The last episode
- Thread starter Darth Thanos
- Start date
Remember when folks were saying Enterprise never happened and the whole thing was a holoprogram of Riker’s?
OMG yes, I remember. "The final episode made it all non-canon!"
Now where have I heard THAT one recently...
Remember when folks were saying Enterprise never happened and the whole thing was a holoprogram of Riker’s?
I still think that everything since Generations is just Picard’s Nexus fantasy.
Well, except for the novels. Which, I know, "not canon", but somebody had to sign off on that decision.
Everybody acted like Alexander's "Ancient West" program was accurate too, despite it being built almost entirely on tropes from popular fiction.
Unfortunately, what we did see in Riker's holoprogram, with some minimal changes to denote the passage of time, looked pretty spot-on.
Worst thing was that if the holoprogram was accurate, it kept everyone static for ten years. Phlox was away from his family. Hoshi was away from her school. And Mayweather, the most competent person on that ship, was stuck at ensign. That, plus the fact that it just doesn't make sense for no one to change in 6 years, is why it is firmly in my head canon that Riker took some creative liberties.
If no one had risen on Voyager, it wouldvhave been considered the norm, and Harry Kim would not be a meme today.. But three VOY characters that I know of were promoted.Nobody rose in rank on VOY in 7 years. Why should ENT be any different?
In any case, Voyager wasn't in a position where the Admiralty could grant official promotions. Enterprise NX-01 was.
Mayweather should have gotten at least one promotion for the way he saved the ship on more than one occasion just by being a massively talented pilot. I mean he doesn't have the sophisticated computers of the other pilots on the other shows. (Not saying they had an easy job, I'm just comparing.) He has to rely much more on manual flying skills.
Okay, maybe I'm slightly biased because he's my favorite ENT character and I'm still miffed at how they sidelined him more and more throughout the show but hey...
Okay, maybe I'm slightly biased because he's my favorite ENT character and I'm still miffed at how they sidelined him more and more throughout the show but hey...
People also tend to rank up significantly faster when there's a war going on. To believe that nobody got promoted throughout the entire Romulan War is kinda ludicrous. Realistically, and this could be applied to DS9 aswell, half the senior staff should've probably had their own ships by the time the war ended.Nobody rose in rank on VOY in 7 years. Why should ENT be any different?
For what it's worth, there's the Lower Decks game scenario where they interact with holograms of T'Pol, Sato, and Phlox. At one point T'Pol and Sato are arguing over a translation as bitter enemies, and Rutherford found too uncomfortable to be next to workplace bullying. And suddenly, they talk as if they were flirting with each other. The following dialogue was more or less like this
Rutherford: I don't get it! Are they friends or enemies? I'm confused!
Tendi (exasperated): You and a thousand holonovel writers...
A lot of characters seemed to be doing work that was above their official rank. Most notably Sisko, given that he was a captain, but running a large battle fleet. He should have been at least a commodore, maybe even a rear Admiral.
Others include Data, who had at least two other ship's officers at commander, but was second officer of the flagship, and should really have been first; he was only held back due to Riker's unwillingness to move up. He should have been a commander either way.
Since Harry Kim was a newly graduated officer, his initial rank made sense... it was his initial responsibilities that did not. Running a department on a starship was more appropriate for an experienced officer. So, for the first half of his tenure on Voyager, his rank made sense but his responsibilities did not. For the second half, it was the other way around.
Others include Data, who had at least two other ship's officers at commander, but was second officer of the flagship, and should really have been first; he was only held back due to Riker's unwillingness to move up. He should have been a commander either way.
Since Harry Kim was a newly graduated officer, his initial rank made sense... it was his initial responsibilities that did not. Running a department on a starship was more appropriate for an experienced officer. So, for the first half of his tenure on Voyager, his rank made sense but his responsibilities did not. For the second half, it was the other way around.
Perhaps their world is less unlike our own than we think. After all, it isn't unusual for companies to assign (additional) responsibilities to employees without the corresponding promotion in job title and increase in salary if they think they can get away with it.
I didn't totally hate it.........but had problems with it. My BIGGEST gripe was Trip being "killed off" (brought back in the books tho and thats my head canon lol) for no good reason at all. Also if they would have dropped ALL the Pegasus stuff and just had the one scene with Frakes as the cook (with no info beforehand) and than only at the very end we get the "computer end program" line with him and Troi leaving the Holodeck, THAT would have been an OK scene instead of trying to shoehorn the Pegasus story in.
I strongly suspect that someone just want to milk the final episode for all the ratings they thought they could get. Hence TNG guest stars.
Why they couldn't have done that any other way, especially given how prevalent time travel was in that show, I have no idea.
Why they couldn't have done that any other way, especially given how prevalent time travel was in that show, I have no idea.
No, it had nothing to do with ratings. The show was over, and UPN didn't give a crap about what ratings TATV got.
The reason why there were TNG guest stars was because Berman and Braga wanted to make a 'lost episode' of TNG at the expense of the ENT cast and their series finale. They thought the fans would love it, and they were wrong.
They wanted to send the fans a "Valentine"... only their idea of a Valentine consisted of a bouquet of wilted flowers, a box of chocolate coated Ex-lax, and a gold ring that turned your finger green.
Even Jonathan Frakes admitted that he probably shouldn't have been there.
Laying aside my personal hatred for TATV, from what I have heard from interviews with the men themselves, there were two main reasons for the episode as written, both directly related to the cancellation of Enterprise.
1) They wanted to get us to the “founding of the Federation” finish line
2) They wanted a fond farewell to their era (and quite possibly, at least it seemed at the time, to Trek itself)
Did they stick the landing? Most assuredly not. Did they have any idea what the fans of the show in question actually desired? Signs point to no. Did they know how to convey the passage of time in a believable way? Definitely not. Did they connect the circle from TNG to Enterprise in a respectful, affectionate way? Not by a long shot. But, despite being Bambi on ice, did they attempt a triple axel? Yes, they did. Your feelings about that attempt may echo mine (Whyyyyyyyy?
Let’s just ignore it!). However, I do honestly believe they did what they did with the best of intentions.
1) They wanted to get us to the “founding of the Federation” finish line
2) They wanted a fond farewell to their era (and quite possibly, at least it seemed at the time, to Trek itself)
Did they stick the landing? Most assuredly not. Did they have any idea what the fans of the show in question actually desired? Signs point to no. Did they know how to convey the passage of time in a believable way? Definitely not. Did they connect the circle from TNG to Enterprise in a respectful, affectionate way? Not by a long shot. But, despite being Bambi on ice, did they attempt a triple axel? Yes, they did. Your feelings about that attempt may echo mine (Whyyyyyyyy?
Let’s just ignore it!). However, I do honestly believe they did what they did with the best of intentions.
Similar threads
