Date: 01 Jun 2013 20:36 Title: Chapter 2
Malcolm Reed! I always knew you were a romantic at heart. You had a few glimpses of it here and there in the series, but here it’s on full display as his caring and genial nature is easily felt over the comm. Lili seems to be doing fine and is running the house well despite her pregnancy, dealing with kids, the house, dinner, and more. You capture the dynamics of a family very well here, with the constant chaos but some semblance of order. Malcolm’s worry over the child is there, but isn’t necessarily misplaced. He’s the father after all, he can be worried, but he really does care for them all, especially Lili. I get that he’s not married to her as much as he and she love one another, but it’s a very sweet relationship between the two despite the very different dynamics.
Doug shows up, and seems to treat Malcolm like a bit of a brother here. Their dynamic reminds me of that and the way he just causally accepts that Malcolm is there, with no feelings of jealousy and such, is good of him. I always worry about jealousy in these types of relationships: men are stupid, we compete, and we want what we perceive as ours to be exclusively that.
Archer’s film choice was strangely appropriate. Kramer vs. Kramer is not one of my favorite Dustin Hoffman films but the story had heart and it had a lot of meaning in a grander context, a message there. The crew’s reaction to Malcolm’s impending fatherhood was sweet and makes me smile. Ah, that’s an era of Trek that is has a lot of potential to be explored and one day I might dip my toes back into again. You’ve captured the camaraderie with the crew here well. I’m happy for Malcolm.
Author's Response:
Oh, thank you!
Doug's had his time to be jealous, and he's taken it. Things have not always been so easy between the two men. But now, things are a lot better. The other piece of this is that Doug tends to defer to Lili a bit too much; that is one of the drivers of his actions, here and elsewhere.