History Series / StarTrekEnterprise

Theories as to Enterprise's place after ''Film/StarTrek'' split the universe's timeline are many. The simplest is that it takes place in both. Others are that the show occurs in the ''Star Trek XI'' timeline but not the original timeline, or even that ''Enterprise'' actually occurs in a '''third''' timeline. WordOfGod is that the events of ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' did alter the timeline of ''Enterprise'' somewhat (also explaining the more advanced technology), though whether this actually puts it in a different timeline to the other ''Trek'' shows is still up in the air.

It's been a long road, getting from [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]] to here...

* YouKeepUsingThatWord: T'Pol repeatedly invokes logic whenever dealing with the subject of Time Travel. T'Pol, you've met Daniels and seen his advanced technology and you yourself once parsed through a futuristic archive which included a complete history of Vulcan ships that ''haven't been built yet''. You once encountered a pod thats BiggerOnTheInside that contained a dead human corpse that had ''Vulcan'' DNA, something that is currently impossible by today's science. How can you ''still'' deny that every single bit of evidence points that time travel is not only possible, but frequently standing right front of you?! ''That'' is what is would be called a ''logical'' conclusion. However, she does later admit it is the only explanation when sent back to 21st-century Earth.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: SFDebris takes great delight in pointing out in "The Andorian Incident" that, while the Vulcans clearly were wrong and spying on their adversaries, Archer intentionally reveals their spy array to the Andorians and possibly gives them reason to start an ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero interstellar war]]'' because of it. He also points out that Archer seems to forget that the Vulcans are Earth's closest ''allies'' and the Andorians have honestly done nothing to dispel the image that they're the aggressors, since they're been literally beaten the crap out of Archer since the moment they've met him. Why is interstellar policy being determined by a man who honestly is likely suffering a ''concussion'' at this point?

* TheMole: Archer's steward Daniels turns out to be a time agent from the 31st century. [[spoiler: Malcolm Reed works for an early incarnation of [[DeepSpaceNine Section 31]], while reporter Gannet turns out to be working for Starfleet Intelligence and Ensign Masaro for radical Earth group Terra Prime]].

* YouLookFamiliar: JeffreyCombs, a Trek regular, plays the Andorian Shran. J.G. Hertzler (General Martok from ''DeepSpaceNine'') guest-stars as a Klingon defense attorney in "Judgement", then briefly appears ''again'' as a Klingon Bird of Prey captain (Hertzler makes a great Klingon). And [[IdenticalGrandson naturally Brent Spiner plays Dr. Soong]].

It's been a long road, getting from [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS]] to here...

A prequel series set in the 22nd century, about 100 years before ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. [[TheCaptain Captain Jonathan Archer]] commands a new warp-5 starship, ''Enterprise'' (NX-01), seeking out new life and new civilizations. The key selling point of this series was that space travel was not as casual as it became later in the chronology. Most humans have never even left Earth and those who have rarely made it out of Earth's solar system. Unlike the other modern ''Trek'' series, these characters were prone to swear and [[{{Fanservice}} walk around in their underwear]]. The series only lasted four seasons, making it the shortest lived ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series since the [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries animated series]], and the shortest-lived live-action series in the franchise other than [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original]].

The first and second seasons dealt with exploration. The Enterprise was the first human ship to reach warp 5, and was therefore the first ship to visit many of the worlds explored in these seasons. Some episodes featured the crew encountering phenomena that Franchise/StarTrek fans would be familiar with, but the characters wouldn't. The temporal cold war arc was also introduced during this time. Factions in the future were using time travel technology to manipulate the time stream in their favour. This plot was forced on the writers through [[ExecutiveMeddling executive meddling]], so it unfortunately just pops up from time to time before finally being terminated the second the executives let them in season four. During season two, there was a sharp decline in viewer-ship which led to a retool for season three.

