ENT - Damaged

[CharlesPhipps]

Honestly, this is probably one of the best ENT episodes.

Because there's no cheat.

They have to leave the other ship stranded and vulnerable with it all likelihood that they die.

And it's still absolutely the right decision.

Because it's war and everyone's lives are at stake.

[McAvoy]

Without a doubt. When I first watched the episode I was still waiting on that cheat button to be pressed. But it wasn't.

[MerelyAFan]

I mentioned this on the YouTube video itself, but damn, it's great to have an Enterprise episode that actually plays to Bakula's strengths. Give him something quiet and restrained like the scene with Phlox, and he can do more with it than any of the high-minded speeches and angry rants they had him spout in the first two seasons. Damage really does both kick off Archer 2.0 in terms of characterization and Bakula being allowed to actually demonstrate his actual range more consistently.

[CrypticMirror]

I don't know why Bakula played Archer so stiff in early ENT, because he did manage those speeches and rants in Quantum Leap. The inspirational speech moment was almost once an episode, and Bakula was a delight in the comedy episodes of QL, so I don't know why he was so stiff and awkward in ENT all the time. I honestly think that they should have switched it up with Bakula playing Archer more like Trinneer played Trip, and Trinneer having Trip as more stiff and professional as the engineer. Actually, I think they oughta have done it more like ORV did and had Trip as the Captain's best buddy be on the Bridge at Travis' station, and Travis, because he's been in space, take on Engineering or maybe even T'Pol's First Officer role.

ENT was a mess as far as casting and roles go. The only one they got right was Reed, and that was because Dominic Keating went above and beyond in doing the character workup himself.

[clearspira]

I don't know why Bakula played Archer so stiff in early ENT, because he did manage those speeches and rants in Quantum Leap. The inspirational speech moment was almost once an episode, and Bakula was a delight in the comedy episodes of QL, so I don't know why he was so stiff and awkward in ENT all the time. I honestly think that they should have switched it up with Bakula playing Archer more like Trinneer played Trip, and Trinneer having Trip as more stiff and professional as the engineer. Actually, I think they oughta have done it more like ORV did and had Trip as the Captain's best buddy be on the Bridge at Travis' station, and Travis, because he's been in space, take on Engineering or maybe even T'Pol's First Officer role.

ENT was a mess as far as casting and roles go. The only one they got right was Reed, and that was because Dominic Keating went above and beyond in doing the character workup himself.

I've seen Bakula put in good work often enough to blame the director.

[9ansean]

So one of the only complaints I've seen about this episode is the revel of T'Pol's addiction. Which I find myself strongly inclined to defend.

I admit the way it's revealed is a tad silly and I can understand Chuck's about how the sickbay seen might lead some to get angry with her. Not that would do any good and frankly under the circumstances they should be thankful she choose to face up and seek treatment. It's not like they could contact the nearest star base and call for a new science officer.

However at least one reviewer has said this degraded her character and undermined her otherwise legitimate objections to Archer's piracy plan. Yeah...I don't agree with that.

Earlier medical stories involving T'Pol felt degrading, but this makes a strange kind of sense. I may be reading to much into this (though that's never stopped me before) and yet I see how this could not only fits with how her own character developed but that of Archer and to a greater extant Tucker.

Continued Below...

[CharlesPhipps]

Yeah.

The problem of Archer is the fact that for the first two seasons they don't really have an idea what they want to do with Archer and when they do have an idea, it goes over with the fans like a lead balloon. Well before Michael Burnham, Archer irritated people with his Vulcan racism and belief humanity was being held back. Which, bluntly, given they rebuilt from Mad Max in a century, sounds ridiculous.

Oddly, Samuel Beckett acts much more like a Starfleet captain in many ways.

Damaged reboots him and he's much more tolerable from then on.

[9ansean]

T'Pol has been all about holding on to Vulcan customs. It's been drilled into her all her life. In earlier episode she was downturn disdainful of human customs that seem to run counter to the traditions she swore to live by and distrustful of human judgment. Yet her time on earth had already lead to experience the emotions she'd sworn to repress as a matter of duty and her time with own her experience with The Enterprise had lead more of her own people to believe she'd basically "gone native." That she actually sided with Archer in faulty the High Council's duplicity about spying probably didn't help matters.

