(1x26) and (2x1) Shockwave Parts I and II: Harsh Punishment

[Honeybee]

Okay, discuss the two Shockwave episodes here!

[EntAllat]

Just a quick note: during the rewatch chat (which was fun as usual!) I talked about the tool that Trip uses on the doorbell comms. It comes up quite often in the series and sort of cracks me up every time because I know what it really is. I have one very much like it! Mini Non-Contact Thermometer Gun with Laser Sighting I use it when cooking deep fry stuff to measure the temperature of the oil.

[Kelly]

Just a quick note: during the rewatch chat (which was fun as usual!) I talked about the tool that Trip uses on the doorbell comms. It comes up quite often in the series and sort of cracks me up every time because I know what it really is. I have one very much like it! Mini Non-Contact Thermometer Gun with Laser Sighting I use it when cooking deep fry stuff to measure the temperature of the oil.

LOL!!

[creek_chub]

Car mechanics use them, too.

[Brandyjane]

Back when this episode first aired, I remember how shocking it was to see our heroes accidentally wipe out a whole colony. Shockwave is a really appropriate title. Even knowing what's going to happen, I still flinched this time around when the atmosphere ignited. The lighthearted teasing just moments before makes the whole thing even more jarring.

I think that Malcolm's and Jon's reactions in the first part are portrayed really well by DK and SB. It gets me every time when I see Jon scrolling through the pictures of the dead. And poor Malcolm! He knows he did nothing wrong, and he's so eager to prove it, but at the same time it seems like there's a touch of desperation in his denial, like in the back of his mind he's fervently hoping that it really wasn't somehow his fault.

I think this episode also marks one of those crucial moments in Jon and T'Pol's relationship. In "Shadows of P'Jem," T'Pol learned Jon was willing to fight for her. Now Jon learns that T'Pol will fight for him and for his mission, even defying Soval and the High Command. Even more than "The Andorian Incident," this was a real test of T'Pol's loyalty. She could have remained silent or sent over a written recommendation, but instead she spoke out publicly and forcefully on behalf of the humans. But then that's T'Pol. She's going to to do what she thinks is right, no matter the consequences - if it will help someone else.

And at the end, even this committed Trip/T'Pol 'shipper can't help but get a little squishy at the scene between Jon and T'Pol in her quarters.

[EntAllat]

I loved that about this episode. You could really see the evolution of the regular characters.

I especially like seeing the changes in T'Pol. By the time the second season opens, T'Pol has changed considerably from the first season's pilot opening. She's now the go-between for the crew when the Captain is upset. They trust her and are comfortable with her. She teases and is teased in a very warm way. She knows how to challenge Archer out of despondency and inaction. The crew takes orders from her without strife. All of this is so very different from her position among them in the opening of the first season. She and Archer and Trip make a seamless team when getting that data disk from the Suliban. She's no longer an interloper, and her challenges are useful. Someone in the chat likened her to Scully of the X-files and I think that's great analogy here.

Malcolm too shows something that will be a running theme for him in this season (Minefield, Detained) - the willingness to self-sacrifice for the rest of the crew. Phlox is still his optimistic self, but he seems less alien and more fatherly in all his interactions - with T'Pol, with Trip, with Hoshi. Hoshi gets to do some great stuff here and I really liked the way she was firm with an obviously upset Archer in part I. The only thing is, this is one of the few times since the series starts that Travis indeed has little to do or say.

[Aquarius]

I especially like seeing the changes in T'Pol. By the time the second season opens, T'Pol has changed considerably from the first season's pilot opening. She's now the go-between for the crew when the Captain is upset. They trust her and are comfortable with her. She teases and is teased in a very warm way. She knows how to challenge Archer out of despondency and inaction. The crew takes orders from her without strife. All of this is so very different from her position among them in the opening of the first season. She and Archer and Trip make a seamless team when getting that data disk from the Suliban. She's no longer an interloper, and her challenges are useful. Someone in the chat likened her to Scully of the X-files and I think that's great analogy here.

Yes, absolutely. I think that a lot of it is that the crew knows how to "take" her now. And she knows how to take them. It seems resentments toward her are gone because "Hey, you're pretty cool for a Vulcan!"--but it's clear that the attitudes toward just about all other Vulcans exist, that T'Pol is being regarded by her crew mates as the exception and not the rule.

And I think the Scully analogy is very apt, and not just in the "teamwork" context. Because I also keep wanting her "Mulder" to kiss her--whichever one he happens to be at the time.

[Brandyjane]

You know, that's one of the reasons why I was taken aback a little in season three when we find out that one of her excuses for taking Trellium was that it improved her interactions with the crew. She seems to be doing okay without it as early as the end of the first season.

[Honeybee]

I really enjoyed the competence of the crew in this episode. The Suliban \"let\'s frame them\" mass murder trick is portrayed as really clever, but once the crew gets intelligence from Daniels about it being a trick, they kick into gear and really execute their plan well. It\'s only when they are massively outgunned do they do the smart thing and surrender. And even then, before Archer even contacts T\'Pol, they are getting an insurgency together. Then, when they are given a goal, they put a plan in place where they all work together.

The torture of T\'Pol still makes me wince, but I\'m glad she manages to get herself together. And I also wince at Malcolm\'s torture as well.

I said this in the sexuality thread, but Silik has that Alfred Hitchcock-esque sexual ambiguity that makes him creepy. I can\'t help but read into why he tortures T\'Pol in a very clinical way but Malcolm in a very hands-on way. Just sayin.

And, I agree with everyone, that it\'s very significant that T\'Pol sticks up for Archer and humans in general at the end. The fact that she does so publicly has real meaning.

[Aquarius]

You know, that's one of the reasons why I was taken aback a little in season three when we find out that one of her excuses for taking Trellium was that it improved her interactions with the crew. She seems to be doing okay without it as early as the end of the first season.

Well, there's "You're cool -- for a Vulcan," and then there's "You're cool." I think with the Trellium she was going for the latter.