ACTUALLY... After watchin it again, this ep was done very well. Although, Braga did not even stick to his own internal Enterprise canon (which he basically wrote!).
But as good as this ep actually is... was was a boot in the rear aimed directly at the cast of Enterprise.
Braga HAS written some fine scripts, in general I like his ideas, but not here.
I'm not really giving the actual episode "5" stars-It was a fine, well produced episode. I'm giving Brannon Braga a -5, so it evens out to a "5." This guy was handed the reigns of ST:TNG and he drove in into the ground, ruining all of the progress made by better writers. Maybe I'm too harsh on Braggo. Most of my Trek fav's are his eps. Including Voyager eps, particularly "Threshold" which was the funniest Trekep ever made...
It has been said that Brannon Braga blew up the Enterprise D, "Because it didn't look very good in 16:9 aspect ratio"-Looks fine here though. Actually it looks Freakin' FANTASTIC, even for a Digital "Model."
And that's the problem: ALL of the Next Generation scenes looked great, as good or better than TNG. But the problem is, this was NOT "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
Our two Next Gen crewmen, Troi and Riker, well for one thing they do NOT look like they did when the episode being referenced was filmed back in 1994. Marina could have pulled it off, if they had stayed away from all facial close-ups: In long shots, she actually looked pretty similar to her 1994 Doppelganger. But Riker, this is not the same Frakes that used to be called "Ensign Babyface"- Had they done something like this around the time "Insurrection" was being made, he could have pulled it off, but in 2005, it was impossible.
If this had been a stand alone Episode, earlier in the season, it would have been good and true Homage to ST:TNG, a nice salute. But here, at the end of Enterprise, it is a kick in Enterprise Crew's face.
The framed "Enterprise" story was not really a good enough story to be the "Last Mission" and Tripp, having survived The Xindi and The Suliban, would not have let those Alien Gangbangers anywhere near him, so I don't believe that either. And I also did not believe there was a character called "Cook" that was a kind of 'Ship's Counsellor" for 10 years? It's not that I didn't like the idea, and the way this was written, it was actually a Holodeck fantasy of Riker's, so he could interact with the crew of NX-01.
What really bugs me is that Braga forgets canon, including the parts he wrote himself: When we watch the referenced TNG episode, what was Will Riker doing right before? He WAS NOT on the Holodeck indulging himself: He was doing Calisthenics with WORF, and he Injured Himself. So I want to know, WHEN did this happen? Also, he never did tell Picard or Troi about Pressman's agenda: He said nothing to anyone until he blew his stack after the Romulan Ship had disrupted them into the asteroid! But Ron D Moore wrote that episode, and this is an insult to him as well.
So it was not only Enterprise "canon" that Braga ignored and wrecked, it was Next Generation canon as well.
As far as the "Enterprise" Holodeck fantasy which was being played out, I guess it had "something to do with the day the United Federation of Planets actually became a viable and real entity." Of course, which is what this episode should have been about. But THAT story was not told. Or rather, it was told, in several of the arcs from seasons 1 through 4. But it was not told HERE-It was not wrapped up here. The only reference to it was the final scene. Which was missing Daniels and Archer watching it happen, as shown in "Countdown". The Holodeck would have displayed their recorded images, they were there.
So, thanks a lot, Braggo: For wrecking not only Enterprise, but also The Original Series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and even Voyager as well. Phphphph and Nyah.
EDIT: After Binge-Watching season 3, which I had never seen, I can safely assume, we can ignore this dud "finale":
They could have resurrected Tripp by making a new Sim and then fixing his life-span, like Sim suggested in "Similitude". And in my mind, that's exactly what they did. Tripp was too good a character to just toss into the trashbin, the relationship between him and T'Pol should have been finalized. But instead, Braga even destroyed that relationship, which, after "Terra Prime" had been made stronger, with the revelation that T'Pol and Tripp (Or Sim) could have had a child. But Braggo made it so that Tripp and T'Pol ignored each other for 6 years. It was such a poor ending, not just for the show, but for the characters as well. But after watching this again, I realized, I do not hate this ep as I originally did. But it is of course full of missteps and misfires. Also, I noticed something interesting, Shran's daughter was partially Aenir? So Shran actually married J'hamal... That is something I did not notice, So, even with this unsatisfying series finale, there are things you notice even years later. But, Screw Braga anyway. This final season was a series of several 2 and 3 episode arcs, some of them great, some of them dumb. The Vulcan trilogy would have been better without Vulcans acting as if they were in Pon farr. There were a couple of good things about The "Arguments" Trilogy, mostly due to Brent Spiner. My favourite was Storm Front and the Klingon 2-parter that showed how Klingons ended up looking like humans. But this show was cut off way too early, it should have run 3 more seasons. After Enterprise was axed, UPN was axed as well. They hacked out the only show that was keeping people watching the network. Apologies for the Tome...
