I don't know what it takes to wake Deus from his slumber, but if he was sleeping through this latest episode, that at least would explain the review.
O'man.... You were right on the money as usual! I really am not sure if all these people who are praising the show actually watched this dreary and poorly written episode. What a mess! What is it with these crazy vulcans and continued wrinkles in ST continuity? I would really implore people to.... oh... wait a minute.... You know, I didn't watch it either! I lost hope about one and a half seasons ago. Sorry, my bad! Please continue the petty bickering.
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"It is with our passions, as it is with fire and water, they are good servants but bad masters."
Aesop (620 BC - 560 BC)
"Really Doctor McCoy, you must learn to govern your passions... They will be your undoing."
- Captain Spock (Much later)
Actually, I found the episode interesting because of the potential outcomes that are possible. Surak deciding to stay in Archer reminded me of the Valen storyline in Babylon 5. The episode was able to flesh out and capture the totality of Vulcan's philosophic deviance. The problem was laid at the doorstop of the Vulcan high command because they were nurishing and using this nationalistic imperative to further the High Command's aims.
And a potential war between Andoria and Vulcan driven by distrust and imperialistic fervor, is not unlike the present situation in Iraq. T'Pol having to deal with all the changes going on around her. She's been away from Vulcan for a long time so the present situation is pulling her sense of Vulcan society apart. Trying to resolve her mother's involvement in the resistance and being faced with the reality of Surak's Katra being present all at once. Trying to decide who deserves her loyalty and then having to deal with the death of her mother in her arms. T'Pol, with emotional problems of her own, is handling things the best she can. It will be interesting to see how she holds up this week.
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
John Milton (1608–74), English poet. Satan, in Paradise Lost, bk. 1.
Once again, who cares what this guy thinks, good or bad?
Signed, stumped in Stubingville.
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Quote:
When he commands his minions to comb the desert, you can't help but imagine the scene from SPACEBALLS in which the stormtroopers drag a giant comb along the sands.
I may have missed it, but I didn't see anyone point out this useless fact. The guy in Spaceballs who said, "we ain't found sh*t" was none other than Tim Russ, aka Tuvok of Star Trek: Voyager fame.
As for the episode, I didn't agree with ODeus on The Forge. I thought The Forge was an excellent attempt to try to undo the damage done to the Vulcans by Enterprise. The effort is there. I just found Awakening to be a bit of a let down.
I dislike agreeing with O.Deus because he bashes ENT to no end. However, to find him complaining about the lame this, and plodding that, well, I agree. So to fix it, I tapped the episode and watched it from tape. Presto! The episode moved faster without the baggage of twenty minutes of commercials.
My gripes this week:
1. Archers initial verbal attack on T'Pau was out of character. I think he looked dumb for being so, uh, dumb.
2. Is make-up logical? T'Les lips looked plastic.
So, to improve the show, I suggest UPN cut ten minutes of commercials and double the price for the remaining spots (supply/demand). Use the extra time to make villans more than two dimensional and get better screen time for the other minor characters.
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When he commands his minions to comb the desert, you can't help but imagine the scene from SPACEBALLS in which the stormtroopers drag a giant comb along the sands.
I must admit, Spaceballs was the first thing that came to mind when I heard that order.
"We ain't found shit!" LOL
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"Take a Romulan chill pill and have some faith!"
-Erik Jendresen, writer of Star Trek: The Beginning
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."
-General George S. Patton Jr.
"I am NOT Scorned."
-Scorned as Gage/Gage_2
I don't agree with O Deus' reveiw at all, and I'm normally critical of Enterprise as well. I'd grade it an 8 out of 10.
What I've liked about this arc is that it is much closer to my idea of what this series could have been than anything involving the Temporal Cold War or the Xindi. It's a prequel series, and this is exactly the kind of story this series was meant to do. It is much more relevant to the Trek universe, and since I wanted the political landscape of the 22nd century Alpha Quadrant to be more fully explored in the way DS9 did for the 24th century, this sort of episode is a very good beginning-the kind of beginning the should have happened three years ago.
I haven't found this arc boring. It doesn't have as much action, but then again, an embassy exploded, T'Pol and Archer got chased by seh'lats and firestorms(which was kind of pointless admittedly, but most action is, which is why action is not necessarily a good thing), a massacre occurred, the Enterprise was fired upon by crazy Vulcans, and there is a threat of war between the Vulcans and Andorians, so I don't know what to tell those of you who said there wasn't a lot of action...maybe you haven't watched a lot of TNG lately.
