No, not that it was a horror. That was for Trip's apparent (and
charming) obsession with bad old horror flicks.
We begin with upside down Travis. The music, sadly, was
sappy melodrama. "Travis, report to the bridge ‹ we're reversing
course." (And *that* was only to look at the exploding planet).
GOD what a non-starter that teaser was. I was far back from the
edge of my seat. They must fix this.
Archer's kindly patronizing words carry a hidden meaning for
viewers: "I think we can manage without you for a few episodes... I
mean 'days'." Oh, the irony.
Nice foreshadowing: Archer's thoughts of serving on a cargo
ship at one point may tie in to First Flight (but I won't spoil that).
But don'tcha think?
Trip/T'Pol: Although not an advocate of this ship, I'm very happy to
see the return of sparks, sparring, and snarkiness. They do it so
well. "You'll have time to practice your harmonica," she jabs.
Glares of various sorts all around.
Movie night is a hilarious idea, and with Trip in charge (or at least
helping Chef),we are getting some great 20th century horror.
Speaking of which, apparently Reed's parents are quite the
horror.
Archer/Travis in the sweet spot = sweet. Archer: "Commander
Tucker told me what happened." Interesting. Did Travis go to
Trip first? That would certainly fit the idea of their closeness, but
if he won't tell Archer, why tell anyone. I think he went to Trip.
This was a very touching scene. Bravo, A.M. Give the man more.
T'Pol, cornered: "I've no doubt my headache will return."
Trip wants to see the engines (and/or wants to keep
Mayweather's spirits up). And he has photos.
BIGGEST AWWWWWW! ever: Trip: "I thought your mom might
want to see what her boy's been up to." >sniff<
His mom is great, his brother's an ass. But that's just a first
impression. They are both stock characters and I wish they'd
been fleshed out more.
Trip/ T'Pol: Trip gamely tries again to get T'Pol to come to movie
night. He offers to help calibrate something. He says "Seats are
gonna fill up fast." It isn't working. He goes off in as much of a
huff as he can manage. Archer, oddly, steps up. "Might be fun."
T'Pol: "I don't understand how it can be called fraternizing".
Archer asks her out: "Dinner, a movie, you'll be my date."
T'PANIC: "I beg your pardon?" (?!?!??!?!?!??? <- unspoken
Vulcan punctuation )
Travis and brother Paul squabble. Travis is very easily bothered
by things, even now. Paul is unprofessional in front of his crew
(who are already doubting him.)
Back to movie night. Trip isn't crying, but he is *mesmerized* to
the point of being slack-jawed. Archer and T'Pol, sitting in a tree..
oops, sorry. Archer and T'Pol are sitting in front of Trip and Phlox,
who begins a loud digression, prompting T'Pol to use sarcasm
to shut him up. Very emotional for her.
More Travis/Paul squabbling. Words of wisdom from Starfleet?
No, from Dad. Travis really lets rip here (for him, anyway). Is he
channeling Trip? Or just learning how to speak his mind?
Nice Fortunate Son continuity: How hard it is for freighters to find
good crewmen because Starfleet is sucking up the talent pool.
Mom is great, brother is an ass. I'll stand by that.
Dinner, and the return of the much missed Captain's Table.
* lots of glances and eyebrowing
* lots of A/T nonverbals
* lots of T'Pol yanking their chains
Trip finally can't take her evasiveness: "What did you think of the
story?" he says slowly and firmly.
T'Pol's interpretation is hilarious and quite accurate. "I'm going
to recommend that Ambassador Soval watch it." Trip: "Yer
kiddin'!"
Trinneer takes over this scene with his face alone, ending with
two nice eyerolls: one for Soval, one for the Bride of Frankenstein
comment.
Flat finish. The volcanic planet is dropped. Mayweather and
brother reconcile through violence and firepower. Brother is now
supernice. End of show.
Excellent Mayweather ep, even with the stock characters and
too-easy resolution. The tears in zero-G with Archer were great. The pain of "I wish he had told ME that" was
palpable.
TripCentric Summary
*no skin/undies
*LOTS of eyebrows and face
*he's good to Travis
*he's back to being edgy with T'Pol
*he loves old cheesy horror as well as Bergman
*T'Pol knows of his harmonica (perhaps she can hear it through
the walls?)
A4T