Amazon.com With Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) trapped in the 31st century, season 2 of Enterprise opens with a rousing resolution to season 1's cliffhanger finale. The first four episodes instantly became fan favorites: "Shockwave, Part II" advances the Suliban's role in the Temporal Cold War; "Carbon Creek" reveals the real first contact (albeit a secret one) between humans and Vulcans in Pennsylvania in 1957, allowing Jolene Blalock to play T'Pol's "second foremother" in a Sputnik-era scenario; in "Minefield," Reed (Dominick Keating) is nearly killed by an explosive device attached to Enterprise's hull; the damage is repaired in "Dead Stop," featuring award-winning digital modeling effects as the disabled Enterprise encounters a mysterious automated space station. Season 2 also emphasizes Archer's ongoing friction with the Vulcan High Command, exacerbated when T'Pol's career is threatened (in "Stigma") by her involuntary involvement with ostracized mind-melders. Connections to the original Star Trek (series and films) continue with episodes involving Tellarites, Tholians, Klingons, Andorians, and even a brief appearance by a Tribble (one of many occasions for humor in Dr. Phlox's sickbay, the setting of many of the season's finest dialogue-driven scenes). Early warp-drive history is also explored in "First Flight," a Right Stuff-like episode guest-starring Keith Carradine as Archer's friend and rival in breaking the Warp 2 barrier.
Consisting primarily of stand-alone episodes that integrate ongoing story arcs, season 2 showcases the primary cast with generally good results: Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) visits the "boomer" cargo ship he was raised on in "Horizon"; Hoshi (Linda Park) experiences unsettling transporter symptoms in "Vanishing Point"; and Tucker (Connor Trineer) plays a pivotal role in several episodes, notably "Dawn," "Precious Cargo" and "Cogenitor." And while "Regeneration" provoked controversy among fans for introducing the yet unnamed Borg in an early Starfleet context, it's a fine episode (with echoes of The Thing) that holds up to scrutiny, while others (including "The Crossing," "The Breach" and "Cogenitor") feel somewhat recycled, indicating the challenge of finding new ideas in the Star Trek canon. Overall, however, season 2 is consistently strong, with several episodes directed by cast alumni from previous Trek series, including NextGen's LeVar Burton, and Voyager's Roxanne Dawson and Robert Duncan McNeill. They all lead up to a devastating attack on Earth (with seven million casualties, including Trip's younger sister) in "The Expanse," ending the season with high-stakes mystery as Enterprise enters a treacherous region of space in search of the Xindi, an enemy race that factors heavily in season 3.
Abundant bonus features include a generous selection of deleted scenes (non-essential, but interesting to fans); audio commentary (on "Dead Stop" and "Regeneration") by writers Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong, who explain the challenge of writing under constantly shifting production conditions; and text commentary (on "Stigma" and "First Flight"), in which Trek veterans Michael and Denise Okuda demonstrate their encyclopedic knowledge of Star Trek fact and fiction. Six Easter eggs, known as "NX-01 Files," are hidden on the Special Features menus; they offer brief glimpses into specific aspects of production, including set recycling and art direction. "Enterprise" secrets are revealed for those who pay meticulous attention to detail; "Inside 'A Night in Sickbay'" offers a behind-the-scenes assessment of that memorable episode; and "LeVar Burton: Star Trek Director" celebrates the actor's smooth transition to directing after his stint on Next Generation. "Enterprise Profile: Jolene Blalock" is a tribute to the sexy actress by her fellow cast members and executive producers Brannon Braga and Rick Berman, including Blalock's assessment of T'Pol's pivotal role as Enterprise's resident Vulcan. Best of all, however, are the hilarious outtakes: They show the cast as a family unit, combining hard work with humor as the second season progresses. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description Set in the year 2151, Captain Jonathan Archer and his crew explore space aboard the newly commissioned starship Enterprise.
Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Second Season from "A" (Archer) to Xindi!September 8, 2010 Joseph Torcivia(Westbury, NY USA) Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Second Season
(Released: 2005 by Paramount Home Entertainment)
Another Looong DVD Review by Joe Torcivia
Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete First Season was an unexpected pleasure. Please read that review elsewhere on Amazon. Let's move on to Season Two!
In the beginning, Zefram Cochrine invented Warp Drive technology. The rest was (TV, movie, and merchandising) history!
When something is great to begin with, and its follow-up is just as good, it's a wonderful thing! And so it is with Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Second Season.
As with all previous "Modern TREK Series", we resolve last season's cliffhanger, move though another solid season of surprises and delights - and, in this case, go somewhere completely unexpected in setting up the season to come.
As is our custom in these reviews, we'll break it into CONS and PROS.
The CONS:
Packaging: The packaging remains unchanged from Season One - and is such for the duration of the series. If you like it, you like it. I do not. Nor do I truly dislike it, but more intelligence - and dare I say "LOGIC" - could have been applied to the design.
Attached to the package with TWO DABS OF GLUE is a cardboard piece that wraps AROUND THE TOP FRONT, BACK, AND BOTTOM FRONT of the package! You cannot open the package without removing the cardboard. BUT, on this cardboard, is the ONLY PLACE that it is identified as being the SECOND SEASON! So, if you remove it, nothing else on the package can distinguish it from other seasons. WHY?
No Skipping the End Credits: As with Season One, I found that the EPISODE END CREDITS - the SAME end credits that Paramount routinely shrunk, squashed, and did not allow to be read in its original UPN TV broadcasts - COULD NOT BE CHAPTER-SKIPPED on it's DVDs. Of course, I can choose to fast forward through them, if need be. BUT... Just thought I'd share the irony, folks!
The PROS:
Widescreen: STAR TREK ENTERPRISE is the first TREK series to be filmed in widescreen. When played on my HD TV and upconverted via Blu-ray player, it's a delight to behold!
Content Booklet: Each season of Star Trek Enterprise comes with an enclosed BOOKLET of about 12 pages. Every episode of the set is described in sufficient detail to remind you of the particulars if you've seen it, or whet your appetite if you have not. But, where this item becomes especially valuable (...particularly for a season beyond Season One), is the recap of "The Story So Far". Very nice to have for a quick review, before beginning the new voyages.
Also helpful are "Shaping the Future", emphasis on a key episode of Season Two, and "Long Range Scan", a preview of things to come in Season Three.
The Episodes:
"Shockwave Part II": Ever since STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION floored us with "The Best of Both Worlds Parts I and II", STAR TREK series have offered season-ending cliffhanger episodes! Last season's Part One revealed more tantalizing details about the "Temporal Cold War" and the dire consequences for the Earth when Archer is removed from the time stream.
Part Two finds Archer marooned in the devastated 31st Century, with time-traveling "crewman" Daniels. Archer's removal, in some way, leads to the United Federation of Planets never forming and the destruction of Earth's civilization. Needless to say, the technology to return Archer to 2152 is also destroyed, leaving him and Daniels helpless and stranded. Meanwhile, an armada of Suliban (a conspirator race in the "Temporal Cold War") led by Archer's foe Silik, have captured the Enterprise, demanding that First Officer T'Pol and the crew produce Archer or face death.
Other highlights include:
"Carbon Creek": Vulcans crash-land in 1950s rural Pennsylvania! This may be one of the single greatest TREK stories ever! (...And THAT is no small claim!) A "break" story that features the regular crew only in framing sequences.
"Minefield": Introduces us to the Romulans - though they were mentioned in an historical context in "Shockwave Part II".
"A Night in Sickbay": Great character story for Archer and Doctor Phlox - and Porthos the Beagle's illness makes us all sad.
"Marauders": Klingon raiders terrorize and plunder a small mining colony. Archer doesn't stand for this. Relive the days when Klingons were great villains! Ah, such memories!
"The Communicator": A lesson in why you should never be careless with your equipment, when observing more primitive alien cultures.
"The Catwalk": An amazing story of the Enterprise crew "in-exile" aboard their own ship! While navigating a deadly region of radiation, the crew must take refuge in a shielded maintenance shaft - for eight days. During this period, a race immune to the danger takes control of Enterprise.
"Dawn": A superb "Trip and a Hostile Alien in Danger" story. Dawn, as in "sunrise", brings killer (literally) heat to the planet where the pair is stranded.
"Cease Fire": Expands on the bitter history of the Vulcans and the Andorians, originally explored in Season One's "The Andorian Incident". Both episodes are a great and unexpected spin on our impressions of the Vulcans.
"Canamar": Archer and Trip are arrested as smugglers, and sentenced to a planetary penal colony. I suppose every series, from LOST IN SPACE on, ends up doing one of these.
"Judgment": Archer's life is in the hands of a worn-out Klingon defense advocate.
"Cogenetor": Trip's interference with an alien culture has surprisingly bad consequences. The ending will kick you in the gut, like an episode of LOST or ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS!
"Regeneration": No Spoilers, but I actually said "Oh, F***!" out loud, when I saw WHO was discovered in the Antarctic! (Yes, sometimes it's GREAT to approach a series completely "in the dark"! The surprises are all the more effective!) Hooks superbly into one of the TREK feature films. The episode commentary track reveals a great deal of TREK continuity-related controversy associated with this episode. Me? I had no problem, and really enjoyed it.
"First Flight": The "Right Stuff" story of Star Trek's Warp Program told in flashback. Jonathan Archer and his rival A.G. Robinson compete to be the first pilot to break the Warp 2 barrier!
"Bounty": A Tellarite Bounty Hunter captures Archer, who is regarded as a fugitive - per the events of "Judgment", for the Klingon Empire.
"The Expanse":
BIG SPOILER ALERT! BIG SPOILER ALERT! BIG SPOILER ALERT!
(Okay, I warned you!) In its final episode of the season, ENTERPRISE takes a decidedly unexpected turn. An orbiting weapon appears from nowhere, and fires a destructive beam at Earth! The beam cuts a devastating swath of annihilation from Florida to Venezuela.
Enterprise is recalled from its mission, and is to return to Earth immediately. Along the way, it is encountered by the Suliban. Silik reveals his connection with the "Man From The Future", who has been behind many of the machinations of the "Temporal Cold War".
"Future Guy" (as he is called in commentary tracks) reveals that the attack came from 400 years in the future - by an as of yet unknown race called "The Xindi". The Xindi have preemptively unleashed their attack because Earth will destroy THEIR planet in the future. (...Got that, so far?)
The Xindi home world exists in a "Bermuda Triangle-like" area of space called "The Delphic Expanse" where, according to our Vulcan "friends", strange phenomena occur and ships never return.
Enterprise is fitted with a new command center and upgraded weaponry. It also takes on military personnel, to operate alongside its normal complement of Starfleet crewmembers. Its new mission is to locate and contact the Xindi in the PRESENT DAY, before the attack takes place. Recall that, in the context of this series, Enterprise is the only Earth ship in existence capable of reaching the Expanse.
Archer and company head toward the Delphic Expanse... with a number of Klingon warships in pursuit, as Archer is still wanted by the Klingon Empire. And so, we move into Season Three, and what seems to be an unprecedented season-long arc of adventure vs. the Xindi!
END OF SEASON FINALE SPOILERS!
Extra Features:
Numerous features on the genesis and background of the series are included. "Enterprise Moments: Season Two" focuses on season highlights. Jolene Blalock (T'Pol) is profiled. There is a featurette on the episode "A Night in Sickbay". Also included are outtakes, stills, audio and text commentaries.
Overall:
In its Second Season, STAR TREK ENTERPRISE is a great show - that is getting greater still as it progresses into Season Three. In a way, I'm glad I missed the original run; in order to enjoy the great experiences I'm having now!
Give it a look. You won't be sorry!
Live Long And Prosper Star TrekAugust 21, 2010 Blue_Brit After renting all the seasons three or four times from Netflix, I finally decided to buy all of the seasons, I can watch Enterprise over and over again and never get bored, great cast, great stories, I wish they hadn't killed off Trip though, and T'pol, wow, hottest Vulcan ever.
AmazingJuly 21, 2010 BSBisback Still dont understand why they canceled this awesome show because i think its freaking amazing and really pulls you in. The company's loss....
star trek enterprise season 2June 29, 2010 Leslie This is a very good sequal to the 1st season- if you liked danger, bad guys and the vulcan changing her view, then this is the season for you!
Star Trek Enterprise The Second seasonJune 24, 2010 philfisher599 I'am very happy with is purchase and will buy the other two season in the coming months.
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