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These Are the Voyages...

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"These Are the Voyages..." is the title of the 98th and final episode of the UPN television series, Star Trek: Enterprise. It aired on May 13, 2005 in the United States. Written by series creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, the episode is the series finale of Enterprise. With no new Trek in the fall of 2005, the 2005-2006 season is the first year without a first-run Star Trek series since 1986-1987, which was the year prior to the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Plot details

File:These Are the Voyages... (ENT episode).jpg
Archer and T'Pol share a private moment before Archer addresses the Federation delegation

Template:Spoiler Described by Berman and Braga as a "valentine" to Star Trek fans, the episode featured guest appearances by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis as their Star Trek: The Next Generation characters William Riker and Deanna Troi. Brent Spiner, another TNG veteran who had guest starred earlier in the fourth season of Enterprise, had a "speaking, off-screen" role as Data. In addition, while it is archived footage that was reused for this episode, Captain Jean-Luc Picard can be seen at the very beginning of the scene one, talking to Data.

Also appearing was Jeffrey Combs as his recurring Enterprise character, Commander Shran.

"These Are the Voyages..." was set in the Star Trek: The Next Generation era where Commander Riker and Deanna Troi are using the holodeck to view the events surrounding the birth of Federation. The events they view are set six years after the events of season 4 of Enterprise. In this episode, Captain Archer and the Enterprise return to Earth to sign the documents that will establish the United Federation of Planets, at the same time the Enterprise is due to be decommissioned. Meanwhile, Charles "Trip" Tucker faces a tragic fate.

This episode takes place on board the Enterprise-D as well as a number of locations from the Enterprise era. The Riker/Troi events, therefore, predate the developments of Star Trek: Generations. In particular, the sequences featuring Riker and Troi take place within the timeframe of the TNG episode "The Pegasus".

A number of cosmetic changes to make up and costume designs have been made to depict the Enterprise crew six years after the events of the previous episode, "Terra Prime". Most notable is another alteration of T'Pol's uniform and hairstyle. The Starfleet uniforms worn by the rest of the Enterprise crew also underwent modifications, with the addition of a new Starfleet logo patch, and a name tag. In the final scene, Archer's dress uniform no longer has a tie and his sleeve stripes are similar to those which appear "later" in the original pilot episodes of The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before. The Enterprise bridge was also modified slightly, with the addition of instrumentation not seen in earlier episodes, as well as several modifications introduced on the Columbia (NX-02).

Controversy

Controversy had dogged Enterprise since its premiere, and its finale likewise caused contention.

As details of this episode emerged, fans became divided in their views of what could be the final televised Star Trek episode for the foreseeable future. Advance criticisms (before the episode was actually released) ranged from displeasure over the fact the final episode would be written by the unpopular Berman and Braga to outrage over the decision to tie the series finale into Star Trek: The Next Generation. Other fans expressed disappointment that the Riker/Troi elements did not depict their posting aboard the Titan, which was referenced at the end of Nemesis (although this can be explained as an attempt to keep as much of the ship's configuration secret as possible, since Titan is the subject of a new novel series from Viacom subsidiary Pocket Books).

The controversy also included cast members of the series, with Jolene Blalock (T'Pol) stating in a Toronto Star interview and again at her first science fiction convention appearance in March 2005 that she considered the finale "appalling." [1] Blalock's reasons for thinking this were not widely publicized -- different reports apparently preferring to focus on her "it's appalling" sound bite without elaboration, leading to speculation as to why she was upset with the finale. Brannon Braga stated later that at least some of the cast upset was based upon the decision to devote part of the final episode to characters from TNG.[2] This was later confirmed by Blalock in a Boston Herald interview which indicated that she was upset over the finale being essentially a TNG episode, although she stated that she understood the rationale behind the idea.[3] Anthony Montgomery was also not pleased with the finale and has been quoted as saying "I feel there could have been a more effective way to wrap things up for our show as well as the franchise as a whole. It just seemed to take a little bit away from what the Enterprise cast and crew worked so diligently to achieve over the past four years, do you know what I mean?" [4] (Montgomery also stated that he has made it a point never to watch this episode, as he knew it would only deeply upset him).

In response to some of these criticisms, series producer Manny Coto stated that he personally considered "TATV" to be a coda rather than the true finale of the series. He considers the two-part story "Demons" and "Terra Prime" that preceded it was the actual finale of the Enterprise storyline according to Coto, and series producer Mike Sussman. [5] [6]

The Enterprise events of this episode take place in 2161, about 6 years after the previous episode. As such, the production team took some efforts to show changes that had occurred with the passage of time. Fans have noted two changes that might have been expected that did not occur, namely that the characters Travis Mayweather and Hoshi Sato, each having now served on Enterprise for ten years, are still wearing the insignia of ensigns, the lowest commissioned officer rank. By way of comparison, in the U.S. Navy, an ensign typically serves 2 years in grade before promotion to lieutenant (junior grade). However, there is precedent in Star Trek for a Starfleet officer to remain at the same rank for many years. Harry Kim remained as an ensign throughout all seven years of Star Trek: Voyager, for example, while Voyager also set a precedent by having Lt. Tom Paris demoted to Ensign. The static ranks of Sato and Mayweather may have been due to the same type of costuming error that gave Miles O'Brien an incorrect rank in the TNG finale "All Good Things..." or may have been the result of an as-yet unchronicled adventure. Also, in many branches of the military, there are many people who are career privates, this could be an example of that. The editors of the Star Trek fiction line at Pocket Books have stated that this issue may be addressed in the upcoming Enterprise Relaunch series of novels. However, many fans complain that these main characters were never well developed, and depriving them of any future character development in the series finale was a final insult.

