Captain Archer: did he need to be the show's punching bag?

[Devilpogostick]

I admit, I found this video amusing and cringing.

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...Okay, mostly amusing. It's hilarious for the wrong reasons.

But did the writers kinda made the mistake of making Archer a terrible fighter of sorts? I mean there are moments the man is competent but those are really far and between compared to the many many times he's gotten his ass knocked over.

I mean it's understandable. The show wants to drive home that humanity's first deep space exploration is really not a pleasure cruise. But did it have to be Archer who draws the "get my ass kicked" straw when an episode demands it? He's the captain and the guy we're following for the show's run.

You would think Reed would be the guy to take the beating for the crew...

 

[Ithekro]

It was time for the Captain to be on the receiving end of the Worf effect?

 

[Tenacity]

In the same situation, Kirk would have found a way of turning the tables.

But that's Kirk.

 

[Devilpogostick]

Yeah, I think Archer doing the Worf isn't a outright terrible idea, as it'll show his gradual growth and mature a bit more over his awareness on the dangers of the mission than he expected after leaving drydock before the ship was even ready.

But good lord, the number of beatings he took are staggering. It's perhaps a really unintentional thing of writers to put Archer in the receiving end of these events one too often that really cemented once the show ended. It's only once the show ends that a person began to count his misfortune through all four seasons and find this surprising he took a lot too many for Team Enterprise compared to the rest of the crew.

It probably could be a tad more feasible if someone else had to take the punch. Like the rather excessive beatdown Shran and his crew gave to Archer on P'Jem. I honestly can see Trip take at least share half of those beatdowns onscreen.

 

[Ithekro]

In the days when the Captain lead the away missions and took responsibility for his crew...he's the one who gets beat.

After Starfleet seems a bunch of decades of experience with this does it train its captains in serious hand to hand combat, and then you get the likes of Captain Kirk.

As more decades pass, and some captains start to get themselves killed on away missions, Starfleet decide that not everyone is Captain Kirk and pulled regulation on them so that a starship captain should not lead away missions anymore.

 

[Tenacity]

Archer getting beaten up could be seen as emphasizing that the man is in over his head and frequently just plain doesn't know what he's doing.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Or as a metaphor for the many criticisms the show faces.

 

[Devilpogostick]

Archer getting beaten up could be seen as emphasizing that the man is in over his head and frequently just plain doesn't know what he's doing.

My point exactly, yet I think my slight gripe is the sheer excessiveness from it. Though later on, Archer does show a slight improvement as seen with his fight with Shran in Unshaan though he took quite the beating from that before getting the upper hand but we can account that with Shran being the experienced fighter.

But man, did the early stuff felt hilarious to watch in a gallows humor sort of way.

 

[Voth commando1]

Recall originally Archer didn't even want weapons on the ship. The man wasn't really a fighter, or a soldier, a spy or even a peaceful guy who sometimes had to get his hands dirty. Archer is an idealistic explorer a man that believes in progress, human vitality, reason and some old fashioned "faith of the heart."

By the end of season 4 when he is talking to Hernandez you can see the Xindi crisis, the temporal conflicts, and other things he's gotten into have clearly changed who he is.

 

[marsh8472]

I made the same video then found out that other guy beat me to it after I had already made mine but I think he missed a couple of scenes in his

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[Prax]

Can someone make a video showing the opposite? Most of these happen while Archer is being "interrogated" Or captured in some way. I always got the impression that he was pretty tough...or at least became a hard*** after he got over his naive stage.

 

[Leviathan]

Punching bag?

Miles O'brien would like a word with the dear captain....

 

[Spot261]

Can someone make a video showing the opposite? Most of these happen while Archer is being "interrogated" Or captured in some way. I always got the impression that he was pretty tough...or at least became a hard*** after he got over his naive stage.

That situation arises an awful lot though...

