monkee reviews 'Horizon'
First Impression: A simple tale, nicely told.
Summary: Enterprise backtracks slightly to investigate an interesting planetary phenomenon, and their path leads them close to Mayweather's family's ship, the E.C.S. Horizon. He requests and is granted a leave of absence to visit them. Sadly, he learns that his father, who was ailing, has died. The news never reached him through notoriously slow civilian channels. His visit allows him to reconnect with his mother and his brother, Paul, who has assumed command, and is having some trouble fitting into the role.
Space Boomers: I find the space boomers fascinating. The communities that develop on these long-range cargo vessels are so close-knit and insular, yet they're also interconnected with the other cargo vessels via the subspace channels. Both of the boomer episodes we've seen have stressed how the actions of one vessel impact all of the others. The people on these ships are a sort of 22nd century working class – looking out for each other, and concerned about galactic changes that are threatening their way of life. They're a unique group in Trek lore, and I think there's a lot more that can be done with them.
Best Scene: Travis, kneeling in the sweet spot, with tears running down his face. I'm an acknowledged sap, but I found it extremely moving. In the teaser, we see him hanging out up there with a book and a drink, relaxed and happy. It's like his tree house! So where else would he go when he's given just about the worst news a person can hear? The scene struck me as very spiritual, too, in this season of Passover, Easter and general re-birth. Nothing specific, which I appreciate, but he was sitting in a decidedly reverent posture. It was nice. *sniff*
Family Matters: There was a lot of complicated family angst being played out on Horizon. Paul is struggling with the burdens of command, and feels a lot of resentment, both towards Travis, who he can't help but feel abandoned them for his new life, and also Starfleet in general. Travis feels guilty for leaving, even though he's dreamed of exploration since he was a boy. His brother's attitude rankles, too, especially when he wants to help around the ship, and his efforts are soundly rejected. During the course of the episode, Paul learns to accept good help when it's offered, the mark of a true Captain. And Travis, perhaps, learns a little patience and wisdom, too. Some of his actions were out of line!
Mother Knows Best: Travis's Mom rocks! I wondered, briefly, why the heck SHE didn't take over the ship, but I decided that although boomers have to 'wear a lot of hats,' there's no way someone can be both chief engineer and captain. I really loved her. You can certainly see how Travis turned out to be such a nice boy! She's sensitive enough to understand how much Travis would love having his old room and all of his kid things, and wise enough to know that Paul is going to be just fine in the end. She's been around enough to know that these things don't happen overnight – apparently, her own husband, Travis and Paul's father, didn't grow into the job of captain all that quickly either.
I'll bet you anything she acts as ship's counselor, too!
Fathers and Sons: Sigh. I don't know. I have three younger brothers and all of them get along just fine with my father. I've never been able to relate to all of this father/son angst on Star Trek. Thank goodness for the Sisko duo, and Archer and his Dad, or I'd think dysfunctional families were the norm in the future! Still, I'll try to understand. I do actually know of a lot of men who have very strained relationships with their fathers. Apparently, it's a very real issue to a lot of people, including, perhaps, the predominantly male Trek writing staff, who have incorporated it into every single series. Maybe it will be a good thing for the Trek male demographic to see these things worked out in a healthy way.
In this case, Travis's father was grooming him to take over someday, and wasn't enthusiastic about his decision to join Starfleet. The disagreement put a wedge between them, which Travis now regrets, because it kept him from contacting his father until it was too late. Very sad. A lesson there for all of us, I suppose.
Meanwhile, back on Enterprise...
They've Created a Monster!!! In a very amusing B story, Trip and Archer convince (order?) T'Pol to attend the ship's movie night, where they're starting a Frankenstein retrospective. She agrees VERY reluctantly, but Trip and Archer live to regret inviting her, when T'Pol's interpretation of the movie throws them for a loop. She considers Frankenstein's creation, as opposed to the doctor himself, to be the film's protagonist, and says that the theme is that humans persecute those who are different, just as they did the Vulcans when they first landed on Earth. She decides to recommend to Soval that the film be required viewing for all Vulcans who've recently arrived on Earth. Hahahaha! That's what Trip and Archer get for browbeating her into going!
