I'm intrigued by prequels. From the standpoint of an audience or reader, a prequel presents fascinating material: back stories for characters we know and love, plot twists that help us understand how a fictional world, situation or character came to be as it was. From the standpoint of an author, prequels can offer terrific opportunities for creativity: the chance to explore how a character made a certain life-altering decision, how a fictional world came to be shaped, or even how a given story or situation looks from a completely different point of view.

It doesn't take long to think of instances of prequels, in pop or literary culture, that have either shone brilliantly or pretty much tanked. For an instance of the first, I tend to think of Orson Scott Card's novel Ender's Shadow, and for an example of the latter, my minds runs quickly toward episodes I-III of the Stars Wars films.

Of course, part of the fun of how we respond to stories is that one person's junk may be another's treasure. When my fascination with prequels led me to begin watching season 1 of Enterprise, I wasn't aware of the many ardent fans of the other Star Trek sagas who found this particular prequel fell into the "tanked" category. But I loved this season! While I'm not quite sure if I'd say it shines brilliantly, that's a lot closer to my overall response to the 25 episodes that make up the first season of Enterprise.

Both Last and First

Enterprise stands in the interesting position of the being the last of the five Star Trek television shows produced and aired (the first being Star Trek: The Original Series, which began in 1966) and yet the first of the series in terms of the Star Trek universe's interior chronology. That means the series' makers had to walk a tight-rope: the show had to encompass an understanding of how the Star Trek world functioned, and yet because none of the stories we're all familiar with had supposedly happened yet, that knowledge can only hum along in the background. The stories are set in the 22nd century, only about 150 years from our actual present, a full century before the events of the Original Series.

What this means, from a story point of view, is that the Earth is brand new to interplanetary space travel. Starfleet exists, but the Federation doesn't yet. In the 90 years leading up to the show's opening, the Vulcans have been mentoring humans who had at last developed a warp-drive. A big deal is made, throughout the season, about the fact that first contact of this sort can only be made with warp-ready cultures. Although this is still years before the prime directive, it's clear that interplanetary space travelers have come to recognize the inherent pitfalls of messing with other cultures, especially before they're ready for certain forms of knowledge.

Although the Vulcans have been present on Earth for decades, helping humanity to get ready for its first deep space explorations, there are a lot of tensions between the two races.  Many humans, among them Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) who becomes the first Captain of the first Enterprise, feel that the Vulcans have been holding humanity back, not allowing them to move forward as quickly as they should have. Captain Archer feels personal pain over this since his own late father helped to develop the first warp engine, but never lived to see this sort of deep space travel carried out.

In the pilot episode, an emergency involving a Klingon landing on earth (and needing to be returned quickly to his own people) ensures that the Enterprise gets on its way. Although the Vulcans aren't happy about this, Starfleet decides it's now or never. Enterprise's mission is launched quickly, so a crew must be hastily assembled. The Vulcans want to make sure one of their own is on board to keep an eye on these unruly, emotional humans, so they dispatch T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) a Vulcan woman science officer, to do the job. She becomes the subcommander.

Also joining the crew are Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley) a Denobulan physician who happened to be on earth for an interspecies medical exchange when the ship needs to be launched; Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker (Connor Trinneer) a drawling Southerner and the chief engineer; Lt. Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) a Englishman from an old Navy family, the ship's armory officer; Ensign Travis Mayweather, the helmsman, a long-time space "boomer" (he grew up on cargo spaceships); and Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) the ship's communications officer, a linguistic expert who speaks over 40 languages. These make up the regular cast and crew for all of season one and the rest of the series run.

Rather than dwell on individual episodes, especially since it's easy to find episode guides in many places online that will help you with plot details (my favorite guides for Star Trek shows can be found on the website Star Trek Memory Alpha) I'd rather focus on certain qualities that I found especially engaging in this first season. Some are elements typical of any first season where characters, situations, and tone have to be established. Others are unique to Enterprise, especially in its role as the prequel series in the Star Trek universe.

Ten qualities I especially enjoyed in Enterprise: Season 1.

