I'm talking more about "feel" than the elements used. Because I agree that Enterprise was free to use elements from both shows.
Interesting article.
- Thread starter allstar77
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I'm talking more about "feel" than the elements used. Because I agree that Enterprise was free to use elements from both shows.
Yeah, the Bs had a hard time letting some of it go. At the same time they were aping quite a bit of TOS: The southern best friend, the Vulcan science officer and multi-ethnic crew ( though that's TNG/DS9/VOY too)
I dunno. On a supersuperficial level this might be true, especially when you look at the character constellations and story types (stand-alone exploration plots). But in terms of tone, voice, feel, progressiveness and narrational sophistication, I always considered Deep Space Nine to be the most similar to classic Star Trek.
Deep Space Nine is my favorite of the spinoffs, but while I'd agree it incorporated many of the same themes as the original series (much more so than TNG or Voyager, at any rate) it was usually off in its own little world (a good thing, in my view) when it came to style and execution, with little of TOS' emphasis on swashbuckling adventure or exploration (with exceptions, of course; "Through the Looking Glass" comes to mind for the former and the aptly named "Explorers" for the latter).
Enterprise seems to have been a conscious attempt to get back to that sort of thing, and while it certainly wasn't always successful, as a fan of TOS moreso than TNG I appreciate it when it was.
Enterprise seems to have been a conscious attempt to get back to that sort of thing, and while it certainly wasn't always successful, as a fan of TOS moreso than TNG I appreciate it when it was.
Season 3 was my favorite because it was freakin awesome.
This
And I would hasten to add that ther wasnt a season of Enterprise that I disliked.
I liked it all, even the so called bad episodes, because I liked the cast, and using the same logic I never liked TNG because I just couldnt warm to any of the cast, except maybe Spiner.
Season 3 was my favorite because it was freakin awesome.
This
And I would hasten to add that ther wasnt a season of Enterprise that I disliked.
I liked it all, even the so called bad episodes, because I liked the cast, and using the same logic I never liked TNG because I just couldnt warm to any of the cast, except maybe Spiner.
Yep, this x2.
X3 !! I think I like season 3 better than 4 now though when I first watched them 4 really blew me away.
I love Degra though. And the interestingness of the Xindi species. And the intrigue of the sphere builders. And the desperation of Archer. And.. I could go on
I love Degra though. And the interestingness of the Xindi species. And the intrigue of the sphere builders. And the desperation of Archer. And.. I could go on
I prefered season 4 because it did refer to the future, the Xindi arc tho good well we never hear of their species again, since they are not mentioned in TOS/TNG/VOY/DS9 world of Trek. Perhap in season 5 we would have discovered they were taken over by the Klingons or something to explain their disappearence from the ST universe
Some of my thoughts....
-I do think that ENT did have a 24th century Trek/Berman kind of feel but I'm not surprised by that because it was Berman who was over the show. Plus Berman had a-until then-relatively successful and long run overseeing Trek, with three previous series and several movies-before Enterprise. Also the more updated tone relative to TOS made sense because television had changed since the '60s. And what worked then, or what some fans might be nostalgic for, wouldn't have worked as well I don't think in the 21st century. To me, the issue wasn't that ENT emulated the tone of 24th century Trek, but that it didn't pay enough attention to its contemporary sci-fi and other genre shows, or even the dawning age of drama in the 24th century. ENT felt stodgy and a bit stale beside stuff like Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, 24, and Alias. A lot of the 21st century dramas grabbed you by the throat and kept you wanting to tune in each week. ENT, to me, often started off their shows with a half-hearted hook-if you can call it that- played by bland characters. It was hard for me to invest in the show because I didn't find the characters all that interesting.
