for the show or not. It isn't clear to me that it would have much impact on syndication one or the other (look at ER for example), but I suspect that for the time being most of our episodes will be stand alone, as The Original Series was.
Steve Krutzler
You mentioned that episodes later in the season may become more reliant in each other. Recent reports have named the season finale "Shockwave." Can you
confirm this title, and without spoiling the episode, can you give us any general story
tidbits about ENT's first season finale?
Andre Bormanis
I probably shouldn't try to confirm or deny anything -- and certainly you wouldn't want me to spoil all the surprises coming up in future episodes!
Steve Krutzler
Will it be a cliffhanger, and can you tell us anything about the guest cast in
the finale?
Andre Bormanis
Even if I gave away that much, Paramount might try to take away my phase-pistol. :)
Steve Krutzler
Reza asks: What are the chances of us seeing Tobin Dax (Dax host at time of ENTERPRISE) on
Enterprise? Also, will you ever attempt to slip in a reference to DS9 in one of your
scripts?
Andre Bormanis
Right now we're steering clear of characters that were establised on other series (for the most part). Certainly Tobin Dax and some others fit into the mid-22nd century chronology. It might be fun somewhere down the road to run into some of the people who have been know to haunt the Trek universe in this era.
Steve Krutzler
Pete Vogel asks: A lot of fans have wondered how, in "Broken Bow," the Enterprise could get
from Earth to Qu'onos so quickly - only four days, which puts it about a light-year away.
Are you using a new warp speed scale, or is there some other variable - space dust,
subspace, etc. - that affects travel times?
Andre Bormanis
That's a good question. One could also ask how Enterprise 1701-A got to the center of the galaxy (30,000 lightyears away) in just a few days. With respect to Kronos, perhaps there is a subspace eddy or some other phenomenon that effectively boosts speed and reduces travel time on certain courses. My guess is that Kronos is probably no more than a couple of dozen light years from Earth.
Steve Krutzler
neldog asks: Will ENTERPRISE change it's no unsolicited script policy next season or any
time soon?
Andre Bormanis
I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that. If the policy is changed, I'm sure it will be announced on this and other Trek websites.
Steve Krutzler
vyger asks: First off, I would like to say that Silent Enemy was one of the best
Enterprise's to date. The enemy seemed Romulan, until we saw our CGI friends. Was this ever
planned to be a Romulan entrance, or am I too much of a fan-boy?
Andre Bormanis
Thanks for the compliment. I wondered whether they might be Romulans until we decided to do a CGI alien effect. I think the technology of their ship, though, was too sophisticated for Romulans in this era, so that argued against making them Romulans too.
Steve Krutzler
T_T asks: Have we seen the last of the Andorians this season?
Andre Bormanis
I think so. I get a little confused about what's been aired vs. what we've written, but I don't think they're back this season. Wouldn't count them out for next season, though. Shran is great.
Steve Krutzler
"Acquisition" airs this Wednesday.
Andre, by setting ENTERPRISE on a starship that has a new mission/adventure
from week to week, it seems at this admittedly early stage that a lot of potential for
exploiting the prequel concept is being ignored. For instance, the political structure of
Earth, the question of today's nation-states, and explanation of just HOW humanity
"eliminated poverty, disease, war..." seem to have been relegated to off-hand dialogue
throughout episodes rather than genuinely being investigated. Is there an intent to do more
shows on or around Earth and to inject more plotting into a series that sells itself as "the
beginning of the Star Trek saga?
Andre Bormanis
I think we will see more of those questions addressed. This season we wanted to focus on establishing our main characters and their relationships. And I think we've seen many of the elements you've talked about, but not necessarily in the way you might've expected. Our relationship with the Vulcans is clearly evolving, and that is certainly an important thread in the history of the Star Trek universe. I'm pretty sure we'll see more and more of those elements come together, but not all at once, not in a single "defining" episode.
Steve Krutzler
compupc1 asks: Great job on "Silent Enemy." Do you have a long term plan for the second
season in terms of the continuing development of the temporal cold war, the Vulcan relations
with Earth, the founding of starfleet (how the various militaries and space programs came
together), or the founding of the Federation?
Andre Bormanis
We don't have a long term plan per se, but we certainly plan to explore all of those questions over the course of time. Those are all (dare I say) fascinating questions in the history of the Trek universe, and I think we want to make at least some of that history come about in ways that are unexpecting and surprising for long-time fans, but still consistent with established Trek history.
Steve Krutzler
T_T asks: Obviously, there are very few things Star Trek fans can univerally agree on as
being good or bad, but to my eye, one thing that has been pretty consistently panned this
year has been Enterprise's incredible shrinking teaser(tm). Really short teasers were
refreshing and attention-grabbing in the past (I'm thinking of "Faces" and "Scorpion
Part I" from Voyager) but only when they stood out from the conventional four or five minute
ones. However, it seems almost every teaser on Enterprise so far this year has had only one
scene and run for no more than a minute. What's the reasoning behind this?
Andre Bormanis
A teaser should be exactly that: a teaser. It should be short, surprised, intriguing, but not a "first act." I think a short teaser is just better storytelling in terms of the one-hour television format.
Steve Krutzler
Contributing here, I would say that all the TREK series utilized several minute teasers for over 30 years.
Andre Bormanis
It would be interesting to know the average teaser length on different series. I can remember some that ran for a minute or less on the Original Series.
Steve Krutzler
Has there been any thought to simply lumping the teaser in Act One and thus make a more efficient usage of the time?
Andre Bormanis
I don't think there are any plans to reconsider our structure. I imagine it will remain a teaser and four acts.
Steve Krutzler
Fair enough!
Bobok asks: I'm a Serb with nostalgia for Yugoslavia, so the "Serbo-Croatian" reference
(pointing to reunification) in "shuttlepod 1" really touched me. Any idea about who came up
with it, or any other comment?
Andre Bormanis
Brannon Braga and Rick Berman wrote that script. One of the things we want to suggest on this show is that Earth is unified, but there are still nation states. Using the names of countries that have experienced conflict in recent years and implying that those conflicts have been settled is a fairly smart way to get across that idea.
Steve Krutzler
Jan Schliecker asks: "Silent Enemy" to me was better than any of the previous episodes. The
tension worked, and I loved Archer's realization that nobody knows much abour Reed. Andre,
was your characterization of Reed as a reserved guy something that had been in the
producers' minds from the beginning or did you add this? Did you get any comments from
Dominic Keating?
Andre Bormanis
Thanks. Dominic really enjoyed the episode. The idea that Reed is a somewhat enigmatic guy was an observation that Brannon made watching Dominic's performances in earlier episodes. The idea for the story really grew from the cool way Dominic was playing Reed.
Steve Krutzler
So far you've written the script for "Silent Enemy," a very well received episode. Do you have any additional scripts coming up before the end of the season?
Andre Bormanis
I wrote the script for episode 24, based on a story developed by Rick and Brannon. We did a couple of days of location shooting out in the desert, which looks great. Without giving away too much, I suppose I can tell you that the episode explores the impact of some of Archer's earlier decisions in his dealings with certain alien cultures.
Steve Krutzler
Would that be "Two Days and Two Nights" (possibly no longer the title) or "Vox Solis?"
Andre Bormanis
Think Desert... :)
Steve Krutzler
"Desert Crossings?"
Andre Bormanis
Ding Ding Ding!!!
Steve Krutzler
Thanks for the clarification, as this was thought to be episode 25.
Ptrope asks: Enterprise seems to be displaying a lack of comprehension and depiction of real
science in recent episodes. Comets with Earth gravity in "Breaking the Ice";
geologically-active planets with no Sun to create tidal forces and big leafy forests on the
same sunless world in "Rogue Planet." Watching Star Trek is all about accepting far-flung
concepts like warp drive, transporters, time travel, even holodecks. As the former science
consultant, can you explain how this interpretation may be incorrect, or if accurate, how
these problems made it into the final script?
Andre Bormanis
The high surface gravity of the comet was unrealistic, but I hope you'll give us a little dramatic license there. It's very hard to produce convincing low gravity effects given the time constraints on our show. The rogue planet, on the other hand, is on much firmer scientific footing. There are rogue planets in our galaxy. Geologic activity has very little or nothing to do with tidal forces; it's driven by a planet's internal heat, which comes mostly from radioactive decay in the planet's core, and to a lesser extent from residual accretion energy (energy of formation). As far as the leaves go, they could be big in order to gather photons from starlight (if you've ever been somewhere completely isolated from artificial light, you know how much light there can be from the stars and Milky Way), or the leaves may have nothing to do with photosynthesis. Leaves are also important for respiration in plants. One of the things I hoped that episode would do is stimulate discussion among science-oriented fans of the show about whether or not a class-M environment could be sustained on a rogue planet. It's a very interesting question with no cut-and-dried answer.
Steve Krutzler
Was there ever consideration of making that the central premise for investigation in the episode rather than the character-oriented Archer plot?
Andre Bormanis
I think it was always the main reason Archer wanted to go down there. He's an explorer, and a rogue planet with class-M "oases" would be impossible for him to resist.
Steve Krutzler
The pleasure planet Risa will be making an appearance later in the year and
TNG star Michael Dorn has commented that he will be directing (or has already done so).
Along with this week's Ferengi and the Klingons, ENT has not hesitated to re-use elements
from previous series. Can you tell us the reasoning behind using Risa or does the location
of "Two Days and Two Nights" (possibly no longer the title) have little relevance to the
overall story?
Andre Bormanis
The Ferengi episode is lol funny. And I think "purists" will appreciate the way we preserve the idea that Picard was the first "Captain of record" to make contact with the Ferengi. Michael Dorn is directing for us, and the episode does invovle a planet familiar to Trek fans. It's fun for us to take some established elements from other series and weave them into our episode, because the audience gets to see those elements through the eyes of Archer and the rest of this crew, who have a much different perspective, being the new kids on the block.
Steve Krutzler
Mayweather has been largely absent since "Fortunate Son." Will he see more prominent action this season?
Andre Bormanis
Yes, he has prominent roles in a couple of upcoming episodes.
Steve Krutzler
Jimmy_C asks: Who were the alien is Silent Enemy? Any chance the intrepid crew of the
Enterprise will cross paths with them again?
Andre Bormanis
Part of the fun of that episode is we just don't know who they are. But they seemed to me like beings who might hold a grudge, so I wouldn't be surprised if they came back and caused Enterprise more grief.
Steve Krutzler
You've mentioned a concerted effort to concentrate more on characterization.
How would you respond to the criticism that TOS and TNG, while featuring important
characters that grew from their experiences, were solidly based in science fiction stories
that could not be told in other formats, and ENT, by thusfar focusing on character
development for its own sake, and without heavy plotting like a BUFFY, ANGEL, or WEST WING,
is not taking advantage of its full potential to differentiate itself from other shows on
television, or engage the viewer in new ways?
Andre Bormanis
Again, I think that tide is shifting. "Dear Doctor" is a great example of a classic Star Trek / Science Fiction "what if" scenario that raised interesting and complex social issues. But I think it would have been a mistake to dive into stories like that right out of the gate before the audience had much of a sense about Archer and the rest of his crew and their values and attitudes.
Steve Krutzler
jstvs asks: Will the issue of September 11 ever be discussed on Enterprise, even though the
event is very recent?
Andre Bormanis
That's an interesting question. I'm not sure that we'll ever reference it directly, but if we can find a story
that deals with that event in an interesting science fictional way it could be part of a future episode.
Steve Krutzler
Seth asks: Andre, I noticed that you earned a Masters from the Space Policy Institute at
George Washington University. Where do you see space policy going in the next few decades?
It seems that the public sector is becoming increasingly outmoted in this area (increased
cuts in NASA, privatization of INTELSAT, space tourism). Will the federal government have
the resources to provide for a manned mission to Mars or should the private sector be
looking to adopt this challenge?
Andre Bormanis
Right now I think space policy is very low on the national agenda, expect to the degree that space resources have military applications. I'm sad to say that I don't see a human mission to Mars for many years, perhaps not even in my lifetime. On the other hand, there is renewed interest at NASA in developing interplanetary propulsion systems, something more efficient than chemical fuel, and there may well be a private-sector financed space tourism industry, at least for suborbital flights, within the next ten or fifteen years. If some clever engineer figures out a way to get humans into space for 100 or so times less cost than the space shuttle, we may see a huge boon in human space exploration. But it's impossible to predict when that breakthrough might come.
Steve Krutzler
How many more questions do we have time for?
Andre Bormanis
One more, I think.
Steve Krutzler
Well then here's a doosie to end the chat with a bang...
Jon Rosen asks: Is there a conflict of intent in the production of Enterprise? If you look
back at Roddenberry's early days on TOS, he had to fight money-people to retain control of
his show and get it made. Now the money people run the show, and they've actually convinced
95% of viewers that they are *totally* in line with Roddenberry's original vision. I say
that is nonsense, and that they are the problem, not the solution. Your thoughts?
Andre Bormanis
The people who produce Star Trek love the show, love the idea of the show and the positive vision of the human future that it depicts. All we're really trying to do is tell good stories. Not to make excuses, but it is a challenge after 600 episodes and ten feature films, to make every episode as ground-breaking as the shows that make it onto most people's top ten lists. But that's what we try to do here every week. We're always trying to come up with exciting, thoughtful stories that we can all be proud of.
Steve Krutzler
I would like to thank Andre for joining us tonight for his second TrekWeb chat, and for answering plenty of tough questions. We hope you'll be able to continue joining us online in the future!
Andre Bormanis
It would be my pleasure. Thanks to all of you for your questions and for your interest in the show!
Steve Krutzler
Everyone look for Andre's next script in "Desert Crossings."
Tonight's chat is (C) 2002 TrekWeb.com. All rights reserved. No complete reproduction please.
Send this story to a friend:
See Also: STENTERPRISE.com
