At the beginning of the season, there was the question as to whether or not it made sense for humans to interact with Klingons as early in history as they were. Previous estimates had placed the first contact with Klingons much later than the time period of this series, and so that caused a bit of contention. Still, the details were unclear enough that there was room to maneuver, and the involvement of the “temporal cold war” in the affairs of the Klingon Empire left it open to any number of changes.
When it comes to the Romulans, however, that’s a different story. It’s been very clear since the original series that humans ran across the Romulans in a hostile sense right around this time period. Also, that war was limited by the technology of the Romulans at the time (very poor), to the point where humans never actually saw a Romulan in the flesh. It all adds up to the unfortunate fact that Romulans cannot be used in any extensive capacity.
The writers get around that little problem in this episode by creating a very small, isolated group of Vulcans who essentially embrace the Romulan ways. Instead of repressing and purging emotional responses in favor of strict logic, they seek a balance between the two. While the humans learn a few secrets about Vulcan culture from their newly found friends, T’Pol runs across a Vulcan named Tolaris, who wants to push T’Pol into exploring her emotions, at any price.
To have the Enterprise run across this sort of group is nice enough, but along the way, it causes a few problems in terms of franchise consistency. I’ve tried to keep that kind of criticism out of the overall picture, because it most cases, it simply doesn’t matter. But one of the main points of the original series was the mystery behind the Vulcan culture. “Amok Time”, for instance, demonstrates just how little humans know about the Vulcan rituals and ceremonies, especially in biological terms. More to the point, there was the general fact that Vulcans don’t talk about *anything*, especially the items that they would rather sweep under the carpet. Note the surprise from Kirk and McCoy when Spock reluctantly reveals that there are Vulcans who embrace the emotional chaos of their ancestors in “Star Trek V”. What this episode does, like “Sleeping Dogs” before it, is grant humanity a more complete picture of a familiar alien culture than they ought to have in this time period.
As an exploration of T’Pol’s character, it is competent enough, if a little too straightforward. We see that T’Pol’s willingness to remain on Enterprise since the initial mission has more than the logical basis one might expect. But didn’t we know that from the hints given in other episodes, most notably, “Shadows of P’Jem”? What we see here is perhaps a measure of how far she is willing to go in that attraction to human illogic.
I simply question the need to bring a heretical group of Vulcans into the picture, especially when it rides roughshod over the premise of Vulcan mystery. One might use the same argument for this situation as with the Klingons, in terms of the effects of the “temporal cold war”, but the more one points to that as a solution, the less meaningful it becomes.
Just as an example of what I’m talking about, it was a total shock to the humans of the original series when it was revealed, under duress, that the Vulcan mating cycle occurs every seven years. In this episode, this information is offered matter-of-factly. Also, the entire idea of the mind meld as being practiced by the heretics, rather than Vulcans in general, flies against the regularity of its use in the original series. Why would mainstream Vulcan culture wind up implementing something that heretics rediscovered from their pre-Surak times? That would require an admission by Vulcan culture that something generated through emotional exploration had value in the mainstream, logical culture, and that simply doesn’t fit the facts.
There were some aspects of this episode that were interesting, to be sure. Primarily, there was the sinister side to Tolaris, which while completely predictable, was a nice thematic touch to the Romulan passions. I think, however, it would have been more interesting to have Tolaris be more rational and well-adjusted. Making Tolaris immoral due to his emotional pursuits makes it too simple. Also, it was interesting to see that there was a rift between father and son here, which thematically references the division between Sarek and Spock in the original series.
In fact, doesn’t the rift between Sarek and Spock tell us how unlikely the events of this episode would be? Sarek and Spock chose not to speak to each other for 16 years because Spock chose to join Starfleet, a military organization, rather than the Vulcan Science Academy. Wouldn’t embracing a heretical philosophy represent a far more divisive issue? I would imagine that it should. I would also imagine that the Vulcan High Command would react much more strongly to Enterprise contacting these Vulcans, but there you are.
What we are left with, after coming this far in the first season, is a Vulcan culture that is very similar to what we have seen before, but with differences that beg explaining. Where did the mind meld originate, and why is it used by mainstream Vulcan culture in the future? Why do humans know so little about Vulcans 100 years after everything they learn now?
In the end, where does this episode really take us? Will the effect of this encounter have any long-term effect on T’Pol and her philosophies? If not, then this episode creates a number of problems that will need to be addressed, all for the dubious advantage of tempting T’Pol. If so, then it will be even more imperative for those issues to be addressed. I have my doubts, however, that it will happen, and that ruins any enjoyment I might have gotten from this episode.
Some other thoughts:
- Once again, this show continues to have the world’s shortest teasers.
- It’s interesting that the Vulcan High Command is keeping the same kind of eye on the heretics as the Enterprise. One would think, if that were true, that they would have done everything possible to keep the heretics away from the Enterprise.
- I love how they continue to have Archer chasing after astronomical objects like a puppy dog!
- However, wouldn’t the nebula look a lot different from the picture in the book, if they were right outside of it?
- I’m not sure what it was, but there was something weak about Tolaris’ voice that bugged me. He simply didn’t appear to be very convincing in his role.
- Loved how all of the humans turned and looked in shock when the Vulcan engineer blurted out the word “sex”!
- Vulcan High Command is still on bad terms with Earth ever since the P’Jem incident…good continuity.
- I still don’t understand how one can reconcile the mind meld issue. T’Pol should have known about them, unless her life was seriously sheltered, even from other Vulcans.
- They never quite said it, but Archer’s reaction matched the later contention that a forced mind meld is a sort of rape.
- Isn’t it amazing how people on television shows always seem to recall the perfect anecdotes for any cloying situation?
- Archer’s really bad at small talk…
- Oh, and Archer might want to remember that Vulcans are much, much stronger than humans next time!
- At least, like many of the last few episodes, this gave Archer a little more perspective into the reasons behind Vulcan philosophies.
Overall, this episode felt very thin. By the time it was over, I was left wanting something more substantial. Unless this leads to something more in future episodes or seasons, it causes more trouble than it was worth. Which is too bad, because as with so many continuity issues, this could have worked if more care had been taken.