There isn't Krazy Kung-Fu Action such as what occurred in the Augments arc, and alternate Earths weren't created and then destroyed or subjugated under Nazi rule(I'm rolling my eyes at that one), but for me, the political tension, the character development in key Vulcan characters like T'Pol and Soval, and the tying in the Enterprise series with the Star Trek franchise all keep this arc from being boring, not to mention that the usually entertaining Andorians seem to be making an appearance next week.
O Deus missed the mark this time.
I have been enjoying Enterprise's attempt to fill TOS's very big shoes. This year is far better than any so far. However, I must admit that when the maniacal Vulcan leader said to "comb the desert", I too thought of Spaceballs right away. I hope the Enterprise doesn't go to Ludicrous Speed next week. While that probably won't happen, I heard there's a good chance that T'Pol might actually go from suck to blow and Shran will be rolling up in a brand new Mercedes starship (with matching blue luggage).
Maybe William Shatner will arrive on Enterprise as an alternate timeline version of a lunar base captain (ala Airplane II).
Another ENT bashing review from our favourite ENT-hater: O. Deus. Wonderful. A 6 out of 10. Get out of here.
Positives
- The writers are taking time by developing characters, particularly Soval. He's better than ever and I hope he takes the place as the Chief Administrator of Vulcan. There's been more character development this season than the first three combined.
- The Syrannite movement is wonderful ... the writers are bridging the gap between "present day" Vulcans and the Vulcans of TOS. That's the point of the prequel concept, something B&B knew nothing about.
- The scenes with SURAK were incredible, especially the one where the battle can be seen in the background.
- SURAK in Archer. I wonder how long this will last for, and what effects are in store for Archer. It could change him forever, and it could play a HUGE role in the future of Vulcan and the Federation of Planets. This arc (and ep.) leaves us wanting more.
- The story is wonderful ... this was the middle part to the arc (the "rising action"); it looks like next week is the action-packed climax.
Negatives
- How do the Syrannites operate a holographic generator in The Forge?
- Why no accent for T'Pau?
- Why does Syran both laugh and lick his thumb (after eating in the cave)? These actions are contradictory to what COTO is trying to do. The director's fault? Who knows.
NOTE TO STEVE: Steve, you complained that Archer found the artifact too fast, that the "hidden" corridor was too obvious. Well, the corridor wasn't a secret, it was the wall that Archer opened by touching three select points on the carving. *THAT'S* what the Syrannites couldn't find.
There were many positives to this episode and last. Deus bashes again.
I found plenty of things to like in this episode. It was well produced, well balanced between action and dialogue. There were some pleasant surprises, and nothing was really wrong. I congratulate Andre Bormains for the story. But I do have a few questionmarks in my head, that I will try to address here:
The story exposed the characters to different beliefs and I welcome that. I wonder though, if not T'Pol and Archer was needlessly eager to take a stand. Also, it was not fully clear to me, why the eradication of the Syrannites is so important to V'Lass. What is the general opinion on Vulcan about the decision to hunt them down? Using T'Pols opinion as indicator, the general opinion might be that "they believe in a corrupted form of Suraks teachings" and "they are pacifists". If so, I don't see why V'Lass considers them such an immediate danger. Maybe he is worried about increasing resistance among the Vulcan people, as he tries to conquer Andoria. The long-term consequences of letting the Syrannites in peace, could be more negative buzz. But the episode didn't flesh out this aspect.
I was also puzzled when T'Pau forced Archer to give up Surak's Katra. That doesn't appear very respectful towards Surak, who is now in Archer's mind and should be able to decide for himself, what comes next. If T'Paus decision was influenced by her disgust towards Archer, I suspect she is acting emotional and certainly reckless because her actions might not please Surak. It could hurt him, maybe even kill him.
I also did not quite understand why T'Pol immediately rejected her mother, who held out the hope that her daughter would join her, when she saw what they were doing. T'Pol just says "It was extremely foolish of you". Sounds like an ill-considered response, again likely based on her emotions, although there were no emotions in T'Pols voice. Maybe she still blames the Syrannites for bombing the Earth ambassy at this point. However it must be clear to her, that her MOTHER wouldn't support something like that. So in my opinion, T'Pol should have waited until she got a better idea of the situation. Okay, people are not always thinking rational. Even Vulcans. Even T'Pol, who is probably still affected by her Trillium addiction.
