Buck Turgidson

Berman and Braga kick the franchise in the nuts...again.

coladar

I just watched it and I am completely lost. When they said Archer had "died", I assumed that either the Andorians or the time traveling fellow plucked him up in the knick of time. Excluding those two, one has to wonder htf he gets from quite a ways away to Earth.

Something that I didn't see brought up, and possibly because I missed something: It's possible there is a "bubble" around Earth with time distorting properties due to the weapon exploding. That almost has to be the case... Hell, I'm trying to think of a way to explain, and I'm just confused. It absolutely has to be a time-distorting field around Earth.

If that wasn't the case, wouldn't that mean the Xindi are now in the past as well? If not the entire Xindi area of space, at the least the Aquatics that brought Enterprise home?

This finale has the possibility to prove there is potential in this show after the Xindi... But, I can't help but think this will all be resolved in the opening ten minutes of the season premiere. Excluding that, this Nazi alien could really screw up continuity (As if it matters at this point) if all Enterprise did was go back in time, meaning there were aliens on Earth working with the Nazis. I'm hoping the resolution is going to be as interesting and complex as it seems like it might be at the moment, but knowing Enterprise I doubt it. Here's hoping...

MvRojo

^That's an interesing possibility. I honestly am so lost right now (from the episode and a night of drinking) that I need to really watch it again to figure it out.

Chew

I have to agree, I don't think the alien Nazi was any kind of Xindi. It doesn't match the information we've been given about the Avians.

MvRojo

It also didn't look like the skull they showed in "The Council".

I have a couple theories:

1) Someone brought them back in time, but the timeline is correct and WWII was actually an offshoot that can be blamed on the TCW

2) The Nazi Alien was a Reman and that this is part of things that lead to the Earth-Romulan War.

Chew

Now that is something I would like to see.

Shannon Nutt

I haven't watched Enterprise since the first episode this season, so I was a little in the dark with this finale.

However, do we know that the Enterprise travelled back in time at all? Or is this just the way the Earth developed when the time line got screwed up (and the crew is still in the same year they were).

Also, I'm ASSUMING that there were two endings filmed for this show, the one we saw and one where Archer dies and the crew just returns to a normal Earth (which would have been used if UPN cancelled the show).

I'm not crazy about the whole "Alternate Earth" thing...hopefully they'll get it all wrapped up in two or three episodes next season...its just been done so many times on so many TV shows (including Star Trek).

What REALLY would have been good is if instead of an alien wearing that Nazi uniform in the last shot, it would have been William Shatner...now THAT would have been a cliffhanger!

Red Dog

I had the same exact thought.

Good to see that the 'experts' seems to be just as confused as I am about the ending. When they said Archer died, I just figured that the Andorians beemed him up to their ship.

nemein

Personally I have to say I was underwhelmed by the cliffhanger. My first reaction was not another $#!@ time travel arc

vaporware

Yeah, that was great!!!!

The whole time travel angle seemed like a page out of quantum leap. I'm not sure where they are going to go with it but I believe the ending will serve its purpose, to create a lot of buzz for next season.

Chew

If generating buzz for next season is the ultimate goal of this ending, I agree with Shannon Nutt: having Shatner be the final shot would've done it like nothing else.

vaporware

I don't know, I guess so but it would have also created a lot of eyerolls, and headshakes. You know, damn Kirk is back again. Besides they probably wanted the buzz to be about the show and not one character.

Wizdar

Not only that, but another $#!@ time travel arc written by folks who haven’t clue one how to deal with time travel arcs.

There are enough holes in this to drive a truck thru. Except for those holes, it wasn’t too bad. Kinda like a good restaurant meal, but somebody at the table next to you keeps letting loose these vile, paint-peeling farts. I don’t care how good the steak is: “Check, please.”

Chew

Luckily, 50% of those folks are stepping down.

Chew

Ok, how about this wacky theory:

Future guy is part of the Guardian race and started the Xindi arc to pull Enterprise away from defending earth long enough so they could send the Suliban back in time to the early 20th Century. They succeed in preventing Kirk from saving Edith Keeler being killed and Spock's alternate timeline comes into play with the Nazis taking over the entire earth. The expanse served as a "temporal shield" allowing Enterprise to remain in it's own timeline. Technology hasn't advanced in 200 years, the Nazis are still in power, and Vulcan First Contact never occured. Without Starfleet, an unknown alien race overtakes command of the Nazi party. Either openly, or perhaps they have some holoprojector to give them human appearance (but alien to the viewer).

This would allow for a "Trials and Tribbleations" type story in which Archer and crew can go back in time to ensure Kirk doesn't save Edith with original "City on the Edge of Forever" footage.

It gives Berman the perfect opportunity to ruin yet another Trek time story.



Edit to add: forgot about the space station. hmmm How about adding in the fact that the Xindi weapon explosion was the final "push" the timeshift needed in the above theory?

vaporware

Maybe that is how they bring Kirk back.

I doubt that's where the story will go but it sounds like it could be really cool. Maybe you should write for Enterprise.

Mattrk

I thought this finale kicked ass - the Andorians showing up (although having Jeffrey Combs credited at the end would have made for a nice surprise), the Reptilian leader getting hisself blowed up, and the Sphere situation were handled very well. And then the final shots of the pod and Archer… wow.

My theory is that this alien at the end has more to do with the other side of the Temporal Cold War rather than the Xindi, and that Archer and Enterprise have been sent back to try and fix things.

All in aii, a good episode and a good ending.

Superman07

I think it would have been awsome at the end if Jack had of pulled a gun on...oh wait. Wrong show.

Event though the pacing was really good (particuallary the back and forth between the sphere and Enterprise) I still feel like some of the situations were solved too easily.

I really wish Hoshi had of been shot instead of the PADD. It is too convenient that somebody always dies, but it is never any of the crew.

Likewise, I agree it would have been better to omitt Jeffery Combs from the credits because that was not a surprise for me later on. I did get into the habit of trying to avoid reading the introductory credits for Buffy or Angel becasue that would happen too often. Just something I never would have expected from Enterprise.

I do think the idea of the Edith Keeler story has merit. However, while it would explain much I do not think that it would work out for a few reasons. If the time is still 2150s but in that timeline why would you still have such inferior technology? Little hard to swallow. Aliens never had anything to do with Edith living - so that would throw a third element in.

I think whoever said the expanse is the reason why Enterprise was shielded from whatever temporal effect is "out there" is a neat idea. I believe at some point earlier in the season B&B said that why the expanse was never known or mentioned in any of the other series would be explained. Granted this could be chalked up to the spheres exploding and the expanse disappating, but that is too easy. What would have been more interesting is if there had been some remenants and we had seen those remenants at some point during TOS, TNG, or DS9.

Oh, and how did it take them 3 months to get there and yet it took the Aquatics 1 day to take them back....come on. That is getting to the point of having stuff simply for convenience sake similar to Alias. Bleh.

Loopy ending, but I will be interested to see how it progresses. Keep in mind next year is supposed to have the 6-7 ep story arcs, so hopefully it will not be wrapped up as quickly as the season 1 cliffhanger was.

Too bad they can't find the correct mix of one story arc and characters the way you find in the Wheedonverse. =/

Red Dog

I don't seem to have the guest star name recognition problem some of you have. Heck, except for Bakula and Blalock, I couldn't name any of the cast members and I've been watching for 3 seasons now.

Zien

Have they shown Future Guy at all?

Maybe Blue Nazi is Future Guy?

BlackCapTen

Interesting episode and nice finale. I was confused with the ending but that's why I liked it. I also started thinking about the causes.... everything from Daniels to that explosion.

The ending also reminded me of Twilight Zone- the movie (with a little planet of the apes thrown in).

Shannon Nutt

Yeah, it would have been horrible - all those classic fans would have been clamoring to see the episode and staying home on Fridays in the fall to see "alternate" James T. Kirk in action.

vaporware

I'm not saying it can't happen and would necessarily be bad. Maybe you missed the last sentence in my post.

Shannon Nutt

No, I understood what you were saying - I guess the point I was trying to make is that there is very little buzz about last night's cliffhanger - there could have been a lot of buzz if they did something really exciting.

bboisvert

JMS was asked about this during B5's run (when there were several occasions when a surprise in an episode was 'spoiled' if you read the credits). He basically said that everyone's hands are tied. Credit placement is pretty much locked in stone based on various contracts and SAG union agreements, etc.

While it would make sense from a story standpoint to keep someone off the credits, or save them until after the show is over, it is practically impossible to do so.