We can tell that this series is a Star Trek prequel dealing with the earlier days of space exploration when, after last week's First Encounter with a slug, we have to deal with this week's hallucinogenic pollen. It's a little bit limited if you want to hook viewers into a new show about the exploration of space but the writers were really working in the dark with these early episodes which were written before the cameras ever rolled on the series. They were trying to make something entertaining while having very little scope for expansion outside of the narrow parameters they had been given so it's no wonder so many people switched off.
Watched retrospectively, it's not so bad. The outdoor scenes are refreshing (especially the camp fire) and the illusionary rock-monsters are well realised. The crew conflict is pretty convincing and Novakovich's transporter accident suitably grisly. Dr Phlox appears pretty distressed when he announces the latter's deteriorating condition and likely demise but the Enterprise's first "red shirt" casualty was averted when Scott Bacula pointed out that the script did not allow time for proper recognition of a crew member's death at this early stage of the first season. Hasty revisions allowed for word of his survival at the end.
This was truly a Captain going where no-one in Star Trek had gone before. An actor pointing out how important each crew member was to him and objecting to any of them being so egregiously killed off must have been something of a surprise to those in charge. It's a shame that the character didn't return, however, the other guest actor Crewman Cutler, played by Kelly Waymire, returned to Enterprise several times before her tragically early death at the age of 36 in 2003.
Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.
Watched retrospectively, it's not so bad. The outdoor scenes are refreshing (especially the camp fire) and the illusionary rock-monsters are well realised. The crew conflict is pretty convincing and Novakovich's transporter accident suitably grisly. Dr Phlox appears pretty distressed when he announces the latter's deteriorating condition and likely demise but the Enterprise's first "red shirt" casualty was averted when Scott Bacula pointed out that the script did not allow time for proper recognition of a crew member's death at this early stage of the first season. Hasty revisions allowed for word of his survival at the end.
This was truly a Captain going where no-one in Star Trek had gone before. An actor pointing out how important each crew member was to him and objecting to any of them being so egregiously killed off must have been something of a surprise to those in charge. It's a shame that the character didn't return, however, the other guest actor Crewman Cutler, played by Kelly Waymire, returned to Enterprise several times before her tragically early death at the age of 36 in 2003.
Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5.