Star Trek dared to show us what life would be like in the distant future. How man would go beyond its own solar system to meet life forms on distant planets. After the original series in the ’60s, the show was relaunched in the ’80s with two additional sequel series that dared to go even farther into the future. While there was rumors of a Star Fleet Academy series, the producers decided to take a step back into the past with Star Trek: Enterprise. Now the story can be told about the role that the Enterprise played in opening up the final frontier. Captain Jonathan Archer (Quantum Leap‘s Scott Bakula) is the son of the inventor of the Warp 5 engine that powers this early version of the Enterprise. He’s launched into distant orbits thanks to his old man. In a sense, Archer is now the father of Captain Kirk as he first encounters the aliens that would become familiar encounters in the “future” series. Star Trek: Enterprise – Season: Two lets us know what man first encountered when they blasted past Pluto.
“Shockwave, Part II” continues the season one cliffhanger that trapped Capt. Archer in the 31st Century thanks to the the Sulibans that have hijacked the Enterprise. Can he get back to the right time? “Carbon Creek” is a semi-time travel episode. T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) recounts about how the first Vulcans arrived on Earth back in the 1950s. Ann Cusack (John and Joan’s sister) has a role in this pointy ear encounter. “Minefield” is an early encounter with the Romulan’s space traps. While clearing a floating minefield, Lt. Reed (Dominic Keating) gets pinned between the explosive and the hull of the Enterprise. Archer needs to free up his shipmate before the Romulans come back and finish them off. Things don’t go too right since the next episode is called “Dead Stop.”A Night in Sickbay” lets Archer worry about his sick dog. Will the pet survive the night? It’s a domestic tale from deep space.
“The Communicator” reminds the crew why they can’t leave their technology with other cultures. In this case someone leaves their communicator behind. They have to turn the ship around and hope that nobody picked it up. Otherwise, they’ve just accelerated another civilization like the creatures on Ancient Aliens. “Vanishing Point” explains what can go wrong when you use the teleporter too much. It’s risky. A shuttle craft breaks down on a planet in “Dawn.” While things are fine at night, they must be rescued before the sun comes up. The Vulcans get into a land war on “Cease Fire.” It’s up to the illogical humans to talk them into a peace deal. Archer gets sent to a frozen penal colony in “Canamar.” Can his ship rescue him or will he be working their until Kirk arrives in the final movie? Archer once more gets into trouble when the Klingons put him on trial for “Judgment.” Is he going to get sent back to the penal colony planet? “First Flight” recounts how the scientists tested the first warp drive engine. “The Expanse” lays down a massive attack on Earth. An object in space scorches the surface like an intergalactic General Sherman. The Enterprise must save the planet.
Star Trek: Enterprise is an interesting show with its ability to have a clunky version of the original Star Trek. Nothing quite works the way it’s expected since this is the first time man has gone so far into the stars. The early Enterprise bridge is a rather cramped starship. Capt. Archer is the right tone of leader for such a novel crew. He has just enough boldness without being an utter blowhard. The tone of the show is rather quiet a lot of time. The crew doesn’t get too noisy during a crisis. There’s no overacting moments on the bridge. They don’t react like certain characters of future journeys. It was a smart movie to take the timeline back after placing the earlier series so far into the future.
Star Trek: Enterprise
“Shockwave” (Part 2), “Carbon Creek,” “Minefield,” “Dead Stop,” “A Night in Sickbay,” “Marauders,” “The Seventh,” “The Communicator,” “Singularity,” “Vanishing Point,” “Precious Cargo,” “The Catwalk,” “Dawn,” “Stigma,” “Cease Fire,” “Future Tense,” “Canamar,” “The Crossing,” “Judgment,” “Horizon,” “The Breach,” “Cogenitor,” “Regeneration,” “First Flight,” “Bounty” and “The Expanse.”
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The transfers look good. The show was the first to be finished in High Definition. The audio is 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. You get to hear all the familiar Star Fleet sounds coming through the channels. The dubs include German, Spanish, French, Italian and Japanese. The subtitles are in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Danish, Dutch, Finish, Norwegian and Swedish.
Audio and Text Commentaries are featured on five episodes. They are eager to share what made each episode a bit special in these pioneer days.
Deleted Scenes pop up for six episodes.
In Conversation: The First Crew (94 minutes) brings back the cast and crew after nearly a decade. They sit on the soundstage and swap tales of their time in space. Everyone is in a great mood.
Season 2 Promo (0:24) focus on their mission to explore.
Enterprise Moments: Season Two (19:11) is previously produced special with the cast and crew talk about the just completed sophomore season.
Enterprise Profile: Jolene Blalock (14:28) covers her time as T’Pol. The producers talk about how they went about creating her Vulcan character. She loved watching the original Star Trek.
Inside a Night In Sickbay (11:17) explains how they had to create an episode that would save the budget. The producers created an episode that deals with the Captain’s dog being sick.
Photo Gallery is dozens of production pics.
Shooting Future Tense (17:16) is behind the scenes that lets you see the Stand In crew. Be thrilled to the sight of the faux Capt. Archer.
Enterprise Secrets (4:50) has an assistant director recount his time with Klingon Gulags.
Levar Burton: Star Trek Director (7:01) lets him call the shots on the ship without wearing the visor. He’s focused on directing over the last decade instead of acting. He also called the shots on Deep Space 9 and Voyager.
Enterprise Outtakes (11:12) has a bunch of green screen misadventures. Best goof belongs to the intergalactic custodian.
Unchartered Territory (89 minutes) discusses the triumphs and headaches of the second season in a three part documentary. Brannon Braga addresses how the show altered when a new UPN crew wanted the show to fit in more with their teen demographic desire. They wanted a band on the ship like Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space.
Star Trek: Enterprise – Season: Two brings more adventures from the early days of Warp 5 space travel. Captain Archer and his crew look good making so many discovers in the pioneer days of the Final Frontier. This is the second of four seasons. The bonus features shed a light on what the producers were dealing with from alleged creative executives.
CBS DVD present Star Trek: Enterprise – Season: Two. Starring: Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock and Connor Trinneer. Boxset Content: 26 episodes on 6 Blu-rays. Released: August 20, 2013.