Enough nit-picking. The episode certainly managed to drag me into the action, so to speak. There were some truly interesting moments; In particular Surak's appearance I think was well acted, well produced, and well written. Surak is a very important character for the Vulcan people, almost a Messiah, and I liked how he was portrayed with dignity. The first vision inside Archers head was really an eye-opener. The second vision wasn't much of a conversation, for obvious reasons. Hopefully it was not the end of Surak. I don't know how Archer is going to deal with this "task" he was given. There is absolutely no quick way to unite the Vulcan people.
I didn't expect T'Pols mother to die in this episode, and from a creative standpoint I don't see why this was done. But perhaps it simply shows how life is vulnerable and can suddenly come to a meaningless end.
I hope, "Kir'Shara" will try to remain focused on intelligent conversation rather than drift into a "phasers and torpedoes" gallore.
If he is actually coming to Enterprise, I hope they improve the pacing of his episode to something like the Augments arc. Awakening was too slow. Did I miss something about the idol? It seemed so important that much screen time was used ogling it under dark light. This episode was OK, certainly not a classic. T'Pau was unneeded. I can do without Vulcan's giving the Enterprise a pasting, or Vulcans starting nuclear war. There was some kind of veiled comment on the political situation in here somewhere, laudible but unclear? Most important to this show was the portrayal of Archer. As always, he is a leaf adrift in the wind, allowing himself to be used to accomadate whatever plot twist of the week is needed. Plus, he's a convenient first all the time-- first in the Expanse, first with a mind meld, first with a Katra, first to see Borg, first to see Ferengi, first choice for Enterprise, yet the last to catch on to normal routine in running a ship. They need to do better if the bring Captain Kirk on. Shatner should see that script and make input. Also, the intro to this show is totally out of touch. Enterprise breaks no new ground in any exploratory way. I think it has improved somewhat and I hope they do a good job with Kirk so I can get it on DVD.
While I disagreed with your take on "Forge" I totally agree that this episode was a snooze-fest. And people ragged on me for saying it was all "yakkity-yak". That wasn't character development, kids, it was just streching stuff out and rambling on about the plot points
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An elephant never forgets . . .TO KILL!
I found this more entertaining than last week (not difficult).
But this is the standard I would expect from one of the worst episodes.
Unfortunately, many fans are praising this storyline as an absolute classic. I guess dry bread to a starving man is a feast.
Its disappointing though, that the action-figure brigade has to defend this material.
I did actually enjoy the various scenes with V'Lar and Trip & Soval. What a great regular Soval would make instead of T&A'Pol. I expect he will become the ultimate keeper of the katra next week.
But those blasted cave sets again! Hats off to the director for making the best of it and coming up with creative ways to shoot the same thing over and over again.
Again, lines from the movies are dropped in again. This isn't clever, simply now getting annoying.
However the rest was d-r-a-g-g-e-d o-u-t. The cunning plan of 3 episodes to strech the budget really showed this week.
And let me get this straight - T&A'Pol's mother lets her daughter get married to get her job back and then she just leaves it and buggers off? Brilliant.
Bakula was his usual uncharismatic self. In ST3, Kelley played McCoy with Katra with some style and humor. Here Bakula plays it as Archer with headache. Wonderful.
I do appreciate the move to more TOS-styled episodes, but the concentration on the unlikeable Archer and T&A'Pol is killing the show.
Unfortunately, Bakula seems to have to be the main man in every episode and no-one will have the balls to fire him.
Let's face it, with just a couple of exceptions (Hoshi, Phlox) the cast are downright unlikeable.
A mass cast-culling should be on the cards for the season finale. Maybe an ass-wipping in the ratings from the Stargates next year will help.
Stargate: Atlantis has managed to flesh some of the the characters more in the same number of episodes as Enterprise has had seasons.
And guys - drop in some humor for god's sake.
Finally, Dear UPN: Drop those 'teasers' before the commercials. I really didn't want to see T'Les dying 50 minutes before it happened. Thank you.
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Quote:
Finally, Dear UPN: Drop those 'teasers' before the commercials. I really didn't want to see T'Les dying 50 minutes before it happened. Thank you.
Hear hear!
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"A billion robot lives are about to be extinguished! Oh, the Jedis are going to feel this one..."
-Hubert Farnsworth (Futurama: Crimes of the Hot)
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"The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one!"
-Shran (ENT: Proving Ground)
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Quote:
Unfortunately, many fans are praising this storyline as an absolute classic. I guess dry bread to a starving man is a feast.
Perfectly said.
I loved "The Forge," but you are right. This episode fails to measure up. While it stands out from the rest of the series, "Awakening" was just a decent Star Trek episode--nothing too special about it. It will be buried with the other mediocre episodes as time goes on.
