Captain Bolivar 0 Posted November 20, 2003 (edited) Click For Spoiler As I was watching this episode, I found myself having a hard time rating the episode. As the episode began to deal with the implications of cloning I felt that the episode deserved an 8 out of 10. This is because the episode was exploring a very gray issue in a way that Star Trek had never done before. But in time, I started to think that the episode may deserve a lower score. When the nearly adult Trip was showing interest in T'Pol I could see where it was all leading. Because "Twilight" and some other episodes have made me feel Trip and T'Pol are too superficial to be worth exploring, I was thinking that if some romance did happen between Sim and T'Pol I would find it unbelievable. I was concerned that this might result in a score of 6.5 but that could not be further from the truth. As I began to think about it, I realized that Sim is not Trip and that even though Sim had expressed deep feeling towards T'Pol, the same feelings might not apply to the real Trip. After all, it can take just one moment to break or make love. The episode continued on and Sim became his full adult self. Then the tensions arose! They were completely understandable tensions, but I feel that Archer might have been just a little too harsh on Sim. But I could still understand where Archer was coming from. The circumstances were so complex that Archer's insensitiveness to Sim's want to live was forgivable. The tension made me feel that the episode could be perhaps a 7.5 if romance was to still enter into the mix. Low and behold, it did! And I must say, when T'Pol kissed Sim it seemed all too believable. I couldn't quite understand how I was moved so much, but I suppose that when it comes to matters such as those, feelings can be unpredictable. As for Sim having deep feelings for T'Pol, I think that it was believable by all means, because Sim was in essence human and the emotions of humans, as well all know, can by very unpredictable. T'Pol kissing Sim is a different matter however. It is well known that Vulcans don't just go around kissing everyone. I'm not even sure if I've ever seen a Vulcan kiss someone before, but there is something so human about T'Pol. She, like all Vulcans, has a great deal of control over her emotions, but at times I can see some emotion seeping through. I have noticed it since day one. I suppose this is what a passionate Vulcan would be like. I think that Jolene Blalock has brought something very new and refreshing to the Vulcan character type. Maybe this will come to establish the nature of female Vulcans. At any rate, I was deeply moved by her kissing Sim, and I was deeply moved by Sim's bravery. Because I found their kiss to be much more than believable and moving, and because I found Sim's bravery so moving, I just had to bump my 7.5 up to a 10! There is absolutely no way I could not give a 10. In Star Trek, only 2 other times have I been so moved. They were Data's death, and especially Spock's death. Frankly, a one in three moment, of powerful emotion, within the universe of Star Trek should deserve more than 10, but sadly, 10 is the maximum of what I can give. In addition, I would like to make note of the great acting on behalf of John Billingsley and Scott Bakula. I truly believed that these two were having an incredibly hard time with the situation. The same applies to Jolene as well. This episode is sure to become known as one of the "Enterprise greats" Edited March 26, 2005 by Takara_Soong Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
removed 0 Posted November 20, 2003 10/10! Bravo. That was amazing. The story was very moving, the music was excellent, the sfx were the best yet. All in all, one of the, and maybe THE best episode yet. Click For Spoiler And T'pol's going away gift. Very moving. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted November 20, 2003 I decided on 9.5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jack_Bauer 1 Posted November 20, 2003 Great episode, got a little teary towards the end. Great performances by Trinneer, Bakula and Billingsley. A 9.5! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sam The Smuggler 1 Posted November 20, 2003 I Very Much Enjoyed It I Think They Did Gene Proud <_< Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SuraksSoul 0 Posted November 20, 2003 I don't usually give out 10s. But, I think that I will give in tonight. I'm quite secure with myself...but I started to cry like a baby at the end. Episodes generally don't move me, but this one had emotion and thats an understatement. that never happens <_< 10.0/10.0 -- all the way Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
touchthesky 0 Posted November 20, 2003 Bravo, Bravo. Can't find a "clapping" smiley (the happy one just won't do it). This was a very good episode, a lot of conflict and emotion on different levels. LeVar Burton did a great job directing and it might explain why the show keeps getting better. He's done at least two this year. Has he done any other season episodes? I wonder if Trip will be dealing with it in future episodes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sam The Smuggler 1 Posted November 20, 2003 Ya Mean This One? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
