UPN's 'Enterprise' soars into new action-packed season

LOS ANGELES -- When the director calls "Action!" on the set of UPN's "Enterprise," stuff really flies.

A vase being used as a club smashes and scatters as a beautiful alien spy whacks chief engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III across the back of his skull.

Guest star Nikita Ager is wielding the weapon on the Paramount Studios soundstage. She's playing the seductive Rajiin, who's wormed her away aboard the starship Enterprise. Dressed in nearly transparent pajamas, she has a bar code tattooed across her upper torso and purple lenses in her eyes.

Ager hasn't hit Connor Trinneer, who plays "Trip," but rather his stunt double, Shawn Crowder. While Crowder gets up, looking a bit stunned, Trinneer gets a bloody fake gash dabbed on his head, then steps in to do the dialogue.

Even with stunt doubles, the cast members of this "Star Trek" prequel series are far from coddled. "See this bruise, see this bruise, this one," said Jolene Blalock, who plays Vulcan subcommander T'Pol. "And I love every one of them."

Blalock emphasizes there's definitely more action on the third season of the UPN series, which premieres Sept. 10. Now in reruns, the show airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays.

Earlier, T'Pol was in a "girl fight" with Rajiin. Stunt doubles handled some of the scuffle. Then the actresses took over. Rajiin pushed T'Pol hard onto the floor of the Enterprise's sleeping quarters and hypnotized her into submission.

Along with providing comic relief for the show, "Trip" now has personal tragedy to cope with. He lost his sister in the finale's cataclysm -- an attack by a previously unknown alien group called the Xindi -- and he's been having some sleepless nights as a result.

Series creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga have created a story line that allows for weekly conflict and resolution, but is essentially a 26-episode mission, "where there is a ticking clock ... where Earth and humanity are at stake."

Berman compares the structure to the original "Fugitive" series, with a singular direction and purpose, but also the opportunity for each episode to stand alone.

Scott Bakula, who plays Capt. Jonathan Archer, says the new season is "less about protocol, more about the job to do." Besides commanding the Enterprise crew, Archer now supervises a tough onboard military team.

The "ante is up" on the action this season, Bakula says. "A great shot of adrenaline" has been pumped in, along with "crazy fun."

Ager would agree the franchise continues to push new frontiers: "I've got bikinis bigger than the outfit Rajiin wears when she's first seen. The costumer arrived with what looked like a roll of string to be strategically placed. I went, this is 'Star Trek'? He went, 'Yep!"'