Fortunate Son (2)

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Fortunate Son) (2)

In memory I always want to like this more than I do, even knowing it's less than the sum of its parts. Those parts needed a little more tightness, a touch more polish, but, like the Y-Class freighter's dated technology everything's there, but it doesn't work as well as the state of the art NX-01, and that's a real shame, though we are on an upward curve: this episode is slightly better than 'Civilisation,' which preceded it, and that was slightly better than 'Breaking The Ice,' so these are encouraging signs. Right from the start it has my attention, showing a snatch of life aboard an Earth Cargo Ship, the true pioneers of space flight, you could say, as they're out there with measly Warp 1.8 engines (which we learn are responsible for Mayweather's birth due to the long flights!), pitiful weapons, and any number of nefarious piratical groups out to snaffle their load. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, they're very reticent about accepting help from outsiders, proud of their DIY attitude to space travel, looking after their own, taking care of their problems in their way without interference. They are the very epitome of Trek's 'Wagon Train to the stars' ethos. But the times they are a-changing, and this enforced slow cruise lifestyle is about to be affected by the introduction of significantly faster engines, souped up weapons, and a faster pace of living. From that perspective you can see some of the appeal of this way of life which has been lived in this way, in some cases, for three generations (as it had been by Captain Keene and his family).

First Officer Matthew Ryan isn't so much a bad guy as an opportunist who suddenly finds himself thrust into the centre seat when his Captain is incapacitated, able to exercise his own ruthless ideas about how to protect his ship and crew, but really just giving in to pride and vengeance. Pride that he doesn't need Starfleet or anyone else to help against the pirates they're plagued with, and revenge on those pirates for having the temerity to threaten and steal from them. He wants to show them who's boss against all rational sense - it would be sensible to make a show of force, but raiders like these aren't going to be scared off. This is the crux of the episode, and one reason it doesn't entirely ring true. The issue at hand is whether it's right to use the enemy's methods of violence and intimidation against them, Archer coming in with his far superior firepower and speed and appearing to stand up for the enemy's rights. The two world-views are in opposition, because on Archer's side he's representing the whole of humanity, there to put right diplomatic situations as part of his mission to the stars - he's making a name for humans and with the added improvements of technology and the will to work together and go up against opposition, setting a standard for how humans behave in space. But the old guard have been out here much longer, they've had to contend with challenges their own way without the advantages of the new breed of spacefarer, and this is one of the fascinating things about this era.

I wish we could have gone into more depth about the ECA, and if this had been 'DS9' I'm sure we'd have met up with regular freighter Captains. There would probably have been a greater sense of the changing galaxy as this new, faster technology supercedes the old, but sadly, I think we only get one other ECA story in the series, 'Horizon' in Season 2, in which we meet Travis' home ship. This episode can't be blamed for failing to kickstart a running arc in the series about the pre-Starfleet pioneers out on the shipping lanes, but it does make it less relevant. What it doesn't get quite right is Archer's attitude of how to deal with the Nausicaans, for it is they. I believe these were the first non-'TOS' race to be introduced who were known from the 24th Century (soon to be followed by Ferengi and Borg). They were a race open to interpretation since we know so little about them. They're one of those C- or D-list aliens that show up in a few episodes, but were never very fleshed out, so one of the delights of this story is seeing them again, mainly because the makeup is good, and it gives us another, albeit tiny, datapoint to add to the culture. Not that there ever was much culture, they were always portrayed as little more than ruffians, stabbing Picard through the heart when he was a volatile young man, laughing stupidly, and generally giving the impression of belligerent imbeciles not far up the scale from Pakleds! Here, they're a bit more ordinary, and I can buy that not all members of a species are the same, but it also suggests to me they should have chosen another race to be the antagonists.

What if it had been the Orions? Or the Letheans? Or some other mercenary race - the Nausicaans aren't the most compelling species and this episode doesn't make their case for them. Both examples that interact in the episode speak normally, even if they are just as threatening, but we don't learn anything about them, other than they exist as a force for piracy at this time in history. We get to see their ships, though whether these are from their own design or stolen from another race, we don't know. They have a smuggler's base inside an asteroid from which they go on their raids. But apart from being more eloquent than their 24th Century descendants, they may as well have been aliens of the week. Of course I'm glad they brought back a race rather than making up a new one, and the look is great, especially when they're stomping through the ECS Fortunate in their clumpy boots and thick leather jackets. Still, there's not enough menace given to them, the only example of that comes from Ryan himself who shows a cruel, vicious side. You almost feel sorry for his demoralised Nausicaan prisoner when we first meet him, hunched over, beaten and bruised, but he's soon as uncaring and flippant as any thug who's held captive, so the sympathy evaporates. If they had chosen to use Orions (we know they were pirates), that would have tied in better with 'TOS' and perhaps could have started another ongoing arc, just as we'd done with the Andorians. But I get the impression they weren't quite ready to introduce a green-skinned race, especially after the blue, antennaed Andorians. They were still hewing a little towards the 'TNG' era which Berman and Braga knew so well, and the modern viewers of the time were more likely to recognise a Nausicaan, I suppose, so it makes you intrigued when they're teased.

