Who isn't?
Malcolm
- Thread starter Quincy72
- Start date
Aren't you forgetting the wide middle?
And the eyes....And let's not start talking about his bum....
Or his musclesAnd let's not start talking about his bum....
(The decon room scene!)
Maybe it was just me, but he appeared more defined (buffed) in that scene than he did during his takedown of Hayes.
I don't think there's any difference - it's probably only because he's shirtless in the decon room whereas when he fought Hayes he wasn't shirtless. The arms look as buffed.
Not in the least. He's not landed-gentry-accented, but he's still up there at the top end. In every department, if you ask me!
When actors are going shirtless they usually cut calories a few days beforehand and exercise a lot. It's false advertising!
It has always seemed to me that Malcolm (like Travis and Hoshi) suffered from the lack of anyone ever having thought about who he was actually going to be BEFORE filming started. If some effort had been put into actually designing a character, instead of a stereotype, he would probably be more popular. As it was, the one plot-device that could really have picked him out definitively - his allegiance to Section 31 and his past in Black Ops - was left to be one of the great might-have-beens. If brought in earlier, he could have been a much more nuanced character, but as it was he was so often reduced to being a 'stock' ineffectual Englishman. The flaws in his professionalism as Head of Security are sometimes teeth-grindingly painful to watch, to the point where he almost seems to have been deliberately written up as an idiot - which was surely not appropriate for the rank or the responsibility he carried.
At risk of oversimplifying the situation, English actors often seem to get cast as either weaklings or villains on American TV. It's a pity that Malcolm was so often painted as the former, because IMHO having a bit of a villain among the crew could have added a bit of intrigue which was sometimes a little lacking.
At risk of oversimplifying the situation, English actors often seem to get cast as either weaklings or villains on American TV. It's a pity that Malcolm was so often painted as the former, because IMHO having a bit of a villain among the crew could have added a bit of intrigue which was sometimes a little lacking.
I agree. It seems that Reed's actions are often just used as tools for enhancing the mightiness of Capt Archer. The writers seem to have this need to make Archer much better than his crew, in planning, in actions, in prowess, often at the expense of Reed. Very annoying, really
Actually, I thought Malcolm was quite proficient in his job. And he had some knowledge of engineering as well. I'm remembering him wormkng in conjunction with Trip in Broken Bow to get the engine and weapons systems "up to speed" so they didn't have to return to Earth.I agree. It seems that Reed's actions are often just used as tools for enhancing the mightiness of Capt Archer. The writers seem to have this need to make Archer much better than his crew, in planning, in actions, in prowess, often at the expense of Reed. Very annoying, really
He developed/enhanced a force field in Vox Sola.
He was able to figure out alien technology in Minefield...AND focus enough to direct Archer what to do to disarm the mine, even as he was under the effects of major pain killers.
Even though he was a little "whiny" in the following episode (Dead Stop), he did recover from that and regained his sense of adventure, working with Trip to discover the weaknesses in the station.
He willingly went under the torture of the Suliban in Shockwave, in order to buy time for the others to work out their escape plan.
He developed a tactical plan that integrated ship's systems in Singularity.
He analyzed an alien weapons system (the Xindi device) and determined it's weakness.
In Harbinger, he knew what to do with then engines in order to gain the upper hand on the alien who was trying to destroy the engines.
He kicked some Xindi ass in Zero Hour.
He saved Trip and disabled the Romulan drone ship because he was able to think rationally and calmly and use his knowledge of his weapon to bring about a mass explosion.
Ok..that's all just off the top of my head! I'll stop now. Needless to say, I think Malcolm was very adept at his job. He lacked social skills though.
ETA: he pretty much fought Hayes to a draw, even though Hayes had the advantage of height and weight, and probably tons of focus in hand to hand combat training. Though to be fair, Malcolm did deserve a beat down. He was a jerk to Hayes.
Last edited:
Excellent summary there, Willow!
Don't get me wrong, I think Malcolm was the best character on Enterprise (each to their own!), it just saddens me that no more was done with him. I think there was enormous potential that just got frittered away.
