Magic Towels in "Damage"?

[jgdst]

I've been wondering this for four years now... When Archer is in sickbay, he winces on account of Dolim doing some careful work on his ribcage. T'Pol hands him a towel, and he says thanks.

Now... What was this towel supposed to do exactly? It wasn't even hot like the ones you get on long flights or in Indian restaurants, so it couldn't have been to clean himself after being manhandled by a reptile...

Or was it just simply T'Pol's cry for help? "Look at me, I'm so cold turkey right now, I can't even hand you a towel properly!"

Hmm... I admit I only have basic medical training so there might be something about the healing properties of towels I don't know about. Any doctors out there want to shed some light?

 

[commodore64]

Hee, I think they were magic towels. Maybe Archer read the Hitchhiker's Guide?

Not only did T'Pol get to show she was cold turkey and Archer wave off medical treatment with the magic towel device, but they got to show a nice moment between them: the desperate state Archer was in having waved off medical treatment and the knowledge that his joy ride to deliver a bomb cost 13 lives, that she was cold turkey (and needed a fix), that he recognized something was wrong and that she needed to vamose to hide her addiciton.

Device or not -- good stuff!

 

[suebsg9]

Hee, I think they were magic towels. Maybe Archer read the Hitchhiker's Guide?

Not only did T'Pol get to show she was cold turkey and Archer wave off medical treatment with the magic towel device, but they got to show a nice moment between them: the desperate state Archer was in having waved off medical treatment and the knowledge that his joy ride to deliver a bomb cost 13 lives, that she was cold turkey (and needed a fix), that he recognized something was wrong and that she needed to vamose to hide her addiciton.

Device or not -- good stuff!

I always think strange she showed more emotion when she always thinks Archer is dead then she did when Trip died! Magic towel thats to funny! With all the torture that ARcher has been through no wonder he could refuse treatment; did he get beat up more then Kirk??

 

[jgdst]

Hmm you both made interesting points, and obviously, I believe the healing properties of the Magic Towel can truly bring people together. When holoTrip holodied, I noticed there was no holotowel for holoT'Pol to holoexpress her holoemotion... (I'm still contesting how "canon" TATV is to be frank ). I suppose it'd be like an upgrade to the Hitchhiker's towels.

The other thing I learned from this scene is that compared to T'Pol's arm, Archer's hand is HUUUUGE! These two things have surely got to be linked.

 

[commodore64]

^ Well, the Orion women in "Bound" said it themselves: "Archer has a very large ... ship."

I always think strange she showed more emotion when she always thinks Archer is dead then she did when Trip died!

My entire universe just asploded. That's why I always thought Archer/T'Pol had a lot of potential. In other words: I found it strange, too, but probably in a whole different way.

 

[pookha]

were the xindi actually vogons????

 

[gblews]

I've been wondering this for four years now... When Archer is in sickbay, he winces on account of Dolim doing some careful work on his ribcage. T'Pol hands him a towel, and he says thanks.

Now... What was this towel supposed to do exactly? It wasn't even hot like the ones you get on long flights or in Indian restaurants, so it couldn't have been to clean himself after being manhandled by a reptile...

Or was it just simply T'Pol's cry for help? "Look at me, I'm so cold turkey right now, I can't even hand you a towel properly!"

When I saw Damage for the first time, I wondered what the towel was supposed to do too, but of course the only reason the scene is there is to show how badly T'Pol has been affected by the Trellium, and more importantly, to show Archer noticing her state.

This effectively sets up the scene later in the episode in Archer's quarters when we see T'Pol break the pad, and Archer's response to it. The fact that we've already seen him notice T'Pol's shaking hand and now an emotional outburst, makes his demand in that scene that she 'get it together' all the more realistic. If we'd only seen Archer see T'Pol emotionally break the pad, one might be tempetd to think; 'well, he's only seen this one thing, so why doesn't he believe her (lie) about the Expanse getting to her (or whatever it was)'. We are shown Archer noticing two VERY uncharacteristic things about T'Pol.

Just one of several little things that make Damage such a great episode.

 

[gblews]

The other thing I learned from this scene is that compared to T'Pol's arm, Archer's hand is HUUUUGE! These two things have surely got to be linked.

