17 – Fusion

Grade: D-

Summary

The Enterprise finds the arachnid nebula, one of Captain Archer’s favorite astronomical phenomena. They also find a Vulcan ship that will help them chart the nebula. But these aren’t ordinary Vulcans, and one of them takes a special interest in T’Pol.

Commentary

I hated this episode. I thought it was unnecessarily sensational, and it just didn’t live up to its potential. Up to this point, there are very few episodes that deal with the Vulcans. Maybe there will be more later, but there just haven’t been that many. This one deals with Vulcans who don’t suppress their emotions, so there aren’t many insights to the Vulcans we know today. It was a missed opportunity.

Aside from that, I was very uncomfortable with the Mind Meld scene with T’Pol. I suppose the point of the scene was to make us feel uncomfortable, but I honestly wish they had left this scene on the cutting room floor.

Of Note

In this episode, most Vulcans have not yet heard of Mind Melds. It becomes extremely common, of course, but this is where they are introduced.