Movies - TV
The Single Sentence That Defined Star Trek: Enterprise’s ‘Philosophy’
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
The "Star Trek" franchise established a groundwork of chronological lore between 1966 and 2001 for the original series, "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," and "Voyager."
“The Next Generation” took place almost a century after the events of the original series, and its strong, dynamic plot continued that timeline.
In 2001, a new “Enterprise” series was put into production. It was set a century before the original series and needed a new aesthetic and philosophy with throwback technology.
One might assume such a show would limit a writer and require a direct link between the prequel events and the extant lore from the original series and franchise.
However, writer Stephen Beck didn't think in those terms and gave “Enterprise” a fresh start, with a new beginning that could be filled with lots of complex lore.
The writers had a century of "Star Trek" history to fill in and explore. Beck had an interview with Brannon Braga, and his viewpoint immediately clicked with the showrunner.
Beck recalled, “I said it appealed to me that you get to start over and that you have an infinite amount of stories that you can tell. I remember him saying, 'Yes, that's it.'"