Things that didn't make sense in "the_abomination"

[Aikiweezie]

Dammit, Escriba, that broke my heart! I think I hate you right now. (ok, not really) Especially since you actually let T & T break up.

T'Pol cries several times, actually. She gets tears in her eyes when Sim tells her he has feelings for her, she cries, tears down her cheeks and all in Azati Prime (when Archer leaves) and she cries when her mother dies. I looked on the big HD TV! I would bet my life that she cries when Elizabeth dies, too.

[Alelou]

Oooh, you're right. Though to a Vulcan in denial, teary eyes probably don't count.

[Silverbullet]

I could never understand why T-Pol cried in Azati Prime. She wasn't that close to Archer. she had alrady made her choice which was trip by seducing him.

she never even visited trip while he was in a coma or even asked Phlox about his conditon so why in Hell should she be boo hooing over Archer? Never made any sense to me other than sussman trying, again, to start an Archer/t-Pol romance.

[Asso]

Eh, this Archer! What a great man he is! He is the only one who had been capable of making T'Pol cry.
But... Ops!

[Silverbullet]

ASSO, Archer can do anything that is why he is SUPERARCHER. Making T-Pol cry is all in a days work for him.

That whole cene of T-Pol following Archer and whining "I don't want you to die" then going in to the ready room, Crying and tossing Trip out when he tries to get her to do her job instead of mooning over Archer. That is why I will not look at that episode again.

[Asso]

Day after day, I get more and more persuaded that it would have been indeed better if Picard would have been in Archer's place.
Not to tell Kirk.

[bluetiger]

Escriba, that was a lovely way to handle the mess that was the abomination. At least his friends mourned him, instead of moaning about their bad seats at the speech. That always sets my teeth on edge. If a great friend of ten years passes away, I'm sure they would sit and bitch about seats in the balcony!

[Alelou]

I could never understand why T-Pol cried in Azati Prime. She wasn't that close to Archer. she had alrady made her choice which was trip by seducing him.

she never even visited trip while he was in a coma or even asked Phlox about his conditon so why in Hell should she be boo hooing over Archer? Never made any sense to me other than sussman trying, again, to start an Archer/t-Pol romance.

Just because they don't show a scene like T'Pol mooning over a comatose Trip doesn't mean she was indifferent. (There was a lot going on in that script and as it was they had to do quite a lot of cutting.) It was pretty clear in that episode that she was distressed by Tucker's condition and really torn up by the weird situation Sim was in as a creature that remembered Tucker's whole existence.

And I don't resent T'Pol crying over Archer. One, she's an emotional wreck in that episode, which is something they're building up to as they get ready to reveal the Trellium arc. Two, she and Archer ARE friends, so it's not unreasonable for her to mourn his death, especially given point one. Three, he's left her stuck with command in what looks like a total no-win scenario for ALL of them. See point one again.

[panyasan]

You may have a point: they continued to stay friends on some level, but they driffed apart and were not as close as before. Not best best friends. In a way, Malcolm and Trip are more best friends in season 3 and 4 then Archer and Trip.
In *the_abomination* we seen them drinking a bourbon together and Trip praising Archer. The last time we seen those two have a friendly drink together, was in Shockwave part one, the end of season one. I know, a lot of things can change during six years, but we don't know what happened. So you see them returning to their old friendship and in a way ignoring season 3 and 4 (and to a lesser extent season 2).

Actually, at the end of season 2 they're also drinking together as they head out into the Expanse. (And Trip admits T'Pol has grown on him.) In the one where Trip tells Archer he's leaving, Archer's already pulling out the glasses. I think we can deduce that drinking together was a friendly custom for them even if we didn't see it on camera that often.

I do agree, though, that Malcolm and Trip may have become better friends by the end -- which makes sense, because neither one of them is the captain. But you can see in the Vulcan arc how being in command could possibly strain that relationship between them.

Yes, you are right, there are more scenes with showed their friendship. I also was thinking about the scene when Trip and Archer meet again at the end of season 3. BUT Archer is noticable absent after Trips sister dies and for example I don't see him helping Trip in Terra Prime. In fact, we hardly seen anything of their friendship in season 4. (There are some great fics about Archer reacting when he founds out Trip has been to Vulcan, but none of this is shown on the show.) He talked about T'Pol with Malcolm, not with Archer.
Futhermore, Archer is not acting like a friend on many occassions and I don't think you can trace this back entirely on Archer being the captain.
So yes, they stayed friends, but not as close as before. In this way, the scene of *the_abomination* did sort off came out the left field and in combination with the vibe in this episode that "Archer is good and everything gets meaning because of Archer", the scene really annoyed me.

[enterprikayak]

I have just noticed this thread (having been away 4 a while). "Things that didn't make sense in 'the_abomination' ". So, here's my 222¢ as per usual.


Things that didn't make sense in 'the_abomination'

It didn't make sense that, in the future, long after the era of Captain Archer and his crew, Commander Riker watches a holodeck re-creation of a key moment in Federation history. It also didn't make sense that, Riker is hoping the events of this time will help him make some important decisions of his own.

