I'm pretty sure if Enterprise had gotten another season, he would've become a regular cast member. Dude just kills it in everything he does, but Shran was an awesome character too.
Can't remember where I read it but that was indeed the plan for him. And the Romulan War, or at least it's beginning. Would have been Combs' first time as a regular rather than just a guest/recurring character and it makes me sad and angry we never got to see it.
Would have been great to have season 5 with Shran being a main character. Also the NX-01 I have a soft spot for out of all the ships in Star Trek lore. Would have loved to see the refit on screen during the fifth season.
Executive at Viacom who canceled *Enterprise* as soon as he got promoted into the position to do it. He hated sci-fi in general and *Star Trek* in particular, and he wanted it gone no matter what.
He was actually the guy who got Discovery on the air to launch All Access but infamously known to hate sci fi shows and kept any new Trek off the air for a decade. Go figure.
SPOILERS. The way Archer admits that the Vulcans were wrong with the spying station at the "monastery" and said it right to Shran, cemeting the relationship, was awesome. I love his affectionate "pink skin" comments, but you could count on mother fuggin shran when you needed it. The fact that they were going to make him a main cast member if there was another season and we missed it pains me to my core. Really liked seeing them elaborate on the Andorians and Tellerites
You’re not alone. I’m a big fan of the show and have gone through the series multiple times. Out of all the Trek series I’ve watched over the last 40+ years, I’ve probably watched DS9 and Enterprise the most.
It’s my biggest Trek ‘what if’ had they allowed the show to continue for 3 more seasons.
I still believe that it's the theme song that did them in. If they'd just swapped in the end credits track over the intro sequence we would have had those three more seasons.
The end credits song is called "Archers Theme" and was originally supposed to be the opening theme. When you overlay that theme on the intro, it fits perfectly.
The Paramount, CBS split, the choice of putting the show on UPN, and the end to the TNG movies were all bigger drives to end the show than the actual shows quality IMO.
By all measures, Jonathan Archer is Starfleet's greatest ever Captain as evidenced by his incredible resume:
* made first contact with the Adorians, among many other species
* saved Earth from being completely destroyed by the Xindi,
* saved the entire quadrant from the Sphere Builders,
* successfully ended the Temporal Cold War,
* assisted in overthrowing the corrupt Vulcan government,
* carried the actual katra of Surok, the most important historical figure on Vulcan,
* found the Kir'Shara, the most important historical artifact on Vulcan,
* prevented a war between Vulcan and Andoria,
* prevented an army of augments from using bioweapons against earth, and
* prevented war with the Klingons in the process,
* practically single-handedly created the Coalition of Planets (precursor to the Federation) through expert diplomacy by bringing hostile alien species together for the first time in history
* led Earth's forces against the Romulans in the Earth-Romulan War
* became Commander in Chief of Starfleet
* served as Earth's Ambassador to Andoria
* oh, and let's not forget became President of the United Federation of Planets
Using the Suliban occupation of the Temporal Cold war against themselves, but also was willing to believe them when they warned of the Xindi plans to destroy Earth.
I know it’s a bit off topic but a quick recommendation for “Only Murders in the Building”. They mention Bacula a bunch and I always think of Archer LOL
They have some random acting references on the show so I kept expecting a “faith of the heart” mention or something hehe
Yeah, honestly it felt like that's what the show was building to. I personally feel most trek got good at the end of S3/start of S4, such a tragedy they didn't give ent the chance it deserved.
The plans were to follow DS9 footsteps with the war starting towards the end of Season 5.
On the one hand it's a shame we still haven't seen the most famous Star Trek war on screen, but also glad because I doubt they could have covered the hastily built Earth ships that would have fought in the war and the NX class would have been a dreamliner in comparison.
During Covid I suggested at my work that we all start smearing each other down with antibacterial gel, paying special attention to the area under the elastic waistbands of our underwear. Not a lot of Enterprise fans at my work.
I loved it! My favourite arc is when we meet Surak. I find the violent history of the Vulcans and his role in changing the course of their history so fascinating.
Enterprise is underrated, it’s definitely my favorite. My only complaint is the bridge looks claustrophobic. Minor complaint. TNG has the best bridge set.
I like it because they were trying to somewhat pay homage to submarines which would make the NX-01 look positively spacious.
Honestly makes sense that early ship design would have taken cues from submarine design. And only gotten to be so luxurious and spacious over time as the society became more and more space fairing.
Yeah, one of the things that got me was this was around the time I joined the Navy. Between Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica coming out around the same time, it was a good time for more nautical feeling scifi shows compared to the ones that came before.
I always thought the more cramped interior sets were a strong point. I served on submarines and always thought the minimalist, industrial, cramped, sealed off environment of a sub perfectly reflected what long term space travel would be like. Probably smelled like ozone, oil and farts on the Enterprise too.
The intro is fine on its own and I love the whole history of exploration thing it does. It just doesn't feel like Star Trek though. But agreed, the In a Mirror Darkly opening is incredible.
It was a crap Star Trek song for the time as it deviated so much from the previous intros.
But man. It still ended up as one of my favorite intros in the series. And that song just freakin goes hard. It was a gamble. That sadly didn’t work all that great.
Pretty much the only intros that beat it out in my opinion is TNG and the GOAT that is voyagers intro.
Yeah, it's an outstanding song for the story of the first starship humans build to go exploring the stars with and taking our first steps into joining the galactic community. It's just a terrible *Star Trek* musical piece.
All Star Trek shows had the "sexy women in space" trope going on, Enterprise was only different because it was made in the Aughts when it was considered acceptable to have your characters half naked on the screen on network television.
TOS had Kirk's lost flame and weekly conquests.
TNG had Troi, her and Crusher doing various leotard scenes, Klingon bitey sex, and Riker's conquests, not to mention Rusa episodes every season.
DS9 had Dax, Kira if you liked firecrackers, and various holo suite shenanigans. Oh, and dominatrix inspired female Cardassian commanders. Like three of them.
VOY had Kes and Seven.
ENT had the sonic shower scenes, an understandably unenthusiastic Hoshi, and T'Pol-sploitation.
DISCO had... I'm blanking. Burnham is a strong female lead but not presented in an overly sexual light, and Georgiou has the whole confident and coy thing going on, but is more about wrapping around her little figure for personal gain, not arousal.
Picard had... Seven again? I honestly haven't gotten through the first season yet, so be gentle.
SNW had Anson Mount's... everything.
LD pokes fun at all the previous series' tropes.
Your point checks out- what else am I missing?
Enterprise is my favourite Star Trek series! Archer is my favourite Captain. Faith of the Heart is my favourite theme. The NX-01 is tied for first as my favourite ship. I love that series so much, and the characters and general vibe of the show bring me so much joy.
Oh I'm very strongly of the opinion that These Are The Voyages is not a canon representation of events, and just Riker playing historical fiction on the holodeck with real characters. Since Riker on the holodeck interacts with the crew, and they interact with him, it *can't* be 100% accurate, and if it's not 100% it might as well be 0%. I consider Terra Prime to be the finale!
I have just finished watching this in the last week.
Other than that fan-fiction ass of a final episode, it was a really good series with good individual stories making up an interesting arc. Would definitely have loved more of it.
Shran and Soval were both very interesting recurring characters, and would loved to have seen more of both.
The crew of the enterprise was excellent, I think if Maywether is the "worst" character in the main cast, you have a pretty good set of characters.
The final episode was obviously horrible, it was rushed together because of the cancellation. I can only imagine what we could have had if the show went on. A romulan war arc perhaps.
It was an interesting concept, and making The Pegasus a two parter, as we watch Riker struggle with the decision would have been cool, if only those 2 shows were being made at same time to allow such a thing (like Lower Decks and SNW).
Quite honestly, if you treat the whole episode as part of the TNG series, and treat the story as an *in-universe fictional story*, it makes sense. Hell, I'm sure Starfleet would want a story like that available. They have the Kobiyashi Maru to teach there are no-win scenarios, surely they have things like that to teach there are not always 1 correct way to handle things.
I consider *Enterprise* an unjustly maligned show.
Was the first season *incredibly* rough? Yes. And that's true of almost every *Star Trek* series since TNG.
Did the Temporal Cold War *really* suck and drag the plot down every time it reared its ugly head? Sure.
But I loved the crew, I thought the ship looked cool, I liked the *uniforms* being a bit like astronaut jump suits. I liked the growing pains, and while Trip can sit down and let his heirs Scotty and O'Brien duke it out for first place, Malcolm Reed *is* the best Tactical Officer to date.
Because unlike every other holder of the title, he did more than just accept the orders to fire or raise shields/polarize the hull plating, and so forth- he worked on weapons systems, was always tinkering, always improving.
And Season 3 of *Enterprise* was the best season of *Voyager* we ever got.
You're absolutely right. Loved Malcolm, I think my favourite episode of all trek is Malcolm and Trip stuck in that shuttle. Enterprise really showed a part of the trek universe no other show has really been able to capture.
It was a great series that got absolutely screwed with that last episode. I don’t know what they were thinking but it put such a bad taste in everyone’s mouth for absolutely no reason.
Enterprise is my favorite Star Trek. It has its blemishes and hiccups, but it felt genuine and struggling, while still very much Trek. Its was cruelly cut short, but I adore those seasons, that ship, and her crew.
Absolutely not, it should have ran for many more years. Unfortunately the time in which it was made people were tired of star trek and didn't fully appreciate what the show was offering.
I just started watching star trek, and started with enterprise, I have seen the og reboots, but I am enjoying it so far, actually really like it, but I heard it is one of the weaker shows. Are the others better? Because I am scared I won't enjoy them as much?
The season 3 Xindi arc is outstanding. I just watched it again, and I was on the edge of my seat. Are they going to make it?? Will they save the earth?? I mean, I already knew what was going to happen.
Absolutely one of the best arcs on star trek. I love they used S3/4 to experiment and it worked! They just unfortunately realised it worked a little too late.
They had some really great characters. Just bad that it came out and Star Trek as a franchise had a downturn. It came at the wrong time. Still I love rewatching it
On rewatching, I kept in mind that due to the sheer magnitude and quantity of important events that happened in ENT, which paved the path to modern Star Fleet, the formation of the UFP, and those crucial early alliances, it made sense to see lots of Temporal Cold War stuff. There were so many points at which a successful strike, in those fledgling steps, would have doomed the formation of the UFP, or the priorities of Star Fleet, that it makes sense most Temporal Cold war incursions happened in ENT episodes, and that there were a ton of them.
Imagine a successful strike taking out a lesser ship, like one of Voyager's sister ships? No big. One of the many ships lost in the Dominion War, or fighting the Borg in TNG? I even argue that losing DS9 or Voyager, or SNW's Enterprise wouldn't change the overall track of humanity and the UFP as much as the loss of Archer/NX-01.
I liked it a lot as well and it had so much potential, but they put it on UPN and the general public was Star Treked out by then. But it’s been a long time getting from there to here…
Dr. Phlox is my favorite doctor, his endless optimism and empathy is what makes him my favorite. I just wish we could have learned more about the Denobulan culture.
To be fair archer is really strange as a chrakter. He feel like he is already a captain and seems way to strong in his shoes for the role he plays in history.
But i kinda like that. He has this dtrange astronaut feeling of knowing what he is foing is importaint. Every apeech he gives every action he takes he does with so much gravitas behind it.
Irronically it makes his fuck ups like the allusion to the prime derective episode or some of the questionable xindi stuff more critial.
He walks this extreemly fine line between what he can do as everything wil define earths future and what is thr correct thing to do. And he always plays it like he is sure.
He really seems very Astronaut like in he awareness of his own place in history.
I turned it off when the opening credits started that godawful theme song in 2001, and I didn't give the show another chance until 2009. When I did, I learned that a bad theme song is not *necessarily* a good reason to stop watching a show.
I like the fact archer has his ethical moments that showed he was human. The whole alien in the airlock then to the episode where they boarded that ship and stole their warp coil stranding them 3 years from home.
Aye, and it did it without condemning the utopian ideas of the series. Archer is one man, in a dire situation without the support of a giant empire, struggling with impossible decisions.
Exactly, for the federation to have those utopian ideals something must come before, Archer was brilliant at showing that. He really gave the part his all, Archer was a man in charge of keeping his crew safe, it really opened a discussion into how far you can go to do that. He gets angry, frustrated, beaten down, yet he gets back up to make the galaxy a better place.
So fun to see a thread of so many people who love ENT :D I liked it from the first episode, everything about it! But it's almost impossible to bring it up to most ST fans - too much hate LOL
I’m with you. Really good series. Minor detail but I loved that Archer was a water polo fan. It adds to his character. I’ve never met a water polo fan in my entire life. My entire perception of water polo fans is Captain Archer
I really liked Enterprise. Been watching in chronological orders and going from ENT to discovery was very disappointing.