To lead into the third season, an alien race called the Xindi attacked Earth because of an unknown element of the Temporal Cold War arc. ''Enterprise'' was refitted into a more efficient battleship and sent to a chaotic region of space called the Expanse to either stop further attacks against Earth or enter negotiations. The entire season dealt with the imminent war and moral compromises the crew had to make, while ignoring the original arc featuring the Suliban.

* EnemyMine: "Sleeping Dogs" (''DasBoot'' InSpace!), "Shadows of P'Jem", "Dawn", "The Forgotten", "Countdown", "Zero Hour", "Storm Front", "United."

* ConquerorFromTheFuture: The Sphere-Builders. A [[PlanetOfHats whole race of them]].

** TheOtherWiki also says that a radio station contest winner also appeared in one of these episodes.

* DeadGuyJunior: Trip and T'Pol's temporary baby, Elizabeth, after Trip's recently murdered sister.
* DecontaminationChamber: Transporters with bio-filters hadn't been invented yet and are viewed with suspicion anyway as brand new technology, so these get used.

* {{Fanservice}}:

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The bridge crew follows this formula pretty much to the letter, with the extra two coming into play as well:

* {{The Man Behind The Man}}: Future Guy in the first couple seasons, the Sphere Builders in Season 3.

* PiggybackingOnHitler: In "Storm Front", the Na'kuhl find themselves back in time on 20th-century Earth, during World War II. They side with the Nazis, offering to build advanced weapons in exchange for the resources they need to build a time machine. When the Nazis complain that the Aliens aren't helping them enough, the alien leader lampshades the trope by bluntly stating that the Nazis conquer countries; they conquer ''planets''.

* YouAreNotReady: Archer holds a grudge against the Vulcans for withholding information on warp technology, so his father (an FTL engineer) never got to see his work in practice. Even though Archer learns that it's all a bit more complicated than that, resentment on this issue is maintained by other humans (one Terra Prime operative mentions the Vulcans' failure to stop WorldWarIII as the reason he joined the xenophobic organization).

* {{Zipperiffic}}: The uniforms worn by Archer and co.

** Archer also came into possession of a second Cell Ship in "Shockwave Part 2"... so this even becomes even more of an issue of why they never did this.

** [[YourMileageMayVary Even if you agree with Archers decision]], leaving the Valakians to die in "Dear Doctor" is definitely a downer.

* ArcNumber: For the third season, 7 million was the number of lives lost on Earth by a Xindi sneak attack, which was retold again and again in case we forgot.

A prequel series set in the 22nd century, about 100 years before ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. [[TheCaptain Captain Jonathan Archer]] commands a new warp-5 starship, ''Enterprise'' (NX-01), seeking out new life and new civilizations. The key selling point of this series was that space travel was not as casual as it became later in the chronology. Most humans have never even left Earth and those who have rarely made it out of Earth's solar system. Unlike the other modern ''Trek'' series, these characters were prone to swear, revel in their mistakes and [[{{Fanservice}} walk around in their underwear]]. The series only lasted four seasons, making it the shortest lived ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series since the [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries animated series]], and the shortest-lived live-action series in the franchise other than [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original]].

It's been a long road, getting from [[StarTrekTOS TOS]] to here...

The fourth SpinOff of the long-running ''StarTrek'' franchise, and the first of the spinoffs not to go seven seasons. It ran from 2001-2005.

A prequel series set in the 22nd century, about 100 years before ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. [[TheCaptain Captain Jonathan Archer]] commands a new warp-5 starship, ''Enterprise'' (NX-01), seeking out new life and new civilizations. The key selling point of this series was that space travel was not as casual as it became later in the chronology. Most humans have never even left Earth and those who have rarely made it out of Earth's solar system. Unlike the other modern ''Trek'' series, these characters were prone to swear, revel in their mistakes and [[{{Fanservice}} walk around in their underwear]]. The series only lasted four seasons, making it the shortest lived ''StarTrek'' series since the [[StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries animated series]], and the shortest-lived live-action series in the franchise other than [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original]].

