Summary
- Star Trek: Enterprise is a character-driven prequel that explores the origins and moral ambiguities of various topics, adding depth to the different characters.
- The premiere episode, "Broken Bow," is a gritty, adventure-filled introduction to an inexperienced crew facing prejudices and tackling ethical dilemmas.
- The series features thought-provoking episodes that examine themes of prejudice, ethics, loyalty, and the greater good while delving into the unknown depths of space.
Star Trek: Enterprise first aired in 2001, designed as a back-to-basics character-driven prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Picking up many of the franchise's original themes and core values, Star Trek: Enterprise's best episodes explore the origins and moral ambiguities of such topics, simultaneously addressing ethical dilemmas and assumptions while granting greater depth and access to the different characters. Set in the 22nd century, the series introduces a previously unseen and untested crew and follows their adventures as they set off into the vast, very much unknown.
Casting Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) as a flawed yet approachable starship commander with a history of piloting experimental warp technology, Star Trek: Enterprise establishes an intimate yet casual atmosphere that contrasts the gritty hostility of space and allows for immediate connection with its main characters. When the Enterprise NX-01, Starfleet's first Warp 5 starship capable of deep space exploration, launches ahead of schedule, lesser in crew numbers and ship size than in any previous series, Enterprise's premiere episode that pits prejudices with first contacts and establishes its role among the stars. Here are the 20 best episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise.
20 "Broken Bow" (Enterprise Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2)
Star Trek: Enterprise's premiere introduces Captain Jonathan Archer, Subcommander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), and the crew of the Enterprise NX-01. Kicking off with United Earth's First Contact with the Klingons, "Broken Bow" delivers a pace that offers the unexpected against an inexperienced crew with inferior technology and fewer space-smarts than other Star Trek series. Though the series took a while to find its place in the franchise, this first episode is a gritty, adventure-laden first step into the great beyond, although it's also widely remembered for introducing the sexually charged elements - the decontamination scene - that would become synonymous with Enterprise's 4-season run.
19 "Vox Sola" (Enterprise Season 1, Episode 21)
"Vox Sola" is a fascinating study of the "seek out new life" clause in Starfleet's Captain's Oath. The episode begins with a failure in communication and an unrealized cultural taboo while a second undiscovered species finds its way aboard. Craving connection, the symbiotic lifeform ensnares four crewmembers. Paving the way for Star Trek's first musical episode, the creature's language combines musical notes and mathematical formulas. It's a pleasant return to Star Trek's awed curiosity at the unknown.
18 "Detained" (Enterprise Season 1, Episode 21)
Notable as the episode that reunited Scott Bakula with Dean Stockwell from Quantum Leap, "Detained" is a dark allegory on prejudice. When Archer and Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) wake up in a Tandaran internment camp, they are told that they'll face a magistrate by the morally complex Colonel Grat (Dean Stockwell). With the Enterprise out of contact, this episode holds a mirror to discrimination across multiple levels.
17 "Regeneration" (Enterprise Season 2, Episode 23)
Archer and his crew must stop the Borg after cybernetic remnants from events in Star Trek: First Contact are discovered buried in the Arctic and inadvertently reactivated. As Borg nanites begin to assimilate Doctor Phlox (John Billingsley) on Enterprise, it's a race against time and an uphill battle against incessant, adaptive technology from 200 years into the future. Altering Star Trek: The Next Generation history, this episode offers a genuinely tense experience through the Enterprise crew's naivety of the insidious threat later posed by the Borg, and from the transmission to their collective with Earth's coordinates.
16 "Proving Ground" (Enterprise Season 3, Episode 13)
With Enterprise hampered by the loss of navigational data, it's an uncertain and potentially deadly trek through the Delphic Expanse's spatial anomalies. Heavily damaged by a dangerous vortex, the Enterprise escapes with assistance from Andorian Commander Shran (Jeffrey Combs). The episode is an excellent delve into themes of characterization and motive, twisting a web of righteous agenda to push against tenuous trust. In a test of nerve vaguely reminiscent of Captain Kirk's Corbomite maneuver, Archer threatens to trigger the Xindi weapon's detonation sequence.
