Enterprise 0117 – Fusion

Originally posted to ScoopMe! on February 27, 2002

LEAD-IN

Fusion : Days of Our Vulcans

And you thought only Humans had emotional baggage.

SYNOPSIS

While approaching the Arachnid Nebula, the same nebula as pictured on the cover of Archer’s first astronomy book, the Enterprised is hailed by a band of space-faring Vulcans who request engineering assistance and are amenable to a visit. These Vulcans aren’t your typical Vulcans.

In the Captain’s Mess, Archer and T’Pol share a meal with Tavin, the captain of the Vulcan ship, and Tolaris, one of his crew. Tavin shocks Archer and especially T’Pol when he asks to try Archer’s chicken. Turns out that this band is V’tosh ka’tur (roughly translated, “Vulcans without logic”). Tavin opines that this is a misrepresentation — they aren’t without logic, but have instead explored within themselves a balance between emotion and logic. T’Pol stick to the Vulcan party line.

Since the repairs to the Vahklas will take three to four days, the Vulcans are quite content to help the Enterprise explore the Arachnid Nebula.

Trip makes friends with Kov, the Vahklas’ engineer. Kov has some misconceptions about humans, but is eager to have them corrected, and he and Trip start bonding.

Archer calls T’Pol out on her avoiding their guests. She says that it’s unlikely that they’ve found the balance they seek — they are on a dangerous course. Still, Archer wants T’Pol to keep an open mind.

Tolaris finds T’Pol in the mess hall after hours. By questioning her about the human’s affect on her over the past several years, as well as extolling the path his crewmates have taking, Tolaris comes off as a subtle seducer — but T’Pol seems willing to play along. This is helped when Archer asks T’Pol to work on the Vulcan ship to help map out the nebula.

On the Vahklas, T’Pol and Tolaris do more dancing around the subject of the interpretation of the teachings of Surak, with Tolaris goading T’Pol to take a chance and not do her nightly meditation.

Kov and Trip share a meal and try to deepen their understanding of the other. Kov learns that football isn’t some sort of sacrificial ritual, and Trip learns a little about Vulcan sex.

Archer gets a message from Admiral Forrest. A minister from the Vulcan High Command has a son on the Vahklas — Kov. Forrest wants Archer to pass along the message that the Minister is dying and would like to talk to his son. Forrest points out that the High Command let Archer keep T’Pol — time to return the favor.

T’Pol forgoes her nightly meditation. What follows is a montage of jumbled images — of T’Pol wandering on some street, of Tolaris echoing their previous conversations, of T’Pol and Tolaris doing the nasty, of T’Pol listening to jazz, Surak’s statue falling and breaking — and then T’Pol sits up in bed with a gasp as she wakes from her nightmare.

T’Pol visits Phlox. She knows what happened, and an injection of inaprovaline will relieve her symptoms. Phlox thinks that the experiment sounds intriguing, but T’Pol doesn’t think it’s worth the risk.

Archer meets with Kov and delivers the message. Kov is polite, but opts not to pursue it.

Tolaris asks how T’Pol’s little experiment went. He keeps pushing her for more. He wants her to tell him about the dreams — her emotions. T’Pol recounts a memory of walking down a street in San Francisco, outside of the Vulcan compound. She didn’t think a little exploring would hurt. She was drawn to a Jazz club, and had her first taste of emotion. Tolaris gets increasingly attentive (on could even say orgasmic) with nearly every phrase. He offers that he can show her how to feel the emotion again.

Archer asks Trip to talk to Kov about contacting his father. Archer also frets about the change in behavior that’s come over T’Pol — first she wanted nothing to do with these Vulcans, and now she’s with them all the time.

Tolaris wants to do a mind meld with T’Pol — a technique she’s unaware of. She agrees. After and aborted attempt, Tolaris gains entry and she joins her in her recollection of that night in San Francisco. T’Pol wants him to stop, but he doesn’t. She has to push him away and order him out of her room. When he leaves, her stoic façade fades. She crumples to the floor, crawls over to a comm unit, and calls sickbay.

Trip talks to Kov. Kov doesn’t want to hear what Trip has to say, so Trip attacks the problem from another angle — using an event from his own childhood. In his estimation, Kov has never felt regret — but he’s getting really close.

Archer call Tolaris into his ready room. T’Pol is in sickbay and could have neurological damage. Archer accuses Tolaris of assaulting a member of his crew. Tolaris wants to see her, but Archer says no. Several times. Tolaris loses it and assaults Archer — who has a phase pistol handy (good thing, too, as Archer hasn’t quite accounted for how much stronger Vulcans are).

Kov tells Trip that he was in contact with his father — straight from the old Vulcan’s mouth. Kov thanks Trip. With that, the Vulcans depart.

