Yes, I can admit it, I skipped watching Star Trek yesterday so I could go see Rogue One, but at least I wore a TNG shirt to it so maybe that makes up for a bit. As for today's episode, I actually liked Fortunate Son. It had action but it felt like it was central to the story. I really liked seeing the Nausicaans, especially since they were shown to be both brutal, but also actually fairly reasonable when it came down to it. Travis finally got to do something important, but yes, it was entirely on the basis of him having grown up on a space ship. But it also made sense in the context of the episode and didn't seem totally out of the blue (like Chakotay dating Seven). This is clearly the best episode of the series so far both in just being decent but also feeling like Trek with a message about seeking non-violent solutions to problems.
We open on the cargo ship Fortunate with the captain throwing a football back and forth with his first officer when they are attacked by Nausicaans. Enterprise changes course to lend a hand and finds the Nausicaans gone but the Fortunate isn't answering hails. Travis warns them that freighter people are used to dealing with their own problems but Archer decides to send a shuttle over to offer help. The first officer of the Fortunate is in charge at the moment, a man named Ryan, because the captain was badly hurt in the attack. He agrees to the offer of aid hesitantly and we soon see why, he is hiding a Nausicaan prisoner. They get to work on the Fortunate and Travis starts hanging out with Ryan and the two seem to be becoming friends, but Ryan openly resents that Travis left the freighter he grew up on to join Starfleet. Travis doesn't see it as a contradiction though he does miss his family.
While working on repairs T'Pol detects something on scanners but returns to Enterprise before telling anyone. Archer confronts Ryan with the knowledge of the Nausicaan prisoner. Ryan agrees to let Archer talk to him but instead traps him in a cargo pod which he cuts loose before going to warp after Trip fails to disable his ship. Ryan manages to beat some shield frequencies out of the Nausicaan and goes on a revenge mission but of course it was a trap and he is soon surrounded and boarded. Enterprise detects the fighting and heads in to rescue them, again. The Nausicaans have Ryan pinned down and while Archer manages to get the Nausicaan captain to agree to cease hostilities if they surrender the prisoner Ryan refuses. Travis manages to talk him down though and for now everyone goes home safely.
Review: This episode actually felt like it had a story that made sense and actually worked with the characters in meaningful ways. I hope this isn't the last we see of the Nausicaans! I hear their windy valley is awesome! All the praise though is mostly for it being better than the rest of ENT so far, it is pretty average for Trek on the whole.
5 out of 10
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