I haven't seen either in quite some time, but from what I recall I never quite got over the lame "Klingon warrior shot by a random farmer" version of our first contact with them (that's what Picard was talking about in TNG when he alluded to the tragic first meeting with the Klingons that lead to decades of war???), while the scene where Archer Star Treks up and turns around to return to the dead ship I mentioned in an earlier post really got to me.
Getting from there to here, an Enterprise rewatch.
- Thread starter Richard S. Ta
- Start date
I haven't seen either in quite some time, but from what I recall I never quite got over the lame "Klingon warrior shot by a random farmer" version of our first contact with them (that's what Picard was talking about in TNG when he alluded to the tragic first meeting with the Klingons that lead to decades of war???), while the scene where Archer Star Treks up and turns around to return to the dead ship I mentioned in an earlier post really got to me.
Heh, does it show? We have periodic "How do I hate TATV, let me count the ways" threads to assuage ENT fans' still-smoldering hatred for that thing, and I have, er, offered my assessment of its structural shortcomings in those. I anticipate your thoughts on it, when we get there.
Fleeting?! But but but… Shran! One of the best characters, and portrayals, in all of Trekdom!
Okay, I'm better now.
Same. I loved Blalock's work as T'Pol. I thought she did a great job with a very challenging character arc, which she has said she didn't enjoy playing, so all the more credit to her. I would have loved to see what the show could have done with her character if we'd gotten 3 more seasons. Oh, and I love the duplicitous, backstabbing, scheming Vulcans who rationalize all their evils with logic, and have a lot of their own growing to do, to become the Vulcans of TOS.
"Fight Or Flight" has one funny moment when Hoshi is worried that she'll make things worse when they are about to be all killed...
I think Combs brings something special to every one of his Star Trek creations.
I didn't catch that! Thanks!
A lack of consistency? In Star Trek? Shocking! I suppose it's possible that humans shared technology with them somewhere between Season 1 and 4 as relations continued to develop?
It's not a dreadful episode by any means, just my least favourite so far. it hinged too much on the idea that if Y didn't do X then everyone was going to die when a) it's the second episode and b) it's largely risk-free Berman Trek.
I recall not minding it the only time I watched it, but some context might help there. When I watched the Enterprise finale it was the last episode I watched in a five year marathon that went from TOS, TAS, TOS movies, TNG, TNG movies, DS9, VOY and finally Enterprise. So in a sense it worked as intended, ie: a love letter to the franchise. I'm not sure what I'll think of it this time round. As I said, I don't go into any Trek wanting to hate it.
The latest episode (Breaking The Ice) has a bit more Vulcan stuff. It's an interesting take on a species who can be quite static and uninteresting compared to some of the more complex races in Star Trek. Like the Andorians, the Vulcans didn't get nearly as much screen time in wider Trek as the Klingons, Cardassians, Borg or even the Romulans. The Vulcans during and post TOS are usually coded as 'good' aliens, so finding other dimensions within then is... well, fascinating.
ENTERPRISE:
EPISODE 08: BREAKING THE ICE
"I'm being falsely accused. You know that."
World building, character development, meaningful interactions and a fair use of Enterprise's ensemble cast manage to add together and form a rather sweet, memorable episode. I've been watching a few documentaries from the various Blu-Ray sets that are available around the net, an enlightening process which makes me appreciate the work done on this show even more, and one thing that Braga said jumped out at me. It was at leats his objective to tell stories with Enterprise that couldn't be told on Voyager or TNG.
Putting aside the fact that the show is not always successful in this regard (something Braga both admits to and takes responsibility for), Breaking the Ice fits into this mould perfectly. Can you imagine Picard sending a recorded interview with himself and his bridge staff back to a class of children on Earth, thanking them for the drawings and answering questions about the NCC 1701 D's toilet? Honestly, I can't imagine that children of the 24th century would really give the Enterprise D a second thought. By then Starfleet, the Federation and interstellar travel and exploration would be facts of life rather than burning curiosities. The scene in question, though arguably extended beyond what is necessary, is both charming and indicative of the kind of show Enterprise purports to be. It's a scene that could only exist in Enterprise, the kind of thing that would only really be done by the crew of the first ship to leave the solar system on a human-built spacecraft and I think you'd have to have a heart of ice (no pun intended) not to appreciate it.
"Take care, woman. I am convinced of your guilt."
Though the episode makes time for Hoshi, Mayweather and Reed to shine, it is as usual focussed on Archer, Tucker and T'Pol. Enterprise is best when it is a show that not only plays with audience expectations, but shifts those expectations regularly in order to build a more nuanced setting. In Breaking the Ice most visibly we have the unwelcome intrusion and later intervention of Captain Vanik, a suspected Vulcan spy. We learn that the Enterprise has had similar unwelcome observers in the past weeks, something that Archer, true to character, is passionately resentful towards. As the show progresses it's becoming increasingly clear that the Vulcans of the 22nd century are not as cut and dried as they are presented in Broken Bow. Most obviously this has been reflected in the development of T'Pol who reached a turning point in The Andorian Incident by personally ordering that a hostile Andorian ship be allowed to leave a Vulcan shrine-world after committing acts of violence within a temple on said world. Though unspoken, T'Pol's reaction of both surprise and distaste at the actions of of her own people was clear.
Having gained an expectation for Vulcan duplicity, Breaking the Ice leads us down the garden path a little, in the process challenging both Archer's prejudices and our expectations. In terms of Captain Vanik, while I won't deny he is a dreadful dinner guest, we find he isn't observing Enterprise out of subterfuge but rather out of an obligated sense of care. This sheds new light on the Vulcan attitude towards Enterprise's continued mission. That is, one of acceptance and tolerance rather than hostile objection. Whilst it's possible to read such Vulcan observation as patronising, most likely Reed and Mayweather would be dead without the Vulcans' assistance in pulling the trapped shuttlepod from the surface of the comet via tractor-beam.
"I beg you. Do not implicate me. They would burn me."
In terms of T'Pol, we get a little further under the skin of the character, learning of her upcoming wedding and also of the internal conflict she has between continuing to serve onboard the Enterprise and her natural sense of adherence to her own culture and values. T'Pol's loyalties are literally divided and the interplay between Tucker and T'Pol in this episode is actually very sweet. Vulcans, like the Klingons before them in TNG and DS9 are being developed in a more nuanced way. They can be duplicitous, honourable, hidebound, torn, rebellious, rude and endearingly vulnerable. Blalock once again is allowed to shine as she so often does when set against the more passion-driven character that Trinneer portrays, playing a Vulcan as a Vulcan should be. Not a creature lacking in emotion, rather one who is constantly fighting to repress and control such emotions in order to maintain an outer facade.
Speaking of which...
"My ancestors are barbarians. Warlike barbarians."
At some point in order to remain tolerable, Archer is going to have to wind his neck in regarding the whole Vulcan situation, because the character... well, he's starting to come over as a passive-aggressive, judgmental, racist blowhard. That's not to disparage Bakula's performance which stays just on the right side of Shatner-esque melodrama at times. It's just Archer himself, someone who's repeatedly stated the importance of better relations between humans and other species, seems to apply his grand utopian principles to every species excepting the Vulcans.
It's not that his reactions are unjustified, it's more that his character is just not much of a diplomat. Whilst it's true that Vanik is a dreadful guest, his behaviour does not really justify Archer standing up, raising his voice and waving his arms around with accusations of espionage. I suppose it's lampshaded both in Vanik's counter that had the Vulcan ship wished to spy on Enterprise, Archer would never have detected it, as well as by T'Pol when she advises Archer that by stubbornly refusing Vanik's offer of help he is inadvertently proving Vanik's point. Archer as written is a stubborn, boastful, even bratty person at times (which again is not to fault Bakula's performance) and it is becoming an increasing effort to sympathise with him.
"We're in a wilderness of arctic characteristics."
Finally, I did enjoy the fact that the 'threat' in this episode was a natural one rather than mind-control or a monster of the week. Going back to what I mentioned above, a very large comet doesn't really feel like the kind of thing the Enterprise D or Voyager would make a detour for. Even T'Pol goes so far as to point out that as phenomena, comets are not particularly interesting. Somehow though, being a teacher myself, I could imagine how the kids in that classroom back on Earth would be impressed by the largest comet ever discovered and felt the same sense of wonder as the crew in the opening scenes as Archer comes over the intercom and advises crewman to find a window. Famously, Reed and Mayweather are undeveloped characters and so seeing them have the opportunity to explore the surface of a comet literally breaking the ice whilst those back on board the Enterprise do the same metaphorically results in an episode of Enterprise that perhaps isn't the most outstanding, but certainly the most well-rounded so far. All in all, a layered, competently made, well written episode that moves our characters along, even if just a little, and deepens the world that they live in. Good stuff.
