Distracted is right. City on the Edge of Forever was GOOD. This magazine says arguably the best Star Trek episode.
OK, the main Trip and T'Pol article, by Bernice Watson, really plays it straight. It is an straightforward analysis of the romance as presented without reading anything into it to "fix" it to better fit our wishes. I am surprised by the last sentence of the intro:
. . . they never entirely let down their respective guard. Their lingering mistrust of one another remained a stubborn hindrance to their future romance.
And I am surprised that Trip gets about half the blame for the fact that they never come straight out and admitt to each other how they feel. Most cutting,
T'Pol's decision to end their fledgling romance in order to marry Koss hurt Trip but even then, with nothing to lose and everything to gain, he played it safe and said nothing.
I want to object, but come to think of it, it is pretty silly that over a 3 year period, working closely together and even giving each other massages, they never manage to have a conversation about the great big elephant in the room. The last line of the article says:
Despite indications to the contrary during Season four of Enterprise, the final epsiode of the series . . . suggested that Trip and T'Pol were not not able to make their relationship work. If they could only have brought themselves, just once, to admit their feelings then perhaps the lines of communication would have been opened enough to allow them a real chance as a couple.
Immediately below is boxed text beginning:
The impression narrative contortions of Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin in the Star Trek: Enterprise re-launch novels [starting with The Good that Men Do] reunited Trip and T'Pol. . . . What the future holds for them as a couple is yet to be seen but as it stands currently their relationship is stronger than ever.
I think that's a nice compromise solution: end with the official but follow immediately with the more popular semi-official story.
