin? Deus, the anomaly was becoming hospitable for the sphere builders and unhospitable for the humans. Their skin was breaking down like the skin of the alien from "Harbinger." Nothing wrong with that.
Nothing wrong with it. It just looks silly.
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Surely Enterprise's mission into the Expanse was a suicide mission from day one. One ship sent to investigate and if possible prevent further hostilities from an entire alien species bent on wiping humanity out. I still don't understand why the Xindi didn't just destroy Enterprise in the early episodes of the season when they had the opportunity. They had Enterprise outgunned and certainly outmanned.
In Zero Hour the fate of humanity depended on the friendly Xindi assisting Archer who had promised to destroy the spheres in exchange. Up until this point the Xindi had been bent on wiping humanity out and had little reason to trust humans. Even in the face of "overwhelming" evidence not all of the council was entirely convinced. It was the offer to destroy the spheres that turned the Aquatics around and perhaps helped strengthen the conviction of the Xindi who were already on Archer's side who might still have had some doubts about the correct course of action. All that said, simply offering to destroy the spheres after Earth was saved would not in my view be sufficient to turn the hesitant Xindi members around. A genuine attempt needed to be made to destroy the spheres even at the cost of the lives of Enterprise's crew in order to earn the Xindi's complete trust.
In the TNG ep Yesterday's Enterprise it was stated that the Enterprise Cs attempt to protect the colony of Khitomer from a Romulan attack helped cement relations between the Federation and the Klingons. I think a similar scenario applied in Zero Hour. The Xindi were being asked to assist in saving a race that up until recently they had believed would be responsible for their destruction. It was the knowledge that Enterprise was setting out to destroy the spheres that strengthened the conviction of the Xindi on Degra's ship and I believe made them more determined to succeed in stopping the weapon.
What I do think is that T'Pol's argument to Trip of why it was neccessary to make the attempt then and there was flawed and bad writing. The reason I stated above should have been the reason presented in the dialogue. Perhaps most importantly when Enterprise and Degra's ship parted a scene where the Xindi basically say "So you're off to destroy the spheres now?" making sure that the humans are keeping their side of the bargain.
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The anomaly field the guardians were creating around the sphere (there were only four critical to disabling the whole network) was lethal to human life and it was GROWING. If they waited, who knows how big it would become or if it would encompass the other four spheres? Sphere 41 was the critical one. They could only survive so long, even with ev-suits. They'd made a promise to the aquatics that it would be done immediately. If they delayed it might not be possible at all. That part didn't bother me in the least and I'm surprised it bothered someone as sharp as Deus who usually catches these things. As far as the last part being so unexpected, it wasn't really.
The weapon was made of KEMOCITE. Kemocite.....hello? Bueller? Bueller? Your encyclopediac Trek memories are failing you. I figured we'd get some sort of temporal flux because of the Kemocite.
As far as the attack not being mentioned in later series give me a break. How often is the attack on Pearl Harbor mentioned in every day conversations? How often is the fact that the capitol was seized during the war of 1812? The Boston Massacare of the 1700s? Besides, a 22nd century attack on Earth was mentioned by Sisko in an offhand remark during a season three or four episode of DS9 so you're all wrong there.
First, I'd like to point out that VOY "Killing game" and "Future's End" were the best eps of VOY - aside from FE being a bit dry, KG rocked hardcore - the best VOY got.
Second... Deus, man... holy crap! That review so hit the money! We went from THE COUNCIL and COUNTDOWN, BOTH eps racked up quality points and writing bonuses, acting and so on - that SHOULD make up good Trek. Then, we get ZERO HOUR. expecting it to rock as hardcore as the last 2 eps did, what happened??
Umm... Mommy... there's something dripping on my forehead... it stinks and it's yellow....
Thank you, Rick Berman and Brannon Bragga, for letting down the millions of fans you so wanted to help you save your jobs. Your ratings rose, but I bet that the extra viewers you gained will say "Wow... I want my hour back!"
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"If any one of you question my Chinese or American heritage as a negative, I will have your f**king head." - O Ren Shi Ii "KILL BILL Vol 1"
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Killing Game was definetly great. FE was on and off at times. And Klingons vs. Nazis is just one of those memorable Star Trek moments.
What happened with Zero Hour was a dramatic letdown in quality between the better writing of many of Enterprise's writers like Coto, Sussman and Black vs the mediocre Voyageresque writing of Berman and Braga.
