3: The Part of Steel

Captain Archer.

Before there was Picard, Sisko, Janeway, or even Kirk, there was Archer. When it came to casting the captain of Starfleet's first Warp 5 vessel, Scott Bakula was the more than just a person of interest—he was the prize. And they got him. Despite his established geek cred as Quantum Leap's Sam Beckett, reception of Bakula's Jonathan Archer by fans and media was lukewarm. In this episode of Warp Five, hosts Christopher Jones and Kate Walsh take a close look at Captain Archer, his role in leading Earth into the galactic community, and why Scott Bakula was the ideal choice for portraying a leader who is naturally much more like us than the intrepid leaders of the 23rd and 24th centuries.