Good to finally be entertained, though.
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I think you and I see this pretty much the same. Manny's canon fetish hasn't changed anything--ENT's still typified by bad acting, boring characters, dull dialouge and snail-like pacing; all the continuity-porn in the world doesn't change any of that. ENT's just as bad as it's always been.
"...the action-figure brigade..."
Fucking brilliant. ;)
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The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on
my skin. But as the embers of the summer lost their
breath and disappeared, my heart went cold, and
only hollow rhythms resounded from within.
What, pray tell, is "dry" gravy?
Seriously, I think you believe your job as a "critic" is to find fault with everything you review. Howsabout becoming a "reviewer" instead, and give us the positives as well as the negatives? Let the viewer make up his or her own mind, instead of being predisposed to hand down your negativity from on high?
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A generation which ignores history has no past and no future. -- Robert Heinlein
PCLinuxOS
falcon
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"Seriously, I think you believe your job as a "critic" is to find fault with everything you review."
What bullshit. Deus has written plenty of positive ENT reviews before.
Here's the truth: the continuiphiles, all excited by Coto's continuity-porn, are just upset that Deus isn't wearing the same rose-tinted glasses that they are.
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The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on
my skin. But as the embers of the summer lost their
breath and disappeared, my heart went cold, and
only hollow rhythms resounded from within.
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I don't want rose-colored glasses, I want to see some balance ("We report, you decide"). I was a TV news reporter for a long time, and I believe there should be balance even in commentaries. Now, I produce corporate videos, and I ask my clients what they like and what they don't when they view one of my videos.
Of course, I also remember the old saying that opinions are like noses, and people are always pokin' them in where they don't belong (or they're like other orifices, and they all stink). :-)
Peace!
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A generation which ignores history has no past and no future. -- Robert Heinlein
PCLinuxOS
falcon
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"We report, you decide".
That's not what a review is. A review is an opinion.
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The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on
my skin. But as the embers of the summer lost their
breath and disappeared, my heart went cold, and
only hollow rhythms resounded from within.
Funny that Deus should mention the "combing the desert" scene in Spaceballs... the actor that delivered the "We ain't found s*$t!" line was none other than Tim Russ... Tuvok!
Sorry, but this is the last ENT-Bashing review i'll be reading here at TrekWeb. I think it's time to find a more balanced, less bias person to review these episodes. You might as well have Scorned doing these things!
The episode was not perfect, but in no way did it deserve the review it got here. For once, it might actually HELP you to wait until the arc is over before judging certain aspects of the story. For all we know, V'Llas is working for, or IS a Romulan trying to destablize the sector.
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You only wanna hear your own opinions repeated by Deus (which is not a review). And I suspect this is because of insecurity; that you want to have your view of ENT reinforced by someone of some stature.
Look, this isn't a news article--it's an expression of opinion. Your whining reminds me of the many FOX news right-wingers complaining about the mythical "liberal bias" (i.e. "the big lie").
Why you believe Deus is required to represent the opinions of you and your ENT-gushing ilk, despite the fact that he personally doesn't fall in line with your "everything-ENT-does-is-good/Manny Coto is god" mantra, I'll never know.
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The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on
my skin. But as the embers of the summer lost their
breath and disappeared, my heart went cold, and
only hollow rhythms resounded from within.
-
My last time and all.
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Hoshi: I was hoping you'd put up a fight.
T'Pol: I'm surprised you're not exhausted from all the beds, you've jumped into, recently.
"In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"
I find myself also not particularly liking the Vulcan High Command and V'Las. He is a typical "kill 'em all" badguy, and he's not even good at being said type of badguy. I think that's the general problem now: all of the villains are designed to be like Khan (Shinzon, Malik, and V'Las, and Dolim to name a few). They all have a singularly two-demensional way of doing things, ala Khan. But at least Khan had some depth to him: he was not only a good straight badguy, but he was a mindf**ker to boot.
None of these villains can get into someone's head like Khan can. Berman cheated with Shinzon and took that to literally mean to go into someones mind and have sex with them. That was friggen lame... and V'las is written no better.
About the Spaceballs line: I was thinking the same thing. I was waiting for the Vulcans to call up V'las, and spout: "We ain't found s**t!"
Good episode on the whole, as far a dramatics go - I will disagree with you about the pointless drivel that was spoken amongst the characters. But I will agree with the Vulcans at this point: they're all emotional wrecks. It seems that Archer is the only one not acting on his Emotions. WTF? I thought the Vulcans were supposed to be the ones to surpress emotions?