Happy Times and Places,
Richard S. Ta
Image reproduced with the permission of Trekcore.com
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"BREAKING THE ICE" was never a favorite of mine, but your review sheds a better light on an episode I found just meh.
Looking through that lens gives me a better appreciation of it.
Looking through that lens gives me a better appreciation of it.
I really don't think the writers loved Archer -- in the sense that, in my assessment, a writer needs to love the characters they write, heroes and villains, on some level, in order to give them compelling dimension, strengths as well as flaws, etc. The jarring inconsistency of Archer's character -- the captain of a Star Trek show, for crying out loud! -- was frustrating, and for a whole lotta people, off-putting. Bakula is a fine actor and he did what he could, but, well. I think Archer's character should have been nurtured and cared for, loved, so he would be a character worth loving and rooting for.
I love Archer, but I think it's because I viewed the Unlikeable Archer scenes like he'd gotten up on the wrong side of the bunk or something, and I focused on the well-written Archer and filled in the gaps in my own head. He had a lot of potential. His character arc, from idealistic but naïve explorer to damaged, conflicted war veteran, to budding statesman, was worthwhile and should have been better cared for. They didn't even let us hear Admiral Archer's great speech in TATV that was built up so much! But of course not, it was TATV.
I love Archer, but I think it's because I viewed the Unlikeable Archer scenes like he'd gotten up on the wrong side of the bunk or something, and I focused on the well-written Archer and filled in the gaps in my own head. He had a lot of potential. His character arc, from idealistic but naïve explorer to damaged, conflicted war veteran, to budding statesman, was worthwhile and should have been better cared for. They didn't even let us hear Admiral Archer's great speech in TATV that was built up so much! But of course not, it was TATV.
A quick note about your images, Richard - they are a lovely addition, but I see that you're getting them from a variety of sites. Have they given permission for visitors to link to their images? If not, such hotlinking is against the rules here. Sometimes the site doesn't want you eating away at its bandwidth, but if that's not an issue, you're still using the images without attribution, which isn't good either. It's best to find an image host, such as ImgBB or imgur, upload your own images, and link to those. Thanks.
No bother. Yes, you're right and I apologise. i wasn't aware of the rule. If you give me 24 hours I'll take them down and go back and make my own screenshots. Apologies again, I didn't mean to put you to any trouble...
ETA: All pictures removed and thinking about it... Do we need them? Trek fans are a literate bunch and I don't normally post in this thread without talking about an episode and the titles are bolded to set them apart from conversational posts. Seems it's easier for everyone that way.
EATA: All pictures now sourced from invaluable Star Trek image resource: Trekcore.com
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Well, the gravity on the comet is all wrong... It should be so weak they'd have trouble staying on the ground and not flying off in orbit.
I don't get why Archer makes such a big deal of the Vulcan's presence, regardless of the fact that they saved the day, I mean, there are several other times when having a Vulcan ship nearby would have been of help, in fact, there are a couple ahead in the first season.
I don't get why Archer makes such a big deal of the Vulcan's presence, regardless of the fact that they saved the day, I mean, there are several other times when having a Vulcan ship nearby would have been of help, in fact, there are a couple ahead in the first season.
I think that's the best kind of compliment I could receive. If I've somehow managed to make another fan look on a less loved episode more positively then that's fantastic. Maybe you could help me with the next one which is, for me at least, the worst so far.
They are going for the Kirk/Spock/McCoy thing without really understanding Kirk I think. If they'd got it right, Tucker would be snarling about Vulcans and Archer would be telling him to wind it in, as in Balance of Terror.
Maybe I've been watching The Expanse too much recently, but I couldn't help wondering why the EV suits don't have some kind of propulsion of their own? Even little gas jets to help them get around? As to gravity, when does it ever work properly in Star Trek. Every time a ships systems go offline everybody stays stuck to the floor.
ENTERPRISE:
EPISODE 09: CIVILISATION
“Well, this is simply ridiculous. A bunch of stone age characters running around in robes.”
I have a somewhat naive, yet abiding belief that there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ episode of Star Trek. I’m a fan through and through and for me that means treating the show as I treat my best friends. To clarify, my friends have flaws, in some cases these can be outright glaring, but they are ultimately my friends and I forgive them for that because ultimately they are my friends. In regards to Star Trek, I don’t believe any creative team ever sat down with the intention of making a bad episode. However, sometimes events conspire and the end result isn’t quite what they intended.
That’s not to say I’m never going to be critical within these pages. Just that where possible I shall make attempts to redeem rather than condemn. I don’t think anyone wants to spend their bus ride to work (or wherever you read this) perusing some blinded, saccharine coated write-up, but conversely I also don’t believe that anyone particularly enjoys reading bile.
None of which bodes well for Civilisation does it? I mean, I’m obliquely apologising for writing about the episode before I’ve even written about it. Let’s begin by saying… well, it’s not awful. I can see what they were trying to do in places, but in terms of the schizophrenic dichotomy that exists between settling within the Berman template of Star trek and somehow harking back to TOS, Civilisation is the most confused episode of Enterprise yet. There's little to love here I'm afraid so if for some godforsaken reason this is your favourite episode of Enterprise ever, I offer my apologies.
“Everything we've seen here so far seems to indicate some sort of compulsive involuntary stimulus to action.”
Let’s start with Braga’s mission statement for Enterprise. That is that it should be specifically telling stories that say, TNG or Voyager couldn’t tell. I do believe that Picard at least would have made a bee-line for the triple whammy cold star rather than check out a pre-warp civilisation*. Lacking anything resembling the Prime Directive, Archer is all over this new found Class-M Planet like a bad rash and… well, so far, so good. The lack of any governing set of rules that defines what the crew of the NX-01 can and can’t do is part of what defines Enterprise. Any seasoned trek fan will of course be aware that space-people culturally contaminating some vaguely renaissance era society isn’t exactly a smart thing to do of course, but T’Pol voices our doubts quite rightly, before true to form as ever Archer just decides to go ahead and do what he wants to do regardless.
The problems really start to arise with this story, quite ironically I’d say, when the TOS tropes start rolling in thick and fast. Let’s see… an alien society that somehow winds up developing an aesthetic that’s not so far away from a Euro/US (take your pick)-centric Hollywood vision of history. Uh-huh. Some sort of threat at the centre of it all involving incongruous technology. Yeah, that’s here. But most egregiously of all, there’s the strong, intelligent female figure who meets the Captain of the Enterprise, who simultaneously end up falling for each other, despite having almost nothing in common and having spent little to no time together at all. That’s all before a decidedly Kirk-esque tumble in the mud between Archer and a Reptile-Man wearing a ‘human’ mask** and a rootin-tootin’ shootout, topped off with a scene where Archer can’t work a doomsday device until conveniently he can for no apparent reason at all.
“This is a soulless society, Captain. It has no spirit, no spark.”
I think as fans we forgive this kind of thing from Kirk and TOS, accepting as we do that those particular storytelling beats come from an entirely different age of television. As long as we are prepared to be charitable, there’s something quite charming about Kirk’s string of random 20 minute romances. Circa 1966-69, it was just what heroes on television did. Come 2001… it’s tawdry, unearned and almost impossible to view uncynically and honestly, I’m not really sure I want to. The way Archer suddenly mauls the local Doctor in an alley feels not only out of character (though honestly at this point I’m starting to wonder what Archer’s character actually is) but also cheap and regressive coming from a franchise that was several decades old at this point and should have known better.
Positives? The whole thing looks nice. There’s that. I suppose. I really struggle to find anything beyond that though and even the aesthetic is a very well trodden one for Star Trek. The one thing I can take away from it is just because Braga found a story that TNG or Voyager couldn’t tell in the same way… well, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a story that should be told. Tonally, Civilisation is off. It’s dialogue is trite and circular (prepare to leave orbit / no way! vent the engines! /I never said I was leaving orbit, I said prepare to leave orbit… I mean, what’s the point in an exchange like that beyond filling a few minutes with a bit of empty grandstanding?) and for a show that was supposed to be pushing the format of Star Trek into new places it’s just… ugh. I don’t know the general consensus on these episodes which in many ways I’m thankful for, but if you like it… Sorry. This one just isn’t for me.
*I’d like to think that Janeway would do the same, but you never know with Kathryn.
** And why not go the whole hog and have Archer rip his shirt while he’s at it?
So, so far:
- The Andorian Incident
- Broken Bow
- Breaking the Ice
- Strange New World
- Unexpected
- Terra Nova
- Fight or Flight
- Civilisation
Richard S. Ta
Image reproduced with the permission of Trekcore.com
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This episode did feel somewhat schizophrenic in what it was trying to accomplish. Not much I can add, really.
