Ryva Takes On Enterprise (Again)

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Enterprise' started by Ryva Brall, Apr 13, 2013.

  1. Ryva Brall

    Ryva Brall Commander Red Shirt

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    Also they cheat at baseball. ;)

    But anyway.

    Strange New World:

    So I don't remember Archer being so... dumb. He keeps making these amateur mistakes that put his crew in jeopardy and reinforce the Vulcans' opinion that humans are idiots. Not only did he ignore T'Pol's advice (and common sense) when he didn't take scans of the planet or even check the weather before sending a team to the surface, but he brought his frigging dog!? Who does that? I realize space exploration is a new concept at this point, but these are mistakes resulting from incompetence, not inexperience. Protocols are there for the safety of the crew. It seems like a no-brainer.

    Anyway, I liked the rest of the episode. I thought it was strange that they should do a "Main Characters Go Crazy and Act Unlike Themselves" episode so early in the series, when we really don't even know the characters that well to begin with. But then, TNG did the same thing with "The Naked Now". And that was only their second episode.

    There were a few good character moments. Mayweather got to tell a ghost story. (Yay?) Trip obviously has some deep-seated hostility toward Vulcans. And T'Pol found out just how dangerous those irrational humans can be. And I liked that they couldn't land the shuttle because of the storm. That was a nice touch of realism.

    Without any spoilers, could you guys tell me something? Am I ever going to like Archer?
     
  2. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    See the bolded part I have a problem with. In that vast library of old movies and crap that Trip keeps wanting to spend an evening eating popcorn with was there NO science fiction? Don't they at least have a vague set of fictional protocols in their head for new situations because mankind has been musing on such possibilities for centuries?
    Depends. Are you won over by men once they take their shirts off?
     
  3. Ryva Brall

    Ryva Brall Commander Red Shirt

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    I was kind of trying to give humans the benefit of the doubt. But after I typed it, I realized, it really isn't a new concept. After all, Mayweather grew up on space freighters. Humans have been in space long enough at this point to know better.

    Meh. I'm more attracted to grey matter than muscle mass.
     
  4. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Actually I am completely meh about Archer with his shirt off.

    There are some touching humanizing episodes, some crisis driven character development and also a continual improvement of chemistry between the crew which all lift Archer from the embarrassment of his putz-ness in season 1. But I doubt he'll ever be someone you adore. I don't adore him, but I'm used to him and everything does improve.
     
  5. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I very much liked this Archer analysis by a past poster. It helped my get over my Archer antipathies, now I just poke at him for fun. Contains no spoilers:

    From this old thread.
     
  6. Ryva Brall

    Ryva Brall Commander Red Shirt

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    That's good to know. I was hoping it would turn out to be just a Season 1 thing.

    And I can't forget that I was pretty meh about almost all the characters on DS9 during most of the first season. But they all grew on me. Maybe I'll change my mind about Archer. It's not impossible.
     
  7. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    At least TOS waited until episode 5 or 6 to do "The Naked Time", but that still felt too early to me.
    I'm about halfway through the first season on a rewatch. My first impressions of Archer 12 years ago were not favorable. But after watching these early episodes again several times a day, I'm starting to see what they might have been doing. He toughens up a little, but I still don't think he's there by the season ender.
     
  8. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I don't want him to toughen up, I want him to smarten up.
     
  9. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Well, that too. It took me a while to figure out some of those beating up scenes through the season.
     
  10. LtChange

    LtChange Captain Captain

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    Well Archer ain't the brain of the series like previous captains Picard or Sisko ... So if you expect to see him "brain up" than you will be let down. But he makes a pretty good action captain, so if you like action captains like let's say Kirk, I think you will be fine with him.
     
  11. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    AND?? What did you figure out?

    Are you implying that Kirk isn't brainy? Because you are wrong.
     
  12. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'd say Kirk was more shrewd than brainy.
     
  13. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    He had street smarts.

    What was that TOS quote about him, that he was a walking book, or walking library? Never rang very true despite the (required to be in Star Trek) familiarity with Shakespeare.

    Someone tell me what the quote was!
     
  14. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    He sometimes does it as a diversion to buy time, or he's just a masochist.
     
  15. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Does he rely on their future medical magic to save him from brain damage?
     
  16. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'm not sure Phlox can cure brain damage with a nude massage.
     
  17. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The Vulcans can cure anything. If Archer can keep in T'Pol's good books she can get him super medical treatment for his brain damage.

    WHY she did not do this would have been a four part story arc in Season 5.
     
  18. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    So the know "knock you on your ass" comment was just Archer hitting on her? How mating rituals change in the next 100 years. :p
     
  19. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    He didn't yet know that space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence. He still thought he was going on astronaut camp and he was going to be the one with the most badges.
     
  20. Third Nacelle

    Third Nacelle Captain Captain

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    A lot of Archer's dumbness early in the series seems really contrived. Hey other cultures are different from ours! Not everybody likes us! Communicating with aliens is hard!

    It makes me wonder if by Archer's time, Earth has become completely homogenous.