TV Guide Online: Were you ever really worried Season Three wouldn't happen?
Bakula: I don't think you can count on anything in my business anymore. Witness Becker and other [recently cancelled shows] like that. It's good to hear officially that you're going to be back, and we're excited about it.

TVGO: With T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) exploring her emotions more, are she and Archer going to hook up? Haven't they already made love — or am I having a senior moment?
Bakula: (Laughs) No, you're not having a senior moment. We had a little dream sequence in November. I spent the night in sick bay with Dr. Phlox, so I was loopy, and I had romantic moments with her during this nightmare. It was very cool, but bizarre. We haven't done any official hooking up.

TVGO: Will you?
Bakula: As far as plans for Jolene and I to get together romantically, there's been no mention of that from the writers. The only conversation has been that she's going to start experimenting with some of her emotions as she gets further away from being Vulcan. Everybody wants them kissing, so who knows, but it raises ethical and moral issues if they do.

TVGO: Still, Archer can't just chase the Xindi nonstop. Doesn't the man need to, well, release his stress?
Bakula: I don't disagree with you at all. I think that would be great — and it would be a shame to limit it to a crew member. If we're going to go there, I think [alien guest stars] are more in the tradition of the Star Trek franchise. I always liked the girls with go go boots and green faces that Kirk got to mess around with!

TVGO: With Buffy gone, is Enterprise carrying the network?
Bakula: I think we have been for the past two years. I'm just going by the [Nielsen] numbers. Because Buffy started at the WB, there was a different energy about that show, with all the turmoil surrounding it. The Star Trek franchise has always been a big part of UPN. We've held our own on Wednesdays, though we've got work to do, obviously. There's even more pressure on us now.

TVGO: How do you explain the Star Trek slump? The last movie bombed, Enterprise struggles in the ratings...
Bakula: The idea of Star Trek has been around for 37 years now. It's always a challenge to keep pumping life into it. It's like, are people as excited to see Terminator 3 as the last Terminator?

TVGO: It must be tough carrying the whole Trek legacy on your shoulders.
Bakula: I wasn't quite ready, this season, for us to be singled out the way we were in such a negative fashion. I was surprised by that. Any TV show has a second season slump where viewership is down from the initial tune-in. The reality is, we're one show on a network that's struggling and doesn't have 100 percent coverage [in TV markets] across the country. All we can do is keep trying to make great episodes. The fans that are watching us really seem to enjoy it, and at the end of the day, that's who we work for.