Some fans complained that they felt the death of Trip Tucker was arbitrary. The purpose of Riker's holodeck experience was supposedly to examine another instance when an officer disobeyed the orders of his captain, as Riker was considering doing in order to inform Captain Picard of the Pegasus' illegal cloaking device, which he had been ordered not to speak of. However, Trip's "breaking of orders" was almost a spur of the moment decision: a boarding party surprises Trip and Archer, and Trip tries to distract them while Archer shouts to Trip that he orders him not to attempt anything. Trip "breaks orders" by trying anyway, then leads the boarding party to a maintenance junction where he intentionally disconnects equipment to cause an explosion, fatally wounding himself in the process. However, this sacrifice seemed unnecessary in order to save the ship.

Many fans felt that the situation (from an episode writer's standpoint) wasn't really applicable to Riker's situation, and didn't really feel like much of an "order" on Archer's part, and that there have been many far more applicable conflict-of-orders situations in previous Enterprise episodes. The episode does not explain why no one such as the MACOs came to the rescue during the incident, however in the context of the episode, Riker (and, by extension, the viewers) were only able to see what was happening to Trip. Any other activity (i.e. gun battles elsewhere on the ship) would, therefore, not be visible.

Further, Trip's death seemed completely unnecessary to some fans; Trip and Archer have been in hostage situations many times before, and having him choose to sacrifice his life in this particular situation seemed completely illogical. To some fans, the script writers' hand was obvious in the scene as a 'way for Trip to somehow get killed off', without making a very good plot explanation for it. Connor Trinneer himself (who plays Trip) said during a convention appearance at Dragoncon's TrakTrek during fall 2005 that Trip has "gotten out of much worse scrapes than that", and that Trip's death seemed very forced. The writers, Trinneer contended, wanted to kill off a character to "get the fans talking", and Trip was killed off not for any plot reason but simply to manipulate fans by killing off a popular character. However, Trinneer said that since the series was ending anyway, he felt that they might as well have killed off his character.[7]

Some viewers complained that the episode overlooked any reference to the Earth-Romulan War, established in Star Trek: The Original Series as a bitter war fought from approximately 2156 to 2160. The episode "Balance of Terror" established that a peace treaty establishing the Neutral Zone had been signed, circa 2161, after both sides had suffered heavy losses. The Earth-Romulan War was also established as occurring before the founding of the United Federation of Planets. It has been suggested that this was deliberate in order to leave the door open for a potential Enterprise movie taking place during the conflict. At one point it was rumored the proposed 11th Star Trek feature film (see Star Trek XI) would take place during this era.

Another problem rests with a line spoken by Troi near the end of the episode, in which she comments that the treaty being signed "would lead to the Federation," implying it was not actually the Federation charter that was being signed, and thus the six-year time jump wasn't necessary from a story point of view. Another criticism is that in the third season, it was clearly stated that the "United Federation of Planets" was founded in 2161, so Troi's dialog appears to be a script error (either way, it is a criticised move).

NCC-1701-D remake errors

When one compares the Enterprise-D from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Pegasus" and the one shown in "These Are the Voyages", the following errors are present:

In Ten-Forward
  1. The camera-panned footage of Ten-Forward was taken from Ménage à Troi and edited so that Lwaxana Troi is substituted by William T. Riker, which causes him to be seen twice.
  2. There should be lights under the two steps up from the bar area to the seating area. In “TATV” there were no lights. In “The Pegasus” they are clearly visible in the Riker/Pressman Ten-Forward scene.
  3. There are two officers visible who are wearing the 1st and 2nd season style “jumpsuits” with the lower color. These uniforms were eliminated for main characters after season 2, although they were used for extras until the start of season 3. “TATV” takes place in season 7 of TNG.
As Riker and Troi walk the Enterprise-D
  1. The orange on the doors is just too bright.
  2. The teal in the carpet is too bright as compared to other TNG episodes.
  3. While the ceiling lights are a match, where the ceiling meets the wall, there is an error. In “TATV” there is a grey panel with light coming out from behind it. In all TNG episodes where the ceilings are visible, that grey strip IS a light.
  4. The turbo lift that Troi walks into after finishing with Riker does not look anything like a 1701-D turbo lift. (It is in fact one from the 1701-E.)