1) The excited, kid-in-a-candy shop sense that accompanies the brand new experience of interplanetary travel and deep space exploration. This is true of pretty much all the human crew but it's best exemplified by Captain Archer. The boyish enthusiasm of actor Scott Bakula really works to the show's advantage early on, when we appreciate his eagerness to not only discover "strange new worlds" but to be a good ambassador for earth. He and the crew have a lot to prove to other civilizations (like the Vulcans) who have been in space long before them, but they're also seriously excited about the new scientific and cultural discoveries they're making.

2) Moments that show us just how momentous this maiden voyage is to earth. Sometimes the show plays up the newness factor by showing us things like the crew making a video to send back to school-kids on earth (espisode 7, "Breaking the Ice").

3) Seeing the beginnings or precursors to so many things that we're already completely familiar with in the Star Trek universe, things like the transporter, "phase pistols," and the universal translator. The transporter is especially prominent -- because of its lack of prominence. No casual "beam us up" here! Many of the plot lines seem to hinge on issues involving the shuttle pods they use to go the surface of various planets, because everyone is still scared to death of using the transporter in case it permanently scrambles their molecules.

4) Seeing the Enterprise (NX-01) in ways we've never seen it. It's new and untried and doesn't have a lot of what we've come to know. No red alert signals (that will come in season two), swishing doors that are still button-operated, lower warp speeds (getting to warp 4.5 is a big deal this season, but Vulcan ships can make 6.5...so Earth is really the new kid in space exploration).

5) Captain Archer as a much kinder, gentler Captain, especially as a romantic lead. With apologies to William Shatner's Kirk, an iconic character I still love, there was just so much machismo in the way he swaggered and postured, and Kirk always seemed bent on conquest of the ladies. In addition to being an enthusiastic as a kid about space exploration, Archer's occasional encounters with women he meets in his travels feel much more respectful. His character also begins to feel more complex toward the end of the season, as we begin to realize that the eager, boyish demeanor is not the whole story. This is a determined and highly intelligent starship Captain.

6) Seeing a woman in a command situation so early. While on occasion Command Tucker gets to take the helm, it's the Vulcan T'Pol who most often gets to call the shots in situations where the captain is away. Though it took a while for her character to grow on me, she manages this authority well, and it's fun to see a woman in charge so early in Star Trek history (especially given what small roles women played in the Original Series).

7) The Vulcan/human tensions in this season are also interesting. The jury was still out for me on whether or not I liked the aspect as I was watching it unfold, but given the prominence of later Vulcan/Human interaction, it's fascinating to see the writers explore the genesis of that relationship. Even when I wasn't always sure I agreed with some of their creative choices.

8) The looseness of their mandate. At this point in Starfleet history (remember there's no Federation as yet) there are no universally accepted protocols about interspecies contacts and cultural exchanges. Our guys are more lone rangers, which can make for some humorous and dangerous times -- but it also means the writers get to explore the ideas behind why such mandates were eventually developed. The cross-cultural issues permeate the season on almost every level.

9) Fascinating time travel elements. These are woven into several episodes, beginning with the award winning pilot episode "Broken Bow." From time to time, Archer and company find themselves caught up in something called the "temporal cold war" -- basically a war being fought in the future. It's one of the most interesting creative aspects of the show, though it's handled a bit unevenly in season 1, only popping up occasionally. It becomes the main focus of "Shockwave," the cliff-hanging episode that ends the season.

10) Some of the individual performances. Most of the cast took their time figuring out their roles, and not every performance was always riveting, but it was interesting to see them find their feet. John Billingsley stands out as Dr. Phlox, with his humor and good sense -- and his continual fascination with human behavior. Scott Bakula gets more solid as Archer with every episode. And by the end of the season, it appears clear that the characters of both Trip and T'Pol are ready to take off. Trinneer's comic timing was getting stronger, and Blalock seemed to have finally gotten in touch with her inner Vulcan.

Enterprise has its naysayers, but I think it's a great show. Though not every episode in the first season was brilliant, some were, and the rest were solid enough to capture my interest and keep it, especially as I became more endeared to the characters. If you're a Star Trek fan and/or have a interest in the creative challenges of prequels, you might want to give this maiden voyage a try.

~befus, 2011

Recommended: Yes