I'd like to make a suggestion to B&B for their first episode of the next season. The Enterprise goes back in time to the late 19th century and kills HG Wells before he ever has the chance to write "The Time Machine." Then there would be no insipid time travel stories and novels, no Harlan Ellison writing "The City at the Edge of Forever" for TOS, and perhaps B&B and the "creative" minds (quotes intentional)at ST wouldn't have this tired and overused plot device to mask their total lack of original ideas.
OK, I'd hate to lose Ellison's "City", but what's one good hour weighed against hours and hours of illogical time-humping dreck we've had to endure from ALL the Star Trek franchises since then. I can see the ST brain trust sitting around, trying to come up with an idea, until someone says, "Hey! Let's send them forward/back in time! That always works!"
Deus, your review was right on!
Loved the ending, love how it has everyone all riled up. Some hate, some love, everyone beating the crap out of one another over it. It doesn't get any better than that!
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I expect that O. Deus will be open minded to people reviewing his review: What I like about your reviews are the details when you draw analogies between the story and todays world or litterature you know from elsewhere, or when you attempt to grasp the characters and point out when their identities come across poorly. Sometimes you point out plot inconsistencies that I haven't thought of but happen to agree with. That is very constructive, and I'm sure that B&B and the writing staff finds it useful too.
Regarding "Zero Hour" I see no similarity in this ending to Voyagers "Future's End" or "Killing Game". There were Nazi's in "Killing Game" but why is this a problem? Maybe you'll explain it further?
Regarding the "skin problem" when the crew on Enterprise becomes visibly affected by the radiation from the Expanse, I must say that I don't think it was silly. Perhaps it could have been better if their behaviour was affected as well, either because of the additional stress or simply because their brain was not immune. This could add an extra amount of realism, eventually, but I am no expert in science.
I think your first comment "Archer tackles the weapon, T'Pol tackles the Spheres" is spot on. Although you probably don't intend this sentence to mean anything beyond compressing the events in the episode, I think it points out their rather impressive success, that is close to being unbelieveable. Everything works out too perfectly. Well, the ending saves this from becoming too much of a superhero series, as it introduces a completely unexpected turn in events... This kind of storytelling can be effective and I think unexpected turns are not unwelcome unless overdone. So far it's not overdone.
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Unlike the Weapon, the Spheres aren't going anywhere so it's not clear why T'Pol is so desperate to destroy them even at the risk of destroying Enterprise and killing the crew
Eh? T'Pol is following orders. Archers made a deal with the Xindi: They were to help each other. The goal of the transdimensional beings are to expand the Expanse and everyone who stands in the way are in jeopardy.
The two plotlines (chasing the weapon and destroying the spheres) appear somewhat unconnected when we look at this episode and disregard the arc. You could say this is a tiny problem, but mostly affects those who haven't followed the arc.
You mention the resemblence of disarming the weapon, and movies like Insurrection, Generations, First Contact and Nemesis. That's a good point, that I hadn't thought of. Wether or not it poses a problem I don't know. I don't think it's an overused element yet.
There is one problem with your review in my opinion.
I have to ask why you point your fingers at B&B for things you don't like? You single them out. Yeah, you've heard this before and now you hear it again. But since you don't know who wrote what part of the story, this is a guessing game although you sound convinced. You are accusing them - because you don't like them? Do you think that's helpful? This is not meant to sound harsh. But if you're tired of people telling you this, B&B are probably tired of it as well.
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I'll stand up for Deus on this one (though I don't agree with him all the time.) There's the old chestnut that applies here: "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen."
B&B are the excecutive producers of this series, and wrote the final episode - or at least it was credited to them. If the episode (and series) had been a huge success, they'd be getting the credit. As it is, they have to take the heat for its failures - especially plot devices credited to them that set the stage for future episodes.
I believe Deus was very fair in his assessment of the strengths of this episode, and the series as a whole. It just so happens he likes the episodes that have less B&B, and I agree with that assessment. Many people may not notice or care who's running the ship as long as they're enjoying the ride, and that's their right. But some of us who have been on this voyage a long time have a lot of questions about where we're going.
I suppose I agree with about half of your review. Phlox's compound reeked of technobabble, as well as his throwaway line about "32.387560384 mega-terra-cycle-jules".
