Thankfully, Trip's parents are cool people who don't have problems with a time-traveling grandson, and it's so nice to see them instantly taking to him. I imagine that Lorian must have gone through a lot in the time-traveling and surely he must have thought and considered the merits of visiting his human family. Unlike Archer's time-traveling family, Lorian's grandparents are, well, his grandparents. There's a more direct line there, and I wonder if he ever knew them at all in his timeline.
And Trip is of course the best in this; willing to not only know this son who came out of a time vortex (I'm assuming, LOL) but pull him into his family and welcome him with open arms. Even though things must surely be strange with the older T'Pol, and also the current T'Pol, he's not letting that stop him from getting to know this person that suddenly dropped into his life. Like, he could so easily pretend Lorian doesn't exist, isn't here, pretend it's not his kid because technically none of that happened yet, but he's not.
And Lorian---still feeling guilty about the Xindi's actions. It's not a responsibility he should shoulder, and honestly I'm sure he tried to do absolutely everything he could. He seems like a reasonable person, and I want somebody to hug him and reassure him he's not a bad person for failing to fix something that wasn't, presumably since I must not have watched enough of Enterprise to know the events you're referring to, his fault.
(Like, I thought I'd seen it the whole show, but I must not have since I don't know Lorian? Weird. Or is Lorian and this plot from one of the movies?)
Anyway, hopefully Lorian is getting the professional help to do deal with his survivor's guilt and grief that he needs. I think T'Pol the elder would be conscious of that even in her more sickly state and now that they're on Earth and have more resources, I hope she'll pursue that avenue for her son, since Lorian seems like he's not exactly going to stop blaming himself any time soon.
Trip's parents are obviously awesome in this, as I'm sure you're aware. Despite the grief that's still clinging to them, they're one-hundred percent willing to focus on Lorian, and what he needs, and who he is, and what they want do be for him. They're happy to help him settle in and distract him form his guilt and bad memories, and happy to make *new* memories with him.
I think that's really beautiful.
And of course, they're paying so much subtle attention to his comfort. Asking him questions to get to know him, but steering clear of difficult subjects like Lorian's Trip and their relationship etc. Instead focusing on more happy things---like alcohol, LMAO. And even when they got into heavier topics it felt very respectful of Lorian's emotions, and like they definitely would have back off if Lorian had a bad reaction to any of it.
I loved the ending, too. Of course. I hope Trip and Lorian make many happy new memories together! Cheers for the love and hopeful ending. Thanks for sharing!
Uh, no, Lorian didn't ever know his grandparents in his timeline, because he doesn't come from the future, he comes from the PAST. He's from that episode E2 where Enterprise is in the Expanse dealing with the Xindi and finds ... another Enterprise over a hundred years older than they are, crewed by their descendants. Because Enterprise is about to get thrown back in time, and they decided that instead of going back to Earth a century in the past (which was still recovering from WWIII) they would hang around in the Expanse until the Xindi were about to launch the attack on Earth and stop it before it could be launched. By the time they were getting close to the time the ship originally came from, Lorian was captain and all the original crew were dead. And they could have stopped the Xindi weapon! ... by destroying the ship and all aboard. And Lorian couldn't bear to do it, in the end. So while I can't blame him for it--killing everyone he's ever known to save people on a planet he's never seen is a tough choice--he does have reason to believe that it really is all his fault. Because he could have saved Earth! He just decided the cost was too high, and that the needs of the few outweighed the needs of the many.
In the end of the episode, the old Enterprise sacrifices itself (and all aboard) to save the young Enterprise so it won't go back in time. This is the same episode with Archer's time-traveling family (Lorian's first officer is Karyn Archer, Jonathan Archer's great-granddaughter) so you did indeed watch that episode. You just obviously focused on the Archer family instead of Trip's family. Whereas for someone who ships Trip/T'Pol like me, This AU is that the older Enterprise survived, instead of being destroyed.
In the episode, Trip spends a fair amount of time trying to get to know Lorian--he's obviously all-in on the idea of fatherhood, even fatherhood in such a strange way. Archer is a bit more reserved on the issue, and obviously uncomfortable. Trip is immediately "gee, did your old man teach you engineering? can we bond over fixing the engines together?" It's kinda sweet. I mean, he's still weirded out, but that doesn't stop him. I loved that dynamic.
I was so disappointed when the sacrificed them at the end. I mean, this was not the first episode with that premise, I knew it was coming, but I still hoped that the other Enterprise would pop up sometime (they weren't confirmed destroyed, only assumed destroyed). So eventually I had to write it myself.
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hoodwinked Mon 31 Jul 2023 01:46PM UTC
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Beatrice_Otter Mon 31 Jul 2023 11:12PM UTC
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