It always comes back to Archer's slightly unfair reading of the situation, because what could such cargo ships do, but fight back? I suppose it was the taking of a prisoner and mistreating him that Archer reacted to as needing to be put right because humans have a code of conduct, even if they're not in Starfleet. But he has no jurisdiction over them and they're experienced in how to handle attacks on their cargo, so it's a tricky situation (though I liked his solution of threatening to withdraw the technical help they'd been giving). I'm not for a moment condoning Ryan's tactics in taking a captive, and especially not the mistreatment, but perhaps a cargo ship needed to be more ruthless than we'd expect from a Starfleet ship in order to survive. If they came to be seen as weak they'd fall prey to pirates even more. At the same time, Nausicaans aren't the reasonable type that diplomacy can work with, only a show of force, and it could be said Archer's interference was the show they needed. His warning that they'll be seeing a lot more of these class of ships in the future is another pointer towards the changing times, and that Earth vessels are going to become more common, and therefore support each other more. Still, it does smack of the old style of Starfleet involvement, where they shoot onto a scene, sort out the villains, then move on, but there's nothing to stop the pirates coming back again. This helps to make the episode seem a little unsatisfactory, though Captain Keene was a lot more reasonable and experienced to deal with life out there than his emotionally led First Officer. It's good to see that high-minded Starfleet ideal on display about keeping the peace, but against such as the Nausicaans I'm not sure how realistic it is.

It reminded me of 'Valiant,' a similar situation in which the senior, experienced officers are killed with only cadets left to carry out a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. There it was more a sin of pride and arrogance, but essentially the same thing: young man takes command and makes questionable decisions that aren't in favour of his ship and crew, thinking he knows better. Except that was a much better episode. Some of the fault lies with Travis Mayweather - I'd actually forgotten entirely this was one of his few episodes, and that could be because a lot of time is given over to the guest crew and Travis isn't absolutely at the centre though he is instrumental in talking sense into Ryan at the end. We also get an idea of his position and where he's come from by his coming into contact with this ship that's similar to his family's. At first he's thrilled to have fellow boomers to share experiences with, reminisce about the food and what that life is like, but then we see the hard edge Ryan has when he throws guilt onto Travis for leaving his family's ship, and it stings because he does feel some of that, even though he knows he's done what's right for him. He's young, he's still finding out what he wants to do and Starfleet has given him that opportunity, so it was good to get under his skin a bit. The problem is that he doesn't quite have the emotional depth and it does come across a little forced sometimes, a bit like Archer himself - when they're trying to sound tough or angry they're such nice guys, both actors and characters, that they're not as effective or forceful enough.

Maybe this was one reason Travis fell into the background, which is a real shame, because if he'd been given a few episodes like this every season he'd have had the chance to blossom into a classic Trek character with depth and layers to explore. He'd certainly become a better character by the time of 'Horizon' which I always think well of. I also felt he was a little too easily swayed by Archer's words when he goes to see him and wonders if Ryan is right to sort things out himself without assistance. Archer's right that it's wrong for him to be doing what he's doing, but the writing needed a boost to make it believable that Travis' mind would be set at ease so quickly. That's the trouble with the episode, it doesn't quite click on various levels. I think also that Levar Burton, in his second episode as Director for the series after 'Terra Nova,' doesn't inject the necessary verve and intensity in his direction that might have encouraged the same to come out in the performances (though I do like the Fortunate interiors, that corridor even sounded more enclosed and narrow - I wonder if it became the catwalk set?). I feel that Ryan was a little too contained, you needed more of an edge so that when he makes Travis uncomfortable in the Mess Hall he shows his cruel streak instead of mere disapproval. The same with his crewman, Shaw, who is clearly uncomfortable going along with his methods, but never really challenges them. Maybe we needed to get to know the crew a little more, get a sense of the crew getting behind Ryan or growing restless would have added some tension to the time bomb, but things play out a little too smoothly.

Except when Archer, T'Pol, Reed and Phlox are lured into a cargo bay in which they have a firefight, get locked in by Ryan after he's made a hole in the bulkhead so they're leaking atmosphere, then cast adrift. I was thinking he'd gone way too far as it at first seemed like he was kidnapping them and obviously the Enterprise would stop at nothing to retrieve those people, but it wasn't quite as bad, just a diversionary tactic so they could escape, and it worked. Trip should have been more in evidence as he'd have been in command while Archer and T'Pol were aboard the Fortunate, but we don't see him getting het up. There's a real lack of tension that was needed to pull this episode off. I'm thinking of episodes like 'Fight Or Flight' and 'Strange New World,' and it's clear from those that the series can do it, it just wasn't gelling here. The Nausicaans needed to be more of a threat where they just came across as another type of Klingon, violent and bad, but simply dealt with. If only there had been more scenes like the final one between Archer and the restored Keene - a fresh, young Captain who's already learned a lot, and an experienced old leader who lives the ways of the Old West, but is governed by his head, not his emotions. He was a much more charismatic and characterful person than any of his crew so it's a shame he had to be incapacitated for most of the time - he even deals fairly with Ryan, demoting him, but keeping him aboard because they take care of their own. Even when you first see him, throwing an American football across the large distance of his hold he came across well.

Everything about the opening suggested this was going to be a good one, from that football scene with the low gravity throws to the beauty of this cargo vessel, and that we get to see a Nausicaan ship for, I think, the first time ever. It also makes sense that Enterprise should get involved since the nearest other Starfleet ship is three weeks away from Fortunate's position at maximum warp, which gives an idea of what a difference the Warp 5 engine makes. It's great to have confirmation that there are other Starfleet ships out in space, because sometimes it feels like the NX-01 is the only ship in the fleet, but in reality it's the only one with this range out beyond where human ships have gone before. Again, I wish we could have heard more about other Starfleet ships (the Franklin from 'Star Trek Beyond,' for example), and had a greater sense of Starfleet's scope in this era. Travis sets the ball rolling in that respect, boasting there are at least three more NX-Class starships on the drawing board (though we'd only ever meet one, Columbia, and then not until the final season), so you do get that impression of human expansion and the changing of the guard from this slower way of life to a more technologically superior one. I can't help but wish there had been more poignancy in such discussions, almost like the move from sailing ships to steam driven, and the changes that wrought on life and commerce.

That's another thing. We know there was money even in the 23rd Century, but it's a reminder that money is still a motivator in the 22nd as that's the point of cargo runs - though Ryan's question if Travis was buying him lunch was in order to give him the recruiting speech, could be seen as flippant, there's still the idea that goods cost money. He's definitely an old school space mariner in the sense that he's fascinated by the new technology, such as the wonder of the Transporter, but he likes the life he knows best and is loyal to that. The changing of the frontier, the coming of law and regulation curtailing the cowboy attitudes and turning things into more of a community than pioneering spirit, could have been a really strong theme for the episode to explore, but it doesn't go far enough. I'm not sure we even get the true motivation of why Travis joined Starfleet. He's asked a couple of times and he suggests it's for the new experiences and that he didn't see a life hauling cargo on a freight run as fulfilling, but it's still all a bit surface level, we haven't got deep enough into the character and that's why you need to see the friendships on a ship. Just as Paris and Kim, or Bashir and O'Brien on other Treks did, we needed to see the Enterprise lads doing things together more and telling their life stories, and though they did go into it a little, especially Season 4, it was one area in which this series was lacking overall.

The mention of the ECS North Star confused for a moment because if I think of a 'North Star' connected with this series it's the Season 3 episode of the same name, except that was a group of humans that had been abducted by aliens centuries ago, so it had nothing to do with the ship. There's a good reminder that Enterprise's mission also requires reporting back to Earth and Admiral Forrest, and to do that they deploy subspace amplifiers for improved long-range communications, so I'm glad that 'everyday' details like this do get addressed, since the logic and believability factor of Trek has been cast off in 'DSC' (oops, I almost got through an entire review without mentioning my problems with that series!). It's appropriate that Captain Keene looked just like Shakaar, the Bajoran leader from 'DS9,' since his First Officer Ryan was played by Lawrence Monoson who'd been a Bajoran on that series. Charles Lucia himself (Keene), had been on 'TNG,' but most memorable as Mabus, the Trabe enemy of the Kazon who tries to murder all the sect leaders in 'Voyager.' Didn't spot him, but the 'Star Trek Encyclopedia' opened my eyes. Someone else I didn't spot was that Kieran Mulroney was in 'The Outrageous Okona,' so gets the award for furthest back appearance in this episode. Danny Goldring as the Nausicaan Captain is another very familiar name with multiple roles in 'DS9' and 'Voyager,' and he'd be the only one of these to return to 'Enterprise' (another alien in 'The Catwalk'). Even D. Elliot Woods (the prisoner), had been a Starfleet Officer in 'Star Trek: Insurrection.'

It's good to see the incremental improvements of the season out of Berman and Braga's hands, since they couldn't write everything so more writers needed to be trained up in the ways of this series, and the trend would continue into the next episode. I do find it a shame that this one didn't live up to its potential, either in learning about a previously established alien race or laying the groundwork for another human group which could have been explored in detail since they had a connection through Mayweather. Importantly, it showed potential for the kind of stories they could do - they'd already visited a human colony, alien ships, a pre-warp alien planet and now the cargo ships of this era, helping to make it stand out as a distinct and different time, though one that was coming to an end, NX-01 a kind of harbinger of change. It's strange to think that even the concept of a United Earth was very recent as a world government had only come into effect the previous year, 2150, and we were but ten years away from the founding of the Federation itself. The pioneers of the ECS had had their time and their way of life was about to change, it's just that we never got to see that happen.

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