"Horizon"

Written by Andre Bormanis
Directed by James A. Contner


In which Mayweather returns to his family’s cargo vessel after his father dies, and finds that his welcome is far from friendly...

Synopsis - Analysis - Memorable Quotes - Observations


<----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->






Synopsis

As the episode begins, Mayweather reads a book while sitting in the “sweet spot” on Enterprise, where gravity is inverted. He receives a call from Hoshi, who asks him to report to the bridge. Admiral Forrest has asked Enterprise to observe a planet that was knocked out of orbit, causing the planet to cover itself with volcanic activity.

Mayweather stops by Archer’s quarters, and requests that he get leave to visit his family’s ship, which will be in the vicinity of Enterprise. Archer is happy to grant the leave, especially considering that Mayweather’s father has been ill lately.

Down in engineering, Trip observes that the crew won’t have much to do once probes are deployed to the planet, so he invites T’Pol to see a showing of “Frankenstein”. T’Pol resists, as usual. Mayweather and Reed discuss the difference in crew interaction between a starship and a cargo transport. Reed is horrified at the idea of having family at arm’s length on a constant basis.

Mayweather gets a message from his mother. Archer finds Mayweather back at the sweet spot, where he is grieving; Mayweather’s father is dead. His mother sent the message six weeks earlier. Mayweather feels guilty about how little he contacted his family since leaving for Starfleet. He feels that his father was disappointed with him, since Mayweather had been groomed to take over the family’s cargo transport. But Archer tells Mayweather how proud his father really had been.

In sickbay, T’Pol tries to get Dr. Phlox to give her a medical excuse not to go to the movie night.

Trip sees Mayweather off, and soon he’s on Horizon with his mother. His mother grills him about all of the dangerous missions that Enterprise has encountered. Mayweather is greeted by the crew, and then his mother takes him to his old room. As expected, it has been restored to the way it looked when he was quartered there.

A little later, Mayweather visits engineering, where he finds his brother Paul, who is the acting captain of the transport. At first, they seem to be on good terms, but it’s soon very apparent that Paul has some issues with his brother.

Meanwhile, as they prepare to take visual records of the erupting planet, T’Pol tries to talk Trip into reading the original “Frankenstein”, rather than showing the film. She only winds up getting Archer to ask her out on a date...to the film, of course.

Back on Horizon, Paul discovers that Mayweather is making some unsolicited upgrades to some of the transport’s systems, and is not happy about it. Paul has a valid point, asking who would be able to repair the upgrades if something went wrong. Paul orders Mayweather off the bridge.

A little later, Mayweather gets a visitor in his quarters: a crewwoman who grew up with him on Horizon. She asks him about Enterprise, and mentions how some things have gone wrong since Mayweather’s father died. Then Horizon comes under attack.

Mayweather goes to the bridge to help, but Paul doesn’t want his advice. Paul tries to run away, but the attackers manage to attach a beacon onto the hull. Paul orders someone from engineering to pry it off, but Mayweather points out that there are explosives on the beacon.

Afterward, it’s clear that the attackers were there to plant the beacon, so that a larger vessel could come and retrieve the cargo. Paul wants to attempt to outrun the pirates, but Mayweather thinks he can modify Horizon’s weapons and take out the pirate vessel, based on his experience from Enterprise. Paul refuses, reminding Mayweather that he’s not part of the crew anymore. His mother agrees that giving up the cargo is better than getting killed.

Back on “Enterprise”, Archer is annoyed when T’Pol tries to sneak work into the movie. Phlox, meanwhile, is just a bit obnoxious in his commentary during the film.

On Horizon, Paul is informed that someone is modifying the plasma relays. He finds Mayweather proceeding with the weapons upgrades, and orders him to stop. Mayweather insists on preparing for their battle, but Paul accuses him of turning his back on the family. Mayweather tries to use his father’s words to convince his brother, but Paul is convinced that people like Mayweather are ruining the cargo industry. Mayweather leaves the room without removing the upgrades.

A little later, Mayweather is eating in the mess when his mother comes in, chiding him for making the upgrades without permission. Mayweather wonders if he made a mistake leaving Horizon, and considers coming back for an extended leave. His mother makes it clear that even if Paul isn’t perfect, he doesn’t need Mayweather to come back and take over. All Paul needs is experience and time. At the same time, his mother knows that Mayweather belongs on Enterprise.

Back on Enterprise, Trip derides T’Pol’s lack of appreciation for “Frankenstein”. Actually, she does appreciate how the film highlights the human capacity to destroy something different from the norm. She compares the treatment of Frankenstein’s monster to the treatment of Vulcans by humanity. Trip bemoans his decision to press T’Pol into watching the film.

Dinner is interrupted when the planet below begins to erupt with great intensity. T’Pol detects several forms of bacteria emerging as well. Archer orders her to study them.

On Horizon, the pirates arrive and demand that the crew drop out of warp and prepare to be boarded. Paul replies that the pirates can have the cargo, but not the ship. The pirates don’t seem interested in bargaining. When the pirates charge weapons, Paul asks Mayweather to bring the weapons upgrades online and fire on their attacker.

Horizon drops from warp, and then drops its cargo. As soon as possible, Mayweather pilots the transport into position and fires on the pirates’ vessel. Though Horizon takes heavy damage, Mayweather manages to take out the pirates’ engines and weapons. Paul sends the pirates a smug warning about messing with cargo vessels, and then orders Mayweather to go back to retrieve the cargo.

Soon, Mayweather is packing in his quarters. Paul stops by to let him know that Enterprise is ahead of schedule. Mayweather offers to have Reed remove the alien beacon. Paul seems to be more at peace with his brother’s choice, though they are still not entirely chummy. Mayweather promises not to take another four years to come home.

