But why make the Vulcans even bigger dicks than they were in ENT? Wasn't ENT bad enough with that?
Would it really hurt to show the slide toward being the jerks they were in ENT?
The context is there for a Romulan and Vulcan Cold War happening under the nose of humans. As is the context of Earth recovering from a global war at a much more rapid pace than the Vulcans ever did. As is Vulcan, being a neo-colonial power with Coridan & the very corrupt Agaron, being at war with Andoria, which itself does not get along with the Tellarites, who themselves don’t approve of the bilateral trade between Coridanites and Orions; species that probably support criminal faction on Agaron for various reasons. And that Vulcans are aware than not every species has a non-interference policy with pre-warp civilizations.
It's actually quite logical (pun intended) to think that a few Vulcans might get scared and decide to do some not so good things. It was already established in ENT that there were Vulcans, as rogue agents, trading transgenic weapons with Axanar that were apprehended by T’Pol. It’s also known that one of the Vulcan ambassadors, V’Lar, was accused of corruption by Mazarites. Why not explore a few Vulcans that go a step further and do not represent the best that Vulcan has to offer? Allowing viewers to see it from the Vulcan perspective, which might just boil down to them being aware they are doing bad things, but still find it logical to do in order to either protect themselves or Earth and do not want the humans to see the things they do. Allowing humans and other Vulcans to call them out on their skewed logic.
Then there are the Romulans, while sabotaging Earth’s efforts, also trying to show humans the light, and at times, expose the dishonorable Vulcans. Which can then, opposite of Romulan intent, pull Earth and Vulcans closer together and encourages more cooperation and trust.
My vision is that the first couples of seasons would be part Top Gun, part The West Wing, part La Femme Nikita, and part The Expanse. This would allow for a lot of drama in the first couple of seasons, in order to draw in viewers. The later seasons would be more The Right Stuff, with humans getting more leeway to develop their Warp 5 Program, starships and Starfleet, while Vulcans are overseeing and adapt to a changing and more cooperative Earth. But still are hesitant about humans exploring deep space, and don't feel they are ready yet. resulting in more roadblocks along the way. Which frustrates the humans, who have made great efforts to be a better species over the course of the series, and don't see what the Vulcans see. The tone of the show would change as the seasons progress.
But if you still disagree with my approach, how would you write the Vulcans in a pre-ENT show?
Do you want the humans to be even bigger hicks than in they were in ENT too?
No. But I also suggested that in my ideas for a show, there would be neo-fascists turning into an Earth First movement, even though they'd be the redshirts of the show. And the general behaviour of Earth First individuals would requires some level of dickishness on their part, since that clearly means they do not want to be cooperating with Vulcans, and do not want to be part of a larger galactic community. And would be another thing humans and Vulcans could jointly called out.