Layers of friendship: Trip and Archer

[panyasan]

I had a couple of nice exchanges about the friendship between Trip and Archer in the past and lately, which made me wonder about my perception of their relationship. I even considered writing a Trip/Archer fic to get to the bottom of this.

First of all, my own definition of "best friend" comes into play. For me - I have few best friends - those are the people that know me, I trust blindly and asked me the tough questions about my life when needed.
Then I have friends - in all ranges (and all very different) and people I interact friendly with. I don't share my inner thoughts with them, just information about things that we both are interested in.

Archer is descibed as Trips best friend for years. The trouble I am having - I don't see many of those scenes in the show that make Archer act like my defination of best friend. For me, the lowest point in their relationship is Dealues when Archer is helping an old friend (Emory) which plan just killed a crew member and dismisses Trip's concern with "I am giving you an order. Do it." No friendship here.

However, I read in several comments on a story indications what I would consider signs of friendship - one when Trip advises differently in Fusion and one is a missing scene of ANIS (must get my hands on the transcript of that scene.), when Archer comes for help to Trip. I honestly can't think of any other scene where Archer and Trip act like "best friend" or "good friends".
Maybe I am blinded by the impact that Dealues and season four made on me - so anyone: friendship scenes between Trip and Archer please....

[Alelou]

I certainly wouldn't call them best friends, either. But friends, yes. Friends separated by rank. Friends with a mentor-mentee relationship. Friends who can get annoyed with each other. But friends.

Here's the transcript of that missing scene, thanks to Chrissie's Transcript Site.

(I love it partly because it's so cute seeing Tucker roused out of a deep sleep in his undies... but I also like Trip's advice to Archer. And also his reaction to Archer's first question there.)

[Deleted scene- Sickbay]

ARCHER: Archer to Commander Tucker. Captain Archer

[Tucker's quarters]

ARCHER [OC]: to Commander Tucker.
TUCKER: (crawls out of bed) Something wrong, Captain?
ARCHER [OC]: Sorry to wake you, Trip, but I need to see you in Sickbay.
TUCKER: Give me a minute.

[Sickbay]

TUCKER: Captain wants to see me.
PHLOX: He's in there.
TUCKER: Sir?
ARCHER: Come on in. (Tucker comes through curtain)
TUCKER: What happened, sir? You look terrible.
ARCHER: I'm fine. It's Porthos who's not doing so well.
TUCKER: I'm sorry to hear it, sir. Is there something I could do?
ARCHER: How long has it been since you've been intimate with a woman?
TUCKER: Excuse me?
ARCHER: Forget it. I'm sorry I woke you up, Trip. I just need some more information on that faulty injector. If we take it offline, try to repair it, what kind of stress will that put on the other four?
TUCKER: It's a matter of time. The longer we have to rely on four injectors, the greater the stress. Problem is, I have no idea how long it would take to repair the one that's malfunctioning.
ARCHER: And if the stress gets too high?
TUCKER: Probably be down to three.
ARCHER: And?
TUCKER: Well, with three injectors, we'd be lucky to reach warp speed.
ARCHER: Go get some sleep.
TUCKER: I had a grade school teacher who was certain I stole a pencil off her desk. I think it was a pencil. She wasn't going to let me go on the field trip to Pensacola unless I apologised. My mother told me I should tell her I was sorry, but I said I didn't steal the damn pencil. You know what she told me? It's okay to apologise when you shouldn't have to, just as long as you don't mean it. (leaves Archer to try and sleep again)

[Silverbullet]

Wow, Archer had to balance being Captain with being a Friend. Delicate. A Captain at times must send people into Mortal Danger and he cannot let Friendship get in the way of that. By the naturee of his Position he has to keep some distance even if really doesn't want to.

I know it is a TV series and the Creators and wriers can do as they wish. But in reality I often wondered what Trip would have thought about Archer removing him from his position as XO and putting in someone else in that Position. Disregard the Sex of that other person just think of how Embarassed Trip would be by that. Archer would be saying he felt that Trip was incompetent to be XO and the whole crew woulr know Archer felt that way. It would inhibit Trip's ability to command on board because the crew would suspect that Archer might be right, Trip is incompetent.

