the delphic expanse

So, I really enjoy Trip and Malcolm as friends - and I'm glad the show kept their friendship going all four seasons. There are nice moments throughout. I think their chemistry elevates Shuttlepod One to being one of the best 1st season episodes.


But, I really love when they go all Tom and Huck in Dead Stop in the second season. I know they get in trouble, but it's fun to watch them at work.

I like this friendship because I think it was unrealistic for Trip to stay tight with the Captain for very long. It was only a matter of time before he ended up on the wrong end of Archer, and that was "Cogenitor." In even the most mundane of situations, it's hard to maintain a friendship with your boss. Trip needs a friend who's basically an equal.

Yes, Trip may have outranked Malcolm, but Malcolm did not really answer to Trip - he reported to Archer. They were in totally different areas of interest - and by the fourth season - the two men seemed genuinely close. They certainly had been through a lot together.

Much is made of the opposites attract dynamic between TnT, but Trip and Malcolm were opposites that complimented each other as well - even though it really was just friendship.

Even if Trip outranks Malcolm, they're still close enough that it wouldn't be inappropriate. Malcolm's next in command after Trip, and they're both heads of their department, so even though their ranks are different they're pretty equal in terms of responsibility.

The banter and shared confidences when the two were trapped on the Romulan prototype was when the friendship was cemented for me.

TUCKER: How are you holding up?
REED: A little light-headed.
TUCKER: That's nothing new. I should've known better.
REED: About what?
TUCKER: Getting involved with a fellow officer. There's nothing going on between us anymore if you're interested.
REED: That's not why I asked.
TUCKER: Well, you said she had an awfully nice bum.
REED: This is true.

This made me realize what good friends they had become. That was a true buddy episode (arc).

In Season 1, Malcolm is so reserved and quiet, while Trip is outgoing and friendly. I think it's a thing where opposites attract as far as friendship's go. They balance each other. I think their friendship reflects the old Kirk/Spock dynamic in TOS, not Archer/T'Pol. being stuck in SP One and mugged, stripped and tied up in a basement on Risa...only best friends can go through that. LOL!

One and mugged, stripped and tied up in a basement on Risa...only best friends can go through that. LOL!

I'd call that male bonding at its finest - between that and Shuttlepod one, these two were going to remain tight. I even enjoyed their bickering in "The Catwalk". Those two were fighting like friends - not like coworkers.

I liked the friendship with trip& Malcolm and that they enjoyed bantering and joking with each other.I really like Drogna's storiesthat show their friendship in her series and Volley's stories too and they also portray Trip& T'Pol's relationship and Malcolm when he won't talk to anyone else. is the person trip confides in Malcolm.It is oneof the reasons I like her stories.

Volley's one of my favorite authors for Trip and Malcolm stories. She captures that friendship, and how it changes over the seasons, really well whether it's done as humor or angst or even as the background to a larger story.

Trip and Malcolm remind me a little of DS9's O'Brien and Bashir - very ying/yang buddies. But where Miles and Julian had a cultural background they shared despite their professional and personal differences, I think Trip and Malcolm share more of a interest in the same kinds of technical/professional things (though from different perspectives: "You're good at building things, I'm good at blowing them up.") while their personalities and cultural backgrounds are different.

I can relate. My best friend and I are opposites from different backgrounds even while we share other interests and values in common. We've been best friends for 25+ years and yeah, we've gotten in trouble like these two more than once.