3.10: Similitude

[Mariel]

3.10 Similitude

The show opens with a funeral being held for Trip then goes back 2 weeks to explain. Trip has come up with a new way to make the engines more efficient. When trying the enhancement, the ship goes through a cloud of debries that effects the engines and almost causes a breach. Part of the engines is damaged and hurts Trip in the process. He brain damaged and Phlox can't fix it. But he comes up with a way to turn one of his creatures into a simbiot. He tells Archer that the simbiot will only live 15 days and he'll take the needed brain matter out of the simbiot to heal Trip with out hurting the simbiot. As the simbiot grows the crew find that he has all of Trips memories. Sim(the name Phox gives the simbiot) also expresses feelings for T'Pol and tells her he doesn't know if they are Trip's feelings or his own. When it comes time to donate the brain matter Phlox discovers that it will be fatal to Sim. Sim deosn't want to die but Archer tells him that Trip will die if he doesn't and the ship needs Trip. Sim gives his life for Trip and the crew honors him for it at the end by giving him a funeral.
:blpaw:

 

[Eway]

The obvious implication that Trip and T'Pol have an affinity for one another was kind of fun to watch. But I also enjoyed watching the chemistry between T'Pol and Archer. Does anyone think they (writers) will rekindle the Archer thing or just continue with Trip.

 

[Dave]

Not impressed

I think that we were meant to think something happened between T'Pol kissing Sim and him turning up in sickbay, something more than a kiss. For that alone I would have probably removed a star from this episode, but I hadn't given it any to begin with.

As far as the science goes, it was probably the worst episode since 'Genesis' TNG. As soon as the clone grew and had Trip's memories I got annoyed with the story's premise. Dr. Phlox may think it's an astounding discovery, but DNA does not store memories, and it was just a bad idea for an episode.

But when Archer began saying that he would murder Sim, I could hardly believe it. Archer's character is now so poorly written it is a joke.

And then we had the T'Pol/Trip thing too.

This was Manny Coto's first outing as a writer on Enterprise and I expected better things. Sadly, if this is his best he can leave now.

Even 'Spock's Brain' TOS was better than this.

 

[Darth Simpson]

Re: Not impressed

Originally posted by Dave

Even 'Spock's Brain' TOS was better than this.

LOL Now that was a funny episode.

I'd have to agree with Dave's comments on this ep. It was truely ridiculous and one of the most far fetched and morally impetant.

The only bit I enjoyed was the stuff all over the Enterprise's hull. Only because it reminded me of a classic Blake's 7 episode when Liberator is destroyed.

10 points for Deja Vue
0 points for Story

 

[ray gower]

Think I might have got this confused with Emmerdale Farm, but the gist of it went like this:-

Enterprise Similitude in 10 seconds
Enterprise gets stuck in a muddy field.
Trip blows himself up.
Phlox implants Trip into one of his pets and grows replacement, while two men on bicycles pull the ship out of the mud.
Then while they wander off to find a garage car wash to remove the mud, Trip 2 first learns he rather likes being Trip, because he can get off with the T'Pot, then learns that he has to listen to Archers sermons.
Trip 2 decides the later is too much to pay for a cup of tea and begs the Doctor to put Trip back.

The bikes added to make it exciting!

Once again we are presented with an episode that could have been.
Ignoring the dubious science of creating Trip2, there was scope for a powerful drama that we haven't seen since Shuttle Pod One. Of course it would have taken a little more than Archer reading his bible at Trip2, perhaps a few others might have had a hard time when it came time for him to pop his clogs too?
And I can't help feeling that in the old days of TOS they could have made the Enterprise stuck in the mud a good story in itself. Sorry they did didn't they?

Come back Voyager

As an aside. When did they invent Tractor Beams for towing?
They didn't have them when the series started, borrowing some from a Vulcan ship when things went pie shaped.

 

[Dave]

Originally posted by ray gower
Ignoring the dubious science of creating Trip2, there was scope for a powerful drama that we haven't seen since Shuttle Pod One.

Actually, I think there was scope for a powerful drama by examining more closely the dubious science of creating Trip2. There has been much in the news recently about the right and wrong and ethics of creating a sibling with the correct genetic make-up to cure a disease of an existing child. In the time honoured, Star Trek way, a little morality play examining this subject could have been the result. Instead of that we had one of the all time worst episodes.

And I didn't even mention it before, but how did they get rid of the magnetic goo stuck to the ship. It simply seemed to fall off once they were free of the cloud. But it was magnetic! And it was stuck on so hard they had to explode a piece off! :dead: