The 15 Best Episodes Of Star Trek: Enterprise, Ranked

The first “Star Trek” television series of the 21st century was the prequel “Star Trek: Enterprise,” running for four seasons from 2001 to 2005. Set approximately a century before the events of “Star Trek: The Original Series,” the show covers humanity’s early days exploring the galaxy. The series’ central starship, the Enterprise NX-01, is among the first capable of traveling warp five, with this enhanced speed giving it access to an expansive number of worlds. Commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), the Enterprise leads the creation of what would become the United Federation of Planets.

Throughout its four-season run, “Enterprise” provided a unique approach to the “Star Trek” franchise, showing the origins of many of its familiar tropes and concepts. “Enterprise” also featured stories spanning multiple episodes, mixing longer-form storytelling with the franchise’s usual episodic format. While “Enterprise” may have seen a mixed reception across its run, including a poorly regarded finale, there are plenty of excellent episodes throughout the series. Here are the best episodes of “Star Trek: Enterprise,” ranked from worst to best.

The two-part series premiere, “Broken Bow,” introduces Archer and his crew as they are tasked with returning a wounded Klingon back to his homeworld. Joining the Enterprise NX-01 is T’Pol (Jolene Blalock), a Vulcan liaison observing and assisting with the mission. As the Enterprise contends with continued tensions with the Vulcan government, they discover the Klingon is related to a temporal conspiracy. The newly assembled crew must learn to work together in order to successfully return the Klingon and outmaneuver the time-traveling conspirators.

“Broken Bow” offers audiences a look at Starfleet and human-Vulcan relations as they had never been seen before, with the Vulcans highly distrustful of their new allies. The main cast gels together quickly, with Bakula and Blalock among the standouts from the ensemble. “Enterprise” also wisely introduces the Temporal Cold War plot threads, promising the show won’t just be a prequel but a larger mystery. Though some of the uneven elements prevalent throughout “Enterprise” are present, the premiere offers an intriguing direction forward with a likable cast.

Though “Star Trek: The Next Generation” introduced the Borg in the 24th century, “Enterprise” found a way to include the techno-organic enemies two centuries earlier. The second season episode “Regeneration” reveals time-traveling Borg from “Star Trek: First Contact” crashed in the Arctic Circle. After being unearthed and thawed, they assimilate the scientists that found them and try to contact the Borg Collective in the Delta Quadrant. With assimilated personnel on board, Archer must find a way to disrupt the Borg’s efforts and save his ship.

Every encounter with the Borg places “Star Trek” characters in the fight of their lives, and “Regeneration” is no different. Archer and his chief engineer Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer) have to make increasingly difficult decisions to stay alive and stop the Borg. While shoehorning the Borg into “Enterprise” could have seemed forced in lesser hands, the episode not only makes their inclusion organic but sets up their debut in “TNG.” Featuring some of the most intense action of the second season, “Regeneration” is a series highlight, as long as one doesn’t think too hard about the continuity implications.

The third season of “Enterprise” revolved around Starfleet’s devastating war against an alien race known as the Xindi. The conflict provided an overarching storyline for the season, which came to a head in its final three episodes. The season’s penultimate episode, “Countdown,” has Archer win the support of splinter Xindi factions in time to prevent a planned attack on Earth. As Archer leads a counterattack with his new allies, a strike team launches a mission to rescue Enterprise communications officer Hoshi Sato (Linda Park).

“Countdown” is a particularly action-driven episode in a season that already relied on sci-fi spectacle, but it effectively raises the intensity. Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating), especially, gets to shine, with his occasionally contentious dynamic with Major Hayes (Robert Culp) taking on a new direction as they’re forced to work together. “Countdown” is really a narrative bridge between its preceding episode, “The Council,” and the season finale, moving its key players into position for the final battle. With that in mind, this episode moves briskly forward, showing “Enterprise” at its leanest and meanest.

