Create a Series Finale!

[Admiral Jean-Luc Picard]

Let's have some fun. It's 2005. The Abrams movies and CBS Trek don't exist. You're ending Enterprise in a way that's also a "goodbye" to Sta Trek until it gets revived down the road.

Rules: Your finale has to be one episode, an hour or 45 minutes without commercials, because that's what was slotter back then. That's it really. You habe a one hour slot to end the show, and you can dp whatever you want, because it's the finale. Kill people off, blow up the ship, promote people, strand them in the future or past, do whatever.

How do you end the show?

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I'd take a page from Prelude to Axanar, and have the focus on someone making a historical documentary on the NX-01, so they interview many of the original crew, detailing what happened after Terra Prime, the Romulan War, the Formation of the Federation, etc. We see the cast in a variety of aged up makeup, as they've been interviewed at various points, and we flashback to see some of the highlights, though it quickly becomes clear that Archer isn't among the interviewees.

Despite my dislike of the character, he was the show lead, so he has to have some sort of reveal. When the interviewer finally does catch up with him, he is very old, he shares a little insight before being followed on to a shuttle and slowly its revealed that he is being taken to the shipyard where the latest Enterprise is awaiting her launch--the documentary seems to be about the launch of the new starship. Archer meets Robert April and wishes him luck on their new mission. He then watches the ship leave dry-dock and warp away.

It ends with a commemorative image of Archer, with the documentary maker saying about how the day after the filmed the last segment, Jonathan Archer passed away in his sleep, and spins out something about how he blazed a trail for all of Starfleet to follow.

 

[Kpnuts]

I'd take a page from Prelude to Axanar, and have the focus on someone making a historical documentary on the NX-01, so they interview many of the original crew, detailing what happened after Terra Prime, the Romulan War, the Formation of the Federation, etc. We see the cast in a variety of aged up makeup, as they've been interviewed at various points, and we flashback to see some of the highlights, though it quickly becomes clear that Archer isn't among the interviewees.

Despite my dislike of the character, he was the show lead, so he has to have some sort of reveal. When the interviewer finally does catch up with him, he is very old, he shares a little insight before being followed on to a shuttle and slowly its revealed that he is being taken to the shipyard where the latest Enterprise is awaiting her launch--the documentary seems to be about the launch of the new starship. Archer meets Robert April and wishes him luck on their new mission. He then watches the ship leave dry-dock and warp away.

It ends with a commemorative image of Archer, with the documentary maker saying about how the day after the filmed the last segment, Jonathan Archer passed away in his sleep, and spins out something about how he blazed a trail for all of Starfleet to follow.

[/thread]

 

[F. King Daniel]

I'd make a really good standalone episode, but end the plot 5 minutes early. Because then they receive a distress signal... the ECS Kobayashi Maru has struck a gravitic mine and is in desperate need of assistance. Archer sets a course to intercept and the last we ever see of Enterprise NX-01 is them warping off to assist. Roll credits. Every Trekkie knows what's next and they spend the next two decades raging online.

 

[valkyrie013]

Bry is a good idea, I mean you can't really cover the whole romulan war in 1 45min episode. and it being a documentary type just seams a cheap sendoff to me. ( Geometrically better what we got though!)
I would play on the, Maybe we can get a movie, or series of movies out of paramount to cover a romulan war and end the series on a cliffhanger of sorts.
maybe have a bit of of a time jump of a year or so, Romulans have been in a cold/warm war with them doing some raids, and stuff. At the beginning of the episode have the Distress call like F. King Daniel said, and you show the kobiashi Maru scenario with 3 romulan ships attacking the ship with Archer dealing with a "No Win Scenario" and show a battle, the Maru gets destroyed with all hands, but Archer manages to destroy 2 warbirds. Afterwards at the end of the episode, shows a romulan fleet attacking Corridon, setting all the dilthium on fire, and ends with the President declaring war on the Romulans. Fad to black..
and hope it leads to movies...

 

[FederationHistorian]

Teaser: May 8, 2161 - Archer delivers his speech,to a thunderous applause.

Intro: Archer theme, with a special intro and Archer’s voiceover of ”These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise…”; Basically to show that the Star Trek that we know and love his here.

Scene 1: A couple of days after the ceremony – and a few games of water polo - Archer and his crew leave in the refit NX-01 to take Phlox & his family back to Denobula. As they arrive, they see in orbit an Earth medical cargo ship – the Kobayashi Maru – under attack by Romulan BoPs; both the 22nd century and 23rd century versions.

