Did T'Pol NEED the Trellium D?

[Dinah]

Put yourself in T'Pol's position here. She's the only Vulcan on a ship full of emotional Humans. Earth has just been attacked, so strong emotions are probably bombarding her on all sides every waking hour. She has left the Vulcan High Command to follow Archer into the Expanse. Her report card back home already has a great big black mark on it because of the business at P'Jem. This will probably only lower her stock on Vulcan still further. Her emotions have always been close to the surface, which probably was at least in some small way responsible for her difficult relationship with her mother.

I have a suspicion that T'Pol was afraid the door to Vulcan society had just slammed shut behind her. Where will she go? What will she do? Earth and Humans would be the logical answer. But she has to learn to fit in. Thanks to neuropressure, she's developed a strong relationship with the number one tour guide to all things Human --
Charles Tucker III. (Old T'Pol told her as much in E2.) Could she realistically expect to survive in the Expanse for the length of time it would take to resolve the Xindi crisis if she remained the same stick-up-her butt uber Vulcan she was when she came aboard for the first time? I don't think so. In order to survive in her current environment and pave a path toward a life with Humans after the Expanse, she had to learn to interact with Humans more effectively. The Trellium helped her to do that.

The effect the Trellium had on her in Impulse must have been terrifying, but she survived with a few little perks after the fact. I think that exposure began her addiction. She knew the dangers, but I think she felt that it was an acceptable risk. She was essentially giving herself a complete make-over. It was only before the attack at Azati Prime that she began to realize that she'd made a terrible mistake. Trellium had become a monster she could no longer control. Then the Vulcan discipline kicked in and, with Phlox's help, she stopped taking the drug.

It's only after she goes home to visit her mother and returns to Vulcan to assist in discovering the Kir'Shara that T'Pol the Vulcan is back. She's trying to fit in again with her own people, even though she is a part of Starfleet. It seems as though T'Pol was always on a journey to find a place for herself, to belong. But I firmly believe that it was only her natural curiosity, her ability to adapt and experience emotions that enabled her to remain on Enterprise. The vast majority of Vulcans would have lasted more than a couple of days, if that.

[WarpGirl]

Well yeah I think your absolutely right Dinah. But she was already doing all of those things without the Trellim anyway so I don't see how it helped anything. Once it got out of control it just messed up everything but good.

[Silverbullet]

For sure there was a good deal of Jealousy on t-Pol's part when Trip got Pregnant and when he was hanging around the female on the crashed ship. didn't see any in Precious Cargo though. She obviously thought of Trip as her boy long before she became an addict.

If I remeber the episodes right she never displayed any symtoms of addiction. Never had to suddenly get a fix in the middle of the day or have the trembles. It was only after the battle damage in Azati Prime that she started to shake.

I don't know about Trip she dumped on him too often. He may have walked if he found out she jumped his bones because she was high.

[Dinah]

But if you'd been taught to suppress, suppress, suppress for over 60 years and suddenly you found a way to gain access to your emotions without losing control, wouldn't you take it? Especially if you have a history of being curious about experiencing emotions (see Tolaris, jazz clubs, etc.). If she knew she was going to become addicted, the odds are she wouldn't have done it. But if she was already addicted after her time on the Seleya, she'd have the addicts ability to rationalize problems away, to see the benefits with no thought to the consequences.

[WarpGirl]

Again Dinah you are absolutely right. But since TOS it's been told to us that "supressing" or controling emotions does not block a Vulcan to access them. I guess the issue for me is a wording one. The line would have made sense if she said I could "express" my emotions with it.

Silverbullet you hit on why I started this topic to begin with. I wanted to know if people thought T'Pol needed the Trell-D in order to access and express her emotions to Trip. But I disagree that he would have walked away from her. Dinah is absolutely right about our Vulcan lady, Trip would know and understand enough to forgive and help her through the bad times.

[Alelou]

Responding to WG's earlier post, I think T'Pol was a more interesting addict than Trip would have been. Trip was already messed up enough that season. I wonder if this was the writers' way of dealing with the fact these two really had no business being involved with each other?

I don't agree that

She could express herself just fine to Trip before hand. She was doing fine before the Seleya.

To my mind, T'Pol NEVER expressed herself just fine to Trip at any point at any time -- not about her true feelings. The poor man had to proceed by guesswork and experimentation (when he bothered -- and boy was he patient and clever when he did) because she was NEVER direct.

