ENT 4x20: "Demons"

[Zeke]

It kills me that this season has only 22 episodes. Why were the series' two best seasons the ones to get shortened? I know 26 was a higher-than-normal number of episodes, but it's been standard for Trek shows since what, 1990?

I liked this one. Maybe it's not so bad that Travis is underexposed, because when he does get the spotlight in episodes like this one and "Horizon," they tend to turn out well. It's a shame that Anthony Montgomery has had so little to chew on, though. He's a good actor, but how would most viewers know?

The part I'm not sold on is that humans could make total peace among themselves and somehow still be capable of rabid xenophobia when it comes to aliens. Paxton and his group are probably supposed to remind us of militias from certain states, but those militias don't meet the norms of society at large (they tend to be white-supremacist), and it's hard to believe this group would. Paxton is basically a Babylon 5 human transplanted into Trek's universe, and he doesn't make sense here.

Delightful to see Harry Groener, though. Mayor jokes will abound in the fiver.

[Opium]

Delightful to see Harry Groener, though. Mayor jokes will abound in the fiver.

That's all I could think of during the episode: When is Faith coming in? How about Snider/Quark?

[Kira]

Try seeing him on The West Wing as the guy who has to stay behind from the State of the Union in case something happens to the Capitol building during the speech... say, being swallowed by the Hellmouth? Hee.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Zeke

It kills me that this season has only 22 episodes. Why were the series' two best seasons the ones to get shortened? I know 26 was a higher-than-normal number of episodes, but it's been standard for Trek shows since what, 1990?

I agree. And 1987, I think. Only S2 of TNG was less than 26, and that only due to the writer's strike. (Granted DS9 and VOY both had half-1st seasons.) But I agree that these last two seasons of Enterprise have been, well, stellar.

The part I'm not sold on is that humans could make total peace among themselves and somehow still be capable of rabid xenophobia when it comes to aliens.

Well, is racism a factor because of skin color, or is it just because we as humans need to have an us-vs-them mentality? I can see humans uniting over things like race and gender, but then needing some new "them" to regard as alien. Who better than aliens to fill that void? Even when humanity unites to form the Federation with other races, they will still have an us-vs-them mentality regarding the Klingons and the Romulans. Heck, wasn't that the whole point of Star Trek 6? People couldn't deal with the Klingons and Federation not being enemies?

Paxton is basically a Babylon 5 human transplanted into Trek's universe, and he doesn't make sense here.

Heh. I agree he is somewhat B5-ish, but the difference between Trek and B5 (in my mind) isn't really in the types of characters and their goals, so much as in the resolution.

Delightful to see Harry Groener, though. Mayor jokes will abound in the fiver.

I just kept waiting for him to say "Swell" or "Golly gee" or something like that. It's hard to see past his role Mayor.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Derek

I agree. And 1987, I think. Only S2 of TNG was less than 26, and that only due to the writer's strike. (Granted DS9 and VOY both had half-1st seasons.)

Ah. I didn't want to generalize because I couldn't remember how many were in TNG S1, but I knew that from at least S4 all the full Trek seasons had been 26 episodes long. Of course, in a sense this is only fair -- I get the impression that most shows, certainly those that are expensive to make, have 24-episode seasons at most. Fans of B5, Farscape, Buffy, Angel, and (I think) Andromeda have all had to live with 22-episode seasons.

Tangent: Wouldn't it be a kick if FOX decided to save a few bucks by shortening the next season of 24?

Heh. I agree he is somewhat B5-ish, but the difference between Trek and B5 (in my mind) isn't really in the types of characters and their goals, so much as in the resolution.

The way I think of the difference between Trek and B5 is this: Trek believes that humanity will have changed enormously by the 24th century, while B5 believes human evolution stops right here and now. (This even reaches the costume department. Starfleet officers parade around in anything from Spandex to pyjamas, and EarthForce's formal wear in 2258 is still your basic black business suit.) Both views are a little unrealistic, and both are absolutely at the heart of their series. That's why I can't really picture any Trek or B5 characters existing in each other's universes. And that's also why I think JMS writing Star Trek would be a disaster -- how could he write from a perspective so completely different from his own?

[Nan]

I like that they were looking into issues like xenophobia. They didn't really get into it on a global level after the Xindi attack and the embassy bombing.

There were B5 elements, yeah... but B5 dealt more with the uglier social aspects of being a spacefaring society. Zealously, really. Plus it was part of the arc. "Evil President Clark manipulates Terran xenophobia to achieve REAL ULTIMATE POWER!"

Trek tended to keep to the nicer stuff, excepting DS9. Good ol' DS9.

[Anonymous]

Also:

Q: what do you call a member of Terra Prime?

A: A Terraist.

[Celeste]

::groan::

Good Episode though. I purposly got the night off from work so that I could watch the Series Finale on Friday. I'm sad and excited all at the same time.

[Opium]

Originally Posted by Celeste

::groan::

Good Episode though. I purposly got the night off from work so that I could watch the Series Finale on Friday. I'm sad and excited all at the same time.

Isn't that what VCR's are for? Then again...my mom watched last week's ep of "The Amazing Race" and I had to study (good ol' summer semester) so I ended up taping TAR and watching it the next...and the entire time my mom kept saying, "I could just tell you who wins right now" and "Oh, look how well Merideth/Gretchen are playing!" and of course, M/G where the ones to get the boot

[Celeste]

Originally Posted by Opium

Isn't that what VCR's are for?

Shh! 1, my VCR sucks, and plus my parents can't be trusted to tape anything. 2nd, I could download it no problem. But there's something about watching it live on tv (and not having to wait till 1am to watch after it downloads) that's so much better. I want the experiance of teh suspense and special promos that spoil cause UPN is so good at doing that.

I'm weird. I know.

[Opium]

Originally Posted by Celeste

Shh! 1, my VCR sucks, and plus my parents can't be trusted to tape anything. 2nd, I could download it no problem. But there's something about watching it live on tv (and not having to wait till 1am to watch after it downloads) that's so much better. I want the experiance of teh suspense and special promos that spoil cause UPN is so good at doing that.

I'm weird. I know.

Nah, not too weird There IS something about watching a show live, and besides that way, no one can tell you the end. Also, my parent's can't be trusted with the VCR much at all either; my mom gets annoyed with all the tiny buttons on the remotes (because she doesn't want to admit she needs stronger glasses) and my dad, despite claiming to be totally technologically fluent (which is true if it was still 1985 or even 1995, sometimes) manages to either use either the last five minutes of a six-hour tape (the "rewind" button could erase important information on the tape!) or tapes a good 2 hours of static.

Hey, anyone else in BC catch the cityTV on-the-street segment with the passbys singing the Enterprise theme song?

[MaverickZer0]

Somehow I managed to miss that one. I haven't watched City much lately. I usually end up catching Enterprise on Space.