episode #7: "Breaking the Ice"
 

first impressions
Hey! Where's the tacky girl!Pon Farr story?

second impressions
You know, this isn't bad.  Not great … but when you're expecting T'Pol does Vulcan (or some variation thereof), anything is good.

quick summary
Team Enterprise discovers a comet.  They also discover that there's a Vulcan ship in the area, all pointy eared and superiority complexy.  Tucker and Archer let their inner bigots out for walks: Tucker reads T'Pol's mail, while Archer gets touchy.

teaser-ish averageness
This week's teaser was competent, but lacked flair.  Much like the series as a whole, really.

children: still around in the 22nd century, dammit
The subplot about the letters from Irish schoolchildren was simultaneously handy and dull.  Dull, because it was ultimately unnecessary to the central plot.  It did give T'Pol a chance to release her inner-Seven (Caillan has already pointed out that the scene with the childrens' drawings could have been from Voyager), but I don't think that's necessarily a good thing.

It was handy because it gave us hints about day to day living on Enterprise.  I was annoyed to see food replication mentioned, but at least it's not all-powerful.  As for the source of material for replication systems … all I will say is, who's writing this?  A 12 year old boy?!

It also gave us some cute character moments.  Hoshi is good with kids, as befits a former teacher/lecturer.  Trip is worried about his image (a hint for him: don't hire Jolene Blalock's publicist).  Phlox has enormous fun, as always.

I do have a few questions about those pictures, though.  Actually, just one: how'd they get there?  Were they emailed as jpegs and then printed out?  Fax?  Owl post?  Enterprise is too far out for a delivery, but they didn't look like print outs.

Vulcans: doesn't anyone like them?
My observations on Team Enterprise's treatment of the Vulcans:
· Archer speaks very slowly to Vanek.
· Admittedly, the Vulcans are pretty pissy.
· Archer is extremely uncomfortable with Vulcans, which raises questions as to why he was given this assignment.  Starfleet knew that the captain of Enterprise would be dealing with Vulcans -- why didn't they find someone with a llittle more political finesse, a bit of … oh, I don't know.  Tact?  Or doesn't anyone in Starfleet like Vulcans?
· The dinner party scene is wonderfully awkward.
· Archer's hostility towards Vanek is illogical and stupid, and frankly, doesn't reflect well on the character.  T'Pol's argument was highly skillful and persuasive -- she's definitely figured out how to manipulate Archer.

smells like teen fanfic
"If Vanek is the kind of guy who likes to watch…"

Tucker/T'Pol
Once again, the interaction between these two is interesting enough to warrant a joint assessment.

I find Tucker pretty annoying.  His accent just pisses me off, which is weird, since I don't usually mind it.  However, his remorse after he reads T'Pol's mail was convincing, and went some way to redeeming his character (until the next time he does something stupid, anyway).  We learn that he's been in three serious relationships, which is an interesting little fact which fanfic authors are no doubt tucking away for future reference.

Blalock gave another good, subtle performance.  I don't like her as a person (hmm … that sounds bad.  Let's just say that I don't like the image she presents to the media), but she's becoming less irritating as an actress.

It was good to see T'Pol doing Vulcan stuff this week -- meditating, wearing non-sprayed on robes.  (I bet that she changes out of the catsuit and into the robe the second she gets off-duty).  She's not what I envisioned a Vulcan woman to be, and frankly, she's presented too much like a male fantasy creature for me to fully warm to her.  But the more we see her in her natural state -- at ease in her own personal space -- the easier it becomes to like her.

I loved the Discussion between T'Pol and Tucker.  Her comment, that she has an obligation to her culture, summed up something integral about her character.  It doesn't fit into Trek's individualistic middle-American ethos, and is therefore criticised, but it's intriguing.

snow day
The comet subplot didn't thrill me, although it ultimately meshed nicely with the Vucanocentric A-plot.  The snowman was a nice touch, and I love that the bridge crew were watching Reed and Mayweather play -- no sex-on-away-mission fanfic for this series!

I question, however, why there were only 2 people on the away mission.  The shuttle accident was mundane, and disturbingly similar to Terra Nova.  Maybe they had to meet their cavern quota.

It amused me when Archer came over all captain-like and manly. Especially when he took the joystick -- is this a boys' show, or what?

overall score
This was a pretty good episode.  I didn't like the bigotry we saw, but I think it was there for a reason, and it explored T'Pol's character very well.  And Reed got to blow stuff up -- it gets an A- just for that.
 
 

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