-And when ENT did try to appear more contemporary, removing the name "Star Trek" or the pop tune theme, it felt awkward and made the show seem even more stodgy and a bit pathetic in trying to be 'hip'. It perhaps flipped a finger at the long-time fans, and I'm not sure Berman meant to do that, then again, he also considered "TATV" a valentine to fans so who knows. To me, they should've owned the name Star Trek from the beginning. If you act like you're not proud of the product you're producing what message is that going to send to the long-time fans? And its a bit disingenuous to attempt to corral new fans, or perhaps insulting their intelligence that they wouldn't realize, hey I'm watching a Trek show even if the title says Enterprise. Heck, if you were going to remove the Trek brand, how about not name your show Enterprise? Some of the questionable uses or misuses or looseness with continuity also riled long-time fans needlessly.
-I knocked Berman, Braga for the bland characters, though perhaps that's not completely fair. I think on paper at least and later as the series progressed there was opportunities to create an interesting cast of characters, but I don't know if it was studio pressure, the writing, or what, but by the time the episodes went through the grinder a lot of the potentially interesting things about the characters were removed, squelched, minimized. If I recall if I heard correctly that Archer was supposed to be an Indiana Jones kind of guy and there's shades of that in "Broken Bow" but they are excised quickly. You got Trip as an earthy Southerner reminiscent of Dr. McCoy who clashes with T'Pol are meant to evoke McCoy vs. Spock. The thing is I don't think they really broke new ground there (arguably Tuvok and Neelix had a similar kind of dynamic); and even the romantic relationship between Trip and T'Pol wasn't well handled. They attempted to inject more into T'Pol with her past in the V'Shar (correct?) and then her later drug addiction (oh boy), but the drug addiction thing was not the best way to go, I mean she didn't need drugs to experience emotions-she has emotions but are just repressing them. It's like these guys forgot that in Season 3. Reed as a Section 31 member; which is something that they should've thought up and played out throughout the series. Hoshi being a fraidy cat in space but by season 4 turning into a poker playing (if I recall correctly), martial arts badass. Travis having these long space legs but not having enough opportunity to use his knowledge of various species and space. The potential was there, but IMO the writers often bungled it, or perhaps came to a good idea to late. Also the consistency or organic progression of characters come to mind (like the sudden fighting skills for Hoshi that weren't evident in the earlier seasons).
-The Xindi/Season 3 arc was a breath of fresh air. I think Berman and Braga were finally starting to appreciate the appeal of arc storytelling for 21st century viewers. The arc perhaps went on a too long and was filled with superfluous stuff, but still they raised the stakes and made stuff personal. And with the shadow of 9/11 hanging over us, it made ENT feel more relevant than it ever had before. The Xindi were good villains, the drama was at times gripping, and we saw Trip, T'Pol, and Archer either on the precipice or going over the edge.
-Season 4 was the best, and they finally figured out either the importance of tying the series more closely to TOS or how to do it well, because I'm guessing (though my memory is not great) that there were nods to TOS and definitely to 24th century Trek throughout ENT's run but the TOS links became very prominent in the fourth season. It sucks in a way because they pulled the plug just when the show was finding its footing. If they had cancelled ENT in the first two seasons I wouldn't have cared much.
-I can't say I ever liked ENT for the characters. It as always the outside stuff, like the Xindi/planet killer arc or the various stories from the fourth season that kept me watching. Which was different for me because with TOS/TNG/DS9 I liked both the characters and the stories. I cared about the characters in a way I never did for VOY and ENT. And the few times the characters did interest me, like the vengeful Trip in Season 3 or Dark Archer in Season 3 and then regretful Archer in Season 4, it didn't really last too long.
-I do think that ENT did have a 24th century Trek/Berman kind of feel but I'm not surprised by that because it was Berman who was over the show. Plus Berman had a-until then-relatively successful and long run overseeing Trek, with three previous series and several movies-before Enterprise. Also the more updated tone relative to TOS made sense because television had changed since the '60s. And what worked then, or what some fans might be nostalgic for, wouldn't have worked as well I don't think in the 21st century. To me, the issue wasn't that ENT emulated the tone of 24th century Trek, but that it didn't pay enough attention to its contemporary sci-fi and other genre shows, or even the dawning age of drama in the 24th century. ENT felt stodgy and a bit stale beside stuff like Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, 24, and Alias. A lot of the 21st century dramas grabbed you by the throat and kept you wanting to tune in each week. ENT, to me, often started off their shows with a half-hearted hook-if you can call it that- played by bland characters. It was hard for me to invest in the show because I didn't find the characters all that interesting.
