Hi. There was a thread about Malcolm being a wimp in page 2 that I wanted to reply to but for some reason it was closed.
I just wanted to add my bit and that is that the character of Reed is a very stereotypical example of what British army officers are like, (I assume navy officers are cut from similar cloth). He's well educated, having been to an expensive public (ie: private fee-paying) boarding school where he probably felt isolated as a child, he comes from a military/naval background, possibly even has aristocratic family connections, etc. Keating is perfectly cast as this kind of character. He himself even had some army experience when he was 17 doing some army training at Sandhurst, like so many public schoolboys do. Keating also went to a boarding school and also has military family connections. He understands this kind of man.
To understand what kind of person Reed is, or would aim to be, look at Bear Grylls. Bear Grylls is a fearless ex-SAS, (allegedly) French Foreign Legion trained British survival expert and although he's much more confident than Reed's character, he's exactly the kind of person he's meant to portray, that is, the archetypal British military specimin. Even though Reed is more of a tactical blowing things up type of expert, he would have loved Bear Grylls, as they're cut from the same cloth.
As for the other complaints directed at Reed being a wimp, the fact is that he's a tactical security officer, not an actual bruiser himself, like Worf is. If we'd seen more of Reed's trained security team, then we would have understood that he's the brains behind security on Enterprise, not the brawn.
Again, it comes down to dumbed down writing for these characters. I would have liked to have seen many more examples of job-related conflict on Enterprise. I think Reed would have been very annoyed at the many examples when his position as chief of security was compromised, like when Daniels first appears and starts running all over the ship chasing that Suliban. I can't believe Reed wasn't informed first about this, but no, Archer tells the Science Officer and the Engineer first that there are aliens on the ship! I find that bizarre. I think Reed would have been enraged.
Anyway, he's no wimp. To me, he one of the most realistic characters on the show. He's not actually an Action Man figure and he has his head properly screwed on. Sure, he's arrogant and smug sometimes but I also think sometimes he's the only person who fully comprehends the magnitude of what's going on. Archer is too naive, in my opinion. That kind of idealistic character would get himself killed pretty quickly. If Reed had matured with experience and risen through the ranks, I think he'd make a far more sensible Captain than Archer.
I just wanted to add my bit and that is that the character of Reed is a very stereotypical example of what British army officers are like, (I assume navy officers are cut from similar cloth). He's well educated, having been to an expensive public (ie: private fee-paying) boarding school where he probably felt isolated as a child, he comes from a military/naval background, possibly even has aristocratic family connections, etc. Keating is perfectly cast as this kind of character. He himself even had some army experience when he was 17 doing some army training at Sandhurst, like so many public schoolboys do. Keating also went to a boarding school and also has military family connections. He understands this kind of man.
To understand what kind of person Reed is, or would aim to be, look at Bear Grylls. Bear Grylls is a fearless ex-SAS, (allegedly) French Foreign Legion trained British survival expert and although he's much more confident than Reed's character, he's exactly the kind of person he's meant to portray, that is, the archetypal British military specimin. Even though Reed is more of a tactical blowing things up type of expert, he would have loved Bear Grylls, as they're cut from the same cloth.
As for the other complaints directed at Reed being a wimp, the fact is that he's a tactical security officer, not an actual bruiser himself, like Worf is. If we'd seen more of Reed's trained security team, then we would have understood that he's the brains behind security on Enterprise, not the brawn.
Again, it comes down to dumbed down writing for these characters. I would have liked to have seen many more examples of job-related conflict on Enterprise. I think Reed would have been very annoyed at the many examples when his position as chief of security was compromised, like when Daniels first appears and starts running all over the ship chasing that Suliban. I can't believe Reed wasn't informed first about this, but no, Archer tells the Science Officer and the Engineer first that there are aliens on the ship! I find that bizarre. I think Reed would have been enraged.
Anyway, he's no wimp. To me, he one of the most realistic characters on the show. He's not actually an Action Man figure and he has his head properly screwed on. Sure, he's arrogant and smug sometimes but I also think sometimes he's the only person who fully comprehends the magnitude of what's going on. Archer is too naive, in my opinion. That kind of idealistic character would get himself killed pretty quickly. If Reed had matured with experience and risen through the ranks, I think he'd make a far more sensible Captain than Archer.