Anyway, I agree with 75% of this review... for a change. Good call this time around, Deus.
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"If any one of you question my Chinese or American heritage as a negative, I will have your f**king head." - O Ren Shi Ii "KILL BILL Vol 1"
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Enterprise has been such a mess in terms of not knowing where it wants to go. If they'd been smart, they'd have been doing these kinds of things and putting things together from day one. The whole Xindi thing, as cool as some episodes were, really was a sad side track. Why not develop the high command more? Like we did on DS9 with the Cardassians. Why not have an episode where we see more interaction between the various characters - T'Poll's mom, the high command etc.? So we can learn more about their motivation. Michael Piller always tried to create bad guys that you could sympathize with, that were textured and had layers to them. That feels so lost now.
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- Steve Lee
http://www.steveleenow.net/
But I think your critcisms are unfounded. I really don't see your points in relation to the story. I found both episodes enjoyable and entertaining. Ratings are down, and this will probably the last of ENTERPRISE I get to see, but in the end, I still say these were good episodes...
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"My old friend, this song's for you. Cause a few simple verses was the least that I could do to tell the world that you were here. Cause the love and the laughter, will live on long after all of the sadness and the tears. We'll meet again, my old friend"
Tim McGraw "My Old Friend"
Dedicated To My Home..New Orleans
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I thought "Awakening" was not as bad as the review portrayed, but still needed some major work.
-V'Las is poorly written, and unfortunately poorly acted. I had hoped for better from Robert Foxworthy, who did a great job in the DS9 two-parter "Homecoming/Paradise Lost" as Admiral Leyton. Essentially he is playing a similar character. I think it would've worked if V'Las was much less emotional. If he laid out his reasons, which are logical in a way, without snarling and threatening, I think he would be a much more dangerous bad guy. Hopefully, the character can be redeemed if they make him an agent, ally, or pawn of the Romulans.
-T'Pau is too emotional for someone now leading a movement out to purge creeping emotion from the Vulcans. Of course, one could argue that she is still learning how to come to grips with the Syrannite teachings. However, I still think she should show less emotion, and perhaps her prejudice against humans could be explained as for her belief that contact with humans have helped to corrupt the Vulcan people-which would be sort of reverse the whole thing were Trek aliens are supposed to become more human, show more 'human' emotion, particularly Vulcans. It would also explain why the Earth embassy bombing could be blamed on the Syrannites, and why Surak has chosen Archer instead of the Syran or T'Pau to carry his katra. Namely, that the Syrannite movement not only promotes peace, but isolationism, and an almost xenophobia against corruption from without and within. Though the Syrannites are closer to Surak's teachings, they still have a ways to go, and Surak could pick Archer to help teach them.
-T'Pau's take on the Syrannite movement could help spawn the isolationist movement featured in the TNG two-parter "the Gambit".
-T'Les is also too emotional to be a Syrannite. Though I did like her scenes with T'Pol. I think T'Pol's overly emotional manner worked nicely this episode at least.
-Where is Sokor or Skon, Spock's great grandfather and grandfather I believe? Having Sokor on the High Command, in the role the character Kuvak fulfills would be pretty cool, and another nice nod toward the original series.
-I do like the Andorian twist, and how V'Las is preparing a preemptive strike. I wish the relationship between the Earth government and the Vulcan government was better defined. How much pull does Earth have with the Vulcan government and vice versa?
-I also like Trip in command. He seems more natural at it than Archer. I wish that Trip had been made the captain from the get go, and the character of Archer had been eliminated. Trinnear has always carried off the dislike of Vulcans & the Xindi, the pull of the darkside, things that Archer was also supposed to experience, better than Bakula. Though I think Scott Bakula is a good actor, he doesn't appear comfortable as Archer.
-Travis had more to do which is always good. Now, if they could find a way to have Travis, Hoshi, Reed, and Phlox all having something significant to do all on the same episode or same arc it would excellent.
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While I'm not surprised at Deus's overall negative bias of the show, he's having a hard time trying to hide is overall dislike by making new reasons to hate the show. He even resorts to contradicting himself when talking about "The Forge" and "Awakening".
First he said:
Quote:
But ultimately like "Forge," "Awakening" is an episode with little plot that drags it out for forty minutes in order to satisfy the requirements of a three-part arc.
But then he said:
Quote:
Lacking the energy and sense of wonder of "The Forge"'s explorations of the Vulcan desert, the caves by contrast have little to offer us but particularly uninteresting characters arguing with each other over not particularly uninteresting things.
