(1x22) Eww: Vox Sola!

[entkayjay]

This is the discussion thread for S1E22, Vox Sola! All Delphic Expanse rules of engagement apply.

Written by: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga and Fred Dekker
Directed by: Roxann Dawson, yay!

There was a Rewatch Chat scheduled for 1:30am GMT on Wednesday, June22 (8:30pm EST) at Tinychat.com. Or whenever anyone else wants to watch and chat!

[Brandyjane]

I had a great time re-watching this. I think it's a very underrated episode. First, I just love the Kreetassans. And Archer thought Vulcans were a pain - ha!

My favorite thing about this episode is that all of the main cast has something important to do - Reed's force field, Travis apologizing to the Kreetassans, T'Pol and Hoshi working together on the language, Phlox analyzing the creature, and Trip and Jon getting caught. We even get some good scenes with non-regulars, too. I like any scene with Rostov (he's cute!), and Kelly is quite good, too. As with Cutler, I always wished we'd seen more of her.

I like the scene where Trip consults T'Pol regarding Archer's mood. He disregards her advice, but it shows that T'Pol is getting better and better at reading the crew, especially Archer. Trip's attempts to cheer up Jon are great! I didn't realize they had a pool table on board. So, we know they have movie night, basketball, and pool. I wonder what other recreation options are available? The "date" scene in Archer's quarters must be a Jon/Trip 'shipper's dream come true. One thing about it bothered me, though: Trip's shirt. Ugh, that thing was ugly.

Was it just me, or was Malcolm pretty eager to get Hoshi to watch the movie? A Malcolm/Hoshi shipper could read a lot into that particular scene.

The scene in the Mess Hall between Travis and Malcolm is good. ("You promised me explosions!" ) If Malcolm and Trip hadn't gotten so close, I could see how Travis/Malcolm could have been a really good friendship on the show. From "Broken Bow" on they interact easily with each other. Malcolm seems to let down some of his reserve around Travis.

They did a really good job setting the mood in the cargo bay. I've always thought Ent did scary really well. I found it interesting that Trip was the one to start freaking out when they realized they were linked together. Time and time again we see that Mr. Extrovert is actually a very private person.

The one thing I wish they had done differently was that I wish there had been something shown of the aftermath of the five people being given a glimpse into each others' heads. That must have been...awkward!

Phlox's protective behavior toward the tentacle reminded me of something we'd have seen in Next Generation. It was ethical, yes, but I could completely understand Reed's frustration with him.

I thought the scenes between Hoshi and T'Pol were great! They did have a nice friendship scene in "Sleeping Dogs," but here we learn that Hoshi still feels like T'Pol has been too critical of her, and she resents it. T'Pol's explanation that she believes Hoshi is capable of meeting her high standard was exactly what Hoshi needed to hear. I've read a lot of stories where Hoshi and T'Pol are BFFs, and while I do think they become closer as the series progresses, I think their personalities are just too different for that. I don't think it would be out of character, though, for T'Pol to occasionally go to Hoshi for advice on human men. I just think that episodes like this one show that the two are never going to be the type of friends who sit around gossiping and doing their nails together. It's not in T'Pol's personality, and I don't get the impression Hoshi could be that comfortable with her.

[Hummingbird2]

I love the Waterpolo scenes with Jon and Trip (big surprise!), although they were in the Captain's Mess, not Jon's quarters (no offense, Brandyjane).

And I also love how Jon calms Trip down when he starts to panic. Can't help it, I adore their friendship.

All in all, a very good episode.

[Honeybee]

Very interesting episode, especially the encounters with two alien species that they miscommunicate with - leading to problems big and small. The goo/spiderweb alien is very "different" from the humanoids we mostly see, but it's obviously sentient.

I think it would have been interesting if there had been long term effects of the crew members being in each other's minds - or even if it led them to have some sort of light telepathic bond with each other.

This is a great Trip/Jon episode, whether you see it as a friendship or slash. Jon proves a good leader, and he helps calm Trip down. But earlier, it's Trip who helps him out of his funk. It's clear that they need each other, and it adds a bit of poignancy to the fact that they draw apart over the course of the series.

T'Pol and Hoshi are working together well, and working well with Phlox and Malcolm. And Travis, in a very low key way, really gets to be the hero. As I said in the rewatch chat, he's a much better diplomat than Archer at this point.

Hoshi in the end, saves the trapped crew, and the alien. T'Pol, also showing her leadership skills, gives Hoshi the confidence to do it - in her Vulcan way. I don't think those two would ever be bffs, however I do see them developing a strong working friendship, and I wish we had seen more of that.

[Brandyjane]

This is a great Trip/Jon episode, whether you see it as a friendship or slash. Jon proves a good leader, and he helps calm Trip down. But earlier, it's Trip who helps him out of his funk. It's clear that they need each other, and it adds a bit of poignancy to the fact that they draw apart over the course of the series.

Yes!

And Travis, in a very low key way, really gets to be the hero. As I said in the rewatch chat, he's a much better diplomat than Archer at this point.

I hadn't thought about this before, but you're right. It makes sense, though, because as a former boomer, Travis probably encountered and watched his parents negotiate with a lot of different aliens. Archer is in the process of learning a lot of things Travis takes for granted. I wish that we'd seen more of Archer consulting with Travis, getting a little of his boomer knowledge. After all, Travis is probably the human with the most space/alien experience on the ship.

[creek_chub]

I found it interesting that when the Kreetassans answered the hail, they were speaking English and the Kreetassan said they'd read up on it. Since they weren't speaking English at the start of the episode, I can only assume they learned the language in the time between being offended and being hailed (unless I missed something, this was the first time I'd seen the episode and it was hard to pay full attention to it and the chat, lol.) To me this infuses the episode with a much deeper meaning than just "Enterprise tries to communicate with two different alien species." Don't get me wrong, I love that a sentient being with a language is shown as being something other than humanoid. But to a certain extent we can assume that what is going on on Enterprise as they try to learn about and deal with the alien web, is also going on on the Kreetassan's ship as they try to learn about and deal with the humans. Also, we may have been inclined to laugh at the Kreetassans being offended about eating in public, but the alien web very well may have snickered at humans being offended when made to share thoughts.

I hadn't thought about this before, but you're right. It makes sense, though, because as a former boomer, Travis probably encountered and watched his parents negotiate with a lot of different aliens. Archer is in the process of learning a lot of things Travis takes for granted. I wish that we'd seen more of Archer consulting with Travis, getting a little of his boomer knowledge. After all, Travis is probably the human with the most space/alien experience on the ship.

I thought this scene was great and you're right, Archer consulting with Travis would have been a great dynamic throughout the show.

[Mistress Euclid]

This episode certainly delights the Jon/Trip shipper in me. Their friendship seems clearly integral to the way the ship functions, and there is just an easy intimacy between the two men. I do think it would be fascinating to know what it was like for them to have been in each other's heads! Aquarius, my friend, if you don't do it, I shall have to address that!

As others have said, Trip helps Jon out of his funk. Later, Jon steps up and saves Trip during the crisis. It's a very back and forth relationship/friendship.

I also liked the working friendship that continues to develop between Hoshi and T'Pol and wish there had been more of that later in the series.