Trip & T'Pol: The Good That They Do

[Evalyn]

For me it was SNW. Their interaction there was so intense with the USR that they didn't even get - but at the same time a budding comprehension of each other as people and as cultures - kind of a metaphor for the whole human/vulcan thing (much more so than Archer/T'Pol in my mind).

 

[Captain X]

Attraction? Trip was probably attracted as soon as she walked through the door in Broken Bow.

 

[boushh]

Great post tothebridge. I agree with a lot of what you wrote.

tothebridge said:
Well, I think this is where the timing issues come into play. From various interviews, comments, etc., it seems like the addiction arc was conceived later in the season after some of these earlier episodes were already written and filmed. So in Manny’s “Similitude” commentary, when he talks about wanting to focus more on the feelings between T/T and about how T’Pol’s knowledge that Trip’s in love with her will have implications for later episodes (e.g., Harbinger), the trellium storyline doesn’t seem to be a factor at all.

Hhmmm, I always thought that they may have had an idea of the Trellium arc earlier in the season but didn't want to tip their hand too early... perhaps even only certain people may have knonw it was going to play out in that direction. When thinking of "Similitude" one wonders if Manny even knew the direction they were going to go in at that point since he was a newbie... It's possible that the producers and director and/or JB knew, hence the slightly more emotional moments T'Pol has in that episode... because this is post "Impulse" and if one looks at things the way ttb posts below, she may have residual TD in her system or was already messing around with it.

On the other hand, the idea that T’Pol took the trellium because she wanted to get closer to Trip but didn’t know how also seems a bit odd from a timing standpoint. Based on what she told Phlox, T’Pol could’ve started taking the trellium as early as “The Shipment” timeframe, but I don’t remember many scenes in that timeframe that suggested she was having trouble interacting with Trip. In fact, one of the “flirtiest” scenes between them in S3 happened before T’Pol was even exposed to the trellium (i.e., movie night scene at the start of “Impulse”).

I think it was more along the lines of what you posted later... after she was exposed to the TD and it started to wear off. I don't think she necessarily needed the TD to get closer to him, but perhaps she felt that it would give her the extra push she needed to be able to relate a bit better to Trip and the other humans on the ship. And of course her curious nature regarding emotions and humans probably came into play as well.

I love that scene.

Anyhow, the dialogue from “Damage” indicates that as T’Pol’s exposure to trellium in “Impulse” began to wear off, she was able to access certain emotions and wanted more -- so she began to inject small amounts. After she began injecting those amounts, apparently, her interactions with the crew (especially Trip as Phlox notes) improved, so she continued to take it, eventually becoming addicted. I tend to think that she initially took the trellium because she wanted to experience and/or explore her emotions with a certain degree of control. And once she found out about Trip’s feelings and started thinking about their relationship differently, that probably became a prime motivator (along with the addictive properties) for her continuing. But there’s certainly room for interpretation on this issue, considering the minimal lack of build up to the addiction storyline.

While there is room for interpretation, the way you stated it above is more or less how I look at it.

And 800 screen caps?? Holy cow!

unchienne, I first thought that T/T might have the right kind of chemistry early on... as early as Broken Bow, Strange New World and Unexpected just to name a few episodes early in season 1. They seemed to have a lot of things going for them in that the actors seemed to be able to successfully deal with the different types of material that was being presented to them. They just clicked for me from the very beginning. I thought they'd be the ones to watch for an interesting dynamic to develop.

 

[Pensive]

The first time I think I might have assumed something was going on was Broken Bow (half nekkid, rubbing each other down with gel in decon?!)

Kinda OT but I have to vent: I just watched "Precious Cargo" this evening and screamed "OH COME ON... does he have to boink every hot humanoid? HONESTLY..." [/rant]

(although...he DOES cuddle afterwards ...wait, what's that sound? *grabs phase pistol to defend self against impending ovary attack*)

 

[boushh]

^^

#1 That's one of my worst episodes of the series... it's practically unwatchable to me. Even half-dressed Trip can't save it.