Except I did like the nod to TOS with the Malurians. It fit nicely, since we never got to see what they looked like due to Nomad.
Except I did like the nod to TOS with the Malurians. It fit nicely, since we never got to see what they looked like due to Nomad.
Maybe it was unusually dense...? Or their suits can compensate?
Totally agree with this. Of the post-TOS series, Enterprise is my favorite (TOS is in a category all its own). I have found something to love, or at least like, about every episode, even when they are misfires, because the characters appeal to me, the actors are talented, and the production values are first-rate. A working writer in Hollywood does not set out to write a bad episode or movie. This is their chosen profession, and their reputation and pride is on the line with every page. But there are a lot of cooks in Hollywood, and episode scripts for a show like this (26 episodes per season at first) don't have a lot of time to be developed. Plus Trek fandom is passionate about what they love and hate. I tend to fill in the blanks and rewrite stuff in my head to suit myself, but I do love this show, warts and all.
I found "Civilization" charming, because of the beautiful costumes and setting, seeing our ENT crew out of uniform, and the sweet romance between Archer and Riaan (he had so few chances for romance). I didn't see any "mauling"... but y'know, look at the username, right?
Note that the sphere was much bigger yet they got the gravity right that time. You can see the shuttle having trouble landing and bouncing off the ground which is a lot closer to the gravity field of such an object.
I don’t know if the tiny nods like this are something I like or something that annoys me. The Changeling is one of my favourite TOS episodes and while I suppose it’s nice that a tiny reference is included, it doesn’t add anything really. It doesn’t detract either, saying that. Likewise the little reference in Fight or Flight. The Jury is out on this kind of thing for me right now.
I think they did well to depict the surface of a comet in the first place. More credit to everyone involved for even attempting it. It’s better I think to look at what they achieved rather than nitpick. They aimed high but slipped a little in the execution, but I’m not going to condemn the episode for having ambition.
To me it looked… It happens in TOS a lot but also in contemporary stuff like the Bond movies of the day. We have an initially hostile, independent female figure. Later a male protagonist forces a kiss on her which is met with initial resistance before finally she relents, then spending the rest of the episode following the protagonist around like a puppy dog.
I have a problem with it as a romance for a few reasons, the first being that the episodic nature of Enterprise makes it all quite shallow. It’s a done and dusted in twenty minutes romance that we know isn’t going anywhere. The dramatic opposite to the Pecan Pie in the previous episode. Secondly it goes back to what you were saying about them not knowing what they wanted Archer to be. Here he’s a half-remembered clip show edition of Kirk and not much more than that. Likewise Tucker and T’Pol who seem to get a scene where they shout at each other on the bridge because that’s what McCoy and Spock used to do.
I understand the character dynamic they were trying to recreate. It’s just sometimes it seems they were trying to recreate that through the lens of some rose-tinted fan nostalgia and bringing rather dated tropes along with them. There’s an idea among casual Star Trek watchers that Kirk was a womaniser who ripped his shirt in every episode and it’s patently not true. I suppose I’m trying to say that Civilisation comes over as an episode intended to hark back to TOS, written by someone who hasn’t seen very much TOS.
ENTERPRISE:
EPISODE 10: FORTUNATE SON
"I don't know what this butchering monster is, but I know what it's doing."
Some much needed expansion on so-called Boomer culture and a much needed Mayweather focussed story make up an episode that utilise Enterprise’s concept of pre-federation culture well. The results are a little too far on the bland side, but there are enough positives here to raise the episode from dull to at least worthy. A Travis-focussed show is long overdue, especially as at least on paper he has a great deal to offer to the show. Call me dumb or perhaps just inattentive, but though his ‘Boomer’ status has been referenced throughout the season, it’s only in this episode that we really get to explore exactly what that means to Travis and how he fits into the wider Boomer culture.
It’s actually quite rare that we get to see a human perspective on Starfleet from the outside. Even then, at least by the time we get to the 24th century shows, Starfleet are an accepted, even slightly mundane aspect of human culture, at least to the humans themselves. Their ships are numerous, a decent warp drive isn’t a rarity and very often they are trusted to act as arbiters. Not so in Enterprise and in Fortunate Son we have an insight into how resented and unwelcome Starfleet were to the pre-existing human space-farers.
