posted
Many of you guys are complaining that "this isn't how Vulcans act" and the like. You need to bear in mind that this is not TOS, or TNG or any other series- Could it be possible the Vulcans still have a bit of growing up to do?
It is apparent there is no "Prime Directive" at this time, and even the Vulcans do not have such a precedent(Andorian Incident, Shadow's of P'Jem). This shows that the Vulcans aren't as logical as they are in later series. Keep this in mind when watching the show
posted
Well, let's think about this a bit. In "Journey to Babel", was it that the Vulcans didn't want to admit Coridan to the UFP? If this is the case, then might it be possible that by then they were still sore about the rebellion on Coridan overthrowing the Vulcan-installed government?
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
As I recall, Sarek voted in favor of admission. It was the Tellarites & the Rigellians (I think)who were rather peeved about it. Something about mining rights in the asteroid belt of the system.
Jeff's right, though. And it does make sense. I mean think of it this way: here you are, the smartest kid in the class all the way up to like 6th grade, when suddenly this brash young upstart moves to town. You befirend him, take him under your wing...& soon he begins to outshine you. You'd be "tempermental" at first, but soon learn to mellow out & smooth things over & work together. Or pound his teeth into the pavement. One of the two.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
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posted
We also seem to be dealing with a very small segment of the Vulcan people. Possibly the military/foreign relations group. They would naturally have different interests than the society as a whole.
posted
First, we have to ask if the Vulcans really are acting irrational in ENT. Why is it less logical to act immorally? The Vulcans in "Shadows.." explained they're logical solution to terrorism was swift violent action. Logical =/= Pacifist.
Consider where Vulcans came from. They were once a savage race, and the devious Romulans are perhaps nothing more than Vulcans without repressed emotions (perhaps one of the reasons the Vulcans were reluctant to reveal their connection with the Romulans in and before "Balance of Terror"). And on top of that, Vulcans must have had a very good reason to collectively repress emotions. I wouldn't imagine a happy, friendly race to come to this. Those savage pre-Surakians must have been quite nasty.
Perhaps the answer to why TOS and later Vulcans are friendlier is the effect humans and other 'friendly' aliens have on the Vulcan psyche. That could even explain that DS9 baseball episode.
posted
It would seem that most of our analysis of Vulcans comes from our understanding of Spock and his view of the Vulcan people. But Spock was not a Vulcan, he was a hybred. As his mother stated in Journey to Babel, Spock had a rough childhood. Could it have been that Spock overcompensated in his wanting to be a perfect Vulcan to overcome his deficiencies as a hybred. Much the same a Worf seems to have overcompensated as a Klingon and sees them as a paragon of what they actually are. Perhaps we are now seeing the Vulcans in a truer light than we have seen them before. It is one thing to strive to be completely driven by logic and another to actually achieve it. Not all christians lead a very christian life but if you ask them then they will tell you they are christians, and outsiders to a religion tend to be more zealous once they join.
-------------------- "and none of your usual boobery." M. Burns
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posted
I haven't really minded Enterprise's portroyal of the Vulcans until "Shadows of P'Jem." And only then my real complaint was that the writers and the director just blatantly made the Vulcans in the episode very emotional (or too easily swayed by emotions).
The only Vulcans we've gotten to see in-depth have been Spock and Tuvok with Sarek to a lesser extent. Spock can give us a fair insight, but not a perfect since he is half-human (and his human side has frequently showed itself). Tuvok was a full-blooded Vulcan, but he also tended to act at times illogically. However, he did this out of friendship and loyalty. Sarek has always been infinitely logical, but at the same time he's been passionate and shown some regrets in his dealings with Spock.
I can see the Vulcan-Human relations being strained. Humans in Enterprise show a resentment of the Vulcans which can be seen in a smaller intensity in The Original Series. It could be a racist holdover from earlier generations, much some southern white families still being racist against blacks. The attitude of the parents rubbing off on the children. And that relationship is only going to get more strained when it comes time to found the United Federaion of Planets (assuming that fandom is correct and both Vulcan and Andoria are founding members).
The actions of the Vulcans in Enterprise so far are reasonable. They believe that humans are too impulsive and not yet ready for deep-space exploration. In many ways, the Vulcans are correct. Archer and Enterprise's crew have gotten into many jams because of their impulsiveness and curiousity. The Vulcans are obviously protective of humanity since they attempted to shield Earth from the Klingons by demanding to return Klaang themselves. The surveillance equipment on P'Jem and breaking the treaty was a necessity because the Andorians are very hostile towards Vulcan. Vulcan needed the equipment for defense, but may have been forced into that provision to establish a peace treaty. So far, the actions of Vulcan on Coridan has not been explained.
No matter how strained the Vulco-Terran relationship gets, though, we know that it will get better. In TOS, Kirk makes reference to an event at Axanar that allows him and Spock to work as brothers. It's too bad that we won't get to see this event and a new direction in Vulcan and human relations since this event (if I remember correctly) happens after the founding of the Federations (and thus likely not happening in Enterprise).
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
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posted
Most likely, it is interacting with emotional/violent humans that drives the Vulcans into a more "pure" logical/pacifist way of life in the next century.
posted
Let's all just remember that the founding of the Federation was after the "Great Earth-Romulan War" which supposedly is what caused the Federation to come into being. Obviously by the time of the Earth-Romulan war, the Vulcans are giving Earth a little more help... and more than likely the Andorians will provide some type of help too.
In fact it seems much more likely that instead of a war between two powers, Earth and Romulus had allies. This would make it a true interstellar war which could lead to an interstellar United Nations type thing.
-------------------- Later, J _ _ _ _ _ ___ _ _ _ _ _ The Last Person to post in the late Voyager Forum. Bashing both Voyager, Enterprise, and "The Bun" in one glorious post.
posted
As far as the emotionality (is that a word?) of the Vulcans goes... Remember that the most emotional Vulcans we've seen so far are T'Pol and the ambassador�the two who have spent the most time working w/ humans.
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Chris StarShade
Ex-Member
posted
How do you know it will get better? I am fairly certain we're living in an alternate timeline at this point...
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posted
Strangely enough, nobody else has found grounds to be "fairly certain" of that. It's a possibility, sure. But I wouldn't be so quick to conclude that TOS can't possibly follow on from Enterprise just because the Vulcans aren't exactly as peerless heroes as, say, Spock.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
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