Archer and Shran

[Honeybee]

Friendly rivalry? Friendship? Frenemies? This was a very complex relationship. I ultimately think they became friends.

[EntAllat]

I like to think they became the best of friends because I think Archer needed one.

Putting aside the various possible slash takes on the male relationships for a moment:

When the series started, it was Trip who was Archer's best friend and vice versa. After Cogenitor and through all the tough decisions that Archer had to make and the personal issues Trip was dealing with during the Xindi war it seemed to me that their friendship took a bit of a beating. Though they appeared to remain good friends by the end of the series, they weren't the best of friends as it had started out.

I like to think that Archer had to grow as a leader and transition from a son who just wanted to see his father's dream come true to a more of a visionary in his own right - a confident leader and a skilled diplomat who was passionate about building the Coalition. He stumbles a lot with both through the first two seasons and relies heavily on both Trip and T'Pol when his previous flyboy confidence wanes. During the Xindi war he undergoes the sort of forging-by-fire changes that came from being in command in a situation like that. By the last season he seems to have found that confidence, and emerged as a real leader. The problem is, it's also changed his relationship with everyone around him.

In this situation I also like to think that Trip and Archer had more of a younger brother/older brother type of friendship that began with a little bit of hero worship on Trip's part. Through the course of the series they both grew and changed and, like siblings can do, grew apart for a while before reconnecting in a different way.

By the end of the show it was apparent that Trip and Malcolm had become best friends in that "a friend bails you out of jail but a best friend is in the cell next to you saying, 'damn that was fun'" kind of way. Despite the difference in their rank, theirs seemed a friendship of equals - and I think Archer needed something like that too. Shran really fits the bill for that kind of best friend. He seemed to be on the same life experience level as Archer and they have a nice odd couple feel to their interactions that I think really works.

[Honeybee]

Very true. Archer and Shran would be great friends, since they began their relationships as equals and rivals, rather than through the mentor/protege dynamic. They wouldn't have the same tension that Trip and Archer would once Trip started really coming to to his own as a leader.

There would always be a bit of rivalry there, of course.