Written by André
Bormanis, "Horizon" follows the helmsman on a visit to his family's cargo ship
(the Horizon) in the aftermath of his father’s death. While there, Mayweather tries to help his
brother (the new captain) and mother (the ship’s engineer) deal with pirates. Meanwhile, Tucker and Archer harass T’Pol into attending Frankenstein movies on board Enterprise.
Although Mayweather does come across as such an idealistic bossy-pants as he interferes with his brother's command, trying to introduce improvements to Horizon's systems without letting his brother know, it is an interesting, emotionally effective story that gives us a better understanding of the lives of the cargo crews that explored deep space ahead of Star Fleet.
Meanwhile, the Frankenstein plot gives us an even better, and more surprising, insight into the way T'Pol feels about her time with her human crewmates. It's almost as if Bormanis were trying to send a message to his fellows on the show's creative team when he introduces the Frankenstein story to Enterprise.
That doesn't mean the episode is without fault. Tucker puts intense pressure on T'Pol to attend the movie and, when she approaches her superior officer to ask him to intervene to stop the coercion, Archer instead turns the situation into a joke and, worse, sexualizes by practically ordering her to attend as his "date", complete with dinner before hand. Neither of these offenses is addressed in any meaningful way, even if the ending is at least somewhat satisfying.
In a well-written final scene where Tucker, Archer and T'Pol share their responses to the film, Bormanis offers the following bit of dialogue that, I think, serves as something of a critique of Archer and his human crew and their complete lack of suitability for Earth's first deep-space mission.
T’Pol: I thought the protagonist was interesting.
Tucker: Dr. Frankenstien?
T’Pol: No, his creation. From my perspective, this
was the story of an individual, persecuted by humans because he was different…
In many ways, the film seemed quite prophetic. The reaction of the villagers,
for example: it was similar to the reception Vulcans received after landing on
Earth.
Archer: I don’t recall anyone greeting the Vulcan
ambassador with torches and pitchforks. (laughing)
T’Pol: Nevertheless, many humans reacted with fear
and anger.
Archer: They didn’t know what to expect.
T’Pol: I’m going to recommend that Ambassador Soval
watch the film… I believe it would help Vulcans who have recently arrived on
Earth.
Archer: Maybe inviting her to movie night wasn’t
such a great idea.
This conversation successfully brings to the surface a number of issues related, in my opinion, to the failure of the show. It's not only what T'Pol says (which is so remarkably true about the humans with whom she serves), it's the reaction of the other two officers. Tucker and Archer first laugh at her, then defend human (and their own, oft-repeated) immature responses to those different from them, then fail completely to understand what she is trying to say to them, both about her experience on Enterprise and about the response of humans to all those who are different.
In fact, it's as if Archer lacks the intellectual capacity (and the willingness) to try to understand what she is saying to him. It is precisely these limitations that make the true Star Trek fans (intelligent, thoughtful and inclusive) despise Archer and turn their backs on the show.
I wonder if Bormanis did, in fact, intend to write this episode as a warning/critique for his fellow writers and for B&B themselves. Or perhaps I'm giving him too much credit -- maybe he sides with Archer and Tucker in this last conversation and doesn't even understand the subtext he's created.
But it's a very useful and interesting episode none-the-less.
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