It *really* didn't make sense that it's ten years after the Enterprise NX-01 embarked on its mission and the crew is heading back to Earth for the decommission of Enterprise and the signing of the Federation charter. It *did* make sense that Archer is hard at work on a speech for this special moment, but it didn't make sense that he is interrupted by a hail from his old friend Shran. Shran, who is no longer with the Andorian Imperial Guard, tells Archer he needs Enterprise's help — his daughter has been kidnapped by some shady former associates. It didn't make sense. T'Pol doesn't trust the Andorian and thinks aiding him will make Enterprise late for the signing of the charter. That made some sense. But she's T'Pol after all. Archer, however, is determined to help Shran. This doesn't make sense, but is not unusual for him.

It doesn't make sense that Enterprise's crew mounts a daring rescue mission, and manages to escape from Shran's alien enemies with his daughter in tow. During the mission, Trip nearly dies, but Archer saves him at the last minute. As they continue on their way to Earth, the crew takes a moment to reflect on the last 10 years. Everyone's a little emotional — even T'Pol, who tells Trip that she will "miss him" once they go their separate ways. This really doesn't make any sense. Weren't they having babies in the last episode?

The nonsense journey is shattered, however, when Shran's former associates track down Enterprise and board the ship. It doesn't make sense that they demand that Archer take them to Shran, and the captain refuses. Nonsense. The aliens are about to kill Archer, so Trip, thinking nonsensically, tells them that he will take them to Shran, though this makes no sense. When Archer protests, the aliens knock him senseless. Trip pointlessly leads the aliens into what appears to be a utility closet (um, why?) — he tells them it's a com station and he's going to get Shran to come to them. It doesn't make sense that they believe this. Trip tells them he just needs to connect a couple of things, which makes no sense at all, but when he brings a pair of conduits together, massive nonsense erupts, nonsensically taking out both Trip and the aliens. Trip is critically wounded — and despite Phlox's senseless efforts, he dies for no reason. This does not make sense. (But if you listen carefully, just as Trip slides like a disc on a CD tray into Phlox's giant tube, you can distinctly hear off-camera a high-pitched vindictive giggle and then a whispered but equally-triumphant admonishing reply: "Bran-non! Shhhhh!")

Later, T'Pol and Archer reflect on Trip's senseless death as they pack away his things. Archer notes that when he took command 10 years ago, he saw himself as an explorer, (it makes no sense) excited about new discoveries and convinced that the risks of space travel were worth it. Now, his friend is dead and he has to write a speech about how worthwhile their mission has been. It just doesn't make any sense. T'Pol gently points out that Trip would be the first to say it's been worthwhile. Which I doubt.

On Earth, Archer prepares to give his speech to an auditorium packed with dignitaries from other worlds. As he gets ready to go out and address the crowd, T'Pol tells him that he looks quite heroic. This makes less sense than anything said before or since. Overcome with emotion, Archer envelops her in a tight embrace before heading out to make his speech. This doesn't harbour a shred of sense in it either.

With that senseless nonsense under his belt, Fat Chef Senseless ends his holodeck program, senselessly feeling that his time spent with the crew of the NX-01 has been more than worthwhile.

I just thought..... it didn't really make any sense.

Did I cover it all? Gosh I hope so.

(I got the synops from here. )

[Asso]

[alt_Toza]

Ahhhh... So THIS is why everyone who knows me (and those who don't) keep shouting 'BACK AWAY FROM THE LAST EPISODE' every time I go to watch it...

I probably won't be watching it in this lifetime. I've been told repeatedly that it will make my head explode.



In the interests of my own health and sanity (and judging from the whole Jadzia Dax thing) I shall indeed step away from the last ep.

Let it be s4 forever, LOL - oh, and the virtual s5, of course....

[Aikiweezie]

enterprikayak, a perfect anyalsis of this stupid, stipid episode.

What didn't make sense to me is that T'Pol is still wearing the same uniform from six years ago. She changed her hair, shouldn't she have changed her uniforms? I think she should have work Starfleet uniforms.

[pdsldl]

enterprikayak, a perfect anyalsis of this stupid, stipid episode.

What didn't make sense to me is that T'Pol is still wearing the same uniform from six years ago. She changed her hair, shouldn't she have changed her uniforms? I think she should have work Starfleet uniforms.

You have a great point. Men on the show were definitely responsible for her wardrobe or they would have known a woman would not wear the same thing for over six years. They also assumed the material never showed wear or the quartermaster had the same material, colors, and patterns and just kept pumping out duplicates of the same clothing for her year after year. As for the rest of that nonsensical mess they presented, I watched it once and promptly deleted it from my collection. I refuse to acknowledge its existence as canon.

[panyasan]

(I got the synops from here. )

You made a good analysis about the whole episode, Enterprikayak. I actually check your link, thinking "who already wrote something similair". What can I say, my only excuses: it was early in the morning and I didn't have my coffee yet.