Scene 2: Archer manages to save the Kobayashi Maru by extending the shields around it and then tractor beaming it away. But he is not able to save the planet of Denobula, as the Romulans unleash a significant chemical & bio attack on the planet, making the planet uninhabitable and severely diminishing the population. Archer is unable to convince the newly founded UFP to issues a forceful response against the Romulans, as Denobula is not a member of the new body and the attack was not in Federation space.

Scene 3: 2192 – Archer is seen stepping down as UFP President while Shran is being seen sworn in. Archer is relieved he is done, but feeling jaded from his experience as he is uncertain if he made a difference. Ambassador T’Pol points out that the Federation has grown under his UFP Presidency, and he had many accomplishments to be proud of: the remaining Denobulan survivors were usefully resettled, and both piracy and new attempts to revive Terra Prime are not longer a major threat. His only real failings are around the Klingons, who Earth has not had contact with in nearly forty years by this point; that efforts to get younger generations to remember their Xindi mission were not successful; and he was still unable after many years to get T’Pau to serve on the Federation council; none of which were his fault. Sato is assisting with a number of movies and documentaries about their 10-year mission, and their involvement in the Earth Romulan War, and is upset that Reed and Mayweather aren’t here to assist her, as they are still commanding the USS Horizon even though they were due to step down months ago. Trip, now a professor at Starfleet Academy, is teaching a class and explaining how he help design & build the engine used by the Daedalus-class ships, including the USS Horizon, and he’s in the early stages of working on the warp engine for a new class of ship called the Constitution-class. He is then interrupted by Phlox – now works at Starfleet Medical – who tells him they have found the black box of the USS Horizon, confirming months-long theories of its destruction.

Scene 4: 2245 - Archer sees off Sato and her family, who are boarding the Constitution-class Enterprise, and remark that they are the final two survivors from the original NX-01 mission. He then sees off Captain Robert April, Dr. Sarah April, and a Lt. Commander Christopher Pike. He then meets a young Jim Kirk who’s boarding the Enterprise with his father, Commander George Kirk, who mentions that he’s headed to the same destination as Sato, Tarsus IV.

A day later, Captain April announces that Archer as passed away, and a service is held, with the final shot being of the exterior of the Enterprise and the UFP symbol, with Captain April saying the last words of the series. “…where no one has gone before.”

Credits: TOS theme is used.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Wonderful thread.

 

[JaxsBrokenHeart]

"To Boldy Go"

The episode starts In 2317 where a young ensign Robert April is assigned to helping the Federation aid efforts to various Xindi worlds which were devastated by their own brief war with the Romulans. He is surprised to encounter an aged Ambassador T'Pol as part of the mission, there to take part in the final diplomatic process to have the Xindi join the Federation. Over the course of the episode she tells April of how the Enterprise crew's efforts have helped get both Starfleet and the Federation to their present status with flashbacks;

-Hoshi's decoding of enemy transmissions during the Earth-Romulan war proving valuable in the conflict
-Phlox's further medical work into the Klingon plague serving to help ease some hostilities between the Empire & Starfleet
-Tucker's critical breakthroughs with Vulcan engineers on dilithium crystal energy usage for warp engines
-Reed and Mayweather helping to create another Verteron array to help terraform worlds for displaced Suliban
-Archer helping broker negotiations between the Tellarites and Andorians in the years before the founding of the Federation

A wiser and slightly more emotional T'pol tells the young April to remember that a crew and a ship just aren't just part of his life, but a large part of living history going forward. "It is a significantly big galaxy, Ensign April. It is up to each one of us to determine how it is shaped."

It then fades to 20 plus years after that where an older Captain Robert April sits in his office, just shortly before the launch of the USS Enterprise. He's contacted by his XO Commander Pike who tells him the dedication ceremony is ready for his arrival. He gets up to leave, stopping briefly only to warmly smile at the small model on his desk which the camera zooms in on to reveal none other than the NX-01 before fading to credits.

Cliche in parts I know, but it felt fitting for the show.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

I'd take a page from Prelude to Axanar, and have the focus on someone making a historical documentary on the NX-01, so they interview many of the original crew, detailing what happened after Terra Prime, the Romulan War, the Formation of the Federation, etc. We see the cast in a variety of aged up makeup, as they've been interviewed at various points, and we flashback to see some of the highlights, though it quickly becomes clear that Archer isn't among the interviewees.

Despite my dislike of the character, he was the show lead, so he has to have some sort of reveal. When the interviewer finally does catch up with him, he is very old, he shares a little insight before being followed on to a shuttle and slowly its revealed that he is being taken to the shipyard where the latest Enterprise is awaiting her launch--the documentary seems to be about the launch of the new starship. Archer meets Robert April and wishes him luck on their new mission. He then watches the ship leave dry-dock and warp away.

