January 2005

Starlog

Issue 330

THE DOMINIC EFFECT

His Enterprise may be fading, but the memories linger on for Dominic Keating.

"I’m not that surprised that we’ve made it to Season Four.” Star Trek:Enterprise co star Dominic Keating says of his struggling TV series. “I’m pleased, very pleased indeed. You can never be quite sure at what level decisions, crazy decisions, get made, but to not do the season that gives them a syndication package didn’t make sense to me. To have come this far and spent this much money and not bring us back would have been a fairly crazy executive decision. I had been worried, but that’s what I started thinking toward the 11th hour. So when it finally came out that they were bringing us back, I thought ‘ Of course, why wouldn’t they?’ I’m more frightened about Enterprise not being picked up next year , for a fifth season, to be honest.”

Keating’s concern is far from unfounded. However, Season Three was good stuff: energetic and full of action, adventure and strong storytelling, the Xindi story arc transformed the show, the new mission upped the urgency level, the awed-rookie-crew-in-space concept was jettisoned and all of the characters were called upon to dirty their hands. Captain Archer (Scott Bakula)., for example, grew a backbone, and Keating’s security officer, Malcolm Reed, evolved into a major action hero: tougher and less stuffy than ever, and butting heads not only with enemies, but also his personal on-board nemesis, MACO leader Major Hayes (Steven Culp).

Despite all that, viewers still stayed away, and thus the Enterprise deathwatch commenced. And, unfortunately, it continues right now, for if fans tuned out the new-and-improved Enterprise last year, there are huge question marks as to whether or not matters – or ratings –will take enough of an upswing for the better this season.

STORM FRONTS

“My answer to [ Enterprise ‘s rating problems] is that since they have moved us to Friday – which ordinarily would be the death knell for most shows – I think our audience will show up,” says Keating as he sits in his Enterprise trailer during a production break. “I believe our fan base would tune in on any night, but if they show up on Friday, we’ll be OK. If we get the same numbers we got last year, but for a Friday night, the network will be pleased.

“UPN will have a first-run show on a Friday night and they’ll enjoy 4’s and 5’s in the ratings, with the likes of Lexus and Ford advertising on it, because we get a good 18-to-50, largely male, intelligent and moneyed demographic. Surely, they would be happy with that, but you never know. And then with the question mark sits over Paramount. Given that they aren’t being helped as much as they were in past seasons, will they be prepared to go into some sort of deficit financing to secure the show’s future on a Friday night, on UPN, for half the price? That really depends on what this year’s budget ends up being.”

Putting business aside and leaving the future to the future, there’s the current season to consider. It kicked off with the two part “Storm Front,” which resolved the third season cliffhanger involving the Nazis, the aliens dressed as Nazis and Archer’s apparent demise. “Home” found the crew back on Earth and dealing with the ramifications of their recent exploits, dilemmas and decisions. And the three-episode arc of “Borderland,” “Cold Station 12” and “The Augments” heralded the return of Brent Spiner to the Star Trek party, as the former Next Generation star played Arik Soong, an eccentric distant relative of Data creator Dr. Soong.

”Manny Coto is the new guy, the new show runner,” Keating says. “He’s an old-school Star Trek guy. He grew up with the first series and embraces it. I think that when he gets into his stride, there will be many historic references to our true timeline and place in Star Trek lore. That might bring back some of the testy viewers who got upset about the show breaking away from the timeline. So far as Malcolm, I’m making the Life of Riley look like purgatory at the moment. This season, I’ve had the easiest schedule I could imagine. I’ve worked maybe three days tops on each show. I’ve been a glorified and extremely well-paid background member for the most part, which is nice, because I’ve been a bit sick. I’ve had chronic bronchitis, so it’s just as well. I had one big barroom fight scene, which was very tough day, and another day, in smoke, which was also difficult. But apart from that, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to chill out, rest and take it easy.

“I believe I’m the only cast member who hasn’t called a meeting with the producers this year. Let them get on with it. They know what they’re doing. I feel like I’ve carved out my niche in the crew of Star Trek: Enterprise , and when they see fit to write me what they write me, great. In the meantime, I’m enjoying what I’m doing. The checks clear, and I don’t feel like I have anything to prove. So, there you go. They know what I can do and if they want me to do it, they’ll write it. Plus, I’ve been around for some of the good stuff. I didn’t have very much to do with Brent during his shows, but we chatted quite often. He’s a lovely guy. I used to see him in Malibu all the time, because I go out surfing there. So next time I see him in the market, he’s going to have to have a conversation with me.”

ZERO HOURS

Looking back at last season, Keating was convincingly woven into the fabric of the Xindi arc and featured in other episodes as well. Reed, Archer and Hoshi (Linda Park) mutated into primal creatures in the ambitious but rather unpopular “Extinction,” while Reed, Archer and Hayes joined forces for a recon mission aimed at figuring out what the Xindi-Sloths were up to in “The Shipment.” In “Harbinger,” the simmering tension between Hayes and Reed manifested itself in a knock-down, drag-out brawl.

Then, in “Countdown,” Reed watched helplessly as the mortally wounded Hayes – whom he had come to respect – died of his injuries. And in the season finale, “Zero Hour,” Reed partnered with Archer, Hoshi and the Arboreals and Primates to disable the Xindi weapon.

“The MACO-Hayes-Malcolm storyline was pretty good,” Keating comments. “I think they did a lot with it. The MACOs got us in loads of trouble. Last season was great fun and I really enjoyed it – all the action, and particularly that frisson with Major Hayes. ‘Harbinger’ was a great episode. I looked at that as an actor and thought, ‘You know what? That was some good, grown-up acting there.’ I felt I had matured as a performer, if I can say that without sounding too wanky.”

Upon the conclusion of Season Three – and while he awaited word of Enterprise’s destiny – Keating kept as busy as Reed. “It was very hectic time,” he says. “I got engaged to my girl friend, Jilana Stewart, who is an aspiring actress. I think it’s going to happen for her. She recently auditioned for the Soong three-some, to play one of the Augments, but they went with someone older. That’s not to say the girl they went with is old, but she older than Jil, and I would say physically more strapping. But they liked Jil.

“[Director] David Livingston came up to me on the set and said, ‘Thanks for putting Jil up for that. She was a very interesting choice.’ And what else did I do during the off-season? We traveled. We went back to England. I visited Ireland to see my father’s family. My Dad passed away when I was young, and I did a pilgrimage back to where he grew up, on Valencia Island, off the Kerry coast. My uncle and aunt are still alive, and it was an amazing trip. I also attended some conventions, including one in London. And I visited my other uncle, my mother’s brother, in Belgium. The we went to Paris and Rome.

Now, he’s back on Enterprise, concerned about its fate, but nevertheless hopeful. “We’re doing everything we can to put out the best show possible,” Dominic Keating says. “The rest of it is out of our hands. As they say, ‘To be continued…’ “