[Derek]

Okay, I think I'm ready to post my thoughts on TATV. I still haven't read an extermely positive review. Maybe they don't exist.

First off, I don't care that Trip died. I don't care if all the characters survive, or if one dies, or if the ship explodes just as it's about to do that final warp off into the sunset (though I would've laughed at that). Why don't I care? Because it's the finale, it's over. It's not like the show was going to continue and so we'd miss that person's presence in the future. This attitude also basically characterizes my view of Wesley's death on Angel's finale. Yes, both deaths were unnecessary in one sense, but, hey, why not?

Secondly, since I'm not a shipper, I don't care that Trip and T'Pol didn't stay together. To some extent, I could really see the baby thing being part of their breakup. It becomes harder for them to be intimate because they can't forget the baby (yes, the baby was only around for two episodes, but it's obvious both parents were very attached to her). Things become uncomfortable and awkward, so they become more distant until they're relationship reverts to being friends and coworkers.

Third, I'm not concerned with the concept of Riker and Troi being in the finale. In fact, I kind of liked the retrospective aspect. Like Zeke, I felt a B5 connection, but my thoughts fell much more on "The Deconstruction of Falling Stars", which was the fourth season finale which did a look back at the impact of Babylon 5 from 100, 500, 1,000, and 1,000,000 years in the future. To some extent, I might have appreciated it if TATV had been more like TDoFS, having multiple future perspectives, and letting one part be Riker's subplot. Oh well.

My delay in coming up with an opinion of this episode came from my failure to classify it. Normally when I watch an ENT episode I try to evaluate both on the basis of the episode's own story and also how the episode fits into the larger continuity of the season, the series, and all Trek. Thus, "Regeneration" is a very good episode viewed independently, but it falls apart when looking at the larger Trek continuity.

However, this episode mingled those two categories a LOT. I spent probably half the episode trying to make up my mind if I was watching an ENT episode with TNG elements or a TNG episode with ENT elements. I'm still not clear on what it was, though I lean toward the latter. So not knowing how to classify it, I wasn't sure if I should view it within the context of ENT S4, TNG S7, both, or neither.

I think it would've been nice to see people promoted or in different roles or maybe not even on board anymore. Even though TMP kept Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov in their normal positions, it still had Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in different places than we left them.

As for the episode overall, I'm pretty okay with it, but I'm not sure how much I like it as a series finale. As has been pointed out, the focus wasn't really on the crew as a whole, their evolution over the years, and the resolution of the storylines created (things I would expect in a series finale). Instead it was about Trip, Riker, and the birth of the Federation, in that order. And it seems like it wouldn't have take too much to shift the focus on to the other things as well.

So in conclusion: It's not the travesty everyone seems to make it out to be, but it's not the best thing ever either.