I'm of two minds on "Marauders"... what are your thoughts?

[Gaith]

I really need to stop overstating bad things.

Except maybe TATV. I should maybe probably kinda sorta warn her on that one. Maybe.

I don't think it's possible to overstate how bad that one is. The only good part is the closing montage with the three Enterprises.

The return of Phlox's super-smile and Archer hugging Polly was nice.

And, apart from being ludicrously entertaining, at least if one doesn't like ANIS, one can ignore it ever happening, as none of it is referred to again. Whereas I fear we haven't seen the last of attraction/angst between Banner and Romanoff... (But then, with Whedon out, maybe we have?)

... Wait, this isn't the guilty pleasures thread? We're surfing through the space between spaces!

 

[Mach5]

Don't worry, it wasn't really meant for you

I still kinda wanna know what you meant.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Then came A Night in Sickbay, and the whole caravan of crappy episodes followed, which was also followed by an inevitable ratings decline.

Season 2 pretty much doomed the show.

You might want to watch that line of talk before someone thinks you're being rude and not socially aware and considerate for others.

I don't follow.

Don't worry, it wasn't really meant for you

I saw what you did there, Dukhat. Let it go, please.

 

[Mach5]

Don't worry, it wasn't really meant for you

I saw what you did there, Dukhat. Let it go, please.

Oh

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Sure, it has the unfortunate thread of the Archer-T'Pol sexual tension, but on the positive side, it puts a decisive end to that tension by forcing Archer to confront it and move beyond it.

Thank god! That way the series can hand her over to Trip.

Except the thing with Trip didn't begin until a year later.

So? If Archer's girl problem had continued the handing of T'Pol over to Trip would have included Archer being jealous. I cannot imagine anything more painful than that would have been. Archer was already looking like an idiot rather too often because the writers didn't understand the difference between 'inexperienced' and 'stupid', that would have killed the poor guy.

It's nice that by the time Trip and T'Pol hooked up Archer had forgotten about that silliness and was bonding with his ship like proper Starfleet captains are supposed to do.

 

[Christopher]

The point is that there was more to T'Pol's arc than just what guy was interested in her. It's not like they ended the Archer thing for the specific purpose of transferring her to Trip; rather, they got it out of the way because it was going nowhere and just got in the way, and afterward they focused on aspects of T'Pol's character that weren't involved with romance or sex (for the most part, "Bounty" being an unfortunate exception). It wasn't until the third season that we even started to see hints of anything between T'Pol and Trip. Putting it in terms of "handing her over" is not only chronologically misleading, but unpleasantly objectifying, as if she were merely a piece of property with no choice in the matter. That's a total mischaracterization; after all, it was she who initiated the sexual relationship with Trip, and it was mostly her decisions that affected the progress of their relationship later on.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Yes it is a mischaracterization that the writers themselves were guilty of.

Don't worry, if Archer had had actual romances I would have talked about who they handed him over to.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

For my money, T'Pol's the most fascinating character on the show, except when she isn't. For the better part of 98 hours of television she's terrific, except when she's relegated to Breast Awareness Week, or, BAW. She has a discernible arc, Blalock knocks many of her most pivotal moments out of the park, she's well-written from the outset, and dammit I've got a thing for the "outsider" archetype and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Spock, Data, Odo, Seven, The Doctor, Teal'c, so many of the best Star Trek characters (don't say it, I'm aware) are on the outside looking in at this whole "humanity" schtick, and I think T'Pol could have never even had a thing with Trip and she'd still have been pretty much perfect.

Although I came to rather appreciate their relationship, too, so win-win.

 

[Christopher]

Yes it is a mischaracterization that the writers themselves were guilty of.

Err, no, it isn't, for the reasons I already explained. It doesn't fit what actually happened in the show.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

They dangled A/T in front of us, OOOOOoo Captain and his Number One.

Then they took it away and moved T'Pol over to Trip. I mean, look at her! She obviously needed to be romanced at some point.

Then they took THAT away. Well, they tried to. We know in our hearts they failed even if they manically laughed at us in the finale because T/T had APPARENTLY never gone past a one night stand.

TPTB were dicks.

 

[eyeresist]

It's nice that by the time Trip and T'Pol hooked up Archer had forgotten about that silliness and was bonding with his ship like proper Starfleet captains are supposed to do.

That sounds kind of dirty.

A Night in Sick Bay was mostly awkward, cringeworthy, and borderline offensive. It actually made me feel uncomfortable.

Offensive how? Because Porthos peed on a tree? I'd rather have a slightly off-colour set up than a morally offensive ending like Dear Doctor.

Edit: Or you mean the breast remark. I had no problem with that. People have breasts. And Archer only made his faux pas under extreme duress. It was a character moment, not a Benny Hill moment.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

It's nice that by the time Trip and T'Pol hooked up Archer had forgotten about that silliness and was bonding with his ship like proper Starfleet captains are supposed to do.

That sounds kind of dirty.

"And this ship. All this power, surging and throbbing, yet under control. Are you like that, Captain?"

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

What is going on here!

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The play's the thing.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Yeah, well, murder has no tongue, so there.

...that sounded a lot darker than I'd anticipated.

 

[Goji]

Yes it is a mischaracterization that the writers themselves were guilty of.

Don't worry, if Archer had had actual romances I would have talked about who they handed him over to.

At least Mirror Archer had Mirror Hoshi... until she killed him. Guy just couldn't catch a break in either universe.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

What a man needs is a dog and a spaceship, dammit. I've been through my fair share of long-term relationships, and I'm thinking "dog and a spaceship" more and more with each passing year. Archer's fine.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

No what a man needs is a dog, a spaceship and a holodeck

As Goji said Archer just couldn't catch a break.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Touche.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

btw Jeff O'Connor it's nice to see you back. I remember you from some years ago on this forum and you were always a lively poster!