The final season of “Enterprise” builds to the creation of the precursor to the United Federation of Planets, though this coalition is not met without violent internal opposition. A xenophobic paramilitary organization, Terra Prime, infiltrates Starfleet and issues an ultimatum for all non-humans to vacate Earth. The group is led by John Frederick Paxton (Peter Weller), who takes over the Martian planetary defense systems, putting Starfleet on the defensive. While T’Pol and Trip try to stop Terra Prime, they learn the hard way that Paxton is not to be underestimated.

Between “Enterprise” and his separate role in 2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness,” Weller proves he makes a particularly effective “Star Trek” villain. Paxton is the antithesis of Archer and his unity-oriented mission of interspecies coexistence and cooperation. The story feels like a payoff to the wider “Enterprise” saga, while containing clear links to the “TOS” era. Though not quite as tightly constructed as the episode’s direct follow-up, “Demons” is elevated by Weller’s presence and its homegrown adversaries.

The entire trajectory of “Enterprise” changed with its second season finale, “The Expanse,” introducing the Xindi. After the Xindi carry out a cataclysmic surprise attack on Earth, the Enterprise is called back as Starfleet regroups. Along the way, Archer is briefly kidnaped and informed of the Temporal Cold War, along with the Xindi’s efforts to change history. After briefing Starfleet Command, Archer is tasked with confronting the Xindi, facing unexpected Klingon hostilities along the way.

Just as “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” got its creative second wind with the long-form Dominion War storyline, so too did “Enterprise” with the Xindi. “The Expanse” gave “Enterprise” a clear direction moving into its third season, one that helped tighten the show’s narrative focus. The episode also calls into question T’Pol’s true loyalties, a lingering question since the series premiere, that speaks to Starfleet’s uneasy dynamic with Vulcan. “Enterprise” is one of those rare “Star Trek” shows that is elevated by action over existentialism and “The Expanse” demonstrates that beautifully.

The fourth season of “Enterprise” featured a three-part storyline that saw humanity, the Vulcans, the Andorians, and the Tellarites come together to form the precursor to the Federation. These efforts are disrupted by the Romulans, who see the multilateral alliance as a threat to their own interests. This arc comes to a head in “The Aenar,” as Archer works with former Andorian adversary Commander Shran (Jeffrey Combs) to gain the support of the Aenar. An offshoot of the Andorians, the Aenar have already been targeted by the Romulans in a last-ditch effort to derail the burgeoning partnership.

“The Aenar” brings the centerpiece story of the fourth season to a satisfying close, including the Romulans’ overall role in “Enterprise.” On a more intimate level, the episode also adds to the complicated romance between T’Pol and Trip that serves as the series’ biggest love story. While the relationship would eventually fizzle out anticlimactically, the juicy interpersonal drama between them heats up here. It’s that emotional complexity that elevates “The Aenar” above the other installments in its makeshift trilogy.

One of the most thought-provoking episodes in “Enterprise” is the third season episode “Similitude,” involving cloning and the debate over the right to life. When Trip is injured in an engineering accident, Archer agrees to create a rapidly maturing clone of him to serve as a life-saving donor. As the Trip clone, nicknamed Sim, grows older, he inherits Trip’s emotions, including his affection for T’Pol. Sim contemplates his own existence and whether he deserves to live or if his duty and purpose to save Trip should be fulfilled.

Amidst all the interstellar stakes throughout the third season, “Similitude” presents a more self-contained intimate humanist story. Trinneer gets a fantastic showcase playing Sim, a facsimile of Trip who is also his own subtly distinct character at the same time. Beyond Trinneer, much of the cast gets the chance to shine as they ponder the ethical questions surrounding Sim, especially John Billingsley as Doctor Phlox. For as action-oriented as “Enterprise” was overall, episodes like “Similitude” underscore that the show could still ask those deeper, open-ended questions.