Now, I have a feeling it will come to light that if Reed and Co. hadn't returned on Degra's ship, they wouldn't be part of the new timeline, so that would explain why they had to come back to The Expanse in the story.
As far as the ending goes, I liked the Twilight Zone-ness of it. I guess it really depends on how it turns out. The premiere could be monumentally jump-the-shark stupid, but it could also be interesting and cool. I guess we'll find out in September.
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The supervisor is Verizon!
Deus, I agree completely with your assessment of the episode. It was rife with storytelling clichés, although most of them could be forgiven were it not for the asinine ending. I challenge every one of you who thinks the ending was "inventive" and "fun" to look beyond that and tell me how it makes any sense, and moreover, how it can be resolved in a way that does not further damage the show's frail continuity and credibility.
Another poster wrote that "You could sit there and nitpick each episode to death, or you could just sit back, ignore the continuity and storytelling gaffs, and enjoy Star Trek for what it is."
It's a very sad state of affairs when Star Trek -- once a thoughtful television series that tackled moral and ethical issues -- is now regarded as nothing more than an incoherent, inconsistent and ultimately irrelevant summer-movie rip-off for the small screen.
I had been warming up to Enterprise. The past few episodes were well done and had a lot of important character development; it really seemed, for a moment, that the series might redeem itself.
And then they blew all of that out of the water with that totally inane ending. Archer might as well have woken up to Jar-Jar Binks farting a Britney Spears song for all the sense it made.
Thank you, Bragga and Berman, for demonstrating your continued incompetance, and for undoing the hard work of your writing staff, production crew and the cast over the past year.
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There's certainly been a decline of expectations in regard to Star Trek but now ironically enough Zero Hour is itself the victim of raised expectations thanks to some good writing lately.
B&B have to realize that they have to keep delivering quality, especially with arcs. The good Xindi arc episodes only made Zero Hour more of a letdown where it might have been far more positively recieved if we had never seen Proving Ground, Damage, Azati Prime, Countdown, etc...
I have to disagree about the destruction of the spheres. It wasn't pointless. Archer had lied to the Aquatics to get their help. If T'pol and company had not succeded, who knows but that the Aquatics would turn on them.
"Help me save my people, and I will help you save yours" archer said. So, it had to be done, or we would have some ticked off space manatees.
If that was indeed a Reman at the end, then obviously we are seeing the beginning of the Romulan war with a temporal front in the 1940s. Also throw in a bit of foreshadowing of the formation of the Federation and Archer's role in it, and you have a fantastic prelude to the 4th season and beyond.
Your reviews are seriously lacking. We've been calling for more arcs, the Romulan War and the Federation storyline. We get all three in the season finale and still you find reasons to complain about it. The ending was fantastic. 90% of people who watch the show thought so. Some have said it's better than TBOBW finale in TNG. You are nitpicking and justifying your "job" as a critic by coming up with reasons why you didn't like the show. Enjoy it for what it was ... a good hour of entertainment and a reason to watch next year.
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This is going to shock some people, but there's a lot in Deus's review I actually agree with. I've been saying on and off for all of this season and some of last year that Deus has lost his objectivity, blinded by his dislike of B&B and the Archer character. But in this review he makes a few valid points about the plot. I found it a bit of a let down as well that the episode had the Enterprise doing one thing while Archer was on the weapon. There were ways around it, and would've allowed the Enterprise to be involved in that final conflict with the Xindi weapon. And I also was clearly aware of the difference in the writing from the last few episodes. Sure, B&B, as executive producers most likely had an uncredited hand in writing the last two, but they were the sole writing credits on the finale, and it showed. Technobabble abound and the dialogue wasn't as spot on as other episodes. Then there's the twist at the end. It came off very much "Planet Of The Apes"-like and while it holds interesting possibilities for next season, I was a little disappointed in it. It was ok as far as twists go, but it just left something to be desired. And to those that say it was a better cliffhanger than Best of Both Worlds, I have to disagree. All in all, it was an ok finale but a step down in quality from the previous few episodes. If B&B do hand the reigns to someone else next season (or are forced to hand the reigns over as I think will most likely be the case), I think the show will be better for it.