Back on Enterprise, Archer welcomes Mayweather back on board. He asks Mayweather about the damage that Horizon seems to have taken, but Mayweather doesn’t tell him what really happened. He simply says that things on Horizon have never been better.


Analysis

A recent listing of the Hugo award nominees was rather illuminating. The nominees for television could split easily into two categories: “Enterprise” material and Joss Whedon material. Considering this episode, this is a fair comparison of the state of televised SF. And it’s sad to say that “Enterprise” has no business winning any of those awards.

This episode is a perfect illustration. For once, there is an attempt to flesh out one of the characters, to impart some growth and range to Mayweather. The real revelation, however, is how more time spent on the characters simply underscores the lack of strength that lies in the conception of those characters. Of all the backgrounds mentioned in the series, Mayweather’s ought to have been the starting point for a compelling conflict between the growing role of Starfleet starships and the existing cargo transports. If that conflict is ever going to actually become something more than window dressing, it certainly isn’t apparent in this episode.

It would have been far better to see Paul taking up the cause against Starfleet and everything it stands for, and maintaining a consistent stance, despite the circumstances. Instead, the whole issue is wrapped up in the family strain, which is far too easily resolved. The writers want the audience to believe that four years of pent-up hatred would be wiped out when Mayweather’s solution to a problem happens to work. In a better fictional universe, Mayweather’s success might have resulted in even more bad feeling.

Why didn’t the writers put more effort into the conflict between brothers? Why didn’t the writers stress the inevitable strain that comes when one brother appears to have returned to “save” the other from his own shortcomings? Where was the division among the crew regarding the prodigal son? Much like in “Fortunate Son”, the writers fail to fully utilize the potential that Mayweather’s background represents.

Maybe it’s a lack of confidence in Anthony Montgomery. This episode certainly highlights his extremely limited acting ability. There’s not one scene in which his line delivery can be considered adequate. Even his body language betrays a seeming lack of experience and training in the craft. During Mayweather’s confrontation with Paul, it sounds like he’s reading from cue cards. He delivers the dialogue in the completely wrong tone and tempo in nearly every circumstance, and even if the writing was strong, there is the sense that he would have still undermined the quality of the episode.

The weaknesses of the main plot seem to extend to the subplots on Enterprise. It’s clear that the subplot about T’Pol and “Frankenstein” is meant to be amusing, but much of it comes across as a little too flat and uninteresting. The writing is simply not strong enough to handle the move from apparent seriousness to apparent board comedy.

Oddly, there seems to be the remnants of another subplot: the volcanic planet that Enterprise was sent to observe. This mission is referred to from time to time, and at one point the crew jumps to action when life is discovered. The direction and dialogue seem to point to this as a critical, unexpected moment, but then nothing comes of it. The scene cuts away abruptly, and then the subject never comes up again. It’s incredibly sloppy, especially when compared to Contner’s usual work.

With all of that in context, it’s hard to see how this series can ever claim to be on the same level as the recent work from Mutant Enemy, the production company of Joss Whedon. Compare this character exploration to any episode of “Firefly”, and there’s no comparison in the depth of character conception and storytelling. Never mind that even more fantasy-oriented series like “Buffy” and “Angel” regularly deliver character arcs that are deeply involving. For example, where on “Enterprise” is there a character arc like that of Wesley on “Angel”? Or like that of Andrew on “Buffy”?

The difference, of course, is that Mutant Enemy considers plot progression and serialized continuity to be vital tools of the trade. Characters are created with more than a couple of basic personality traits, and those characters are allowed to grow. An episode devoted to a single character is usually massively significant. On “Enterprise”, it becomes little more than an exercise.


Memorable Quotes

MAYWEATHER: “Starfleet really ought to think about putting families on starships.”
REED: “You must be joking!”

ARCHER: “You’ll be my date!”
T’POL: “I beg your pardon?!?”

T’POL: “We can stop the film if it’s disturbing your...conversation...”


Observations

- It seems that Andre is learning some of Berman and Braga’s bad habits. This teaser might as well not even exist...

- The conversation between Mayweather and Archer had to be one of the worst examples of wooden acting since the series began. And that’s one of the better scenes of the episode!

- Episode timestamp: January, 10, 2153. I guess they slowed their pace since the beginning of the season, thanks to all these episodes where they turn around all the time...

- Oddly, the scene between Archer and Mayweather in the “sweet spot” is easily the best scene in the episode!

- But did they have to cut to that idiotic scene in the sickbay so abruptly?

- Horizon’s lack of conveniences and rough design is exactly what Enterprise should look like...and that’s part of the overall problem with the conception of the series...

- As stupid as the subplot was, T’Pol’s expression when Archer “asked her out” was priceless!

- Interesting how everyone on Horizon is so photogenic...

- I also like T’Pol’s technique when eating the popcorn!

- Gee...the entire Mayweather clan is incapable of acting...

- Who else was hoping that Mayweather would ask for a permanent reassignment to Horizon?

- At least Mayweather has a nasty sense of humor, suggesting that Reed remove the beacon...after all, things went so well in “Minefield”!

Overall, this episode could have given Mayweather some good material to work with, had the writing and acting been even remotely up to the task. Instead, this covers the same ground as last season’s “Fortunate Son”, proving that the writers have no intention of digging beneath the surface of the universe they are working within.

I give it a 4/10.


< -------------------------------------------------------------------------->

Next Episode

Back to Season 2

Back to Starfleet Headquarters

Email: entil2001@yahoo.com