Summary

• Captain Archer's conflict with T'Pol stemmed from humanity's overall resentment towards Vulcans, leading him to distrust her despite her superior knowledge and skills.
• T'Pol's character evolved throughout the series as the crew gradually accepted her, eventually forming a deep friendship and intimate relationship with Trip Tucker.
• Enterprise's depiction of Vulcans as insidious and callous was a bold move, adding dramatic tension and conflict to the series while also exploring T'Pol's personal growth and questioning her own people's actions.

Sub-commander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) was usually right in the early days of Star Trek: Enterprise, but Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) still fought with her repeatedly. Enterprise was a prequel that retconned Star Trek: The Original Series' classic triumvirate of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) to originate aboard the NX-01. But while Captain Archer and his best friend, Chief Engineer Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), were thick as thieves, T'Pol was left out in the cold at first despite her superior knowledge and experience.

T'Pol ed the NX-01 Enterprise at the behest of the Vulcan High Command but against Captain Archer's wishes. In Enterprise's series premiere, "Broken Bow," T'Pol's service as Science Officer was intended to be temporary; Enterprise's inaugural mission was to ferry the Klingon courier Klaang (Tiny Lister) to his homeworld, Qo'noS. But Enterprise encountered obstacles like the Suliban, and Archer's crew quickly learned that the galaxy is even more dangerous and unpredictable than they imagined. When Captain Archer was incapacitated, T'Pol surprised Enterprise's crew by anticipating his orders and fulfilling their mission. T'Pol chose to remain aboard Enterprise at Archer's request after they delivered the Klingon home, but she still faced a surprising amount of resentment and mistrust.

Why Enterprise's Captain Archer Fought With T'Pol When She Was Right

Captain Archer arguing with and sometimes even threatening T'Pol when Star Trek: Enterprise began was frustrating to watch when the Vulcan was usually right. Archer and his crew's issues with T'Pol were borne of humanity's overall resentment of the Vulcans, who they felt impeded Starfleet's progress in becoming space explorers. T'Pol was believed to be a spy when she was placed on Enterprise by the Vulcan High Command, and Archer regarded her with suspicion and hostility. Rather than give T'Pol the benefit of the doubt, it took T'Pol saving his mission for Archer to yield and begin to see that the Vulcan Science Officer was genuinely trying to help Enterprise.

One would think having a Vulcan with T'Pol's knowledge and experience aboard Enterprise would be welcomed by Captain Archer, but he, Trip, and the crew judged her based on their prejudices toward Vulcans. Yet the Vulcans were also right about the Enterprise crew's shaky abilities at making First with alien races. On Rigel X, Trip almost started a fight with a Lorillian because he thought he was witnessing child abuse when the parent was helping her child breathe in the alien atmosphere. T'Pol prevented an interspecies incident, but Trip was angry at the Vulcan instead of grateful she saved him. T'Pol would continue to deal with Enterprise's negative attitude toward her throughout Enterprise's first season.

T'Pol's Character Changed To Better Suit Enterprise's Story

T'Pol's character evolved throughout Star Trek: Enterprise, just as the Starfleet Officers gradually accepted her. As Enterprise continued, T'Pol's loyalties eventually shifted to Captain Archer and the NX-01's crew and away from the Vulcans, especially after T'Pol learned of some of the insidious acts her people committed. Enterprise told a macro-story about Archer and T'Pol becoming trusted friends and confidants. T'Pol and Trip Tucker would also develop an intimate relationship. By the end of Enterprise, Archer couldn't hide his warm feelings of friendship for T'Pol, and she felt the same as much as Vulcan logic allowed her to express it.

Rather than begin with Enterprise's crew already friendly with their resident Vulcan, Captain Archer's people and T'Pol systematically built a loyalty to each other, which served Star Trek: Enterprise's story better. As the NX-01's crew gained experience in space, T'Pol knowing more than them and always being right as the humans committed dumb errors became less of a trope. Over time, T'Pol softened her attitude toward her human friends, but she remained firmly Vulcan, although she also questioned and explored her own attitudes toward her Vulcan people, some of whom behaved in villainous ways.

The Reason Enterprise's Controversial Vulcans Were Different

Star Trek: Enterprise's depiction of Vulcans was a point of contention for many fans who were used to the pointy-eared logical race as humanity's staunch allies. Humans in Star Trek often like to poke fun at how frustrating and irritating Vulcans can be, but Enterprise took it to the extreme by depicting Vulcans as insidious and callous, with main characters like Captain Archer outright hating them. But the Vulcan High Command led by V'Las (Robert Foxworth) really was corrupt and, by Enterprise season 4, V'Las' Vulcan government was exposed for plotting with the Romulans to take over the Vulcan homeworld and was overthrown.

Enterprise took a bold approach to the Vulcans, in hindsight, although it wasn't fully appreciated at the time the series was first-run on UPN. Had T'Pol been welcomed by Enterprise's crew with open arms, it would have robbed the series of a central dramatic tension and conflict, and it would have given T'Pol's relationships with Captain Archer and Trip nowhere to go. It was ultimately more satisfying to watch T'Pol and NX-01 Enterprise crew slowly learn to trust and like each other over the course of Star Trek: Enterprise's 4 seasons. Yet it remains startling how opposed Captain Archer and his crew were to T'Pol in the beginning, especially when Enterprise's mission would have failed without her.