#2 I think she's the only girl aside from T'Pol that he did "boink", as we assume that they went there. I mean who else counts even just prior to this episode?

 

[JohnV]

What about Lizard Girl when he got pregnant?

Might not be boinking to us, but looks like it was boinking to them.

 

[boushh]

I'm not sure that quite counts. His intention wasn't to get physical with this woman, he wasn't aware of what was happening and it seems like all he ended up being was a sort of surrogate to this baby that contained none of his DNA...

 

[Captain X]

Yeah, basically he got raped and didn't even know it until stuff started to change with his body.

 

[Reanok]

Great post Tothebridge. Strange New World has so many levels your dealing with when it comes to Trip& T'Pol dealing with them as people and human and Vulcans.To get over their preconceptions. That T'Pol forgave him for his behavior the morning after that she shot him with the phaser to protect herself from his paranoia.The conversation about Mr. Velik is one of my favorite scenes from that show. It was a turning point in their scenes showed the chemistry between these 2 characters and ahat great acting Connor & Jolene did in this episode.

 

[boushh]

There was a favorite fanfic thread that was up for a bit yesterday and it got me thinking, since we have some new ENT and T/T fans around maybe we could list some of our favorite fanfics, videos, episodes, T/T moments like we used to do every now and then back in the day.

Anyone feel like recommending something for the newbies and for the oldbies too?

Anyway, I'll start by recommending the first T/T fanfic I ever read: Miscommunication by Ragua

It was recommended to me when I first started posting around at the various boards so I'll recommend it today... That's me being sentimental I guess. It's a great, fun read.

 

[Pensive]

Stellar idea, boushh -- I've been digging through HoT archives reading things, but there are likely fics that y'all like that aren't there.

 

[Captain X]

Pretty much anything by Rigil Kent, Blackn'blue, and Zane Gray. Dinah's "The Thorn and the Rose" is pretty durn good too, though it's heavy on the angst.

If you're looking for some good smut though, Stubadingdong and enterprikayak have some pretty good stories that I've read.

 

[JohnV]

The Reconnecting Series by Hopeful Romantic .

I also like Rigel Kent , and I recently read all of Blackn'Blue and liked that as well.

I guess you need to go to Triaxiansilk to get the latest fanfiction.

I don't understand how fanfiction.net is organized, so I don't go there much.

Are there any other sites?

 

[Captain X]

[shameless plug]TrekOnline.org[/shameless plug]

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Thank you, JohnV.

I second the rec for Ragua's Miscommunication. It's one of the first Enterprise stories I read also, and I could hardly put it down. Truly a masterpiece of humor, character, and style. It's a long one, though, so if you're looking for something shorter... well, anything by Ragua is great. But another of my favorites is Stand-Up Guys.

I agree that fanfiction.net can be a nutty joint to navigate, but our Jenna and her staff helped out T/T fans by organizing a C2 community with T/T and Trip fanfiction listed in one place, so you don't have to slog through everything else.

 

[Pensive]

Just watched "Horizon" and had to give major kudos to kalysto and tothebridge's posts about the ep. The caps were PERFECTLY captioned, so I actually had y'all in mind when I got to this episode today! This ep is probably the first real obvious start of T/T stuff, although the fic-writer in me was intrigued by Trip and Archer's interaction just after T'Pol's book club suggestion as well:

Trip looks back, "pfft, dramatic reading, you kiddin' me..."

Archer sees something got under Trip's skin

Trip looks back AGAIN, still disgusted/incredulous at the Vulcan's suggestion

Archer looks at T'Pol (likely going about her calibration business) and realizes it's her

Now that he's leaving....

This is the cap that gets me... is it "oh boy how to fix this mess?" or "time to make your move Archer" or...? It could be read multiple ways, depending on how we interpret Archer's feelings toward T'Pol.