15 "The Andorian Incident" (Enterprise Season 1, Episode 7)
An impromptu visit to the sacred P'Jem Vulcan monastery goes awry in one of Star Trek: Enterprise's most significant first-season episodes. Directed by Star Trek: Voyager's Roxann Dawson, "The Andorian Incident" introduces the antagonistic relationship between Andorians and Vulcans, and makes the Andorians truly matter for the first time since their introduction in Star Trek: The Original Series. "The Andorian Incident" debuts the charismatic Commander Shran, whose suspicions about the Vulcans' actions are confirmed when the monastery is exposed as concealing a covert surveillance post.
14 "Similitude" (Enterprise Season 3, Episode 10)
"Similitude" offers a sociologically relevant and thought-provoking examination of ethics and accountability. When Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) is severely injured, Archer and Phlox embark on a morally questionable plan to save him - a mimetic symbiote as a neurological donor. The procedure will kill the donor, named Sim, who may be able to extend his own life through experimental surgery. The uncomfortable scenario is somewhat reminiscent of Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 24 "Tuvix," balancing the idea of 'the greater good' against humanist values.
13 "The Augments" (Enterprise Season 4, Episode 6)
The final episode of a three-part story that draws inspiration from Star Trek's previous encounters with augmented humans. "The Augments" indirectly compares Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) with its genetically engineered group, each with an aggressive bent and focus on supremacy. Notable for reuniting Star Trek: The Next Generation actors LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner as director and guest star, respectively, the episode leaps from deadly exposure to pathogens and open space, to attempted genocide and instigated war, to mutiny, vengeance, and murder.
12 "Stratagem" (Enterprise Season 3, Episode 14)
A careful series of ruses play out in "Stratagem," which opens with Archer and Degra (Randy Oglesby), a Xindi Council member, both haggard and exhausted. This Enterprise episode is a powerful character study of two rivals confined together, seemingly three years into the future. Degra struggles with a missing memory and suspicions about the validity of his friend's explanations, and it's a cautious balance between cooperation and distrust from both parties. Meanwhile, Archer cautiously delves for the information that might save Earth.
11 "Damage" (Enterprise Season 3, Episode 19)
With Earth at risk of destruction, the Enterprise falls victim to a crippling attack leaving it vulnerable and adrift. Captain Archer faces a terrible ethical dilemma when they encounter an Illyrian space vessel, ultimately stealing their warp coil to restore the Enterprise's engines. Wrecked with guilt but determined to complete his mission, Archer believes his choice was necessary but visibly bends under the weight of accountability. It's a stark, vital episode that asks, 'Do the ends justify the means?'
10 "Shockwave, Part 1" (Enterprise Season 1, Episode 26)
In one of the most dramatic openings to a Star Trek episode ever, an Enterprise shuttle accidentally ignites the atmosphere of Paraagan II and incinerates the 3,600 colonists on the moon's surface. In the heavy wake of the horrific incident, the Enterprise is ordered back to Earth with its mission canceled. Enter temporal agent. Transported back and later forward, Archer finds proof of sabotage but ends up stranded in a devastated landscape with no way home. Enterprise season 1's finale cliffhanger is a taut, unrelenting episode that's both convincingly understated and emotionally wrenching. Powerful and conflicting emotions lend importance and depth to the episode's subject.
9 "Awakening" (Enterprise Season 4, Episode 8)
Developing the characters of Vulcan icon T'Pau (Kara Zediker) and Surak (Bruce Gray), first seen in Star Trek: The Original Series, "Awakening" sets a dark tone in an allegorical episode that casts the Vulcan High Council as the Catholic Church and Vulcan's Syrannites as Protestant Reformists. It's also a startlingly relevant commentary on increased and unchecked governmental power using the threat of terrorism to legitimize creeping surveillance and control. As Archer and T'Pol contact the Syrannite group and discover Archer now carries Surak's katra, Vulcan authorities swiftly maneuver to attack.