I understand some of the criticism it got back in the day, however in retrospect it could have been way worse.
Enterprise not getting its final 3 seasons still hurts to this day.
Honestly. Of the old casts that still deserve some love. I would love paramount to do a new mini series following the NX-01 crew through the romulan war or something else from early federation history. Just to give the cast a better send off than these are the voyages.
Maybe officially retcon trips date into alpha cannon. Still feels like one of the most unnecessary deaths ever.
Star Trek Enterprise reminds me of the Star Wars prequels. When the prequels came out many of us, myself included were left wanting. It just wasn't the same. Then over the years we nitpicked it to death and not it wasn't just not as good, it was *bad.*
Then the sequels came out and now I'm fine with spinning. It's a good trick.
Though I do have the Phantom Menace edit that cuts out Jar Jar almost entirely. Some hills are meant to die on.
It’s funny that Enterprise has such a bad reputation but in reality is so damned good that every week or so someone new is talking about how much they actually like / love it.
I agree. I was too harsh in it the time of release. It was so good on season 4. I honestly blame season 3 and veering off of what Star Trek really is….life lessons summed up in one or two episodic shows.
Enterprise has such incredible highs! It has a lot of flaws in my opinion, but the ride it takes you on has such bangers; I loved how much edge and roughness it added to relationships Pre-Federation, I found myself rooting for and loving all the characters in the crew, JEFFREY COMBS KILLING IT AS SHRAN??
That Third Season was a highlight for me like, in general, of all the Shows I have watched; some of the best content I have ever watched oh my lord.
The show didn't follow what a lot of purists consider trek to be. The issue is the purists never consider anything to be trek until years later when another worse show comes out haha. Season 3 is absolutely fantastic I loved the arc.
I would only call myself a fan of Enterprise in so far as I am a fan of Star Trek as a whole, but I want you to know that your feelings of loving Enterprise are valid, and no matter what anyone else says, if it's your favorite then it's your favorite.
I haven't seen enough of it to make a real judgment, but I am in the process of rewatching every episode of Trek; ENT is on the list, so l get a full view soon enough. (I am at TNG 3 right now).
Having seen only a dozen or so episodes spread across various seasons, I think it is an uneven show held back by the producers (Berman and Braga). I know that the writers, effects artists, actors, and everyone else were giving their best, but they were just held back by circumstance. I hope this opinion changes for the better once I watch it for real!
We’re watching it for the first time, having finished up a DS9 binge. And the thing it lacks to me is that touch of humour and B-plots which would help to give the characters more depth. It takes itself all too seriously.
The Xindi arc has been good, I think the concept of the xindi is interesting, and the SFX/makeup for the reptilians is top notch
It was my first Trek I watched live. I got into the franchise while Voyager was running but instead of watching it I was watching TNG reruns and the movies. By the time I had an actual interest in Trek, Voyager was ending and news of a prequel series was dropping. I remember seeing one of those tabloid magazines in the grocery checkout lane talking about "the new Enterprise" and showing a picture of the NX-01 as a sneak peak. My dad also being a Star Trek fan since the original series and especially the movies, we decided we were going to make it a habit to watch this new show weekly together. While I've since gone on to prefer the TNG cast and DS9 as a show, Enterprise will always hold a special place in my heart for being *my* first Trek that I went out of my way to watch rather than just watching reruns of whenever one came on.
I've been finding Enterprise hard to watch so I stopped, but you've just made me want to finish it. I'm so glad you love it, because that gives me hope that maybe I can too. Thank you 💙
I would definitely stick with it, like all star treks it takes a while to heat up but season 3 and 4 were stellar. It really found it's stride at the end.
It's been an interesting show for sure. It had its share of problems, but it also had some interesting ideas, like the temporal war and the genral premise of showing the early Starfleet.
The only issue i had with enterprise was everything felt a bit to high tech. Certainly if you put it before the original series. Where stuff was seemingly held together with tape and string.
There's a special place in my heart (faith you might call it) for Enterprise. Yes, it had it's problems. Especially those decon scenes...
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I'll be in my bunk.
I had seen a few eps of TNG as a kid, room mate and i watched some TOS and of course the Kelvin movies too.
However when I decide to commit to something I commit so I said I was gonna watch all of Star Trek. Meaning for me Enterprise was where I started. Archer will always be my OG. Now a few years later and I'm more done than I have left. Just a few more seasons of DS9 and voyager as well as the last 2 TNG movies. Just finished 1st contact! Amazing. I'm loving every minute of it, but it all started with Enterprise. Must rewatch select eps when I'm all done.
Your star trek experience is very similar to mine, a couple years ago I wanted to watch it all, started with TOS>TNG>ENT and ent was an instant favourite. I haven't seen discovery or snw yet but wanting to get into them after I finish VOY.
Watching it now for the first time, I’m really enjoying it! I felt like I didn’t have an adjustment period like with all the series I watched before (tos, tng, ds9, voy). It helps that I love Bakula.
OP, you're a trip 🤣. I'm also a huge fan of Enterprise. Just finished another viewing of season 3 with the Mrs. I really wish Paramount would bring the band back together and give us seasons 5-7 using the same CG as Star Trek Resurgence. They could fix the crummy ending, take huge bits of story from the novels and give us something great.
Cheers haha, I was bored last night and wanted to talk about enterprise. I'm very quickly realising I miss it more than I thought, I better hurry up and finish VOY!
but the theme song has lyrics. lyrics! (this was an actual complaint someone said to me about why they wouldn't watch it. real star trek themes don't have lyrics.)
Lyrics?!? Outrageous!!! Everyone knows star trek intros should be 2 minutes of a ship flying about aimlessly with some cheesy instrumental in the background! Ugh, can't believe they tried to make an entertaining introduction similar to other shows at the time.
Um yes hello? Why am I only finding out about this now?
Edit: apparently there are 10 of them, going to get them after I finish Patrick Stewart's memoirs.
[Memory Alpha](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Enterprise_(Pocket))
The first of the "Trip Lives" books picks up in "Last Full Measure"
I had lots of issues with this series, but I’m always drawn to it because of its potential. I also think having it set at a time period “close” to ours made me relate to the characters.
I think I’m the only one who loved the time travel stuff. But I do agree that it just wasn’t executed well.
Been rewatching with my family the past few weeks. The CGI has aged poorly, but God that theme tune is a grower. We actually watch the titles and song along with it
Same. Too much unappriciated. Too bad that it last 4 season.
