By Steve Krutzler / 01:21, 7 November 2003 / TrekWeb Features

TrekWeb was pleased to bring you a live ENTERPRISE chat event last night. Visitors expecting to hear from executive story editor Andre Bormanis were surprised to learn that writer and producer Mike Sussman (recently promoted from co-producer) offered to step in when Andre was unable to attend.

Sussman has been credited with writing and co-writing many of ENTERPRISE's memorable episodes, including "Shadows of P'Jem," "Future Tense," "Regeneration," "Anomaly," and this week's very own "Twilight." Sussman came to ENTERPRISE from VOYAGER and worked with partner Phyllis Strong for several years before going solo in ENTERPRISE's third season.

Special thanks to Mike for the quick turn around on the chat and for answering questions for a full two hours! We hope he'll be able to join us again some time!

Transcript: 11/06/03

SteveKrutzler: Welcome everyone to TrekWeb's first live chat in a year! Our scheduled guest Andre Bormanis, ENTERPRISE's executive story editor and science consultant, was unable to attend but his colleague Mike Sussman graciously has agreed to step in for him tonight!

MikeSussman: I apologize to everyone who was expecting Andre... please keep the questions about string theory to a minimum.

(We hope Andre can join us online soon!)

SteveKrutzler: Thanks, Mike, for joining at such short notice, and we hope to see Andre soon.

MikeSussman: Andre sends his best and he's sorry he couldn't make it.

SteveKrutzler: Mike Sussman is a writer for ENTERPRISE, and has recently been named a producer on the show. Mike has written many of the prequel series's episodes, including "Shadows of P'Jem," "Future Tense," "Regeneration," "Anomaly" and most recently, last night's "Twilight". Mike previously worked with writing partner Phyllis Strong and this season has been credited solo on "Anomaly" and "Twilight." Any opening remarks you'd like to offer, Mike?

MikeSussman: Just that this is my first online chat... ...and thanks for having me. :)

SteveKrutzler: We're very happy to have you and again, thanks for coming at such short notice!

MikeSussman: No problem.

SteveKrutzler: Well, let's begin with questions! Everyone, please send your questions for Mike by typing: /msg SteveKrutzler your question here. Dex asks: I really enjoyed "Twilight", as I thought that episode was extremely well executed consistently on all fronts. However, the one gripe I have is that Archer not remembering anything. I was wondering why you wrote it like that. Thanks

MikeSussman: Hmmm..."Archer not remembering anything" was really the basic idea for the show. The central notion was that someone with Alzheimer's disease, in some ways, could be thought of as a time-traveller...

SteveKrutzler: deannatroi asks: First of all just wanted to say how much I enjoyed "Twilight" last night. It is now my favourite Enterprise episode. I especially enjoyed the wonderful Archer/T'Pol interaction. I thought it was interesting how T'Pol didn't answer Archer's question of how evolved their relationship had become. I'm curious, would you like to see their relationship go beyond friendship in later seasons?

MikeSussman: Thanks, deannatroi, I'm glad you liked it. I'm not sure... I thought Scott and Jolene did a wonderful job and have such great chemistry.

SteveKrutzler: *technical difficulties* (gotta love 'em) Mike is back with us...

MikeSussman: Sorry guys

SteveKrutzler: The_Tom asks: Hey Mike, hopefully this will be yet another question from someone totally fawning with praise after seeing "Twilight." A quick question about the Xindi who got Cochraned in the throat -- did you or anyone on staff intend more nefarious arc-on-the-whole reasons behind why he was specifically looking for Archer? It seemed like our reptilian friend seemed very committed to finding Archer's cabin and killing him.

MikeSussman: Good question. I think the Xindi was going into Archer's quarters because there was a guard posted outside... And he figured there might be someone or something important in there... OR... he may have been specifically looking for the Captain for some reason. Perhaps he didn't get the memo from Admiral Forrest that T'Pol was now in command.

SteveKrutzler: NX-02 asks: Mike, another question. I believe this one is a reall interesting one. About the Xindi, as they are building a planet killer, why not make it as the cone shape (EP: The Doomsday Machine - the planet smasher) object that James T Kirk encounter later on in the future instead of that Xindi ball shape device?