-And when ENT did try to appear more contemporary, removing the name "Star Trek" or the pop tune theme, it felt awkward and made the show seem even more stodgy and a bit pathetic in trying to be 'hip'. It perhaps flipped a finger at the long-time fans, and I'm not sure Berman meant to do that, then again, he also considered "TATV" a valentine to fans so who knows. To me, they should've owned the name Star Trek from the beginning. If you act like you're not proud of the product you're producing what message is that going to send to the long-time fans? And its a bit disingenuous to attempt to corral new fans, or perhaps insulting their intelligence that they wouldn't realize, hey I'm watching a Trek show even if the title says Enterprise. Heck, if you were going to remove the Trek brand, how about not name your show Enterprise? Some of the questionable uses or misuses or looseness with continuity also riled long-time fans needlessly.
-I knocked Berman, Braga for the bland characters, though perhaps that's not completely fair. I think on paper at least and later as the series progressed there was opportunities to create an interesting cast of characters, but I don't know if it was studio pressure, the writing, or what, but by the time the episodes went through the grinder a lot of the potentially interesting things about the characters were removed, squelched, minimized. If I recall if I heard correctly that Archer was supposed to be an Indiana Jones kind of guy and there's shades of that in "Broken Bow" but they are excised quickly. You got Trip as an earthy Southerner reminiscent of Dr. McCoy who clashes with T'Pol are meant to evoke McCoy vs. Spock. The thing is I don't think they really broke new ground there (arguably Tuvok and Neelix had a similar kind of dynamic); and even the romantic relationship between Trip and T'Pol wasn't well handled. They attempted to inject more into T'Pol with her past in the V'Shar (correct?) and then her later drug addiction (oh boy), but the drug addiction thing was not the best way to go, I mean she didn't need drugs to experience emotions-she has emotions but are just repressing them. It's like these guys forgot that in Season 3. Reed as a Section 31 member; which is something that they should've thought up and played out throughout the series. Hoshi being a fraidy cat in space but by season 4 turning into a poker playing (if I recall correctly), martial arts badass. Travis having these long space legs but not having enough opportunity to use his knowledge of various species and space. The potential was there, but IMO the writers often bungled it, or perhaps came to a good idea to late. Also the consistency or organic progression of characters come to mind (like the sudden fighting skills for Hoshi that weren't evident in the earlier seasons).
-The Xindi/Season 3 arc was a breath of fresh air. I think Berman and Braga were finally starting to appreciate the appeal of arc storytelling for 21st century viewers. The arc perhaps went on a too long and was filled with superfluous stuff, but still they raised the stakes and made stuff personal. And with the shadow of 9/11 hanging over us, it made ENT feel more relevant than it ever had before. The Xindi were good villains, the drama was at times gripping, and we saw Trip, T'Pol, and Archer either on the precipice or going over the edge.
-Season 4 was the best, and they finally figured out either the importance of tying the series more closely to TOS or how to do it well, because I'm guessing (though my memory is not great) that there were nods to TOS and definitely to 24th century Trek throughout ENT's run but the TOS links became very prominent in the fourth season. It sucks in a way because they pulled the plug just when the show was finding its footing. If they had cancelled ENT in the first two seasons I wouldn't have cared much.
-I can't say I ever liked ENT for the characters. It as always the outside stuff, like the Xindi/planet killer arc or the various stories from the fourth season that kept me watching. Which was different for me because with TOS/TNG/DS9 I liked both the characters and the stories. I cared about the characters in a way I never did for VOY and ENT. And the few times the characters did interest me, like the vengeful Trip in Season 3 or Dark Archer in Season 3 and then regretful Archer in Season 4, it didn't really last too long.
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Per Braga himself via Wikipedia:
He really didn't intend to distance the show from Star Trek. Like you said, it's the same dude who thought TATV was a valentine so he really was that tone deaf. That said, UPN did shoehorn the Temporal Cold War so that the show wouldn't be so much of a prequel. The writers can't own what they don't want to do. Originally, Bermaga wanted to do a series similar to The Right Stuff and wait longer after Voyager to do ENT. I wonder how much more the series would have felt like Trek if it wasn't for studio interference.
I'm surprised to see the stuff you wrote about Trip as a noninteresting character, given your defense of him from AdmiralShran. Someone else (not on this forum) described said she loved the characters from ENT but hated the show. While hate is a little strong, I sort of agree with her. I loved the characters (the ones who were developed or written consistently anyway) but hate the contrived situations they were put in and the nearly aimless nature of the first two seasons. If you couldn't already tell from my avatar, I'm as shipper as you can get for Trip and T'Pol but agree that their romance wasn't handled correctly. Bringing in Amanda, a woman we never saw, to make T'Pol jealous was the most contrived way to get her to sleep with Trip. And Bound was a copout way to resolve Trip running off to Columbia.
Trip is as emotional as McCoy but I honestly don't think of the good doctor when I see him. Trip is a lot more inclined to get his feet wet when it comes to experiencing alien worlds. In terms of character development, he got treated the best.
They also forgot about all the neuropressure she did on Trip. Couldn't she feel his emotions through that? If we saw her in the process of getting addicted, it might have worked better but we just got this weak explanation. Otherwise intelligent people do get addicted in RL but what I really hate was that they mentioned her addiction after the fact. The writers seemed to like torturing T'Pol and it was one more way for them to do that.
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T'Arwen,
Regarding my thoughts on Trip. I wasn't a fan of the ENT characters in general, but I felt Trip was the best developed out of a relative bunch of underdeveloped or undeveloped characters. My previous defense of Trip was based on that, not that I am a big fan of him per se. Though I thought Trinneer (sp) wasn't a bad actor. I also think the cast for the most part weren't at fault. Just the writing, characterization, or maybe even the conceptualization of those set of characters. Maybe studio pressure had something to do with it as well. And despite my misgivings if I really thought about it I'm sure I could find instances or several when all the actors/characters either shined or impressed me on some level. I came to be okay with or had gotten used to the cast by the third and fourth seasons and I didn't find them grating. Still though I thought the stories were more interesting than the cast for the most part, in the last two seasons.
I see Archer-T'Pol-Trip as a nod to Kirk-Spock-McCoy. There are differences, but I think they the ENT writers were echoing the TOS troika. Similar to McCoy and Spock, Trip and T'Pol clashes. Like McCoy made jibes at Spock's Vulcan heritage, Trip also made jibes if I recall. The only difference is that Archer seemed to agree with him and made some jibes himself.
My issue with T'Pol is not that she got addicted, but why she did. She wanted to experience emotions that she already had. It made no sense. I mean I can see if she was injecting the substance to inoculate herself against the effects of the Expanse and unfortunately became addicted. The way they did it was a disservice to the character.
Good quote you pulled from Braga and he makes a point that Enterprise is one word that definitely evokes Trek. But since that is the case why not slap Star Trek onto it? Don't worry about the packaging, change the contents within. The way they did it didn't go over well with fans. I had heard about some of the things B&B wanted to do but were checked by the studio. I don't know if I would've been cool with them staying Earthbound for so long but I do wish they had gotten to do their vision. That being said, I didn't think the Temporal Cold War was a bad idea on its face. It does add some suspense and mystery into a prequel show which might be in danger of being boring since we already knew the 'future' based on the preceding shows. It was the execution I found lacking with the Temporal Cold War. It wasn't really well thought out.
Regarding my thoughts on Trip. I wasn't a fan of the ENT characters in general, but I felt Trip was the best developed out of a relative bunch of underdeveloped or undeveloped characters. My previous defense of Trip was based on that, not that I am a big fan of him per se. Though I thought Trinneer (sp) wasn't a bad actor. I also think the cast for the most part weren't at fault. Just the writing, characterization, or maybe even the conceptualization of those set of characters. Maybe studio pressure had something to do with it as well. And despite my misgivings if I really thought about it I'm sure I could find instances or several when all the actors/characters either shined or impressed me on some level. I came to be okay with or had gotten used to the cast by the third and fourth seasons and I didn't find them grating. Still though I thought the stories were more interesting than the cast for the most part, in the last two seasons.
