Seems I missed a lot of interesting dicussion.
A few thoughts to add to the mix....
JiNX-01 said:
I don't care if she learns to love showers or develops an allergy to soap. I object to the idea that T'Pol is doing her damndest to become human (gee, that theme AGAIN? ). I want her to remain Vulcan. I don't want to see three years of constant exposure to human beings undoing 60+ years of being a Vulcan. They are different from us. Not just sociologically, but physically. Their minds are different, their nervous systems are different, their social structure is different.
My impression of T’Pol was that she hadn’t necessarily spent 60+ years being a “typical” Vulcan – perhaps outwardly she had tried to conform to Vulcan norms and expectations, but it seemed she had struggled with her Vulcan identity long before she came to ENT.
The issue of her emotions being close to the surface as well as her curiosity and interest in emotions was introduced in S1 and later more details were filled in, which suggested that T’Pol was “different” from the typical Vulcan, and her struggle with that difference and the prospect of finding balance seemed to be essential elements of her arc.
With that in mind, when T’Pol (who has a predilection for emotion) came to ENT and found herself surrounded by the more emotional humans, it makes sense to me that at some point, she might start to explore that element of her makeup. Especially in S3, after essentially cutting ties with Vulcan and allying with the humans, I can understand that perhaps she felt the need to relate to humans on their terms (and one human in particular with whom she was spending a great deal of personal and intimate time). And in doing so, she started to gravitate even more towards human behaviors, using the trellium in a way that would help her relate.
That’s why I don’t have a problem with her dream having more of a “human” context. In S3, T’Pol was probably as far from her Vulcan roots as she had ever been, and she had been trying to explore her emotions, so I can see how her subconscious might conjure up a human context for sensuality since that was how she seemed to be trying to relate to Trip.
Yeah, maybe she would learn to really enjoy showers as a sensual experience, but this all goes back to the same fundamental gripe I've had about her relationship with Trip: I wanted to see them integrate their natures into a relationship we could enjoy and respect. There would have been plenty of room for conflict as Trip struggles to understand and accept the nature of the Vulcan heart and mind (he would probably never hear "those three little words") and T'Pol tries to deal with the needs of a man whose heart is permanently attached to his sleeve.
Yeah, I think many of us wanted to see this as well. But like
boushh indicated, T/T hadn’t reached that point in the middle of S3. First T’Pol had to struggle with the issue of whether she could even acknowledge her feelings for Trip and how those feelings might affect her Vulcan identity (and control), especially after the trellium. And when they finally seemed to be making some progress in late S3/early S4, the marriage and Kir’Shara stuff happened, and it wasn’t until late S4 that they started to get on track again (Bound). So, like others, I think S5 would’ve been the time when the writers could’ve explored the issue of whether T/T could really start to integrate their natures and cultural differences to have a meaningful relationship.
If ENT had lasted seven seasons, there would’ve been plenty of time to explore all those issues, and chances are, we might look back on seasons 3 & 4 (despite the missteps) as being pivotal to the T/T storyline. Since we didn’t get to see the storyline really evolve beyond S4, it feels incomplete. But like
boushh and
HR indicated, I’m glad the relationship received as much focus as it did and that elements were introduced even in S4 which the book relaunch and fanfiction can address.
Re: the dream itself…
HR, thanks for that research. I’ll be sure to save that one. And
HopefulRomantic said:
I see your point. I guess it didn't bother me because 1) it's a dream, and I figured it was symbolism; 2) T'Pol has been on Enterprise for almost three years, with that shower in the bathroom of her quarters, and I assumed that she had become accustomed to using that human contraption; and 3) T'Pol prefers chamomile tea to theris-masu, so maybe she likes water.
The more human context of the dream didn’t bother me either, for reasons already mentioned, but I did wonder why T’Pol would dream about Trip in that particular setting, especially if she had never showered with him. But considering that it was a dream/nightmare of sorts, T’Pol’s mind could’ve just conjured certain elements that were prominent in her subconscious at that point -- shower/cleansing, her feelings for Trip, her fear of losing control, etc. – and put them together somehow. In that sense, I do like the idea that the shower/water may have represented her desire for renewal and that her subconscious brought that together with her feelings for Trip in some manner.
I tend to see three central themes/meanings in that dream. The first is simply that what started out as a pleasant experience or dream for T’Pol (exploring her emotions) has turned into a nightmare. Secondly, her ability to control the emotions she originally desired has deteriorated to the point that she could lose herself completely and hurt others. And third, Trip is both the source and catalyst for strong emotions (which she can no longer control), so the dream reinforces what old T’Pol indicated in E2 -- that she tried to push Trip away because of the powerful and frightening emotions he stirs within her.