Well, the next few episodes our girl has a pretty easy time of it.
Rogue Planet (I'm sorry to say this is the epsiode where I quit watching ENT when it first came out) all she really had to deal with is Archer running around strange dark planets with no phazer and no communicator. That's just a typical day, she's handling that stress like a pro by now.
And
Aquisition is a wonderful boost to her self-esteem! Not only does she get to check out Trip in his "blues" but she
finally gets a good zinger on Archer that gives him a taste of his own snark!
ARCHER: (holding out his manacled wrists) Do you have the key?
T'POL: Not that interesting. No sense of humour. Always complaining.
ARCHER: I'll make it up to you.
You go girl! But at this point things are looking very good here. The guy's are teasing her, which she knows is the way humans accept each other. She's working good with Trip, (and getting a fabulous view) life is pretty good.
But this leads us to
Oasis... and I realize that I haven't gotten into T'Pol's perceptions about Trip and women. So I'm coating myself in teflon so the rotten tomatoes don't stain. Please go easy folks. Okay <deep breath> ready...
I have to start with Ah'len, now there are a lot of extremely hot feelings on the subject.
Nobody is required to agree with anyone! but for the sake of this conversation
I'm going by exactly what was in the episode. So for those who have very negative opinions about it, the only thing that matters is what we actually saw.
Now to begin with let's get one thing out of the way...
Our girl has been attracted to our boy since the moment she set foot in the ready room!I don't deny this! I'm nuts, not stupid. However, while she was disappointed on many levels with the situation not the least of which was as a woman attracted to a man; I hesitate to call her reaction
true romantic jealousy. Now, just so we're all on the same page, here's the definition of jealousy.
Dictonary.com wrote:Jealousy: 1.suspicious or fearful of being displaced by a rival: a jealous lover
2.resentful (of) or vindictive (towards), esp through envy: a child jealous of his brother
3.possessive and watchful in the maintenance or protection (of): jealous of one's reputation
Option 1: is romantic jealousy, and it doesn't fit here. Why you may ask? Well hold off on the tomatoes for just a minute. Ah'len is not a rival. Let's all remember that at this point TnT are barely capable of a civil converstaion. Sure I'll bet Trip had some wild dreams about decon (who wouldn't) and T'Pol had to do quite a bit of meditation,
(I would!) but in waking moments Trip's reaction would be a huge
h--- NO!In T'Pol's mind any attraction to Commander Tucker
is a purely physiological reaction to be dealt with by proper meditative techniques. It's her body's natural reaction and she knows how to handle that. It isn't an issue,
Yet! If someone mentioned, her being involved with Trip in anyway, T'Pol would glare so hard that she'd burn through the hull. It's not even an appealing option at that time. Let's remember,
they've only known each other 2 weeks! So I repeat Ah'len is not a rival because she isn't usurping T'Pol's place in Trip's life! Option 1 out!
But keep holding the tomatoes back we've got 2 more options!
![Happy Jump :happyjump:](./images/smilies/happyjump.gif)
You'll get your chance to let them fly promise!
Option 2: Resentful jealousy, jealousy that hinges on wanting to have something or to be like someone else. Doesn't work! Sorry. But keep holding the tomatoes! After a lengthy search I can find no evidence our girl met the lizard girl. So all she knows is what Trip tells her which is a whole lot of nothing about Ah'len personally. So she has nothing to go on when it comes to the type of woman he would want if indeed he were to truly pick one up! Option 2 is out!
So finally we're up to Option 3: DING DING DING!
I think we have a winner, winner, chicken dinner! Good ol' protective jealousy! Think about this... What was T'Pol's primary objective when she got her assignment?
Observe, and try to keep these rowdy humans under control! This is a sign of a
big, fat, failure! Not even out of the gate a month and you've got a medical emergency, a possible diplomatic nightmare, plus she's now convinced that these humans are even more completely clueless then even the most dire predictions. They keep up like this they'll all be dead in a year! And guess who'll be blamed... That's right, Our Girl! Well doesn't that stink. And it's a waste of a perfectly adequate engineer. Even if he does threaten to throw her out of the airlock.
Okay... If you must throw tomatoes at me please be gentle I bruise easily... Done? Good! Now let's move on to Liana...
Now in the interest of being fair, Liana is great!
I'd have lunch with her in a heartbeat. She's a real sweetie, cute too. In fact, the only thing I can think of to say as to why I don't like her with Trip (aside from the fact that she isn't T'Pol) is that she has one fatal flaw,
way too "young" (possibly just being too sheltered) for our boy. They aren't equals.
But what about Our Girl, it's almost been a year since she met Trip, they've gotten through the severe rough spots up to this point. They have civil conversations, they can even pick on each other. While I wouldn't call them close friends they are definitely friendly colleagues. And our poor boy was hit over the head with the reality of our girl's "nice bum" during waking hours courtesy of one Malcolm Reed. Things are very different now. Our flirty boy enjoys
deliberately flirting with our girl now. Enter the line that gives us this haven of fun!
T'POL: My courage doesn't need testing.
D'MARR: I have other items to trade. I can get you some Triaxian silk for, say, another protein resequencer?
TUCKER: I bet you'd look good in Triaxian silk.
Ironic isn't it? He flirts with our girl in the teaser then goes full throttle for Liana... Hmm
I wouldn't like that! and neither does our girl! But out of our 3 options for jealousy which one fits: romantic, resentful, or protective? Rather then re-hash I'll just say what I think. I think we've moved up to Option 2 folks. Now, if you have any tomatoes left hold off... T'Pol still isn't being "replaced" therefore Liana
is not a rival! But this time our girl has interacted with this one, this time our girl is watching Trip doing the pursuing.
OUCH! Our girl is making up a mental list of everything Trip is responding to about Liana, and she's comparing that list with "Vulcan Women." Just so we're clear, in her mind
she's not comparing Liana to herself. She's thinking in general cultural terms not personal ones. Either way, "Vulcan women" are coming up WAY SHORT. And that isn't a good thing for our girl's peace of mind. Worse, she's still not quite sure what kind of trouble he could get into with this one. Thankfully she's spared anything too horrible, just a protine resequencer that makes 5 types of ice cream including rocky road, and a small kiss.
For the record gentlemen, an EXCELLENT idea! Just be sure that you check if your sweetie has food allergies, or if chocolate gives your sweetie migraines before buying an Ice Cream maker, and attempting rocky road!After Liana's departure, life pretty much goes back to normal. Archer does something incredibly foolhardy in
Detained, and is declared virtuous. A gooey alien wraps up Trip and Archer, but: she, Malcolm and Hoshi manage to save the day. And there's some mild human/Vulcan clashing but nothing out of the ordinary. Oh if only the good times could last for our girl. You know, I'm beginning to think she's ENT's O'Brian!
That's enough for now, let's discuss... Thankfully, Season 2 isn't nearly as T'Pol heavy in the issues department! It's my fingers one reprieve.