I finally landed a copy of the Thanksgiving week episode. Sorry for the delay gang.

Now click "Read More" or I’ll have to get Nausicaan on you.

Fortunate Son

 

Cast & Crew

Director: LeVar Burton
Written By: James Duff

Starring
Scott Bakula as Captain
Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Chief
Engineer Charles Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander
T’Pol
Dominic Keating as Lt.
Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery
as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi
Sato
John Billingsley
as Dr. Phlox

Guest Cast
Lawrence Monoson as Ryan Cross
Kieran Mulroney as Shaw
Vaughn Armstrong as Admiral Forrest
Danny Goldring as Nausicaan Captain
Charles Lucia as Captain Keene
D. Elliot Woods as Boy
Elyssa D. Vito as Girl

Original Airdate

November 21, 2001

What
Happened

The Enterprise crew is dispatched by Starfleet Command to assist Fortunate,
a human freight vessel that has been attacked by Nausicaan pirates. On arriving,
they are surprised to find that Fortunate’s crew, led by first officer Ryan
Cross, is resistant to Archer’s efforts to help them and determined to seek
revenge against their attackers, no matter what the repercussions. They isolate
the shield frequency of the Nausicaan’s ship (by torturing a Nausicaan prisoner).

Leaving the captain and landing party adrift in a leaking cargo pod, the Fortunate
warps off to engage the pirates. Little do they know that the frequency given
them is false and they are soon overpowered by the Nausicaans. When Enterprise
arrives, Archer brokers an uneasy cease-fire. The prisoner is returned and the
Fortunate is allowed to leave.

Fortunate’s captain, Keene, recovers from his wounds and reduces Ryan
to Able Crewman status. Archer warns the captain that things are going to be
changing with the newer warp drives. Captain Keene simply smiles and assures
Archer that they’ll all “adapt.”

Review

Not bad, really. Maybe it’s just I haven’t seen a new Enterprise in
weeks. We’re starting flesh out the characters which is great. It was also nice
to see an existing race instead of a race-of-the-week. While Nausicaan’s didn’t
appear in TOS, we do know they were around in the very earliest stages of the
TNG timeline (A young Starfleet cadet named Jean-Luc Picard was stabbed through
the heart by one in a bar brawl).

It would be interesting to revisit the freighter story line in a few years
to see how advanced warp drive, and an expanding Starfleet, affects them. Could
they become like the Maquis, rebels fighting for their way of life? We’ll just
have to wait and see.

High Point

The Archer/Mayweather exchange. Archer is a brilliant captain, if a bit inexperienced.
He knows how to respect his crew, but still be in command. He knows they are
experts and uses that to the ship’s advantage.

Low-G game of catch anyone? We humans are way too easily amused.

Low Point

The Nausicaan captain just didn’t do enough to enhance the episode in any way.
He’s supposed to be tougher and meaner.

The Scores

Originality: Revenge is an old theme, but never done in Trek as good as The
Wrath of Khan. 3

Effects: The Fortunate looked really cool (for a freighter). The Nausicaan
ships were also well done. Other various touches (such as detaching a cargo
pod) were well executed. 5

Story: Revenge wasn’t the main point of the episode, but it gives us a framework
for delving into Mayweather’s persona. And that was a worthwhile trip. We also
get allusions to future conflicts. 4

Acting: Anthony Montgomery gets a chance to star in this episode, and does
an admirable job. He could stand some basic help with hand gestures (a bit too
wild). Monoson as Ryan was fairly solid, though not quite defined enough to
inspire any real loathing or sympathy. The real drag here comes from the Nausicaan
cast. 4

Emotional Response: Was anyone in question about the ending of this one? I
didn’t feel any real hatred of Nausicaans, no empathy for freighter crews, or
sympathy for Mayweather’s predicament. 2

Production: No cave! We there was drifting cargo pod, but it was fairly roomy.
High marks for design for the new ships. 4

Overall: While I welcome some character definition, I’d also like to see some
more moving plots. 4

Total: 26 out of 42

Stills

• 20-second
  episode preview (MOV, 1Mb)
• 
  Reed, Archer and Dr. Phlox
• 
  Archer aboard the Earth cargo ship Fortunate
• 
  Reed, Dr. Phlox, Archer and Mayweather
• 
  T’Pol scans for bio signs

From StarTrek.com

Coming
Up

January 2, 2002: The Andorian
Incident (rerun from 10/31/2001)

I found a schedule online.
Looks like we’re in rerun mode for a while. Here’s what’s coming up:

• January 23, 2002: “Silent Enemy”
• January 30, 2002: “Dear Doctor”
• February 6, 2002: “Shadows of P’Jem”
• February 13, 2002: “Sleeping Dogs”