My Big Fat CRACK WHORE Wedding

Father of the CRACK WHORE

I Was a Vulcan War CRACK WHORE

I loved Pupher-Phace Phlox!

But does this show have the worst Vulcans, or what?

Nitpicks:
Doesn't Starfleet have dress uniforms? I couldn't believe they all wore their everyday uniforms to the big celebration at the start of the show.

Vulcan is 16 light years from Earth? Is that possible? Perhaps I'm totally wrong about this, but I thought the nearest star to our Sun was about 40 light years away.

Thanks, the47thman. Indeed, I was totally wrong. It happens.

Bwhah!!!

keckler, I await the recap with bated breath--if only because I screamed CRACK WHORE at the tv about five times.

Man, they had better get around to explaining these Vulcans quick fast in a hurry; I wanted to slap the tar out of Mommy Vulcanest.

immaf, I'm right there with you. These are like, Bargain Basement Vulcans. Or Low-Rent Vulcans. Koss reached new levels of suckitude. He made Sybok look positively interesting.

Archer continues to bore me to tears. He's like W: The Captain. Ooh, and Evil Admiral Forrest and Vulcan Prissy Pants Soval, together again. Gotta hate that. It would be interesting if they explored this Xenophobia further, but I doubt they will.

I never thought I'd say it, but DAMN I feel sorry for Trip. The only "romance" on this Star Trek series and they have to fuck it up for us. I have been rooting for them to end up together in the great tradition of Data and Tasha, Worf and Jadzia. Well, not that this particular Star Trek series has done any of the great things that the others managed to do.

So Quantum got his groove back. All it took was sex! Who'da thunk.

So, when you have an episode with three storylines, and two of them leave you thinking "meh"... well, that can't be a good sign, can it? When did T'ripol turn into the best thing this show has going for it?

Anyway, yeah, that was the only storyline that I was really feeling. The Captains go rock-climbing? Not so much. Phlox's afterschool special? Same. What I did enjoy was the fact that some of the concerns expressed by Quantum reflected some of the overall nits people have been saying about the series since it began, especially the stuff about "maybe we shouldn't be giving everyone a road map to Earth."

I know T'Pol is a CRACK WHORE and all, but this ep was a little much- towards the end, it constantly seemed like she was about to burst into tears, which, thank God, she did not do.

What time do Vulcans eat breakfast? T'Pol woke Trip up at 0400, suggesting that it takes a while to prepare the food... but why? They have a food synthesizer!

Oh, and did anyone else catch that next week kicks off a major EVENT? Because I think UPN was afraid that you would miss that.

eta- imaff, the closest star to our Sun is Proxima Centauri, at give or take 4 light years

I'm gonna rewatch after ANTM (oh, hush) because my ENT-watchin' friend and I were trying catch a brand new ENT viewer up to speed. But what I saw I liked. Especially the hero's welcome. Very cool, with the landing shuttle and our embarrassed crew. But God, could Archer bluster any more? His delivery of "it's good to be home" was just ... well, blustery.

Liked Trip winning over T'Mom by fixing all the appliances.

My first reaction: a great big Awwww.... sniff for Trip. From the first scene in T'Pol's quarters where it was obvious that he just wanted to be with her, to his scene with her mother at the end. "She has enough pressure on her as it is. I don't want to make things any more complicated.". The Trip of 3 years ago would have stormed in and told her right away he was in love with her, to hell with the consequences. He's matured a whole bunch. And of course we get the big ol' monkey wrench in the form of Koss and Vulcan politics.
So, we'll get PiningRomanticTrip for a while, which in the hands of a lesser actor, could be hell, but I trust Trinneer and Coto.
And I hope we get more of Mom'Pol-she was pretty cool, and well acted. That was a pretty intense scene with her and T'Pol sparring, and Trip just trying to quietly eat his food.

And lo and behold, I really liked the rest of the ep too! Wow.

Erika is just the type of woman for Archer; sympathetic, but not going to take any of his bullshit. "Didn't you read my reports?!" "I did, Captain." And of course they're exes...heh.
And though he was still stiff, I really felt for Archer when he said "You remind of the person I was three years ago."

Blowfish!! That's even weirder than the smile.
But seriously, bravo for writing the Tertiary 4 a c-plot of their own; and yaay for Hoshi and her righteous indignation. "You have to go out there and let them see that there are aliens out there who don't want to blow up the planet!!

Hee....FlirtyMalcolm!

Yaaay for CotoTrek!

Holy crap! Now was that an episode or WHAT???

I can't believe it's the same show! It was so F-ing GOOD!

If this is the first episode under the Coto regime, I say long may they REIGN, because this episode RULED!

Joanna Cassidy as T'Pol's mom. She rocked. Sexy, yet still recognizably a Vulcan.

Oh wait - THAT was the ending? That was... WHAT??? Come on, guys, write a fricking ending!

Alpha Centauri is 4.4 light years away from Earth. That's the nearest star system.

The only thing I liked was the very end and the homage to "Amok Time":

"What thee are about to see comes down from the beginning ..."


Now, should Trip use the net thing or the thing with the ball and half-moon razor blade?

She should call the kali-fee. Trip could so take that guy.

On the whole, I liked it, but I'm an easy mark for these kinds of episodes. A lot like TNG's "Family".

Color me disappointed. I really wanted Archer to deal with what happened in the Expanse, but not by getting laid in the mountains.

Why do the writers insist on making Malcolm appear such a jerk with women? But I loved Puff-faced Phlox. And was it me, or did Malcolm seem turned on when he commented on it?

As for Trip and T'Pol, I was pretty peeved at him at the lava flow. She's looking for a bit of understanding. However, his character is a bit of a hothead, so it did make sense. And he made up for it at the end. I almost expected her to say, "Neuroporn later" instead of kissing him on the cheek.

And word to all the sucky Vulcan hate. What the hell? "I just want you to be happy"? Hunh? That's not quite a Vulcan thing to say.

"Live Long and Prosper, T'pol."

"I shall do neither. I have kissed my colleague."


Anyway, the show beat the "Patterns of Farce" opener.

One night of lovin' and Archer is back to normal? She must have been one hell of a... [insert an adjective or verb here, I'll leave it to the English majors].

They missed a major opportunity here -- instead of Archer getting laid and suddenly, poof, all is right in the world, why not have some ANGST. Cheese-us, work it out with a shrink. Archer has an emotional breakdown, then is able to "climb that rock". (Yes, Mike Sussman, I got it -- the rock was a metaphor. Snooze.) And we've ALL seen Bakula in Quantum Leap -- he could have handled the breakdown quite easily. Damnit, give the man a good script and he'll nail it -- remember "Twilight"?

God, I was so bummed. This episode could have been so much more, and they blew it. (I believe I was the only person here who LIKED last week's episode...)

And I liked the T'Pol and Trip relationship arc...and now that's gone.

I'm just Very. Pissed. Off.

P.S. OK, I loved Puff Daddy Phlox.

It wasn't just you. Although, my second thought was "He probably got all excited over the thought of using Puffer Phlox as a weapon."

Mom likes Trip, heeee. You could see her mind checking off a list as soon as he fixed the fridge. They could have made a continuity point by emphasizing strongly that T’Pal is not just ill, but has a terminal illness. Let alone a scandalous, shame the high-ranking in-laws one. More than a good, logical enough reason for annulment. But nooo, lets forget that episode ever happened. In my dreams mom is arranging for Trip, son-n-law number two for her young widow daughter.

Who would have thought that Archer’s struggle with his id would require so much tumbling.

Did Malcolm loss weight? In the bar he looked scrawny, and geekyer than ever. I giggled when he got up to fight the git. Those little English arms are do some damage now bud. Too bad he can’t puff out like Phlox.

