Fortunate Son (episode)

The Enterprise is sent to assist the Fortunate, an Earth freighter that has been attacked by Nausicaan pirates. But the Fortunate may not be as innocent as it seems.

Summary
The cargo ship is attacked by Nausicaan pirates. Before their communications system goes down, someone aboard sends a distress signal.

Enterprise, being the only ship in the area, is ordered to investigate. The contact with the crew of the Fortunate is uneasy at first, as they are used to doing things on their own, and they decline the help offered. Even when Archer is finally able to convince them to let the Enterprise crew help, they still feel like Starfleet has no reason to be aboard the Fortunate. Unknown to the Enterprise crew, Fortunate personnel are hiding a Nausicaan hostage without the knowledge of the Fortunate's captain. This is discovered later by T'Pol, and the relations between the two commanding officers deteriorates. Matthew Ryan, the first officer on the Fortunate, is in command since the captain has been injured, and he is seeking revenge against the Nausicaans. His quest for revenge is motivated by a desire to return the hostilities, but as we see in the end he is willing to go much farther than his fellow crewmen. Even if they are not too much of a threat, he still wants to go after them, a point of view Archer doesn't agree with.

After Archer requests to see the Nausicaan, Ryan traps Archer, Reed, T'Pol, and Phlox in a cargo compartment, and ejects it, first causing a leak. The Fortunate fires on Enterprise and escapes to warp. Ryan then interrogates the Nausicaan again, and is given a set of shield codes.

The Fortunate tracks the Nausicaan vessel and attacks them, finding an asteroid apparently used by a number of Nausicaan pirates to stage raids and drop off stolen merchandise. Fortunate attacks, but the shield codes do not give them the ability to bypass the Nausicaans' shielding. Instead, ECS Fortunate is attacked and boarded by the Nausicaans, intent on rescuing their captured crewmate.

The episode ends with Archer preventing anyone from being hurt by explaining his point of view to Ryan. He is helped by a little speech from Travis Mayweather who, having also been raised on a freighter, explains to Ryan that the consequences of his actions won't only affect the Fortunate, but every other freighter.

Log entries

 * "Captain's starlog, supplemental. We've picked up a faint warp trail that could be the Fortunate, but we won't know for sure until our long-range sensors are back on-line."

Memorable quotes
"The Earth Cargo Ship Fortunate. Y-class freighter. Maximum Speed: Warp 1.8.  Crew complement: 23."

"Not counting newborn babies."

"Ensign?"

"I grew up on a J-class. A little smaller, but the same basic design. And one thing I can tell you is that at warp 1.8, you've got a lot of time on your hands between ports... That's how my parents wound up with me."

"Do you have any helpful information on this vessel beyond its... recreational activities?"
 * - T'Pol and Mayweather, as T'Pol gives a dry briefing on the Fortunate



"Ready or not, here I come! Have you seen Nadine?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know which child is named 'Nadine'."

"Thanks!"

"I just told him the truth."
 * - Boy, T'Pol, and Nadine during a game of hide and seek as Nadine hides

"Get down!"

"Under the circumstance, I defer to your experience."


 * - Reed and Phlox in the middle of a firefight

"Just because someone wasn't born on Earth doesn't make them any less Human."
 * - Archer, explaining to Mayweather why the crew of the Fortunate can't kill Nausicaans as a matter of revenge

Background Information

 * Lawrence Monoson, D. Elliot Woods, Danny Goldring, and Vaughn Armstrong all appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Monoson played Hovath in and Woods played a Klingon officer in . Goldring played Legate Kell in  and Chief Burke in . Armstrong played Danar in  and Seskal in  and.
 * The hallways of the Fortunate are heavily-redressed corridors from the Enterprise NX-01, with a new lighting scheme and several new additions to the walls.
 * The cargo bays of the Fortunate are the shuttlebays of Enterprise, filled with several types of cargo tubs and boxes.
 * Mayweather mentions to Ryan that Starfleet has plans to build three more NX-class ships in the near future (Enterprise itself, the lead ship of the class, having launched only four months previously). The next NX-class ship,, was seen when it was introduced later in the series; first while still under construction in the season 2 finale, , as well as when it was ultimately launched in the season 4 episode.
 * This episode features the first on-screen appearance of the Nausicaans in Enterprise.
 * Starfleet makes first official contact with the Nausicaans.
 * Admiral Forrest references the scans Enterprise took of the comet in as being "incredible."

Video and DVD releases

 * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 1.5,
 * As part of the ENT Season 1 DVD collection
 * As part of the ENT Season 1 Blu-ray collection.

Starring

 * Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer
 * John Billingsley as Doctor Phlox
 * Jolene Blalock as Subcommander T'Pol
 * Dominic Keating as Lieutenant Malcolm Reed
 * Anthony Montgomery as Ensign Travis Mayweather
 * Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi Sato
 * Connor Trinneer as Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III

Guest stars

 * Lawrence Monoson as Matthew Ryan
 * Kieran Mulroney as Shaw
 * Vaughn Armstrong as Maxwell Forrest
 * Danny Goldring as a Nausicaan Captain

Co-stars

 * Charles Lucia as Captain Keene
 * D. Elliot Woods as a Nausicaan Prisoner
 * Daniel Asa Henson as a Boy
 * Elyssa D. Vito as Girl

Uncredited co-stars

 * Amy Kate Connolly as a science division crewman
 * Mark Correy as Alex
 * Evan English as Ensign Tanner
 * Hilde Garcia as Crewman Rossi
 * Mark Ginther as a Nausicaan
 * Jack Guzman as a science division crewman
 * Aldric Horton as an operations division crewman
 * Martin Ko as a command division ensign
 * Carmen Nogales as an operations division crewman
 * Carrick O'Quinn as a Nausicaan
 * Prada as Porthos
 * Mark Watson as an operations division crewman
 * Scott Workman as a Nausicaan

Stand-ins

 * Michael Muñoz as stand-in for Daniel Asa Henson
 * Nancy Muñoz as stand-in for Elyssa D. Vito