Was the actress cast to play T'Pau too young

[2takesfrakes]

Sir.......................................

 

[T'Nara]

If one accepts the Star-Trek-V-as-Kirk's-dream theory, then there is no contradiction, because Sybok only existed in Kirk's mind.

Hahaha yes of course.

I don't deny that ENT's portrayal is canon. But Duane's version is in my "head canon" for TOS, and I personally reconcile this by choosing to believe that the power structure that we saw on Vulcan in Enterprise was the result of various changes made by time shenanigans: the temporal cold war, but also, the knowledge of the Borg that Cochrane shared with them and that they possibly gained some of for themselves scanning the places the Borg Sphere's weapons hit once they were on Earth. In my mind, ENT is not in the past of TOS - VOY. It is in the past of nuTrek.

For me, this is easy: "Vulcan's Heart" was not written by Diane Duane. So while I may be willing to borrow elements from it, the places it contradicts Duane will not be in my "head canon".

I suppose this is why it is so difficult for Star Trek producers and writers because everyone has his/her head canon and many feels very passionately about it
Of course I have my head canon too but generally I try to accept whatever has been shown in the series and movies as canon. In this case then ENT can't be the past of nuTrek because it happens before the destruction of the Kelvin.

 

[USS Triumphant]

In this case then ENT can't be the past of nuTrek because it happens before the destruction of the Kelvin.

I think you need to rewatch "All Good Things" and really think about what Q was trying to teach Picard.

 

[Terok Nor]

I haven't seen these episodes since they aired or I might have missed them completely but I thought Surak died 2,000 years before "The Savage Curtain"?

If I'm remembering that wrong then ignore me.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Yes, that is correct, Surak's been dead for 2 thousand years, by Spock's time, but his spirit lives on ... literally! His essence, his soul, his "katra" has been passed from one specially-chosen Vulcan to another, through mindmeld, all of this time. And through the Vulcan that Surak's katra is half-possessing, Surak can teach and preach ... and preach and teach ... as though he were still in our midst today, right now.

 

[JeffinOakland]

Playing a Vulcan is hard. Unless you're only in a episode or two, the actor needs to have an understanding of a make believe culture and the effects of that culture on an individual. Hit the wrong note and the character looks to robotic or too emotional. I think Blalock was too young and inexperienced an actress for the heavy lifting that was the character she was cast as.

 

[locutus101]

Playing a Vulcan is hard. Unless you're only in a episode or two, the actor needs to have an understanding of a make believe culture and the effects of that culture on an individual. Hit the wrong note and the character looks to robotic or too emotional. I think Blalock was too young and inexperienced an actress for the heavy lifting that was the character she was cast as.

I think she did a good job.

 

[USS Triumphant]

And through the Vulcan that Surak's katra is half-possessing, Surak can teach and preach ... and preach and teach ... as though he were still in our midst today, right now.

But I thought the Space Pope was a lizard???

 

[locutus101]

But I thought the Space Pope was a lizard???

A Chameleon to be accurate.

 

[T'Nara]

Playing a Vulcan is hard. Unless you're only in a episode or two, the actor needs to have an understanding of a make believe culture and the effects of that culture on an individual. Hit the wrong note and the character looks to robotic or too emotional. I think Blalock was too young and inexperienced an actress for the heavy lifting that was the character she was cast as.

T'Pol is also comparatively young and she is a Vulcan who grapples with emotions - something her own mum recognised. I think Blalock portrays it well.
Vulcans are not without emotions and each Vulcan achieve different levels in controlling their emotions.

 

[JeffinOakland]

T'Pol is also comparatively young and she is a Vulcan who grapples with emotions - something her own mum recognised. I think Blalock portrays it well.
Vulcans are not without emotions and each Vulcan achieve different levels in controlling their emotions.

She did ok. She didn't hit out of the park like Nimoy or Russ. It could also be argued that the scriptwriting didn't do her any favors.

 

[T'Nara]

I haven't seen these episodes since they aired or I might have missed them completely but I thought Surak died 2,000 years before "The Savage Curtain"?

If I'm remembering that wrong then ignore me.

When Surak died his katra was kept in a katrik ark, which was then found by Syrran (founder of the Syrranites) in the early 22nd century and kept inside him. He could let his followers learn from Surak by mind melding with them.
Before Syrran died he transferred Surak's katra to Capt. Archer. Later on the katra is moved from Archer to a Vulcan priest.

 

[eyeresist]

Surak's been dead for 2 thousand years, by Spock's time, but his spirit lives on ... literally! His essence, his soul, his "katra" has been passed from one specially-chosen Vulcan to another, through mindmeld, all of this time.

So was Surak's katra destroyed in ST09?

I think she did a good job.

Yeah, whatever her faults, she was the best Vulcan on ENT, usually stoic except when afflicted by the traditional Star Trek space madness, and in those cases you had the sense that the emotions were coming out despite her best attempts at self control.
(Obviously Soval is great, but I felt he was a bit too emotional for a "normal" Vulcan - possibly because provoked by Archer?.)

 

[T'Nara]

So was Surak's katra destroyed in ST09?

Interesting. Maybe yes, maybe no. If one of the elders that survuved was the one holding it, it may survive.
In the ENT relaunch novels the katra actually didn't survive as the one holding it was killed in a bomb attack

 

[locutus101]

Yeah, whatever her faults, she was the best Vulcan on ENT, usually stoic except when afflicted by the traditional Star Trek space madness, and in those cases you had the sense that the emotions were coming out despite her best attempts at self control.
(Obviously Soval is great, but I felt he was a bit too emotional for a "normal" Vulcan - possibly because provoked by Archer?.)

Being provoked is no excuse for a Vulcan. They're supposed to be better than that. I don't remember her being afflicted by space madness.

 

[eyeresist]

Space madness is just a jokey term for what happens when some sci-fi phenomenon makes characters misbehave. It has happened to pretty much all Trek characters at some point. In T'Pol's case: repressed memories in The Seventh, pon farr in Bounty, trellium D in Impulse. In TOS, Spock was also afflicted several times.

 

[2takesfrakes]

So was Surak's katra destroyed in ST09?

It's just one more reason for NuSpock to have been all pissed off and emotional, so why not? All that Surak was. Everything that he knew. Is lost ...

But I thought the Space Pope was a lizard???

Sir......................................

 

[locutus101]

It's just one more reason for NuSpock to have been all pissed off and emotional, so why not? All that Surak was. Everything that he knew. Is lost ...

Sir......................................

Try as I may, I can't picture Spock becoming emotional because Surak's katra was lost. It has to be for something much closer to him, on a personal way, than that.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Very well. What I find difficult to picture is that T'Pau - as depicted in ENT - was ever a true student of Surak's OR that she was Syran's 'Right Hand Man.' She must've been sleeping with him, or his girlfriend, or some shit ... nothing else explains it.

 

[locutus101]

Very well. What I find difficult to picture is T'Pau - as depicted in ENT - was ever a true student of Surak's OR that she was Syran's 'Right Hand Man.' She must've been sleeping his girlfriend, or some shit ... nothing else explains it.

What's wrong with her character?