I was glad to see our crew got the hero's welcome they so richly deserved, but not so glad for it to look like a cutscene from Wing Commander III. I know they're dealing with budget cuts, but man! Them's some awful special effects, compared to what we've seen on this series. Even the shot of Enterprise in drydock was sketchy -- stock footage from the pilot would have looked better.

Linda Park's one scene was the best scene, her delivery actually demonstrated some passion. Archer came close during his nightime admission (as opposed to his, naw, not going there) but the scene devolved into a soap opera. No need for the captains to be lovers.

T'Pol -- "I've been sick." ColonelT -- "One hundred bucks P'Nar Syndrome doesn't come up."

Despite all my "meh" I'm primed for next week. UPN is so proud of me.

Did they advertise the crap out of Brent Spiner or what? Sheesh.

Vulcanmom needs smacked. Real nice to speak another language in front of company. Nice to see racism alive and well too. Not.

Joanna Cassidy plays all the cool moms on TV.

T'Les is more.

I must say that I quite enjoyed this episode except for 2 things - every scene with Archer and his ex-girlfriend Captain (if I'd been watching it on tape I would have fast forwarded with a vengeance), and the ending. Call me a romantic, but I didn't expect the bonding (?) to go on (or did it????).

Two questions about this episode and a question about Trek in general:

1. Was there some reason why other members of the crew couldn't have been at the big celebration at the beginning of the episode? You would think that Archer, Trip and company did it all inspite of Archer's speech about those who died etc.

2. Was it only me or did Jolene Blalock look a bit more gaunt than usual? Every time they did a close-up of her face I wondered what kind of diet she was on.

3. In the Star Trek universe war on earth is no more, yet asses like that one who harassed Phlox still exist. I just wonder how intolerance still exists on earth (most prevalent it seems to me between humans/non-humans (e.g. B. Torres on Voyager and her tough childhood as a half human/half Klingon; some of the attempts at insulting/needling Vulcans in the various shows) )yet we are supposed to believe that war has been eliminated. Or has it been eliminated in a us against them banding together of humanity against the non-humans?

I would really like someone to explain this to me because it's one thing about Star Trek that bugs me.

I liked it, too. But yeah, we were the minority.

Trip broke my heart with this one. He has unsuspected depths. Maybe we could hook him up with T'Pol's mom? Nah, never mind.

HOSHI ROCKED. Damn, that's the lady I want to see on my screen. Nice of TIIC to let her grow a pair.

My Phlox love grows. Way cool puffy effect.

My only 'meh' was the old girlfriend of Archer's. I just wasn't feeling it. And why was she at the hearing? I must have missed a meeting.

At least the Vulcans had the decency to perform the sacred traditional unchanged-since-the-beginning-of-time wedding ceremony in English.

At one point I thought T'Mom wanted to get it on with Trip, and wouldn't that have been an interesting wrinkle?

Basically, I thought all the Vulcan scenes were pretty bad. And while I like the concept of Quantum dealing with repercussions of what he did last season, the writing was awfully heavy-handed. Now that they've beaten us over the head with the fact that the Captain. Has. Inner. Demons., I hope they keep the character development going. (But more subtly, please?) I don't believe that a one night stand on the rocks is enough to cure what's wrong with him.

So the only two Captains of Warp 5 vessels are an item? She might as well don a red shirt right now, because there's no way she'll be alive at season's end.

Huh? Is he going to be on an upcoming episode or episodes in some sort of epic adventure?


I also think she looked dangerously thin. She's always been thin, but I thought she seemed visible-ribcage-thin tonight.

I liked this episode, although I will be the first to admit the Vulcans sucked (except Joanna Cassidy - I lurve her). I wasn't surprised by anything T'Pol did because, you know, CRACK WHORE, but Koss's "I just want you to be happy" was just too much. Sad as it is, I hope that marrying Koss signals the beginning of T'Pol's journey back to Vulcanhood. I disagree with her decision, but she put her Vulcan values ahead of her emotions. It's a start. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into that. We shall see.

