Episode Report Card Keckler: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Home Is Where the Snark Is
By Keckler | Season 2 | Episode 20 | Aired on 04.15.2003
Sick Bay. Phlox diagnoses T'Pol with a headache. Poor T'Pol was hoping for something more fatal to get out of Trip's Dinner and a Movie. Although Phlox can't help her out with any sort of medical excuse, he offers that he will also be attending the screening. He hyposprays some analgesic into the Vulcan and says, "I agree this form of entertainment is rather crude but it can often provide an enlightening glimpse into human behavior." "Don't be surprised if you see me here afterwards, I have little doubt that my headache will return," T'Pol sighs as she leaves. Heh -- T'Grumpy can be funny stuff.
On his way to board his family ship, May-Bissonette is escorted by a jabbering Trip, who seems to be requesting a tour of the cargo ship's engine room, but since the writers appear to drop that idea as soon as it's out of Trip's mouth, I'm ignoring it. Before May-Bissonette goes through the air-lock, Trip hands over an e-pad with some images on it, saying, "I downloaded every picture I've taken since I we left Spacedock. Thought your mom might like to see what her boy's been up to." Aw, stop trying to make me like Trip! Okay, quick, list three bad things about Trip: ram-it-down-your-throat Southern-ness, eating with his mouth open, and being a dink to T'Pol. Whew! May-Bissonette thanks him and then visibly steels himself before stepping through the airlock. By the way, at least one of the pictures on that e-pad was a shot of May-Bissonette striking a pose in front of the sh'pod in "Strange New World." I was sort of hoping Trip would also include the one of Travis being roused from his brain-sucking coma in "Dead Stop", or at least a cute shot of Phlox nearly lobotomizing him. No? Okay then.
Mother Ship. If Enterprise looks more like the interior of state-of-the-art subs out there today, then Horizon looks like the ship Kelsey Grammer commands in Down Periscope -- all dingy, stained, and with really bad lighting. I like the contrast. As they walk through the corridors, Mum-Weather questions her son closely about certain tidbits of his mission she's heard about through his gossipy sister. May-McGargle tries to assure her that nothing he's been doing is dangerous. Not even the hostile aliens that tried to seize control of the ship in "The Catwalk"? Mum-Weather wonders. May-McGargle brushes that off as a misunderstanding and makes a mental note to delete Hedda Hopper-Weather's email from his address book. His mother sighs that there's no point in asking him about "Minefield," and May-McGargle is astounded at how much the script wants Continuity to wet his pants. "I've been serving on cargo ships for a long time -- I've made a few contacts here and there," Mum-Weather smiles, nicely dropping the subject. A comm announcement orders them to ready themselves for warp. Mother and son grab hold of some handrails. The ship jerks and shudders for a bit before settling in for the ride. "Charlie must be at the helm," May-McGargle comments. Mum-Weather wonders at his conclusion jump being faster than starburst, and May-McGargle explains, "His warp jumps always were a little rough." Mum-Weather just laughs without confirming her son's suspicions as they greet some guy welding stuff in the hall. Willie the Welder says he hasn't seen May-McGargle in a while, and inquires if he locked himself in a cargo container again. May-McGargle looks sheepish and asks if he always has to bring that old chestnut up.