The Bond?

[mwpm]

Hope I posted this at the right place

Did Trip and T'Pol really have one? been lurking for so long I still don't understand if they had a bond, not that I really understand it in the first place.

again forgive me on such a stupid question I'm sure you get it asked alot on this site

[Alelou]

Actually this is the kind of conversation we love to have. But I'm already up too late tonight!

[Aquarius]

The short answer: yes.

When, precisely it happened is a matter open for debate...and much of the lovely fan fiction here addresses that topic. I haven't seen all of Season Four yet myself, but I've seen enough of it thanks to Sci-Fi Channel's mini-marathons to know that we get some confirmation of it toward the end of that season. You'll want to watch for the episode "Bound" for sure, as well as others.

[Pitseleh]

Well, according to what we saw on late Season 4: Yes, they did have a bond. And that gives us TnTers much joy...

The nature, behavior, and precise beginning of the bond remains a matter for open discussion and fanfic development. The things we know for sure are what T'Pol herself said:

There's a long-held belief that when a Vulcan mates, there's a shared psychic bond

Feelings, thoughts, even images can be shared

They kept meeting on T'Pol's meditation space, and her immunity to the Orion women made Trip immune as well... and that's pretty much what we know.

[JadziaKathryn]

Don't forget we also learned in "Demons" that T'Pol knew when Trip was skeptical of her claim to have no explanation for their baby.

[Alelou]

Which is why it's such an abomination in *the_abomination* when they claim to have been apart for six years. Hello, previously established Vulcan mating bond!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I could have swallowed that plot better if they hadn't screwed the TnT part of it so badly.

But then again: really bad holonovel, not real.

[Aquarius]

Which is why it's such an abomination in *the_abomination* when they claim to have been apart for six years. Hello, previously established Vulcan mating bond!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I could have swallowed that plot better if they hadn't screwed the TnT part of it so badly.

But then again: really bad holonovel, not real.

Amen, sister!

[chris1138]

Which is why it's such an abomination in *the_abomination* when they claim to have been apart for six years. Hello, previously established Vulcan mating bond!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I could have swallowed that plot better if they hadn't screwed the TnT part of it so badly.

But then again: really bad holonovel, not real.

Amen, sister!

Hehe
Damn, I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person, but I can't understand for the life of me, why the B&B's did that...
Did they really resent the fans so much, for bashing them while praising Coto? A childish assumption, I know, but I just don't get it. If I didn't know better, I'd think that they never even saw any of the S4 episodes, let alone contribute in their creation.
Thank God for "The Good That Men Do," wasn't perfect, but it did make me feel better (*the_abomination* made me feel like I wasted an entire year of my life watching ENT).

[Aquarius]

Honestly? I think it was more an artistic statement...not so much the bond never going anywhere thing, but the killing off Trip thing. The show was ending, and they wanted to go out with a bang, so they killed their (arguably) most popular character figuring it wouldn't be taboo because there wouldn't be Enterprise movies, etc.

Then again, maybe that's why they decided to indicate that the bond went nowhere, because if TnT HAD had a "happily ever after," or at least were still trying for one, the fans would resent them more for killing Trip.

[chris1138]

^ Hardly a way to go out with a bang (maybe if Trip died on T'pol's hands or something)...
What's that saying - "The road to hell is paved with good intentions?"
But... How could they, in good conscience, disrespect the cast like that? Every actor tends to stand behind his/hers roles, like Halle Barry who never trashed "Catwoman," even though it almost destroyed her career, Charlize Theron humiliated herself with Aeon Flux, yet she never said she regretted doing it (and there are many more examples of actors defending the movies or shows they're in, no matter how obviously bad they were). Jolene Blalock however did not hesitate to call *the_abomination* APPALLING.

[Alelou]

Personally I think Braga was (perhaps subconsciously) extremely pissed that they cancelled his baby and he responded by killing off his favorite character.

But I also think they wrote a giant enormous loophole into it so they could get out of it anytime they wanted to.

Sometimes, though, I wonder how much the sour taste of that ending reduced the possibility that they'll ever get the chance.

[Aquarius]

^ Hardly a way to go out with a bang (maybe if Trip died on T'pol's hands or something)...
What's that saying - "The road to hell is paved with good intentions?"
But... How could they, in good conscience, disrespect the cast like that? Every actor tends to stand behind his/hers roles, like Halle Barry who never trashed "Catwoman," even though it almost destroyed her career, Charlize Theron humiliated herself with Aeon Flux, yet she never said she regretted doing it (and there are many more examples of actors defending the movies or shows they're in, no matter how obviously bad they were). Jolene Blalock however did not hesitate to call *the_abomination* APPALLING.

Well, in all fairness...in Hollywood (as anywhere) it's kinda considered bad form to bite the hand that feeds you. I have a friend who went to film school in LA and she's worked with several celebrities--she's not a big-wig or anything by any stretch of the imagination, but she's been on "the scene" and knows how all the politics works. Of course those actors are going to defend bad roles and bad projects they were involved in--or at least appear indifferent to them--because they want to make sure their stars continue to rise and that they can get good parts later on, with lots of money attached. Furthermore--and I'm not stating this as fact, it's just a moment of speculation on my part so please don't run with this--Jolene's remarks could very well have something to do with the fact that her most recent roles have been a direct-to-video Starship Troopers 3 and a bit part on CSI Miami; she's beautiful and talented and you'd think that they'd be busting down her door to give her another series. And it depends on how she said it--it's one thing if she was running to the press badmouthing her bosses, it's another if she was asked a difficult question during a Q&A at a con and was trying to appease broken-hearted fans. So context is everything, too. I didn't read it/hear it personally so I can't say what the intent or effect of the remark was.