The special effects (sound and visual) in the teaser were atrocious. I cringed when the camera panned out to the crowd.

I don't know if I'm making this up, but wasn't it mentioned in past seasons that the Columbia was going to a man (with a Hispanic name)?

My least favorite part of the ep was the after school special consisting of Malcom, Travis, and Phlox. And yes, Malcom was definitely turned on by Puffy Phlox. One thing I don't understand: Archer went on and on about how everyone thinks he's a hero and people asked for Malcom's autograph. Obviously, the crew of Enterprise is well known. So wouldn't it have made sense if people knew who Phlox was? Considering he was one of two aliens on board the ship, he should have been more recognizable than the other crewmembers.

I felt for Archer when he lashed out at Suval. I can't believe Evil Admiral Forrest sided with him. Throughout the anvilicious rock climbing, I kept thinking of "Climb Every Mountain" from "The Sound of Music". It made those scenes a lot more tolerable.

Poor Trip. He just broke my heart in the last scene.

She was given the Captaincy of the Columbia (NX-02), so I think since she's soon going to be out there doing similar things, it's a good idea for her to hear what happened out there.



In "Twilight", there was a Capt. Ramirez who was the Captain of the Intrepid (not a Warp Five ship), which was the only other ship around. We may have seen him in "The Expanse"-- the guy who chased of Duras's ship.

Ah, but that's the point! Prejudice blinds, doncha know.

edit- thanks, RiverThames!

Aww, poor Trip. I didn't watch much last season, but getting back into it I've found the T/T 'ship very interesting.

"Permission to board the ship, sir?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
"Her FATHER is the DISTRICT ATTORNEY!"
"The PATIENT HAS RIGHTS!"

Quantum and Captain Girlfriend -- meh.

T'Pol so should've called the kali-fee. Now I'm sad for Trip. But while we're on the subject, isn't a fight to the death over marriage a bit...illogical? Vulcans are so crazee.

Phlox rocks. I like how they keep giving him new weird "powers", but we only see them once on screen. Hoshi, Reed, and Maywho rock for being all indignant about the prejudice'n'shit.

I actually enjoyed this ep more then I thought I would. Vulcan wedding? Again? But as far as the other plotlines went, I wasn't that upset by Quantum on the rocks. Sure he seemed a little happier after getting some cliff-nookie, but I doubt that we've seen the last of him dealing with what happened last season. I'm just happy the he IS dealing with it instead of the writers ignoring all his previous ass-hat-ness. They even brought up marooning that alien vessel in the expanse. Props!

Now that I had a chance to ponder, the wedding is making less sense. If Vulcans are going to get their knickers twisted enough to fake criminal charges, to get someone out of a job for what their daughter did; then why the hell would a high ranking, politically connected family allow their son to marry the woman who caused the scandal? You would think the in-laws would cheer the cancelled engagement. Is logic only a part time philosophy?
Boy did the groom look stout next to skeletal T’Pol. Well fed Vulcan there.
I chuckled when Trip said T'pol was a snazy dresser. Just because the script says it, does not mean costuming has to listen. Really, a fuchsia wedding leotard with head gauze. That earlier pink and colour sploch shirt, ick. You would think one look at still sickly looking T'Pol, the groom would have second thoughts. Boy does Trip look good in Daddy's suit.

I'm really hoping we get to see Denobula at some point because I really want to see the enviornment where all of Phlox's weird traits would come in handy.

I liked this episode but I think it has more to do with the show being back to a more standard form than what went on.

The Vulcan plot was okay. I actually liked the interaction between Trip and T'Mom. I was waiting for the kali-fee to be called and wondering if they were going to use The Music from "Amok Time". I'm sort of surprised they had T'Pol go through with the ceremony.

Wasn't too big a fan of Captain Girlfriend, but I am hoping that the series will be dealing with the NX-02. I think the stories that could come out of that would be very interesting, seeing the old pros working with the newbies. Also I'm sure Reed (and maybe Trip) will be super jealous of the new upgrades on NX-02.



