With those words, __Star Trek: Enterprise__ and the Star Trek franchise as a whole, came to an abrupt conclusion.
After watching the series finale, “These Are The Voyages,” I couldn’t help thinking that Berman and Braga designed this episode to be more of a tribute toward themselves, rather than their fans. After all, the episode chronologically takes place in __Star Trek: The Next Generation__’s seventh season, aka 1993 – the glory days where it seemed the final frontier of the franchise seemed limitless. They even revisited that tried and true hackneyed plot device – the holodeck.
Sadly, the cast of __Enterprise__ became bit players on their own show. And as I watched TNG’s Commander Riker, roleplaying as the confidante chef in a holographic recreation of the NX-01, rubbed elbows with this cast, I sadly realized we knew more about Riker’s id than Reed, Sato and Mayweather combined. They seemed to be cardboard cutouts than people in comparison.
So why has Trek died not with a bang, but with a whimper? Some say it’s the abysmal scripts. Others blame a saturated geek’s market of __CSI__’s and __Smallville__’s, a multitude of strong science and fantasy shows to choose from. I say it’s that character development and high concept sci-fi has been replaced by banal phase pistol gunfights and bare midriffs.
I own both the TNG and DS9 Technical Manuals. I continue to contribute to Memory Alpha. Star Trek inspired me in my adolescence, back when it wasn’t hip to be a nerd. For that, I say thanks. May it return, strong than ever, somewhere…out there.