Okay I had my say about Trip's problems in relationships. And in the interest of all fairness, and to prove that I'm not out to demonize the poor guy, I'm going to give T'Pol her
fair share of the hot mess. It does take two to tango you know...
I've spent a lot of time working out what I believe T'Pol's biggest weakness is that makes her have so many problems in relationships. And as much as I hate to say it, I think it comes down to her sense of self-worth.
The woman doesn't have one! Now, this isn't uncommon in
Trek; B'Elanna didn't have one either about herself as a person. Although at least she had one about her professional abilities. T'Pol didn't even have much of that. But I'll get to that later...
Unfortunately we're shown throughout the series that T'Pol is regularly bombarded with the ways she isn't quite good enough, both for Vulcans, and humans. From childhood on her mother and other Vulcans pounded it into her head that her emotions were,
"too close to the surface", that her control was never quite good enough. And let's face it, when you're in a society that needs such strenuous control to survive and function the knowledge that you're not good enough can be devestating. People are basically telling you you're dangerous.
We don't know anything about T'Pol's father other than that he's gone, and that T'Les, and T'Pol obviously loved him very much. Since T'Pol is so young in the series, it's reasonable to conclude that she lost her father very young. That takes it's toll, Spock had his father for almost two centuries and their relationship was often strained to the limit. Yet when Sarek died Spock was so devestated in showed on his face. I can only imagine how much worse it could be for a child.
So with that rocky childhood as a foundation T'Pol joins the Ministry of Security, and becomes the equiviliant of a US Marshall hunting down fugitives. Now quite frankly, this particular development has always bothered me to the extreme! Now Vulcans are so long-lived that having many careers isn't so surprising. But it doesn't make much sense for T'Pol. When she was a young girl, she "idolized" V'Lar, she was interested in diplomacy and the peace process. Does this fit with hunting down criminals? I don't see the connection. In any case, I can't think of a worse fit for her. I could more easily see T'Pau doing it. T'Pol is a strong woman in a lot of ways, but she simply isn't "tough" enough for the grim reality of that life. Her complete and total breakdown is proof of that. And although I think
The Seventh is in the top 5 worst ENT episodes ever aired it made that point. In a horribly cheesy condecending way... Better get off that track.
Anyhow her breakdown is just another batch of proof to other Vulcans and herself that she's just not up to par. And she's getting an even larger inferiority complex. Thank god she had a period of some relative peace during her time as a science officer on the
Seleya, I'd even hazzard a guess that it was the happiest time of her life up to that point.
But it's obvious that she didn't intend to make science her main career. I truly think she felt diplomacy would be her life. It seems that in order to get in the diplomatic sphere some military experience in any form is a requirement in the 22nd century. But she obviously did well, she was a highly regarded officer by the VHC.
So when she finally gets to where she wants to be she's confronted with us humans, and 'lo and behold, they don't like her much either. Where in her own family she's told that her control is defective, here with us she's viewed as someone without courtesy, compassion, and having no respect for the feelings and beliefs of others. To tell you the truth if it was me I'd say,
Screw this! I'm going back to science where I am appreciated!Look at her introduction to Archer, he opens with...
You have no idea how much I'm restraining myself from knocking you on your ass.
Oh yeah, that inspires confidence! There is this AMAZING quote from one of my very favorite Vulcans Tuvok...
"On the contrary, the demands on a Vulcan's character are extraordinarily difficult. Do not mistake composure for ease."
And he wasn't even being physically threatened that day!!!! So here's our girl, who already has troble dealing with her own people, and now she's assigned to deal with this crew of up-start humans who neither want her there, nor are inclined to give her any basic courtesy. I wonder why she took the job at all sometimes.
Which brings us to her introduction to Trip. Okay for the record
he was pretty darn charming, from a human perspective... But come on, there was also quite a bit of mockery there. Now, granted he certainly wasn't intending to be mean, but he was trying to freak her out a bit, and let her know she wasn't welcome with open arms.
Girl got the message! And the poor thing was a bit freaked out. Otherwise she wouldn't have pointed out...
I didn't request this assignment Captain, and you can be certain that when the mission's over I'll be as pleased to leave this ship as you'll be to have me go.
Thus far
not an auspicious beginning. And to add injury to insults she ends up stuck in decon with a smelly human who sends out some very confuing signals. On the one hand he doesn't trust her, doesn't particularly like her, and isn't interested in changing that. On the other hand, he's sending off wave after wave of physical attraction mixed with healthy doses of obstinence and agression! Worst of all, he's attractive! And I will bet every dollar in my meager bank account that being attracted to a human
even if only physically at this point has never been a problem for our girl. Her control might be considered "bad" but not
that bad. So this is another body blow to an already fragile self-esteem.
Still, never let it be said our girl isn't brave and determined when she believes something is right. And something about these humans tells her it's right to stick around. There's something about them that draws her. And that part of her that has been longing for acceptence is desperate enough to want to make this work. They invited her, so they must have decided she's worth something to them. So it's a start. It also explains why she'd offer her loyalty to Archer. He decided he wanted her there. Actually the transcript is very telling...
ARCHER: T'Pol, would you stick around for a minute? Ever since I can remember, I've seen Vulcans as an obstacle, always keeping us from standing on our own two feet.
T'POL: I understand.
ARCHER: No, I don't think you do. If I'm going to pull this off, there are a few things I have to leave behind. Things like preconceptions, holding grudges. This mission would've failed without your help.
T'POL: I won't dispute that.
ARCHER: I was thinking. A Vulcan Science Officer could come in handy, but if I asked you to stay it might look like I wasn't ready to do this on my own.
T'POL: Perhaps you should add pride to your list.
ARCHER: Perhaps I should.
T'POL: It might be best if I were to contact my superiors and make the request myself. With your permission.
ARCHER: Permission granted.
Methinks the poor girl just wants to be needed!
Okay now she's in YEY! Or not... Seriously, if she had been human I don't think she would have gotten through the first week without losing it with what all they put her through. She can't even have a meal without some form of critique: her silence, her vegitarianism, (which was utterly rediculous) the fact that she doesn't eat food with her hands... And even when she's not around there are remarks, like Trip's Archer's remarks about her trouble with chop sticks.
I can't use them either! Now again I realize that nobody was trying to be cruel here, this is human nature. But for T'Pol it's just more re-enforcment that she's an outsider, and not accepted for who she is.
Professionally things aren't much better. Trip get's mad because she changed the sensors without asking, understandable.
However, right wrong or otherwise Archer allowed her to take on duties of XO even if it isn't her offical title.
And this isn't the thread to debate it. We already have one! Technically, as head of the science department, and XO, she
doesn't need Trip's permission. And Trip's not shy about expressing his opinions in front of others even publically saying he'd like to
"Shove her out the airlock", which underminds
her position in front of all the Junior crew. He rashly countermands her orders in
Civilization and that's a no no. Even worse, with the way Archer and Trip treat her advice and ideas this attitude trickles down to people like Hoshi.
Okay this is gonna take a while so I'm gonna stop here, we can discuss a bit, then I'll move forward deal?
) when I got married and not a party girl, so I get WG's objections agains the attiude of Trip, Malcolm and Hoshi on the Risa-trip. However, Trip and Malcolm are single, wanting to have a good time, so they aren't cheating on some one. They are just single young men who think they can party. 