I see Archer-T'Pol-Trip as a nod to Kirk-Spock-McCoy. There are differences, but I think they the ENT writers were echoing the TOS troika. Similar to McCoy and Spock, Trip and T'Pol clashes. Like McCoy made jibes at Spock's Vulcan heritage, Trip also made jibes if I recall. The only difference is that Archer seemed to agree with him and made some jibes himself.
My issue with T'Pol is not that she got addicted, but why she did. She wanted to experience emotions that she already had. It made no sense. I mean I can see if she was injecting the substance to inoculate herself against the effects of the Expanse and unfortunately became addicted. The way they did it was a disservice to the character.
Good quote you pulled from Braga and he makes a point that Enterprise is one word that definitely evokes Trek. But since that is the case why not slap Star Trek onto it? Don't worry about the packaging, change the contents within. The way they did it didn't go over well with fans. I had heard about some of the things B&B wanted to do but were checked by the studio. I don't know if I would've been cool with them staying Earthbound for so long but I do wish they had gotten to do their vision. That being said, I didn't think the Temporal Cold War was a bad idea on its face. It does add some suspense and mystery into a prequel show which might be in danger of being boring since we already knew the 'future' based on the preceding shows. It was the execution I found lacking with the Temporal Cold War. It wasn't really well thought out.
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I realise that the addiction was in fact something the writers invented late in the day, but I actually like the idea that this was going on and we didn't see it; the characters have lives that go on even when we don't see them in the adventure of the week.
It did make sense, actually. In the episode Fusion, T'Pol experimented with emotions but found it disturbing. And of course she already had emotions (it was stated in the show several times) - the point is she experimented with experiencing emotions rather than automatically crushing them with Vulcan discipline. But the lack of control, and negative consequences, frightened her. Trellium-D somehow enabled her to access emotions without the associated sense of vulnerability.
Isn't this a trivial issue? I don't know why some people say it's a big deal.
How exactly does Trellium-D allow T'Pol to experience emotions without vulnerability? That doesn't make sense to me. Plus she as in a very dangerous part of space. Granted she could've been retreating from that constant sense of danger by resorting to drugs and the emotional thing was just an excuse, but I wish they had said that instead of her saying she wanted to experience emotions. I mean just because Vulcans repress emotions doesn't mean they don't have them. Arguably Spock and Tuvok were struggling with emotion all the while, sometimes it getting the best of them.
As for the name Star Trek. I don't think its trivial in the sense that the impression could be that B&B was trying to sell the show as something its not. That maybe they were ashamed of the title Star Trek. I also thought for branding purposes, put Star Trek in the title, so people will have no doubt if they are channel surfing.
As for the name Star Trek. I don't think its trivial in the sense that the impression could be that B&B was trying to sell the show as something its not. That maybe they were ashamed of the title Star Trek. I also thought for branding purposes, put Star Trek in the title, so people will have no doubt if they are channel surfing.
How does dilithium allow starships to travel at warp speed? Here's a clue: it's in the name of the genre.
So you are saying that Vulcans experience emotions exactly like humans -- they just don't show it? That's not the way I see it, and I guess it wasn't how the writers saw it either.
No need to be cheeky Eyeresist. Basically you don't know why Trellium-D allowed T'Pol to experience emotion and I don't either. IMO it was a poorly conceived direction to take T'Pol in, perhaps in the desire to give her something to struggle with too since she wasn't as emotionally connected or so it would appear by the Xindi attack.
Regarding Vulcan emotions, Vulcans emotions are perhaps stronger than humans, that's why they needed to be so extreme or severe in repressing them. In the past Vulcans were highly destructive until they almost destroyed themselves, necessitating Surak's reforms. If the writers on ENT didn't see that, that's because they weren't paying attention to the previous series.
