oh man!! i LOVED this ep... i gave it a solid A!!
wanna know why?? no?? too bad.... this is probably going to turn into a review instead, so i apologize in advance....
ok, first of all, i really liked travis in this ep, so i will talk about that stuff first...
ok, first of all, to ANYONE who said he can't act, i wanna have a word with you..... he is a really good actor! i was almost surprised.... and the guest actors were a little shaky at first, but they really seemed like an actual family... the writing AND the acting were right on in that area.... i have seen WAY too many TV "families" that seem like they wish they didn't have to play relatives, but these actors all did very well!
and as for travis... (well, anthony montgomery), he actually LOOKED genuinely sadwehn him and archer were talking... it didn't look like they'd just put teardrop stuff in his eyes... his face reflected that as well, and me and my sis would have cried had the next scene not been so funny!...
speaking of that scene.... trip and tpol in this ep.... they were GREAT!!!! oh man, what to say first...
i'll start in their first scene... the first total flirt fest since carbon creek, if i do say so myself.... and trip looked fairly nervous about asking her to the movie... it was clear from his facial expressions that he wanted to ask if she'd go with HIM, but was too nervous to... and i also noted from tpol's face that she KNEW he was trying to ask her out.... (i've seen people do this in real life, their facial expressions were right on!)... but i don't think HE knew that SHE could tell.... also in this scene, i noted that they were trying to avoid eye contact (which also happened at dinner later, but i'll get to that) and also that tpol clearly wanted to go with him, but didn't want to see a MOVIE.... she DID suggest other options later, after all (without actually turning him down... again, i'll get to that)....
in fact, i'll get to it right now.... in the scene where tpol suggests to trip that reading the book would be best, and then he basically said "fine, you don't have to go with me if ya don't want to" and huffs off, looking quite dissapointed and a little depressed (again, i've seen that look on real life folks' faces before, and it's quite an obvious one, and he completely nails it).... but then. of course archer comes in and basically orders her to go with him, and she looks ready to faint from disgust and shock... and she goes with him (very reluctantly... much more reluctantly, i might add, than she agreed to go with trip... he merely suggested, and she agreed after a few minutes of convincing, while archer had to basically order he and she didn't want to at all... take THAT A/Ters...

)... in any case, i REALLY don't even think that took away from teh T/T because she didn't even WANT to really go AND he seemed to be asking her more as a pesky dad trying to get his kid to go DO something for once that a guy askin a girl out (i mean, come on,
I would NOT go out with someone if they asked me like that... sorry guys, that method just DOESN'T work.....)... plus, her reaction was just hilarious "i beg your pardon?!" oh man, me and my sis were dyin'...
and THEN came the movie.... her grabbin the popcorn all huffy was hilarious.... i think she was so huffy BECAUSE she would have to take it with her hands.... AND because archer were basically bein a jerk and MAKING her do something that she REALLY didn't want to do....
and a little side comment... archer was pretty much a jerk for askin her... even if he WASN'T really asking her out on a date (even though he SAID date).... it was still REALLY rude, having SEEN trip leave and having probably KNOWN she had originally decided to go with trip, to ask her out after that... i mean, if i were trip, i would NOT be happy at all.....
ok, back to the movie... tpol tellin phlox to shut up was really funny, as was their scene earlier... when tpol said that she wished it was something more serious, i was dyin'.... as i also was when she said she'd be back with a headache later...!!
now, onto dinner.... it was ONCE AGAIN obvoius trip and tpol were trying to avoid eye contact (i've done it before, folks.... i know what they were doin').... and i think trip and tpol were each DELIBERATELY talking to archer so as to avoid eye contact further....
CLEARLY, i like all teh T/T in this ep... and we found out archer's only a jerk when he wants to be (as he was REALLY good when talking to travis..... i mean i was SURPRISED at how nice and sincere he at least sounded....)...
ok, now that i'm FINALLY done with all the character stuff that i loved, onto the actual STORY....
ok, the ONLY thing that bugged me (but kinda didn't) was how they didn't wrap up the whole volcanoes thing (i mean, it was dumb and boring, so i REALLY didn't care, but just cuz i feel like complainin' about it, i will

)....
and i thought the cargo "ship" without the cargo was really cool (i NEVER thought it would be that small.....)... and i thought the alien attack was handled well, and was NOT a boring rehash of fortunate son (which i kinda feared at first)... i was very relieved... in fact, i liked it this time around!!
ok, did i miss anything?? probably, but i hope not...
all in all, this is tied with singularity, future tense, the catwalk, dead stop, and shuttlepod one for #1 on my list!!! (ok, i'm an indecicive person....)
EDIT: HOW COULD I FORGET??? tpol teasing trip and archer about telling soval to watch it had us dyin' as well.... i don't rememebr who wrote this (i know i could check, but that would require effort), but they should just REPLACE B&B instead of just writing SOMETIMES... unless it WAS B&B, in which case they finally made a good one... but i didn't think it was...
ALso, malcolm's comment about ihs dysfunctional family was hilarious (reminds me of my family

)