The twin trauma she'd faced of her assault and the stigmatizing disease that came from it (both things she believed must be faced with customary Vulcan's stoicism) would have left further straining for balance. Then we have the Xindi attacks and she make the harsh choose to resign the Council completely. She'd been teetering between world before, but know it seems she'd chosen one for another. Except she still couldn't expect anyone else on Enterprise to understand her struggle.

Remember that with the exception of Phlox, everyone else abroad Enterprise had major stake in this mission. Saving their home planet. Even if they didn't all make it back alive, it would seem worth of to save Earth and the rest would still have a place to go back to. But even Phlox still had reason believe he could go home again when this was all over. T'Pol probably wasn't sure if she even had that anymore.

Then of course comes the Impulse attack and T'Pol exposure to Trillium-D brings out her worse nightmare. Becoming what her people used to be. A savage, violent, and reckless creature. So shocked was she be the end of that (even with signs she'd recover) she actually asked Archer to drop her. So concerned with her was this mission and so strong was her fear (fear that was just one more emotion she fought forever to repress) that she was willing to stay behind and die in the middle of nowhere then remain on board as a liability.

So does continue to expose her something she knew was so bad for her and become a liability anyway? People take drugs for a lot different reasons. And their not always in denial about what it does to them. Sometimes they'll chose to lose control to make for all the other things they can't control.

She knew this could kill her, but she's already felt the fear of death. Possibly several times now and all that effort too repress can only go on so long without help. It's quit possible she wanted to not only experience emotions in limited capacity in the hopes for release of a terror the would not away, but also too in a strange way accept that terror. Accept that fear of death or failure or abandonment of all the about the rest of the crew had seemingly no trouble.

That's why her argument with Archer in which she finally must face up to the truth felt like an odd bit of role reversal. The two had gone from disparaging the other's culture to exemplifying it. Archer is trying to make a morally questionable decision to serve the greater good T'Pol is trying to hold firmly to principles. He's thinking like a Vulcan while she's talking like a human. Sure he may have the better argument this time, but as the title suggests neither one them are in good shape to defend their positions and for good reason.

Finally this struggle she resolves to face at least adds weight to Tucker's own ordeal in the following episode. As Chuck points out, she of all people is the only one recognizes that strain the Tucker's attempt to distance himself from emotions is having own him. As powerful as the acting was Trip when he finally broke down with her, what was must striking for me is how they both drop the same walls. After having spent so much time in earlier episode throwing shade each other, they now both admit to actually envying what they other only seemed to have mastered.

[clearspira]

Yeah.

The problem of Archer is the fact that for the first two seasons they don't really have an idea what they want to do with Archer and when they do have an idea, it goes over with the fans like a lead balloon. Well before Michael Burnham, Archer irritated people with his Vulcan racism and belief humanity was being held back. Which, bluntly, given they rebuilt from Mad Max in a century, sounds ridiculous.

Oddly, Samuel Beckett acts much more like a Starfleet captain in many ways.

Damaged reboots him and he's much more tolerable from then on.

Its actually even more ridiculous than that. Troi in First Contact reckons that we went from the aftermath of WW3 to ending all war, poverty and disease within 50 years. AND we set up a stable world government during that time. That is an insane timescale. Its such a short timescale in fact that, theoretically, the same people who dropped the bombs during WW3 may have still been alive. No wonder the Vulcans may have been a bit reticent to just give us the secrets of anti-matter interstellar travel.

It also puts a lot of our recent Prime Directive discussions into perspective but I digress.

[TGLS]

Its actually even more ridiculous than that. Troi in First Contact reckons that we went from the aftermath of WW3 to ending all war, poverty and disease within 50 years. AND we set up a stable world government during that time. That is an insane timescale. Its such a short timescale in fact that, theoretically, the same people who dropped the bombs during WW3 may have still been alive.

Well, I did a bit of research:
2053 - WW3 Ends
2063 - Warp Drive
2079 - Post-Atomic Horror Courts
2103 - Mars Colonies
2113 - War, Poverty, Etc. Eliminated on Earth
2150 - Earth Unified
2161 - Federation

So yeah. Assuming the bailiff from Encounter at Farpoint had an average life expectancy and was the same age as the actor at the time, he'd have lived for a decade after Mars Colonies and one year after poverty is eliminated.