Huge thanks to skadoo3 for her help running the Bechdel Test on Enterprise. Only one series (TNG) left to go!
As a reminder, in order for an episode to pass, it must include:
- Two named women characters
- Who talk to each other
- About something other than a man
As with the Deep Space Nine and Voyager results:
- The first percentage indicates the result if you require that the two female characters clearly address each other, even in group scenes.
- The second percentage (in brackets) indicates the adjusted pass rate if you include any episode where two women characters have back-to-back lines about something other than a man, as in a command situation where T’Pol and Hoshi say lines but it’s unclear whether they’re to each other.
- An asterisk in the episode list shows which episodes pass under the second test but not the first.
Results
Total: 39% Pass (49%)
Season 1: 44% Pass (52%)
| Episode | Pass? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Broken Bow | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol briefly speak Vulcan to each other, presumably not about a man |
| Fight or Flight | Pass | T’Pol orders Hoshi to communicate with the aliens and Hoshi replies. |
| Strange New World | Pass | Cutler talks to T’Pol about Vulcan food. Hoshi and T’Pol speak in Vulcan about the situation on the planet. |
| Unexpected | Fail | |
| Terra Nova | Fail | |
| The Andorian Incident | Fail | |
| Breaking the Ice | Fail | |
| Civilization | Pass | T’Pol admires Riann’s lab and Riann cautions her not to touch anything. |
| Fortunate Son | Fail | |
| Cold Front | Fail | T’Pol has quite a bit to do in this episode but doesn’t ever talk to another woman. |
| Silent Enemy | Fail | T’Pol and Hoshi talk but only about Reed. |
| Dear Doctor | Pass | Hoshi translates for Cutler what she said to one of the Menk. |
| Sleeping Dogs | Pass | T’Pol and Hoshi talk about environmental suits, why T’Pol chose Hoshi for the mission, anxiety and meditation. |
| Shadows of P’Jem | Fail | T’Pol never talks to the other women characters. |
| Shuttlepod One | Fail | |
| Fusion | Fail | |
| Rogue Planet | Pass | Barely passes: T’Pol and Hoshi talk about looking for a clearing to land. |
| Acquisition | Fail | |
| Oasis | Pass | Liana asks T’Pol if she’s hungry and offers her food. |
| Detained | Fail* | Two brief instances of T’Pol and Hoshi exchanging lines in a command situation. |
| Vox Sola | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol discuss communications difficulties during a first contact situation. |
| Fallen Hero | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol discuss V’Lar/V’Lar and T’Pol discuss T’Pol’s relationship to the humans and the legal charges against V’Lar. |
| Desert Crossing | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol talk about an incoming communication. |
| Two Days and Two Nights | Fail | Cutler and T’Pol talk twice but about men/Hoshi speaks to an unnamed woman character. |
| Shockwave Part I | Fail* | Hoshi and T’Pol have back to back lines but don’t speak directly to each other. |
Season 2: 35% Pass (50%)
| Episode | Pass? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Shockwave Part II | Pass | Barely passes. T’Pol and Hoshi talk about Hoshi rescuing the crew. |
| Carbon Creek | Pass | In T’Pol’s story her great-grandmother, T’Mir, talks to a bartender named Maggie about food. |
| Dead Stop | Fail* | Technically Hoshi and T’Pol have back-to-back lines but it seems more like they’re each talking to Archer. |
| Minefield | Pass | T’Pol asks a question about alien communications and Hoshi answers. |
| A Night in Sickbay | Fail* | Twice Hoshi and T’Pol are in a conversation with Archer, not clear whether their lines are specifically to each other. |
| Marauders | Fail* | T’Pol and E’Lis exchange lines during a round-robin conversation with Archer and Tessic |
| The Seventh | Fail | The Vulcan woman who talks with T’Pol is unnamed. |
| The Communicator | Pass | Borderline: Hoshi and T’Pol briefly discuss moving the ship closer in orbit but ultimately the discussion is about Archer and Reed. |
| Singularity | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol talk about soup. |
| Vanishing Point | Pass | T’Pol summons Hoshi to the bridge. |
| Precious Cargo | Fail | |
| The Catwalk | Fail | |
| Dawn | Fail | |
| Stigma | Pass | Hoshi and Feezal talk about the Denobulan language/Hoshi and T’Pol talk about communication from the surface |
| Cease Fire | Fail | |
