Jonathan Frakes' True Feelings About The Controversial Star Trek: Enterprise Finale
"Star Trek: Enterprise" isn't regarded as the sci-fi franchise's finest hour, and Jonathan Frakes doesn't have the most glowing opinion of the polarizing finale, "These Are the Voyages." While speaking to Variety, the actor said he agreed to do the episode for the fans after being sold on the idea that they wanted to see it. However, he wasn't happy about the show's farewell installment ultimately becoming an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and neither were many viewers.
"The fans didn't want to see us," Frakes said. "Scott Bakula was such a mensch about it, but all these other 'Trek' shows went seven seasons. Nobody wanted to be on a 'Star Trek' show that didn't get to go to seven. And the inherent insult in having characters from another series that had done well come in to essentially close the books on his episode — it just felt so wrong to me."
The experience wasn't entirely bad, though. Frakes also claimed he and his colleagues had fun making the finale, even though the episode didn't turn out as well as he perhaps hoped. Sadly, this negative opinion of the "Star Trek: Enterprise" finale is shared by some viewers as well, who've made their opinions known in some Reddit forums.
The Star Trek: Enterprise finale angered some fans
While speaking at a convention (via TrekMovie.com), writer Brannon Braga revealed that the "Star Trek: Enterprise" finale was envisioned as a "lost episode" of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," but its connection to that beloved series arguably did more harm than good. While many Trekkies undoubtedly enjoyed seeing familiar faces on the screen again, some have echoed Jonathan Frakes' criticism about the reunion feeling wrong.
Redditor u/Jigowatt noted that the creative decision makes "Enterprise" feel lesser than "The Next Generation," defeating the purpose of the entire series. "Turning an ENT episode into a sub-episode within a TNG story really puts the ENT story into something of a subservient role," they wrote. "We sat through 4 seasons of ENT, and then we get a finale that's only really a holodeck recreation within a TNG episode." Elsewhere, u/Eagle_Ear said that the idea had potential, but the botched execution let it down. Furthermore, the Redditor believes that the results are insulting to the viewers who stuck by the show for four seasons.
Of course, the finale does have its defenders. Redditor u/madrazojr conceded that it isn't a perfect episode, but the creators deserve praise for being bold and experimental: "No finale is perfect, but at least they tried something different. I give them credit for it."