But as good as this ep actually is... was was a boot in the rear aimed directly at the cast of Enterprise.
Braga HAS written some fine scripts, in general I like his ideas, but not here.
I'm not really giving the actual episode "5" stars-It was a fine, well produced episode. I'm giving Brannon Braga a -5, so it evens out to a "5." This guy was handed the reigns of ST:TNG and he drove in into the ground, ruining all of the progress made by better writers. Maybe I'm too harsh on Braggo. Most of my Trek fav's are his eps. Including Voyager eps, particularly "Threshold" which was the funniest Trekep ever made...
It has been said that Brannon Braga blew up the Enterprise D, "Because it didn't look very good in 16:9 aspect ratio"-Looks fine here though. Actually it looks Freakin' FANTASTIC, even for a Digital "Model."
And that's the problem: ALL of the Next Generation scenes looked great, as good or better than TNG. But the problem is, this was NOT "Star Trek: The Next Generation"
Our two Next Gen crewmen, Troi and Riker, well for one thing they do NOT look like they did when the episode being referenced was filmed back in 1994. Marina could have pulled it off, if they had stayed away from all facial close-ups: In long shots, she actually looked pretty similar to her 1994 Doppelganger. But Riker, this is not the same Frakes that used to be called "Ensign Babyface"- Had they done something like this around the time "Insurrection" was being made, he could have pulled it off, but in 2005, it was impossible.
If this had been a stand alone Episode, earlier in the season, it would have been good and true Homage to ST:TNG, a nice salute. But here, at the end of Enterprise, it is a kick in Enterprise Crew's face.
The framed "Enterprise" story was not really a good enough story to be the "Last Mission" and Tripp, having survived The Xindi and The Suliban, would not have let those Alien Gangbangers anywhere near him, so I don't believe that either. And I also did not believe there was a character called "Cook" that was a kind of 'Ship's Counsellor" for 10 years? It's not that I didn't like the idea, and the way this was written, it was actually a Holodeck fantasy of Riker's, so he could interact with the crew of NX-01.
What really bugs me is that Braga forgets canon, including the parts he wrote himself: When we watch the referenced TNG episode, what was Will Riker doing right before? He WAS NOT on the Holodeck indulging himself: He was doing Calisthenics with WORF, and he Injured Himself. So I want to know, WHEN did this happen? Also, he never did tell Picard or Troi about Pressman's agenda: He said nothing to anyone until he blew his stack after the Romulan Ship had disrupted them into the asteroid! But Ron D Moore wrote that episode, and this is an insult to him as well.
So it was not only Enterprise "canon" that Braga ignored and wrecked, it was Next Generation canon as well.
As far as the "Enterprise" Holodeck fantasy which was being played out, I guess it had "something to do with the day the United Federation of Planets actually became a viable and real entity." Of course, which is what this episode should have been about. But THAT story was not told. Or rather, it was told, in several of the arcs from seasons 1 through 4. But it was not told HERE-It was not wrapped up here. The only reference to it was the final scene. Which was missing Daniels and Archer watching it happen, as shown in "Countdown". The Holodeck would have displayed their recorded images, they were there.
So, thanks a lot, Braggo: For wrecking not only Enterprise, but also The Original Series, Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and even Voyager as well. Phphphph and Nyah.
EDIT: After Binge-Watching season 3, which I had never seen, I can safely assume, we can ignore this dud "finale":
They could have resurrected Tripp by making a new Sim and then fixing his life-span, like Sim suggested in "Similitude". And in my mind, that's exactly what they did. Tripp was too good a character to just toss into the trashbin, the relationship between him and T'Pol should have been finalized. But instead, Braga even destroyed that relationship, which, after "Terra Prime" had been made stronger, with the revelation that T'Pol and Tripp (Or Sim) could have had a child. But Braggo made it so that Tripp and T'Pol ignored each other for 6 years. It was such a poor ending, not just for the show, but for the characters as well. But after watching this again, I realized, I do not hate this ep as I originally did. But it is of course full of missteps and misfires. Also, I noticed something interesting, Shran's daughter was partially Aenir? So Shran actually married J'hamal... That is something I did not notice, So, even with this unsatisfying series finale, there are things you notice even years later. But, Screw Braga anyway. This final season was a series of several 2 and 3 episode arcs, some of them great, some of them dumb. The Vulcan trilogy would have been better without Vulcans acting as if they were in Pon farr. There were a couple of good things about The "Arguments" Trilogy, mostly due to Brent Spiner. My favourite was Storm Front and the Klingon 2-parter that showed how Klingons ended up looking like humans. But this show was cut off way too early, it should have run 3 more seasons. After Enterprise was axed, UPN was axed as well. They hacked out the only show that was keeping people watching the network. Apologies for the Tome...