It ends with a commemorative image of Archer, with the documentary maker saying about how the day after the filmed the last segment, Jonathan Archer passed away in his sleep, and spins out something about how he blazed a trail for all of Starfleet to follow.

Could still do this but minus the need for old timer make-up

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

^ Very true. They could completely forget TATV as well, with Trip being interviewed as well.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

^ Very true. They could completely forget TATV as well, with Trip being interviewed as well.

Yep. Rikers holodeck fantasies don't count as canon

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Be careful with the C-Word

 

[valkyrie013]

Well, that could be a "Short Trek" have a documentary style episode as a proper sendoff, including Trip,and just Trash TATV. That thing is an abomination..

 

[BillJ]

Mayweather flies the NX-01 into the Sun. The End.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Mayweather flies the NX-01 into the Sun. The End.

Who?

 

[DarKush]

Skimming the other takes and I see mine isn't that different, but here goes:

Black screen and then we see the phrase “In the 23rd century”. From there the story opens on the USS Enterprise-1701 in space dock and a shuttle being flown toward it. Inside the shuttle is an elderly Vulcan Security Minister T’Pol and either Pike or Number One, are the pilot. Could be Matt Decker or George Kirk in that role as well, but that might be too inside Trek. T’Pol has never gotten comfortable with transporters so that’s why they are flying her in a shuttle.


In the shuttle bay, T’Pol is greeted by Captain Robert April (Colin Salmon, Timothy Dalton, or Phillip Morris) and introduced to some of the Enterprise crew. I would have this be a diverse crew, striving to include ethnicities/religious human groups we haven’t seen or seen much of before, but also some aliens, including new aliens. First officer would be female. (Grey’s Anatomy’s Chandra Wilson or Sophie Okonedo comes to mind; both work for Sarah April too). I also would like to make sure there is an Andorian on the bridge, mostly because I think they are cool, and I wish Trek would make more use of them. The uniforms would be inspired by the movie Forbidden Planet as well as also have their names on them since we won’t have a lot of time to get to know them, but I would want them to have names in canon.


Enterprise is about to go on its maiden voyage and T’Pol is there for the occasion. Over dinner with April and Sarah (not sure if she would be his wife just yet) T’Pol talks about the last mission of the NX-01 and then we go back in time to the NX-01.


The year is 2156 and there are drumbeats of war with the Romulans. The NX-01 answers a distress call from the Kobayashi Maru and on the starship is a surprise, T’Pol’s father. He is desperate to get to Vulcan. (Along the way we learn that T’Pol is half-Romulan, though the crew doesn’t know this and T’Pol is torn about not informing them). The Romulans pursuing the Kobayashi Maru catch them, the Kobayashi Maru is destroyed, NX-01 is hit hard (think “Azati Prime” and there are a lot of heroic sacrifices-like the series finale of Space Above & Beyond). T’Pol is one of the only survivors though not sure who or how she is put in the escape pod. It could be Trip or her father that put her in it or convince her to go.


Archer’s last scene is that he is woken up with a slap, a shock, or cold water, and of course he’s captured-yet again. There’s a helmeted Romulan with Reman guards. His Romulan captor tells him that the war has already started, and that several planets are in flames and something like Earth and its allies didn’t know what hit them. Then the Romulan commander takes off his helmet and Archer’s eyes widen in shock. Not sure if the audience would see what Archer saw though.


We go back to T’Pol and the crew of the Enterprise-1701. Not figured out how I would end that with her. Perhaps she wouldn’t even make the voyage. Overcome with emotion, she would bid them farewell. It was their time to make history and she hoped they would do a better job of it than she did, or to do as well as Archer and the NX-01 did because I don’t want to make it seem like ENT was a failed series with a failed crew. At the end, T’Pol’s looking out, from inside the starbase, when Enterprise warps away. I would then jump ahead to the future.


This time it would be “In the 25th century” and we would see Captains Worf (Enterprise-F) and LaForge (Challenger) on Romulus; perhaps walking alone in the Romulan Senate. The Romulans gave Worf pieces of the NX-01 or perhaps the bodies of the crew they still had, as part of the new peace between the Star Empire and the Federation. As the Enterprise (we get a quick look at Worf’s crew) and Challenger part ways, we get the famous opening, but it would have Archer, April, Pike, Kirk, Harriman, (Demora) Sulu, Garrett, Picard, and Worf all saying a part and that would be it.