To me it comes down to Archer simply not being a violent man, or well suited to it. Kirk, Sisko, Janeway, even Picard all had at least the capacity for tactical roles. Archer just seemed ill suited to that aspect of the job, as frankly did his entire crew. Granted they were on a steep learning curve, but the introduction of the MACOs really was a much needed sadety net.

 

[Long Syntax]

I think that ST fans have a preconception that the captain of a vessel named Enterprise should be able to kick any aliens butt. I for one always found that assertion silly and in fact found it humorous that Kirk seemed to be able to whip everyone. I kinda found it refreshing that a series took a fresh look at the reality of human strength when compared to other species. Do we really think, especially on our first steps into deep space, that we would be the dominate ones?

My analysis, Archer was awesome - even if he did get beat up.

 

[Ghel]

Agreed. I, for one, appreciated that Archer wasn't necessarily a great fighter. I also liked that he always didn't make the "right" or heroic decision. He was human adn the character was more interesting for it.

 

[Nyotarules]

Starfleet seemed to be more like NASA and less like the armed forces, but its naive to send inexperienced humans into unexplored space with no combat skills whatsoever. Idiots! Not everyone wants to say hello with a smile.

 

[ALF]

The more you rewatch Enterprise, the more in awe you are with how many episodes disintegrate into the Archer-gets-pummeled trope. The NX-01 should have had a boxing ring just off the bridge so that alien friends new and old could fashion their knuckles on good old punching bag Archer.

 

[Prax]

The more you rewatch Enterprise, the more in awe you are with how many episodes disintegrate into the Archer-gets-pummeled trope. The NX-01 should have had a boxing ring just off the bridge so that alien friends new and old could fashion their knuckles on good old punching bag Archer.

It really depends. How often does he win? Off the top of my head:

• He beats up an alien from the "V" miniseries in the episode "Civilization"
• He beats up a cowboy in "North Star"
• He beats up a lizard man in "Zero Hour"
• He beats up Shran in "United"

I'll have to make a list.

Meanwhile.....I have made a list for Kirk, using the same criteria as the video above. Here's a list of people who pummel Kirk:

• Gary Mitchell
• Ummm...Kirk
• A giant named Ruk
• A group of orphan children
• An old academy bully named Finnegan
• Captain Gorn
• A Landru-ian lawgiver
• Khan
• 2 Eminiarian Guards
• Spock (under the influence of Kolomi spores)
• Spock (under the influence of the Ponn Far)
• Mirror Chekov's henchman
• Spock (under the influence of an evil goatee)
• An Andorian named Thelev(well, not REALLY an Andorian)
• Triskelion slaves
• A Triskelion slave named Shahna
• A Mugato beast
• A primitive sorceress named Nona
• Rojan the Kelvin
• A Yang savage named Cloud William
• Captain Ron Tracey
• Captain Ron Tracey again.

OK, I have to stop. I'll add season 3 later...

 

[CmndrSela318]

From this page of TV Tropes
James Bondage: While previous captains had certainly had their share of captivity, with Archer it is almost predictable, along with the fact that he will also get the snot beaten out of him.

I've been watching Enterprise for free on Amazon Instant Video. It is a Prime Video show which means if you have a Prime membership, you can watch without having to buy it first. Since my Prime membership expired, I now have to buy the episodes to watch them. It did seem, to me, like just about every other episode he was getting captured and/or "the snot beaten out of him." I actually feel sorrier for Archer than Kirk, Picard and Sisko put together. Notice I left out Janeway. Can't honestly say one way or the other about her because the only 2 Voyager episodes I've seen are the last episode of Voyager's season 3 and the first episode of Voyager's season 4. The 2 episodes where Jeri Ryan joins the show.
To sum up this post: Poor Archer.

 

[bajorangirl]

I always thought it was to show that nothing was below Archer. He took some of the burden and responsibility off the crew. (I'm not really expressing myself well) but like in today's world. The manager/boss sits at the top of the building while all the lackies below do all the hard graft and take all the s**t. I felt Archer didn't want to be like this and tried in some respect to be 'in' with the rest of the crew. (Basically being a good boss)