The first and second seasons dealt with exploration. The Enterprise was the first human ship to reach warp 5, and was therefore the first ship to visit many of the worlds explored in these seasons. Some episodes featured the crew encountering phenomena that StarTrek fans would be familiar with, but the characters wouldn't. The temporal cold war arc was also introduced during this time. Factions in the future were using time travel technology to manipulate the time stream in their favour. This plot was forced on the writers through [[ExecutiveMeddling executive meddling]], so it unfortunately just pops up from time to time before finally being terminated the second the executives let them in season four. During season two, there was a sharp decline in viewer-ship which led to a retool for season three.

Theories as to Enterprise's place after ''StarTrekXI'' split the universe's timeline are many. The simplest is that it takes place in both. Others are that the show occurs in the ''Star Trek XI'' timeline but not the original timeline, or even that ''Enterprise'' actually occurs in a '''third''' timeline. WordOfGod is that the events of ''StarTrekFirstContact'' did alter the timeline of ''Enterprise'' somewhat (also explaining the more advanced technology), though whether this actually puts it in a different timeline to the other ''Trek'' shows is still up in the air.

** Some fans argue that the whole show takes place in one, created by ''StarTrekFirstContact''.

* BrickJoke: The ''Defiant'' (from the ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Tholian Web") makes an unexpected re-appearance over 37 years after that episode aired.
** In the alternate timeline where the Xindi destroy Earth, the last human colony is located on [[StarTrekII Ceti Alpha V]]. The writers openly admitted to twisting the knife that much more - even if the humans were to somehow escape the Xindi, the colony would be destroyed anyways in less than a century.

* {{Crossover}}: Will Riker and Deanna Troi from ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' in the final episode.

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: The pilot episode "Broken Bow" has a Klingon crash on Earth in Nebraska and was shot by a farmer with a plasma rifle that has the mechanical behavior of a lever-action shotgun. It gave the series a stronger TwentyMinutesInTheFuture tone that set it apart from other ''StarTrek'' shows.

* HollywoodEvolution: As standard per ''StarTrek''.

* HumansAreSpecial: Like most ''StarTrek'' series.

* RedShirt: The crew never suffered any fatal casualties in the first two seasons (despite incidents like a Romulan stealth mine blowing away a section of the hull), no doubt to avoid the 'phaser fodder' cliche. All this changed in the third season Xindi war arc with 27 crewmen killed. The trope is lampshaded in "The Forgotten", when Trip has to write a letter to the parents of a dead crewmember but [[ForgottenFallenFriend can't remember much about her]], so he keeps getting her mixed up with his DeadLittleSister. There's also two classic redshirt incidents: in "The Council" three main characters and a MACO enter one of the mysterious Spheres, and in Season 4 "Daedalus" Reed goes searching through a dark room for a NegativeSpaceWedgie with an unnamed crewmember -- no guessing who gets killed on both occasions. Deliberately parodied in [[MirrorUniverse "In A Mirror, Darkly"]] where Mirror Reed puts on an [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Original Series]] redshirt with near-fatal consequences.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: By Season 3, ratings were no longer steadily dropping, but they also hadn't rebounded either. Though renewed for a fourth season, the network opted to move the series to Friday nights, which was seen as a death sentence not just by fans, but by the production staff. It's been suggested that with UPN shifting more interest towards the female demographic, they had less interest in anything ''StarTrek''-related. Combined with a lack of promotion, [[http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20060217133704/http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/~mvrojo/entratings.htm ratings]] hit their absolute lowest (with several falling below three million viewers).
* SerkisFolk: Xindi Insectoids and Aquatics. Also ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' aliens the Gorn and Tholians are re-done as these in "In A Mirror, Darkly."

* ShoutOut: [[StarTrekFirstContact "We might as well be firing holographic bullets"]], among many others.

* SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay: SpaceIsAnOcean, SpaceIsNoisy, {{Two-DSpace}}, InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace, and every other standard ''StarTrek'' misrepresentation.

* SpinoffSendoff: This series is the only one not to be sent off by the previous series, but rather by one of TNG's movies, ''[[StarTrekFirstContact First Contact]]'', with a recorded message from Zefram Cochrane.
* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:"Regeneration" reveals ''StarTrekFirstContact'' was one. Basically, the Borg attacked earth, going back in time, where several were shot down. Then, they wake up, and send the location of Earth to the Borg. It was estimated to take 200 years to reach them. 200 years later, basically, the Borg attacked Earth, going back in time...]]

** Combs was one of the pirates in "Acquisition" along with Ethan Phillips (Neelix from ''StarTrekVoyager''), Clint Howard (Grady from the StarTrekDeepSpaceNine episode "Past Tense, Part II" and Balok from waaaay back in [=TOS=]' "The Corbomite Maneuver").
** Rene Auberjonois (Odo from ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'') guest-stared as Ezral in the episode "Oasis."

* CommunicationsOfficer: Hoshi's job. Her linguistics expertise also came into play because the Universal Translator was still a work-in-progress.

* ContestWinnerCameo: Radio Celebrity BobRivers appears as an extra in 2 different episodes.

* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: Well, Klingon Lawyers actually.

The first and second seasons dealt with exploration. The Enterprise was the first human ship to reach warp 5, and was therefore the first ship to visit many of the worlds explored in these seasons. Some episodes featured the crew encountering phenomena that StarTrek fans would be familiar with, but the characters wouldn't. The temporal cold war arc was also introduced during this time. Factions in the future were using time travel technology to manipulate the time stream in their favour. This plot was forced on the writers through [[ExecutiveMeddling executive meddling]], so it unfortunately just pops up from time to time before finally being terminated the second the executives let them in season four. During season two, there was a sharp decline in viewer-ship which lead to a retool for season three.

* AscendedMeme: SciFiDebris coined the name "Future Guy" as a sarcastic name for the mysterious leader of the Temporal Cold War. Ironically the writing staff actually took this name and used it for the character.

* YouFailBiologyForever: "Dear Doctor." ''SciFiDebris'' has some things to say on this ([[http://sfdebris.com/enterprise/e113.asp here]] and [[http://sfdebris.com/everything/deardoctor.asp here]]). One thing to add is that if a species evolved something fatal, that is an ''accident''. It's not something deliberate to make room for another species in that niche.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: "Unexpected"

* RapeIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale: "Unexpected"

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler:"Vanishing Point", "Doctor's Orders", '"These Are The Voyages"'' as far as the audience is concerned. The novel ''Last Full Measure'' lends credence to this, revealing the program that was run by Riker to be a fabrication.]]]]

A prequel series set in the 22nd century, about 100 years before ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. [[TheCaptain Captain Jonathan Archer]] commands a new warp-5 starship, ''Enterprise'' (NX-01), seeking out new life and new civilizations. The key selling point of this series was that space travel was not as casual as it became later in the chronology. Most humans have never even left Earth and those who have rarely made it out of Earth's solar system. Unlike the other modern ''Trek'' series, these characters were prone to swear, revel in their mistakes and [[{{Fanservice}} walk around in their underwear]]. The series only lasted four seasons, making it the shortest lived ''StarTrek'' series since the [[StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries animated series]], and the shortest-lived live-action series in the franchise other than [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the original]].

* InfiniteSupplies: Mostly averted. Unlike ''StarTrekVoyager'', damage inflicted in one episode ("Minefield") meant they had to pull into a space repair dock in the next ("Dead Stop"). And severe damage in the third season meant that for the rest of the season they spend time repairing the ship but almost anything more then a hiccup and the ship starts to fall apart again. As well, there weren't any starbases around and any damage to the warp drive meant that help was months or even years away.