 

[Orphalesion]

Honestly I'd just throw out all that "a love letter () to the fans/the franchise/Deanna's Hairpiece" stuff and just make it a finale to Enterprise, not sure about the storyline, maybe something that involves the Humans. Vulcans, Andorians and the Tellarites coming together to overcome a threat, with a final scene that would show hope towards them eventually founding the Federation down the line (after the Romulan Wars and all)
And then maybe in the last five minutes a cut of iconic moments from all shows set to snippets of the themes of the respective shows.
Because as unsatisfactory as I found Enterprise as a whole, it deserved to have a finale that is completely about the show, not about anything else.

 

[Tim Thomason]

There was an episode of Justice League Unlimited (Epilogue) that was intended to be a series finale for JLU (although the JLU was renewed for a final season). But it was 99% a Batman Beyond episode and written as a finale for the entire animated universe of interconnected shows, with only a few minor connections, mostly via flashback, to the JLU series. The prior episode (Divided We Fall) was the proper series finale for the JLU (even though, again, they got another season to fight against the Legion of Doom).

So, I would take a page from that... admittedly, Epilogue aired two months after TATV, so I would have to look to the future to do so. Have a "Star Trek" Epilogue of 45-minutes air after the (actual) series finale of Enterprise.

The Series Finale
This would be another trilogy, removing the Terra Prime episodes and probably Bound from airing. Something akin to 9/11 or the Xindi Incident, i.e. an unprovoked attack that would lead to the Romulan War. But probably, since they're Romulans, have it blamed on the Vulcans (anti-Syrranite rebels) and maybe throw in some Orions (to develop them in place of Bound) and prop up the anti-alien resentment on Earth (in place of Terra Prime... although their might be a Terra Prime faction in the episode). Earth and Vulcan cut off diplomatic ties due to the growing unrest on Vulcan, and T'Pol is treated with hostility after Enterprise returns to Earth and are preparing for a more codified five-year mission. Archer and crew have to fight to keep T'Pol in Starfleet and Admiral Gardner is pressured to reassign the entire mission to Columbia and maybe just have Enterprise as a museum ship. Archer gives a speech that ends racism, while Reed and, I guess, Mayweather (and/or Sato) uncover the Vulcan extremists are actually Romulans in disguise ("they must be using some sort of undetectable surgery"), and this information is presented to the UE Council. War is eventually declared as Enterprise leads a fleet of Tellarites / Andorians / Vulcans / Rigelians? and Earthers into battle. Maybe they can figure out that Romulans are Vulcanoid, but decide to keep that info to themselves. No one important dies (save that for the movies that will never happen).

Epilogue
We open on the 31st century... Yes, that 31st century. Daniels is guiding a troupe of diverse agents in their ongoing efforts to stop a front in the Temporal Cold War. The agents: Captain Archer (c. 2156), Captain Riker (c. 2382), Admiral Sulu (c. 2305), Colonel Kira (c. 2382), Commander Tuvok (c. 2382), all bicker with one another over the best course of action. Using recent sets (Nemesis, IAMD) and tons of Trials and Tribble-ations-esque footage, we can see them involved in many top episodes (Balance of Terror, The Best of Both Worlds, Sacrifice of Angels, Twisted, Broken Bow, maybe even Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) from across the franchise. Turns out they're mobile holograms of the ancient figures, utilizing their unique perspective to help the 31st century Timefleet. We do a Future Guy reveal... maybe it's Archer or a Romulan, I don't care, and really not much else. It's a nostalgia-fest, but not necessarily the best episode. You can give us a quick update on the Romulan War (especially if Future Guy was a Romulan pushing things in his favor), and that might be where most of the regulars make their quick appearance, but it's mostly an Archer and his Time Crew episode.

It ends on a minced version of the Captain's Oath with ship flybys and a combination of archived voices and new voiceovers (when necessary):
Kirk (NCC-1701): Space,
Picard (NCC-1701-D): The final frontier
Sisko (Defiant): These are the voyages
Janeway (Voyager): of Starfleet
Shran (Kumari): Our continuing mission,
Worf (NCC-1701-E): To explore strange new worlds
Spock (NCC-1701-A): To seek out new life
Sulu (Excelsior): and new civilizations
Cochrane (Phoenix): To boldly go
Archer (NX-01): Where no man has gone before

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

Mayweather flies the NX-01 into the Sun. The End.

Wouldn't be much of a suprise if he turned out to be a cylon robot in fairness

 

[valkyrie013]

So Mayweather was part of a recon force from the AI federation that got through the galactic barrier but lost his memeory's, and this parents found him and raised him, and he awakened and couldn't reconcile his organic's parents good parenting and his old AI Federations goals of destroying everything organic, and he Flies the NX into a local sun to save everyone from them! Tada!!