[panyasan]

.But in reality I often wondered what Trip would have thought about Archer removing him from his position as XO and putting in someone else in that Position. Disregard the Sex of that other person just think of how Embarassed Trip would be by that. Archer would be saying he felt that Trip was incompetent to be XO and the whole crew woulr know Archer felt that way. It would inhibit Trip's ability to command on board because the crew would suspect that Archer might be right, Trip is incompetent.

I think Trip and Archer (and the rest of the crew) knew that placing T'Pol als XO was a political decision. Not made by Archer, but by the Vulcans and Starfleet. I don't get the impression by the first episode - when T'Pol is reporting for duty - Trip is feeling resentful toward Archer.

Concerning best friend - I thought one of the show main outlines was that Trip and Archer were best friends. This idea is also adressed in several, mostly, old fics. I remember a fic when Archer visits Trips parents and it went like this "There is Archer, Trip best friend for many year" "He is always so great etc." and this best friend bit was repeated a couple of times. Got the idea I was getting lectured, but did grin as well. Where I come from, if you stated that some one is your best friend in this way, the speaker is mostly being sarcastic.

BTW loved the last line of the missing scene Alelou quoted: Trip tells Archer what to do and saves his face at the same time. Great moment.

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

I don't think Trip and Archer ever were best friends. But they were indeed rather close friends, but not on that deep deep level that the term "best friends" imply. But even the close friendship they had was, IMHO, killed by the events in Cogenitor and I never saw it recover after that. Sure they had a drink or two going to the Expanse, but you can drink with someone without being best friends. And then Archer cut himself off from just about everybody, not just Trip, in the Expanse. Even if Airlock Archer softened after they got back, I never saw much indication that he and Trip ever returned to the close friendship we saw early on in the show. Trip didn't confide in Archer about his troubles with T'Pol (but he did talk to Phox) and Archer seemed rather bewildered why Trip decided to go to the Columbia. Then there's Daedalus, as has been mentioned.

So no, I'd be hard pressed to see how they could have gotten closer again. Rank is of course a big issue, even if that didn't stop Kirk from being close with Spock and Bones. But Archer isn't Kirk. I don't think he has the personality to form such friendships, at least not with subordinates.

That's why I can see Trip and Malcom develop a closer friendship instead, while Trip and Archer grow apart.

[Asso]

So no, I'd be hard pressed to see how they could have gotten closer again. Rank is of course a big issue, even if that didn't stop Kirk from being close with Spock and Bones. But Archer isn't Kirk. I don't think he has the personality to form such friendships, at least not with subordinates.

That's the point, in my opinion. Archer is NOT Kirk. Absolutely not.

[Dinah]

Is it written in stone that if A is best friends with B, B is also best friends with A? I think that Trip was Archer's best friend, but I'm not sure that Archer was Trip's best friend. For some reason I always got the impression that there was Trip and ---no one. Emory Erickson and family hadn't been in Archer's life for quite some time. Best friends usually have a way of keeping in touch; I didn't get a sense of that with the Ericksons, possibly because of Quinn's death. But I think it has more to do with the kind of self-contained man Archer is. In some ways he's the best kind of captain in that he doesn't need a lot of other people to keep him happy. I do think he knew that he needed someone, though; that was the role Trip filled. For Archer, Trip was his best friend from the beginning of the show to the end. Yes, he distanced himself in season 3, but he didn't just create Sim because he needed an engineer. He finally said it straight out when he told Sim, "I need Trip." He needed a best friend he could go to in a pinch, someone who would be discreet, someone who would listen and not be judgmental, someone who could pull him out of a funk and help him see the up side of a situation. That's Trip in spades.

Trip, on the other hand, is more outgoing, by nature, and has the capacity for multiple best friends. By the end of the show, I think you could say that, to some extent, Malcolm and T'Pol are also his best friends. Generally in each pairing -- with Archer, Trip, and T'Pol -- he tends to be the giver, the one who helps smooth the bumps in life for the friend and makes their life more enjoyable.

