10 Reasons Star Trek Enterprise Deserves A Second Chance
4. THAT final episode
These are the Voyages is an episode that is reviled by many and for good reason. It wasn't the fact that Riker and Troi were back, as a visit from them is always very welcome - not least in Nepenthe from Star Trek Picard.
The issue with this episode is where it falls in the running order of the series. Had this episode existed as a stand alone story in the middle of a season, with some of the plot elements removed, it could have been a very pleasant way of joining the different series together.
As Enterprise was facing cancellation, the idea to wrap up the series in a hurry was put through and unfortunately this episode became the coda to the show. The idea of Archer leading the human race into the Federation was a wonderful idea. The random and utterly pointless killing of Trip was not.
T'Pol and Trip's story, if it had to end, ended in the previous episode, Terra Prime. Were the show to end with that two parter, it would have left, if not a satisfying conclusion to the series, then certainly a more respectful one. Were a fifth season every greenlit for Enterprise or the show revisited by means of a Pike spin off (please) then at least some of the adventures in the ten years before Enterprise retires could and should be addressed.
The show is something of the forgotten cousin of the franchise and this finale only serves to push that further. The characters deserve a better send off.