This comes from Memory Alpha:
Vulcans adopted logic as their way of life. Surak introduced a strict logic regime to his people in the hope of stopping the destructive wars which plagued Vulcan. His hope was that with the help of logic the Vulcans could control their violent emotions and in doing so might lead a life of order and control.
Although the Vulcan majority lived by logic, there were some who tried to balance their emotions and logic; they were better known as V'tosh ka'tur, Vulcans without logic. (TOS: "The Savage Curtain"; TNG: "Gambit, Part II"; ENT: "Fusion") There were also Vulcans, like Sybok, who rejected logic outright and embraced emotion. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
Other Vulcans chose instead to further develop their mental discipline through the Kolinahr ritual to the point of purging all vestigial emotions and living solely by pure logic. This process could involve years of intense study and meditation. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; VOY: "Flashback", "Gravity", "Fury")
More from Memory Alpha:
Vulcans were by nature a barbaric and savage people who came near self-annihilation, until the Time of Awakening; it was then when Surak preached the way of logic rather than emotion. (TOS: "Balance of Terror", "All Our Yesterdays", ENT: "Awakening" and others) Since Vulcans have the capability to exert a level of conscious control over virtually all of their body functions, they can actually manipulate the neural pathways that regulate and receive the balances of neurochemicals involved in emotion. This enables them to inhibit their brain from forming the neural impulses that create conscious emotional mental states, thereby actually suppressing their innate emotions. The psycho-suppression system in the Vulcan brain that endows Vulcans with this ability is located in the mesiofrontal cortex. (VOY: "Meld") The Vulcan ritual, known as the kolinahr, is designed to purge all remaining emotions in a Vulcan. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
Despite their suppression of emotions Vulcans still have them, and sometimes their violent nature resurfaces. Spock was vulnerable to polywater intoxication, and when he was infected, he was sobbing, having regretted his inability to express his love for his mother. Spock was also subject to the euphoria-inducing spores of the Omicron Ceti III plant. (TOS: "The Naked Time", "This Side of Paradise") The Bendii Syndrome was an illness which makes elderly Vulcans lose their emotional control. (TNG: "Sarek") After a mind meld with Lon Suder, Tuvok's emotional system was traumatized, resulting in him losing some of his own control, becoming dangerous and violent. (VOY: "Meld") In a later point, Tuvok laughed when his identity was erased to make him a laborer on the Quarren homeworld. (VOY: "Workforce") In addition, surprise, combined with strong emotion, made Spock (who was half-Human as well as half-Vulcan) lose control for a brief moment. (TOS: "Amok Time")
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Logic
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Emotion?action=edit§ion=1
Regarding Vulcan emotions, Vulcans emotions are perhaps stronger than humans, that's why they needed to be so extreme or severe in repressing them. In the past Vulcans were highly destructive until they almost destroyed themselves, necessitating Surak's reforms. If the writers on ENT didn't see that, that's because they weren't paying attention to the previous series.
This comes from Memory Alpha:
Vulcans adopted logic as their way of life. Surak introduced a strict logic regime to his people in the hope of stopping the destructive wars which plagued Vulcan. His hope was that with the help of logic the Vulcans could control their violent emotions and in doing so might lead a life of order and control.
