Well said. Archer could have been such an interesting character who grows throughout the series, and I think that was much of the original plan, but I think the writers were straight up exhausted from TNG - DS9 - VOY for like 30 years and gave up trying.

9/11 allegory with the Xindi - I mean, it was a pretty big event and it’s only natural for America’s biggest sci fi show to try and tackle it. The Xindi arc was interesting and I think really good in some parts - but it didn’t feel like Trek to me. This wasn’t the show to try it on.

I feel so bad for Scott Bakula. This was going to be an absolutely defining role for him but he was given nothing to work with, and was cut loose right when the interesting stuff started showing up. I really want him to get another chance to shine, with some decent writing up to the calibre of Strange New Worlds at least.

Nothing else to say other than this is an interesting plan! I would really love to see the original cast return.

They kind of had to get up to speed quickly to even have a fighting chance against the enemy of the week. To be fair, when they went up against the Xindi it was pretty clear the NX-01 had barely any chance, it was in pieces.

Some of the best moments of the series was when they’d rig up something out of the primitive tech they had like the grappler and figure out a way to punch way above their weight in fights. So I don’t think they fully lost the scrappy underdog status.

Cookie clicker anyone? I play it on both android and PC. Wish Android had more features!