If you'll notice, pretty much everyone's hand or foot or whatever, looks huge when placed close to the very petite Jolene. Everything on this woman is tiny. Even the women looked large when placed in close proximity (Linda Park included).

The only person who looked smaller than Jolene when close to Jo, was the lady who played T'Pau. In their mindmeld scene in Kir'shara, "T'Pau's" hands actually look really small when placed on Jo's head. That was the first time I had seen that in the show's entire run.

 

[angie]

I agree with commie---it was a wonderful device that alerted us to Archer being made aware something was not right with T'Pol.The director did a fantastic job on that scene IMO as well as the whole ep!

 

[commodore64]

You know, this isn't what the topic is strictly about, but I'll add it here because it applies: I love shots and reaction shots. For example, I love the zoom in on the towel and T'Pol's shaking hand, Archer's reaction and then T'Pol's. I love moments when tons of dialogue isn't needed.

Show vs. tell. Great show moments.

 

[angie]

Me too though obviously since Ent uses tell more they felt their fans preferred it.I would also say T'pol handed Archer the towel for several reasons---she wanted some kind of contact to assure herself he was fine and she saw he was at a loss and it was a minute distraction--something for him to focus on that wasn't death or injury.

 

[commodore64]

I think she hands him the towel because the poor guy had the snot knocked out of him, he's obviously suffering and she wants to help. I wonder if T'Pol also feels a little guilty -- she was given Enterprise and ends up nearly destroying it. (Archer takes responsibility though, which is also interesting.)

You know that whole scene is good. I like Archer's reaction to the dead crewmen too.

 

[KendraW]

I never actually thought about why she did that before, I just remember the scene well.
It's almost like a weird gesture born of guilt, as if it was all she could do to say. "It's all my fault! I am so very sorry for letting this happen, take this towel, it's all I can do to make up for it right now... I'll do better" even though It wasn't her fault, there wasn't much more she could have done if she weren't on trellium.

I don't know if i buy that it was to let Archer know she was in trouble because nothing ever comes of it. He doesn't go to her quarters later and say, hey lets chat about what's bothering you, all he does is tell her to get over it. Unless it was a way to show the gravity of the situation, and how much Archer has changed, how hard the mission has made him that he must be so indifferent to the members of the crew, in any other Trek, a vulcan having an out burst like she had in the captains office would have sent them for a full check up in sick bay no questions asked. They do something similar with similitude, where archer is shown as becoming a very focused and hardened individual.

 

[angie]

Well another senior officer should have sent her to sickbay long before this not to mention Phlox should have been watching her better after Impulse. I think it was a scene device and a good one.

 

[commodore64]

I don't know if i buy that it was to let Archer know she was in trouble because nothing ever comes of it. He doesn't go to her quarters later and say, hey lets chat about what's bothering you, all he does is tell her to get over it. Unless it was a way to show the gravity of the situation, and how much Archer has changed, how hard the mission has made him that he must be so indifferent to the members of the crew, in any other Trek, a vulcan having an out burst like she had in the captains office would have sent them for a full check up in sick bay no questions asked. They do something similar with similitude, where archer is shown as becoming a very focused and hardened individual.

The difference is in Similitude, the ship wasn't nearly destroyed with 13 dead crewmen and the captain hadn't been pummeled. In Damage, the captain has his hands full. Not only are 13 crewmen dead, the ship is literaly falling apart around them and he plans something very not like him: I gotta do something I don't like to save this mission. In Damage, the captain spends the majority of his time kicking himself for what happened on Azati Prime and believing he'll fail in his mission.

In Similitude, he created Sim to take over engineering. The only thing going on was: get us out of the goo. He had more opportunity to struggle and lament.

In Damage, the outburst in his office and his response must've worked -- right away, T'Pol seeks her own help and pulls it together. In Azati Prime, Trip told her to pull it together and she ignored him ... only a few steps away from getting in the shuttle to go after Archer. Reed doesn't convince her by telling her diplomacy is foolish. And even Phlox's counsel isn't something she seeks out. So, it seems only Archer is effective in giving her a wake up call and his plea was pretty simple: I need you.

