*Overall, a very average ep, treading well worn trails, esp

*Overall, a very average ep, treading well worn trails, esp. Archer,

not one for the history books.

Gripe #1: the one-minute "hook" of a few oil well workers and a

shuttlepod flying in. That's it. Is that supposed to make me

wanna stick around?

Gripe #2: he gives the kid the Ent schematics, awww how sweet

Wait WHAT?? He gave a stranger the schematics for a starship

far ahead of their technology with Klingons very likely to return?

With "The Communicator" just two weeks from now? HUH?

NOW on to the revelry:

TRIP walks funny!: (opening shot of their arrival) That's not a

criticism, it's just surprising. T'Pol sits all over the captain's chair

like a puppet. We all have our faults.

TRIP is great with kids. Of course he is. He's great with

everyone including inanimate objects and slugs and slices of

pie. If tonight's ep didn't increase the perception that he'd be a

great "catch", I don't know what else would. Very relaxed, natural,

and "sternly gentle", whatever that means.

TRIP has his own patented greeting!: "Commander Trip Tucker.

Nice to meetcha." <swoon>

TRIP as Engineer: This is the fourth ep this season to make

note of his skills; unfortunately, it's the second to make note of

his skills at "faux demolition" and at least the third overall to

make him the "let me get my tools and take a look" guy, *Trip

Tucker, Mr. Fixit to the Galaxy*. That's getting a bit old.

TRIP Looks: the smile he gives the kid - god I have to get a cap

of that grin; the WTF look he gives the Klingons, even better on a

full screen than in the promo; the various faces he goes through

in his conversation with Archer.

TRIP Hilarity: Intentional or Not? To T'Pol, who can make out a

distant conversation, he says "Good ears." :D From the look

she gives him, I think she took it as a jibe.

TRIP Doing Math in his Head?: "Seven? Then you must

outnumber them <pause> *9 or 10* to one." Is he being so

precise (9.3774661) that he needs to pause to round to the

nearest number? Or....

TRIP Talks Well with Kid: Gives him the "get your hands off my

instrument panel" talk with good humor; gives him the "it's not

that simple" lecture with frankness; gives him the "you do what

Lt. Reed tells you to do, y'hear?" talk with fatherly sternness;

gives him the "maybe I'll see you again in the future (not)" talk

with honesty and warmth. Very very nice.

sidenote: Nice upshot camera angle on the "it's not that simple"

scene. Not many people look good shot from below like that. I

credit that nose, mmmhmmm. Also, every scene was well

acted. If only everyone were that open and at ease around kids,

especially troubled teens.

A Whole TRIP-Archer scene!: - more water sharing.

T: This plan is a longshot...........init?

A: (neither asking nor accusing) You think it's a mistake.

T: (calmly) I didn't *say* that.

A: (back in hero mode) I've never liked bullies, Trip.

{speculation on the BBS last week was that he said "I've never

*looked foolish*," but we know that couldn't be the line.

So, was Archer bullied, or was someone he cared about bullied?

Interesting room for a backstory and fic to poke around in.

TRIP Headband: He makes it work, but it's not my favorite look. I

like the hair, mussed and not slicked down. And there's the

chest hair, but we've covered that extensively. ;-)

Other crew members:

Malcom: Gets to plot, shoot, threaten.

Hoshi: Impresses the sh*t out of Malcom. NEW LOVE

INTEREST?

T'Pol: The white suit is silly. Still, Vulcan Fu is good for a few

kicks.

Travis: gets to move heavy objects and be T'Pol's fighting

dummy. Still, those pecs. He's rivaling T'Pol!

OVERALL: EP: 6 of 10 TRIPNESS: 8 of 10 followed by a bit of a

drought as we do T'Pol (+Archer "I'd like you to accompany me,

Captain"), Malcom (The Communicator), Hoshi (Vanishing Point)

and All of Them (could be good Trip stuff there: Singularity).

Then THEN Precious Cargo and Dawn and our boy is back full

force!!

A4T

:now I hab a code id by dose add m' l' ryn'g'tis' iz ' b'ck:

:ENT and Trip make it all better: