I can't quite put my finger on it...
By Polly_Scy

I too found the ep excellent in many ways, and yet curiously passionless except for the crisis/climax confrontation between Sim and Archer. And I can't quite figure out if this is a good thing or not.

On the one hand, the intensity level of the clash between the two seems even more dramatic when contrasted with the almost indifferent reactions to Trip's injury and possible death. Except for Archer and T'Pol, and to a lesser extent Phlox, I sensed no undercurrent of concern or anxiety about the outcome among the crewmembers. Trip, the real Trip, is dying, and yet thre is no discernible impact on the bridgecrew - the people who are most likely to be his closest friends on board. Hoshi's announcement that Tucker is in sickbay is flat. There is no flicker of concern, there are no stricken looks from the bridge crew. Of course T'Pol wouldn't react, but what about Tucker's engineering crew? Archer practically whispers the news to T'Pol. Wouldn't everyone in engineering be curious? Wouldn't at least one of them be trying to overhear? Wouldn't they be demanding news?

On the other hand, this could be setting up the audience, subtly implying that Sim could replace Trip and for everyone except his closest friend the exchange would be unimportant. No, that's not the right word. Unnoticeable. If the crew except for Archer and T'Pol were that unmoved by the real possibility that Tucker would die, perhaps he WAS expendible.

Or a third possibility arises: that this crew is so traumatized, so exhausted, so intensely aware that they are Earth's last chance for survival, that all other feelings, including friendship, have been shut down. Is the entire crew headed for a nice bout of post-traumatic stress disorder at the end of Season 3? Look at Archer in this episode. He is a man hanging on to sanity by the barest of threads, pushed to his limit. And the terrible - but rich with dramatic potential - thing about this kind of limit is that it can only be found by being exceeded. We've seen T'Pol unable to maintain her control. Trip has been one neuropressure session away from a nervous breakdown all season. I know the physical and psychological consequences of chronic sleep deprivation even if the writers seem oblivious to them. Archer has been acting distinctly un-Archerlike. I mean, really, throwing people into airlocks and so forth. It's been creeping up so gradually that we don't really see it happening unless we go back and watch the gosh-golly-gee whiz enthusiast of season 1. The stress has been building all season long, and sooner or later something's got to blow.

I am not as troubled as many of you by Archer's action in condemning Sim to his death. This is the nature of duty and sacrifice, and the role of the Captain is too often one of demanding that sacrifice. Remember Troi "earning her wings" only after she was willing to order Geordi on a suicide mission (simulation though it might be.) And "Sim-Geordi's" unquestioning obedience? Or Kirk, in The Immunity Syndrome, with his poignant log entry: "And now I have to choose: Which of my two closest friends do I condemn to death?" Is it not possible that at least some of Archer's anger is driven by the paradox of Sim wanting to be a permanent member of the crew at the same time he shows himself unwilling to do what any true crewmember - Trip included - would do in a heartbeat? That Trip, in fact, HAD done when he chose to manually shut down the engines.


We can quibble over grades and scores. It seems to be that the true test of Similitude is the response it has generated on the Board. Never have so many words been typed by so few persons.

One final thought: if Sim had Trip's memories, is it even remotely possible that Trip will eventually recover some of Sim's? What kind of connection would he feel to this other self? Imagine the ambivalent feelings he would have when he realized that his best friend was willing to kill "him" to save "him" Now that's a scary thought.