Although the Vulcan majority lived by logic, there were some who tried to balance their emotions and logic; they were better known as V'tosh ka'tur, Vulcans without logic. (TOS: "The Savage Curtain"; TNG: "Gambit, Part II"; ENT: "Fusion") There were also Vulcans, like Sybok, who rejected logic outright and embraced emotion. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
Other Vulcans chose instead to further develop their mental discipline through the Kolinahr ritual to the point of purging all vestigial emotions and living solely by pure logic. This process could involve years of intense study and meditation. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture; VOY: "Flashback", "Gravity", "Fury")
More from Memory Alpha:
Vulcans were by nature a barbaric and savage people who came near self-annihilation, until the Time of Awakening; it was then when Surak preached the way of logic rather than emotion. (TOS: "Balance of Terror", "All Our Yesterdays", ENT: "Awakening" and others) Since Vulcans have the capability to exert a level of conscious control over virtually all of their body functions, they can actually manipulate the neural pathways that regulate and receive the balances of neurochemicals involved in emotion. This enables them to inhibit their brain from forming the neural impulses that create conscious emotional mental states, thereby actually suppressing their innate emotions. The psycho-suppression system in the Vulcan brain that endows Vulcans with this ability is located in the mesiofrontal cortex. (VOY: "Meld") The Vulcan ritual, known as the kolinahr, is designed to purge all remaining emotions in a Vulcan. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
Despite their suppression of emotions Vulcans still have them, and sometimes their violent nature resurfaces. Spock was vulnerable to polywater intoxication, and when he was infected, he was sobbing, having regretted his inability to express his love for his mother. Spock was also subject to the euphoria-inducing spores of the Omicron Ceti III plant. (TOS: "The Naked Time", "This Side of Paradise") The Bendii Syndrome was an illness which makes elderly Vulcans lose their emotional control. (TNG: "Sarek") After a mind meld with Lon Suder, Tuvok's emotional system was traumatized, resulting in him losing some of his own control, becoming dangerous and violent. (VOY: "Meld") In a later point, Tuvok laughed when his identity was erased to make him a laborer on the Quarren homeworld. (VOY: "Workforce") In addition, surprise, combined with strong emotion, made Spock (who was half-Human as well as half-Vulcan) lose control for a brief moment. (TOS: "Amok Time")
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Logic
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Emotion?action=edit§ion=1
I realize that TV has time constraints but it would have made a big difference to show why she got addicted vs just telling us. Dropping the bomb without any buildup (and little or no followup) is a big problem in season 3. I don't believe Trip and Amanda Cole are such good friends when we never heard of her. Every character has a life the audience doesn't see but not witnessing just how T'Pol got addicted is a dropped bomb to me.
Even though Earth isn't her home, there's plenty of other ways they could make her struggle with emotionally. Like Pa'nar, which they forgot about until season 4. She cares about her crewmates. With war, there's a lot of trauma to go around when you witness people die or get badly injured. A fanfic explained the addiction as T'Pol trying to deal with the stress of the mission, which I believe (and why most humans get into drugs). Jolene Blalock wasn't a fan of the drug storyline, which says a lot. Manny Coto also had a part in it, and I wonder why people overlook that. I like what he did with season 4 and Similitude but he's not God.
^
For the drug storyline I wonder if the writers felt a need to give T'Pol something personal to struggle with, for some reason, like her empathy for her crewmates and those lost on Earth, or her concern about Earth's destruction even for if it might threaten Soval and Vulcan's interstellar position if Earth was destroyed, was not enough.
I'm surprised that Cotto had a hand in the drug storyline. I'll just chalk that up to him getting used to the series, but by season 4 he did much better, not perfect, but better. I had suggested before the T'Pol's drug use could've been the result of the stress of being in the Expanse in a previous post. However I thought it might better sense to me to have T'Pol take the Trellium-D to inoculate herself against the effects of the expanse and as a unexpected byproduct became addicted.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Trellium-D
For the drug storyline I wonder if the writers felt a need to give T'Pol something personal to struggle with, for some reason, like her empathy for her crewmates and those lost on Earth, or her concern about Earth's destruction even for if it might threaten Soval and Vulcan's interstellar position if Earth was destroyed, was not enough.
I'm surprised that Cotto had a hand in the drug storyline. I'll just chalk that up to him getting used to the series, but by season 4 he did much better, not perfect, but better. I had suggested before the T'Pol's drug use could've been the result of the stress of being in the Expanse in a previous post. However I thought it might better sense to me to have T'Pol take the Trellium-D to inoculate herself against the effects of the expanse and as a unexpected byproduct became addicted.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Trellium-D
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I knew this. It doesn't contradict my point. T'Pol was trying to experience emotions but avoid the negative extremes.
To be honest, I'm glad they didn't show it. I can't think of any way they could have done it which wouldn't have been boring.
This podcast states some more reasons the drug addiction was not the way to go.
http://trek.fm/from-there-to-here/36
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