I too was very disappointed with the finale. I also felt there was a sharp decline in the quality of the writing. I was very nervous before the show when I found out who wrote the episode. The teaser and everything that followed only confirmed my fears. The three Xindi toasting with rats was a return Braga-style "shock" that reduced these increasingly complex aliens (see The Council) back to cartoon characters. Braga may think it's "cool," but to me it's just a cheap, juvenile attempt to rewrite "V". It makes me sad because there have been some truly great episodes in final third of the season; episodes I actually want to watch over again, like Harbinger, Azati Prime, The Forgotten, The Council and Countdown. Episodes that get me genuinely excited about the show. I felt my apathy return after Zero Hour, though. I can only hope that it's not a sign of the season to come. Note to B and B: please, please, please let Manny Coto run the writing staff. Let Enterprise fly: you guys are just bringing it down.
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Yep, I can only imagine how good this episode would have been if Braga and Berman had the wisdom to step aside and let the people responsible for the strongest Xindi arc episodes bring the show home. After Countdown's dialogue, even Berman and Braga's best writing efforts look childish and amateurish. And most of their writing in Zero Hour is anything but their best or anyone's best. If Enterprise is going to survive and become a truly great TV series, it needs truly great writers and B&B have to recognize they aren't it.
Zero Hour had its good moments but it needed more. A lot more.
Uhhhh, Deus, I hate to rain on your anti-ENT parade, but are you sure you saw the same episode I did? Because what I saw with "Zero Hour" was exactly what a lot of really good STAR TREK or other television series delivers: a great action-packed season ender that completely rocks. Granted, it'll never be on the same level as Shakespeare or THE SOPRANOS, but ENTERPRISE has never professed it to begin with. There's always been a measure of cheese when it comes to TREK, some of it reeking, some of it with holes, but nonetheless tasty.
The ending of "Zero Hour" is a great cliffhanger ending that's left a lot of people asking, "How are they going to get out of THIS one?" And the shocker at the end is a great tease at that. So needless to say, we haven't heard the last of TCW yet.
Admit it, Deus. Even bad STAR TREK is better than no STAR TREK at all. All of the series have had their share of hiccups mixed in among the classics, and that's fact. Granted, Braga is stepping back some the next year to work on his non-TREK project, to make way for solid writers like Manny Coto or Chris Black to move the series forward. And Scott Bakula has stated that they're going to cut back on the episodes next year from 26 to 22.
While I've had a chance to fill in and review a few episodes for TrekWeb, I've tried to look for the positive aspects in each one. Once the final seven-episode arc kicked in, it went full steam ahead and never let up one bit. Granted, "E2" had plot holes in it and could have been left off the schedule entirely, but otherwise it's gotten lots better.
However, even I have to admit that a lot of these negative reviews are beginning to grate on me. Perhaps it's time to take a page out of Braga's book and step aside to let someone else do the reviews for TrekWeb, someone with a greater measure of objectivity to the series and the episodes. I'll be glad to step up to the plate.
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Sure there were parts of the season finale that rocked...and I mentioned them in my review.
But there were so many more weaknesses than strenghts. So many more moments that just sat there limply waiting to be picked up, taken to an animal shelter and gassed.
Worst of all was the failure to properly wrap up a season long arc before jumping into another one for shock value.
Once the final seven-episode arc kicked in, it went full steam ahead and never let up one bit. Granted, "E2" had plot holes in it and could have been left off the schedule entirely, but otherwise it's gotten lots better....However, even I have to admit that a lot of these negative reviews are beginning to grate on me.
Well while you're 'here' and reading my reviews, you might want to look back and note that I've given good reviews to most of the closing arc, barring E2, the episode you just mentioned. So perhaps if you read my actual reviews, they'd grate on you less.
While I've had a chance to fill in and review a few episodes for TrekWeb, I've tried to look for the positive aspects in each one...Perhaps it's time to take a page out of Braga's book and step aside to let someone else do the reviews for TrekWeb, someone with a greater measure of objectivity to the series and the episodes. I'll be glad to step up to the plate.
Well that's certainly really nice of you to offer. But I can't help but wonder why you feel that trying to be positive about the episodes actually makes you more objective, rather than less.
I mainly disagree Deus with your assertion that the end of the episode was 'tacky'. It may give less of a Twilight Zone feel if you consider 'Zero Hour' in another light.
First, let me give you a brief history lesson (Trekweb visitors in general, not Deus). The Nazi regime as I'm sure you all know was fundamentally based upon the idea of 'Volk' i.e. the union of the people with a common culture, the so called 'Aryan race'. Hitler was a staunch believer in what is labelled 'Social Darwinism'-basically the notion that only the fittest will survive. Now, if you view 'Zero Hour' in this light perhaps it isn't as discontinuous and erratic as Deus makes it out to be.
