@dgw Honestly it feels like for some reason they wanted Trip to be in command of Enterprise while they searched for Archer (since with T'pol being indisposed, Trip is next in command). But he never really acts differently than she would. To me it felt like that could have been a better reason. Basically the stories could have focused on (1) Archer being kidnapped, (2) Trip trying to search for him (he barely does anything on screen), (3) T'pol is sick or unconscious--they don't even need the pon farr part in there. I think they should have focused more on the ways Trip was trying to find Archer than the weird Phlox/T'pol thing. But like you said they just had to make is sexual.
Review by dgwVIP 10BlockedParent2018-04-19T04:56:05Z
Once again, we find an Enterprise crew member alone aboard an alien ship without any Universal Translator, but still able to perfectly understand every alien language spoken on board. Funny how language is only a barrier when the plot requires it to be.
I found the T'Pol/Phlox plot even more uncomfortable than "Tuvix", which I watched yesterday. To be quite honest, I have no idea what point it was meant to serve. At least the main plot with Archer being captured by a bounty hunter working to service the Klingons' price on his head had some relevance to continuity and a cliché moral point to make (good men can be driven to awful deeds under the right circumstances). T'Pol throwing herself at the doctor (and, once, Malcolm) seemed to be pure fanservice.
Anyone who's read my reviews or chatted with me about fanservice in anime knows the disdain I have for the practice. It applies equally to live-action and Western media, worry not. Briefly, I think sexualizing a character just for the hell of it (as this seemed to be) cheapens the entire series. Enterprise isn't alone in this. The same was done in Voyager, first with Kes, then with Seven when Kes failed to hold the target male viewership demographic. The Next Generation did it with Deanna Troi and her absurd non-uniform. I can still call it out when I see it, especially because other Trek series did the same thing. It's a pattern.