T'Pol () is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. Portrayed by Jolene Blalock in the series Star Trek: Enterprise, she is a Vulcan who serves as the science officer aboard the starship Enterprise (NX-01). She appeared in all 98 episodes of "Enterprise" and reprised her role in one episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Concept and creation Series producer Rick Berman said they originally intended that a younger version of T'Pau would be the Vulcan officer serving on the titular starship in Star Trek: Enterprise. Instead, after determining there were legal difficulties in using the original series character, the producers created T'Pol. Alt URL Brannon Braga said the idea was dropped to avoid having to deal with any legal issues, and that T'Pol was simply easier to pronounce. Marjorie Monaghan, Blalock, and an unnamed actress were the final three considered for the role. By that time, Berman said they had seen hundreds of actresses, and they struggled to find a "beautiful woman who can act and doesn't want to go right into feature films". Casting director Ron Surma had Blalock in mind from the beginning but her agents said she was not interested. Braga thought Blalock was perfectly cast, "We wanted a sexy Vulcan, a Kim Cattrall-type, and we definitely got that".
Overview T'Pol is the first Vulcan officer to serve a prolonged term on a human vessel. T'Pol served aboard the Enterprise for 10 years (2151–2161). To compare, the previous record was just 10 days. As a sub-commander serving the Vulcan High Command, she was stationed aboard the Enterprise in April 2151, as an observer to Captain Jonathan Archer and his crew, who the High Command insisted, were not ready for interstellar space exploration. After the success of the Enterprises initial mission led to the vessel being given an extended exploration mandate, T'Pol requested to stay aboard.
T'Pol remained aboard the Enterprise despite several attempts by her superiors to recall her to Vulcan. T'Pol's decision brought considerable scrutiny upon her from her superiors, and increasing support for her from her captain; she ultimately resigned from the High Command and accepted a field commission from Starfleet in 2154, resulting in her being granted the Starfleet rank of Commander.
Originally viewed by her crew mates with resentment and suspicion, T'Pol was forced to earn the trust of fellow officers, with Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III being a particular focus of friction with her, due to his perception of her being a spy for the Vulcans and their very different personalities.
T'Pol is more emotional than many other Vulcans and has always struggled to control her emotions, something that greatly concerned her mother. Her emotions became even more difficult to control following an exposure to trellium ore, a toxic substance which damaged the part of her brain responsible for emotional control. Nonetheless, T'Pol serves as an icon of Vulcan integrity. Her willingness to question the decisions of her superiors, and her respect for Captain Archer position her at the fulcrum of human/Vulcan relations.
Biography
Before Enterprise In Season 3, episode 24 "Zero Hour", while talking with Trip on February 14, 2154,On-air audio has Jolene Blalock’s voice-over, recording a log entry as acting captain T'Pol, mistakenly stating "February 14, 2152", despite earlier episodes running on-air log entries confirming that the timeline of the series had already moved through 2151, 2152, 2153 and into 2154. T'Pol states that she "will only be 66 years old" on her next birthday. This places her birth in 2088 or 2089 (as measured on Earth), making her 62 or 63 years old at "Broken Bow".According to actress Jolene Blalock, the original "series bible" for Enterprise indicated that T'Pol was 67 years old at the time of "Broken Bow". Series bibles are later updated when a character's specific information is established on screen. T'Pol was born the only child of T'Les, an instructor at the Vulcan Science Academy, and her (never named) husband. Per Vulcan tradition, T'Pol was bonded with a Vulcan named Koss while they were children and expected to marry as adults ("Breaking the Ice").
As a child, T'Pol's path in life was inspired by Ambassador V'Lar whom she watched negotiating with the Andorians during the Treaty of 2097 over possession of the planetoid Paan Mokar ("Fallen Hero").
Approximately 16 years before joining the crew of the Enterprise, T'Pol served as an agent for the Vulcan intelligence service. At age 47, she completed her training for the Vulcan Ministry of Security. During an early mission to apprehend a pair of Vulcan criminals, she was forced to shoot and kill one of the fleeing men. She resigned from the service as a result, and the guilt over killing someone face-to-face caused her to suffer a nervous breakdown or emotional collapse which led to her undergoing a procedure, the Fullara, that erased all memory of the incident. This "memory cap" disappeared when she was briefly reactivated as an agent during 2152 in order to capture the criminal Vulcan who eluded her that day, and she experienced another emotional collapse which was alleviated by the support of Captain Archer. Given the option to once again suppress her memory of killing, she chose to live with it instead ("The Seventh").
While in the Ministry of Security, T'Pol was also involved in mission operations at Tomed near Romulan space. Serving under her was Major Talok. However, unbeknownst to T'Pol, Talok was a Romulan spy disguised as a Vulcan working in league with corrupt Administrator V'Las of the Vulcan High Command. Their goal was to promote the eventual conquest of Vulcan by the Romulan Star Empire ("Kir'Shara").