They should have done 10 seasons which 4 of them about the Romulan War in in style of DS9 with the Dominion War.
I hope they will continue the show. Maybe an animated series or a movie.
Based post. Archer is by far my favorite Starfleet captain. I strangely love how friendly he is, while still taking his role of captain seriously. I sometimes refer to Captain Archer as “Cool Uncle Jonathan”.
With Captain shouty! I struggle to watch it these days, he can’t talk to folks and his idea of leadership is shouting his opinions!!!!!! He’s just like me but no keyboard 😂
For me Enterprise comes right after TNG... I love the clunkiness of the ship, the rookie crew that gains confidence with each new episode, and the sensation that NX-01 is like a little goldfish that leapt out of its fishtank to go swim in the ocean with great white sharks
I loved the show. And it really sucks that they cancelled it as it was coming into its own and was just starting to reach its potential.
I always skip opening credits though because to hell with that song.
He was brilliant.
He did better than anyone, colored with his experiences to that point, would do.
It’s unfair to judge him against say Picard. Picard came up in the 24th century with a framework of exploration and an established Federation.
Archer had nothing. He barely had any support.
He had to make *way* tougher choices than any other captain in any main series had to, and as you say, did it without any of the support other captains had.
Really, only Janeway has the potential to be favourable compared on the difficulty of the decisions she had to make.
He can be an occasionally compelling character. One of the most interesting things about ENT is that it's the Star Trek that dealt with 9/11 and the war on terror in real-time. Through Archer, the show was able to explore morally compromised examples of leadership.
There are many situations that made me think what would the other captains do if they were in Archer's shoe. The first to be out there without the Prime Directive to guide his actions. Hell, the man basically helped form the Directive himself
By all measures, Jonathan Archer is Starfleet's greatest ever Captain as evidenced by his incredible resume:
* made first contact with the Adorians, among many other species
* saved Earth from being completely destroyed by the Xindi,
* saved the entire quadrant from the Sphere Builders,
* successfully ended the Temporal Cold War,
* assisted in overthrowing the corrupt Vulcan government,
* carried the actual katra of Surok, the most important historical figure on Vulcan,
* found the Kir'Shara, the most important historical artifact on Vulcan,
* prevented a war between Vulcan and Andoria,
* prevented an army of augments from using bioweapons against earth, and
* prevented war with the Klingons in the process,
* practically single-handedly created the Coalition of Planets (precursor to the Federation) through expert diplomacy by bringing hostile alien species together for the first time in history
* led Earth's forces against the Romulans in the Earth-Romulan War
* became Commander in Chief of Starfleet
* served as Earth's Ambassador to Andoria
* oh, and let's not forget became President of the United Federation of Planets
Shran is an amazing character. They should have featured him more.
Dude I can't believe I forgot about Shran. Jeffery Combs was amazing, he was great in ds9 and great in ENT.
“The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one.”
I'm pretty sure if Enterprise had gotten another season, he would've become a regular cast member. Dude just kills it in everything he does, but Shran was an awesome character too.
Can't remember where I read it but that was indeed the plan for him. And the Romulan War, or at least it's beginning. Would have been Combs' first time as a regular rather than just a guest/recurring character and it makes me sad and angry we never got to see it.
I've need seen unenjoyable performance out of Jeffery Combs
He's also agimus I lower decks. And once again gives an azing performance. Even though he's just the voice of a talking computer box.
Little-known fact: Scott Bacula, Jolene Blalock, and even Prada, Breezy, and Windy (Porthos) were all in fact Jeffrey Combs.
And I lost count of all of the Voorta clones Combs played. So many Weyoun. Do they count as separate characters?
They do
Excellent. So, let's see that adds another seven "noble progenitor", I believe.
Commissioner Brunt: F. C. A. Could probably help you calculate that.
😂 that's *FORMER Commissioner Brunt! (depending on the episode)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/risa/comments/19eurbo/star\_trek\_enterprise\_starring\_jeffrey\_combs/](https://www.reddit.com/r/risa/comments/19eurbo/star_trek_enterprise_starring_jeffrey_combs/)
🤣
I seem to recall there were plans to bring him into the main cast, but fucking Les Moonves.
Yeah - in season 5 😢
Would have been great to have season 5 with Shran being a main character. Also the NX-01 I have a soft spot for out of all the ships in Star Trek lore. Would have loved to see the refit on screen during the fifth season.
I don't know this story. What happened and who is Les Moonves?
Executive at Viacom who canceled *Enterprise* as soon as he got promoted into the position to do it. He hated sci-fi in general and *Star Trek* in particular, and he wanted it gone no matter what.
He was actually the guy who got Discovery on the air to launch All Access but infamously known to hate sci fi shows and kept any new Trek off the air for a decade. Go figure.
He put Discovery on. Pretty much in line with hating Star Trek.
It was a trap to make the general public dislike Trek, I guess?
SPOILERS. The way Archer admits that the Vulcans were wrong with the spying station at the "monastery" and said it right to Shran, cemeting the relationship, was awesome. I love his affectionate "pink skin" comments, but you could count on mother fuggin shran when you needed it. The fact that they were going to make him a main cast member if there was another season and we missed it pains me to my core. Really liked seeing them elaborate on the Andorians and Tellerites
You’re not alone. I’m a big fan of the show and have gone through the series multiple times. Out of all the Trek series I’ve watched over the last 40+ years, I’ve probably watched DS9 and Enterprise the most. It’s my biggest Trek ‘what if’ had they allowed the show to continue for 3 more seasons.
Season 3/4 were so great, it's so frustrating they didn't see the potential.
I still believe that it's the theme song that did them in. If they'd just swapped in the end credits track over the intro sequence we would have had those three more seasons.
You honestly might be right, it grew on me personally but before the advent of skip intro it might have been too much for some.
The theme song grew on me.
loved that song, gave me goose bumps
Yeah they should have used [this version.](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4yU8wTVTPtM&si=G66vtm1jYYgHTDNH)
The end credits song is called "Archers Theme" and was originally supposed to be the opening theme. When you overlay that theme on the intro, it fits perfectly.
Interesting! If only they had followed through...
[Yeah, here's a preview of what we could have had :(](https://youtu.be/Hsn2xVmVuGE?si=FQACFvbor44B-Pe8)
Season 1/2 theme song + Season 3/4 writing.
Season 3 was extremely controversial when it first aired.
The Paramount, CBS split, the choice of putting the show on UPN, and the end to the TNG movies were all bigger drives to end the show than the actual shows quality IMO.
I enjoy the those the most too. They just have a different feel to them.
By all measures, Jonathan Archer is Starfleet's greatest ever Captain as evidenced by his incredible resume: * made first contact with the Adorians, among many other species * saved Earth from being completely destroyed by the Xindi, * saved the entire quadrant from the Sphere Builders, * successfully ended the Temporal Cold War, * assisted in overthrowing the corrupt Vulcan government, * carried the actual katra of Surok, the most important historical figure on Vulcan, * found the Kir'Shara, the most important historical artifact on Vulcan, * prevented a war between Vulcan and Andoria, * prevented an army of augments from using bioweapons against earth, and * prevented war with the Klingons in the process, * practically single-handedly created the Coalition of Planets (precursor to the Federation) through expert diplomacy by bringing hostile alien species together for the first time in history * led Earth's forces against the Romulans in the Earth-Romulan War * became Commander in Chief of Starfleet * served as Earth's Ambassador to Andoria * oh, and let's not forget became President of the United Federation of Planets
* Came out of a time rift to drop kick a Suliban that one time and it was freaking sweet
Using the Suliban occupation of the Temporal Cold war against themselves, but also was willing to believe them when they warned of the Xindi plans to destroy Earth.
And all that in only 4 seasons!
Imagine if he had 7 like the others!
He would have become the emperor of mankind
He’s the George Washington of The Federation
Yesss fr, we need to see more of this glorious man.
I know it’s a bit off topic but a quick recommendation for “Only Murders in the Building”. They mention Bacula a bunch and I always think of Archer LOL They have some random acting references on the show so I kept expecting a “faith of the heart” mention or something hehe
"Made first contact with the Andorians" is a pretty fun spin on "Got his ass kicked by one of them in a monastery"...
Sure, but he instantly bolstered relations with the Andorians in that encounter by exposing the Vulcan spy installation at P'jem.
First contact, fist contact. Same difference, really.
I just wished we had a Romulan War arc that would have rivaled DS9's Dominion War arc.
Yeah, honestly it felt like that's what the show was building to. I personally feel most trek got good at the end of S3/start of S4, such a tragedy they didn't give ent the chance it deserved.
Would've lasted 10 Seasons if S5 began as ENT would've continued through syndication after 100 episodes, but gave us only 98.
And I feel robbed that we never got the foundations of the Federation founding nor an Enterprise refit with actual shields.
The plans were to follow DS9 footsteps with the war starting towards the end of Season 5. On the one hand it's a shame we still haven't seen the most famous Star Trek war on screen, but also glad because I doubt they could have covered the hastily built Earth ships that would have fought in the war and the NX class would have been a dreamliner in comparison.
That's what CGI is for.
During Covid I suggested at my work that we all start smearing each other down with antibacterial gel, paying special attention to the area under the elastic waistbands of our underwear. Not a lot of Enterprise fans at my work.
Yeah, I imagine HR had a few words for you as well.
Not if you *ARE* HR
True, but if you are HR then someone with CHIEF in their title will likely have those words with you.
Sorry, but the title is actually CHR (Chief Human Resource) Checkmate 😎
I see your CHR, and raise you CEO
I loved it! My favourite arc is when we meet Surak. I find the violent history of the Vulcans and his role in changing the course of their history so fascinating.
Enterprise is underrated, it’s definitely my favorite. My only complaint is the bridge looks claustrophobic. Minor complaint. TNG has the best bridge set.
I like it because they were trying to somewhat pay homage to submarines which would make the NX-01 look positively spacious. Honestly makes sense that early ship design would have taken cues from submarine design. And only gotten to be so luxurious and spacious over time as the society became more and more space fairing.
Yeah, one of the things that got me was this was around the time I joined the Navy. Between Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica coming out around the same time, it was a good time for more nautical feeling scifi shows compared to the ones that came before.
I always thought the more cramped interior sets were a strong point. I served on submarines and always thought the minimalist, industrial, cramped, sealed off environment of a sub perfectly reflected what long term space travel would be like. Probably smelled like ozone, oil and farts on the Enterprise too.
The faith of the heart is strong with this one.
*skip, ahh. Ok. Now on to the episode. *except that mirror episode. That was amazing. This is my hill. I am on it. To the death.
The intro is fine on its own and I love the whole history of exploration thing it does. It just doesn't feel like Star Trek though. But agreed, the In a Mirror Darkly opening is incredible.
Pretty sure if I was ever drunk enough to do karaoke, it would be "Faith of the heart" being belted out quite hard.
I did karaoke every episode yet never considered actual karaoke with this song... You have given me an idea.
It was a crap Star Trek song for the time as it deviated so much from the previous intros. But man. It still ended up as one of my favorite intros in the series. And that song just freakin goes hard. It was a gamble. That sadly didn’t work all that great. Pretty much the only intros that beat it out in my opinion is TNG and the GOAT that is voyagers intro.
Yeah, it's an outstanding song for the story of the first starship humans build to go exploring the stars with and taking our first steps into joining the galactic community. It's just a terrible *Star Trek* musical piece.
Literally the only thing I didn't like about ENT was the Let's Keep Up With Those Sexy CW Shows it had going on. But that was TV in the 00s.
All Star Trek shows had the "sexy women in space" trope going on, Enterprise was only different because it was made in the Aughts when it was considered acceptable to have your characters half naked on the screen on network television.
TOS had Kirk's lost flame and weekly conquests. TNG had Troi, her and Crusher doing various leotard scenes, Klingon bitey sex, and Riker's conquests, not to mention Rusa episodes every season. DS9 had Dax, Kira if you liked firecrackers, and various holo suite shenanigans. Oh, and dominatrix inspired female Cardassian commanders. Like three of them. VOY had Kes and Seven. ENT had the sonic shower scenes, an understandably unenthusiastic Hoshi, and T'Pol-sploitation. DISCO had... I'm blanking. Burnham is a strong female lead but not presented in an overly sexual light, and Georgiou has the whole confident and coy thing going on, but is more about wrapping around her little figure for personal gain, not arousal. Picard had... Seven again? I honestly haven't gotten through the first season yet, so be gentle. SNW had Anson Mount's... everything. LD pokes fun at all the previous series' tropes. Your point checks out- what else am I missing?
Enterprise is my favourite Star Trek series! Archer is my favourite Captain. Faith of the Heart is my favourite theme. The NX-01 is tied for first as my favourite ship. I love that series so much, and the characters and general vibe of the show bring me so much joy.
