Coto Talks Season Four Character Plans

Enterprise executive producer Manny Coto said recently he is planning a strong character arc for Jonathan Archer this year that will tie into his development over the previous three seasons.

"Archer is a far more experienced commander now," Coto told Steven Eramo in the latest issue of TV Zone (via the Great Link). "In Seasons one and two he was very much the wide-eyed explorer. During year three, he became a military man who had to do some questionable things in order to accomplish his mission. Archer came out of that whole experience believing that the universe is not a friendly place, but rather a violent one and perhaps not worth exploring. This season, and in "Home" in particular, we'll see him struggling to come to terms with that while also trying to maintain his love of exploration and space travel."

While much planning went into crafting T'Pol's journey this season, in particular the 'Vulcan Reformation' arc that aired in November and December, Coto said the staff were having more trouble doing Trip justice. "As for Trip, to be frank we're still trying to figure out a worthy story arc for him," he said. "We want to try to develop him in a way that's not simply defined in terms of his relationship with T'Pol. We've been working on a series of episodes that deal with Trip as well as his seasoning as a Starfleet officer, but I can't get too specific with that yet."

Also still in the not-too-specific stage is the prosposed guest appearance by William Shatner (James T. Kirk), which is reportedly stalled due to salary negotiations. Coto said that if the episode does go ahead, it will be penned by Enterprise story editors Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, who collaborated with Shatner on a number of Kirk novels, including Avenger and The Return. "I don't want to give any spoilers away, but, trust me, it's a really cool idea."

To read the complete interview, in which Coto also talked about wrapping up the Temporal Cold War, pick up issue 184 of TV Zone. Alternatively, further excerpts can be found at the Great Link.

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