Almost like a light bulb about to burn out...
Among the many things noted lightly in passing (and not remarked on, as I've done nothing with this place all week) , I saw that Paramount refused to accept the money Trek United had collected from fans, and that the money was being returned to the fans... minus the percentage taken by PayPal and whatever other financial institution managed to carve a slice out of the transaction. While they tried to keep a brave and foward-looking face on it, it amounted to an admission that Star Trek: Enterprise is done. So, this puts what's essentially a wrap on what was reported here and here.
I'm bringing that up not only to close the loop, but because I happened to catch last night's episode, number 5 in the countdown of the final five. Even a casual watcher of this season, such as me, has noted that they've been going back to the original series for... inspirations. Still, that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially as Enterprise should be, thematically, the closest to the original Star Trek. This week turned out to be the first half of In a Mirror, Darkly, which takes us into the parallel universe of the original series' Mirror, Mirror.
Rather than giving us the formulaic clash of cultures as people from the mainstream Trek universe wrestle physically and morally with their counterparts and the counterparts of friends in the alternate universe, Enterprise looked to its series premise. The first half of this episode - and hopefully this will hold true for the second half - takes place entirely in the alternate universe where instead of a peaceful Federation of Planets there's an all-conquering Empire. A particularly nice bit is that, since Enterprise is all about humanity's striving toward the sky and then the stars, focusing on the birth of the Federation, it's only fitting that they kick it off with a replaying of the first official contact between the people of Earth and Vulcans. Except, in this version, when the Vulcan emissary steps off his ship, shows the crowd his elfin ears and great poofy doo, and greets Zephram Cochraine (and to be consistent with the movies, they pulled James Cromwell in to reprise his role from Star Trek: First Contact.) with a "live long and prosper", instead of ending with a hand extended in friendship, the smiling Cochrane pulls a shotgun from inside his coat, blows the Vulcan away and ushers the now-roaring mass of rag-tag humanity behind him aboard the ship to take all they can find. So is planted the seed of an interplanetary empire as humanity sees a sudden jump in its technology.
This is followed a montage of humanity's historical climb towards the sea, sky and finally space, albeit one of a far more martial nature. Happily, this is accompanied by a similarly martial turn for the music, rather than the generally (and aptly) much-lamented standard opening song "Faith of the Heart"... though that would have been pretty funny against a backdrop that repeatedly turned to strafing runs and bombings. The (presumed) return to the standard theme for the final three episodes will likely seem twice the drag in the reappearance.
Now, I'm not claiming the show has suddenly become brilliant, but the first half of this two-parter was entertaining enough that I'll make a point of watching the second half next week. We're checking in on an alternate universe without any of the necessities of dealing with the "real" versions trying to get home, etc. Oh, there are several elements that will make it additionally interesting to fans of previous series, too, but those are best taken in the course of the episode. It's always fun to see how medical personnel in these evil empires have a sadistic nature as part of the job requirement, too.
Most likely if you check the local UPN listings you'll find them rerunning it at least once before next Friday's conclusion for the episode.
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