These are in order but they're close. I could pretty much interchange most of these and still be happy.
1. Reed - repressed, uptight, fussy, allergic to everything but also the guy you want for a fight in the air. He was curious about some things (alien sex, for one thing) but also squeamish about others (Phlox putting a Rigellian blood worm in him). He has consequences and makes mistakes, and has regrets. For the E2 episode, not only does he die without love, he also seems to go without making peace with his family. Very complex. His mirror side works as a delighted torturer, the one who gives pain not because he's following orders, but because he thinks it's fun.
2. Hayes - Steven Culp (the actor who played him) refers to him as a kind of David Mamet character, a guy defined more by his actionss than his words. He half-smiles once, and that's it. He's got a job to do, and he's extremely serious about it, but he, too, makes mistakes. He is genuinely angry with Reed for the conflict between them, and doesn't seem comfortable unless he's working out or holding a gun.
3. Shran - politically incorrect with casual racism (and why wouldn't an alien behave like that? Why should we assume their mores will always equal our own?), he goes on a journey similar to Archer's, where he moves from one settled way of thinking to a very different one. The feel is very frontier with him, too – he's an even more reluctant diplomat than Archer.
4. Archer - I think Bakula grew into the role, so there are some earlier moments which aren't so easy to watch. But particularly in the Xindi arc, he shows how a captain really looks when pushed to the brink. There's no holodeck, there's no counselor and he doesn't have a girlfriend on board. There is no release for him from the unremitting duty of having to go after the Xindi. His behavior also works, as he does what it takes, but also moves (and moves the audience) from blind anti-Xindi prejudice to an understanding of the individuals, and a real friendship with Degra. His mirror side works as an overly ambitious lummox who demands recognition and kudos far above his station. His comeuppance by an even more ambitious character works.
5. Hoshi - she's the audience surrogate, and wears that well. Similar to Reed, she's got misgivings about space. She's the one who's afraid of the transporter - but her fears when caught in a pattern buffer are less about molecule scrambling than they are about being forgotten and having her opinions readily dismissed. This is a worry for a long of younger professional women, and she reflects that nicely, even though her competence is never in any serious question. It's she who neurotically worries. As for the mirror side of her, the role is delicious; you can see her as a bed-hopping power grabber.
Combs, like always, owned this role. I wish they had a chance to make him a full time cast member.
Degra was a GREAT character. Very well acted, very believable.