Commander Dolin throughout the episode makes a number of clear allusions to the notion of Social Darwinism, for instance that the guardians have chosen the reptilians (whom, if you watch season 3 closely commonly talk of themselves as the SUPERIOR Xindi species-sound familiar? Social Darwinism!)to control the fate of all Xindi. If you look closely it is apparent there are numerous such allusions.
NOW it starts to make alot more sense poosibly why the writers decided to create an alternate timeline with the Nazi regime. Obviously there are links to season 3 in general and the episode itself to the Nazi regime (if you take the time to think about it in less two dimensional terms).
Obviously I can't give specifics since this is a cliff hanger but I hope that Trekweb readers will not have such a narrow view of this perhaps insightfully crafted episode as the interpretation that Deus presents. The ending may be anything but the 'Planet of the Apes' meets 'Twilight Zone' ending.
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Yes I am Australian...AND NO I DO NOT OWN A KANGAROO! And it's typical that we were made the last ones to join the federation....
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Sorry Charlie...
Or as they say where I'm from...that dog won't hunt.
The Guardians didn't "pick" the Reptillians...they were just the last Xindi species standing that didn't have even a little doubt about the Guardians' hidden agenda. (One could argue Archer's "evidence" was less than convincing, but that's another story.)
But I have to thank you for graciously simplifying the rise of Hitler and Nazism for our little minds. I never thought it could be reduced down to mere "Social Darwinism."
I totally see the analogy between fictional angry lizard creatures who - ignoring a lot of evidence - choose to suck up to androgynous aliens; and a hate-filled dictator who bamboozled his citizens into turning a collective blind eye while he murdered millions, and plunged the world into the most horrible war this world has seen.
I guess I missed the connection before because I was limited to one or two dimensional thinking.
Or maybe there's still another dimension. Maybe this story has nothing to do with social Darwinism. Maybe it has everything to do with desperate writers looking for cheap thrills.
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I have to agree with your disagreement. It's not a half-baked, schlocky ending. It sets up the next season very well. Lots of possibilities there, which is exactly what you want with, evidently, a new crew of writers coming on board and, hopefully, B&B getting further away from everything. I just hope Manny Coto is put in full charge of the series now.
(oops, I meant "guessed")
I personally think it was one of the greatest ENT episodes yet, because they finally realized that they shouldn't be so damn *S-E-R-I-O-U-S*. It was exciting and FUN, and wasn't trying to make another deep, though-provoking, existential point like the show has been doing all season. Don't get me wrong, season 3 has been much better as a whole - but it was time to shake things up and get back to a good, cheesy, old-ST style episode! That "WTF???" moment at the end was classic.
I wouldn't want every episode to be this way, but as someone else posted, some serious lightening up was badly needed. I can't wait for Season 4 now.
Another good review Deus, but I disagree with your conclusion that "Zero Hour" was not a good episode. "Zero Hour" was not as good as Countdown. But then again how could it be since it was clear from the very beginning that the crew would succeed in disabling the superweapon? Overall, I found the episode entertaining and, of course, expected (yet enjoyed)seeing the crew succeed in their missions to destroy the weapon and the sphere network.
I am intrigued by the space-Nazi twist. I certainly don't hate it the way you do, even though I acknowledge that it might turn out not to be very good. Your comment that it is silly is premature. It remains to be seen whether the plot device will work based on what the writers do with the scenario next season. Yes, Nazis are cliche, but so are so many other aspects of Star Trek and science fiction storytelling. The test will be to see if the writers can execute and make an interesting and entertaining story out of this cliffhanger. I hope so. But who knows?
I always enjoy your reviews even when, as here, I don't agree. Have a great summer.
I share your sentiments 100%. When I saw the Nazis at the end, I cringed. Rather than tease me, it's like a car accident -- you want to go by it (or, in this case, tune in next fall) to see how they clean up this mess.