I did read that Connor Trinneer was asked what he thought about the death of his character, and his response was something like (paraphrasing here) "I figured what the hell, they're ending the show any way." Which is more your Hollywood politically-correct response. *shrug*

Regardless, the funny thing about creators is that they sometimes fantasize about destroying their creations--or at least parts of them. So B&B decide to kill Trip because they can, and because they figure it's the last episode, so they might as well really shake things up, whatever. Yes, it seems somewhat disrespectful to the fans, but I doubt it was an intended slight. They went for shock value and apparently for a lot of us, it didn't work. Much the same thing happened when George Lucas authorized the killing of Chewbacca in the novel series--some fans ate it up because it was "realistic", others were shocked and outraged because "you just don't kill an icon!" The only constant is that you can't please everybody.

[justTripn]

Shameless plug for a story I beta'd

How the bond works, as explained by Trip (Chapter 2 of "Your Mom and Me Part III" by Elessar):

Trip leaned back in his chair just in time to see a plate of nachos arriving in the corner of his eye.

“Arright,” Trip celebrated, dropping the feet of his chair to the patio as the entrée came to rest against the table. He pushed empty bottle to the other end of the table to start on a second.

“If T’Pol could only see you now,” Archer said, shaking his head as his hand fought with Trip’s for the first and biggest, most cheese-covered nacho of the bunch. “Something tells me beer and nachos aren’t even on the Vulcan food pyramid.”

A dab of cheese dribbled onto his chin as he crunched into a nacho and shook his head. “I don’t plan on findin’ out,” he laughed.

"How does that work, anyway? I thought you could hear each other’s thoughts all the time?” Jon asked.

“Well, you kinda’ have to listen." Trip shrugged, focusing his attention on the nachos. “At first, it was like I couldn’t think straight, all I could hear and feel was her. After awhile, I figured out how to turn down the volume, I guess you’d say. After T’Pol showed me how, of course,” Trip amended.

“What about her, though? She could ‘listen in’ at any time I guess?”

Trip frowned doubtfully, shaking his head while downing more jalapeno-smothered nachos.

“It’s not really like that… I don’t know how to explain it, but we kinda’ have this agreement that we don’t spy on each other. I mean we tell each other everything, so it’s not like it matters,” Trip clarified. “But right now…” Trip paused, focusing on the sound of T’Pol’s voice in the back of his mind. So did T’Pol, across town, in Room 301 of the Physics Building. Trip looked up to find Archer waiting. “She’s teaching and she’s talking about…”

“Is your telepathy weaker than hers?” Archer asked.

“It is, but I just don’t have a clue what the hell she’s talkin’ about,” Trip explained, laughing. “I don’t get half the stuff she talks about at home. I mean I was a warp engineer for six years, but this stuff’s way over my head. That woman’s a genius,” he thought aloud. “No, but normally, we just tune in and it’s like when you key up a walkie talkie,” Trip explained, offering a hand up as he thought of the apt analogy. “The other person’s gonna’ hear you keyin’ it up.”

“Interesting arrangement,” Archer said. “I don’t know if I could commit to something that big with a woman.” As he met the glance of the young waitress across the bar, Archer nodded when she wordlessly asked if he needed another beer.

“See,” Trip interjected. “It’s not actually all that different from that,” he said.

Archer shot him a challenging brow. “Interstellar telepathy is a little different than body language.”

Trip shrugged conceding. “Well ok, maybe. But what’s going on with Erica? You two aren’t seein’ each other still?” Trip asked.

[Aquarius]

But I also think they wrote a giant enormous loophole into it so they could get out of it anytime they wanted to.

Sometimes, though, I wonder how much the sour taste of that ending reduced the possibility that they'll ever get the chance.

Well, as I heard Lolita Fatjo say at a con, "People have a habit of not staying dead in Star Trek!"

I think Enterprise suffered from a couple of things. First, it came at a time when even the most die-hard of fans had just been saturated with Star Trek--I think ratings were destined to suffer because it came not too long after a time when there had been three Trek series running concurrently (though, yes, one by one they ended) and movie releases...it's extremely possible that a lot of fans may have been suffering from burnout and they might've had better chances if they'd waited a while, made us hungry for it again.

Then, as you said about the bad taste the ending left in everyone's mouth...talk about cutting off their noses to spite their faces!

jt--OOOOH! Thanks for the sneak preview!! Shiny...pretty!! I've already read it, but it's SO worth reading again!

[Alelou]

It's true that you have to play nice and have a reputation as easy to work with to keep working in Hollywood (hell, it doesn't hurt anywhere). I remember asking one of the producers why Lindsay Wagner wasn't considered for Janeway and she rolled her eyes and said, "Life is too short."

I've often wondered if CT and JB not attending the wrap party hurt their careers, although he's pretty politic when you ask him about killing Trip off. In one interview he said he took it as a compliment, which I guess you could.