Thanks for the excellent list. You're right, he is good at his job. It's just that I have just watched several episodes where he is made to look ineffective so that Archer saves the day and it annoyed me. For example in the episode where they destroy the Xindi weapon (Reed said all the reptilians were killed but there was one still to attack Archer at the end) or when Archer and the crew was trying to save the superhuman embryos from the grown up augments (Archer faster reaction left him outside to fight Malik, whereas Reed was trapped inside the room).
Anyway, I was just whining - your list reminded me that he also has his hero moments.
I think you are right though. He was made to look ineffective at times in order for Archer to look more impressive.
I'm going to have to rewatch Zero Hero. I had forgotten, until you mentioned it, that Malcolm told Archer he had taken care of the Xindi. My recollection was that he said "I think that's all of them". And he could have been wrong. But, i think Malcom WAS correct, they DID get all of the Reptilians that were stationed on the weapon. Dolim (the leader) beamed in AfTER that point, I believe, I do remember Shran being told that one of the Reptilians had beamed off- at which point he says "let's make sure he doesn't have a ship to come back to" (or something like that).
Speaking of that episode, Malcolm was ready to sacrifice himself and tstay on board and blow up the weapon , but Archer outranked him, and took it upon himself instead. I don't fault Malcolm for that, and I don't think it was a weakness on his part.
I find it hard to come up with any excuse for his stupidity (and Trip's of course!) in 'Two Days and Two Nights', but to my mind the worst demolition job on his professionalism is the scene in 'Broken Bow' where he gets fixated on those butterfly girls and Travis (the ship's helmsman!) has to call him to order.
This was the episode that had to set out the stall for the show, and the Brit got put straight out there as a lecher who can't even keep his mind on the job in hand as soon as a few scantily-dressed curves come into view. The whole scene is skin-crawling to my mind. Did the writers deliberately try to play into stereotyped prejudices with this - and later with other 'weaknesses' - anyone else on board Enterprise have a phobia (Trip didn't like bugs, but that wasn't quite in the same class), and not just one allergy, but a string of them? I can't help but wonder.
He did, of course, display many sterling qualities: courage, ingenuity, loyalty, self-sacrifice. All of which are the reasons why I love him so much! He was the voice of conscience in the Expanse when the captain made the decision to steal the Illyrians' warp coil. But I remain convinced that at least some of the writers had very anti-English attitudes, of which Malcolm Reed was made the hapless beneficiary.
This was the episode that had to set out the stall for the show, and the Brit got put straight out there as a lecher who can't even keep his mind on the job in hand as soon as a few scantily-dressed curves come into view. The whole scene is skin-crawling to my mind. Did the writers deliberately try to play into stereotyped prejudices with this - and later with other 'weaknesses' - anyone else on board Enterprise have a phobia (Trip didn't like bugs, but that wasn't quite in the same class), and not just one allergy, but a string of them? I can't help but wonder.
He did, of course, display many sterling qualities: courage, ingenuity, loyalty, self-sacrifice. All of which are the reasons why I love him so much! He was the voice of conscience in the Expanse when the captain made the decision to steal the Illyrians' warp coil. But I remain convinced that at least some of the writers had very anti-English attitudes, of which Malcolm Reed was made the hapless beneficiary.
I agree. He was always thinking of how to improve the ship's weaponry, training and procedures. Much more proactive that his predecessors on other shows.
So much this! He was the first tactical / weapons officer in space. I always thought of him as more proactive than any of the others. And he was the only human to have that position in a series . Oh no wait..Chekov was tactical /weapons at some point, wasn't he? I was never impressed with his abilities. I had a mad little crush on him when I was a kid, but I never thought much of his abilities .
He's the first one ever, so naturally he has a lot of inprovements to make. Reed Alert, anyone?
I think at one point he got to make some recommendation improvements as well on transporter procedure? That episode where there was a bit of delay in Hoshi rematerialising?
Similar threads
