I don't really care about her age. I just wish she'd been more "Vulcan". She was too emotional, and bratty.
I think that was something of a problem with all the Vulcans in that trilogy (especially when you compare it to someone like Gary Graham as Soval, who I really think got it right), though it's still not as awkward as the character of V'Las constantly alternating between smirking and losing his temper.
Given that it seemed to be a case with all the guest Vulcans introduced in that arc, I'm inclined to pin that on the director, rather than the actors. Curiously, it seem to be a problem with the characters introduced in both the first and second parts, so even then, you couldn't lay it at the feet of one director.
From looking at Memory Alpha, "The Forge" was directed by a fellow named Michael Grossman, who'd only directed one episode before that, so you could chalk it up to inexperience.
Curiously, enough, "Awakening" was directed Roxann Dawson, who had seven years of working with someone who'd been a real pro at portraying a Vulcan (and also had previously directed "The Andorian Incident", which featured Vulcans) and David Livinston, who's directed more Trek episodes than anyone.
I almost wonder if that was a deliberate choice to emphasize the fact that Vulcans had lost their way without Surak's teachings, but didn't feel right, especially since Vulcans in previous episodes weren't like that.
Well, not only was she too young, but she also didn't have a Russian accent.
Actually, that was an
Austrian accent, and from what I hear, they were aware of it, but elected not to go with it, but I remember someone here had an interesting explanation for that:
In the 22nd century, T'Pau has had little to no contact with humans and is speaking in her native Vulcan tongue, which is translated by the Universal Translator.
In the 23rd century, she's had contact with off-worlders and speaks English, but with a heavy Vulcan accent.
She didn't look or sound at all like her older self.
Actually, from what I've read, they did make a conscious effort to cast people who vaguely resemble the actors who played T'Pau and Surak.
Yeah, resemblance is always a problem. I suggest checking out the series "Cold Case". Almost every episode featured younger and older versions of a character played by different actors. Sometimes they actually did a good job of casting actors who resembled each other, others were kind of a joke.