It's All in the Details: They threw some off-hand references into this episode which are pretty interesting. When Trip is begging Travis for a tour of Horizon's engine room, he mentions that Zefram Cochrane himself designed the engine core, and was rumored to have signed the inside of each reactor casing. I love that there's such a heroic haze surrounding Cochrane. It's consistent with both TOS and TNG. We can see, after First Contact, that Cochrane is going to 'grow into' the role of hero, and it's nice to see that progression into the 'later' series. There's some new Vulcan trivia as well. Apparently, there's a Vulcan ritual where they try to scare the living daylights out of a Vulcan in order to see how well they suppress emotion. I love it! And although T'Pol admits that humans didn't come after Vulcans with torches and pitchforks, it is the first we've heard that, in many cases, they were met with fear and anger. It makes sense, given the condition of Earth in the time of first contact, but it's the first we've officially heard of it.
Character Interactions: Mayweather's interactions with his mother and brother were nice, and I really enjoyed his scene with the unnamed woman friend. T'Pol had nice scenes with Trip, Archer and Phlox. Phlox, as it turns out, is one of those horrid people who TALKS all the way through movies, but she sure put a stop to that! Reed and Mayweather also had a hilarious conversation that contained several large nods to TNG (see 'Best Lines').
'shipper Watch: Both Trip and Archer tried to ask T'Pol out! Archer has the edge in a competition like that, because he can simply order her to accompany him! It was tongue-in-cheek, though, so no worries. And who knows what Mayweather was up to on Horizon before he joined Starfleet. He and his unnamed woman friend seemed quite chummy, but maybe they were just friends. It must be awfully complicated to get involved on a generational ship like that.
Archer Watch: He was great this week. He has a sweet, almost paternal, relationship with Mayweather. He said all the right things in the emotional 'sweet spot' scene, and was able to assure Travis that his real father was, in fact, proud of him. *sniff* The final scene of the episode was nice, too, with Archer, once again, reaching out to his young helmsman. I hope we get to hear the story, sometime, of how he nearly joined the crew of a cargo ship before Starfleet was commissioned.
Anthony Montgomery: He didn't exactly turn in an Emmy caliber performance, here – his acting was a bit flat. But who knows? I saw a few flashes of brilliance, though – in his 'sweet spot' scene, and some of the scenes with his brother. Perhaps he too will grow into the role as time goes on.
Best Lines:
"I promise you'll like it – reanimated lifeforms, science run amuck – right up your alley." (Trip, to T'Pol)
"Let's make a night of it. Dinner in the Captain's mess – 1800. Movie at 1930. You'll be my date." (Archer, to T'Pol)
"Starfleet really ought to think about putting families on starships." (Mayweather, to Reed)
"Well they'd better post a psychologist onboard, because I'd need one if MY parents were roaming the corridors." (Reed, to Mayweather)
"He wrote the shortest recommendation. Just one sentence. He said he'd never met a more natural stick and rudder man in his life, and I'd be a fool if I didn't choose you." (Archer, to Mayweather, regarding a correspondence he'd had with Mayweather's father)
"I wish...he would have told me that." (Mayweather, to Archer)
"The jacket looks good on you." "Thanks. I didn't think I'd be wearing it so soon." (Travis and Paul)
"What do you say we turn off the grav plating and jump on the bed?" "And get grounded again?" (Mayweather, and unnamed woman friend)
"If there's one thing I've learned from Captain Archer, it's that you don't give in to people like this. You're only going to encourage more attacks – not just against you, but other cargo ships." (Travis, to Paul)
"We can stop the film if it's disturbing your conversation." (T'Pol, icily, to Phlox)
"No one wants to run freight anymore. They all want to be 'explorers,' cruising around on state-of-the-art starships, with their personal chefs." (Paul, to Travis)
"You're the helmsman of the first warp five starship. I'm PROUD of you. Everyone here is. Even Paul, though he won't admit it." (Mayweather's Mom, to Travis)
"From my perspective, this was the story of an individual persecuted by humans because he was different." (T'Pol, to Trip and Archer)
"Maybe inviting her to movie night wasn't such a great idea." (Archer, to Trip)
Rating: 8.5/10. It won't be nominated for a Hugo, but it was a pleasant hour.
Next Week: Another ethical dilemma for Phlox. It seems to me we've seen something similar involving Worf and a Romulan, but I'll wait and see.
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