A bit of background: I grew up watching The Next Generation when it first aired with my dad, who watched the original series when he was a kid. I watched each subsequent series as they aired.
Loved TNG, loved DS9 even more, was pretty lukewarm about Voyager when it first aired. Upon rewatch, I recently rewatched all of the series and here are my brief thoughts:
-TOS can't really factor into this because it's old as dirt and broke ground for the series' to come.
-TNG is good but has a LOT of weaknesses (first two seasons, the final season, and any episode that stars Deanna Troi). Sometimes it can get REALLY heavy-handed with the "future eutopia" crap, to the point of being unbearable. B+ series overall.
-DS9 is solid all around. Even when the stories are bad, the characters make it super interesting. The political aspect is some of the best in a sci-fi show I've ever seen. The religious aspect can get out of control and boring. The Ferengi episodes, when in the right hands, were great. When in the wrong hands.... ugh. The closing of the main story arch shit the bed. Still, the overall strong writing and a few tremendously outstanding episodes bring this series to an A-.
-VOY is... well... Jeri Taylor's Mary Sue project televised. Janeway is never wrong even when she's wrong most of the time. There's rarely any intrigue, and the technobabble is OUT OF FUCKING CONTROL. The Prime Directive is quoted, abused, and tossed aside whenever Mary Sue feels like it, but enforced when she doesn't. It all depends on whether or not Janeway got laid the night before or not. A serious lack of repercussions except when it's convenient for the story. It's unfortunate, because it also has one of the best characters out of the entire Star Trek ensembles; Chakotay. JUST KIDDING IT'S THE DOCTOR. Series gets a C-.
Okay, now to the topic. ENTERPRISE is a show I didn't watch on its first airing due to a combination of a lack of interest in Star Trek after Voyager, and not having UPN. I had always heard it was pretty bad but picked up in its final season (change of show runner maybe?), so I never sought it out. After I finished rewatching all of the other series, I decided to finally give this one a go on Netflix.
Now I'm only on episode 6 so far, but here goes:
I didn't really care for the pilot. Not much to say about it since it is only establishing things. The following episodes are pretty self-contained in rocky locations, caves, and in a temple. It's pretty obvious the budget for this show so far is pretty low. Still, I find myself (generally) enjoying the characters. This show also captures the sense of "exploration" better than the other series, as it feels like they're really on a journey. VOY should have had this feeling, but the writing was so godawful it felt like "let's see what whacky adventures Janeway & Co. get into this week!".
I'm not really interested in this whole "Temporal Cold War" thing, but maybe it'll pick up. I generally like the crew interaction. So far it feels like a few of the characters are just cardboard cut-outs without anything to do, hopefully they'll get their moments to shine. Except for Mayweather, he's already grinding my fucking gears with his stupid "I'VE BEEN IN SPAAAAAAAAAACE BEFORE" shit.
B+ so far. Oh, and the theme song can get fucked.
I'll probably do a roundup when I'm done with the series in this thread.
Loved TNG, loved DS9 even more, was pretty lukewarm about Voyager when it first aired. Upon rewatch, I recently rewatched all of the series and here are my brief thoughts:
-TOS can't really factor into this because it's old as dirt and broke ground for the series' to come.
-TNG is good but has a LOT of weaknesses (first two seasons, the final season, and any episode that stars Deanna Troi). Sometimes it can get REALLY heavy-handed with the "future eutopia" crap, to the point of being unbearable. B+ series overall.
-DS9 is solid all around. Even when the stories are bad, the characters make it super interesting. The political aspect is some of the best in a sci-fi show I've ever seen. The religious aspect can get out of control and boring. The Ferengi episodes, when in the right hands, were great. When in the wrong hands.... ugh. The closing of the main story arch shit the bed. Still, the overall strong writing and a few tremendously outstanding episodes bring this series to an A-.
-VOY is... well... Jeri Taylor's Mary Sue project televised. Janeway is never wrong even when she's wrong most of the time. There's rarely any intrigue, and the technobabble is OUT OF FUCKING CONTROL. The Prime Directive is quoted, abused, and tossed aside whenever Mary Sue feels like it, but enforced when she doesn't. It all depends on whether or not Janeway got laid the night before or not. A serious lack of repercussions except when it's convenient for the story. It's unfortunate, because it also has one of the best characters out of the entire Star Trek ensembles; Chakotay. JUST KIDDING IT'S THE DOCTOR. Series gets a C-.
Okay, now to the topic. ENTERPRISE is a show I didn't watch on its first airing due to a combination of a lack of interest in Star Trek after Voyager, and not having UPN. I had always heard it was pretty bad but picked up in its final season (change of show runner maybe?), so I never sought it out. After I finished rewatching all of the other series, I decided to finally give this one a go on Netflix.
Now I'm only on episode 6 so far, but here goes:
I didn't really care for the pilot. Not much to say about it since it is only establishing things. The following episodes are pretty self-contained in rocky locations, caves, and in a temple. It's pretty obvious the budget for this show so far is pretty low. Still, I find myself (generally) enjoying the characters. This show also captures the sense of "exploration" better than the other series, as it feels like they're really on a journey. VOY should have had this feeling, but the writing was so godawful it felt like "let's see what whacky adventures Janeway & Co. get into this week!".
I'm not really interested in this whole "Temporal Cold War" thing, but maybe it'll pick up. I generally like the crew interaction. So far it feels like a few of the characters are just cardboard cut-outs without anything to do, hopefully they'll get their moments to shine. Except for Mayweather, he's already grinding my fucking gears with his stupid "I'VE BEEN IN SPAAAAAAAAAACE BEFORE" shit.
B+ so far. Oh, and the theme song can get fucked.
I'll probably do a roundup when I'm done with the series in this thread.