"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 series planned for the fall of 2005, the 2005-2006 season will be 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. UPN (which originally stood for the United Paramount Network) is a television network in the United States, owned by Viacom Inc. ... The starship Enterprise (NX-01) Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Richard Keith Rick Berman (born December 25, 1945 in New York, New York, USA) is an American television producer. ... Brannon Braga (born August 14, 1964 in Bozeman, Montana) is a television script writer and producer who has made significant contributions to the Star Trek series since 1990. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ...

Plot details

Archer and T'Pol share a private moment before Archer addresses the Federation delegation

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. Also appearing was Jeffrey Combs as his recurring Enterprise character, Commander Shran. This work is copyrighted. ... This work is copyrighted. ... Jonathan Frakes as William Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation Jonathan Frakes (born August 19, 1952 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania) is a 64 American actor and director best known for his portrayal of teh popular and efficient Commander William Riker in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation Marina Sirtis (born March 29, 1960) is a British actress of Greek extraction who is most noted for playing the comely half-human half-Betazoid Counselor Deanna Troi on the television and film series Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ... William Thomas Riker is a fictitious character in the Star Trek universe played by Jonathan Frakes, who appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and all the movies focusing on the TNG characters. ... Commander Deanna Troi is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe, played by the actress Marina Sirtis in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise (the latter two only in guest appearances), and in several Star Trek films. ... Data, played by Brent Spiner, is a character in the Star Trek fictional universe. ... Jeffrey Combs Jeffrey Alan Combs (born 9 September 1954) is a character actor best known for his horror film roles and his appearances in various aspects of the Star Trek franchise. ... Thylek Shran is a recurring character in the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise. ...

"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. Jonathan Archer is a fictional character from the television show Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005). ... The Enterprise (NX-01) is a starship in the Star Trek fictional universe commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer. ... Earth, also known as Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third-closest planet to the Sun. ... In the fictional Star Trek universe, the United Federation of Planets is a federation of more than 150 member planets and thousands of colonies, claiming territory in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants of the Milky Way Galaxy. ... Charles Trip Tucker III Commander Charles Tucker III, known as Trip (for triple, since he is the third generation of his family to be called Charles Tucker), is a fictional character in the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, played by Connor Trinneer. ...

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". In the Star Trek fictional universe, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) is the Galaxy class starship that is the principal setting of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). ... Star Trek: Generations (Paramount Pictures, 1994, see also 1994 in film) is the seventh feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. ... The Pegasus is a seventh-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, first broadcast on January 10, 1994. ...

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. 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). Terra Prime is the title of a Star Trek: Enterprise television episode from season four. ... Commander TPol is a fictional character played by Jolene Blalock in Star Trek: Enterprise. ... Columbia (NX-02) an NX class starship in the Star Trek fictional universe which is featured on the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. ...

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 forseeable future. Advance criticisms 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). Pocket Books is the name of a subdivision of Simon & Schuster publishers. ...

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] Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander TPol Jolene Blalock (born March 5, 1975 in San Diego, California) is an American actress best known for playing Sub-Commander TPol, a Vulcan in Star Trek: Enterprise. ... Commander TPol is a fictional character played by Jolene Blalock in Star Trek: Enterprise. ... The Toronto Star is a major metropolitan newspaper produced in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... Science fiction conventions are gatherings of the community of fans (called science fiction fandom) of various forms of science fiction and fantasy. ... In film and broadcasting, a soundbite is a very short piece of footage taken from a longer speech or an interview in which someone with authority says something which is considered by those who edit the speech or interview to be a most important point. ... The Boston Herald is a tabloid newspaper, the smaller of the two big dailies in Boston, Massachusetts, with a daily circulation of 242,957 in September 2002. ...

In response to some of these criticisms, series producer Manny Coto stated that he considered "TATV" to be a coda rather than the true finale of the series. 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. [4] [5] However, a large portion of the viewers were casual fans that didn't read press releases from the producers but just tuned in every week, so many were not exposed to Coto's explanation and naturally assumed that TATV was the series finale. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Coda sign Coda (Italian for tail; from the Latin cauda), in music, is a passage which brings a movement or a separate piece to a conclusion through prolongation. ... Demons is the title of a Star Trek: Enterprise television episode from season four. ... Terra Prime is the title of a Star Trek: Enterprise television episode from season four. ...

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 Mayweather and 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. 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. In the fictional Star Trek universe, 2161 is the year in which the human, Andorian, Vulcan, Tellarite, and several other species align to form the United Federation of Planets. ... Insignia of a United States Navy Ensign In the military of various countries, ensign is a junior rank of commissioned officer. ... In military organizations, a commissioned officer is a member of the service who derives authority directly from a sovereign power, and as such holds a commission from that power. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... A Lieutenant, Junior Grade, is a division officer in the United States Navy. ... Harry Kim can be: A fictional Star Trek character on the American television series Star Trek: Voyager; see Harry Kim (Star Trek). ... The starship Voyager (NCC-74656), an Intrepid-class starship. ... Thomas Eugene Paris is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe who served aboard the USS Voyager (NCC-74656) as helmsman and pilot, with the rank of lieutenant. ... Miles OBrien Miles Edward OBrien is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe, played by Colm Meaney. ... All Good Things. ... Pocket Books is the name of a subdivision of Simon & Schuster publishers. ...

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.

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 many 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 many 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.[6]

Some viewers complained that the episode overlooked any reference to the Earth-Romulan conflict, established in Star Trek: The Original Series as a bitter war fought from approximitely 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. The proposed 11th Star Trek feature film is also rumored to take place during this era. The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... Balance of Terror is a first season episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series. ... In the fictional Star Trek universe, the United Federation of Planets is a federation of more than 150 member planets and thousands of colonies, claiming territory in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants of the Milky Way Galaxy. ...

Some fans have come up with many ways to "fix" controversial occurrences that take place during this episode. One of the more popular ideas is using the excuse that since all the action surrounding the NX-01 crew takes place in a holoprogram 200 years after it supposedly occurred, some of the "facts" may not be accurate...or that parts may have been changed to more fit Riker's situation to help him with his decision.

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. [7] Rick Berman later told TV Guide that the episode was always intended for the fourth season finale, even if the series had been renewed.[8] However, in a July 2005 interview, Berman revealed that had the series been renewed, Trip Tucker would not have been killed off.[9]
• 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.
• 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.

2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... TV Guide is the name of two North American weekly magazines about TV programming, one in the United States and one in Canada. ... Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation Marina Sirtis (born March 29, 1960) is a British actress of Greek extraction who is most noted for playing the comely half-human half-Betazoid Counselor Deanna Troi on the television and film series Star Trek: The Next Generation. ... Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. ... Horizon is the 20th episode of season 2 of Star Trek: Enterprise which originally aired on April 16, 2003. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Malcolm Reed Malcolm Reed (born September 2) is the fictional British officer on the Enterprise, in the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise. ... The starship Voyager (NCC-74656), an Intrepid-class starship. ... Space station Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 or STDS9 or DS9 for short) is a science fiction television series produced by Paramount and set in the Star Trek universe. ... Terra Prime is the title of a Star Trek: Enterprise television episode from season four. ... This list of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes is accompanied by each episodes original airdate on UPN in the United States, along with its Nielsen rating, and number of viewers. ...

References

• StarTrek.com Episode Information

External links

• These Are the Voyages... article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki