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<\/a><\/p>\nConnor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery and John Billingsley at STLV 2025 (Photo: TrekMovie.com\/Jon Spencer)<\/p>\n
Changing direction in season 3<\/p>\n
The first two seasons of Enterprise were structured very much like the previous Star Trek shows, with an episodic structure to ensure the show would work best in syndication. However, as noted earlier, television had been changing in the 1990s and into the early 2000s with more serialized shows like the X-Files and especially 24. And there were also major events happening in the world. The series debuted just weeks after the horrific September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks, which had a huge impact on society. When a fan asked about how the show \u201chit its stride\u201d in the third season, Keating and Billingsley weighed in:<\/p>\n
Dominic Keating: \u201cSeason 3, for my money, it\u2019s not my favorite season. But it was in response to 9\/11 and also the success of 24 which had become this arc of 24 episodes or 22, but it was a storyline. And that they were taking a leaf out of that success, which is why we now became not standalone episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Billingsley: \u201cOne thing I think it did do \u2013 aside from the politics, and I think we, a lot of us, have different opinions about whether or not it should or should not have been a comment on 9\/11 \u2013 but it did introduce propulsion into our story lines. And I think a lot of criticism of season 1 was that it was a little inert. For us to be out there exploring, it kind of felt like, \u2018Where\u2019s the where\u2019s the drive?\u2019 So I think it did create an impulse in that third season that was kind of missing a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In a separate solo panel, series star Scott Bakula also weighed in on the third season and the Xindi arc, saying he \u201cloved it\u201d and how he thought it had \u201cgreat writing.\u201d But he also noted how he personally he differs from Jonathan Archer the character, and this became especially true during the third and fourth seasons:<\/p>\n
Scott Bakula: \u201cArcher took a couple of dark turns on his way. I\u2019d like to think that that\u2019s not something that I have necessarily inside of me, and I haven\u2019t been tested in my life to know the answer to that. But the stuff that happened the last couple of seasons that he had the pedal to the metal, were things that were\u2026 kind of fun to play, but to imagine to go to those extremes is something I haven\u2019t gone through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scott Bakula at STLV 2025 (Photo: TrekMovie.com\/Jon Spencer)<\/p>\n Fun on the set<\/p>\n When an audience noted how much fun they were having watching the \u201cEnterprise Boys\u201d panel, Keating noted how their on stage antics are just an extension of what life was like on set when they \u201claughed and laughed and laughed,\u201d still shocked series star Scott Bakula never took them to task for all the goofing off, \u201cHe never once did and it was a joyous time in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n And like with any good Trek panel you got some fun insights into what it was like shooting the show, including Connor complaining about how he was \u201cpulling KY out of my hair for weeks\u201d after reshoots for the episode \u201cVox Sola\u201d where Trip and Archer were trapped in space goo. Of course Billingsley took it to a different place, talking about how he was \u201cshocked\u201d that the editors left a scene in \u201cTwo Days and Two Nights\u201d when Phlox woke up from hibernation and immediately lifted the covers to check on his (um) lower region, noting \u201cI was clearly suggesting\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n John Billingsley checks things out as Phlox in \u201cTwo Days and Two Nights\u201d<\/p>\n In his solo panel, Bakula was much more measured, talking up what it was like for him and the crew shooting the episode \u201cIn A Mirror, Darkly\u201d which featured the recreation of the classic Star Trek bridge and sets (for the USS Defiant). Bakula told the packed Vegas crowd:<\/p>\n Scott Bakula: \u201cIt was great. We had so much fun with that episode. It\u2019s one of my favorites. Michael Sussman wrote it\u2026 and it was great. It was really great to see everybody on the lot just come and congregate around that stage and come in and get people from accounting, from wherever, and they came in and they got their pictures taken. It was just kind of magical. As magical as it was every day being on a starship as your set\u2026 Being back in that old set that I remember from my childhood that hooked me on the show was really fun. And then playing the kind that altered state of it all was one of my favorites. It was great.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott Bakula as Mirror Archer in \u201cIn a Mirror Darkly, Part II\u201d<\/p>\n BONUS VIDEO: Billingsley crashes Bakula panel<\/p>\n Just to show how these guys get along, here is a video featuring John Billingsley asking a provocative question from the fan line during Bakula\u2019s solo panel.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n More STLV 2025<\/p>\n STLV is now over, but we have much more to report from the 5-day Star Trek event, including more from Scott Bakula talking about the \u201cStar Trek: United\u201d pitch<\/a> to return to Star Trek as Archer. Check out our STLV tag<\/a>\u00a0 on social for all of our coverage so far.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n