Ryva Takes On Enterprise (Again)

[Ryva Brall]

Well, I watched the two-part series premiere of Enterprise. My first impression: better than I remembered. (Granted, I don't remember all that much.) The CGI scenes look very nice, and the acting is more or less decent; at least, no one stands out as exceptionally bad. The Suliban are creepy and cool. And I was pleased to see James Cromwell in a cameo as Cochrane. I love that guy. I also forgot how much I enjoy John Billingsley in... well, pretty much everything. He's so versatile. And I love his voice.

I didn't recall the infamous gel-rubbing scene being in the very first episode. For some reason, I thought it happened later in the series. All I can say is, it made Seven of Nine's wardrobe look demure in comparison. LEAST subtle attempt to pull in viewers EVER.

Also, is it just me, or does Jolene Blalock make kind of a lousy Vulcan? I don't know if it's the acting or the writing, but she comes across as way more emotional than the average Vulcan; she seems unusually haughty, disrespectful, and petty. She even said something about being "pleased" when their mission was over. Maybe there's something about T'Pol that I don't know yet, and that will be revealed later on, but right off the bat, she's a far less convincing Vulcan than Spock, and he's half-human. Hoping her character will improve.

Anyway. It was pretty good. And Trip is cute. So I'll keep watching.

However, I will be skipping over the opening credits. God, that theme song!

[Melakon]

Blalock apparently had her own ideas of what a Vulcan should be, as Spock had been her favorite character, and wasn't always happy with her dialogue. Some people around here go out of their way to criticize her performance, but I agree with Connor Trinneer's comment that she has the toughest job in the show. You can tell in the out-takes that she's trying to suppress her own personality until there's a goofup somewhere.

[BillJ]

I liked the way Blalock handled the character.

[ChristopherPike]

The problem isn't really with Jolene Blalock I find. Every other Vulcan regular we've ever seen, were already very humanised to a degree when we first see them. They have human friends or are at least aware what to expect, and be tolerant about. Tolerance that's reacted to by others, with good humour mostly. They're wise old sage-like figures, whose advice is always right and acted on with a minimum amount of contradiction or compromise by the Captain.

It's a recurring theme for Vulcan characters to go off and meditate or try to achieve Kolinarr, to detoxify themselves of emotions they've picked up being around aliens. They get home to take part in some archaic ceremony and are probably looked on as having been contaminated. Spock was looked upon as an outsider to begin with, even more, with his human side being brought up an awful lot. He believes in the example set by Surak and holds true to the high ideals of IDIC... but there are non-Spock examples in TOS, TAS and the movies, which might lead you to believe not all Vulcans are that liberal and moderate in their views privately and sometimes, not so privately.

To be honest, I can't quite decide if they are naturally pedantic and dismissive of others, therefore considering themselves superior or if that's because they have more cause to be around those who act on instinct and emotion first. It's a clash of cultures, and it carries right through until that baseball game on the holosuite DS9 episode. Although those Vulcans display their contempt for others with subtlety and a couple centuries worth of understanding... but they're still clearly pushing Sisko's buttons, exhibiting a bit of superiority complex through a supposedly friendly rivalry.

[Melakon]

Enterprise does a good job of showing Vulcans can be just as bigoted, foolish, and ruthless as people in everyday life.

[teacake]

T'Pol is a struggling Vulcan, later in the series a close relative will say she always had trouble with her emotions. This is why she chooses to spend so much of her time on a human ship, there they see her as a cold, logical, emotion suppressed Vulcan. But among her own kind her struggles are more evident. The pressure is off on the human ship.

[lurok]

teacake wrote:

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T'Pol is a struggling Vulcan, later in the series a close relative will say she always had trouble with her emotions. This is why she chooses to spend so much of her time on a human ship, there they see her as a cold, logical, emotion suppressed Vulcan. But among her own kind her struggles are more evident. The pressure is off on the human ship.

^ This. Plus I love ENT varieties of Vulcans: the snarky ones, the drop-out smiley ones; V'lar, Soval. I just felt it was continuing what we'd seen in every Trek since TOS.

[Melakon]

lurok wrote:

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I just felt it was continuing what we'd seen in every Trek since TOS.

This. I remember some big fuss about whether or not Sybok of STV:TFF was a real Vulcan.

[Ryva Brall]

teacake wrote:

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T'Pol is a struggling Vulcan, later in the series a close relative will say she always had trouble with her emotions. This is why she chooses to spend so much of her time on a human ship, there they see her as a cold, logical, emotion suppressed Vulcan. But among her own kind her struggles are more evident. The pressure is off on the human ship.

Ah, I see. Her behavior makes a lot more sense now.

[Ryva Brall]

All right, I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick, because my throat is sore, and I keep getting dizzy every time I stand up. So I'm going to take advantage of my illness, crawl into bed, and watch some Enterprise. Here we go.

Fight or Flight:

Not a bad second episode; better than VOY's "Parallax" or TNG's "The Naked Now", at least in my opinion. All I remembered about this episode from watching it the first time was the Hoshi/slug analogy. It was pretty heavy-handed, but not too silly. I like Hoshi; she comes off as a bit whiny at first -- yes, space is big and scary, but did she learn nothing from her Starfleet training? -- but her concerns and self-doubt are realistic, and not something we see often in Star Trek. Usually the characters are eager to explore new worlds. Hoshi's reluctance is an interesting contrast.

Also, I was totally in agreement with T'Pol in this episode. I understand the crew were itching for some excitement, but they should never have boarded the alien ship. Not without permission, and certainly not while nothing on Enterprise was working! It was evident when the enemy ship had them in a tractor beam, and when the Axanar eventually rescued them, that the Enterprise is hopelessly outmatched by many of the other species in the area. Boarding an alien ship where everyone had been killed -- and then going back again -- was unnecessarily foolhardy.

And while I'm enjoying the challenges that come with having no universal translator, it's hard to buy the idea that Hoshi was able to learn enough of the Axanar's language to have a fairly involved conversation with them in just a few days. But whatever. I guess I can suspend my disbelief for the sake of character development.

You know, it's kind of sad; I think Hoshi got more character development in this one episode than Harry Kim did... ever.

[R. Star]

They should've just titled that one "I told you so.' T'Pol really would just be better off saying the opposite of what she wants Archer to do when giving advice. Other wise this is just a standard random alien of the week encounter. But welcome to the captaincy of Jonathan Archer. I'd call him a space cowboy, but that'd be an insult to the genuine cowboys.

[teacake]

He's definitely operating under that chip on his shoulder. He does though grow to value T'Pol's advice.

[feek61]

Ryva Brall wrote:

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she comes across as way more emotional than the average Vulcan; she seems unusually haughty, disrespectful, and petty.

I really think the writers were trying to make the Vulcans be haughty, disrespectful and petty. The two species did not have the same relationship as they did in TOS; one of mutual respect. During the "Enterprise" time-frame; Vulcans thought very little of humans and did not respect them as equals and did not think they needed to be out exploring the galaxy (since they didn't understand the human emotions; it made the Vulcans think of them as a lower species). I think Blalock's performance was meant to convey that and personally I think she does a pretty good job. It's nice to see the change in her characters attitude towards humans as the series progresses and I think her being on an "Earth ship" and the relationship established with the humans is the first time the Vulcans begin to consider the human race more as equals and we get to see that unfold in this series.

[teacake]

feek61 wrote:

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I really think the writers were trying to make the Vulcans be haughty, disrespectful and petty. The two species did not have the same relationship as they did in TOS; one of mutual respect.

Everyone needs to watch Amok Time again. T'Pau, she takes no prisoners.

And Sarek isn't exactly getting off any high horses in Journey to Babel.

[Third Nacelle]

teacake wrote:

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Everyone needs to watch Amok Time again. T'Pau, she takes no prisoners.

And Sarek isn't exactly getting off any high horses in Journey to Babel.

Agreed. There was a "softening" of the Vulcans, but it was not between ENT and TOS... it was between TOS and TNG. Somehow by the 24th century they were reduced to quiet, introverted background characters with only a hint of their previous smugness.