Light Myself on Fire or Fire on the Vulcans? - The A4T Cease Fire Review

 

Intro: Vague, as usual. Whatever happened to the “big hook”? Or a three-to-five minute opener to really involve you?

 

Part One:

Captain’s Table (back after a long absence!)

 

The Worried Engineer, Part I: <closeup of vibrating iced tea>

Trip: “I don’t like pushin’ the engines this hard.”

T’Pol: “They’re rated for 120% of output.

TRIPQUOTE

“Yeah, and my underwear’s flame retardant. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna light myself on fire to prove it.”

 

Trip/T’Pol bickering (back again, finally):

T’Pol mentions Klingons landing on Pluto, as an analogy.

Trip: That’s not the same thing! <dirty look>

---

Archer: What happened to the colonists.

T’Pol: They were removed.

Trip: By force. <disdain and accusation>

T’Pol: <icy stare>

 

The Worried Engineer, Part II: <as Soval arrives late> SWEAR ALERT

Trip: I damn near burn up the warp reactor gettin’ here -- and they make us wait!

 

Archer-Trip looks: 1) “Shran.” 2) As he agrees to the deal.

 

Archer and T’Pol – it seems that trust is the main point. If they’re smart, they’ll run with that and leave the wuv out of it.

 

Phlox scene: needless? not at all! It gives Archer an excuse to reprise his Prime Directive, er, his Great Gazelles, er, his notable speechmaking. It went something like this:

“Maybe where out here to prove that humanity’s ready <federation> to join a much larger…<federation>… community. <federation>” Or maybe those whispers were just in my head. Who does this poor man’s speechwriting???

 

Archer and T’Pol – hoping to help Archer prove Soval wrong? Things *have* changed.

 

Tora? Tara? Torah?:

What was her name? Ms. Not what I’d hoped for. So-so. She played this character like a snobby socialite, not a militarist. Whiny, grating, posing like a runway model. Sort of like she was channeling Christine Baranski. (Now that would have been fun!)

 

Archer and Shran – this interaction is always fun to watch. It’s one of the best interplays between characters on the show, and one of Archer’s best. It seems to bring out the truest parts of Archer’s nature. Jeffrey Combs Rox! of course, even when he’s overacting.

Vulcans are sarcastic!:

Soval: “I’m sure the Andorians were impressed with your negotiating skills.” <smirk>

 

The Worried Engineer, Part III:

“I (d)on’t like this! With all the interference you won’t be able to contact the ship.” (=me)

Archer comforts him.

Trip: “Those Andorian ships’ll be here in four hours.”

Archer: “I’ll be back long before then.”

<this leads to>

VeryWorried!Trip, much like in The Seventh. He’s cute when he’s worried. Actually, we could stop using that line and just have a stock phrase: He’s cute when he’s             .

 

Archer’s spine is growing back, all episode long. Very nice.

 

ArcherLaugh:

T’Pol: “We need to decrease our speed.”

Archer: “The ground is gonna do that for us.”

 

Trip & the Vulcans/Andorians: *note token Reed/Sato/Mayweather appearances

 

Trip: <hands twitching as he paces> “How would you know?” [where the captain is]

Vulcan: Our sensors are more sophisticated.

Trip: We want to be involved in any rescue operation.

Vulcan: We’ll take care of the rescue.

– cuts off comm.—

Trip: I’m gettin’ reeeeal sick of gettin’ cut off.

(Oh, wait, that was Shadows of P’Jem!) This must be Shadows of shadows of P’Jem.

 

*lots of wandering, burning rubble, bickering

*lots of weapons fire, ducking, nighttime haze, etc.

*etc.

 

VulcanLaugh:

Soval: “What is their fixation with our ears?”

T’Pol: “I think they’re envious.”

 

A human accent? Is that bad? “Contaminated?” That’s not nice. T’Pol has a while to go before she’s adjusted, apparently.

 

The Worried Engineer, Part IV:

“You have something?” <stares INTENTLY at the screen> That’s the Cap’n? At least we know he’s alive. <relief> Where is he?”

 

Defining Moments:

Andorian ships arrive.

<and so it begins> Trip: “Put the ship on tactical alert.” Reed pushes the button. (Mild dimming, red lights, irritating tone. And it’s not soooo “bag full of cats” that you couldn’t get used to it.)

 

Vulcan and Andorian ships move toward the planet, and each other.

<a hushed awe falls over the crowd>

Trip: “Travis, put us right in between them.” <legs apart, shoulders back, superhero stance>

Reed: “If you don’t mind me asking… what do you have in mind?”

Trip: <silent, eyes locked, jaw set>

 

Vulcans and Andorians hail.

<COMMANDER Tucker emerges, hearts lift>

Trip: “Put ‘em both on. (very cool!) This is Commander Tucker. <manfully enthroned in the Captain’s chair, hands on knees, eyes riveted to the screen>

Vulcan: blah blah blah

Andorian: blah blah blah

<Commander Tucker waits, silently, pissed off>

Vulcan: Any ship approaching the planet will be fired on.

Trip: That includes yours, Subcommander. <steely eyes, unblinking>

Andorian: Gee, thanks! We appreciate your support.

Trip: Don’t. I’ll open fire on any ship that makes an aggressive move. <To Reed> Phase cannons?

(At this point, Reed falls completely in love with Trip.)

 

<the transformation is complete>

Trip: As long as my [not “the”, not “our”] Captain is stuck in the middle of your war zone…

Vulcan: He’s probably already dead <Travis glances at Hoshi! Poor Travis.>

Trip: Don’t count him out so fast. Now, <stands up> why don’t you both give him and Ambassador a chance to do their jobs.

 

<and at that point I fell back on the couch, in a swoon. Glorious>

 

*further gunfire

*further fistfights

*Andorian traitors revealed, dealt with (yes, it was her!)

 

Trip is about to fire phase cannons when Archer telephones:

Archer: “Nice to hear your voice, Trip.” Awwww!

Trip: Are you okay? Awwww!

 

No underwear, but a mention of it.

No thuds, per se, but MAN O MAN someone looks good staring down the aliens.

 

Whew!

 

Archer4Trip