Great point Cadeus, it was definitely the writing. I was not thrilled with Archer, Bakula had the look, but the delivery was just either not enough or too over the top. I was discussing with a friend of mine that even non-trek fans enjoyed the structure that was there. To a degree Starfleet is a military group as well as a scientific one. To be able to share both sides of the same coin is tricky, but it can be done. ST TNG, DS9 and VOY have all shown a command structure with policy and procedures implemented or to be referred to. Many of us can identify that with everyday life, at home and at work. We identify with structure. ENT had very little structure and when the captain hailed another ship, it was like Hi, Im Jonathan Archer...blah blah blah, not regimented, not per any protocol, it was like fumbling thru meeting someone you may or may not want to know. That irritated me a lot. But I digress. Im sure we will some very interesting stories coming up with the new series as well as the new film. Im really hoping they revisit the ENT era and cover the EARTH-ROMULAN WAR with an NX-01 refit. I think people will really appreciate it, bc it is part of Star Trek lore and just ripe for storytelling.
I was not a fan of the ship, I thought it looked way too technical, but I did like the fact that if you retro-engineered it, the NX-01 would have needed modifications and upgrades as time goes on. Attatching a ventral neck to connect a secondary hull for supplies, equipment and people, just made sense. Watching it evolve/imagining it evolve was definitely something I was hoping to see.
The uniforms--omg, My wife and a thousands of other non-fans have this constant complaint. Personally, I think the jumpsuit made sense, but at the same time, it confused the Heck out of the un-informed. I would have been happy seeing black cargo pants, boots and a top with corresponding color to speciality or just color the sleeves or shoulder sections. People just fixate on the most obvious things, the uniforms were not all that they could be. Just sayin...
After reading Eaglemoss's little article that is included (8 page booklet) I was surprised Zimmerman and Drexler didn't use the Connie looking ship to begin with. it was different enough but also very similar. Much the same way monohull boats are similar but different in size and function. It even states in the article..."ship has to look similar to Kirk's ship" , but someone walks thru the door and says "Hey, its Kirks ship" and they drop it, that didn't make sense. It would have been different enough.
Conflict, its what drives everything. I didn't care for the Xindi storyline but then, mirroring 9/11, many people could relate. Too bad they didn't run with Section 31/homeland security and set up a Guantanamo Bay kinda place/storyline. Earth is for Humans was a great topic as well. I guess I had hoped they would mirror Expansionism and at what cost as well as the greatness and the deadliness of the Frontier.