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Horizon (Star Trek: Enterprise)

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"Horizon (Star Trek: Enterprise)"

"Horizon" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise, and originally aired on April 16, 2003 on UPN. The episode was written by André Bormanis, and directed by James A. Contner. The episodes guest stars included Nicole Forester, who had previously appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Joan Pringle and Corey Mendell Parker.

Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship Enterprise, registration NX-01. When the ship detours to observe volcanic activity on a planet, Ensign Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) takes the opportunity to visit his family on board the E.C.S. Horizon.

Montgomery had previously suggested the appearance of Mayweather's parents at the end of season one, and was pleased to see them introduced. Several sets to create the Horizon were created on a soundstage, with the related scenes filmed in the second half of the episode's shoot after the main cast were dismissed, with the exception of Montgomery. Critical response was mixed, and the episode received the lowest ratings for a first-run episode of the series so far, viewed by 3.36 million viewers.

Plot

At the direction of Starfleet, the Enterprise makes a 30 light-year detour to a planet passing between two gas giants as the gravitational forces on the planet should cause heavy volcanic activity. The alternative course takes the ship close to that of the E.C.S. Horizon, the cargo vessel where Ensign Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) grew up. He requests permission for leave to re-join his family on the Horizon as his father is ill and he hasn't visited in years. However, when he contacts his mother, Rianna (Joan Pringle), he discovers that his father died a few days earlier.

Travis travels to the Horizon and receives a warm welcome from most of the crew but he feels uneasy and out of place. He finds out that his brother Paul (Corey Mendell Parker) has been named as captain after the loss of their father, but he doesn't seem to be doing a very good job. Travis offers to make a few upgrades to systems on the Horizon but Paul tells him to stop. The ship comes under attack afterwards, and a homing device is placed on the hull. Travis identifies that the device would explode if they try to remove it. It is revealed that other cargo vessels nearby had tracking devices placed on them before being attacked once more. Travis wants to make his modifications, but Paul insists that he would simply give up the cargo if they come under further attack. Meanwhile on the Enterprise, Commander Tucker (Connor Trinneer) arranges a movie night for the crew featuring films about Frankenstein.

Travis makes his modifications without permission, resulting in a confrontation afterwards with his brother when he finds out. The ship comes under further attack from an alien vessel, and Paul offers up the cargo. The aliens refuse and demand the vessel instead. Together Paul and Travis start up the modifications Travis made to the ship, including weapon systems. They successfully fight off the aliens in the command module of the Horizon, and reconcile afterwards. Travis leaves shortly afterwards, promising to return to visit again soon.

Production

Anthony Montgomery was pleased to have the family of his character appear in "Horizon"

In an interview conducted towards the end of the first season of Enterprise, Anthony Montgomery suggested that it would be good to see Travis Mayweather's parents make an appearance in the show.[2] Montgomery was pleased when this came true in "Horizon", saying "It was really a touching episode for me, you get a feel of how hard it was for Travis to leave the family and join Starfleet."[3]

Production began on January 28, 2003 and lasted for seven days. The first three days of filming took place on the Enteprise standing sets. The second day in particular took place mostly on the set for the gravity neutral "sweet spot" first seen in the Enterprise pilot, "Broken Bow". The main cast, with the exception of Montgomery were only required for the first three three days. Montgomery meanwhile, filmed his scenes over the course of all seven days alongside the guest cast.[4] Several sets were created on a soundstage to appear as the Horizon. These included the bridge of the cargo ship, a cargo hold, Mayweather's old quarters, a mess hall and a variety of corridors. The Horizon itself were rendered using computer-generated imagery and was to appear as a similar type of cargo vessel as seen in season one's "Fortunate Son".[4]

Nicole Forester appeared in "Horizon" as Nora, having previously played a Dabo girl on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Corey Mendell Parker and Joan Pringle both made their Star Trek debuts in this episode.[5] The episode was written by André Bormanis, who had previously written episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and was the story editor for Enterprise during the first and second seasons.[1][6]

Reception and home media release

"Horizon" originally aired on UPN on April 16, 2003. In overnight figures the episode was thought to have received a 3.5/5% share among adults, beating The WB's Dawson's Creek in its timeslot. With those figures, while it would have continued a decrease in recent weeks, it would have still been more than the all-time low of "Vanishing Point", which recorded a share of 3.4%.[7] However, the adjusted ratings showed that "Horizon" received 3.36 million viewers, fewer than "Vanishing Point" and setting the lowest rating record for a first-run episode of Enterprise at the time. It was also revealed that Dawson's Creek actually beat Enterprise with higher ratings, but a lower number of viewers overall.[8]

Michelle Erica Green, writing on the website "TrekNation", enjoyed the performance of Anthony Montgomery after wondering why he hadn't been featured that much so far in Enterprise. She said that the sub plot was "witty" but didn't feel that the Mayweather family were well characterized. She found the episode frustrating because it seemed "to have all the elements in place to be a good episode".[9] Jamahl Epsicokhan at his website "Jammer's Reviews" was neutral about the episode, saying that it was "Not bad, but not particularly good or conclusive, either. Just simply 'there.'".[10] He gave the episode a score of two and a half out of four.[10] In scores given by readers of the website "TrekWeb" for the second season of Enterprise, "Horizon" was ranked 21st out of 26 episodes by average score. Based on the number of ten out of ten votes, it was placed last overall.[11]

The only home media release of the episode is on DVD, having been released as part of the season two box set on November 1, 2005 in the United States.[12] The Blu ray release of Enterprise was announced in early 2013.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Star Trek: Enterprise Series 2 - 20. Horizon". Radio Times. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  2. ^ Star Trek: The Magazine. 3 (3): 19. 2003. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Krutzler, Steve (March 26, 2003). "Anthony Montgomery Talks 'Mayweather's Big Moment in April's "Horizon" (SPOILERS)". TrekWeb.com. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  4. ^ a b "02.07.03 Home Sweet Home". Star Trek.com. Archived from the original on February 15, 2003. Retrieved February 6, 2013. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; February 16, 2003 suggested (help)
  5. ^ Krutzler, Steve (February 7, 2003). "Anthony Montgomery's Shining Moment On the "Horizon" -- Production, Guest Cast Report". TrekWeb.com. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  6. ^ "Bormanis, Andre". Star Trek.com. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  7. ^ Krutzler, Steve (April 17, 2003). "No Relief on the "Horizon" as Overnight Rating Free Fall Continues". TrekWeb.com. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  8. ^ Krutzler, Steve (April 23, 2003). "Final Ratings: "Horizon" Hauls Series V's Lowest Numbers Ever". TrekWeb.com. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  9. ^ Green, Michelle Erica (April 26, 2003). "Horizon". The Trek Nation. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Epsicokhan, Jamahl. "Horizon". Jammer's Reviews. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  11. ^ Krutzler, Steve (August 28, 2003). "The Results Are In: With Season 3 Upon Us, Take a Look at How Season 2 Fared With TrekWeb Readers!". TrekWeb.com. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  12. ^ Ordway, Holly E. (August 7, 2005). "Star Trek Enterprise - The Complete Second Season". DVD Talk. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  13. ^ "Enterprise Trekking To Blu-ray; Fans Helped Pick Covers". Star Trek.com. January 7, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
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