the delphic expanse

This is the discussion thread for S1E14, Sleeping Dogs! All Delphic Expanse rules of engagement apply.

Written by: Fred Dekker (Andorian Incident, Vox Sola)
Directed by: Les Landau
Rewatch chat is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27th at 8pm EST (12:00 am Thursday, April 28th GMT). Hopefully?

Rewatching this one, I was struck by how much fun this episode is. First, the Klingons are really menacing. You believe they are dangerous, so that adds tension. The design of the Klingon ship, paticularly the galley, is great. Malcolm, T'pol and Hoshi all get nice character moments. Love the little moment between Jon and Trip in sickbay. Jon starts to get to know Klingon culture.

I do understand, however, that it is best not to think too hard about the physics of the ending

I am so sleep deprived right now, all I remember is something about "godless tornadoes".

Yes, we were making obscure classic television references in the live chat! LOL "Citizens of Cincinnati, we are being attacked by the godless... tornadoes!"

Okay, back on topic. Klingons keep live Targs. I am now imagining a David Foster Wallace essay "Consider the Targ".

My two cents (well, more like three):


1. Something that I never noticed before: it looks like Hoshi has a pierced navel! A remnant from a 'wild child' phase, perhaps?

2. Was the relief crew out sick, or something? Trip has to work nearly all the bridge consoles in this episode.

3. When installing the duratanium braces, Archer does all the welding, while Trip supervises. For some reason, I find this amusing.

Over all, a very good episode.

I liked how this episode really shows T'Pol belonging to the crew. One of the things I wanted more of throughout the series was more scenes with Hoshi and T'Pol interacting on a personal level. The scene in the galley where T'Pol helps Hoshi deal with her fear is just great! I also like the decon scene at the end. I couldn't resist it - I had some free time, so I went ahead and watched "Shadows of P'Jem" right after "Sleeping Dogs." There's a line in there where Phlox says something about T'Pol becoming a part of the crew. I think "Sleeping Dogs" is really the episode where it first becomes truly evident that T'Pol actually is developing relationships with people besides Archer and Trip. I just wish we'd seen more of that! (Of course, we do get a lot of great stuff between her and Phlox as the only two aliens aboard.)

I love the development of the Hoshi/Malcolm friendship, target practice was potentially foreshadowing intimacy, and when Hoshi interprets Klingon and says something about photon torpedoes, which Malcolm jumps right in for more information....they were in tune at that time, and the decon scene gave us a bit of closeness, in a shay way, which was perfect for each of them. It would have been perfectly ok with me for this relationship to have been explored as a deeper possibility. They both needed a core of stability, with the other being the most important person in their lives, love and passion as well, to overcome their lonely and barren childhoods. I think it would have gone a long way towards empowering both characters.

And I like the way Hoshi is the one who says to blow all the torpedoes at once....she is getting her 'space legs' all right!

And again with the decon scene, could just about imagine how nice that would be after all the muck from the Klingon ship.

I agree with Brandyjane about T'Pol's interactions with Hoshi and Malcolm. That little 'headache' lie was very un-Vulcan, and she was excellent in her delivery!

Trip and Jon have good interactions as well.....Trip's smile when leaving sickbay, Archer practicing Klingon after Trip's think like one suggestion, and working together to brace the shuttlepod. Lots of male bonding time there.

Finally, seeing the Klingon galley was, in a word, YUCK! But very convincing!