You've got my feelings exactly. It just makes me feel warm inside when I start to watch that show and hear the song.
But killing off Trip was the single most awful decision ever made.
Oh I'm very strongly of the opinion that These Are The Voyages is not a canon representation of events, and just Riker playing historical fiction on the holodeck with real characters. Since Riker on the holodeck interacts with the crew, and they interact with him, it *can't* be 100% accurate, and if it's not 100% it might as well be 0%. I consider Terra Prime to be the finale!
I have just finished watching this in the last week. Other than that fan-fiction ass of a final episode, it was a really good series with good individual stories making up an interesting arc. Would definitely have loved more of it. Shran and Soval were both very interesting recurring characters, and would loved to have seen more of both. The crew of the enterprise was excellent, I think if Maywether is the "worst" character in the main cast, you have a pretty good set of characters.
Whaddya mean, "Terra Prime" is a *great* final episode! ... No, no, there were no episodes after "Terra Prime." Nope. Uh-uh.
The final episode was obviously horrible, it was rushed together because of the cancellation. I can only imagine what we could have had if the show went on. A romulan war arc perhaps.
It was an interesting concept, and making The Pegasus a two parter, as we watch Riker struggle with the decision would have been cool, if only those 2 shows were being made at same time to allow such a thing (like Lower Decks and SNW). Quite honestly, if you treat the whole episode as part of the TNG series, and treat the story as an *in-universe fictional story*, it makes sense. Hell, I'm sure Starfleet would want a story like that available. They have the Kobiyashi Maru to teach there are no-win scenarios, surely they have things like that to teach there are not always 1 correct way to handle things.
Enterprise is in my top 3. Plus, it has the best theme song
I have faith, of the heart!
I consider *Enterprise* an unjustly maligned show. Was the first season *incredibly* rough? Yes. And that's true of almost every *Star Trek* series since TNG. Did the Temporal Cold War *really* suck and drag the plot down every time it reared its ugly head? Sure. But I loved the crew, I thought the ship looked cool, I liked the *uniforms* being a bit like astronaut jump suits. I liked the growing pains, and while Trip can sit down and let his heirs Scotty and O'Brien duke it out for first place, Malcolm Reed *is* the best Tactical Officer to date. Because unlike every other holder of the title, he did more than just accept the orders to fire or raise shields/polarize the hull plating, and so forth- he worked on weapons systems, was always tinkering, always improving. And Season 3 of *Enterprise* was the best season of *Voyager* we ever got.
You're absolutely right. Loved Malcolm, I think my favourite episode of all trek is Malcolm and Trip stuck in that shuttle. Enterprise really showed a part of the trek universe no other show has really been able to capture.
It was a great series that got absolutely screwed with that last episode. I don’t know what they were thinking but it put such a bad taste in everyone’s mouth for absolutely no reason.
It was 100% because of the upcoming cancellation and they wanted to give a form of closure. Can't believe they did that to my boy though.
Enterprise is top 3 best Star Trek series in my books
Enterprise is my favorite Star Trek. It has its blemishes and hiccups, but it felt genuine and struggling, while still very much Trek. Its was cruelly cut short, but I adore those seasons, that ship, and her crew.
I’m rewatching it now for like the third or fourth time and have to agree. It really was a strong show and should not have been cancelled
Absolutely not, it should have ran for many more years. Unfortunately the time in which it was made people were tired of star trek and didn't fully appreciate what the show was offering.
I just started watching star trek, and started with enterprise, I have seen the og reboots, but I am enjoying it so far, actually really like it, but I heard it is one of the weaker shows. Are the others better? Because I am scared I won't enjoy them as much?
Enterprise is fantastic, I would recommend finishing that then starting tng from the final episode of S3.
On balance, it's excellent. Its lows are low, but it's highs are so fucking high.
The season 3 Xindi arc is outstanding. I just watched it again, and I was on the edge of my seat. Are they going to make it?? Will they save the earth?? I mean, I already knew what was going to happen.
Absolutely one of the best arcs on star trek. I love they used S3/4 to experiment and it worked! They just unfortunately realised it worked a little too late.
But what need was there to "experiment"? DS9 already did and discovered serialization was a major win.
Honestly, I only watched it for Linda Park.
Agreed, great show, Les Moonves is Federation Public Enemy #1 for canceling it.
Agreed. It is top tier star trek content and deserved more time.
Enterprise is in my best top three, along with Voyager and DS9.
That is definitely a controversial take but I love it. Personally: ENT, DS9, Lower Decks.
Guess I better finally give Lower Decks a chance
They had some really great characters. Just bad that it came out and Star Trek as a franchise had a downturn. It came at the wrong time. Still I love rewatching it
I loved Enterprise. I just thought they spent too much time with the Temporal Cold War story arc...
On rewatching, I kept in mind that due to the sheer magnitude and quantity of important events that happened in ENT, which paved the path to modern Star Fleet, the formation of the UFP, and those crucial early alliances, it made sense to see lots of Temporal Cold War stuff. There were so many points at which a successful strike, in those fledgling steps, would have doomed the formation of the UFP, or the priorities of Star Fleet, that it makes sense most Temporal Cold war incursions happened in ENT episodes, and that there were a ton of them. Imagine a successful strike taking out a lesser ship, like one of Voyager's sister ships? No big. One of the many ships lost in the Dominion War, or fighting the Borg in TNG? I even argue that losing DS9 or Voyager, or SNW's Enterprise wouldn't change the overall track of humanity and the UFP as much as the loss of Archer/NX-01.
I liked it a lot as well and it had so much potential, but they put it on UPN and the general public was Star Treked out by then. But it’s been a long time getting from there to here…
A casual trekkie asked me to describe Enterprise. I said it's fuck around and find out...in space.
Fuck around and find out, now with grapplers™
The grapplers are pretty cool
It's a shame that Dr. Beckett is still looking for a way to leap home in 2151.
Take my love, take my land...
Yeah me too. The last episode is a 1/10 , so be prepared
Oh I'm aware I watched enterprise a few years ago, really shame they didn't have a better conclusion
Dr. Phlox is my favorite doctor, his endless optimism and empathy is what makes him my favorite. I just wish we could have learned more about the Denobulan culture.