When they were working to get Enterprise ready, Archer and Trip no doubt spent a lot of time together. We know they did survival training together. I think they got to be pretty close -- two men with a common goal. After Enterprise launched, Trip and Archer were still pretty close during the first year, but then I think Archer began to understand pretty early on just how difficult it could be remain best friends with someone on board and maintain your objectivity. Archer spent season three struggling against getting too personal with anyone, especially Trip. He had a pretty good idea that people were going to die and friendship could enter into the equation. So he struggled on alone while Trip eventually found the comfort he needed from T'Pol. In season four, things never got back to the level of friendship Archer had with Trip; I think you see how much Archer missed that when he's drinking alone in a bar at the beginning of "Home." There was no one else he could go to, only Trip; fortunately Erika came along and smoothed out a few rough patches.

As for Trip being the XO, I don't know who's idea that was, but it was idiotic from the get go. On what amounted to a shakedown cruise with a new ship and a new engine, a captain wants his chief engineer in Engineering fulltime. Trip's a workaholic, but I don't see any way that he could have successfully performed the duties of both XO and chief engineer. I think he realized that, too, which is probably the reason why he didn't kick up a fuss when Archer gave the job to T'Pol.

[Silverbullet]

I thought T-Pol came on board as Observer and Liason after Enterprise was launched and manned. She was an Alien and an Officer in an Alien Military. Enterprise was a Human Starship. Officered and crewed by Humans, except for Phlox who was the Doctor and woud not have command responsibilities. Starfleet was a Human Organization. I didn't get the idea that T-Pol boarded the Eterprise as the XO. I thught she was ony suposed bo be on board for a very short time and then would leave the ship for good.

Since Trip had a fully trained Engineering crew he would not be needed in Engineering full time only in emergencies. He could easily spend his time on the Bridge acting as XO and keep in touch with Engineering by comm.

Never could understand why Enterprise did not have an XO assigned from the beginning. All of the other series had one.

[Transwarp]

Never could understand why Enterprise did not have an XO assigned from the beginning. All of the other series had one.

Yes, a totally bogus bit of TV nonsense. There would definitely be an XO assigned (and the XO would NOT be the Chief Engineer). But it's not hard to understand why: the writers knew that T'Pol was going to end up with the job, so they just didn't cast anyone else.

[Dinah]

That's a very valid point, Silverbullet. Enterprise should have had a full crew complement, including a first officer. Not one poor guy trying to be both first officer and chief engineer. When T'Pol came aboard, she should have come aboard as an observer or consultant. When she stayed she could have become the science officer. I'm not sure Starfleet vessels had science officers at that time. Maybe she could have been the first.

As for Daedalus, I know Archer fought with Trip, but I think what he was really upset about was having been placed in this position in the first place. I think he was pissed at Erickson for not being honest with him and pissed at himself for allowing Erickson to manipulate him. I wonder if Danni ( I think that's the right name) hadn't come on board with her father if things might have been different. I wonder if Archer might have finally drawn the line and said no more. Trip wasn't telling Archer anything Archer didn't already know; he just couldn't bring himself to let the Erickson's down. If anything, this whole experience was probably the thing that sealed the deal for Archer: a captain can't have best friends and maintain his objectivity. I don't think he'd ever allow himself to get really close to Trip again unless they were no longer serving together. And by that time, Trip would have probably moved on with his life. The big loser here is Archer. It's probably why he needed Porthos.

[pdsldl]

As far as the friendship I think Dinah has it. I never thought about it like that but that would explain why Archer didn't know details of Trip's life like that he had a sister. He didn't ask about Trip's parents when the Xindi attacked. It felt like Trip kept personal things to himself and didn't share with Archer like a best friend would. And Archer didn't strike me as having personal best friends they were more professional best friends. Trip shared when asked or when situations came up bit Archer never really asked.

[Alelou]

What Dinah said. (All of it, not just Porthos.)

I think Archer must have known about one of Trip's sisters because they did that whole taping for his nephew's class, which had also sent the pictures in. (Or maybe it could have been a brother but I'm thinking not, for some reason.) I always interpreted Archer's question about older or younger in The Expanse as asking whether it was his older or younger sister. There are no doubt other ways of interpeting the clues, though.

[pdsldl]

8) What Dinah said. (All of it, not just Porthos.)

I think Archer must have known about one of Trip's sisters because they did that whole taping for his nephew's class, which had also sent the pictures in. (Or maybe it could have been a brother but I'm thinking not, for some reason.) I always interpreted Archer's question about older or younger in The Expanse as asking whether it was his older or younger sister. There are no doubt other ways of interpeting the clues, though.

