the delphic expanse

Something just occurred to me. I've always sort of thought of TnT as both being in denial about their obvious attraction to each other for a long, long time. But I think "Home" contradicts that. When T'Les asks how long Trip has been attracted to T'Pol, he says, "I knew we had some kind of chemistry the first time we got into an argument." They got into their first argument on the mission to take Klaang home. So, if I'm interpretting this correctly, Trip realized he was attracted to T'Pol pretty much from the beginning.

Another thing about that line that suddenly stands out to me is the word "chemistry." You can't really have chemistry if only one person is feeling the attraction, can you? In my mind, "chemistry" implies that something is going on with both people. Am I right in thinking that what Trip is saying is that he always knew, on some level, that T'Pol was attracted to him, too? If so, it really changes the way I see a lot of their banter all through the first couple of seasons.

Well, you can have chemistry that isn't romantic or sexual in nature. For example, if you look at all the screen tests for the original Star Wars movie, you can tell George Lucas was casting for chemistry -- he wanted the people who interacted with each other the best.

I have what you might call chemistry with several of people, because we tease each other and get under each other's skin. But that doesn't mean I want them, necessarily, or that I'm romantically attracted to them.

On the other side of things, you can feel something and not recognize it for what it is. Keep in mind that Trip was in a relationship when he first met T'Pol. Assuming he's not a dog (and most of us don't), his mind probably wasn't even going there because he knew he had someone at home. It was probably more like, "Hey, screwing with the uptight Vulcan is fun!" If there were feelings of romantic attraction, they probably would've been largely buried at least until the neuropressure began.

This is not to say that he didn't find her to be a gorgeous woman. He's not blind, after all. But I don't think he "knew" per se that they had a romantic chemistry from the beginning. Just that they were really good at setting each other off.

Just my loose change, any way.

I tend to agree with Aquarius on this. There can be chemistry that isn't sexual attraction. When Trip tells T'Les they had chemistry from time of the first argument, he may have been looking at it in retrospect, colored by his more recent experiences with T'Pol.

In the first season, the impression I got was that that Trip was having an even harder time accepting T'Pol being on board than Jon. That was because she was Vulcan and the "she's spying on us" attitude, along with his reaction to what he perceived as the Vulcan superiority complex where humans were concerned. In addition, both Trip and Jon were angry that the Vulcans had held back information that could have helped the warp engine program progress more quickly, so there was resentment. She just happened to be the Vulcan on board, so all their resentment was directed at her.

A turning point, I think, is when Trip translates the encrypted message to T'Pol, believing it was something suspicious, but finds out she's been given an ultimatum to return home to be married. Then he winds up giving her advice, at her request, after Phlox tells T'Pol it might help her to talk to someone about the situation. Because of this, I think he stops looking at her as an ever-present reminder of everything he doesn't like about Vulcans, and more as an individual, a person with her own problems. It makes her much more sympathetic character from his point of view. That in turn could lead to a change in his feelings for her.

I've just watched this episode today and I find your comments very interesting, especially in season one where there seem to be a very contrived Archer/T'Pol vibe going (though admittedly it was pretty one sided). I really glad that fizzled out as frankly "A Night in Sickbay" made me want to reach for the brain bleach!

On another (tone lowering!) note, how T'Pol managed to not rip Trip's clothes off right there at the wedding I'll never know. He looked utterly edible.

Brandyjane wrote:Something just occurred to me. I've always sort of thought of TnT as both being in denial about their obvious attraction to each other for a long, long time. But I think "Home" contradicts that. When T'Les asks how long Trip has been attracted to T'Pol, he says, "I knew we had some kind of chemistry the first time we got into an argument." They got into their first argument on the mission to take Klaang home. So, if I'm interpretting this correctly, Trip realized he was attracted to T'Pol pretty much from the beginning.

Another thing about that line that suddenly stands out to me is the word "chemistry." You can't really have chemistry if only one person is feeling the attraction, can you? In my mind, "chemistry" implies that something is going on with both people. Am I right in thinking that what Trip is saying is that he always knew, on some level, that T'Pol was attracted to him, too? If so, it really changes the way I see a lot of their banter all through the first couple of seasons.

At this point, my take is that they have a serious mutual attraction from the very beginning, but they spend pretty much all of seasons 1 & 2, and half of season 3 subconsciously resisting, while at the same time subconsciously expressing it. On Trip's side I think it goes back to the fact that she actually changes her mind twice during Broken Bow based on his arguments, which gets him to realize that she's not a "typical Vulcan" and that arguing with her can produce positive results and even be kind of fun (especially when decon jell is involved).

