Who was the best Vulcan guest character on Enterprise?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Enterprise' started by t_smitts, Feb 23, 2014.

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Who was the best Vulcan guest character on Enterprise?

  1. Tos (Thomas Kopache) in "Broken Bow"

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. Captain Vanik (William Utay) in "Breaking the Ice"

    2 vote(s)
    5.7%
  3. Captain Sopen (Gregory Itzin) in "Shadows of P'Jem"

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  4. Ambassador V'Lar (Fionnula Flanagan) in "Fallen Hero"

    11 vote(s)
    31.4%
  5. Mestral (J. Paul Boehmer) in "Carbon Creek"

    13 vote(s)
    37.1%
  6. Dr. Oratt (Michael Ensign) in "Stigma"

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  7. Dr. Yuris (Jeffrey Hayenga) in "Stigma"

    1 vote(s)
    2.9%
  8. Subcommander Muroc (John Balma) in "Cease Fire"

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  9. T'Les (Joanna Cassidy) in "Home" and "Awakening"

    3 vote(s)
    8.6%
  10. Koss (Michael Reilly Burke) in "Home", "The Forge", and "Kir'Shara"

    1 vote(s)
    2.9%
  11. Syrran (Michael Nouri) in "The Forge"

    3 vote(s)
    8.6%
  12. V'Las (Robert Foxworth) "The Forge", "Awakening", and "Kir'Shara"

    1 vote(s)
    2.9%
  13. Kuvak (John Rubinstein) in "Awakening" and "Kir'Shara"

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
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  1. lurok

    lurok Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I enjoyed all of them. I have a high tolerance for haughty Vulcans :).

    But I did like Mestral (Boehmer was always a reliable Trek guest star and I think would/should have been a regular in any post-ENT series). And the really supercilious captain in Breaking The Ice.
     
  2. 2takesfrakes

    2takesfrakes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    [​IMG]

    For me, there's only one: the lovely Kara Zediker as T'Pau.
     
  3. Mach5

    Mach5 Admiral Admiral

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    Never really liked Zediker's T'Pau. Not sophisticated enough. T'Pau should have appeared more... "Regal", regardless of age.
     
  4. 2takesfrakes

    2takesfrakes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Your disappointment in her seeming lack of regality puzzles and surprises me. I, for one, find her to be very a very classy lady! I love how pixie-like she is and yet ... she has a strength - she's a survivor. Unfortunately, her years in the harsh, desert sun did not do her any favours, as she did not age well, at all, by the time we meet up with her again, in "Amok Time."
     
  5. teacake

    teacake Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah 113 years later after we see her in ENT she had not "aged well" :rolleyes:
     
  6. t_smitts

    t_smitts Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I didn't include T'Pau (or Surak, for that matter) in the poll because they didn't originate on the show. That said, I do think they maintained T'Pau's harsh, forbidding nature, which we'll see again in "Amok Time".

    It is interesting that they consciously chose not to replicate Celia Lovsky's Austrian accent (though that decision didn't bother me nearly as much as Carol Marcus having a British accent did). I do wonder wonder how she would've sounded with it thought, whether it would've sounded serious or silly. (For the record, a person can gain or lose an accent over several years. I remember reading something about Arnold Schwarzenegger seeing a dialect coach because, after 30+ years of living in America, he was losing his Austrian accent, and didn't want to, as it was kind of his trademark :lol:).

    On a related note, having just rewatched the Vulcan trilogy, I was struck by how overtly emotional many of the Vulcans in it were. The chief offender seems to be Robert Foxworth as V'Las, who seems to hit most of the stereotypical villain notes (the condescending smile when addressing T'Pol or Kuvak, or losing his temper more than once). In retrospect, I think it might've been more interesting and believable if he'd said and done the same things, but in a cold, ruthless manner.

    To a lesser extent, Kuvak was rather emotional himself, objecting to V'Las villainy and smiling in gratitude at Archer. Even with Michael Nouri, who was otherwise rather compelling as Syrran, there was a brief chuckle at one point that rubbed me the wrong way a bit, especially since JGRS apparently wrote him to be a Kolinahr master.

    Heck, even Surak came off a bit more folksy that I'd expected, when I would've pictured someone a bit more like Sarek. Though, to be fair, it's possible his and Archer's personalities bled into one another in that hallucination. Moreover, there's nothing in canon that says that just because Surak advocated suppressing emotion in favor of logic, that he must've totally mastered the practice himself.
     
  7. 2takesfrakes

    2takesfrakes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Your assessment that ENTERPRISE made Vulcans too emotional is one which I happen to share. My feeling is that to get some of the good talent that they got to go through the hassle of wearing this nappy wig, of having rubber glued to their ears and all this, they were going to have be cut some slack. As in allowing these people to emote. It goes without saying that actors rely heavily on their facial expressions, body language and emotional range to realize live-action characters, almost all of the time. In a way I can understand, but ... I would rather have bad actors acting all unemotional and stoic as Vulcans, than have big names in the makeup playing as themselves. But that's just me ...
     
  8. 2takesfrakes

    2takesfrakes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Too much sun is bad for women's beautiful skin. Whether they are 29, like ENT T'Pau ... or 137, like TOS T'Pau. Tanning beds, too ... they only make otherwise hot women end up looking like leathery saddle bags with eyes. And that Vulcan sun's a monster ... :vulcan:
     
  9. t_smitts

    t_smitts Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I don't want to imply that all Vulcans on the show were excessively emotional. Gary Graham, Thomas Kopache, Gregory Itzin, and Kara Zediker were all good at playing traditional Vulcans. Jolene Blalock was good at it too, for the most part, though they were clearly interested in making her more emotional for much of the series.

    It's interesting that you bring up the shows guest actors being subjected to heavy make-up, since most of them had played such roles on previous Trek series.
     
  10. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I just assumed that in ENT, young T'Pau was speaking Vulcan, but rendered into English with the universal translator. Old T'Pau in TOS was probably trying to speak English natively, and thus the accent.
     
  11. 2takesfrakes

    2takesfrakes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    HA!!! ... I LOVE this excuse! Awesome. :cool:
     
  12. 2takesfrakes

    2takesfrakes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Oh, I disagree. On ENT, the only Vulcan that was played with any emotional restraint was Koss. This was counterpointed by Koss' illogical refusal to cut T'Pol loose, despite her every rejection. It's like the ENT writers wanted to deconstruct Vulcans, didn't like Vulcans and made every effort to reinvent Vulcans in this new series. Whilst I love Kara's performance, her T'Pau is not emotional in the sort of TV housewife way. But she definitely emotes too much, particularly when under pressure. When encountering Surak's katra, again, she was emotional with her sustained surprise, over what was logical and obvious to all but the roaming sehlat. Nevertheless, Vulcan is a cool setting, which no-doubt is why ENT liked going there. And it was nice to see Zora from Blade Runner in something - after all who else could be believable as T'Pol's mom, right? :cool:
     
  13. gblews

    gblews Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So you believe that the Vulcan characters showed too much emotion because the directors in the episodes in which they appeared were unable to control and direct their actors? :wtf:

    As has been pointed out numerous times, there were reasons the Vulcan characters showed too much emotion. Did you miss the scenes with "head" Surak and Archer, the importance of finding the Kir'shara, Syrran's talk with T'Pol and Archer in the cave, T'Les, T'Pau and the other separatists, the unsavory clandestine "relationship" of certain Vulcan High Council members with a certain hostile race? Did all this get by you? The showing of emotion by the 22nd century Vulcans was not an accident, nor was it a result of rogue actors being allowed to define their characters on screen.

    I suggest carefully re-watching the first half of season 4.
     
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  14. 2takesfrakes

    2takesfrakes Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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  15. ReedEnterprise

    ReedEnterprise Captain Captain

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    I voted Mestral. I just loved him.
     
  16. Merlyn Emerald

    Merlyn Emerald Ensign Red Shirt

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    I was torn between Mestral and Yuris. I voted for the doctor because I was very touched by how he helped T'Pol, literally setting himself up, depriving himself of a job and a normal life. Mestral I adore separately, he is an unusual and charming Vulcan, who found his home among people, oddly enough...

    Honestly, I'd like to hear more of these two Vulcans ' stories. How did Yuris live between the "Stigma" and the Vulcan arch? Did Mestral have a good life with people, did he open up to anyone? Ehhh... we never know...
     
  17. Silvercrest

    Silvercrest Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I think the voting ended a number of years ago.
     
  18. HopefulRomantic

    HopefulRomantic Mom's little girl Moderator

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    Welcome to the Enterprise forum, Merlyn Emerald! Always great to have a fan of Vulcans joining the discussion. :)

    It's true that this particular thread has been pretty dead for some years. A good rule of thumb is, if a thread hasn't seen any activity for several months, and you'd like to comment on that topic, feel free to begin a new thread, and we'll get some fresh discussion going. Have a look at the TrekBBS rules for further info, and enjoy the forum!


    *thread closed*
     
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