Hmm.. If I'm not mistaken, either he has run out of things to say or he's clearly conflicted over the two episodes.
And just like Deus has always done, he just assumes that next weeks episode is going to be garbage without actually watching it and then mentions it in a condescending tone.
Quote:
Next week: Vulcans, Andorians, Terrans and Syrannites...Oh My.
It's one thing to have a critic, it's another thing to have some whiney basher who doesn't give a chance to a show that has turned itself around significanly since last year.
A word of advice for the site-runners of Trekweb, get a new critic.
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Burninating across the land. Burninating the peasants.
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Quote:
And just like Deus has always done, he just assumes that next weeks episode is going to be garbage without actually watching it and then mentions it in a condescending tone.
Quote:
Next week: Vulcans, Andorians, Terrans and Syrannites...Oh My.
I don't really think that comment was condescending. It was just the usual somewhat witty comment leading into the next epsiode. Plus, it's both a "Wizard of Oz" and DS9 reference!
Nog: "Lions and Gigers and bears."
Jake: "Oh my."
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"You know what six movies average out to be really good? The first six Star Trek movies!" -- Fry, Futurama
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Deus has been the reviewer for more than six years and the criticisms of his reviews have become no more novel (or correct) as they have ever been during that time period. Contrary to these criticisms, Deus is not consistently negative and what's funny is how many episodes he's reviewed positively that have generated just as many angry comments about how he should be fired for being a gusher!
The truth is somewhere in between.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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I sense a kind of impatience in O'Deus writing during this season. He doesn't seem to be a fan of the mini-arc concept, and it must indeed be a pain to write reviews for these. You don't have complete story lines to review, so each review has to include a "we'll see if it works out next week" by-line. My advice to O'Deus would be to hold off on reviews until each arc is completed.
The mini-arc concept is designed to answer a complaint I've had about the series since day one, which is that a fully fleshed out story cannot be done in 40 minutes. The three story arc gives you a complete 2 hours to work with. Perhaps an episode viewed this way, without commercial interruptions, would change the tone of a review. Then again, Dark Helmut doesn't make for a good Vulcan.
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I've got to agree here. O'Deus, you've missed the boat once again with yet another negative review. This has actually been one of the stronger and more fascinating Trek arcs in recent memory (alongside the 3-part Brent Spiner arc), with lots of great information on the Vulcan culture that ties in to the Original Series and has lots of richness to it.
No wonder it's consistently negative reviews like these are going to kill the series.
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Really? What was good about this one? Like Deus said, the Vulcan High Commander is nothing more than a two-dimensional villain reminiscent of the Xindi reptiles; he could have been any race, really, and lacks the Vulcan originality of thought/characterizations.
T'Pau's prejudice; where is it coming from? What seperates the Syrranites from the High Command when T'Pau seems just as ruthless? And everyone is so emotional!
Finally, Archer being the savior of the Vulcan race is just so hard to swallow. But perhaps that's just by general bias against the character.
The Forge was a decent episode but this one pretty much pissed away any good the Stevenses did.
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"Oh, I'll wake up
To any sound of engines,
Ev'ry gull a seeking craft..."
Kate Bush, And Dream of Sheep
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Quote:
Really? What was good about this one? Like Deus said, the Vulcan High Commander is nothing more than a two-dimensional villain reminiscent of the Xindi reptiles; he could have been any race, really, and lacks the Vulcan originality of thought/characterizations
Agreed. V'las was the weakest past of of "Awakenings." There was no subtlety to Robert Foxworth's performance.
Quote:
T'Pau's prejudice; where is it coming from? What seperates the Syrranites from the High Command when T'Pau seems just as ruthless? And everyone is so emotional!
It's only been 17 years since the "Syrannite" movement began, and it's safe to assume that even they are not completely following Surak's teachings, since we are told in "The Forge" that his original writings were lost, and despite the fact that Syran has had the man's katra in his head for all those years.
Besides, the older T'Pau we saw in "Amok Time" seemed pretty openly hostile toward Kirk and McCoy, refering to them as "offworlders," and asking Spock "Are thee Vulcan or are thee human?" If Vulcans had completely gotten the hang of this "emotional control" thing, why would they even need a Kohlinar ritual?
I'm guessing the significance of the "Kir'Shara" relic is that it probably contains a copy of his original teachings, and it's that discovery that will alter Vulcan society to that of TOS era.
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"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, cigar in one hand, favorite beverage in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!"
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