Regarding her past comments
By SirTrekker

I hope those who have been pointing out to the rest of us the Zap2it article from October 2003 have actually read it. If so, they'd see her comments from there aren't nearly the same as what she's been saying recently. Case in point, from the aforementioned article...

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The goal is to find the mysterious Xindi, an alien race that staged a preemptive strike on Earth in the season-two finale, killing millions.

"Yay, for one thing," Blalock says of the show's new mission. "It's always fun to have more action, more story line, more reason for doing what we're doing. The characters, especially Scott Bakula's character, Capt. Archer, are going to be more driven."

Season three also meant a makeover for Blalock, who spent the first two seasons with her blond hair tucked under a short, dark wig and her hourglass figure poured into a drab, high-necked cat suit. The wig is longer and lighter, and the cat suits now come in brighter colors and have plunging necklines -- but aren't any easier to wear.

"The blue one is the least comfortable," she says, "because it's not a stretchy material. It doesn't have a lot of give. Once you're strapped in, you're strapped in."

During filming, Blalock usually has her back zipper undone. "That's just so I can use the restroom without having to ask permission," she says.

Because, in the future, women would certainly choose to wear skintight cat suits. "Yes, of course," Blalock says with a laugh. "The liberated woman, at least. It's just the male viewers. It's the boys."

While earlier seasons hinted at sexual tension between the emotionally controlled T'Pol and the easygoing Archer, producers have shifted that focus to T'Pol and Enterprise's chief engineer, southerner "Trip" Tucker (Connor Trinneer) -- as evidenced by the topless (if discreet) mutual-massage scene in the season premiere.

Blalock laughs at the thought. "They write it, I do it. I don't see it, personally. T'Pol's a Vulcan -- how could she have a relationship? And he's so emotional. My goodness, he's like a nut case. So how are this nut case and this person who has her stuff together going to find common ground? Maybe that's the basis.

"We'll find out, because I'm not sure how that's going to evolve."

So, other than her comments about the outfits, and her amusement over the idea of the Trip/T'Pol pair-up, I certainly did not see in that article the degree of negativity or objection I saw in the recent Cinefantastique interview. Yes, she does seem to question the logic of Trip and T'Pol as a couple, but before that, in practically the same breath, she says "They write it, I do it". She speaks about the Trip/T'Pol thing a great deal more strongly here , in the Sci-Fi Channel interview she did in late July 2004...

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Last season, T'Pol found herself losing control of her emotions and eventually hooking up with crewmate Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer)—a story arc Blalock confessed she wasn't crazy about. Would she like to see that relationship continue into the new season? "I don't know what to think about that," she admitted. "I think it's absolutely ridiculous that some catfish-eating honky-tonk guy would be appealing to this serene character, personally, but, you know, maybe there's something in the difference. ... It depends on the writing. It depends on how it evolves. It can't just be, 'Hey, buddy, let's go do it.' Like, what is that?"

But, see, by the time this article was posted, she was already on her current bandwagon, so I'm still not sold on the idea that she's spoken out so vehemently on this before these past couple of months.

And, you know what? If it bothered her that much before, she damn well should've spoken up! Why would she want to act against what she personally believes in for her character? What actor would put up with that, other than one so desperate to stay on the payroll and in some sort of spotlight that she'd compromise her principles? If she valued the character of T'Pol and the portrayal of the Vulcan race as much as she claims, she should've been more willing to raise her objections a lot sooner, when the fan outcry about it was beginning to increase in volume.

It's easy for her to speak out *now*, because the disappointment is WAY out in the open, moreso even than it was at the beginning of season 3. So, I stick by my belief that all of this is empty patronization. The only way her comments will gain value is if they're followed up on by the writers. Manny Coto seems to be interested in doing this, but I'll believe it all when I see it.