This Must Be the Place

[sawyl]

This week's episode of The Human Division, This Must Be the Place, overlaps with the events of The Observers and follows Hart Schmidt as he returns to Phoenix for his annual family get to together.

From the outset, it becomes clear that Hart is somewhat ambivalent about his return home. He takes time to stay in a nice hotel and to enjoy the feeling of not being stuck in a cramped starship before biting the bullet and heading down to his family's home for his annual Harvest Day visit. Here we discover that he comes from a old, rich political family who practically run the planet between them and, with the exception of Wes — the family slacker — they all seem to feel as though Hart isn't really fulfilling his potential; that working with Abumwe and Wilson and the rest of the B-Team is as nothing compared with assuming his rightful political destiny back on Phoenix.

But Hart finds that the more people try to tell him what to do, the more it puts his life into perspective. Acting on some sage advice from his friend Broussard, the son of a family retainer and now a successful poet, Hart realises that although his family can't see it — they enjoy ribbing him about role in reign of The Dog King — he is actually making a difference to the whole of humanity in a way that the rest of his family aren't:

"I was told recently by someone that if I wanted to make a difference, that this must be the place. Here, on Phoenix. With love and respect, I disagree. Dad, Brandt and Catherine will take care of Phoenix for us. My job is to take care of the rest of it. That's what I do. That's what I'm going to keep doing. That's where what I do matters"

This Must Be the Place is a nice episode — a Zeppo that gives a character who often appears as a foil for others a chance to fill out and show a bit of spine.

There are some nice moments, especially between Hart and Brous. I like the way Brous points out that he doesn't really resent the Schmidts because he went to the same schools, had the same advantages, and gets treated like a surrogate member of the family — his medal has pride of place in Alastair Schmidt's office — but at the same time, he doesn't have the same pressure of expectations. As if that wasn't enough Brous also get to deliver the killer bit of advice: that it doesn't matter when you decide what you want to be when you grow up, as long as you decide before someone else makes the wrong decision for you.