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It seems as though an increasing number of fanfic writers on other boards have decided to depict Malcolm as this rather pitiful, self-destructive character who seems hell-bent on throwing his life away on ill-advised efforts to protect everyone from Archer to Porthos. He stubbornly refuses to listen to anyone, even when they give him direct orders, even when those orders make perfect sense. But there is no nobility in his actions because he has absolutely no self-esteem. He places no value on his life and, therefore, automatically expects no one else to value it either.

I find it hard to believe that Starfleet would place someone with such a pronounced death wish in charge of security on Enterprise. I know that he had issues with his parents, but I just can't accept Malcolm as this weak, needy individual. I'm just not sure how this rather sad transformation took place.

I've always seen Malcolm as willing to sacrifice his life for someone else, because it's his job. What I don't see is him being so pathetic and in possession of a death wish. Determined not to let anyone die if he even has a slight chance of preventing it, yes. Nearly suicidal, no.

Which other boards out of curiosity?

Perhaps boards isn't the correct term. Sites may be better choice of words. FanFiction and EntStCommunity come to mind. I just start to get into a story and her comes Malcolm the martyr. I think he deserves better.

Strange, I always took Archer to be the one with the most suicidal tendencies out of the crew.

Agreed. In fact, I got the impression that Malcolm was about the sanest person aboard.

blackn'blue wrote:Agreed. In fact, I got the impression that Malcolm was about the sanest person aboard.

Yes, but Dinah is right that some people like to present him otherwise. I think they have a flawed understanding of the character, but that kind of Martyr!Malcolm view is prevalent. To me, there's a world of difference between knowing/accepting that you could die doing your job and having a martyr complex.

I suppose some people look at things like "Zero Hour" and get Suicidal!Martyr!Malcolm out of it. The thing is, he had a point - as the Security/Tactical Officer, it would be his job to stop the superweapon. So, as CX observed, in the end Archer is the one with a martyr complex.

I would offer that Reed is functionally disfunctional if you will. Being a merchant of death takes a toll on one. His background and occupation are high risk propositions.
Perhaps he has dealt with the personal death issue and has confidence in his training and skill to survive in difficult situations. He is dedicated to his duty as he sees it.

Personal surval may not be required or possible for a specific task and he accepts that possiblity. Would it stop him from carrying out his duty? Not at all. Would he prefer to live? certainly. A dead person certainly can't protect anyone, thus to do his duty he has to stay alive if possible.

I see him as a realist regarding his chosen profession. He deals in weapons, destruction and death. He is very good at it. He also chooses to use his expertise to protect others. A high calling if you will.

HtH

On the show, Malcolm came across as a self-reliant, introverted, yet dedicated individual. He had a strong dedication to duty and he is very good at what he does. Once he settled into life on Enterprise and made friends with Trip, he loosened up a bit personally, but there was never any question that he would do what it takes to get the job done. I agree with hth2k, however, that a security officer needs to stay alive to do his job.

Over the last six months or so, I've noticed a number of fanfics take a fairly predictable course: someone is put into a dangerous situation; Malcolm pledges to do his job at any cost; he has memories or visions of his father and realizes how worthless he feels; he is seriously wounded saving someone; as he hovers near death his friends -- mainly Trip, Archer and/or Hoshi -- desperately try to persuade him that his life has worth and they value him as a person, friend, lover, whatever; and finally Malcolm regains consciousness and realizes that maybe his life does have some value. Group hug.

I like him better when I think of him as serving in a role similar to a Secret Service agent protecting the president. I don't understand why some people seem to make him so pathetically weak that he seems to be looking for any opportunity to throw his life away. There's a difference between stepping in front of the president at the last moment to take a bullet and running around desperately looking for bullets to step in front of.

I guess this is because it's so easy to have Malcolm stories fall into the Hurt/Confort category some fanfic writers are so fond of. It's a very common genre and there's a recipe to the stories. They always follow the same scheme. All it takes is to cross the line between Malcolm being the pessimist character on the series as shown in Shuttlepod One and Malcolm being the fanon character with a death wish. It doesn't help that he had a tense relationship with his father. I haven't found any, but I'm sure there are fanfics with Malcolm being an abused child because of that.
All in all, I'm putting this in a lack of creativity and the need to rely on an established mold to tell a story.