In the Observation Lounge
  1. The entrance door. In “The Pegasus” the entrance doors are grey, not orange. Those doors were never orange at any time during TNG. There was also no door label on that door in “The Pegasus”.
  2. Next to the entrance door at the other end of the room from where Troi and Riker are sitting, there is a tree and some type of wall art. Neither of those items appears in “The Pegasus” during the observation lounge scene.
  3. The windows appear to be longer (vertically) than the windows seen in “The Pegasus”.
  4. While the wall design itself for the back wall (opposite the windows) appears correctly, there is one small error. In “TATV” the area above and below where that design is built into the wall is the same color as the rest of the normal wall. In “The Pegasus” the area above and below is a grey strip.
  5. The glass-looking sculpture was never in the Conference room in any episode of TNG.
  6. The chairs in the conference room are different. While they are close to the ones seen in “The Pegasus”, they are off. The chairs in "The Pegasus" have three creases running down below the headrest along with three buttons under the headrest. The fabric also appears to be slightly different.
  7. The legs of the table that connect to the top are different also. In “The Pegasus” they appear to be made of some type of marble substance. In “TATV” they appear to be made of metal and have a different shape.
Holodeck Exit
  1. The door sounds of the holodeck were wrong. They used the normal room door sounds.
Ship Exterior
  1. An exterior shot of the Enterprise-D showed its saucer impulse engines running. Throughout the entire run of the Next Generation series, the only time the saucer engines were shown running was during scenes when the saucer and stardrive sections were separated. Otherwise the engines were not turned on.

Trivia

  • It was reported that "These Are the Voyages..." was originally written for possible use as the finale of the third season in 2004 had Paramount cancelled the series at that point. However, series producer Mike Sussman has denied this in an interview with the Trek Today website, stating that, while the idea for such an episode dates back to the third year, it wasn't written until season 4. [8] Rick Berman later told TV Guide that the episode was always intended for the fourth season finale, even if the series had been renewed.[9] However, in a July 2005 interview, Berman revealed that had the series been renewed, Trip Tucker would not have been killed off.[10]
  • The TNG elements of this episode take place during the seventh season of TNG. As a result, Marina Sirtis' accent as Deanna Troi is less pronounced and more British, which is in keeping with the way she played the character towards the end of the series and into the movies.
  • This episode contains a large number of references to past Enterprise episodes, ranging from obvious to subtle. One of the more subtle references can be seen when T'Pol holds a small model of the Frankenstein monster when packing Trip's quarters - a reference to the second season episode "Horizon" in which Trip convinces her to watch a Frankenstein movie.
  • The episode also contains subtle references to The Next Generation: when Trip remarks upon his sadness at Enterprise's decomissioning, Malcom replies "All good things...", the name of TNG's series finale, and, in another instance, Archer makes a toast to "the next generation."
  • The Enterprise-D corridors, a section of Ten Forward and Deanna Troi's quarters featured in this episode were rebuilt from scratch.
  • In the last scene of the episode, after Archer steps into the Council Chamber, Riker walks up to Troi, standing in a walkway behind the audience. A number of behind-the-scenes Star Trek personnel have cameos in the following shots. Enterprise writer-producer Manny Coto is the grey-haired admiral sitting behind Malcolm Reed's left shoulder. To Coto's left is Rick Berman’s assistant on Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise editorial staff member, Michael O’Halloran. To O’Halloran’s left is Larry Nemecek, editor of the fan magazine Star Trek Communicator. Behind Coto are a man and a woman, who are Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Enterprise staff writers and the authors of numerous Star Trek novels. As Riker stops when he gets to Troi, the camera pans to the left, and closes in on the two of them. As it does so, a man to Judith Reeves-Stevens' right becomes visible: this is writer and series science consultant Andre Bormanis. To Bormanis’ right is a woman in purple: Manny Coto’s assistant, production associate Donna Rooney. To her right, the man who speaks to her at one point, is pre-production coordinator Juan Carlos Fernandez. In front of Fernandez is production associate/producer David Rossi. This use of cameos echoes the finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which also featured the creative staff in a scene set in the holosuite program of Vic's nightclub.
  • Coto has suggested that, had Enterprise been given another season, Jeffrey Combs' character Shran would have been made a permanent addition to the cast.
  • The episode ends with Riker saying "Computer, end program" to turn off the holodeck (just as Archer is about to give his "famous speech"), then walking out. This is followed by a montage-shot of three Enterprises: NX-01, NCC-1701, and NCC-1701-D, flying through space as Archer, Kirk, and Picard make the famous "These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise..." narration. Many fans felt this was the only "nice" thing about the entire episode. However, Mike Sussman revealed in interviews that this was his idea, not the idea of Rick Berman or Brannon Braga. Berman and Braga literally wanted to end the final episode with Riker cutting off Archer's speech by saying "computer, end program", walking out the holodeck doors, then fading to black and running the credits.
  • A recent Enterprise novel, The Last Full Measure (written by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin), revealed that Trip actually survived the events of this episode. It was not revealed how Trip survived, who ordered that his death be faked (based on Riker and Troi's reactions to the holodeck program, Trip's survival appears to be a closely guarded secret), or why. While not canon, this plot point may form the basis for future Enterprise novels, which are currently undergoing a relaunch.



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References

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