One of the most compelling character arcs in “Enterprise” isn’t even from one of the titular ship’s crew, but rather its greatest frenemy, Commander Shran. Shran makes his debut in the first season episode, “The Andorian Incident,” as a decided antagonist. The Andorians accuse the Vulcans of spying on them from a remote outpost, with the Enterprise becoming involved and Archer captured and tortured by Shran personally. After Archer discovers the Andorians’ suspicions are well-founded, he diplomatically acquiesces to some of their demands while his crew shuts down any escalation, earning Shran’s reluctant respect.

Combs already had a prolific background with “Star Trek,” through “Deep Space Nine,” but he’s completely unrecognizable as Shran in the best of ways. Combs’ performance as Shran would make the Andorian a recurring character throughout “Enterprise,” with the vicious commander eventually becoming a valuable ally to Archer. Compared to its idealistic predecessors, “Enterprise” is full of moral shades of gray and the ongoing tension between humanity, the Vulcans, and Andorians highlight that here. “The Andorian Incident” provided “Enterprise” with its greatest foil outside of the main crew and that chemistry was evident from the start.

The endgame to the Xindi War begins with the third season episode “The Council,” as the Enterprise moves to speak to the five-species council making up the Xindi. As Archer petitions the council to avoid escalating the war by deploying a superweapon against Earth, there is internal strife among the Xindi. Though the superweapon’s designer Degra (Randy Oglesby) has sided with Archer to prevent the weapon’s use, this move isn’t without opposition in the council. Meanwhile, T’Pol leads an expedition to learn more about the Sphere Builders, the civilization who pit the Xindi against humanity and a key faction in the Temporal Cold War.

“The Council” is the calm before the climactic storm closing out the Xindi War as Archer makes one last effort at peace ahead of further hostilities. There are betrayals and plot twists, both on an epic and intimate scale, as the council stands divided on how they should proceed. The episode also starts to answer the long-standing questions about the Xindi and the Temporal Cold War, the latter of which had been lingering since the series premiere. With “The Council,” “Enterprise” began resolving its long game as it maneuvered its characters towards the season finale.

The back half of the third season of “Enterprise” was largely driven by Archer trying to prevent the Xindi from deploying their secret superweapon. “Azati Prime” has Starfleet learn the superweapon’s location, with Archer leading a presumed suicide mission to destroy it at all costs. This is interrupted by Temporal Agent Daniels (Matt Winston), who takes Archer with him into the future, revealing the Xindi conflict is an extension of the Temporal Cold War. In Archer’s absence, T’Pol takes command of the Enterprise, which finds itself caught in a Xindi ambush.

“Azati Prime” is an enormously pivotal “Enterprise” episode, not only for the Xindi storyline but also the bigger questions present since the series premiere. The full implications of the Temporal Cold War are finally laid out and tie seamlessly into the unfolding story. Through all the big reveals, Blalock gives one of her best performances as T’Pol, facing her own crisis of leadership. A well-rounded balance between action and plot and character development, “Azati Prime” is “Enterprise” firing on all cylinders.

For as much as it was defined by epic battles spanning time and space, “Enterprise” could be quite charming when it took the time to slow down and breathe. This distinction elevates the second season episode “Carbon Creek,” one of the more unique stories in the series. T’Pol recounts to Archer and Trip how one of her ancestors visited Earth incognito in the 1950s. Blalock also plays her ancestor, T’Mir, who secretly lived in Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania after her Vulcan ship crashed there in 1957 while observing the Sputnik launch.

The bulk of “Carbon Creek” falls on Blalock’s capable shoulders, given her dual role and the episode’s flashback premise. The episode relies largely on fish-out-of-water humor for the Vulcans as they try to acclimate and hide themselves in small town ’50s society. “Carbon Creek” is a pleasant side story that doesn’t advance the larger plot or character arcs and nor does it try to. Instead, “Carbon Creek” just makes for a good “Star Trek” story, regardless of the larger series, coasting on its easygoing appeal.