8 "Kir'Shara" (Enterprise Season 4, Episode 9)
"Kir'Shara" continues the previous Enterprise episode, "Kir'Shara's" themes of reformation and enlightenment. It's a high-stakes ending packed with revelations, contrasts, and uncertainties. Bringing some clarity to long-confusing Vulcan politics, it is also a confrontation of political manipulation and maneuvering that is even more uncomfortable when contrasted with the pacifism of the Syrannite group and Star Trek's core value of peace. As the Enterprise attempts to avert war between the Vulcans and Andorians, Archer, T'Pol, and T'Pau reveal the Embassy bombing as a pretext to attack.
7 "Divergence" (Enterprise Season 4, Episode 16)
Several Star Trek threads come together over this successful two-part Klingon-central storyline. In "Divergence," the tense second episode, Doctor Phlox works against time to cure the Klingon virus before the facility - and everyone in it - is destroyed to contain the spread of the disease. The mysterious and morally shady Section 31 also has an established role here, with Armory Officer Lt. Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) locked in the Enterprise's brig for his involvement with the secretive agency. It's an exciting play on themes of loyalty and morality, meeting Star Trek: Enterprise's brief to explore ethics with a dark lens and a focus on characterization.
6 "The Expanse" (Enterprise Season 2, Episode 26)
Star Trek: Enterprise's season 2 finale is an alarming and unexpected upending of the show's status quo, setting up the serialized and more urgent Enterprise season 3. Introducing a new alien threat, the Xindi, "The Expanse" lays the foundations for the entirety of the third season and ups the stakes with Star Trek: Enterprise's Temporal War. Earth suffers catastrophic losses when blindsided by a devastating attack. It's a significant episode for T'Pol and a study of raw emotional instinct - particularly for Trip, who loses his sister to the attack.
5 "United" (Enterprise Season 4, Episode 13)
This Emmy-nominated story is a pivotal point in Star Trek: Enterprise, successfully bringing together the founding species of Star Trek's not-yet Federation. To combat the threat of an unidentified Romulan marauder, and rescue his absent crew members, Archer needs the assistance of the Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites. When Shran challenges the Tellerite Naarg (Kevin Brief) to a duel, Archer steps in as champion to preserve negotiations and ultimately wins the cooperation of both races. The episode is an essential, formative insight into the characters and development of Star Trek's foundations.
4 "The Council" (Enterprise Season 3, Episode 22)
"A lot can happen in a day," Captain Archer comments in this emotional rollercoaster episode that also sets up a far-reaching Vulcan axiom: the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. "The Council" finally brings together the Enterprise crew and the five different Xindi factions. With threat levels rapidly shifting, the Xindi Council ruptures into division, kidnap, and murder as clear lines and loyalties are drawn or broken. It's a critical episode that brings the Xindi story arc significantly towards a wrenching climax and launches the super-weapon to destroy Earth.
3 "Azati Prime" (Enterprise Season 3, Episode 18)
"Azati Prime" is an emotional whirlwind of caution, triumph, and defeat as the crew of the Enterprise tracks down the Xindi weapon and attempts to destroy it. Amid interference from temporal agents, a failed suicide mission, and a subsequent savage interrogation, the episode delivers a series of stark yet powerful moments. This Enterprise episode contrasts bleak with bittersweet, as Captain Archer torments his captors with a resigned acceptance yet begins to win the benefit of the doubt.
2 "Twilight" (Enterprise Season 3, Episode 8)
"Twilight" is a somewhat circular apocalyptic story set in an alternate timeline. Relieved of his captaincy, Archer's diagnosis changes the course of both his and the Enterprise crew's lives. This Enterprise season 3 classic examines the emotional consequences of adjusting to living with a life-altering condition and caring for someone dealing with one. It's a love story of sacrifice and loyalty, indirectly echoing Star Trek's famous phrase: Let me help.
1 "Terra Prime" (Enterprise Season 4, Episode 21)
Unofficially acknowledged as the actual and most fitting final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, "Terra Prime" channels Star Trek's deepest-held core values. Delivering his most remarkable speech of the series, Archer champions bringing worlds together - a feat more potent in the wake of hostilities by a xenophobic hate group intent on division and the notion of purity. It's a nod to an essential Star Trek ideal and a glimpse at the establishment of the United Federation of Planets.