See Also: 'Chosen Realm' Episode Guide

Star Trek: Enterprise co-executive producer Manny Coto told an interviewer that he thinks the show is "improving dramatically" and "developing a following."

Speaking to SFX Magazine (via The Great Link), Coto said in the January 2004 issue that he believed the show will go on for another year, "and if it goes on for another year it'll go on for seven, because I think this year is starting to change things."

However, he was not certain, speaking of "Next season - hopefully there is a next season." If any criticism could be made about the first two seasons, he thought it was "that some of the storylines were a bit linear and not as complex and involving." Still, he said he missed the feeling of exploration of the first two seasons, wishing "we could have the freedom to do more standalone episodes that weren't tied into the Xindi."

Adding that he wanted to make the show "a little bit darker and grittier", Coto noted he hoped that his episodes, such as "Similitude", provoked thoughtful and emotional responses. For him, he said, "Similitude" was not an issue-oriented moral take about cloning but an emotional journey: "...the story of a being that lives and dies in 15 days - what would that be like?"

In upcoming episode "Chosen Realm", he explained, "Enterprise encounters a group of aliens who have developed a theology around the spheres in the Expanse. It's a very rigid theology and Enterprise has broken several taboos and must pay for it. The episode dramatises where the intractability of religious extremism ultimately leads. Fundamentalists of all stripes - it's a rigid belief that's not based on empirical evidence, that's what I'm attacking."

The Expanse arc, he observed, "could very easily be seen as a parallel to 9/11. That's what Star Trek should do, parallel our own world situation and tell it in a science fiction context. What's important is that it explores the various issues and shows all sides, the good and bad." The arc will play out over the entire season, he said, and the producers are "pretty sure where it's going to end and how it's going to end, let's put it that way."

Citing "A Taste Of Armageddon" as his favorite classic Trek episode, Coto said that he also loved "The Doomsday Machine", "a purely action episode", and would like to write "a couple of those as well!"

For more excerpts, please visit The Great Link. The January issue of SFX will be available on newsstands in Britain.

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