On T'Pol's side (and this may seem kind of out of the box) I think it goes back to Strange New World, where Trip demonstrates to her that he's actually very Vulcan in a lot of ways. I know that sounds crazy, but if you think about it, what are some of the key emotional elements that Vulcans are trying to suppress. We see in Impulse that Paranoia and Homicidal Rage are very natural to Vulcans who have lost their logic. And those are exactly the ways that Trip responds to the situation in Strange New World. The next morning, T'Pol is completely focused on Trip, to the point of almost completely ignoring the other two crewmembers in the cave when they wake up. So, from that point on, she's fascinated by Trip, but doesn't have any frame of reference for that type of situation, so she keeps encountering circumstances that produce reactions within her she doesn't really understand (such as her anger at him during Unexpected), which she rationalizes away in various different ways.

So, my take is, from the beginning they had some sort of "chemistry" that they both sort of recognized as something, but neither one of them was willing or able to really admit what it was. By the time Trip gets asked the question in Home, he can look back and recognize it for what it was, but at the time he convinced himself it was something else.

Just my thoughts.

Verse Ranger wrote:So, my take is, from the beginning they had some sort of "chemistry" that they both sort of recognized as something, but neither one of them was willing or able to really admit what it was. By the time Trip gets asked the question in Home, he can look back and recognize it for what it was, but at the time he convinced himself it was something else.

Just my thoughts.

I agree. I think they were drawn to one another from the beginning. I always wondered if T'Pol might have sensed/felt some of Trip's emotions in decon. I really think she did, and that it fascinated her, though of course she'd deny it. There's something about the way that she touches him that doesn't seem very clinical to me. She keeps going back and touching areas that she's already fully coated in gel, and it seems like she'd have kept on touching him if he hadn't moved away. There's also an odd look on her face.

"Strange New World" is one of my favorite episodes, but I never thought about it the way you've presented. Interesting! I agree that Trip does have a side to his personality that is kind of Vulcanish. The paradox of him being the most emotional character yet also being someone who tends to hide his deepest feelings is one of the reasons he's my favorite character.

Brandyjane wrote:I agree. I think they were drawn to one another from the beginning. I always wondered if T'Pol might have sensed/felt some of Trip's emotions in decon. I really think she did, and that it fascinated her, though of course she'd deny it. There's something about the way that she touches him that doesn't seem very clinical to me. She keeps going back and touching areas that she's already fully coated in gel, and it seems like she'd have kept on touching him if he hadn't moved away. There's also an odd look on her face.

Yes, there is obviously a lot going on in the Decon Chamber there. I hadn't thought about the aspect of T'Pol being able to read into his emotions through her touch. On one level there is the mutual physical exploration. Trip pays a lot more attention to her ears than he needs to, and she lets him for just a little bit. Then when it's her turn, she goes for those furry legs and get her own little bit of ear exploration in as well.

But I think you are right that there is more going on there (or at least we can justifiably imagine more). One thing that struck me was that I never thought his argument to her was really strong, at least not strong enough to change her mind. So maybe it was what she was picking up from him while she thoroughly applied all that decon gel. One thing that is clear is that Trip really has complex emotions in that scene. He's angry, but at the same time, his touch is very controlled, almost gentle. So, what would T'Pol be picking up... He's angry, but not at her, at the situation. His best friend has been shot, the missions on the verge of total failure. He's frustrated, but also determined. So this may be the point where T'Pol realizes how complex human emotion is, and how particularly complex this human's emotions are. She realizes that if she scrubs the mission at this point, even though its the logical thing to do, humanity will never accept that as the reason why.

Just some more thoughts.

Ok, so now I have a 2400 word item on what's going on in the Decon scene. That seems a little long to just post in the thread. Since this is my first Fan Fic effort I'm totally in the dark on proper etiquette on how and where to post it.

Verse Ranger, our archive is located here. You will want to make sure to have your fic beta read before you submit it to the archive. There is a separate sign-up for our archive, and right now there is something wrong with the Captcha code system so you will be unable to register until our tech specialist gets back into town. In the meantime, feel free to visit the archive, check out the Rules and FAQs links, and browse some stories.

Aquarius wrote:Verse Ranger, our archive is located here. You will want to make sure to have your fic beta read before you submit it to the archive. There is a separate sign-up for our archive, and right now there is something wrong with the Captcha code system so you will be unable to register until our tech specialist gets back into town. In the meantime, feel free to visit the archive, check out the Rules and FAQs links, and browse some stories.

Thank you! I've posted a request in the Beta thread.