Warp Five: A Star Trek Enterprise Podcast

NX-01 Movie Night: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.   Friendship and fellowship is important for people's general health and well-being. All of the Star Trek series have shown some sort of interaction between the members of its crew on screen in varying ways. The Next Generation had poker, Deep Space Nine had Vic's lounge, Voyager had Sandrine's and the resort program, and Enterprise had mov...

First Time Enterprise Viewer: Season 2.     Most Star Trek fans have watched the episodes multiple times, and after more than fifty years of broadcasting, we are surprised when we meet someone that hasn't watched some of the episodes, or even hasn't watched any episodes in a series at all. Kerry Purvis has been a Star Trek fan since she was a small child, but somehow she passed over Enterprise dur...

Essential Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3.   In every season of every Star Trek show, there are some episodes that stand out more than others — but which ones are essential to their respective shows as a whole? We continue our four-part series where we look at each episode of each season and determine if they are essential to the overall narrative of the show. In this episode of Warp Five , hosts B...

The Tholians With James Swallow.     Star Trek has created many species in over 50 years of lore, but one of the most beloved and mysterious of them all has been the Tholians. Originally seen in the original series episode "The Tholian Web," this mysterious species was simply shown as a flicker of colors and angular shapes with an aggressive attitude and shrill voice. The Tholians have been mentio...

NX-01 Movie Night: Son of Frankenstein.   Friendship and fellowship is important for people's general health and well-being. All of the Star Trek series have shown some sort of interaction between the members of its crew on screen in varying ways. The Next Generation had poker, Deep Space Nine had Vic's lounge, Voyager had Sandrine's and the resort program, and Enterprise had movie night. Since th...

Season Four Retrospective Part 5.     An overarching theme for season four of Star Trek: Enterprise was the planting of the seeds of the Federation. The 22nd century showed us a quadrant of space in turmoil, with alien races at each others throats, and humanity portrayed as the pillar of reason and diplomacy in the foundation of both Starfleet and the Federation. We also see Archer grow into the f...

Say Something Nice: Season One.     Every Star Trek series has episodes that are beloved, and thus, they are frequent topics of discussion with fans. Contrariwise, the episodes that end up on the bottom of lists for rankings often get forgotten or skipped. However, the fans that hosts this podcast believe that there is always something to enjoy in every episode of Star Trek. Too often we tend to d...

Comparing "Identity Crisis" and "Extinction."     You can call it an homage, call it inspired by, or even call it a coincidence, but, after more than 750 episodes of Star Trek, every once in a while you come across a story that seems vaguely familiar to you. Star Trek fans love to compare and contrast these stories to determine which was done better. In this episode of Warp Five, hosts Patrick Dev...

Enterprise Video Game.    The first official Star Trek game hearkens back to 1967, with a board game based on the original series. Since then, there have been various board games, card games, tabletop wargames, and role playing games. The first Star Trek video game was a text-based adventure written in BASIC, and released in 1971. There have been various others, both for PC and console, but never...

First Time Enterprise Viewer: Season One.   Most Star Trek fans have watched the episodes multiple times, and after more than fifty years of broadcasting, we are surprised when we meet someone that hasn't watched some of the episodes, or even hasn't watched any episodes in a series at all. Kerry Purvis has been a Star Trek fan since she was a small child, but somehow she passed over Enterprise dur...

Enterprise Recast.   It seems that reboots and revivals are still on the rise, even in connection with shows that were airing in the early 2000s. Charmed, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and Roswell, New Mexico are examples of such shows that have been remade with completely new actors cast in the roles, even though it seems not that long ago that the original versions of these shows were airing....

Section 31.   Section 31 was introduced in the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine just when the war seemed to be reaching a tipping point for the Federation. Labelled as an illegal group that worked outside of Starfleet and was accountable to no one, many fans latched on to this story element, and it quickly became a favorite of many. This organization would continue to crop up in the seri...

Writing a "Boomer" Episode.   Most Star Trek: Enterprise fans agree that Travis Mayweather was never fully utilized, and the idea of what it meant to be a "Boomer" was never explored to its full potential. There are many fan stories that have been written about Mayweather's ship and family, but now the official Warp Five version can finally be told! In this episode of Warp Five, hosts Patrick Devl...

