DVD Corner

Star Trek: Enterprise Season Three Blu-ray Review

The third season of “Star Trek: Enterprise” is a departure from the first two.

After 2 seasons of largely stand-alone episodes, the 24 episode season 3 took a vastly different route by having a season spanning story arc about the crew of the Enterprise trying to stop the reptilian alien species (the Xindi) from building a weapon to destroy Earth. Of course, the entire season isn’t JUST about that plot. Trekkers, Trekkies, and everyone in between can expect stories about time travel, peace negotiations, sphere builders, a virus, Trellium-D, anomalies, a Trip clone, and an alternate timeline.

While season spanning story arcs worked well for the excellent and criminally underrated “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (which will hopefully be released on Blu-ray someday), the Xindi arc in ‘Enterprise’ doesn’t quite have the same impact. I respect the fact that the writing staff were trying something new to win over fans who were wishy washy about the first two seasons of Enterprise, but the problem is that the Xindi just aren’t that engaging of a villain. I could see this arc being a greater success if the villains were on the level of the Borg, Cardassians, or one of the other many iconic villains, but they aren’t. While the costume and creature design is impressive, the Xindi themselves never really caught on the way the writers had hoped. Additionally, the Xindi arc just drug on for far too long. If this was a 13 episode arc or season, I could see it being more effective. With 24 episodes, however, it just becomes stale after awhile and leaves you yearning for more stand alone episodes like “Carbon Creek.”

On the plus side, there are several notable episodes throughout the season like “Carpenter Street” (which is set in 2004 Detroit), the clever “E²,” the thought provoking clone centric episode “Similitude,” the Vulcan horror episode “Impulse,” and the eventful season finale “Zero Hour.” The darker and more serious minded tone that ran throughout season three was also much appreciated by this reviewer.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? Much like the first season Blu-ray set, the picture quality is rather underhwleming. The picture appears a bit fuzzy and not as crisp and clear as the TNG sets. The series looks at its best in scenes with CGI and brighter lighting. Sure, it’s still an upgrade from the DVD, but I think we all expected better here.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD. How does it sound? Whether the Enterprise is gliding through space or a phaser is being fired, this track delivers in the sound department.  

Extras:
* Deleted scenes from “Similitude,” “Chosen Realm,” and “E².”
* A photo gallery, 6 minutes of amusing outtakes,“Enterprise” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation” Blu-ray ads, a short featurette on locations titled “Enterprise Secrets,” 2 Archival Mission Logs about the Xindi arc and season 3 highlight episodes, and 3 NX-01 files about Phlox baring all, costumes, and the “E²” episode.
* Informative text commentaries by Mike and Denise Okuda on “The Xindi,” “Impulse,” and “Countdown.”
* A so-so commentary on “Impulse” by David Livingston and David A. Goodman. The two chat about the zombie element, directing, and story elements.
* A rather dull commentary on “Twilight” by Mike Sussman and Tim Gaskill.
* Two commentary tracks on “North Star.” One by David A. Goodman and Chris Black and the other is a solo track by Michael Demeritt.
* Two commentary tracks on “Similitude” by Manny Coto and Connor Trinneer and a solo one by Manny Coto. The track with Coto and Trinneer is arguably the most interesting track on this set from a discussion perspective.
* A laidback commentary on “The Forgotten” by David A. Goodman, Chris Black and Connor Trinneer. Worth a listen.
* Commentary on “The Countdown” by Chris Black and Andre Bormanis. Both of their memory is a bit hazy so they don’t have much to add.
* “Behind The Camera: Marvin Rush”- A featurette about the cinematographer.
* “In A Time Of War: Temporal Cold War: Declassified”- An in-depth examination of the Temporal Cold War storyline.
* “In A Time Of War”- A new to Blu-ray 3 part extra that contains episode clips, honest cast and crew interviews, as well as lengthy discussions about the Xindi arc, character arcs, Manny Coto, the season’s highs and lows, the special f/x, and creature designs. As with all of the newly shot/compiled extras on the Trek Blu-rays, this is first rate bonus feature material.
* “Enterprise Profile: Connor Trinneer”- An extra about the actor and the character he plays (Trip).
* “A Day In The Life Of A Director: Roxann Dawson”- An interesting 17 minute technical behind-the-scenes piece about Dawson’s directorial duties on “Exile.”

Overall Thoughts: Like any “Star Trek,” season 3 of ‘Enterprise’ is well worth watching. I may be in the minority here, but I still enjoy the first two seasons of the series the most. With that said, I still find the third season to be a noble experiment.

January 8, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Enterprise Blu-ray, Enterprise Season 3 Blu-ray Review, Star Trek: Enterprise Season Three Blu-ray Review, Xindi