After her resignation from the Ministry of Security, T'Pol served for over a year as the deputy science officer aboard the Vulcan cruiser Seleya, under the command of Captain Voris ("Impulse").
In 2149, T'Pol began her tenure at the High Command's Consulate on Earth, assisting Ambassador Soval in his observation of humanity's progress toward space exploration ("Fusion"). In 2151, then holding the rank of sub-commander, she was selected by Soval to accompany Captain Jonathan Archer during his initial first mission aboard the Enterprise NX-01 as observer and Vulcan representative. When the mission was successful and the Enterprise greenlighted to continue its mission of exploration, T'Pol elected to remain on board as science officer ("Broken Bow").
Pa'nar, trellium, mind melds, and emotion T'Pol, who is described by her superiors as a maverick and a rebel, became fascinated with Tolaris, a member of a group of emotionally free Vulcans encountered during the first year of the Enterprises mission. Tolaris introduced her to the concept of the mind meld, which at the time was considered a taboo activity among Vulcans. She severed her relationship with Tolaris after she asked him to stop the mind meld and he refused, attempting to continue the meld without her consent (essentially a form of mental rape), and causing her to forcefully break the link. She later learned that she had contracted Pa'nar Syndrome from the encounter. This condition was kept in check with medication. In 2154, T'Pol, who had been told that Pa'nar was an incurable virus, learned that the condition was in fact caused by an improperly trained melder, and contrary to what the intolerant (and soon to be overthrown) Vulcan High Command had decreed, it was indeed curable by the touch of an experienced mind – provided to T'Pol by T'Pau.
T'Pol was told that she is genetically incapable of initiating mind melds herself, however following the 2154 overthrow of the Vulcan regime that stigmatized mind-melding she learned otherwise. She performed her first mind meld upon Hoshi Sato, with the assistance of Jonathan Archer, who had learned details about mind melds during a period of time when he held the katra of Surak. In fact, not only is T'Pol telepathic, but the episode "Affliction" revealed that she is able to communicate with Charles "Trip" Tucker III over great distances using her new-found mental abilities. It was established a year later (in "Bound") that this is because of a mating bond between the two.
During T'Pol's early years aboard the Enterprise, she demonstrated an unusual (for a Vulcan) willingness to explore human culture and customs, although she stated that certain human foods do not agree with her. After a discussion with Commander Charles Tucker, she described pecan pie, as a dessert made of "mostly sugar". She began attending the ship's weekly film night social event (with Captain Archer), and expressed particular admiration for the 1931 film Frankenstein. She was reportedly less successful at mastering the art of eating with chopsticks, to the amusement of her crew mates.In the episode "Silent Enemy" Trip refers to her efforts as "dinner and a show" Prior to her posting aboard the Enterprise, T'Pol on at least one occasion left the Vulcan Compound in San Francisco and visited a jazz music club; the chaotic music generated an emotional response that came back to haunt her during a brief period when she abandoned her nightly meditation ritual (concurrent with her experimentation with mind-melding).
T'Pol also became adept at "play acting", which she found was often needed in order to successfully fulfill a mission. For example, she once pretended to be a slave when Ferengi pirates hijacked the Enterprise ("Acquisition"), distracted a group of Suliban invaders by acting deranged ("Shockwave (Part II)"), and pretended to be a domineering Vulcan commander preparing for an execution ("Precious Cargo"). In the latter example there is a clear indication that T'Pol enjoyed taking part in this sort of deception.
On several occasions during her first two years aboard the Enterprise, T'Pol resisted efforts by her family and the Vulcan High Command to get her to leave the ship and return to her Vulcan obligations. When pressed for a reason by Vulcan Ambassador Soval, T'Pol replied that she found working aboard the Enterprise "gratifying", for which she was chided for engaging in an emotional indulgence.
In 2153, after being ordered to leave the Enterprise and return to Vulcan, T'Pol resigned her commission with the Vulcan High Command in order to accompany the crew of the Enterprise into the Delphic Expanse to find the Xindi, a mysterious race accused of killing seven million humans on Earth. Despite being technically a civilian, she remained as first officer of the Enterprise and the crew continued to refer to her by her High Command rank of Sub-Commander during the mission.
While investigating the Vulcan ship Seleya ("Impulse"), which had become trapped in The Expanse, T'Pol experienced the side effects of Trellium-D, a compound the ship had used to protect itself from anomalies within The Expanse, but which had the side effect of creating psychosis in Vulcans. T'Pol's brief exposure led to her experiencing extreme paranoia and losing control of her emotions. She recovered upon returning to the Enterprise. The compound, which Commander Tucker brought aboard, was necessary to line the ship so that the Enterprise could traverse the Expanse. Captain Archer, rather than line the ship with the concoction (lethal to T'Pol), stored it in a locker in the cargo bay.