I can forgive Spielberg for pulling out the Nazis for Indiana Jones III -- it worked. But to bring them up now -- unacceptable. If I was given the option of changing the era and locale, I would've dropped Archer into something more compelling, be it the late 1950s Soviet empire or a Mayan colon yfurther back in time. OR, if indeed Archer is in the present -- and I balk at the idea of Nazi uniforms remaining complete unchaged for a few hundred years (after, the ENT crew's uniforms don't quite match NASA) -- then use something more relevant; perhaps a faction of the Eugenics war: people associated with Khan or something. Heck, to see Ricardo Montalbahn or someone like him walk into that tent would have blown my socks clear off my feet and through the walls!
How did Archer get off the weapon? How can Enterprise get back to the future (unless the find Emmett Brown)? Who cares, as long as we have an ALIEN NAZI! (Hirogen: TAKE ME AWAY!!!)
Reality is big. Berman and Braga are small, and they both must go.
Y'know, after reading the above I kinda found myself drifting from the initial "Zero Hour" (positive) euforia to (negative) slow comprehension of the problems Deus is pointing at in his review. As I wrote in some other posts, for me Enterprise was always somewhere between the best of DS9 and the common of Voyager, and so I guess "Zero Hour" slides towards the later. While I think the separation of the crew works well (I admit - I was always a sucker for the "Return of the Jedi" style of action-splitting), the rest of the review pretty much agrees with what my stomach tells me now. Still, I will, as I guess everyone else, watch the next season premiere to learn if the cliffhanger actually leads somewhere else than the rehash of the same old, same old Voyager plots. Here's hoping.
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"It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way..." - Planetary
Zero Hour is yet another demonstration that Rick Berman and Brannon Braga understand nothing of the kind. Zero Hour's ending screams of unoriginality and desperation. Not to mention contempt for the same viewers who sat through a season of the Xindi arc expecting more of a payoff than Archer waking up in the Twilight Zone.
Wow. That's harsh. Usually, I find your opinions somewhat biased against Enterprise and B&B, but this is just unfair, Dues. 'Zero Hour' did a decent job of closing out the Xindi story arc, and might have kicked off another TCW-related arc in Season 4.
'Zero Hour' was FUN. No, it wasn't inspired Emmy-worthy story-telling. But if you sit back and enjoy the ride, it was enjoyable, and that's all I really expect from network television.
And you know what?? That same thing applies to TOS and most of TNG!! You could sit there and nitpick each episode to death, or you could just sit back, ignore the continuity and story-telling gaffs, and enjoy Star Trek for what it is.
I'm glad I don't watch television with a wet blanket like you.
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I have so many things to say about Zero Hour, and none of them are good. I'll stick to the lowlights, and as a little background as to where I'm coming from:
1: I have been a Star Trek fan since 'The Man Trap' - I am 52 years old, and have pretty much seen them all (Star Trek series and shows, that is).
2: I like Scott Bakula as Archer. Actually, in and of itself, he does a fine job, and I was really hoping for this series to be good, right from the get go.
3: Unfortunately, the start of ENTERPRISE with the TCW was a horrible mistake. TOS had what, maybe 3 self contained time travel stories, and now we get 'Quantum Leap' revisited, with Backula no less leading the charge. Sigh. The ENTIRE series (Enterprise) is based on time meddling. I totally agree with the anti-time travel fans. Enough is enough. If you don't understand how the reliance on time travel, or time line screwing around, screams of creative bankruptcy, then you probably think that there are real story lines behind movies like 'The Foolish and the Moronic' (Fast and Furious, 1 and 2) and 'Pork', I mean 'Torque'.
4: Onto 'Zero Hour'
A: NOBODY defending Earth Orbit when the weapon arrives??? Please. What horrible writing. We've had a whole season to expect that Earth Orbit would be swarming with WHATEVER we could put up there. Impulse ships, the NX-02, orbiting robot nuclear weapons. What did we find? NOTHING! Starfleet might have well put up a big orbital bulls eye over San Francisco for the Xindi to line up the weapon with. That alone should tell you that B&B don't even try to think logically any more.
B: The 'Finish'. Just what the h*ll is that??? Total Garbage is what it is. Let's see, when the 'Battle' in Earth Orbit was on, the Xinidi destroyed a 22nd century space platform that the crew recognizes, so you know that they are in the 'Normal' time line. Now, when Reed left Earth Orbit, (To rendezvous with Enterprise after the destruction of the Xindi weapon, and the presumed loss of Archer) don't you think that he would have contacted Starfleet before leaving? Remember, when he showed up at Enterprise, he made ABSOLUTELY NO MENTION OF 'PROBLEMS' WITH EARTH. And now, when the Aquatics drop the Enterprise off at Earth, SURPRISE!
