Man the thing I love about Enterprise is that everything Kirk supposedly did first was actually done first by this Archer guy. That’s the best and most original writing to come out of Star Trek in years.
What did Kirk supposedly do first that no one else in the whole of Starfleet couldn’t have similarly done previously? By the time Kirk became a captain, Starfleet had been around for hundreds of years.
Enterprise doesn’t retcon Kirk doing anything first. And just because Kirk is routinely going where no man has gone before doesn’t mean no man has ever been anywhere Kirk ever goes.
Kirk apologist!
Well, seriously. It’s not like no one is going to go anywhere until Kirk gets around to doing it. TOS never says 1701 was the first ship to ever time travel; encounter the Romulans; or get the Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites in the same room at the same time. I’m not sure what thunder Archer is supposed to have stolen from Kirk.
Did someone mention Romulans?
No one from Starfleet ever did see them in Enterprise. Heard their voice on audio-only comms, or saw their ships, yes. Saw the actual face of a Romulan? No. Administrator V’Las of the Vulcan High Command did see (one of) them, but no one else did and he was kicked out of the High Command not long before that organization was dissolved entirely.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Kir'Shara_(episode)
The Earth-Romulan War (which takes place one year after Enterprise ended) happened before Kirk took command, and Kirk in TOS mentions no one had seen what they look like yet. But they are cousin-species to Vulcans, so it would make sense for a Vulcan not in Starfleet to once have seen them, especially if the Romulans are deviously trying to throw the Alpha Quadrant species into chaos from behind the scenes.
The Romulans were just a basic example because ‘encoutering Romulans’ was mentioned. I actually didn’t remember it happening specifically, I just assumed that’s what was being referred to since it was brought up.
And how about Spock being the first Vulcan to join Starfleet?
The USS Intrepid in TOS is entirely manned by Vulcans, so no. That’s not a thing.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Immunity_Syndrome_(episode)
The USS Intrepid is not proof of the contrary. Spock didn’t just materialize when Kirk took the Enterprise. Spock was in Starfleet for at least eleven years prior to the start of TOS, according to The Cage/The Menagerie. That’s plenty of time for the Vulcan government to request a Federation science vessel for their use or whatever may be the case.
Also, T’Pol transferred her commission from the Vulcan fleet; she never enrolled at Starfleet Academy.
They weaseled out an excuse by having her not actually be an officer, but come on.
Perhaps I’m thinking of him being the first Vulcan First Officer, or something of the like, but even if my memory of Star Trek lore is a bit off, it’s still just as lazy to put another Vulcan First Officer on the bridge ‘just cause.’
That’s the biggest problem here. I’m annoyed that implications are ignored, but I’m more annoyed by “hey, why don’t we just redo a bunch of stuff the old show did?”