Maybe Kos (sp?) loved T'Pol and his father was willing to look past the scandal for his son's well-being. Also it is possible that a Vulcan marriage would keep T'Pol tied to Vulcan and under the control of the High Command even if she is galavanting in space with humans.

Me too. And I'm going to blame it on Farscape, because I was all "Awww" and "Poor Trip" during that whole plot.

My friend (who has not watched in over a year) walked in and watched 1 minute. The following conversation was recorded:

him: Wow, those are some emotional Vulcans.
me, lamely: Well, T'Pol has an excuse....
him, walking out: Right...



Shallowly, I really did like the outfit T'POl was wearing when she and Trip first arrived at her house.

Did the effects budget get slashed? Because I used to ooh and aaah over the effects no matter the quality of the episode, but now they're jarring and bad.

Overall, it was okay. Liked the Hoshi, Doctor, Malcolm, Mayweather scenes. Yet again can't stand the captain's sublot. When Quantum said "Are you telling me I have a death wish?" I was silently chanting "Die die die"!

Grrr! I've got my tastebuds all ready for some Coconut Coffee and I get nada? Not even an ahn'woon?! Bermaga? You shall feel my wrath!

Anyhoooo:


Hee! Speaking of which, where was the Blood Fever and the "Kroika" and the flaaaaavin?


Wordski. The whole ep, I couldn't help but notice that Jolene couldn't even fill her skin-tight velour suit. She looked great last season, but unfortunately, she may have felt that she was fat and dieted some more. She looks dangerously thin - I think the thinnest she's been since the show's been running.

Ma'Pol: I wasn't feeling her at first, but by the end I thought she was kind of cool. I could more understand her cynicism after learning that she had been disciplined for T'Pol's actions. Also, she really seemed to appreciate Trip's love for her daughter, as indicated by her awesome scene with him toward the end where she tells him 'There's still time...T'Pol should have all the facts...' Awww.

T'Pol: Thinny Thin. Still feening for a hit of the trellium pipe. I thought the shakes would've worn off more by now, but as Chuck D says, "Base, how low can you go".

Trip: Great acting by Trineer, especially when he reveals that he wuvs his T'Polwy Wolwy. Normally, I'd retch at this stuff, but he pulled it off just right.

Cap'n: Mountain lovin', had him a blast. Mountain lovin', happened so fast. I just hope that his fling is true, and not a plant. Our Fearless Furrow needs someone to trust - he's been hurt so many times! (Daniels, Silik, etc.) I have to agree with The Evil Admiral Forrest, though - Cap'n was out of line blasting at T'Flouncy like that. I suppose it was just to indicate how wound up he is after everything.

Dr. Phluffer: He's been under pressure before, why hasn't this instinctive response reared itself before? Also, how's this supposed to discourage the rampant xenophobia? (Btw, this "xenophobia" that was mentioned: eerily reminiscent of something. Gee. Can't for the life of me put my finger on it. Nope. Not at all. Well, back to the news.)

Hoshi: My girl is back! Swooooon!

Reed: He likes guns. He likes bombs. He likes to pick up girls. He likes to fight. I'm still not buying it.

May-four-seasons-and-still-useless: Nothing to say. Still.

Side point: What was up with the CGI audience at the homecoming speech? Why not show some faces in the crowd and make it somewhat realistic? I felt like I was watching Attack of the Clones for a minute.

Gosh, I don't seem to remember the Furrows being so broken-up about the rough interrogations when they were ratings-stunts. All that..."effort" and they still sucked ass compared to "Firefly." Easily. Oh, but Furrows vocally regrets doing it. 'Cause now that gets him the poon-tang. Ugh.

Bakula must be on drugs. The homecoming and the lunging at Soval just telegraphs how much worse he's gotten, impossible as it may seem. Boooo-hooooo, the poor simple man who can't field inquiries from a critical dignitary. I hated myself for briefly arguing in Archer's defense...no resources, space, or manpower to handle a larger crew of homicidal Vulcans with minds far gone and stronger than humans...while wondering again how such a jerk so full of himself that he's angered! angered! at being questioned rather than worshipped, so much that he can't formulate a knowledgeable answer, can be captain of a bunch of other idiots on Earth's first-contact starship. I miss Jean-Luc.



I've heard it's down to $800,000. Which is what "Firefly" did better with years ago.

I choose to believe these people forgot to even mention the pollen in a report to HQ, much less transmit any collected data.

Anvilicious "developments" doled out in a patronizing fashion over the course of long pauses that pass for intensity on this show yet always coincidentally repress CHARACTER-DEVELOPMENT...while padding out the minutes and budget. On the only minority broadcast-channel, this program is likely the most bass ackwards.

Capris and open-toed spike heels. Because...the prevailing 60-values & architecture in this show and the Cr'k Wh'or-residence aren't obvious enough.

Edited days later to finish a thought. *cough*

Meh. I want to like the episode, because this is an episode they really needed to do. But a lot of it fell flat.


Exactly. It just felt a little too easy. The comparisons to "Family" are inevitable, but Picard's healing was so superior. The man broke down and cried; Quantum just got angry and furrowed some more. Picard's relationship with his brother was way more delightfully complicated than Quantum's relationship with Captain Girlfriend.


Although apparently she doesn't get a hero's welcome, but Maywho does. I can wank that she's recovering from brain parasites (and shall, later tonight), but I really noticed her absence. Oh well, her one scene was very good. Linda Park and John Billingsley are always great together.

Soval won me over with his snarky comeback to Archer. It's official: I love that cranky Vulcan diplomat.

T'POL is hot. She's thin, but she still has curves in all the right places. Archer looks great for his age. Scott Bakula just turned 50 on Oct 9th and look at him! He has the body of a man 20 years younger.

Upon reflection, apart from some things mentioned above one thing bugged me as being poor writing, namely the reconciliation between Soval and Archer. Soval was now cool with Archer because T'pol filled him in on the fact that Enterprise shut down the expansion of the Expanse that was going to wipe out a big area of space, including Vulcan. Huh? Wouldn't that be on page one of the initial debriefing summary, while the fate of the missing Vulcan ship (which while tragic and worthy of mention didn't really have much to do with anything) might get mentioned around page seventy two? I guess Archer jumped out of the shuttle saying, "We stopped the Xindi, and I destroyed a ship full of Vulcans! Oh and about the expanse we ... ah, hell, I'm bending your ear off, talk to T'Pol about that in about a week or so if you care."

Color me in the minority but I really liked this episode. Especially the visuals (although please God, Jolene, eat a cheeseburger) - everything was really pretty tonight.

Loved this episode, with all its flaws.

T'Pol -- Looked really awful. but isn't the weight loss and gaunt features consistent with a crack whore? She is a step away from doing $20 tricks near the Lincoln Tunnel.

Archer -- still an ass. Even with the whole world worshiping him, he can't take the least amount of criticism.

Reed -- yeah, he can't relate to women because he is GAY, remember? He needs a new MACO boyfriend.

Vulcan marriage -- I sure hope the don't marry T'Pol off to Koss. This may be their idea of a way to keep her and Triip at arms length for the next season to create emotional tension, but it sucks. And if Trip stands by and watches her get married without trying to rescue her, he will descend into wienerdom and ruin his character forever. Grow some balls Trip and give T'Pol a hand. Challenge Koss and do the fight to the death. The writers will figure out a way to prevent anyone from actually dying.

Didn't I read somewhere that Enterprise's budget was cut by more than half? That's gotta be painful; I think we can expect a lot more "Wing Commander III cutscene" ceremonies, and no money for dress uniforms that'd be used in just one or two episodes, and the like.

I thought this was an OK episode overall, though each storyline was about 1/2 "meh" for me. I kinda like Captain Girlfriend (perfect moniker!), but was hoping she *wouldn't* be Quantum's girlfriend/ex/whatever. It's just too common a teevee trope for this sort of thing. It actually would've been kinda refreshing and interesting for these two to just be buddies who can bust each others' balls freely.

