Let us be very clear, we love Thy'lek Shran, the Andorian commander who made his presence known on Star Trek: Enterprise. Serving as the first point of contact between the Andorians and the burgeoning Federation, Shran and Captain Jonathan Archer became one of the best pairings the show ever, dare we say the franchise, ever had. We love Shran and we think about the world of his character, and how his actor, Jeffrey Combs, brought him to life.
And while we'd be all on board with a fifth season involving him as a member of the Enterprise, we have to point out something; he gets too much love. At least when the conversation revolves around the reasons why Enterprise was good/got better.
Firstly, the show never "got better". It was a great showcase from start to finish. Shran was a highlight, sure, just like Q was in Star Trek: Enterprise. Q was amazing, but Enterprise stood out beyond Q when he wasn't there, as did Shran.
There are pockets of fans that think the show only worked when it involved Shran and that his introduction and continued use were part of the reason it thrived as a series. We do agree that the series found success with Shran, but Enterprise was a well-written and well-executed series.
It didn't need Shran. Shran was the chocolate cake after a great dinner. The dinner was all we needed, but the cake was a nice way to close things out.
It's a shame that some people think Shran was the only highlight from a great series, a great series that had a lot of compelling secondary characters. How wonderful was Soval? While Vulcans are hard to have personalities and come off as unique, the way that Gary Graham played him was marvelous and he was a highlight of many episodes he appeared on. Some of which involved Shran.
There's an entire list of great secondary and main characters that deserve the love they don't get, and we're hoping that with time, some of them will start to be celebrated the way that we rightfully do with Shran.