Boomers then are analogous to prospectors and profiteers. The first steps taken by wider mankind into space are basically long-haul asteroid mining operations or some such. All of which at least seems to suggest that at this stage money is still a thing in human culture, though it isn’t specifically referenced. Moreover, Boomers have had a monopoly on this kind of thing for decades, as made clear in the statement about how territorial they can be. They are also, due to Starfleet, on the verge of obsolescence due to advances in warp technology, but that’s only one reason for them to be resentful of Starfleet. As they operate very far from any kind of central governing authority they are to all intents and purposes lawless, outright stating that Starfleet has no jurisdiction over them, a fact with which Archer doesn’t argue.
"You're all pretty tough, aren't you? Starship, phaser banks."
I’m not sure if Earth itself has actually attained Utopian status at this point. Certainly Tucker has made reference to Earth having outgrown war, hunger and so on over the last century, but what’s left unclear is whether or not there is anything approaching a class system back on Earth. As I said, the existence of money is up in the air in Enterprise, but for the Boomer people to be doing what they are doing, I’d at least have to assume they are getting paid. It’s made clear that each trip takes years, even half a decade or more and furthermore that the trips are dangerous. The tugs they fly around in are at least semi-generational, but even then why would a whole culture of people willingly put themselves through this kind of lifestyle if not for profit? Regardless of whether or not there is a class system in place, Fortunate Son is a story about class, rising above the class a given person may be born into and how those left behind may feel about that.
I’m the first person in my own working class family to have been to university to attain a degree and so much of the issues raised within Fortunate Son I can sympathise with. Like Travis, i was supported by my own family in my decision, but like Travis I had many close friends who became detractors. My wish to further myself was alternatively read as me developing airs and graces, me being ashamed of my roots, or worse read as a betrayal of working class principles. I grew up in a mining village where the industry was largely dead before I even turned 13. The importance of education was impressed upon me by my Father, an engineer, from a young age and through him I was primed to make the decisions I did later in life. Now, as a relatively well-off University Lecturer working on a whole other continent to the one I was born on… well, I consider myself to be a middle class person, whilst being proud of my working class roots.
"These production facilities have been in operation for over fifty years."
The alternate plot in Fortunate Son, the question of whether or not it’s alright to detain and torture a Norsicaan is basically window dressing for the larger debate of roots, class, betrayal and acceptance that plays out through the episode. Compared to the much needed exploration of Boomer culture and Travis’s place within it, it is an irrelevance. Hence the use of Nausicaans I guess, a TNG C-Lister at best shoehorned in here to a) show Starfleet’s first contact with them (because that’s a story we really needed to see, said nobody ever) and b) to have a villain of the week within the background of the larger story that are neither significant (Romulans, Klingons etc.) nor unknown. They exist only to give some Star Trek flavour to both the larger morality play and the deft exploration of what it means to be a space-faring human at this point in Star Trek history.
It feels like one of the first ‘message’ episodes of Enterprise and as that’s what Star trek was originally intended to be I have no objection to that at all. It’s a little on the nose for sure, but if there’s even one kid out there who grew up in a trailer park who was inspired to better themselves due to the themes in this episode then it did it’s job. Maybe Fortunate Son is a little dull, maybe at times it’s even a little preachy or worse, preaching to an audience who largely consist of the choir. But still it does have a message that extends beyond the overall message of the show so far, that being the rather bland ‘be nice to each other’. In Fortunate Son we have Star Trek as social commentary, whilst expanding its setting and developing a character who more than any other is in severe need of it.
I’m not sure I can ask for more than that.
Happy Times and Places,
Richard S. Ta
Image reproduced with permission of Trekcore.com
I don’t know if the tiny nods like this are something I like or something that annoys me. The Changeling is one of my favourite TOS episodes and while I suppose it’s nice that a tiny reference is included, it doesn’t add anything really. It doesn’t detract either, saying that. Likewise the little reference in Fight or Flight. The Jury is out on this kind of thing for me right now.
I think they did well to depict the surface of a comet in the first place. More credit to everyone involved for even attempting it. It’s better I think to look at what they achieved rather than nitpick. They aimed high but slipped a little in the execution, but I’m not going to condemn the episode for having ambition.
To me it looked… It happens in TOS a lot but also in contemporary stuff like the Bond movies of the day. We have an initially hostile, independent female figure. Later a male protagonist forces a kiss on her which is met with initial resistance before finally she relents, then spending the rest of the episode following the protagonist around like a puppy dog.
