posted
There are rules about how to deal with pirates. Sometimes you're supposed to blow them up. Sometimes you're supposed to arrest them. It would have helped if Archer would have explained what exactly the rules in this situation were.
I really liked this episode. Neat ships, neat story, etc. But...
Is there anyone remotely likeable in the entire galaxy at this point? Anger and resentment over Starfleet trying to control a situation I can understand. Firing at Starfleet vessels and trying to kill Starfleet personnel? That feels like an awfully extreme reaction.
quote:Originally posted by TSN: I don't really understand the term "space boomer". Why would people start having a bunch of kids just because they were in space?
Ok, so you're in a small space with limited entertainment facilites... What would you do?
posted
Yes, but the reason we have Baby "Boomers" is because they were a part of a baby "boom," a population explosion. Unless there are an ungodly number of children being born in space, the term boomer seems to be a misnomer in its application here.
[ November 23, 2001: Message edited by: Raw Cadet ]
posted
Overall, I liked "Fortunate Son." I think it was a well-built episode, and it gave Ensign Mayweather some pretty good scenes. Lieutenant Reed still needs some time in the character development chamber, though.
I think the scenes with Ryan and Mayweather could have been a bit better. The resentment that Ryan felt over Mayweather's going into Starfleet could have been a bit sharper if the conversation over Mayweather's enlistment was more gradually with a greater amount of time spent on the reaction of Mayweather's family and the Horizon's crew. It was a little fuzzy. Ryan could have been a bit more defined, I feel. The backstory presented could have been done in a way that would have allowed the audience to feel for him and sympathize with him. Instead, he kind of came off as a revenge-minded lunatic with delusions of godhood.
I liked the modular design of the Fortunate with her nacelles tucked into the underside of the hull. Seems like a fairly sensible design for a cargo ship. It actually reminded me a bit of today's 18 wheelers. I don't think the hull of the cargo modules are strong or well built, though. When Ryan punches a hole in the hull, it looks like the hull is incredible thin. Probably short-sightedness on the part of the VFX crew for the shot and the writers for having the hole being created so easily. The Nausican ships were a fairly nice design. They look more like little fighters than raiders, though. No transporter technology, since it had to dock to the side of the Fortunate. Did it use a tractor beam or grapplers to snag the Fortunate? I can't remember too clearly.
The conclusion to the episode was all right, but it left me wanting a bit more from Mayweather's solo at the end. I think it could have been more believable if the relationship between Mayweather and Ryan had been better scripted in the beginning. I also think that it was a bit too easy to convince Ryan to give up his hostage. I think that part could have been run through another editor's desk for refinement. As far as Archer's decision goes, I have conflicting thoughts on the matter. On the one hand, I could see keeping him in custody and arresting the other Nausicans that led the raid on the Fortunate. On the other hand, the Fortunate did get some revenge on the Nausicans by discovering one of their bases and attacking quite a few of their ships. I would have liked to have seen the Nausicans taken into custody by Archer, but that couldn't have really happened since Archer's first priority was to do whatever to protect the Fortunate.
One interesting point that this episode brings up is that it seems Starfleet is a relatively weak organization in the fabric of human affairs. Archer had no jurisdiction to give orders to the Fortunate's crew despite it being an Earth cargo ship. Archer also couldn't override the Fortunate's captain and take Ryan back to Earth to face charges of starting an galactic incident. I guess part of this could be because Starfleet is relatively young and small.
As for the other assorted tidbits from the episodes, I found them interesting. The Enterprise's class is NX Class. This is in keeping with the DY-class cargo ships and the Y-class ships mentioned earlier. Also, didn't Mayweather say the Horizon was a J-class cargo ship? Seems that Earth is sticking to letters for categorizing ship designs. There are also three more NX-class ships slated for production. Given the state of humans technology and the Starfleet's waiting for shakedown reports from Enterprise (I hope they're doing this), I would guess we wouldn't be seeing another NX-class ship for another couple years. Maybe. I also liked that Enterprise's systems need a bit longer for repair (the long-range sensors needed four hours) and the limited capabilities of the short-range sensors in picking up the Nausican hostage. Also, I appreciated the restraint in using the transporter.
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
posted
So, the hull was thin enough that a couple shots from whatever-kind-of-gun-that-was could put a hole through it, but it was strong enough to not explode when all that air started rushing out? Hm...
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I'm not at all sure that those things are mutually exclusive. They might be, I'm just not sure is all.
Still, the hulls of modern spacecraft are often flimsier than might be expected. Assuming you keep the interior pressures at sea level, that isn't a great deal of force to counteract, all things considered. The human body seems to handle it pretty well, for instance. But, to stretch my analogy a bit, if you put a few chunks of plasma on one, you'll get a hole.
posted
It was an exterior wall that Ryan shot with his pistol. He fired three times at the wall, turned around, and walked through the hatch connecting the module to the shipframe.
Anyway, I just found it kind of odd as I was watching the episode. It wasn't so much the three shots that blasted the small hole in the side so much as that the impression I got from the VFX sequence was that the hull width was really thinner than what I would have imagined.
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
posted
Well, it wouldn't be able to maintain its regular level of functioning for long, but structurally? Sure. People don't explode in vaccum.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
They don't? Well, damn, Knight Rider just lost some credibility with that tidbit of information. You see, in the third season episode "KITT vs. KARR," KARR has the guest star's girlfriend in the front seat and threatens to create a vaccuum in the passenger compartment which would cause her body to explode. The guest star ultimately surrenders to KARR and agrees to be present at the final battle as KARR uses the stolen double-intensity laser meant for KITT against him.
Damn it, quit looking at me like that!
[ November 26, 2001: Message edited by: Siegfried ]
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I'd worry about somebody poking an extra hole in me even if I weren't in vacuum. Especially one that would let the air out. That would either spell the collapse of one of my lungs, or mean that my throat just got an amateur trachaeotomy (and thus my major arteries might be gone as well, which is far more serious than the opening of the new ventilation hole).
But no, I still won't let anybody carry a plasma pistol with him when he walks inside me while I'm in vacuum. That's bad policy.
-------------------- "Nah. The 9th chevron is for changing the ringtone from "grindy-grindy chonk-chonk" to the theme tune to dallas." -Reverend42
Registered: Sep 2000
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Anyway, I don't think that the force of the air through the hole would necessarily be strong enough to make it larger. But I freely confess a lack of data. Tell you what, TSN. You get the vaccum chamber, I'll bring the plasma. Then we just need a volunteer...
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