What do time travelers from the 31st century, a West Virginia mining town in the 50’s, Romulans, and a killer space station have in common? They’re the subject of the first four episodes of "Enterprise’s" second season. Once again, the show is off to a strong start, with high-quality stories that strike a perfect blend of action and character development.

Some of "Enterprise’s" success can be attributed to John Shiban, late of "The X-files", who joined the staff as co-executive producer. Also, the writing staff seems to have listened to fan’s complaints about the show. For example, in “Shockwave II,” the season premiere, the Enterprise’s crew is taken to task by the Vulcans and Starfleet for mistakes made during their first year. Fans were quick to cite the crews’ mishandling of situations as a sign of incompetence. Many complained that Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) wasn’t tough and assertive enough, and the writers have responded by toughening the captain up. Sub-commander T’pol (Jolene Blalock) is beginning to become more sympathetic towards her human colleagues, and growing more skeptical of her Vulcan superiors.

Another factor behind "Enterprise’s" recent burst of greatness is continuity, an important aspect of any show, particularly one belonging to the Star Trek franchise. The Romulans made their first appearance in “Minefield,” the third episode of the season. An episode of the classic "Star Trek, A Balance of Terror,” established that, prior to that episode, no human or ally had seen a Romulan face-to-face. In “Minefield,” no one on board the Enterprise saw a Romulan, thus preserving continuity. Hopefully, the producers and writers will adhere to this in future episodes. A common complaint about "Voyager" was the lack of continuity between episodes. The creative staff of "Enterprise" are working to remedy this problem. The ship sustained heavy damage in “Minefield.” Rather than showing the ship fully repaired and functional in the next episode, “Dead Stop,” the producers opted to show the ship being repaired. At the same time, they were able to tell an awesome story.

"Enterprise’s" first season was decent. There were some stunning episodes, along with some sub-par ones. This writer is hoping that the creative team will learn from their mistakes and work to make this already excellent show even better.