I have a problem with it as a romance for a few reasons, the first being that the episodic nature of Enterprise makes it all quite shallow. It’s a done and dusted in twenty minutes romance that we know isn’t going anywhere. The dramatic opposite to the Pecan Pie in the previous episode. Secondly it goes back to what you were saying about them not knowing what they wanted Archer to be. Here he’s a half-remembered clip show edition of Kirk and not much more than that. Likewise Tucker and T’Pol who seem to get a scene where they shout at each other on the bridge because that’s what McCoy and Spock used to do.
I understand the character dynamic they were trying to recreate. It’s just sometimes it seems they were trying to recreate that through the lens of some rose-tinted fan nostalgia and bringing rather dated tropes along with them. There’s an idea among casual Star Trek watchers that Kirk was a womaniser who ripped his shirt in every episode and it’s patently not true. I suppose I’m trying to say that Civilisation comes over as an episode intended to hark back to TOS, written by someone who hasn’t seen very much TOS.
ENTERPRISE:
EPISODE 10: FORTUNATE SON
"I don't know what this butchering monster is, but I know what it's doing."
Some much needed expansion on so-called Boomer culture and a much needed Mayweather focussed story make up an episode that utilise Enterprise’s concept of pre-federation culture well. The results are a little too far on the bland side, but there are enough positives here to raise the episode from dull to at least worthy. A Travis-focussed show is long overdue, especially as at least on paper he has a great deal to offer to the show. Call me dumb or perhaps just inattentive, but though his ‘Boomer’ status has been referenced throughout the season, it’s only in this episode that we really get to explore exactly what that means to Travis and how he fits into the wider Boomer culture.
It’s actually quite rare that we get to see a human perspective on Starfleet from the outside. Even then, at least by the time we get to the 24th century shows, Starfleet are an accepted, even slightly mundane aspect of human culture, at least to the humans themselves. Their ships are numerous, a decent warp drive isn’t a rarity and very often they are trusted to act as arbiters. Not so in Enterprise and in Fortunate Son we have an insight into how resented and unwelcome Starfleet were to the pre-existing human space-farers.
Boomers then are analogous to prospectors and profiteers. The first steps taken by wider mankind into space are basically long-haul asteroid mining operations or some such. All of which at least seems to suggest that at this stage money is still a thing in human culture, though it isn’t specifically referenced. Moreover, Boomers have had a monopoly on this kind of thing for decades, as made clear in the statement about how territorial they can be. They are also, due to Starfleet, on the verge of obsolescence due to advances in warp technology, but that’s only one reason for them to be resentful of Starfleet. As they operate very far from any kind of central governing authority they are to all intents and purposes lawless, outright stating that Starfleet has no jurisdiction over them, a fact with which Archer doesn’t argue.
"You're all pretty tough, aren't you? Starship, phaser banks."
I’m not sure if Earth itself has actually attained Utopian status at this point. Certainly Tucker has made reference to Earth having outgrown war, hunger and so on over the last century, but what’s left unclear is whether or not there is anything approaching a class system back on Earth. As I said, the existence of money is up in the air in Enterprise, but for the Boomer people to be doing what they are doing, I’d at least have to assume they are getting paid. It’s made clear that each trip takes years, even half a decade or more and furthermore that the trips are dangerous. The tugs they fly around in are at least semi-generational, but even then why would a whole culture of people willingly put themselves through this kind of lifestyle if not for profit? Regardless of whether or not there is a class system in place, Fortunate Son is a story about class, rising above the class a given person may be born into and how those left behind may feel about that.
I’m the first person in my own working class family to have been to university to attain a degree and so much of the issues raised within Fortunate Son I can sympathise with. Like Travis, i was supported by my own family in my decision, but like Travis I had many close friends who became detractors. My wish to further myself was alternatively read as me developing airs and graces, me being ashamed of my roots, or worse read as a betrayal of working class principles. I grew up in a mining village where the industry was largely dead before I even turned 13. The importance of education was impressed upon me by my Father, an engineer, from a young age and through him I was primed to make the decisions I did later in life. Now, as a relatively well-off University Lecturer working on a whole other continent to the one I was born on… well, I consider myself to be a middle class person, whilst being proud of my working class roots.
"These production facilities have been in operation for over fifty years."