I found myself not caring at all about the Captain's subplot, although I'm glad he mentioned the Illyrians.

Phlox's pufferfish imitation left me totally speechless. I sat there for about a minute trying to vocalize a reaction. Honestly though? He helps save Earth and the galaxy and they try to chase him out of a bar? Great scene with him and Hoshi though.

And the subplot I actually cared about:

I have never seen a more pathetic attempt at gaining sympathy than Trip's actions in the scene in T'Pol's quarters. And why do I get the feeling that the writers said: "OK, we have to write a 90 second scene with the end result of Trip going to Vulcan with T'Pol. Go!" And the last we saw of their relationship was T'Pol telling Trip her age. Exactly how long have they been back at Earth for there to be an "us." And what happened to the whole "a different beach every week for two months" plan?

And what did Trip mean when he said he had no family to visit. We know he does.

I really can't wait for them to let T'Pol stop being a CRACK WHORE. And those really were some awfully emotional Vulcans. Koss wants her to be happy? Happy? And Seriously? Someone give Jolene Blalock something to eat. She looked terrible.

No complaints about Connor Trinneer. In the scene when T'Pol tells Trip she's marrying Koss, I could practically feel that sensation of your heart getting squeezed in your chest that you get when someone dumps you completely out of the blue. That scene and the last scene were completly heart wrenching.

Koss seemed relatively nice. He wanted to help her recover from her illness, although I wonder what he'd think if he found out she has Pa'nar syndrome (wait -- the writers forgot about that? Nevermind). Poor Koss. I'd put money on him dying by the end of November sweeps. After this I can't picture them letting the Trip-T'Pol ship die, and I'm assuming nothing's going to interrupt the ceremony at the last minute.

They sort of flipped on me: I figured that the two captains hooking up was such a cliche, they wouldn't do it (or hoped they wouldn't). And I figured there'd be some big scene at the end where Phlox marches into the Chinese restaurant. And exactly the opposite happened in each case.

I didn't mind. They did work on the captains thing a bit (and they did date at some point), so it wasn't so forced. And I liked that the Phlox plot was left hanging. Ditto that we didn't see the end of the wedding. All in all, not bad. I thought Trinneer was especially good, particularly at the end. Bakula, I think, decided that Archer would be angst-y from day one. If that's what's intended, I guess it's OK.

On the wedding: The intonation of the priest just reminded me of "Mawwwaige..." And I blocked out the fact that the Vulcans spoke English as soon as T'Pol and her mother did when alone.

There's some psychological dynamic about marrying a social inferior over whom (and over whose family) you and your family have power. It's happened before. I don't think Kos is long for this world.

In answer to above: They have dress uniforms, but for some reason only the admirals wear them. Not even Williams (Forrest's aide) wears one. Maybe they're really "admirals' uniforms."

For the second time this series, we see a picture of the so-called "Declaration Class" Enterprise from TMP. Yay! (It was in HQ, together with a models and pictures of the space shuttle and other craft and installations.)

Andorians at a bar on Earth? Huh?

pennyq: I was getting a bit pissed at Trip inviting himself, but he pulled it off so well I assumed he wasn't acting. Then came the grin at the end. Yuck.

Actually, I'd rather wanted the episode to concentrate in the potential 'court martial' of Archer for not saving the zombie-vulcans- from-hell. Shades of (dare I say it?) Picard showed up when Quantum was arguing his case regarding the destruction of the Vulcan ship. Typical Starfleet first acclaims you as a hero, then your ass is under fire for a nitpicky situation.

Didn't care too much for the doctor and the whole CRACK WHORE wedding was good, if predictable. But better Trek than usual.

However, small timeline issue (from Historic Trek if we care anymore) Everyone mentions Archer as a hero, with High Schools named after him all over the place, so I guess this guy would have to be a hero and mentioned somewhere on Classic Trek, TNG, etc... So I guess we need a new updated 'Encyclopedia' with Archer in there.

