Enterprise question (spoilers)

Hi,
I haven't been watching Enterprise .. don'T have the means and haven't had the interest. I heard though that last episode tried to start "explaining" why the Klingons in the TOS days looked so miraculously human compared to the bumpy Klingons of all other times. I was fearing that they would eventually do this on Enterprise and that it would end up being horribly cheesy .. so .. how cheesy was it? And what was/is the explenation .. genetical manipulation? Plastic surgery?

I actually missed the 3rd part of this arc, but it actually came from two 3-episode arcs. The first one, was the augments from the Eugenics war (Khan and his people from Wrath of Khan and from Space Seed). Khan Noonian Singh (Data's ancestor) got ahold of some augment DNA in the first 3ep arc, and the augments went wild. Then it was followed up, with this latest arc, and it turns out the Klingons were trying to incorporate the augmentation into their DNA, and the result a virus-like condition, nad ended up removing their bumpy foreheads.

I personally have found this season of Enterprise to be quite good, far better than any of the first 3 seasons, and far better than most of Voyager, IMHO.

IMO, explaining the change in appearance for Klingons is silly. "They didn't have the makeup and the money back then" is good enough for me, and Warf's a throw-away line in Trials and Tribblations was cute and funny.

However, if one must "explain" it, they're doing as good a job as can be expected.

Just to expand on what Sindatur said:
Human genetic augments captured a Klingon ship and used to make it look like Klingons were attacking humans and thus start a war to detract Earth's interest in them. In the process, they freed their father-figure Soongh, who was serving time for creating them.

The current arc reveals that the Klingons (not so illogically) feared that human augments were created for the purpose of conquest. They did not know that those were rogues and genetic manipulation was banned. So in order to play catch-up, they tried to do the same with Klingons by incorporating the human augments' DNA or genese or whatever. The result was Klingons that were stronger and smarter, but had human-looking characteristics. It also had the ill side-effect of mutating into a deadly and airborne disease that threatens all Klingons. So they kidnapped Enterprise's doctor to force him to help find a cure.

It is presumed that by the end of the arc, something will happen to the virus to make it non-deadly but the side-affects of their physical appearance will remain.

Actually, this has been one of the most engenius and imaginative explanations Trek has proferred in decades! A smart, imaginative, fully acceptable and understandable explanation that solves a riddle in the Trek universe.

I love this explanation...it fits with the Klingon mentality, it answers the problem in such a way as to be believable, and even cool, and remains true to continuity and history. It is also a huge explanation as to why the Klingons ended up hating humans and the Federation..."almost 70 (obviously more than that slightly) years of unremitting hostility."

This is the kind of expansion of the Trek universe that should've been being done from the start of this series. This is the kind of great, imaginative story-telling that should've been done all along. It's really too bad that it's only occurring in the last season. Had this kind of great expounding and exploration of what came before been done from the start, this series would still be going strong and would've brought back the millions of disenfranchised fans.

Too bad really. But this is one detailed and wonderfully creative way to explain it.

Yes, it's clear that by the end they will have found a way to stop the virus from killing, but that it will still change the Klingons into more human looking beings for a while (at least until sometime between the end of Kirk's first 5 year mission and The Motion Picture).

I'm loving this story and this season...and for me to say that about Trek both surprises and elates me, since I haven't been able to say it for 15 years.

I will most likely own the last season of Enterprise when it comes out on DVD. The last season only, since to me everything between TNG and this last season was crap and I have no desire to own or consider too closely. For me, the Trek universe will consist of OS, OC films, TNG series, and the last season of Enterprise. The rest can burn.

CE

I go a little further, I also enjoyed most of DS9 quite a bit, despite the B5/DS9 feud. I have no desire to own any spinoff Trek on DVD, but, I do enjoying catching reruns occasionally of TNG and DS9.

I gotta agree with GKE and CE.

First, I also was of the school of thought where "no explaination was needed." I'm reasonable enough to understand budgets and capabilities between a mid 1960s series and movies 20 years later. To me it was always a costume thing, nothing more.

But when DS9 had their time travel episode, they made a joke about it "probably in jest" but fans obviously jumped all over it. Even though, after that question to Worf (why do these Klingons look different), the fact was "out there in TV cannon" I still believed that scene was done just for fun, and still considered it a costume thing.

However Manny Coto decided to have a little more fun with the joke that was already started, and give the fans something enjoyalbe in regards to it. I gotta agree that this is probably "THE" best explaination given for something in Trek --- even more so considering the original comment was a little more than a throwaway joke line.

It really does fit nicely with what was done eariler in this season, as well as with other things established in the TOS era. As CE said, it makes sense. Its something Klingons would do. It also explains their hatred for, and why it would be a closely guarded secret.

I am curious to find out how this doesnt become "common knowledge" by the TOS and TNG era (since obviously Dax didnt know about it given his knowledge with Klingons) but I am sure they will pull that off too. Either way the explaination is a good one, and really makes for some good story arc finalization.

Too bad Enterprise was cancelled. Coto was really gettin it done.