He didn't seem to know that Lizzie existed or that there was even a sister in Florida. And what about his parents they lived in Florida? Nobody seemed concerned about them. And didn't they say where his nephew and sister were? I thought they were outside the US somewhere. Regardless my best friend knows about my family probably more than he ever wanted to and I know about his. I got the feeling that Trip and Archer spent a majority of their time working first on Archer's dad's warp drive then on in training and getting Enterprise ready and shared sports and guy kind of things but not a lot of personal details like real friends would. And in the positions they were in that's not a bad thing just not the close friendship I thought the writers implied at the beginning.

[Alelou]

Yep, his nephew was in Kenmare in Ireland. Could be you're correct, but Archer knows enough about the Tuckers to describe them to T'Pol as somewhat eccentric by the time of *the_abomination*. I agree, though -- it's mostly a work-based friendship.

(I never did understand what the hell they were trying to say about Trip's parents and the Xindi. They got a new house in Mississippi ...okay. So presumably their old house was destroyed. But he didn't appear to be worried about them at all in The Expanse, did he? Unfortunately the graphics of the Xindi weapon also bore no relationship whatsoever to any landmarks Trip had ever mentioned in his tales of home, except for being as far as possible away from them. Seriously, it would probably take at least 5 hours to drive from the places they showed all the way to Pensacola.

Eh, all this probably just means they didn't keep very good track of continuity.

[justTripn]

Dinah said it! That's exactly right.

I think that Trip was always Archer's best friend, Trip was Malcolm's best friend, and Trip was T'Pol's best friend. While Malcolm was Trip's best guy friend and T'Pol was his best female friend (obviously).

In my E-squared when Trip dies, at the eulogy, Malcolm notices that many people had considered Trip their best friend. He says, Some people are just like that. In my story, Archer, Malcolm, T'Pol, Phlox, and Travis thought of Trip as their best friend. While Trip had considered Malcolm his best friend.

I think Trip and Archer had been best friends, but it's hard to stay best friends with your boss. So that definately got in the way of being buddies. Still they continued to love each other, more from a distance. As for friendship scenes between Trip and Archer, there was the delicious "Dessert Crossing." I think that episode summed up the dynamic. Archer begs Trip to go on that trip, Trip is grousing about it, recalling some earlier trip they took together that went array. He gives Archer some good advice when the bombs start dropping. I remember that scene when I write my Trip/Archer interactions. Trip accepts a subordinate role in relation to Archer but also has alot of confidence that his opinions matters to Archer. In Shuttlepod One, Trip recounts some scubadiving story, which shows he almost idolized Archer. You will recall that they were partners in crime during "First Flight" stealing the NX-01 prototype (off the top of my head). Trip pokes fun of Archer in episode where he goes to meet a Klingon woman and Trip tells Archer, like, "I've heard if they sense weakness they'll kill you. Go get 'em."

Actually, I enjoyed the complicated relationship after cogenitor. I loved the striken look on Trip's face when Archer would shout some order at him in a moment of heightened emotion. (For instance in The Chosen Realm, when Archer announces to Trip, they will cooperate with the Triannons.) I think the sharp tone directed at Trip meant: "No, Trip, you CAN'T sway me THIS time. (Even if we are friends and I know what you'd like to say about this.)" I think Trip was close enouph to the Captain that he always had a really good chance of swaying him if that was going to happen.

Finally, there were two episodes that showed how much Archer loved Trip even as he tries to stay professional. In "Observer Effect," there is a heartbreaking scene where Archer orders Trip to take some pills that will sedate him (so he won't get delerious and try to escape from quarantine. Trip doesn't want to take the pills and says, "But I might not wake up." Archer says somewhat firmly. "Trip, take the pills." Later when an Organian posing as Travis asks Archer if he would have begged the Klingons for an antidote, Archer says "On bended knee." In that scene you see how much Trip means to Archer. Also, the one great moment in the abomination is when Archer places Trip on the biobed and assures him everything will be fine and as soon as Trip disappears into the imaging chamber, Archer and Phlox exchange this stricken look of horror. Archer had to keep up a front of professionalism and neutrality, but he clearly loved Trip.