Ever since its introduction in “The Original Series,” the morally inverted Mirror Universe has been a major recurring element in the franchise. The fourth season of “Enterprise” provides its own twist on this tried-and-true trope with the two-part episode “In a Mirror, Darkly.” Instead of prime universe characters being displaced in the Mirror Universe, the episode depicts the inverted counterparts as the protagonists. Mirror Archer seizes command of his universe’s Enterprise before discovering the USS Defiant thrown into his reality from the “TOS” episode “The Tholian Web.”

With everything from the Mirror Universe version of “First Contact” to its alternate opening title sequence, “In a Mirror, Darkly” is just a lot of fun. Bakula and Park visibly relish playing evil versions of their usual characters, while the Mirror Universe itself feels more unpredictable and dangerous than past depictions. The surprise tie-in to the “TOS” era makes the episode’s premise feel fresh beyond the typical trappings of its morally reversed dimension. A fun detour before “Enterprise” begins to set up its finale, “In a Mirror, Darkly” is a self-contained blast.

The long-running Xindi storyline reaches its twist-filled climax with the season 3 finale, “Zero Hour.” Learning that the Xindi are transporting a superweapon for a renewed attack on Earth, Archer personally intercepts the incoming enemy operation. Starfleet receives crucial support from Commander Shran, who owes Archer a debt of honor from a past adventure. At this pivotal moment in the conflict, Archer reunites with Temporal Agent Daniels, who offers the captain a glimpse of his celebrated future.

There is a lot going on in “Zero Hour,” the third season finale and conclusion of the Xindi storyline that guided much of the season. In addition to resolving the explosive war, the episode also feeds directly into the Temporal Cold War narrative that kicked off the series. Finally, “Zero Hour” provides the audience with its own alternate history story, this time as a cliffhanger to entice viewers back for the next season. Though overstuffed, most of these plot points connect, wrapping up the overarching story satisfyingly while presenting the audience with one heck of a reason to return for the fourth season.

Though “Enterprise” concluded with the widely maligned two-parter “These Are the Voyages…,” many fans argue the show’s true finale is the preceding episode, “Terra Prime.” Picking up directly from the events of “Demons,” the series’ penultimate episode continues Archer’s showdown with the Terra Prime terrorist organization. With T’Pol and Trip now hostages of Paxton, Archer leads a small strike force on Mars to free them and stop Terra Prime. After emerging victoriously, Archer gives an impassioned speech to Starfleet on the importance of interstellar unity and cooperation.

If “Enterprise” had ended with “Terra Prime,” it would’ve improved the show’s subsequent reputation immeasurably. The episode offers everything from conspiratorial intrigue to pulse-pounding action, with Bakula delivering his arguably best performance as Archer. The closing monologue alone delivers on the long-standing themes of the series, of humanity learning to trust and work with other spacefaring species. A beautifully crafted episode that gets to the core of “Enterprise,” “Terra Prime” is all killer, no killer.

One of the most time-bending episodes of “Star Trek” ever is the third season episode “Twilight.” After an accident leaves Archer physically unable to maintain his command of the Enterprise, he is replaced by T’Pol. However, this change in leadership sparks a chain of events that results in humanity losing their war against the Xindi, with the species barely surviving the defeat. Determined to change history, Phlox leads an effort to travel back in time and cure Archer of his condition before this tragedy can take full effect.

“Star Trek” has certainly played with similar narrative tropes and themes before “Twilight,” but they all convalesce so well in this episode. The obsessive intensity that Billingsley brings to Phlox, especially, is the driving force behind the story guiding viewers through this divergent timeline. Beyond the episode, “Twilight” underscores the stakes of the Xindi War and how pivotal Archer’s role in the ongoing conflict truly is. As it stands, “Twilight” just isn’t one of the best “Enterprise” episodes, but one of the best time-travel/alternate timeline “Star Trek” stories ever.