[WarpGirl]

In what ways was she indirect in early Season 3 before the Seleya? She was the one to push the NP sessions, To calm Trip's fears about gossip, to help him with his work, and just be a really great friend and one who was obviously becoming much more. I didn't see much yo-yoing until after Harbinger. I haven't missed any episodes before that so what am I missing?

[Dinah]

The issue isn't whether she could express her emotions, it's whether she would allow herself to express her emotions. Like booze, the Trellium lowered the barriers just enough, allowing her to tap into her desires without the guilt. The odds are she'd wanted to jump Trip's bones for quite awhile. Then her comes that hussy Amanda. The Trellium allowed T'Pol to claim Trip. She no longer thought about all the reasons she shouldn't; she could and she did.

[WarpGirl]

OK so people think she believed she needed it. And that's why they say it opened doors do I have it right yet? And do people think she would have never acted without the Trell-D?

[Silverbullet]

Then was it the Td that caused her to stiff Arm Trip the next morning by claiming that it was just and Exploration? That morning after scene sure as Hell jolted things. What would Trip think? they must have said things while making love. Nice things, perhaps words of Love. then she hands him his head on a platter. I would think trip would believe she was whacko.

If she ws high on TD he would be right

[Dinah]

I knew someone who abused alcohol. Fortunately, I've never known a drug addict. An alcoholic isn't necessarily drunk 24 hours a day. Depending on when he drinks, he has periods when he sober or mostly sober. The day after her seduction of Trip, she realized what she'd done. The Trellium was no longer removing the barriers, so she pushed Trip away. After Harbinger, Trip probably never put himself in that position again, so she wasn't tempted.

[Silverbullet]

Thought Trip tried once to re ignite things.

I have always believed that by Demons and Terra Prime Trip and T-Pol had an ongoing intimate relationsip. No TD just Love.

[WarpGirl]

Well unfortunately speaking from personal experience coming down from a high can mess you up worse than actually being high. Same thing with booze so I am told by the grandfather who was more drunk than sober for almost 50 years. So either way with her control eroded poor girl was messed up. As is anyone who doesn't have control over themselves. I find it interesting that some people do not believe that T'Pol was impaired because of the Trell-D. From all we know when a Vulcan's control is off they are impaired period! So how do you have it both ways.

I think that the were perminently involved at the end of Bound but not before.

[pdsldl]

I think they would have eventually gotten together without it. Trip kept pushing and then there was the bond which would have brought them together. She just wanted to be able to let herself go and thought she'd experiment with the TD to let her do that while still allowing her to keep enough control so it wasn't dangerous for herself, Trip and the the rest of the crew. It h=just didn't work out that way.

[justTripn]

Lots to respond to.

I find myself agreeing with pdsll and Dinah. I think the point of that story was she became an addict and it was because those things creep up from nowhere and can happen to anyone (like WarpGirl said about the prescription drugs). Remember the Selaya event was NOT her fault, and that was her first exposure. If afterwards she exposes herself to the same substance in small doses there could be many excuses she could give herself: She survived a huge dose, this is just a small dose and she is just experimenting. It's not a forbidden substance, just a newly discovered substance, . . . thus no stigma.

Whether the writers were writing her as an addict for the whole period of time she was supposed to be an addict, I doubt it, just because I know from DS9 how would spring a big plot twist on the fans. It might seemed foreordained in the context of the story, but later I read that the shocking twist had just occured to them on the spur of the moment as they were writing the episode. That fact that Julian Bashir was genetically enhanced was thought up because they needed some secret his parents would reveal in that key episode where they walk in and starts talking to his hologram lookalike.

With regard to the TnT relationship, I do not look at Trellium as a blessing in disguise, but rather as an embarrasing thing to be ashamed of. I think trellium had something to do with Harbinger, and that night of passion followed by a brush off the next moring was a terrible way to get started. Obviously T'Pol regretted her actions in Harbinger (because she immediately backtracked) and in the process, she dealt a crushing blow to Trip. If Trip were to learn that trellium had something to do with them getting together I think he would be a teeny bit disappointed, then recognize that he was with someone who was flawed, and (in our Triaxian Silk version of things) stay with his partner because he was already deeply in love.

In my E-squared universe, a storm of events that no one would feel proud of (Trip's depression and indirectly T'Pol's trellium abuse) brings our couple together. They basically decide not to dwell on it. By that time they are hopelessly in love. They agree "Let's never tell our children how we got together." Later they have a second chance to look back regretfully when it comes time to warn their teenage son Lorian about the dangers of drugs and recreational sex. But anyway, by that time they are a very tight family.