Broken Bow

An *Opinionated Enterprise Episode Guide* review.

Review of the Season 1 two-part pilot episode of *Star Trek: Enterprise*.

## Episode information

* **Season:** 1
* **Episode:** 1/2
* **Original airdate:**
* *[ Broken Bow, Part 1]* at StarTrek.com, the official website
* *[ Broken Bow, Part 2]* at StarTrek.com, the official website
* *[ Broken Bow, Part 1]* at Memory Alpha, a canon *Star Trek* wiki
* *[ Broken Bow, Part 2]* at Memory Alpha, a canon *Star Trek* wiki
* *[ Broken Bow]* at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
* *[ Broken Bow]* at the Internet Movie Database

## Review information

* Review link
* Published:

## SF Debris synopsis

*Opinionated Enterprise Episode Guide looks at where it started, Broken Bow. Trill to Archer arguing with Vulcans, Gumby-like aliens, and the various misfits he's been saddled with. Still, he manages to save the day thanks to the script writers being on his side.*

## Post-Episode Follow-Up

### Final Score: 5 out of 10

***Broken Bow***

"Final score for Broken Bow in its entirety is 5 out of 10. Though Part 2 is a little bit better than the first. It’s fairly average for *Enterprise* (sigh), take that for what it’s worth.

The major source of disappointment with the pilot is its basis in the Temporal Cold War. The reason the Temporal Cold War didn’t work and it was obvious from the start, was that there was no real plan for it. I think the Temporal Cold War had serious potential, but something as complicated as time travel needs careful plotting, and something as complex as a war subplot needs careful planning.

A war through time, frankly, did not play to the strengths of these two writers. If they really did have this grand idea on this Temporal Cold War thing, then why in the world did Season 3 have to suddenly take this huge right turn into the entire Xindi plot, in its desperate attempt to reinvent the show to keep it on the air ? The answer, of course, is because there was no grand plan for the Temporal Cold War, just a couple of bulletpoints.

The pilot presents a microcosm of the problems of the first two seasons.

One: Weak characterization. These don’t seem like people, they seem like raw archetypes. The reason I talk about Tucker as a redneck stereotype, for instance, is because he’s played like a redneck stereotype. And Connot Trineer is capable of a lot better than this. You can’t blame him for this. But he can only work with what he’s given.

Two: Taking the conflict too far. Conflict is fine. It was one of the big complaints that it was lacking on TNG. But irrational conflict is no better. The degree of condescension, sarcasm and hostility on display between the Vulcans and humans is overwhelming. How are these people so poor at talking diplomatically with each other, when they’re flippin’ diplomats ?!

Three: Starfleet sucks… NASA put a man on the Moon in less than nine years. If Starfleet had been doin’ it, we’d be lucky if they had gotten there by the time the Berlin Wall fell. And as soon as they’d arrive, they’d be standing there and going „So, um, what now, Houston ? Is there some kind of science stuff we should be doing ?“.

All in all, the pilot does just what a pilot should, gives an idea what the series is like. Hence why it§s a typical *Enterprise* episode. It’s just sad that it set the bar so low for the series, but thankfully, things would eventually improve. But if anything, that just shows how lucky *Enterprise* was. Look at the countless SF shows out there that have been cut short. *Firefly*, *The Sarah Connor Chronicles*, *Lone Gunmen*, *Jericho*, *V*, *Farscape*, *Tremors*, and I’m sure that you’ve got your own that you’d add into the list. Most shows don’t have the luxury of „Give it time to get better...“, and as this list shows, even when it has a good start, it can get killed before its time. You may even argue that was the case for *Enterprise*’s premature cancellation after Season 4. By the time they had finally found their direction, it was just too late, the damage had been done."

### Annoying character

***Mayweather and Tucker***

"As I’ve revealed, the annoying characters were Mayweather for Part 1 and Tucker for Part 2."

## Memorable quotes/jokes from the review

(prologue of the review)

Reed *(annoyed)*: "Ahh.... This is ridiculous... I order some plasma coils, and they send me a case of valve sealant."

SF Debris: What the hell is the matter with Starfleet ? They’ve fot one damned ship to prep and they can’t stop screwing it up. My God… No wonder the Vulcans have so little faith in humans. They can’t fill out a frickin’ work order for their most important ship on Starfleet’s most important mission, without messing it up... I’d ground them too. But then… I’m just a viewer with an opinion.

## See also

* Opinionated Enterprise Episode Guide
* Enterprise Season 1 reviews