I was never all that fancinated with Malcolm during the show, but I grew to like him when I wrote a fic with him. As for his backstory, there was something sinister going on in that Reed family, which I notice that most people totally ignore. I believe the father was abusive, but not to the point where Malcolm would have recognized it as such. I think that despite his dysfunctional family, Malcolm grew up to be a very functional adult with a lot of good qualities, especially a single-minded commitment to duty, being a friend to Trip. He is also charming enouph to be quite a ladies man, but with all those girlfreinds never got very close to anyone of them. (Also never married in the E-squared universe.) I believe his inability to committ comes from a fear of rejection, which makes sense considering that his family seems to have rejected him (not returning his letter, not bothering to know his assignment on Enterprise). I not sure he understands this. He probably thinks he's doing fine and the right woman will come along one day.

At the beginning, I felt he was a little jelous of Trip about something, maybe his higher rank, but after Shuttlepod One, they have a two-way friendship.

I didn't see him as at all suicidal. In the Expanse, there was a moment when Trip was complaining that he realizes this is going to be a "one-way trip." Malcolm has something upbeat and positive to say (after being pegged as the gloomy one in Shuttlepod One). He was more hopeful and positive than Trip in the Expanse.

But for being brave, there is alot of canon evidence. He did volunteer for an assignment where he was tortured (I forget the assignment, but it was part of a plan to win back the ship after everyone got locked in their quarters.) He did ask Archer to let him die rather than put the whole ship in danger when he became pinned to the outer hull. At the same time he was very reluctant to die, even while he tried to be brave.

I have to admit, I never noticed anything happening between him and Hoshi. In fact, I'm not sure where that idea comes from. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

As for Malcolm's early interest in T'Pol, I thought it was funny and only natural. I don't blame him at all for noticing that she's a woman. He seems to have noticed before Trip.

justTrip'n wrote:I have to admit, I never noticed anything happening between him and Hoshi. In fact, I'm not sure where that idea comes from. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

I think it was process of elimination. People wanted everyone paired up as much as possible. Archer can't really pair with anyone on the ship, he's the captain. Trip/T'Pol are a matched set. Hoshi is left for either Malcolm or Travis. Travis is a carboard cutout. Which leaves Malcolm.

There were a couple moments fot them that I saw, but that was it. The first was in Silent Enemy when Malcolm thought she was asking him out, and the second was in Shockwave II. Not much really, but that's the closest they got.

I agree with hth2k and Dinah - Malcolm's definitely a realist when it comes to his job - an occupational hazard, I suppose. I definitely get the impression that he was raised with a 'Needs of the Many' pov. I never saw Malcolm as suicidal at all, simply that he was prepared to do what he thought was required to fullfill the mission - Archer was definitely the one with the suicidal/martyr tendencies, but his character flaws have been well-covered!!!

In terms of Malcolm and Hoshi - I always thought there was a little something in Silent Enemy - the way he looked at her when she suggested detonating all of the ship's torpedoes to gain altitude, and Shockwave II. But, Malcolm's consistently attracted to strong women throughout the show - Lt. Tallas and T'Pol - I can see why he'd like T'Pol - as JustTripin' said, he noticed T'Pol was a woman way before Trip did!

I like Malcolm in the series - maybe its because he's a fellow Brit - my main gripe is that he's written as a lot of British characters are written - like Hugh Grant - I don't know anyone in the UK who speaks like Malcolm (although I'm sure there are!) - maybe they should have had a Scouser for a Tactical Officer, LOL!

By the way, I am in the throes of writing a fic that's very Malcolm/Hoshi centric, so this thread is really useful - if anyone has any further thoughts regarding the pair of them and their relationships/characters, please pm me!

^ Hey, I speak English like Hugh Grant and Malcolm! Granted I'm Swedish, but still...

justTrip'n wrote:But for being brave, there is alot of canon evidence. He did volunteer for an assignment where he was tortured (I forget the assignment, but it was part of a plan to win back the ship after everyone got locked in their quarters.)

Shockwave, Part 2