Yeah, what's up with that? IIRC, those lines ("What thee are about to see, Vulcan heart, Vulcan soul") were said by T'Pau before the ceremony to Kirk and McCoy. Right?

Damn, but ENT has ruined Vulcans. They have no dignity, barely any logic, no sense of ancient and rigid traditions... All that's left are the pointed ears.

I read that scene differently. I thought he was really just wanting to see her and say good-bye, and was feeling a little sorry for himself (and knew he'd miss her). The grin was no doubt slightly smug, but I thought it was more "she likes me! I knew it!" way than that he'd somehow manipulated the situation.

Late to the party as usual, but I loved it. Archer has been furrowy and stiff for how many seasons now? It's just the way Bakula is playing the guy, and I have decided to embrace it. I didn't really care for Captain Girlfriend, but I was pleased that they addressed some of the issues brought up by his morally questionable behavior. And I was right there with him wanting to smack Soval.

The boys' night out scene was precious. I was pleased that Malcolm was being all flirty, and that they gave Anthony Montgomery's gorgeous muscles something to do. Besides act, because apparently that's a waste of time. I enjoyed that whole storyline. And Hoshi. Although, can anyone explain why Hoshi was wearing flip flops? Very distracting.

I think I realized that I was a Tr'ipol shipper at about the same moment that Trip did. *sigh* I'm a sucker for the star-crossed romance, although if T'Pol goes through with the whole ceremony I'll be very disappointed if we get some adultery-cakes. Just me, probably. Still, the scenes with Trip and Mom'Pol were excellent. Best line of the ep (IMO): "I'm her mother."

He didn't say he "had no family to visit." He said his sister was dead and his hometown was gone.

I was underwhelmed by the Phlox plotette and the Archer stuff too, though I did like Ada Maris--she's a lot different from when she was on "Nurses." I thought it was silly that the whole thing hinged on one minor event from last season (the encounter with the Seleya).

I loved the stuff on Vulcan, though. Though it is a cliché, I liked how they portrayed T'Les's reaction to Trip (wary but pretty clearly won over by the end). I wish that when T'Les said "....if you can even have children" T'Pol had responded with "Oh, we can. Betcha wonder how I know that."

ITA. There's a lot they could do with a "mismatched" relationship (if the wedding does not get completed), with the situation as it is between Earth and Vulcan. And I completely adore Trip, so anything with him in it....

Best expression....the look on Trip's face when he realized that T'Pol's mom was basically guessing, and he just gave them away.

Trip in Vulcan clothes....HOT!

Also feeling the Phlox love.

Edited because I don't want adultery in there either, and my fingers were going faster than my brain

Thanks lis, that makes a lot more sense. Because he did seem genuinely surprised that she was asking him to come to Vulcan. I do think he wanted sympathy, but I couldn't imagine that he was fishing for an invitation.

This is NOT a soap opera. There will be no adultery. (Please Manny, don't make a liar out of me.) I'm sure there will be lots of tension, maybe some avoidance of each other, and a whole lot of awkwardness. And maybe a couple of very sweet scenes that break our hearts, but God help me, there better not be any adultery. That would ruin the entire relationship.

I'm such a T'ripol shipper but I don't think I'd be too happy seeing adultery either.

Malcolm was so turned on by Phlox and his Puffa face.

The special effects are looking pretty shoddy at the moment. I'm just trying to ignore them and focus on Quantum looking hot in his climbing clothes, because that was the only good thing about his plot. Bakula is looking great for 50.

I thought the episode was pretty good, for Enterprise. Although I was distracted by T'Pol's incredible skinny frame, I thought she was going to tip over. I thought her mom was great. I still don't like the captain. And I have to admit I am definitely not a Trip/T'Pol shipper (don't everyone throw things) but I was really surprised that the wedding went ahead. I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the Brent Spiner arc but I'll check back in next week.