How Star Trek: Enterprise's Creator Feels About The Controversial Series Finale

In 2005, it appeared that "Star Trek" was pretty much over. And, rather tragically, it ended with more of a whimper than a bang. "Star Trek: Voyager" had finally completed its run in May of 2001, and a new prequel series, called just "Enterprise" at the time, was slated to begin the following September. When the World Trade Center Incident occurred on 9/11, though, the national mood changed overnight. The public was very suddenly uninterested in a sci-fi franchise about peace and diplomacy, and turned their attention to grittier, more violent, revenge-based entertainments like "24." "Star Trek" had been flagging in the ratings for a while anyway, but when "Enterprise" debuted on September 24, it seemed doomed from the start. 

The "Star Trek" death knell became official in 2002 with the utter failure of "Star Trek: Nemesis," the lowest-grossing "Star Trek" movie to date. Meanwhile, "Enterprise" was eventually re-titled "Star Trek: Enterprise," and it began dabbling with long-form, multi-episode stories after two seasons. That didn't help it become more popular, though, and the series was canceled after four years. 

The final episode of "Enterprise" was also rather disappointing. The show's creators — Rick Berman and Brannon Braga — had intended for the show to last for several more years before culminating with the formation of the Federation in the year 2161. The final episode, called "These Are the Voyages..." (May 13, 2005), rushed the intended finale via a time-shift forward to the days of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and presented all its events as a mere holodeck simulation. No one liked it. Not "Enterprise" star Scott Bakula, nor guest star Jonathan Frakes. 

Braga admitted at a 2017 "Star Trek" convention (covered by TrekMovie) that he actually liked his script for "These Are the Voyages...," but totally understands the criticisms.

For non-Trekkies, "Enterprise" took place about a century before the events of the original "Star Trek," and followed the adventures of the very first Starfleet vessel venturing out into the galaxy. This was a time before the Prime Directive, as well as common Trek technologies like shields, photon torpedoes, and human-safe transporters. The fourth season of "Enterprise" took place roughly around the year 2155. The series finale, however, skipped ahead to 2370, concurrent with the seventh season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (which aired in 1994). Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis, who played Commander Riker and Counselor Troi on "Next Generation," were seen recreating the "Enterprise" characters on the holodeck of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. By the time he did this, the "Enterprise" characters had all presumably died of old age. 

This was seen as a disservice to the "Enterprise" characters, as none of them were technically real. Indeed, for the finale, "Enterprise" became "The Riker Show," ensuring that "Enterprise" ended without an identity of its own. Braga has heard the criticisms, but was still somewhat defensive, feeling that he and his co-writer, Rick Berman, had begun the finale with a truly fun conceit. The inclusion of "Next Generation" characters, he felt, neatly brought the franchise together, especially since it seemed to be ending forever. He said: 

"I thought it was the coolest thing ever when we were writing it, the idea of doing a 'lost episode' of 'The Next Generation,' but they're going to the holodeck to look back at 'Enterprise,' Rick and I thought was a great sendoff to 'Star Trek,' and it didn't work out so well ... It was a kind of a slap in the face to the 'Enterprise' actors. I heard it from everybody, it was the only time Scott Bakula was ever mean to me. I regret it." 

"Enterprise" isn't wholly beloved by all Trekkies, but it was better than it got credit for. It deserved more.