Reviewers Analyse 'Fortunate Son'

See Also: 'Fortunate Son' Episode Guide

Three days after 'Fortunate Son' aired on TV, several online reviewers have cast their critical eyes over the latest outing for the NX-01 crew.

Below is a selection of comments about the episode:

• TrekWeb's Steve Perry described the episode as "another plot a few wrinkles short of exciting." "Enterprise continues to do everything but the seemingly easy stuff right," he wrote. "Usually sci-fi movies and shows have excitement, if anything. Enterprise can develop characters, give a patina of realism to what it is doing, and have dialogue that's at least passable, but for the third time already it's put together an episode about ten minutes short on plot."
  For his full analysis, in which he awards the episode a B rating, follow this link to TrekWeb.

• Voyager's Delights and LCARS Computer Network reviewer Gisele La Roche gave the episode a C- rating. "Another low-key and formulaic episode again, she wrote, "But as last week's 'Civilisation' gave us a hint at the precursor of the Prime Directive, this week's episode touts Starfleet principles. Unfortunately it comes off as a bit preachy."
  Her full review can be accessed here.

• CJ Carter at ScoopMe didn't find many noteworthy qualities in this week's adventure. He did comment on the relationship between T'Pol and Archer - "As a reflection of the growing trust between Archer and T'Pol, when the science officer mentioned the need for rescue from the cargo pod, Archer didn't argue the point. During their first couple of missions, there would have been at least a withering glare between the two."
  More thoughts can be found in the full review.

• "Fortunate Son rocks," wrote Matt D at Trek 5. "With the exception of a largely unbelievable climax (nothing new for Trek these last few years), this sweeps week Enterprise episode had me on the edge of my chair for most of the hour. With the mix of nasty Nausicaans, a large and beautiful freighter that winks at Stanley Kubrick, and a very cool restrained performance by Lawrence Monoson, James Duff and LeVar Burton have delivered a pre-thanksgiving delight - and I gained no calories in the process. My waistline thanks you both!"
  The full analysis of the episode, in which it is given a Warp 4 rating, can be found by following this link.

• James Duff's review at First TV Drama begins with "Because if we told you how bad the episode would really be, you wouldn't have watched it." "The previews made it look like there was going to be some confrontation between Mayweather and Archer, yet none existed in the episode," he wrote. "It's nice to see the Star Trek's tradition of misleading previews being used to trick the viewers into thinking stuff was going to happen that didn't is still standard procedure on the new series."
  More thoughts can be found in the full review.

• "Very solid character work--a keeper!" wrote Tim Lynch at Psi Phi. "'Fortunate Son' has a few false notes, but mostly dealt with a clash of operating philosophies and did it honestly--on a character level, I can't ask for too much more than that."
  His full analysis, in which he gives the episode a score of 8.5, is available here

• Section 31's 'Shadowfyre' awarded the episode 7/10 in his review. "While it's refreshing to see some conflict between Humans, who have been portrayed as being too perfect in the past, this story came off as a bit dull and unexciting," he wrote. "I wasn't sure which conflict the script was trying to highlight more – the one between the pirates and the boomers, or the one between the latter group and the Starfleet crew. Neither seemed to take a dominant role, nor were either that engaging."
  His full review can be found by following this link.

More information about the episode can be found in its episode guide listing.

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