His decision is made, he swoops in and invites T'Pol himself

 

[Captain X]

Pensive said:
Just watched "Horizon" and had to give major kudos to kalysto and tothebridge's posts about the ep. The caps were PERFECTLY captioned, so I actually had y'all in mind when I got to this episode today! This ep is probably the first real obvious start of T/T stuff, although the fic-writer in me was intrigued by Trip and Archer's interaction just after T'Pol's book club suggestion as well:

Trip looks back, "pfft, dramatic reading, you kiddin' me..."

Archer sees something got under Trip's skin

Trip looks back AGAIN, still disgusted/incredulous at the Vulcan's suggestion

Archer looks at T'Pol (likely going about her calibration business) and realizes it's her

Now that he's leaving....

This is the cap that gets me... is it "oh boy how to fix this mess?" or "time to make your move Archer" or...? It could be read multiple ways, depending on how we interpret Archer's feelings toward T'Pol.

His decision is made, he swoops in and invites T'Pol himself

I noticed that myself, which is why I stand by my analysis that the so-called "date" wasn't for Archer, it was for Trip to try and make him feel better because he was obviously upset by T'Pol's refusal to go to the movie.

 

[Pensive]

Captain X said:
I noticed that myself, which is why I stand by my analysis that the so-called "date" wasn't for Archer, it was for Trip to try and make him feel better because he was obviously upset by T'Pol's refusal to go to the movie.

Trip's look while they are watching the movie is gold as well... I mean I know *I* would be frustrated if the person I tried to coax into a movie date not only basically blew me off, but went with my best friend instead

(Then again, T'Pol agreed after Archer's "dinner first" approach, maybe the way to a Vulcan's heart is through their stomach? )

p.s. this whole exchange makes me think that maybe Trip has been talking to Archer about his feelings (I can't prove that.......yet.....)

 

[pookha]

considering jon invited trip into the post movie get together i wondered if he invited tpol to try and attempt peace between the two.
and because he had been on her for awhile to mingle more with the crew.. all the way back to catwalk.

back to harbinger for a moment.
just how much planning goes into not wearing pjammas.
i easily see it as a spur of the moment impulsive thing myself.
it is also interesting to reflect tpol coming from a society that not only is emotionally controlled but also were mates are selected for them isnt prepared for dating ect..

someone from that type of society can have very different reactions from say normal american society.
add in tpol that the trell was unleashing a bit of the primal vulcan which is demanding claim your mate..
no wonder she felt awkard the next morning.
and considering how they tease each other i wonder if that is what she was trying to do with that line only to see it blow up and she felt even more awkard.

considering the planet the princess was from in precious cargo and other things if one has seen the perfect mate one dosnt know how responsible trip was for what happened.
there has even been fan fiction written around this that the princess empathically picked up on how trip and tpol reacted to each other sometimes and was reflecting this to trip.

 

[Pensive]

pookha said:
considering jon invited trip into the post movie get together i wondered if he invited tpol to try and attempt peace between the two.
and because he had been on her for awhile to mingle more with the crew.. all the way back to catwalk.

A good observation .. maybe Archer was trying to play matchmaker in a roundabout way?

it is also interesting to reflect tpol coming from a society that not only is emotionally controlled but also were mates are selected for them isnt prepared for dating ect..

add in tpol that the trell was unleashing a bit of the primal vulcan which is demanding claim your mate..
no wonder she felt awkard the next morning.

Now see, THAT is worthy of a slice of pecan pie, my friend. Good point about the teasing as well. :thumbsup:

considering the planet the princess was from in precious cargo and other things if one has seen the perfect mate one dosnt know how responsible trip was for what happened.
there has even been fan fiction written around this that the princess empathically picked up on how trip and tpol reacted to each other sometimes and was reflecting this to trip.

!! Is this fic archived somewhere? My curiosity is piqued now......



Happy Saturday everyone, I am off to the pool