removed 0 Posted November 20, 2003 Click For Spoiler The actors for Trip all looked just like him. I was amazed. And whoever said that Star Trek doesn't tackle issues anymore needs to seriously rethink that statement. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jefffitz 0 Posted November 20, 2003 That was definitely the most (ahem) messed up episode of Star Trek (any series) that I've seen. The moral implications of what Archer and Phlox did makes Kirk and Picards "Prime Directive" dilemmas seem trivial. This episode has continued the overall upward trend of Enterprise episodes this season. After a disappointing start, this season has really started getting interesting. Maybe this is Berman and Bragas master plan, put all the crap episodes out early and leave the good ones for mid to late season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted November 20, 2003 put all the crap episodes out early and leave the good ones for mid to late season. I have yet to see any episode of Enterprise that I'd call a crap episode, from any of the seasons. I've enjoyed every single episode so far, Broken Bow to Similitude. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Holland 0 Posted November 20, 2003 10 out of 10!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MoulinRouge 0 Posted November 20, 2003 10 out of 10. I am so blown away, unsettled, emtionally moved. Click For Spoiler I adored Sim, but I so loooooooooooved Archer in this eppi. I wholly understood Archer's reactions. Bravo to Scott and to Levar's direction. Archer wouldn't go near Sim physically once he reached adulthood. Everything in Archer's reactions screamed how much he loved Trip....the real Trip. Trip and Sim were not interchangable to Jonathan Archer. I love my friend. My friend is in there. These are his quarters. EVEN IF IT MEANS KILLING YOU. It's a simple as that. The mission. It's the mission that need Trip. No Jonathan, you need Trip. He is your friend. You love him very much. As cruel and harsh as it was, I respected Archer for this. Scott Bakula, I adored your performance. If he had been able to accept someone else in Trip's place I couldn't have accepted that. Archer reacted emotionally the way I envision myself reacting. I couldn't have given up my friend, either. Trinneer was damnably brilliant, too, at creating a character who incorporated all of Trip's nobility but who was NOT TRIP. A few posts have suggested that it might have been "interesting" to have Trip die and Sim take his place. NO WAY. :( :( :( :( That would have been creepy as hell, as if one person could easily replace another. I'd have hated that. Think about the implications for a moment. Would you want to be replaced? Not me. And still, my sorrow for Sim was palpable. No easy solution. No cop out miracle cure to allow Sim to live. I woudn't have respected that. Brilliant script by Coto. And that kiss What a moment. Beautiful, heartfelt, romantic, lovely.....I'm not sure my feelings for you are mine or his. Coto, you sly devil. All of a sudden I'm rather excited for episode 15. Brilliant episode. Simply brilliant. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mj 7 Posted November 20, 2003 That was a tough episode... Click For Spoiler Archer made a choice to bring someone into being solely for the purpose of saving Trip's life, with the guarantee that the being, later named Sim, would only live for a few days, and that he would survive the operation harvesting the tissue needed to save Trip's life. Seems to me that in the back of his mind Archer must have justified the whole thing to himself by saying that it's not like they were killing Sim to get the tissue. Nevertheless they had to deal with how quickly the the child Sim perceived that something was wrong....where were his parents? Then it turns out that the operation will kill Sim, and also that there may have been a way to prolong Sim's life. Now they all have to face the fact that they created this living sentient being to use him, and never with any expectation for him getting the best out of his life. They have to face it because Sim is facing it. On the one hand here is this crew and his friends who he knows to be decent and dedicated and caring....no wait...these are Trip's friends, and they care about Trip, not him. His confusion with which feelings were his own, and which were Trip's. Wanting his own life, trying to look for a way to live... Archer's threats. Archer had to face the fact that he would kill ( "murder"), and Sim had to face the fact that his/Trip's friend had really created him to die. Sim's final decision to make the sacrifice for his sister, knowing that he both was Trip and wasn't Trip, but that genetically and emotionally, Elizabeth was his sister. He did not want others to experience the loss he felt. My mind is still swimming. A sadness lingers. A morally difficult episode. 