MikeSussman: If I remember the "Doomsday Machine"... The Planet-Killer was in fact from "another galaxy", if you believe Spock. Could I be a bigger geek for knowing that off the top of my head. Since the Xindi planet-killer (great word, isn't it?) is from the Expanse, it probably wouldn't be the right thing to do.

SteveKrutzler: Reklaw: 'Fusion' and 'Stigma' were great elaborations of Vulcan society and of T'Pol specifically. Can we expect more episodes that will add dimension to the Vulcans? And, is T'Pol's degenerative condition going to be followed up on?

MikeSussman: We're certainly keeping T'Pol's condition in mind... I'm not a hundred percent certain you'll see it followed up this season... I'm not a hundred percent certain you'll see it followed up this season... Whoops, I'm caught in a temporal loop

SteveKrutzler: at least you can remember it ;-)

MikeSussman: I'm sure it will be followed up eventually.

SteveKrutzler: RedFyre: Would you like to push the envelope as we saw in Twilight, but not hit the reset button at the end of the episode?

MikeSussman: If we didn't hit the "reset button" I don't know what next week's show would be! Probably just an hour of floating debris and corpses... yeech

SteveKrutzler: cubbie866 asks: I think "Twilight" is the best Enterprise episode so far. Will you be writing many more Xindi arc episodes this season? Keep up the fantastic work.

MikeSussman: Thanks, cubbie. I'm working on another Xindi show right now. I probably can't say much about it without getting called into the principal's office tomorrow. But it's a fun show centered around a Xindi-Humanoid known as Degra. He was in last week's episode, "The Shipment."

SteveKrutzler: Dominic Keating just recently mentioned that he may be intimately involved in a Xindi Council episode coming up...?

MikeSussman: You know, I read the news item on Trekweb, but honestly, I know nothing about it. I've been in seclusion while working on my new script, but it wouldn't surprise me.

SteveKrutzler: Seclusion? That sounds interesting... care to discuss briefly your writing method? I'm sure many aspiring scribes want to know!

MikeSussman: My "method" (if I have one) is to get to the office early and just start writing... ...that way, I can get all of the "goofing off" out of the way and by the time normal people roll into work, I'm just getting started.

SteveKrutzler: Longtime Trekker asks: One of the most under rated villians in Star Trek history is in my opinion the Gorn. Do you see any chance of the Gorn storyline devoloping in the near future?

MikeSussman: Whoa! I love the Gorn. We talked about a Gorn show last season... David Goodman was working on it, if I remember. David, you're here, aren't you? Like you've got anything better to do. I kid Mr. Goodman. There are some continuity issues with the Gorn.

SteveKrutzler: David is a pretty big fan of the show from what I've read

MikeSussman: "Arena" seemed to be a "first contact" scenario, so if we did use the Gorn, we'd have to be very careful. I'm not overly optomistic that we'll see them anytime soon.

MikeSussman: David, is, like me, a huge TOS fan.

SteveKrutzler: NX-02 asks about "Similitude": Mike, I was reading that in an upcoming episode Tucker will be in an accident, and therefore the doctor will be doing some kind of cloning. How do you explain how they will bring back all the memories & knowledge of tucker in that new clone? WIll T'Pol be performing someking of Faltorpan (The refusion) like Spock in the movie Serach for Spock?

MikeSussman: I wish I could tell you more about "Similitude". It's written by Manny Coto, our new Co-EP

SteveKrutzler: [co-executive producer, formerly of ODYSSEY 5]

MikeSussman: But I can tell you there will be no faltorpan ceremony in the show.

SteveKrutzler: HybridStatement asks: Are there any plans for the Romulan War to be featured on the show?

MikeSussman: There are no immediate plans... Earth has its hands full with the Xindi at the moment. I heard that John Logan had a pitch for one (or more) episodes revolving around the topic. We've certainly talked about it at length. Obviously there are all sorts of continuity issues... Will we see their faces, etc. If we can find a way to do it, I'm sure it'll happen.

SteveKrutzler: I've always thought you could do it by showing Romulans on their ships or home planet, but never have the main characters make visual contact. Sort of like the Dominion leadership scenes in DS9.

MikeSussman: That's an interesting approach. That's how they did it in "Balance of Terror," come to think of it. Until the very end of the episode of course.

SteveKrutzler: Shepherd asks: Mike, your work dominates most everyones top 10 list...at least 6 of my top 10 are your eps including the top 3. That being the case, I was wondering how much does your new producer duties give you added influance on the direction of the show as opposed to just being a writer?

MikeSussman: Thanks, Shepherd. My former writing partner Phyllis certainly shares in that I don't think the title really means all that much. Writing, breaking stories, coming up with new ideas... That's been the job since I got here and continues to be the focus.

SteveKrutzler: I've noticed less episodes explicitly written by Rick and Brannon this year. Has there been any significant difference in the writing process this season?

MikeSussman: Not really... What you learn very quickly once you're lucky enough to be working in TV is that the name on the screen isn't necessarily the person...

SteveKrutzler: *Steve juggles to entertain the crowd for a moment during technical glitch*

MikeSussman: What I was saying is that Rick and Brannon do a tremendous amount of work on every episode not just the ones that say "teleplay by Rick and Brannon". For instance... People have said some very kind things about "Anomaly," and I appreciate that. But it was a difficult script... Brannon easily wrote half of it. He's entirely responsible for what I think is the best part of that show... ...the confrontation in the airlock with the space pirate. But that was all Brannon; his concept, his dialogue. I think I burned all copies of my pass on that scene. I just wasn't getting it. So in a roundabout way I'm saying that Brannon and Rick are as busy writing and developing stories as they've ever been.

SteveKrutzler: Htown asks: I think twilight is the best episode of Enterprise yet. However, once again Ensign Mayweather was given nothing to do. He got a single line, then died with no acknowlegement of his passing. For your next script, can you please give Travis something to do? :)

MikeSussman: Travis is a fine character and we could certainly find more for him to do. I know it must be frustrating for some of the other actors since most of ours scripts focus on Archer, T'Pol and Trip. Travis initially had more to do in "Twilight," but I screwed up. He was in the teaser and some other scenes, but I had to write him out after I realized he was already "dead". I'd hoped the impact of his death would underscore the dire nature of their situation. It wasn't meant as a slight to the character or to Anthony. We killed off the entire crew, after all... but I agree Travis may have died too soon.

SteveKrutzler: MattJC asks: I know this isn't a question regarding "Twilight" but, have there been any plans to bring back Colonel Grat or any Tandarans? They seem to have disappeared after 2 episodes

MikeSussman: To my knowledge, there aren't any plans. It was great having Dean Stockwell on the show. Love to have him back if we have a story for him. I read online somewhere that he should appear on our show as "Al." -- "Sam, you're not REALLY a starship Captain."

SteveKrutzler: degra asks: in Twilight' s teaser we see the probe emerge from energy portal with two or three ships. Two questions: Did Enterprise chase the ships all the way from expanse or did they all emerge from portal? Were those xindi ships escorting the weapon why if it just appaeared out of nowhere? Could you clear up that scene?

MikeSussman: Hmmm... I think Enterprise followed them through the vortex. I don't know how else the ship could've gotten to Earth in time. There may have been other portals... or vortices as the Xindi call them... that we didn't see. We've established (I think) that most of their ships can travel through one of these "subspace vortices."

SteveKrutzler: When I read an interview with RDMcNeill (the director "Twilight"), he indicated the challenges of the script calling for the bridge blowing up scene. When I saw the episode I noticed it was mainly just a visual FX shot. Was something more elaborate (from the inside?) originally planned or written and abandoned due to time/budget?

MikeSussman: I think the shot as initially proposed showed some of the destruction from the POV inside the Bridge... We talked at one point of putting people on wires and flying them off the set. But they did something similar in "Nemesis". I was blown away when I saw the final effects shot! I thought Dan Curry and his team did a stupendous job on "Twilight"

SteveKrutzler: Someone mentioned the Vulcans earlier and in "Twilight" I noticed that Soval seemed rather uncaring or unconcerned at the fact that a neighboring planet of a 100-year ally had just been completely obliterated. Was there any discussion of this decision or did it come out the way you envisioned it?

MikeSussman: I'm sure they were very concerned. At one point, we considered showing a Vulcan cruiser making a valiant last stand at Earth. And we did establish that they were trying to aid the Earth convoys. If Soval seemed "uncaring," it may have been that Earth had been destroyed many months prior. He was now concerned about the convoys... and more specifically, T'Pol.

SteveKrutzler: Mike will still take "Twilight" questions... Here is a question that is a follow-up on an earlier one and many people have asked a similar version so I'll ask it directly... There was a clear hint at a T'Pol/Archer intimacy in "Twilight." Are there any plans to take this further? Is romance in the air or will this always be only a tease?

MikeSussman: Maybe they'll release the NC-17 version on DVD... We left it open-ended, but if there was intimacy, I don't think there was a lot of it. Just my opinion. I think T'Pol was stuck on Ceti Alpha for twelve years... she goes into heat once every seven years... ...just a matter of doing the math. ;)

SteveKrutzler: (nice!) lol... ok.... Jadzia-Dax asks: Mike - was Archer's "You'd make a good Nurse" comment at the end of "Twilight" a nod to TOS?

MikeSussman: Er... no. :) There were plenty of TOS "nods" in that show without people making up their own.

SteveKrutzler: degra takes a break from plotting the death of humanity to ask: The scene of the gigantic wepaon in the teaser was magnificient but I was wondering how much is Xindi ingenuity and how much is future faction input?

MikeSussman: Good question, Degra. As the architect of the weapon, I would've thought you'd know, but whatever...

SteveKrutzler: he's playing nice Xindi tonight

MikeSussman: In all honesty, I'm not sure if it's been decided yet. The weapon is probably a mixture of Xindi and future technology. As for the percentages... I'm not sure.

SteveKrutzler: Shepherd asks: How does the "mean Xindi" in Twilight play off the "nice Xindi" in "The Shipment"...can we expect to see our heroes play one off the other a good deal?

MikeSussman: I'm not sure I understand the question, but I think we'll see Xindi with differing opinions on the conflict with Earth. The Xindi are obviously a species with a lot of "issues" to work out. They should be in therapy.

SteveKrutzler: Ok everyone, here is the last question coming up, and I know it gets a little into the future.... You mentioned that the Xindi have a lot of problems, and earlier you mentioned that Degra would get some more screen time. Recently I've been marvelling at how much depth the characters of Weyoun and Dukat had on DS9, some of the franchise's best villains in my opinion. Weyoun had a blend of evil with comedy that made him so memorable... will Degra or other Xindi leaders get similar scene-chewing time to really flesh out their characters?

MikeSussman: The show I'm working on now is, I hope, one that will flesh out Degra... we'll learn more about him and his motivations. It'll also tell us more about the Xindi and the real reason their Council was formed... I don't know that he'll be chewing any scenery, though. On a related note, I'm told that Jeff Combs was devouring some of our sets today. "Proving Ground" is going to be a great episode for all the Shran fans out there. Wonderful script by the great Chris Black. Chris, of course, is #2 on Xenoclone's Power Rankings.

SteveKrutzler: I recall last we saw him in "Cease Fire" (is that right?) that Shran had some great dialogue and started to really take on some dimensionality ala Weyoun

SteveKrutzler: Well with those teases, we'll call it a night! Thanks, Mike, for spending much longer than you anticipated with us tonight, and on short notice!

MikeSussman: My pleasure

SteveKrutzler: Xenoclone, as in TrekWeb's Xenoclone?

MikeSussman: Yes, I believe it may be the same person

SteveKrutzler: We hope you'll be able to join us again some time and thanks for all your work on ENT. We know sometimes the Internet isn't the most friendly place but despite all our opinions, I think I speak for most fans when I say that we all wish the show the best.

MikeSussman: Thanks, Steve.

SteveKrutzler: With that, I'll let people start talking... thanks Mike!

MikeSussman: Night, guys!

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