Please, please, tell me WHERE THE H*LL DID EITHER THE TIME LINE CHANGE, OR ENTERPRISE/AQUATICS GET TRANSPORTED INTO THE PAST?????
This is simply awful, awful writing. This is '24' style writing at its worst. What I mean by that is the '24' penchant for just throwing whatever they want up against the wall, no matter how illogical it is. This is: 'Let's generate a moment of false sadness at Archer's death, and then let's throw the NAZI'S into it!' This is Berman and Braga saying 'They don't like time travel? Well, let's see how they like THIS stuck up their butts!'
In conclusion, as much as it pains me to say this, the ONLY thing that could 'Save' ENTERPRISE is for Daniels to pull the Enterprise and Archer together back into the 22nd century, into Earth Orbit, and as the crew is congratulating themselves on their narrow escape, they get creamed by a rogue asteroid that would otherwise have crashed into Iowa and kill a little known family by the name of Kirk.
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Dues may have phrased it a little harshly, but he's got a good point. Look at the context again:
Although his end-summary gives you the impression otherwise, Deus did not hate this episode. He seemed to at least somewhat enjoy it.
Quote:
All of this would have made for a decent enough episode. Not the greatest Star Trek episode of all time or anything near it but adequate enough.
So, what is his complaint? Well, rather than reiterate the specifics, the overall feel I got is that this episode was a letdown after the exciting buildup of the last few weeks.
Quote:
There is a clear decline between the writing quality of Countdown and Zero Hour. Brannon Braga and Rick Berman's writing is simply not up to the task and once again we see heaps of Voyager style technobabble thrown in and the kind of amateurish plot awkwardness that characterized Voyager episodes.
Can you imagine if Ira Steven Behr, co-writer of nearly every premiere/finale for Deep Space Nine, had only been a decent writer doing 'fun' epsiodes, rather than being one of the shows strongest assets? Deep Space Nine was acclaimed because they did more than just 'fun'. There's nothing wrong with fun episodes -- but previous weeks had left many of us with higher expectations. (Actually, a similar comparison would be how many [not including myself] felt about DS9's series finale, which admittedly was co-written by Behr as well.)
What was Deus's maing complaint in the final paragraph?
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Zero Hour's ending screams of unoriginality and desperation.
Note that this paragraph was about the ending, not the whole epsiode. Why was it 'unoriginal' or 'desperate'?
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Braga's Planet of the Apes style ending to the episode... Not only does it seriously resemble Voyager episodes like Future's End and The Killing Game spliced together but it completely defuses the conclusion of the entire season's arc and its payoff in favor of a gimmicky conclusion that the audience is likely to treat the same way it did the similar ending of the remake of Planet of the Apes.
I don't know if I agree entirely, but it is a shame to turn what could have been a truly satisfying conclusion to an epic year-long story into a gimmicky and somewhat nonsensical cliff-hanger.
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"You know what six movies average out to be really good? The first six Star Trek movies!" -- Fry, Futurama
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Wow. That's harsh. Usually, I find your opinions somewhat biased against Enterprise and B&B, but this is just unfair.
I have to agree. This review has the mark of someone who had already decided the episode would be a disappointment.
And WTF is all this jazz that everytime someone introduces an alternate earth scenario someone mentions Planet of the Apes? Now, I have seen every Apes movie including the Tim Burton one. WHAT MOVIE DID DEUS SEE? If there's a Planet of the Apes film out there with Nazis it must have been made in an alternate universe.
I'd started to warm up to these reviews in the past few weeks (whining about T'Pol notwithstanding), but this review is an utter joke.
Lighten up, indeed.
Alex
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I have to agree with you, Paulo.
Deus, do you deliberately go out of your way to put down Enterprise? I've been reading your reviews for quite some time now, and I seem to disagree with you more and more each week, until this week when I haven't got a clue what you're on about, or even what show you've been watching.
And that's the polite version of what I'm thinking.
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Still, You gotta agree with Deus on the technobabble and suddenly wonderous elixirs as so far Enterprise has managed to avoid those particular trademarks of Voyager-like writing. I always though the explanations behind the Spheres and the Expanse and anomalies kinda made sense and was happy nobody wanted to convince us the whole thing was a result of an entropic superimposed transreality yadda yadda.
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"It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way..." - Planetary
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