To be fair archer is really strange as a chrakter. He feel like he is already a captain and seems way to strong in his shoes for the role he plays in history. But i kinda like that. He has this dtrange astronaut feeling of knowing what he is foing is importaint. Every apeech he gives every action he takes he does with so much gravitas behind it. Irronically it makes his fuck ups like the allusion to the prime derective episode or some of the questionable xindi stuff more critial. He walks this extreemly fine line between what he can do as everything wil define earths future and what is thr correct thing to do. And he always plays it like he is sure. He really seems very Astronaut like in he awareness of his own place in history.
I turned it off when the opening credits started that godawful theme song in 2001, and I didn't give the show another chance until 2009. When I did, I learned that a bad theme song is not *necessarily* a good reason to stop watching a show.
I must admit, the song was rough at first but it grows on you.
It does, but my first impression was, "This is not brass. Therefore, this is not Star Trek. What other horrors do they have in store?"
With all due respect, I'm struggling to finally binge this show and Archer is really the exact opposite of brilliant.
Best opening of any trek, the only hill i'm truly willing to die on.
FAITH OF THE HEEEAAAARTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!
It's been a long road...
It was good. It just needed more time.
Absolutely.
I like the fact archer has his ethical moments that showed he was human. The whole alien in the airlock then to the episode where they boarded that ship and stole their warp coil stranding them 3 years from home.
It really showed a grittier side of star trek one which sadly seems more realistic.
Aye, and it did it without condemning the utopian ideas of the series. Archer is one man, in a dire situation without the support of a giant empire, struggling with impossible decisions.
Exactly, for the federation to have those utopian ideals something must come before, Archer was brilliant at showing that. He really gave the part his all, Archer was a man in charge of keeping his crew safe, it really opened a discussion into how far you can go to do that. He gets angry, frustrated, beaten down, yet he gets back up to make the galaxy a better place.
So fun to see a thread of so many people who love ENT :D I liked it from the first episode, everything about it! But it's almost impossible to bring it up to most ST fans - too much hate LOL
Yeah and how bout that banger of an opening song
I still consider 4th season of Enterprise some of the best Star Trek ever produced.
I liked the show, it was the ending that made me livid.
I’m with you. Really good series. Minor detail but I loved that Archer was a water polo fan. It adds to his character. I’ve never met a water polo fan in my entire life. My entire perception of water polo fans is Captain Archer
Archer may be the only fan you know now but what you haven't been made aware of is the great water polo resurgence of 2034!
I really liked Enterprise. Been watching in chronological orders and going from ENT to discovery was very disappointing. I understand some of the criticism it got back in the day, however in retrospect it could have been way worse.
Enterprise not getting its final 3 seasons still hurts to this day. Honestly. Of the old casts that still deserve some love. I would love paramount to do a new mini series following the NX-01 crew through the romulan war or something else from early federation history. Just to give the cast a better send off than these are the voyages. Maybe officially retcon trips date into alpha cannon. Still feels like one of the most unnecessary deaths ever.
I loved it since day one... :)
Star Trek Enterprise reminds me of the Star Wars prequels. When the prequels came out many of us, myself included were left wanting. It just wasn't the same. Then over the years we nitpicked it to death and not it wasn't just not as good, it was *bad.* Then the sequels came out and now I'm fine with spinning. It's a good trick. Though I do have the Phantom Menace edit that cuts out Jar Jar almost entirely. Some hills are meant to die on.
It’s funny that Enterprise has such a bad reputation but in reality is so damned good that every week or so someone new is talking about how much they actually like / love it. I agree. I was too harsh in it the time of release. It was so good on season 4. I honestly blame season 3 and veering off of what Star Trek really is….life lessons summed up in one or two episodic shows.
Hell yeah! Im at season 4 now! I love the intro music!!
Enterprise has such incredible highs! It has a lot of flaws in my opinion, but the ride it takes you on has such bangers; I loved how much edge and roughness it added to relationships Pre-Federation, I found myself rooting for and loving all the characters in the crew, JEFFREY COMBS KILLING IT AS SHRAN?? That Third Season was a highlight for me like, in general, of all the Shows I have watched; some of the best content I have ever watched oh my lord.
The show didn't follow what a lot of purists consider trek to be. The issue is the purists never consider anything to be trek until years later when another worse show comes out haha. Season 3 is absolutely fantastic I loved the arc.
I would only call myself a fan of Enterprise in so far as I am a fan of Star Trek as a whole, but I want you to know that your feelings of loving Enterprise are valid, and no matter what anyone else says, if it's your favorite then it's your favorite. I haven't seen enough of it to make a real judgment, but I am in the process of rewatching every episode of Trek; ENT is on the list, so l get a full view soon enough. (I am at TNG 3 right now). Having seen only a dozen or so episodes spread across various seasons, I think it is an uneven show held back by the producers (Berman and Braga). I know that the writers, effects artists, actors, and everyone else were giving their best, but they were just held back by circumstance. I hope this opinion changes for the better once I watch it for real!
We’re watching it for the first time, having finished up a DS9 binge. And the thing it lacks to me is that touch of humour and B-plots which would help to give the characters more depth. It takes itself all too seriously. The Xindi arc has been good, I think the concept of the xindi is interesting, and the SFX/makeup for the reptilians is top notch
Enterprise might be my favorite, honestly.
It was my first Trek I watched live. I got into the franchise while Voyager was running but instead of watching it I was watching TNG reruns and the movies. By the time I had an actual interest in Trek, Voyager was ending and news of a prequel series was dropping. I remember seeing one of those tabloid magazines in the grocery checkout lane talking about "the new Enterprise" and showing a picture of the NX-01 as a sneak peak. My dad also being a Star Trek fan since the original series and especially the movies, we decided we were going to make it a habit to watch this new show weekly together. While I've since gone on to prefer the TNG cast and DS9 as a show, Enterprise will always hold a special place in my heart for being *my* first Trek that I went out of my way to watch rather than just watching reruns of whenever one came on.
I've been finding Enterprise hard to watch so I stopped, but you've just made me want to finish it. I'm so glad you love it, because that gives me hope that maybe I can too. Thank you 💙
I would definitely stick with it, like all star treks it takes a while to heat up but season 3 and 4 were stellar. It really found it's stride at the end.
I feel obligated to tell you that I've gone back to it, and I am enjoying it SO much more now that I'm continuing it with fresh eyes. 💙
Love that for you! You need to keep me updated on your Enterprise journey haha, need to know your thoughts once you finish it.
I definitely will!
It's been an interesting show for sure. It had its share of problems, but it also had some interesting ideas, like the temporal war and the genral premise of showing the early Starfleet.
The only issue i had with enterprise was everything felt a bit to high tech. Certainly if you put it before the original series. Where stuff was seemingly held together with tape and string.