Archer visits T’Pol while she’s in the midst of meditation. She accepts the interruption. He asks if she’s feeling better. She asks if the Vulcan ship left. He says yes. She says she’s feeling better. He tells her that he thinks he now understands why she must meditate every night. As he’s leaving, T’Pol asks if Archer dreams; he says yes. She asks if it’s enjoyable; he says, “Most nights.” She tells him that she envies him.

Fade Out

ANALYSIS

When I sit down to type out one of these analyses, I try to find a theme to tie everything together. Sometimes it leaps out at me. Sometimes its like pulling teeth through my feet. Generally, though, it’s all pretty academic. Information in, information out. Like an essay exam in college.

Tonight, I’m instead feeling… shoot, I’m not sure what I’m feeling, but I’m pretty darned agitated. T’Pol’s rape just hit me viscerally.

Yes, T’Pol’s RAPE. While some might find ambiguity, I’m not even going to quibble on that point. I’m mean, talk about your mind-f**ks.

Astonishingly, the powers behind the scenes should be thanked for this episode. Not because of the episode, necessarily, but because they made T’Pol’s pain our pain. If we hadn’t grown to love the character as the season progressed, then this wouldn’t have been nearly as affecting.

Tolaris, though a smooth character, was amazingly transparent. He fed off of T’Pol apparent naivete and manipulated her like a pro. He was so adept at it that I couldn’t help but wonder if he was the one who was actually leading this pointy-eared band of hippies (or what would pass on Vulcan as hippies). But he also came across as an addict. When T’Pol was describing her little San Francisco adventure, he looked a lot like a junkie getting his fix — wanting more and more. No wonder he was so mad that Archer wouldn’t let him get near his latest drug of choice.

In fact, the drug lord analogy might be very apt. He’s the pusher, T’Pol’s his latest target. He gives her a taste — no, he makes her take a taste for herself. He then offers another taste, and this time it will be safer. Instead, it gets out of hand, and instead of him hooking her, it’s his addiction that takes over. He can’t get enough, so he rapes her to get what he needs.

And I think that’s why I’m so irked (still). Is it an addiction story or a rape story? I just haven’t been able to reconcile the two.

It’s All About Control

There was finally an exploration of the logic vs emotion question. While there have been many examples in previous Star Trek incarnations about the need of Vulcans to hold on to their logic, there was always the contradiction of the Romulans. They are a Vulcan sect who broke away from the teachings of Surak about a millenium ago who seem to be doing no worse with their emotions than Humans. Since a thousand years wouldn’t see great genetic change, then this logic thing is largely, if not entirely, cultural.

The crew of the Vahklas really seems to be onto something. Find a balance between a life-long indoctrination of logic, and the genetic expression of emotion. That they seem to be succeeding where other failed before might be more a function of being off-planet than any special insights. It’s hard to beat down a group of anarchists if the anarchists aren’t sitting on your doorstep.

It’s easy to hold up Tolaris as an example of how dangerous Vulcan emotions can be. But other than their inherently greater physical strength, their emotions don’t seem any more out of the norm. In fact, Tavin and Kov seem to have found their balance. They didn’t manipulate or go all Hannibal Lector on anyone. Since there were no other reports of improprieties that we know about from the Vulcan crew, it’s not unreasonable to assume that Tolaris was only an aberration.

Though she probably wouldn’t admit it, T’Pol is very much like the Vahklas crew. Her unauthorized exploration of human recreation shows that she has the soul of an explorer. Or perhaps the heart of a child. Though she’s supposedly somewhere in her sixties, she comes off as amazingly innocent. Knowledgeable, yes, but she can be easily led by those she’s willing to trust. I’m sure her taste for human teas is partly due to Phlox’s influence. Something within her doesn’t fully accept the Vulcan-logic-way-is-the-only-way mandate of the High Command. That she stays with Humans (and doesn’t smell them anymore) may be because they have something to offer that Vulcans don’t — wonder.

TIDBITS, IRKS, and QUIRKS

T’Pol hasn’t heard of mind melding? Nearly every other Vulcan seems to be clued in. Maybe something happens in the next hundred years.

• Archer still schleps along his first astronomy book from when he was eight years old? Yeah, I still have my first astronomy book (and I’m geek enough to admit it), but at least I have more space to keep it in than a glorified closet.
• Was I the only one who thought that at certain angles the Vahklas looked like a TIE fighter?
• Is it logical to have a statue of Surak? Maybe it’s me, but I thought Vulcans were more Orthodox.
• Tolaris and T’Pol in bed — and in the promos — enough! I vote for more Porthos.
• Doesn’t this Enterprise ever need to be serviced? They can give away materials to a Vulcan transport and have no problem with that? This is an experimental vessel. Surely there’s something that leaks. After all, Picard’s Enterprise was docked at a Starbase just about every other week.
• Kov was cool. Sort of like a Vulcan Phlox.

This was a loaded episode that touched on a lot of topics. It certainly wasn’t a fluffy-bunny-feeling affair, and neither was it loaded with technobabbledygook. So, if you want or need to discuss it, feel free to head on over to the message board and vent.