The idea of T'Pol being half-Romulan...
- Thread starter Joel_Kirk
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^ I don't think it's ridiculous we don't know T'Pol's father's name. I don't know whether most of the characters had a sibling and what his/her name was, including the captain.
On her being Romulan, I could go either way. I wouldn't want it to be a cop out though. Cop out = we want her to be emotional and so this is the only way.
On her being Romulan, I could go either way. I wouldn't want it to be a cop out though. Cop out = we want her to be emotional and so this is the only way.
I think making T'Pol's father a Romulan spy could have made for some very interesting storylines if the show had continued past season four. I don't think they should have used her being half-Romulan as an excuse for her less-than-ideal emotional control, rather that her father kind of led her onto that path during her childhood (as suggested by Mach5). Vulcans don't have a genetic predisposition towards emotional control, so it would be silly to blame her emotions on her Romulan genes.
I think the for and against posts are both valid; however, I don't believe the addition would have made T'Pol like Saavik. (They are both different characters).
It just would have opened up possibilities with the character, especially since Human/Romulan relations were still in the early stages....
It just would have opened up possibilities with the character, especially since Human/Romulan relations were still in the early stages....
Seems to me like they tried everything to make T'Pol more emotional. First she contracts P'naar Syndrome from a mindmeld, then her guilt for killing whats-his-name on Risa ("the Seventh") resurfaces when a purge ceremony fails, then she gets addicted to Trellium-D. This final instance was described as long-lasting, perhaps permanently damaging her ability to control emotions. The premise of T'Pol's father being Romulan in of itself is fine with me. But having that be the cause of her surfacing emotions is just another explaination for something that has been explained three times already.
I've always found T'pol's emotional control was tested more by being one of the first Vulcans to ever live and work so close with a totally human crew. A young space faring crew to boot, that was prone to various emotional responses as they traveled further into the dangers of the galactic territories. It's like growing up Amish and then being allowed to live in the big city with the non-Amish populace (as is an actual Amish tradition I believe) in a test of one's faith and upbringing. If it's something you've never known, never experienced, but being so exposed to so much that you may find some difficulty in maintaining you're emotional repression in a singular existence, or in the minority of a larger society of such opposing lifestyles, you may experience a difficulty to remain true to yourself, and the beliefs that once motivated you. Not to be crude, but my brother often tells the tale of working in a floral shop with a 5:1 male homosexual employent factor. My brother, being the only straight component of this small workforce, often remarks, "After six months working with these kind, funny, smart, and highly sexual people... even I felt the urge to suck a dick". I find this a compelling juxtaposition, one that T'Pol felt quite often I'm sure, regardless of her Vulcan roots... ‘when in Rome’ indeed.
Some also theory that the shadowy "future man" from the various temporal cold war arc episodes may have been revealed to be T'Pols father, a Romulan from the future, or even both... that would have been a revelation rivaling Darth Vader's patriarchal outing to Luke!!
Some also theory that the shadowy "future man" from the various temporal cold war arc episodes may have been revealed to be T'Pols father, a Romulan from the future, or even both... that would have been a revelation rivaling Darth Vader's patriarchal outing to Luke!!
Oh great! Way to spoil The Empire Strikes Back for me! I was hoping to squeeze that in among all the Star Trek I watch someday.
I think it would have lent itself well to the soap opera qualities of ENT (which was one of its strong points IMHO). I would have loved to have seen it done.
Yes, I like this too. And as a Romulan sympathizer, T'Pop would likely be a believer in much more relaxed emotional control or no emotional control, and his influence would have played neatly into T'Pol's fascination with emotion on top of her congenital disaffection with controlling her emotions.
now that might have been interesting.
i just get this well it is the only way to explain how she is.
heck we have seen a pretty wide variety of vulcans over the years.
from tpring and stonn,, to valeris, the vulcan gun runner to the renegade vulcan in tng.
there also was a rather bitchy vulcan scientist in tng and then the over bitchy arrogant captiain in ds9.
we know as far back as journey to babel that vulcans have to meditate ever day.
that to me fits in with vulcans logic and control is learned.
we also get another clue when amanda talks about the vulcan chidlren taunting spock something we later see in yesteryear.
i also have issues with tpol's father being romulan due to all the deep scans ,tests ect pholx would have had to do dealing with all the things that happened to tpol.
there are biological differences between vulcans and romulans.
There shouldn't be, though. The whole point was supposed to be that Vulcans and Romulans were one and the same, with only ideology separating them. I don't understand why TPTB decided to make the Romulans so biologically distinct from the Vulcans.
I'm sure that all those centuries of life on Romulus introduced subtle changes to their physiology. And given what the Remans looked like in NEM, the Romulan foreheads probably came from them. Or maybe it was just a minor physical trait that some Romulan sub-races had, but others did not, sort of like skin color. (we have already seen many Romulans who did not have the ridges, after all)
Maybe so, but I'm thinking more along the lines of that ep in TNG where the only crewmember aboard the Enterprise whose blood was compatible with that Romulan's was Worf, even though there was at least one Vulcan crewmember on board.
Yes Indeed that was the Ticket
But also a story you can't really do on ENT. Before 'Balance of Terror' no one knew how Romulans looked. If T'Pol learned that they actually looked like Vulcans and have infiltrated Vulcan society for a long time, would she really keep quite about it? Would she not alert the authorities?
NO Human IIRC from TOS
The Vulcans Might Have some idea
I think the Vulcans either knew or suspected the Romulans were their distant cousins, and decided not to tell anyone outside of Vulcan, even after they joined the Federation. I'd say that was partly because they weren't sure, and Vulcans usually only confirm something if they have facts to back up their suppositions.
Or if the Vulcans were sure, they're ashamed of their emotional, warlike cousins, treating them like a dark family secret they don't discuss with outsiders.
And humans already had a rocky history with Vulcans, so they may have justified keeping the secret of the Romulan/Vulcan link so as not to arouse humans' and other species distrust of Vulcans -- especially the Andorians.
Red Ranger
Somehow I doubt T'Pol would go along with covering it all up. Neither would T'Pau.
Also, shouldn't they be worried about being infiltrated by Romulans? And if they are and act accordingly, wouldn't the 'disappearance' of Vulcans raise suspicions?
Also, shouldn't they be worried about being infiltrated by Romulans? And if they are and act accordingly, wouldn't the 'disappearance' of Vulcans raise suspicions?
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