The alternate plot in Fortunate Son, the question of whether or not it’s alright to detain and torture a Norsicaan is basically window dressing for the larger debate of roots, class, betrayal and acceptance that plays out through the episode. Compared to the much needed exploration of Boomer culture and Travis’s place within it, it is an irrelevance. Hence the use of Nausicaans I guess, a TNG C-Lister at best shoehorned in here to a) show Starfleet’s first contact with them (because that’s a story we really needed to see, said nobody ever) and b) to have a villain of the week within the background of the larger story that are neither significant (Romulans, Klingons etc.) nor unknown. They exist only to give some Star Trek flavour to both the larger morality play and the deft exploration of what it means to be a space-faring human at this point in Star Trek history.
It feels like one of the first ‘message’ episodes of Enterprise and as that’s what Star trek was originally intended to be I have no objection to that at all. It’s a little on the nose for sure, but if there’s even one kid out there who grew up in a trailer park who was inspired to better themselves due to the themes in this episode then it did it’s job. Maybe Fortunate Son is a little dull, maybe at times it’s even a little preachy or worse, preaching to an audience who largely consist of the choir. But still it does have a message that extends beyond the overall message of the show so far, that being the rather bland ‘be nice to each other’. In Fortunate Son we have Star Trek as social commentary, whilst expanding its setting and developing a character who more than any other is in severe need of it.
I’m not sure I can ask for more than that.
Happy Times and Places,
Richard S. Ta
Image reproduced with permission of Trekcore.com
I'm not sure it matters whether or not 2151 Earth has gotten rid of money yet. The boomers have effectively left Earth: they surely get all their goods and services trading with whichever aliens and other boomers they're working for.
There's this:
TUCKER: Once they get installed in the next generation of freighters it'll change a whole lot of things.
TRAVIS: Even with a warp three engine you'd be able to cut a five year cargo run down to six months.
Meaning Earth is at least aware of the length of cargo runs. I don't think it's outright stated that Boomers have left Earth, more that they just live most of their lives off it. There's also:
TUCKER: You missed the best part. The only warp five engine in the fleet.
RYAN: I've heard about it.
And this:
RYAN: That's a transporter.
Meaning Boomers are at least aware of technological advances on Earth. I also lean towards them doing most of their trading with Earth because otherwise surely they'd have ships up-gunned with alien drives and weapons if they were doing business off-world?
This muddies the water further:
KEENE: The ones that grew up out here feel they have some special claim, that this particular stretch of space is theirs. They see another ship within ten light years, they get jumpy.
ARCHER: They're going to be seeing a lot more ships than they're used to.
KEENE: The ships get faster. It's progress, I suppose. My family's been on the Fortunate for three generations. Now, I'm going to need at least a warp three engine to stay in business.
ARCHER: Maybe that's not so bad. At warp three, help's a lot closer than before. You won't have to go it alone.
KEENE: Going it alone's all I've ever done, and for some of us it's the reason we're out here. A chance to prove ourselves.
ARCHER: I think you've already done that.
KEENE: Well, we'll adapt, we always have, but things just won't be the same.
Keene specifically says he needs to stay in business, but also not usually making contact with other ships. Then there's the fact that there's no sign of a translator on board. Though the Nausicaans speak English apparently. Help being closer than ever before and the fact Starfleet command picked up the Fortunate's distress beacon and responded means that protecting Boomers is something that Starfleet do... even though they have no jurisdiction?
I think "three generations" confirms what you've said about Boomers leaving Earth behind as a place to live and I'm sure Travis has told a few tales about alien ports so far... huh.
I think there's no strong case either way. What the show has told us about Boomer culture and their economy up to this point is frustratingly vague.
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I don't mean left as in seceded, I mean left as in they're taking 5 year trips in deep space, not getting supplies from Earth.
So, they make five year cargo runs back and forth to Earth. There's the line about 'Mystery Meals' which makes it likely they don't trade with other species for food supplies and are largely self-sufficient, but then there's still Keene's line about staying in business. I'm still inclined to think the fact they are running around in outdated freighters with no alien tech enhancements means they are largely 'doing business' with Earth. There is supply and demand after all, as Earth doesn't have dilithium for one. Which brings us back again to Keene. Staying in business means mining enough to make a profit after selling cargo and paying his crew. There's at least a suggestion money is involved somewhere and that that somewhere is likely to be Earth. Nobody mentions making 5 year cargo runs out of goodwill and a sense of serving the greater whole.
Do they say they're all making the runs exclusively to Earth? I haven't seen the episode in forever, but I assumed most were that far out most of the time, trading between other worlds. Either way, they'd surely need to buy things over 5 years (or was it 10 years round trip?).
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