After reviewing the entire first season here in 2002 following its original airing, I gave the season 7/10 and the opening pilot 7/10 with other episodes ranging from 9/10 to awful... I vowed to give second season a chance, but the reality is that I gave up as it aired and felt uninspired and moreover couple with the dismal tenth Trek movie : Nemesis (3/10) which to me was the nail in the coffin of a fine franchise. so it was R.I.P. in 2002.
However, ten years later, and on the eve of Star Trek Into Darkness, although I was not extremely pleased with Star Trek (2009) (6/10), I decided to buy the entire Enterprise series to finally see what Enterprise season 2,3 and 4 were about, perhaps (but probably not!) tired of watching even excellent DS9 episodes for the umpteenth time and some mix/match of vibrant Voyager and dated TNG which I actually never finished in its entirety either.
Low and behold, I was absolutely hooked seeing Broken Bow in one sitting! I loved the intrigue, the tension, the action, the dialogue and the characters. T'Pol is brilliant and beautiful. Travis and Hoshi have possibly their best episode here as I remember them being underutilized after this. Phlox is enigmatic and endearing. Trip and Archer are slightly typical bravado, but solid and softened by Archer's apt back story with his father. The both makes amends with patronizing T'Pol, Trip taking his shirt off in the decon and challenging her on the bridge. The supporting character from the Ambassadors, Admirals, Klingons, Suliban (including seductive and believable Sarin) all add to the rich tapestry.
Also, the idea of the show to be early explorers is omnipresent and we are as excited as the characters to discover new civilizations and learn their peculiarities, to try new technology, etc.
Add time travel and foreign worlds who give way to amazing audio and visual effects (including sci-fi elements and sexy elements) and you have a two-hour plus episode that looks like a theatrical release. It helps that it was filmed in 16:9 way before it's time. So revising this pilot I am pumped to see Enterprise again. If nothing else and the series still feel flats, at least I can now be assured that the premise and the production was promising.
Rating changed from 7 to 9/10!
End personal log.