Top Five Episode Titles.     Episode titles can often be tricky to write. Some titles may give too much away. Some may only make sense after seeing the episode. Some are completely straightforward. But one thing cannot be denied - episode titles are important, and thus, most fans have their favorites.  In this episode of Warp Five, hosts Brandon-Shea Mutala, Patrick Devlin, and Brandi Jackola take...

J.G. Hertzler Interview.  In this episode of Warp Five, host Brandon-Shea Mutala interviews J.G. Hertzler at the Albany Northeast Trek Con on the weekend of October 26th, 2018. We discuss his role as Advocate Kolos in the second season episode "Judgement," his voice work for video games, Pod Casting, his political career, and his upcoming stage production. Chapters Intro (00:00:00)  Welcome, Boome...

NX-01 Movie Night: Bride of Frankenstein.   Friendship and fellowship is important for people's general health and well-being. All of the Star Trek series have shown some sort of interaction between the members of its crew on screen in varying ways. The Next Generation had poker, Deep Space Nine had Vic's lounge, Voyager had Sandrine's and the resort program, and Enterprise had movie night. Since...

Leslie Hoffman Interview.   In this episode of Warp Five, hosts Brandon-Shea Mutala sits down with stunt woman Leslie Hoffman at the Northeast Trek Con to discuss her career in Hollywood, and some of her stunt work on Star Trek. Chapters Intro (00:00:00)  Welcome, Boomers! (00:01:31)  Leslie Hoffman Interview (00:02:45)   Host Brandon-Shea Mutala   Guest Leslie Hoffman   Production Brandon-Shea Mu...

Season Four Retrospective Part 4.     The final season of Star Trek: Enterprise is brimming with story arcs spanning two or more episodes. However, not every episode of season four was part of an arc. There were a few standalone episodes mixed in, and two of them deal with different parts of Star Trek history, both before and after the time in which Enterprise is set - one dipping into the history...

Northeast Trek Con Panel.     In this episode of Warp Five, we present the Podcasting 101 Panel from the Northeast Trek con. Ken Tripp moderates Brandon-Shea Mutala, Bill Smith and Dan Davidson of the Trek Geeks podcast, and Sue Kisenwether of Women at Warp. Chapters Intro (00:00:00)  Welcome, Boomers! (00:01:32)  Podcasting 101 Panel (00:03:35)    Host Ken Tripp   Guests Sue Kisenwether, Dan Davi...

Looking Back.   After Floyd Dorsey's much lamented retirement from Warp Five, remaining host Brandon-Shea Mutala cast his net to capture another co-host, catching not one, but two, in the process. Forty-one episodes and close to a year later (or ten years in podcasting measurement), for better or worse, in sickness and in health, they are still teaming up to discuss all things Star Trek: Enterpris...

"These Are the Voyages..." Rewrite Part 2.   Though Rick Berman described the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise as a "valentine to the fans", many viewers didn't see it as such. To this day, few fans of the series feel that it was a fitting end to the series, and most think the cast deserved better than appearing only as holograms. But was there anything salvageable in the episode? Could it b...

"These Are the Voyages..." Rewrite.   Though Rick Berman described the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise as a "valentine to the fans", many viewers didn't see it as such. To this day, few fans of the series feel that it was a fitting end to the series, and most think the cast deserved better than appearing only as holograms. But was there anything salvageable in the episode? Could it be, for...

Alternate Crew.     When the NX-01 Enterprise was completed, Starfleet knew that the first warp five-capable ship needed a crew who were at the top of their respective fields. This new class of starship would be traveling to places previously unseen by human eyes, and developing new relationships (and, sometimes, rivalries) with new species. The crew had to be not only extremely capable, but also...

Writers' Room.    Most Star Trek: Enterprise fans agree that the "Vulcan Trilogy" in season four is one of the best stories of the season, if not the series. There are, however, loose ends that some would like to have seen tied off. Did V'Las ever face a trial for his actions? Or did he escape to Romulus before judgment could be made and punishment carried out?  In this episode of Warp Five, hosts...

"Shockwave, Part II" Commentary.   After nearly four months of waiting. the season two premiere of Enterprise finally answered the burning questions of the cliffhanger season one finale, except for disclosing the identity of the future man from whom Silik has been receiving instructions. Though perhaps not as well-received as "Shockwave", part two does reach a satisfying conclusion to what happens...