| Future Tense | Fail* | Hoshi reports to T’Pol during a battle sequence and T’Pol issues orders to the whole bridge. |
| Canamar | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol discuss communications |
| The Crossing | Fail | |
| Judgment | Fail | |
| Horizon | Fail | Four named women characters but no interactions. |
| The Breach | Fail | |
| Cogenitor | Fail | The Cogenitor is supposed to be genderless and is unnamed until it takes the name “Charles”. |
| Regeneration | Pass | Barely passes: T’Pol orders Hoshi to “evacuate the section” and she replies. |
| First Flight | Fail | |
| Bounty | Fail | |
| The Expanse | Fail | |
Season 3: 38% Pass (42%)
| Episode | Pass? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Xindi | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol evacuate the planet. |
| Anomaly | Pass | Very brief interaction between Hoshi and T’Pol as they try to break into an alien database. |
| Extinction | Fail* | T’Pol and Hoshi in a group conversation along with Reed and Archer. |
| Rajiin | Pass | Rajiin and Hoshi have a brief conversation. |
| Impulse | Fail | |
| Exile | Fail | |
| The Shipment | Fail | |
| Twilight | Pass | T’Pol and Hoshi discuss communications from Starfleet. |
| North Star | Pass | Bethany and T’Pol exchange a few words. |
| Similitude | Fail | Fail |
| Carpenter Street | Fail | |
| Chosen Realm | Fail | |
| Proving Ground | Fail | Hoshi and T’Pol appear in the same scene but don’t speak to each other. |
| Stratagem | Pass | T’Pol and Hoshi briefly exchange lines |
| Harbinger | Fail | T’Pol and Cole have a conversation but it’s essentially about Trip. |
| Doctor’s Orders | Fail | |
| Hatchery | Fail | |
| Azati Prime | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol talk about the insectoid language. |
| Damage | Fail | |
| The Forgotten | Fail | |
| E2 | Pass | T’Pol talks to the older version of herself (time travel) |
| The Council | Fail | |
| Countdown | Fail | |
| Zero Hour | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol have a brief discussion about returning to Earth. |
Season 4: 41% Pass (55%)
| Episode | Pass? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Storm Front I | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol discuss a comm signal. |
| Storm Front II | Fail | |
| Home | Pass | T’Pol talks to her mother. |
| Borderland | Fail* | Short group scene with Hoshi, T’Pol and Reed. |
| Cold Station 12 | Fail | |
| The Augments | Fail | |
| The Forge | Fail | |
| Awakening | Pass | T’Pol talks to T’Pau a couple of times and to her mother. |
| Kir’Shara | Pass | T’Pol and T’Pau talk about the katra and also mindmeld. |
| Daedalus | Fail | |
| Observer Effect | Fail | Plenty of scenes with Hoshi but she never talks to T’Pol. |
| Babel One | Fail* | Hoshi and T’Pol have back-to-back lines in a group discussion but are really talking to Archer. |
| United | Fail* | Hoshi and T’Pol have back-to-back lines but talking to Archer, not realy each other. |
| The Aenar | Pass | Jhamel and Lissan talk about helping the new alliance. |
| Affliction | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol mind meld and later talk about dreams. |
| Divergence | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol speak briefly during a battle sequence where T’Pol is in command. |
| Bound | Fail | None of the Orion women talk to each other or other named women characters. |
| In a Mirror, Darky I | Fail | |
| In a Mirror, Darkly II | Pass | Hoshi and T’Pol argue and fight. |
| Demons | Pass | T’Pol and Khouri have a brief conversation/Hoshi and Gannet discuss Gannet’s spying. |
| Terra Prime | Fail | |
| These are the Voyages | Fail | |
1 Comment
Add Yours →Enterprise immediately gave me a muuuch more sexist vibe than the first episode of, say, Voyager or Deep Space 9. I was wondering if they thought they though they needed to dial back the time because it was supposed to be a prequel, so a time where the society was less “advanced” / egalitarian? But all of the poking “hahaha just boys being boys” jokes with T’Pol are just so icky and clearly geared at putting down the one “foreign” woman in the room. And then the scene in the 1st episode where T’Pol and Trip are putting on this desinfectant cream, just sexualizing T’Pol from the go… argh. I just finished watching Voyager and I really don’t know if I’m ready to jump into these kind of waters again. Does it get any better in the course of the show? Is it worth watching, do the cringe and the character development/ more thoughtful scenes balance each other out?