The good:
Strong episode overall. A thoughtful meditation on what it means to be Vulcan.
The cold
open was great. It was a simple, sweet anecdote from Archer’s childhood that
cleverly put us in his place for a moment.
The
Vulcan ship was cool.
A fat
Vulcan? Oh yeah baby.
Tolaris
was awesome, he totally made this episode. The entire time he’s walking the
thin line between enlightened guru and cult leader. (V-neck tunic with no undershirt? Check!) We want to like him and
believe him. He’s smart. He’s charismatic. He’s an academic who's actually read
Surak in original manuscript. He’s a mind-meld rapist.
So yeah,
about that... what a terrific scene when Tolaris finally goes to the dark side!
Well acted, properly paced, totally believable. Well done.
Hmmm...I
hesitate to label this as good, because it was ultimately a domestic abuse
situation…but the whole relationship between T’Pol and Tolaris was just so
well done.
Archer
gets to solidly step into his role as daddy for T’Pol. At least that’s one less
crew member that wants to bang her.
The bad:
I’m
pretty sure it isn’t advisable for two ships to fly around for days on end while
docked together. The slightest deviation in speed or heading would rip it
apart, right? Either stop and do the repairs, or conduct the scan. Are they in
a rush?
I loved
so much of this episode, especially how well the writers handled such sensitive
material, but I feel like it got a little muddied at the end. The climax of
this was obviously the mind-rape of T’Pol. That was the point where Tolaris’s
lack of emotional control revealed the danger of his lifestyle. But instead, I feel we
were supposed to consider Archer’s confrontation with Tolaris was the “real”
gotcha moment. What if Tolaris had kept his cool with Archer? Then Archer
wouldn’t have had a reason to kick them off Enterprise
How about
this as an alternative....
Archer “You
assaulted my science officer. She’s in sick bay recovering from the effects of
your mind meld. She just wants this to be over, so get your crew and get off of
my ship before I throw you in the brig and drag you back to Vulcan…I’m sure
they’d love to hear about this.”
Tolaris “It’s
unfortunate that T’Pol was not ready to continue her spiritual growth. Thank
you for your assistance with our ship. Goodbye.”
Think
that sounds too fake? I think it would have been brilliant. Tolaris had one terrible
emotional episode…and then he’s back to his normal likeable self. Does he truly
not understand what he did because of his own emotional confusion? Does he just
think the ends justify the means? Is he a psychopath? Was HE mind-meld raped,
and is just continuing the cycle of abuse? I guess we’ll never really know, but
it sure would give us something to think about and discuss.
But no,
as soon as he breaks…he breaks. The entire thing was a sham. Archer/Daddy saved
the day.
Except it
wasn’t all a sham. We see Kov (fat Vulcan) deal with a painful emotional
situation without wigging out.
Maybe
Tolaris just sucks as an individual.
Or maybe
Vulcan dudes just need to take care of themselves once in awhile instead of
waiting for seven years. You know…take the edge off.
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