The Seventh

T'Pol receives a message from the Vulcan High Command and tells Captain Archer that he will be called by Admiral Forest sooner to use the Enterprise to help her in a classified mission. Later she invites Archer to go with her because she trusts him. Archer asks for details, and T'Pol explains that she worked in a Security Agency many years ago and she had been assigned to capture six surgically altered Vulcan agents of a group that worked undercover in a corrupt planet and refused to return to Vulcan. However, the former agent Menos escaped from her in Risa, and now he has been located in a planet in the route of the Enterprise. They go to the planet with Travis in the shuttle pod and when they capture the fugitive, T'Pol partially recalls details of her past mission. Archer recalls T'Pol that her assignment is to capture the fugitive, not to judge him.

"The Seventh" is another great episode of the Second Season. The story shows a vulnerable T'Pol maybe for the first time, and how important the wise Archer is for her. I feel that with the final statement of T'Pol, her bonds of trust and loyalty with Captain Archer have increased much more. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Sétimo" ("The Seventh")

I thought this was quite well done. T'Pol is instructed by the Vulcan high command to go after a man who years ago went rogue after spying on a culture that was dangerous to Vulcan. He and some of his confederates were sought out by Vulcan patrols to be brought back. T'Pol was give seven of them to return, but in the process of bringing them back, two escaped. But something happened on Reisa (Sp?). T'Pol has had some sort of mental reconstruction to repress her emotions after she killed someone on the planet. She is now filled with guilt about what happened and the man she is seeking, who is suspected of selling biotoxins uses her guilt to manipulate her. I thought this was very exciting and a plot that was clever and well written. It also continues to tell the story of the Vulcans and some of their weaknesses as they attempt to evolve.

T'Pol is given a classified mission to capture a Vulcan renegade.

The plot is relatively intriguing, if somewhat predictable, but this is probably Jolene Blalock's best performance so far in the series. She has to release quite a bit of repressed emotions in certain scenes and she does it well. It's also nice to see Archer and T'Pol bonding.

Bruce Davidson gives a pretty solid performance as Menos, but I'm not sure the character ever feels that he was at one point a Vulcan, but I don't think that is the actor's fault, it's more to do with the material.

The other members of the crew don't have much of a contribution to make other than a mildly funny subplot. Mayweather is part of the away mission but is not given anything tangible to do as usual.

I think the likability of this episode depends on how someone cares to see Vulcan characters behaving emotionally and doesn't take umbrage with the writers revising established Vulcan cultural practises. Although the reasons are clearly explained within the plot, I'm not sure it ever feels right to me.

Call me a boring old traditionalist but the only Vulcan emotional display I ever enjoyed was Spock's outburst at the end of Amok Time and that's because they showed his immediate realisation and self correction. That worked well.

I can see how a lot of the show's unpopularity stems from it's take on Vulcan characters and it's hard to disagree with it based on what I've seen so far.

T'Pol is about to go on a secret mission to capture a Vulcan renegade named Menos (Bruce Davison). However, instead of going alone or waiting to be joined by a Vulcan ship, she chooses to take along Captain Archer, as she trusts him and his judgment more in this case. But why? What is it about Menos that causes her to doubt herself or her fellow Vulcans? Well, when she does meet up with Menos, he seems like a pretty reasonable sort and soon T'Pol begins to doubt her memories and her sanity.

This is an average episode--no more, no less. It does further solidify the relationship between T'Pol and Archer but otherwise a non- remarkable show in every way.