THE PLOT
With his father's ship, Horizon, in the vicinity of Enterprise, Mayweather takes the opportunity to make a visit back home. It's a far less cordial homecoming than he would have liked. His father has died, leaving his brother a command that he's not quite ready for. The crew is less than completely confident in their new captain, particularly as deliveries fall farther and farther behind schedule. When Mayweather attempts to help by upgrading a few systems, his brother insists on viewing his "help" as undermining his fragile authority. It all comes to a head when space pirates attack the ship, demanding that they abandon ship or face the consequences.
Meanwhile, Trip asks T'Pol to a movie that she really, really doesn't want to go see. Archer decides to intervene and get these two crazy kids to make things work. Unfortunately, there's no cameo by the Fonz - though such would not have been out of place.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: He deals with Mayweather's loss with empathy, and finds a sympathetic way to make a deal with T'Pol over the "movie night." I did appreciate how oblivious Archer was to T'Pol's reaction when he described them going to the movie together as "a date." Otherwise, there's not much for Archer to do in this episode.
T'Pol: The "movie night" subplot, though the stuff of sit-coms, does provide T'Pol with a couple of enjoyable character beats. It's entirely predictable that, after seeking to avoid the movie, T'Pol would end up enjoying it in her own way. But the way in which T'Pol manages to enjoy the film is interesting. She relates the persecution faced by the monster to the persecution Vulcans have faced on Earth, and even says she is going to recommend screening the film for Vulcans coming to Earth, because she believes it will be helpful to them in adjusting. That is considerably more interesting and intelligent than the pat "She-loves-it!" resolution I was expecting.
Trip: One consistent aspect of Trip's characterization is this: He's a genuinely good guy. This isn't exactly a big Trip episode, but there is one lovely moment, just as Mayweather leaves for the Horizon. Trip hands him a data pad into which he has downloaded every photo of Mayweather taken during the voyage so far, on the grounds that he thought his "mom might want to see what her son's been up to." A very thoughtful thing to do, and one senses that Trip probably did this (and other little things he's done across the series) without even particularly thinking about it.
Mayweather: And here it is - Season Two's contractually obligated Mayweather-centric episode, the one episode of the season in which Mayweather gets anything remotely resembling characterization. We open the episode on Mayweather sitting upside-down in the "sweet spot." Why? Because it recalls a character scene he got back in the pilot, way back when Anthony Montgomery possibly had hopes of doing some acting on this show, and because there have been almost zero character beats for him since then! Uhura may have gone episodes at a time with no lines other than, "Hailing frequencies open," but it always felt like there was somebody in there. Here I am, reviewing a Mayweather-centric episode... and it still doesn't feel like anyone's in there! There are still no new character beats for Mayweather. He's still the Space Boomer, born in space, whose relations with his family were strained when he joined Starfleet. Not one iota of character advancement since Fortunate Son - a full season and a half ago!
THOUGHTS
The last Mayweather-centric episode was back in early Season One. That episode was Fortunate Son, a ham-fisted, cliche-ridden piece whose basic script elements would likely have been rejected by the producers of 1930's "B" westerns. In a series that has provided such gems as Terra Nova, A Night in Sickbay, and Precious Cargo, that particular episode still stands as my pick for Enterprise's absolute worst hour.
Measured against that as competition, Horizon at least manages to be a good deal better. Horizon is watchable, even intermittently absorbing. There are some beautiful special effects, particularly surrounding the breakdown of the planet which Enterprise is observing. There is actually some mild amusement to be had from the potentially interminable "movie night" subplot. There are a handful of decent character scenes. But for all of that, this episode is still far from actually being good.
The Mayweather family dynamics are the stuff of cliche. The resentful older brother, whose resentment of Mayweather's leaving and own insecurity in his new command makes him impervious to anything resembling reason. Boiled cliche. The saintly mother, who is magnificently competent in all fields, and who still has time to dispense pearls of wisdom. Stuffed cliche. It all comes to a head in an encounter with space pirates, in which Mayweather's upgrades to the weapons system (done over his brother's objections, of course) save the day and lead to a perfect reconciliation. Baked cliche, sauteed cliche, flame-broiled cliche.
That's not even mentioning the ending. Mayweather is going to have Reed look at the device left on the Horizon's hull, to figure out a way to get that beacon removed. But then he lies to Archer that Horizon had no trouble, and that damage left by the battle was from long ago. So he's going to have Reed remove an explosive tracking device, and justify that by saying that nothing of interest happened? "Must... not... think... about... stupid... writing..."
The episode's plot also bears more than a passing resemblance to that of Fortunate Son. In that episode, Mayweather had conflicting feelings when faced with the crew of a freighter who were dealing with space pirates. In this episode, Mayweather has a crisis of conscience over having left his family's freighter when they find themselves dealing with space pirates. Does this character only get variations on one plot?
With his father's ship, Horizon, in the vicinity of Enterprise, Mayweather takes the opportunity to make a visit back home. It's a far less cordial homecoming than he would have liked. His father has died, leaving his brother a command that he's not quite ready for. The crew is less than completely confident in their new captain, particularly as deliveries fall farther and farther behind schedule. When Mayweather attempts to help by upgrading a few systems, his brother insists on viewing his "help" as undermining his fragile authority. It all comes to a head when space pirates attack the ship, demanding that they abandon ship or face the consequences.
Meanwhile, Trip asks T'Pol to a movie that she really, really doesn't want to go see. Archer decides to intervene and get these two crazy kids to make things work. Unfortunately, there's no cameo by the Fonz - though such would not have been out of place.
CHARACTERS
Capt. Archer: He deals with Mayweather's loss with empathy, and finds a sympathetic way to make a deal with T'Pol over the "movie night." I did appreciate how oblivious Archer was to T'Pol's reaction when he described them going to the movie together as "a date." Otherwise, there's not much for Archer to do in this episode.
T'Pol: The "movie night" subplot, though the stuff of sit-coms, does provide T'Pol with a couple of enjoyable character beats. It's entirely predictable that, after seeking to avoid the movie, T'Pol would end up enjoying it in her own way. But the way in which T'Pol manages to enjoy the film is interesting. She relates the persecution faced by the monster to the persecution Vulcans have faced on Earth, and even says she is going to recommend screening the film for Vulcans coming to Earth, because she believes it will be helpful to them in adjusting. That is considerably more interesting and intelligent than the pat "She-loves-it!" resolution I was expecting.
Trip: One consistent aspect of Trip's characterization is this: He's a genuinely good guy. This isn't exactly a big Trip episode, but there is one lovely moment, just as Mayweather leaves for the Horizon. Trip hands him a data pad into which he has downloaded every photo of Mayweather taken during the voyage so far, on the grounds that he thought his "mom might want to see what her son's been up to." A very thoughtful thing to do, and one senses that Trip probably did this (and other little things he's done across the series) without even particularly thinking about it.
Mayweather: And here it is - Season Two's contractually obligated Mayweather-centric episode, the one episode of the season in which Mayweather gets anything remotely resembling characterization. We open the episode on Mayweather sitting upside-down in the "sweet spot." Why? Because it recalls a character scene he got back in the pilot, way back when Anthony Montgomery possibly had hopes of doing some acting on this show, and because there have been almost zero character beats for him since then! Uhura may have gone episodes at a time with no lines other than, "Hailing frequencies open," but it always felt like there was somebody in there. Here I am, reviewing a Mayweather-centric episode... and it still doesn't feel like anyone's in there! There are still no new character beats for Mayweather. He's still the Space Boomer, born in space, whose relations with his family were strained when he joined Starfleet. Not one iota of character advancement since Fortunate Son - a full season and a half ago!
THOUGHTS
The last Mayweather-centric episode was back in early Season One. That episode was Fortunate Son, a ham-fisted, cliche-ridden piece whose basic script elements would likely have been rejected by the producers of 1930's "B" westerns. In a series that has provided such gems as Terra Nova, A Night in Sickbay, and Precious Cargo, that particular episode still stands as my pick for Enterprise's absolute worst hour.
Measured against that as competition, Horizon at least manages to be a good deal better. Horizon is watchable, even intermittently absorbing. There are some beautiful special effects, particularly surrounding the breakdown of the planet which Enterprise is observing. There is actually some mild amusement to be had from the potentially interminable "movie night" subplot. There are a handful of decent character scenes. But for all of that, this episode is still far from actually being good.
The Mayweather family dynamics are the stuff of cliche. The resentful older brother, whose resentment of Mayweather's leaving and own insecurity in his new command makes him impervious to anything resembling reason. Boiled cliche. The saintly mother, who is magnificently competent in all fields, and who still has time to dispense pearls of wisdom. Stuffed cliche. It all comes to a head in an encounter with space pirates, in which Mayweather's upgrades to the weapons system (done over his brother's objections, of course) save the day and lead to a perfect reconciliation. Baked cliche, sauteed cliche, flame-broiled cliche.
That's not even mentioning the ending. Mayweather is going to have Reed look at the device left on the Horizon's hull, to figure out a way to get that beacon removed. But then he lies to Archer that Horizon had no trouble, and that damage left by the battle was from long ago. So he's going to have Reed remove an explosive tracking device, and justify that by saying that nothing of interest happened? "Must... not... think... about... stupid... writing..."
The episode's plot also bears more than a passing resemblance to that of Fortunate Son. In that episode, Mayweather had conflicting feelings when faced with the crew of a freighter who were dealing with space pirates. In this episode, Mayweather has a crisis of conscience over having left his family's freighter when they find themselves dealing with space pirates. Does this character only get variations on one plot?
Then again, given his normal use as a character, he's probably lucky to even get that much. We can only hope that Mayweather's next episode, in which he will doubtless deal with freighters and space pirates yet again, might see further improvement - perhaps all the way from the mediocrity here to actual adequacy?
Rating: 3/10.
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