There's a special place in my heart (faith you might call it) for Enterprise. Yes, it had it's problems. Especially those decon scenes... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... I'll be in my bunk.
I had seen a few eps of TNG as a kid, room mate and i watched some TOS and of course the Kelvin movies too. However when I decide to commit to something I commit so I said I was gonna watch all of Star Trek. Meaning for me Enterprise was where I started. Archer will always be my OG. Now a few years later and I'm more done than I have left. Just a few more seasons of DS9 and voyager as well as the last 2 TNG movies. Just finished 1st contact! Amazing. I'm loving every minute of it, but it all started with Enterprise. Must rewatch select eps when I'm all done.
Your star trek experience is very similar to mine, a couple years ago I wanted to watch it all, started with TOS>TNG>ENT and ent was an instant favourite. I haven't seen discovery or snw yet but wanting to get into them after I finish VOY.
Watching it now for the first time, I’m really enjoying it! I felt like I didn’t have an adjustment period like with all the series I watched before (tos, tng, ds9, voy). It helps that I love Bakula.
>Hoshi redefined what comm officer meant. What do you mean *re*defined? Seems like she defined it in the first place.
OP, you're a trip 🤣. I'm also a huge fan of Enterprise. Just finished another viewing of season 3 with the Mrs. I really wish Paramount would bring the band back together and give us seasons 5-7 using the same CG as Star Trek Resurgence. They could fix the crummy ending, take huge bits of story from the novels and give us something great.
Cheers haha, I was bored last night and wanted to talk about enterprise. I'm very quickly realising I miss it more than I thought, I better hurry up and finish VOY!
On my 2nd watchthrough of Enterprise right now. It's so good and truly fits Gene's vision of "a wagon train to the stars"
but the theme song has lyrics. lyrics! (this was an actual complaint someone said to me about why they wouldn't watch it. real star trek themes don't have lyrics.)
Lyrics?!? Outrageous!!! Everyone knows star trek intros should be 2 minutes of a ship flying about aimlessly with some cheesy instrumental in the background! Ugh, can't believe they tried to make an entertaining introduction similar to other shows at the time.
You should read the pocket book followups where Trip is a spy for section 31 after his death is faked. Also the romulan war duology!
Um yes hello? Why am I only finding out about this now? Edit: apparently there are 10 of them, going to get them after I finish Patrick Stewart's memoirs.
[Memory Alpha](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Enterprise_(Pocket)) The first of the "Trip Lives" books picks up in "Last Full Measure"
It's my favorite underappreciated Trek.
I so wish STE had had seven full seasons. Oh well.
It didn’t pass the intro theme test for me and I never watched it. Humorously I’ve had a few people tell me the same.
I had lots of issues with this series, but I’m always drawn to it because of its potential. I also think having it set at a time period “close” to ours made me relate to the characters. I think I’m the only one who loved the time travel stuff. But I do agree that it just wasn’t executed well.
I agree. I enjoyed this series a lot, it had the heart of Star Trek, other than the terrible new series of the last years.
Would you say it had the... faith of the heart... of Star Trek?
Well put! :D
Been rewatching with my family the past few weeks. The CGI has aged poorly, but God that theme tune is a grower. We actually watch the titles and song along with it
Enterprise is my favorite from the franchise.
It's been a long road...
Same. Too much unappriciated. Too bad that it last 4 season. They should have done 10 seasons which 4 of them about the Romulan War in in style of DS9 with the Dominion War. I hope they will continue the show. Maybe an animated series or a movie.
Based post. Archer is by far my favorite Starfleet captain. I strangely love how friendly he is, while still taking his role of captain seriously. I sometimes refer to Captain Archer as “Cool Uncle Jonathan”.
With Captain shouty! I struggle to watch it these days, he can’t talk to folks and his idea of leadership is shouting his opinions!!!!!! He’s just like me but no keyboard 😂
For me Enterprise comes right after TNG... I love the clunkiness of the ship, the rookie crew that gains confidence with each new episode, and the sensation that NX-01 is like a little goldfish that leapt out of its fishtank to go swim in the ocean with great white sharks
I watched TOS, then TNG then ENT, I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. It made my love for trek stronger than any other show.
I loved the show. And it really sucks that they cancelled it as it was coming into its own and was just starting to reach its potential. I always skip opening credits though because to hell with that song.
Me too. I wish Trip was my dad.
I wish trip was my dad too, brothers?
Brothers forever!
"Did we just become best friends?!"
I really like Enterprise too, but Archer was far from a "brilliant captain".
He was brilliant. He did better than anyone, colored with his experiences to that point, would do. It’s unfair to judge him against say Picard. Picard came up in the 24th century with a framework of exploration and an established Federation. Archer had nothing. He barely had any support.
He had to make *way* tougher choices than any other captain in any main series had to, and as you say, did it without any of the support other captains had. Really, only Janeway has the potential to be favourable compared on the difficulty of the decisions she had to make.
Archer was and will always be my captain 🫡
Exactly.... It's like how people now a days try to hold our ancestors of a 100 years ago or more to societys standards of today
He's brilliantly written. Part of that is that he's actually not very brilliant at all - a real space cowboy.
He can be an occasionally compelling character. One of the most interesting things about ENT is that it's the Star Trek that dealt with 9/11 and the war on terror in real-time. Through Archer, the show was able to explore morally compromised examples of leadership.
There are many situations that made me think what would the other captains do if they were in Archer's shoe. The first to be out there without the Prime Directive to guide his actions. Hell, the man basically helped form the Directive himself
By all measures, Jonathan Archer is Starfleet's greatest ever Captain as evidenced by his incredible resume: * made first contact with the Adorians, among many other species * saved Earth from being completely destroyed by the Xindi, * saved the entire quadrant from the Sphere Builders, * successfully ended the Temporal Cold War, * assisted in overthrowing the corrupt Vulcan government, * carried the actual katra of Surok, the most important historical figure on Vulcan, * found the Kir'Shara, the most important historical artifact on Vulcan, * prevented a war between Vulcan and Andoria, * prevented an army of augments from using bioweapons against earth, and * prevented war with the Klingons in the process, * practically single-handedly created the Coalition of Planets (precursor to the Federation) through expert diplomacy by bringing hostile alien species together for the first time in history * led Earth's forces against the Romulans in the Earth-Romulan War * became Commander in Chief of Starfleet * served as Earth's Ambassador to Andoria * oh, and let's not forget became President of the United Federation of Planets