 

[angie]

The wake-up call is foreshadowed in her dream in Impulse.

 

[commodore64]

Yeah! I like Impulse's dream sequence; I think it says a lot: Archer gives her the wake up call with an order to the bridge, prompting her to leave what she believed in Horizon was a frivolous activity (watching a movie) and Phlox is the only one who can release her from her nightmare, he provides her treatment from the drugs.

 

[KendraW]

I don't know if i buy that it was to let Archer know she was in trouble because nothing ever comes of it. He doesn't go to her quarters later and say, hey lets chat about what's bothering you, all he does is tell her to get over it. Unless it was a way to show the gravity of the situation, and how much Archer has changed, how hard the mission has made him that he must be so indifferent to the members of the crew, in any other Trek, a vulcan having an out burst like she had in the captains office would have sent them for a full check up in sick bay no questions asked. They do something similar with similitude, where archer is shown as becoming a very focused and hardened individual.

The difference is in Similitude, the ship wasn't nearly destroyed with 13 dead crewmen and the captain hadn't been pummeled. In Damage, the captain has his hands full. Not only are 13 crewmen dead, the ship is literaly falling apart around them and he plans something very not like him: I gotta do something I don't like to save this mission. In Damage, the captain spends the majority of his time kicking himself for what happened on Azati Prime and believing he'll fail in his mission.

In Similitude, he created Sim to take over engineering. The only thing going on was: get us out of the goo. He had more opportunity to struggle and lament.

In Damage, the outburst in his office and his response must've worked -- right away, T'Pol seeks her own help and pulls it together. In Azati Prime, Trip told her to pull it together and she ignored him ... only a few steps away from getting in the shuttle to go after Archer. Reed doesn't convince her by telling her diplomacy is foolish. And even Phlox's counsel isn't something she seeks out. So, it seems only Archer is effective in giving her a wake up call and his plea was pretty simple: I need you.

Yeah they are two different episodes but they still are looking at how Archers is coping with the mission, by putting peoples personal well being and his morals behind him in order to accompish it. Which is fine, the job needs to get done. It sets up home well, how he struggles with what he had to do.

I'm not sure what you mean by bringing up Archer, Reed and Tucker as giving her a wake up call or not. When Archer leaves at the time she's really losing it because she's in an utter panic about being left in command when she think's she going out of her mind. When the Captain get's back she's in less of a panic and more able to analyse the last hours, At this point she must think her self a total waste of space to everyone on the ship. Surely thats a wake up call in itself.

Someone else should have carted her off to sick bay? Phlox?
I wouldn't blame Phlox, why on earth would he have reason to believe that when the inistial Trell D dissipated from her system that it show up again with out her being exposed to it, no reason what so ever. He never whitnessed her outbursts.

Maybe Tucker when she screamed at him to let her go? Yeah you're probably right but then Tucker is way to emotionally invovled in T'Pol and whitnessed her gradual decline into emotionalism during Neuro pressure for months and knows she a passionate person, and that being THAT upset about losing her friend, by now, isn't that much of an emotional leap for her. He may even suspect that it's just HIM and his presence and their situation thats the sourse of the extra agitation rather than anything that sinister.

Archer's in more of a position to step emotionally back and say WTF and he did, but didn't do anything about it! and fair enough in that episode he had alot on his plate but T'Pol had a hugh outburst one he couldn't have been prepared for and she should have been starpped to a bed and examined cell by cell. If not then, then after the nicking of the warp core or whatever it was.

I mean just think what janeway, or kirk would have done to Spock and Tuvok. Probably put them both in the brig and delt with them later, but then again thoes captains were closer to their vulcans and understood alittle more about what it was to be Vulcan. IMO

 

[angie]

I think Trip should have carted her off to sickbay before the events of AP but that is a forbidden topic.

 

[KendraW]

I think Trip should have carted her off to sickbay before the events of AP but that is a forbidden topic.

Why's it forbidden.

Well like i said, he was probably too emotionally involved, and it's harder to notice a gradual decline than one hugh outburst. IMO, like you don't notice your skin getting paler after a beach holiday but then the buddy you went with but havn't seen in a while's gonna think you're pale.