Archer - Dweeb or Hero?

[Silverbullet]

Escriba, yup. but that was somethng I was thinking about adding to the story but I thought better of it on the advice of JT. I am going ot toss that story even though I have three parts written and only need part four to finish. too damned involved. so will go with the other one if I can just get time. Have a few other stories that need atttenttion.

My main roblem with Archer ws that there was too much of Archer. They should have given him a long vaction.

I could never see why he had the admiration or loyalty of Trip or t-Pol. He sure as hell didn't earn it.


Interesting article in todays newsaper. Pushing the new series that Bakkula is in. "Men of a certain age." Have a short bio of Bakkula in it. Evidently he wanted to do musicals. Apparently when in quantum Leap he was in every episode and in every scene. Said he was aexhausted after that so he took a ten year break and then became Captain Archer.

[Linda]

I think they did Bakula a disservice with not making Archer a better character. They could have made him make better decisions, be a real pioneer of space exploration. Instead they made him do stupid things. I liked Archer in the first episodes when he said "You can't be afraid of the wind". He did have a few good momments in the beginning, then went downhill from there. What were the writers thinking?!?

[Asso]

I agree totally.

[WarpGirl]

Yay Linda you have a knack for being critical without being mean to a character. I wish I could.

[Silverbullet]

One of Archers huge mistakes was in unexpected. Trip fixed Engines, got Pregnant, Enterprise talked KLingons ot of destoring the Aliens for the Hologram Technology. so, enterprise was owed. did Archer ask for the Stealth Tehnology? or even the Hologram Technoogy? No. dumb

[WarpGirl]

Most aliens don't want to give away technology.

[Alelou]

I agree it was dumb. Even dumber was letting the Klingons get their hands on it.

That episode had me until the Klingons showed up -- I enjoyed it as a comedy, and I enjoyed it as a 'wow, this is really alien' episode. But really it was just dumb, dumb, dumb. The only possible excuse for it is that it exists in Lighthearted Comedy Land, where things like being violated and giving vast military advantages to a hostile race don't really matter.

[honeybee]

I really liked the aesthetics of Unexpected - the idea that a race of humanoids would have totally strange physiology and require a completely different atmosphere. But it did go a little over the top. And Archer's d**ckishness is certainly on display in that episode.

[WarpGirl]

To be fair I skipped that one. The episode that I do not understand is Detained now I'm not saying internment camps are good. They are evil. I'm a Jehovah's Witness thousands of my fellow witnesses were rounded up and put in concentration camps. I don't like them. What I can't understand is this... How did Archer's decision make their lives BETTER? All he did was make them hunted by TWO enemies. Silik's group, and the people holding them captive.

[Alelou]

Actually, I liked that the episode was fairly ambiguous about whether it really was a good thing. And that later it came back and bit them in the butt.

On the other hand, as long as the people in that godforsaken hellhole really wanted to go, why not? Except that there's probably no way a dissident from the group could have safely stayed behind, so it's not exactly fair. To the extent they made them seem like Manzanar-style camps instead of Auschwitz-style camps, they might indeed have been better off just riding out the political hysteria there than running for it. For one thing, I don't see how it improved that guy's chances of ever reuniting with his wife.

[WarpGirl]

Did it really bite anyone in the Butt? All that happened was a beautiful woman drugged Archer with her finger nail, and a resistence leader didn't get the guns he wanted. Now if they really had imposed a REAL consequence I could have excepted it. But you are right that man lost any hope of finding his wife. And his child was in motral harm. So no I don't think Archer's actions were good. Because in reality it wasn't about the Suliban it was about sticking it to the other guys.

[Alelou]

Well, it nearly got Trip killed in Desert Crossing, all because that dude had heard Archer was a great hero who led the Suliban to freedom.

[honeybee]

I think the argument that Detained was making is that dangerous freedom is better than safe captivity. The Suliban chose freedom, even though they were aware of the risks. It was a live free or die kind of thing.

I think that the consequences of Archer getting a reputation as some kind of super hero - one that Desert Crossing quite ironically makes clear is exaggerated - is a separate issue as to whether or not freedom for those Suliban was a good or bad thing. Archer's interference in the situation had unintended consequences.

[WarpGirl]

No in desert crossing Trip nearly died because Archer didn't listen to Malcolm and let him protect them.

[Alelou]

When was that? By my count, Reed's first line occurs halfway through the script.