Trip & T'Pol: The Good That They Do

I know I'm a bit late, but thanks to HR for posting Collide. I'm glad people still like that old thing.

Welcome to those who have recently discovered the awesomeness of TnT, and happy shipping to all!

 

Time for more pictures.

BTW, I really like the ones from "North Star," HR. Something about the way the background color contrasts with the foreground. Oh, and Trip and T'Pol look good standing together, too!

Well, it's almost the end of S2 on ENT SciFi Mondays. And seeing it over a shortened timeframe, it really does strike me as an odd sort of season for TnT development. Lots of standing together, working thru various crises, occasional teasing interaction, but nothing that I'd call really substantive personal, one-on-one interaction until the 20th episode of the season "Horizon" (unless you count "Singularity," which I really don't because Trip was not quite himself).

Anyway, the movie night sub-plot gets some extra attention because in S2, it is perhaps one of the more significant TnT threads with some "classic" TnT interaction. The set-up actually goes back to a brief scene in "The Catwalk" after T'Pol watches a western with the crew....

Trip says that he's glad that T'Pol could join them and tells her that they have movie night every Tuesday if she's interested.



Cut to "Horizon" about 8 episodes later...Trip and T'Pol are working together on sensors to monitor volcanoes on a planet and Trip notes that there won't be much to do in the coming days because all the data will be automatically recorded. Very smooth, Trip.


T'Pol replies that he should have plenty of time to practice his harmonica. (I think T'Pol is getting the hang of this teasing stuff.)


Trip's reaction....


Trip tells T'Pol that Chef's agreed to have movie night every night, and since T'Pol enjoyed that western so much, he thought she'd be interested.


T'Pol's not so sure about this.


Trip lists all the movies that will be showing... "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein," etc.


T'Pol walks over to Trip and says that she has no interest in horror movies. (Hmmm....why does she have to stand so close to him again?)


This is not what Trip wants to hear -- he goes into pleading mode.... says T'Pol doesn't have to come to all of them -- just the first one.


He tries a new approach -- says this will be right up her alley -- reanimated life forms, science gone amok, etc.


Goes back to working


Then turns around again to give her one final smile.



And T'Pol has a dilemma....



Nice scene. T'Pol banters easily with Trip now. And she says she's not interested in horror movies but then wavers. Hmmm...is she more prone to influence now or is it Trip's charm? More to come....

 

Nice pics tothebridge. Very lovely. :thumbsup:

 

hello jenna. waves..

to the bridge..
singularity besides being the most fun episode (though very dark humor) does have tpol reacting because she knows cranky snarky trip is not the trip she currently knows. and she goes off to talk to one of his friends , malcolm even though she tries to act like she wants to talk about something else.

and movie night in a way goes back to travis teasing trip about taking a date to movie night in communicator.

 

Hey pookha! Nice to see you.

I was flipping channels last night and randomly stopped on Sci-fi. Stargate something-or-other was on and the big dude with the weird thing on his forehead was talking to this blonde girl with skimpy clothes. I squinted. It was MU T'Pol without the pointed ears!

That entertained me for a good 15 minutes even though I had no idea what was going on with the show itself.

There's been some really good updates to old favs in T/T fanfiction. Got 'em on the C2. 2Distracted's "Khellian" has a super-long update with plenty of Trip/T'Pol/T'Mir stuff.

 

:thumbsup: One of the few good things from season 2. Thats if you can suffer through the constant gag reflex that the majority of season 2 brings up, just to get to "Horizon". What was the A story of that episode again?


i always loved How it was T'Pol that suggested the Book readign idea instead in the end. An poor Trip is kinda dence aint he. Man would of gotten her to come willingly with Him, an he would of had more time with her to. Ya know for a miracle worker, he aint always the brightest bulb in the box.

 

^^Thanks, kitkat. That scene is a fun one to cap.

Yep, that's true. I do like "Singularity"... it does have some nice TnT interaction, including the scene where Trip is working on the chair -- shows that these two do like to tease and provoke one another....And the fact that T'Pol realizes Trip is acting oddly fits with the idea that she was becoming more attuned to his moods and behavior.

I guess for much of S2, it seemed like the TnT relationship was in a maintenance mode of sorts as opposed to active development. There's nothing wrong with maintenance mode --some of those subtle moments, teasing glances, etc. actually can seem more realistic and natural than the more contrived plots/storylines that sometimes come through. But it's nice to have more explicit and definitive interaction as well, which makes it clear how the relationship is developing. And towards the end of S2, it seemed the writers were starting to pick up on specific elements -- like the teasing about age and the movie night scenarios – that could give the relationship a bit more definition..

I'd forgotten that comment. Looks like we have Travis to thank for putting the idea into Trip's head....

Yeah, classic TnT miscommunication (sigh).... Trip takes T’Pol’s comments as a sign that she doesn’t want to go, which probably amounts to a personal rejection in his eyes. He doesn't realize that T’Pol’s suggesting an alternative that might be more comfortable for her and still allow them to share the experience. And what's worse is that T'Pol had already agreed to go, assuming the work was completed. And Trip just left her to finish it on her own!

On the other hand, T'Pol doesn't understand that Trip might see her hesistancy and suggestions as a sign that she doesn’t appreciate his ideas or his invitation . So she doesn’t really know how to address the issue when things go off track.


Part II of the Horizon movie night saga.

T'Pol has to finish calibrating the cameras or something like that, and Trip very eagerly agrees to help her (which is obviously a ploy to follow-up on his movie night invitation). He wants to know if she's coming to the movie, and T'Pol indicates if the sensors are calibrated by then, she'll be there.


But T'Pol has been doing a little research of her own.... She mentions that Frankenstein is also a book and suggests a dramatic reading as an alternative to the movie.


Trip bristles at her suggestion.


T'Pol suggests that the audience might get a better understanding of the author’s true intent from a book.


Trip's disappointment is now evident. He tells T’Pol that if she wants to start a book club to go right ahead, and then walks away.


Poor T’Pol is stunned at the turn the conversation has taken.

 

That just killed me.

That scene you capped is one of those where you just want to just want to slam your hand against your forehead and shake your head. Each of their meanings just went right over the other's head so that you have these reactions:







I hope it was OK to use your images again tothebridge. They are great caps for expression analysis.

I really wish they were able to do more with movie night later in the series.

 

Now I need to find a writer willing to do the "What would have happened if TnT had their own private reading?"

Thanks for the lovely caps.

 

Keep reading Foundations.

 

In that case, forget Frankenstein and go straight to Romeo and Juliet.

 

I plan to, CX.

Hehehe, I actually read a fic where they do that. Nice scene in that fic, btw...

 

Do you remember the title or author?

There's a great one out there that has Malcolm doing a speech from Richard III. It's wonderful.

 

Sure. It's Just As It Should Be. The Romeo and Juliet dialogue part is towards the end, but the whole fic is entertaining...

 

Thanks tennisgirl! I'll look it up!

 

Thanks for that link -- I remember this one now. It's one of the few I can remember that tackles the question of what happened during the journey to Vulcan in "Home."

Sure. You're welcome to repost them or reuse if you like.


Since we're at the end of S2, I need to get the rest of my S2 TnT caps up. Here's the last part of the Horizon saga.

Poor Trip. Not only does he have to sit behind T'Pol (with Phlox) during movie night, but she turns around and directs a snarky comment their way for talking (and Phlox was the one doing the talking). See the sideways glance he gives her afterwards.



But all's well that ends well. I guess Trip recovered his good humor because he wants to know what T'Pol thought of the movie. (He probably thinks that she'll be likely to go again if she found it interesting.)



And T'Pol responds with an interesting analysis, comparing the villagers' reaction to Frankenstein with how humans reacted to Vulcans.




And I forgot this teasing scene from "Cogenitor."

After T'Pol makes a comment alluding to her longevity, Trip teases about her age again. (Nice bit of continuity, even if it is a small thing.)


T'Pol narrows her eyes a bit....



Then gives Trip a look...but she doesn't look too angry....



And Trip grins at her reaction....

 

^^ That scene from "Cogenitor" is really cute. Great expressions once again. Even Malcolm looks amused. And yes it's a nice bit of continuity.

Another scene for good expressions in this season is the one from decon in "Bounty". Not the best of episodes, but that scene is pretty amusing.

 

Tothebridge I relly like the Horizon pictures you posted. i like all the Trip & T'Pol scenes in that show espeially movinight and the discussion about Frakenstein her teasing him was fun to watch. Hopeful Romantic I really like your new Young Sim story at Movienight well done.

 

^^Thanks, Reanok.

Lovely story, HR. Nice to think that Sim had a few happy moments in his short life. Are you planning stories which give snapshots through his entire lifespan of just the early "years?"

Yeah, not a good episode, but interesting expressions in that decon scene....

While Phlox stands by, T'Pol eats while eyeing Trip intently.


I thought I imagined this the first time I saw this episode, but does T'Pol actually wink at Trip?


Phlox finally manages to get T’Pol into the back room again.


Trip gets distracted by a call from the bridge


Then we get a whole range of expressions I can’t quite describe… This one in particular is pretty funny, especially when followed


by the raised eyebrows.


Trip tells Phlox to call if he needs anything.


His glance seems to shift slightly towards the back room


then back again to Phlox before leaving....