2x07 – “The Seventh”
The seventh or so time T’Pol’s character is made into a weakling
After reading the reviews for this episode, I really wasn’t expecting all that much, and I can see now that I wasn’t disappointed. …Or, I was, depending on how you look at it.
Actually, had I not known a thing about this episode I might have thought this was another Evil Vulcans episode, but even still, right off the bat with the teaser it would be easy to sense just how contrived this episode was. Sure, it was meant to confuse us and to be dramatic, sort of revive the whole “T’Pol is a spy” thing. Turns out she was one, but given the way she acted I can’t really see why, or rather I can see why she isn’t anymore. Which just begs the question even more why the Vulcan High Command put her back on a 17 year old assignment that had had such an adverse affect on her psychology before? Coupled with their sour feelings we’ve been led to believe the VHC has about her over the P’Jem incident, staying on the human ship, etc, I have to wonder why they would have wanted her anywhere near a delegate operation like this. It just doesn’t make sense, it’s not “logical”. Why not send an active agent instead of one who couldn’t do the job 17 years ago? Oh, it’s a “matter of honor” we’re told, and “very Vulcan”.
Yeah right!
And so begins the weakening of T’Pol’s character, yet again, so Archer can be made to look better.
Though, my point about Archer’s abusiveness is made by his snootiness to her when she went to him for reasons I can’t possibly fathom. (As an aside I was rather amused when T’Pol asserted herself by blocking off Captain Asshole’s water polo game.
) While he is right to ask questions being as it is his ship and his equipment and his pilot, his attitude was wholly unjustified, and just came off as generally mocking. I guess this is a step up from his usual treatment of her, and he does behave himself for the most part for the rest of the episode, but I just don’t get why T’Pol would trust the man who has done so much wrong to her, everything from the P’Jem incident, to getting her raped and then letting the rapist go, to his daily treatment of her. Trust him?
I guess you could almost say Super!Archer! made a return here, but it wasn’t quite as bad as that – aside from him being right all the time in this episode and having to constantly come to weakened T’Pol’s rescue all the time
there was nothing especially super about him in this episode.
Speaking once again about T’Pol’s character being weakened yet again, she acted pretty much completely out of character in this episode. Aside from acting schizophrenic and just generally being stupid and acting impulsively, she was very un-Vulcan in the way she recalled her story (“20 meters, perhaps 12”?
), her mannerisms, etc. While I imagine the spook stuff was supposed to flesh out her character more, it just didn’t jive here and given the poor execution it completely failed. Having her remember what at first comes off as a rape, and turns out to be a voluntary memory erasure was degrading to her given that she actually has been raped (albeit mentally), and the implications are just as bad that she would even have to go through that procedure. It once again brings up the question of why the Vulcans put her back on this assignment. Furthermore, Senator Kelly’s (*cough*
) story getting to T’Pol when Archer was able to see right through it further weakened her character in order to strengthen his, and the bit with the fire was just..ugh…better forgotten, but it does cry Super!Archer! in that he once again had to come to her rescue.
Later, Archer is proven right
again when Senator Kelly turns out to be a bad guy after all. It’s pretty good that Archer has to remind T’Pol what her job is too, and then there’s that whole confession bit.
I guess some plusses are that T’Pol’s presence on Risa is finally suitably explained, though I still shudder at the immaturity of that scene a few episodes back. I also liked Trip’s concern at his friends and shipmates being gone, and later on I liked his attempt at his own “captain’s mess” with Reed and Phlox. Unfortunately this was ruined in fairly short order.
It just really gets to me that Trip was made so inept at command, as if Archer is the only person capable of making decisions on the ship.
Not only does this make one wonder how exactly he’s an 0-5 in a command position (being
Chief Engineer and all), but it’s totally contrary to how we’ve seen him handle being in command of the ship before. It was a foolish attempt at comedy relief at the cost of Trip’s character, and it was out of place given the drama surrounding T’Pol’s mission.
Anyway, I find this episode to be pointless, contrived, and thankfully easily forgettable. For as long as this review turned out to be, I really can’t work up the amount of anger that some others have for this episode. Maybe it’s because I’m too busy being pissed at work or something, but today I just feel somewhat apathetic towards this episode as well as the next one (which I just watched in case you were wondering). Anyway, only 1/10 for this episode.