9.5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fredbroca 0 Posted November 20, 2003 I gave it a 7 but thats not saying anything as I have given all the good ep this season a 7 I am just picky but I will say one thing at the end I stood up out of my seat and stood at atention for the end. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Theunicornhunter 2 Posted November 20, 2003 (edited) Wow, I gave it a 10 - it was terrific but I'm still digesting. wow *** This wasn't just the best Trek episode I've seen in a while (probably the best ENT episode to date for me ... reminiscent of VOY's Tuvix) it was the best episode of any television I've seen in a long time. Edited November 20, 2003 by TheUnicornHunter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SuraksSoul 0 Posted November 20, 2003 Ah yes...another captain obvious (but still cool) Click For Spoiler ...did anyone notice the coincidence of names: "Sim" and the name of the episode "Similitude"? Funny..took a while for that one to catch on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Admiral Kirk 1 Posted November 20, 2003 I gave it a 9. It was one of the saddest eps I've seen. Click For Spoiler The Sim/T'pol thing lowered the score. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Goose 0 Posted November 20, 2003 Stardate:213885.8 OMG That was the deepest episdoe of Ent so far IMO!! Click For Spoiler Such an awsome episode.First off the actors that played Trip as a kid throught teenager were so like Trip even in the way he talked!!!The moment between Sim and T'Pol when Sim expressed his feelings for T'Pol was unbelieveable.Did I see a Tear in T'Pol's Eye!!!!!!!!!!!!OMG tell me i did not just see a Vulcan cry!!!!!!! I mean we saw Sarek cry but he was suffering from Benji syndrom so that doesnt count.I cant beleive that reaction.Awsome acting by Jolene!!! Also the intense moment between Sim and Archer.We see another dark side of Archer here.We see that he will do anything ANYTHING to get the mission done even if that means Murder.Like MoulinRouge said Archer did it for him plain and simple he needed Trip not Sim.Sim's life wasnt worth as much as Trip plain and simple. Then the kiss.That caught me completely by surprise.What a going away present!!!What a moment. Also at the end with Sims speech before he goes for surgery.When he tells Phlox he was a damn good father and Phlox says he was a good son that was just as moving. I was so moved by this episode.I had tears in my eyes throughout the entire epi.Bravo to everybody involved.Another example of a classic Trek episode showing us moral implications of today's life.Gene would be sooo proud.Great Great Great episode. 9.5/10 without a doubt!!!!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KayTroi 0 Posted November 20, 2003 I gave tonight's episode a rating of 9. :( Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
archerfan 0 Posted November 20, 2003 I'm rather speechless at the moment trying to process everything I've just seen. I was totally and completely moved by this episode. Click For Spoiler Once again Scott B. totally out did himself. Jonathan Archer has really become an incredible captain. It was so heartbreaking how torn he was by his descision to let Phlox create Sim. How he tried to distance himself emotionally from Sim yet took the responsibility to tell him what he was. I was especially moved when he took young Sim into the launch bay and showed him how to fly the remote controlled spacecraft just like he use to do with his father. It really was a battle for Archer to try to keep himself emotionally detached but when the time came he made it clear that his loyalties lied with his friend. I was also really pleased with the job Connor T did. What a challenge for him in this episode and he totally pulled it off. There was no doubt he was Sim and not Trip and I learned to love him all over again. It was wonderful that Sim had the opportunity to save the crew and receive the appreciation from Archer that he was so desperate for. I also enjoyed the interaction with the grown Sim and T'Pol. I really like how Trip and T'pol are being written and how there relationship is being allowed to slowly evolve into something very meaningful. Even though it was Sim expressing those feelings some of them were Trips feeling too. I actually thought T'pol was going to cry for a moment there when she was saying goodbye to Sim. It is really amazing how well Jolene B can show the tiniest bit of emotion with just the look in her eyes. She can hold it back just enough but still let us in on what she is feeling, I love it. I loved Phlox in this too. It was just a great episode, I cried like a baby at the end I gave it a 9.5...but it couldn't be any closer to a 10. I'm still waiting for the ultimate episode to give out my 10. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Essoq 0 Posted November 20, 2003 Good episode. Click For Spoiler I kept thinking how super freaked out I'd be if I woke up from a coma and someone told me. By the way, to save your life we cloned you and then killed your clone to save you. And then I get to go to the clone's funeral! Screwed up! 9.5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eve 0 Posted November 20, 2003 I gave it a 9. You see, I get all cozy in bed to watch, and since I have to be up at 4 in the morning for work, if I can stay awake for the whole thing then that was a good episode. I couldn't even go to sleep right away afterward. Scott B. was amazing as were all the actors in this episode. It was a very thought provoking episode. I wanted to give it a 10, put I also am stingy with my 10's as I am waiting for that perfect episode to come. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OrionTrader 0 Posted November 20, 2003 Am I The only one who was truly UPSET by this episode??? I thought this was an EXCEPTIONAL episode from any of the series Click For Spoiler up and until the point where T'Pol admits SHE WILL BE UPSET BY SIM'S DYING AND THEN KISSES HIM?!?!?!?! A Vulcan, admitting her feelings so openly and then KISSING a human?!?!?! THAT completely ruined it for me.... I added the spoiler. ~ VBG Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted November 20, 2003 Am I The only one who was truly UPSET by this episode??? I thought this was an EXCEPTIONAL episode from any of the series Click For Spoiler up and until the point where T'Pol admits SHE WILL BE UPSET BY SIM'S DYING AND THEN KISSES HIM?!?!?!?! A Vulcan, admitting her feelings so openly and then KISSING a human?!?!?! THAT completely ruined it for me.... I added the spoiler. ~ VBG Don't forget to use a spoiler when giving away plot points. Click For Spoiler I myself was surprised by that turn of events but I think it showed that Vulcans do have emotions, and they do. They just control them much better than humans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1 Posted November 20, 2003 I gave it a 9.5. I loved it! My only beef was... Click For Spoiler that Archer threated to kill Sim if he didn't sacrifice himself to save Trip. This makes one think if clones have the same basic human rights we do, and also shows that Archer would be willing to do away with his morals to save a friend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VaBeachGuy 12 Posted November 20, 2003 I gave it a 9.5. I loved it! My only beef was... Click For Spoiler ...that Archer threated to kill Sim if he didn't sacrifice himself to save Trip. This makes one think if clones have the same basic human rights we do, and also shows that Archer would be willing to do away with his morals to save a friend. You have to think back to what Archer said to T'Pol: Click For Spoiler He said that if they weren't in the Expanse his decision would likely be different but with this mission Earth NEEDS Enterprise and Enterprise NEEDS Trip. In Archers mind, nothing will stand in the way of completing this mission succesfully. Even if it means murdering 1 person to save 10 Billion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1 Posted November 20, 2003 I gave it a 9.5. I loved it! My only beef was... Click For Spoiler ...that Archer threated to kill Sim if he didn't sacrifice himself to save Trip. This makes one think if clones have the same basic human rights we do, and also shows that Archer would be willing to do away with his morals to save a friend. You have to think back to what Archer said to T'Pol: Click For Spoiler He said that if they weren't in the Expanse his decision would likely be different but with this mission Earth NEEDS Enterprise and Enterprise NEEDS Trip. In Archers mind, nothing will stand in the way of completing this mission succesfully. Even if it means murdering 1 person to save 10 Billion. Click For Spoiler There is no justification of murder, even if 10 billion people are at stake. Besides, Sim would be just as capable as Trip in saving Earth from the Xindi, so that's more reason to defend Sim. I think Archer just wanted the original Trip and saw Sim as a thing and not a real person. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A l t e r E g o 9 Posted November 20, 2003 Click For Spoiler up and until the point where T'Pol admits SHE WILL BE UPSET BY SIM'S DYING AND THEN KISSES HIM?!?!?!?! Please remember, we never have been shown "young female Vulcan's" before with one important exception 1. T'Pring from the OS episode Amok Time. When you compare T'pol with T'Pring you find the ptb are NOT taking T'Pol in an unreasonable direction. There really is very little precedence to base an argument on regarding how young Vulcan females intigratre being a woman with suppression of emotions. T'pol works. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
archerfan 0 Posted November 20, 2003 Click For Spoiler There is no justification of murder, even if 10 billion people are at stake. Besides, Sim would be just as capable as Trip in saving Earth from the Xindi, so that's more reason to defend Sim Click For Spoiler There was also no guarantee that Sim would live more than 15 days. The Enzyme was only experimental. I believe Archer made the right choice no matter how difficult. I don't think that Archer treated Sim as a thing either. Yes he tried to stay emotional detached but he treated him with respect and did a lot of caring things for him up until the point were he had to decide his fate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites