The Great Chronological Run-Through

[Deranged Nasat]

It takes a while to perfect time travel, as in the 28th Century certain factions can communicate through time but not actually travel through it, while by the 31st Century they've perfected it.

Allegedly. We'll see "later" (in your chronological sequence, earlier in production order) that the technology to travel in time is available as early as the first decade of the 25th century ("Firstborn," "Endgame") and is routine by the 26th ("A Matter of Time"). This is one of the reasons I concluded that Daniels is a big fat liar.

He's too embarrassed to admit that it was the Klingons who made the breakthrough.

Or maybe he's trying to exaggerate the temporal gap between Archer and controlled time travel, to make the whole notion seem so fantastically futuristic, so far away, that Archer is more likely to shrug it off as something beyond his reach. Daniels must be risking a lot by interfering so openly. Best that Archer relate to the whole time travel affair as a distant vision and not something he can place in context as a relatively imminent technological development?

****

Sorry, everyone, that there's not much literature at this point, but that's the situation with Enterprise. By the time we reach TOS there'll be at least as much lit as screen, so bear with me!

"Silent Enemy"

There's a nice balance in this one between the crew easing into their life together out here (Archer charging Hoshi with finding Malcolm's favourite food ready for his birthday) and the sense that space is hostile and the crew aren't ready for it. Archer is forced to confront his motives for being here and begins regretting his decision to launch unprepared, or - more to the point - regretting the pride that drove him to push forward so quickly. He admits that the Klaang issue was more an excuse than anything, that the reason he pushed for the launch was (as we well know) because he thought he had something to prove. He even swallows his remaining pride long enough to call Vulcan for help (not that the call gets through). Space is a lot more dangerous than he realized, and here his sense of responsibility to the crew overpowers his desire to "go boldly".

He orders the ship back to Jupiter for refit. This doesn't sit easily with Trip, who upon hearing Archer suggest that they weren't truly ready asks him "are your ears a little pointier than usual?" T'Pol, though, is rather graceful. When Archer asks her if Vulcans had the same problem with hostile encounters when first entering deep space, T'Pol makes no comment on supposed Human failings and instead simply notes that "it was a different time" because there were far fewer warp-capable species around.

(I wonder why space was so empty when Vulcan made its first long-range spaceflights? I guess the Great Psionic War or other disasters wiped the slate clean. Civilizations that survive from millennia in the past include the Thelasians - a declining, stagnant people whose grip on interstellar trade off toward the future Triborder will be explored in Rosetta, and the Orions, who apparently declined from a true empire into a collection of merchant clans, pirates and raiders, and may have done this several times).

I love the appearance of the "Shroomies", and the entire matter of their mysterious intent. As T'Pol notes, sometimes alien species don't have easily identifiable motives. It's great that we don't unravel that mystery in the episode, never learn what's going on or what the aliens are doing. The crew speculate, but they're pretty shaken by this point (it's good to see them bedraggled and tired, it does legitimately feel like they've been running themselves ragged). This of course allows for all manner of valid explanations. The Rise of the Federation novel A Choice of Futures, which for the purposes of this project is the "official" version, reveals the "Shroomies" - who turn out to be Gamma Vertians - to be far less malicious than assumed, their lack of regard for other species a matter of biological and communications barriers rather than ill intent. Other races don't register as sapient to them. They're cataloguing the potentially dangerous wildlife, basically. Star Trek Online takes a different route and uses them as a genuinely hostile force who, I believe, abduct people to grow additional fungus men - which is an equally valid extrapolation, and better suited for a game, while this continuity's version works better for interesting stories about the Federation's early identity issues. The Shroomies are called Elachi in the STO interpretation. Who knows, though, maybe an offshoot or faction of the Vertians will go rogue some time between the 22nd and 25th Centuries. Perhaps there's room for a version of the Elachi in this continuity after all.

Continuity

Realizing that they're woefully unprepared for the dangers of space, the crew install their experimental phase weapons.

The "Shroomies" - we can call them the Vertians, I suppose - seem to use a rather unique-looking energy weapon that takes the form of crescent-shaped "sheets" that strafe the opponent. Like the Malurians, they have deflector shields.

The Vertian ships are reused as Kovaalan ships in season three, which is apparently coincidence, just how the Xindi-Arboreals are (but aren't actually) using Arkonian destroyers and the Xindi-Insectoids are (but aren't) using repainted Nausicaan raiding ships. Then again, maybe the Kovaalans are the Elachi, that rogue offshoot of Vertians who wound up lost in subspace? Who can say?

I note that this episode apparently takes place prior to Cold Front. Huh. You lied to me, episode order.

Next Time: "Dear Doctor".

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Archer laments the number of hostile aliens Enterprise has come across. Since he was explicitly expecting not to have to use his weapons except in the most exceptional of situations, he has met an unexpected number, but from an audience viewpoint there's actually been a nice balance between friendly and hostile encounters, or so I'd say.

Klingons: No doubt count as hostile, even if the only actual confrontation was a battlecruiser taking up attack posture and firing a warning shot when Archer bothered them. But both encounters have seen Enterprise walk away without being put to the bat'leth, which by Klingon standards makes them almost friends. For now. Still, hostile.

Rigelians: Neutral.

Suliban Cabal: Hostile. Sarin, though, was friendly.

Evil Poachers: Hostile, being evil poachers and all.

Axanar: Friendly.

Fazi and Hipon: Friendly.

Xyrillians: Friendly.

Novans: Don't count. But probably could be placed in either category. Friendly enough.

Andorians: Hostile.

Akaali: Don't know the crew are there, but Riann was friendly and they seem a benevolent people.

Malurians: Hostile.

Nausicaans: Hostile.

"Shroomies": Hostile.

Agosoria Pilgrims: Friendly.

That's six friendly groups, a group who are neutral, seven hostile groups, and the Novans (plus Vulcans and Denobulans as additional friendlies). It's a dangerous galaxy, but there are plenty of pleasant types around too.

 

[Christopher]

Star Trek Online takes a different route and uses them as a genuinely hostile force who, I believe, abduct people to grow additional fungus men - which is an equally valid extrapolation, and better suited for a game, while this continuity's version works better for interesting stories about the Federation's early identity issues. The Shroomies are called Elachi in the STO interpretation. Who knows, though, maybe an offshoot or faction of the Vertians will go rogue some time between the 22nd and 25th Centuries. Perhaps there's room for a version of the Elachi in this continuity after all.

Really? That's their deal? Haven't we, umm, already had a fairly major Trek race that captured people and turned them into more of themselves?

Well, I guess if your only goal is to give players something to shoot at, there's limited need for originality.

Akaali: Don't know the crew are there, but Riann was friendly and they seem a benevolent people.

"Friendly" is putting it mildly...

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Star Trek Online takes a different route and uses them as a genuinely hostile force who, I believe, abduct people to grow additional fungus men - which is an equally valid extrapolation, and better suited for a game, while this continuity's version works better for interesting stories about the Federation's early identity issues. The Shroomies are called Elachi in the STO interpretation. Who knows, though, maybe an offshoot or faction of the Vertians will go rogue some time between the 22nd and 25th Centuries. Perhaps there's room for a version of the Elachi in this continuity after all.

Really? That's their deal? Haven't we, umm, already had a fairly major Trek race that captured people and turned them into more of themselves?

Well, I guess if your only goal is to give players something to shoot at, there's limited need for originality.

Well, I don't play, so I guess Markonian or one of our other fellows can describe their motives more accurately, but I think that's mostly it. Also, they're harbingers of the Iconians, however that works.

The Shroomies were genuinely unnerving, so I see why they'd be chosen as an enemy faction in the game, and while I definitely prefer the version you gave us in Rise of the Federation, I can't fault the decision to interpret them as truly hostile for STO purposes. I assume they make a nicely creepy opponent.

Akaali: Don't know the crew are there, but Riann was friendly and they seem a benevolent people.

"Friendly" is putting it mildly...

Well, yes.

I liked Riann. She wasn't the most engaging character, but she definitely grew on me as the episode unfolded. I consider her a pretty "worthy" love interest for Archer.

Their final exchange brought a smile to my face, certainly.

 

[Stevil2001]

I note that this episode apparently takes place prior to Cold Front. Huh. You lied to me, episode order.

FYI, there is one other sequence of ENT episodes that take place out of broadcast order-- in season 3, "Hatchery" and "Doctor's Orders" should be reversed as well.

 

[Christopher]

I liked Riann. She wasn't the most engaging character, but she definitely grew on me as the episode unfolded. I consider her a pretty "worthy" love interest for Archer.

Also pretty much his only legitimate love interest until season 4, discounting alien shapeshifters and seductresses with malicious intent. Archer had a pretty pathetic love life compared to his predecessors (or successors, I should say).

 

[Enterprise1701]

Star Trek Online takes a different route and uses them as a genuinely hostile force who, I believe, abduct people to grow additional fungus men

Does this strike anyone else as a biological disadvantage? How could evolution wind up making them that way?

And forcible trans-species mutation? Gross, I'm very happy to not consider any compatibility between Vertians and Elachi.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Dear Doctor"

In which we learn about Denobulans. In "Silent Enemy" we delved into Malcolm Reed a bit - or at least into other characters' attempts to understand him better - and now it's the turn of Phlox.

Taking Phlox as representative of his people, which we might as well do since we've not had any indication that he's unusual, Denobulans are very emotionally demonstrative but highly selective in what they choose to invest their strongest emotions in. Their polygamous marriages seem appropriate for a people whose emotional attachments appear wider, and in a sense freer, than those of Humans, but also shallower. Pragmatic and detached, they're possessed of a great deal of tolerance, gentle bemusement and benevolent regard for other beings, but aren't so compassionate in an immediately empathic sense. We can compare/contrast Phlox's joyful investment in his menagerie with Archer's attachment to Porthos, as the episode encourages us to do. Again, we can see why Denobulans are perhaps more "acceptable" to Vulcans, while also being just as overtly emotional a species as Humans. We'll learn in later episodes that Denobulans prefer densely populated habitation, although this episode tells us they don't like to be touched. In all, this makes sense to me. Denobulans are outwardly amiable and accepting on reflex, happiest when part of a crowd, but therefore not so likely to get exclusively intimate with anyone or anything.

Meanwhile, Archer has definitely shown genuine character development over the course of the season - here he actually takes T'Pol aside on his own initiative and asks for her advice regarding the amount of interference he should offer. Unprompted, he asked the Vulcan advisor to advise, something he wouldn't have done in earlier episodes except with obvious frustration and hostility (and possibly biting sarcastic remarks). He later concludes in private conversation with her, and with obvious self-awareness, that the Valakians aren't "ready" - in their desperation, they'd eagerly adopt antimatter fuel systems without fully grasping the danger, he suggests - and admits that he's starting to understand what the Vulcans must have gone through upon encountering Earth. This is obviously a very important character moment; he acknowledges T'Pol's overall point. T'Pol's blunt reminder that her people stayed on his world to help, and 90 years later they're still there, is both a point in support of Archer and in opposition - she's not necessarily saying the Vulcans shouldn't have stayed, only that they were prepared to take on board the responsibility and the consequences - which include Archer's attitude toward her people - and that he needs to be aware of same if he's going to actually be serious about this. In the end he withholds the warp technology.

The situation with two species sharing a planet (or two subspecies, or however it works in Trek, let's not pretend its classifications ever make sense) is interesting in light of the Fazi/Hipon situation from By the Book. Although the episode does clarify that it's talking about two Humanoid races a couple of times, and the Hipon weren't Humanoid, it does raise a similar point - that most such cases lead to all-out dominance struggles and the loser is usually wiped out. (The Centauri and the Xon from Babylon Five come to mind. "Do you know what the last Xon said just before he died? Aaaaarrrhhh!!!"). The symbiosis the two races have established, Phlox's casual acceptance of it and Cutler's distaste for the inequity is nicely illustrative of the dilemma facing the Human explorers.

To make another Centauri quote, which sums up the entire issue perfectly:

Vir Cotto: "They're highly tolerant of cultural differences!"

Londo Mollari (rephrasing): "They have no clearly defined sense of morality".

As for the illness driving all of this, apparently the Valakian genome has forgotten how to adapt or repair itself or something (?) and is just having a general crisis while the Menk are eagerly adapting their way into the niche that's opening. Apparently the Menk genome has tasted blood in the water and is champing at the bit to start muscling in on all that soon-to-be-vacant dominant tool-user niche (?). I don't think any of this makes much sense, but never mind - the episode is mostly about Phlox, somewhat about Archer, and a little about the When Will There Be A Prime Directive?, and it does all that well, so it doesn't really matter. And it's been discussed to death elsewhere on the board, I'm sure.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important:

Not an appearance, but this is our first mention of Ferengi. They're unknown to Vulcans, and are name-dropped as a race that has visited Valakis already. How long ago isn't certain, but I hope it's not too recently. I don't want to know how much the Valakians paid for the old wine bottle with a label reading THE CURE plastered over it. We'll talk more about the Ferengi in a few episodes' time. The Valakians have also been visited by the M'klexa, who will show up briefly in The Romulan War: To Brave the Storm, and are described there as a benevolent species.

Again, not an appearance, but this is the first mention of Dr. Jeremy Lucas, Phlox's counterpart in the Interspecies Medical Exchange who is currently stationed on Denobula. He'll later transfer to Cold Station 12, which makes sense since it's jointly run by Earth and Denobula, and a decade later he'll be helping plague victims on Sauria.

Next Time: "Sleeping Dogs". We've gotten some insight into Denobulans; next, the Klingons.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Star Trek Online takes a different route and uses them as a genuinely hostile force who, I believe, abduct people to grow additional fungus men

Does this strike anyone else as a biological disadvantage? How could evolution wind up making them that way?

And forcible trans-species mutation? Gross, I'm very happy to not consider any compatibility between Vertians and Elachi.

I guess the Elachi are the fungus monsters from Primeval.

The Voth have the dinosaurs down, now we just need invisible future bats.

 

[Christopher]

...now we just need invisible future bats.

Will Remans on a cloaked ship do?

 

[Deranged Nasat]

...now we just need invisible future bats.

Will Remans on a cloaked ship do?

Or Na'kuhl on a cloaked ship! Na'kuhl travel through time, so they're even better.

 

[Christopher]

I thought of them first, but they don't seem to go in for invisibility. Dressing to blend in, sure, but that's not quite the same.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

That's what happens when you meddle around with the timeline.

"Sleeping Dogs" up later...

 

[Enterprise1701]

Has Star Trek ever had humanoid wolves? It seems obvious, but I can't recall anything that's basically a Caitian with a wolf head.

 

[Christopher]

Has Star Trek ever had humanoid wolves? It seems obvious, but I can't recall anything that's basically a Caitian with a wolf head.

The Fenrisal, one of the Breen species according to Zero Sum Game, have a wolflike appearance. Other canid aliens from Trek Lit include the Erithians from Deep Domain and the Aarruri from Rising Son. Canonically, the Anticans are also somewhat canid.

There are also the Dogs of War from New Frontier, but I can't remember if they actually looked canine or if it was just a metaphor.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Sleeping Dogs"

The Klingons make their third appearance in the series, and for the first time we have aspects of their culture explored, a little bit of exposition on Klingons. It's nothing new to long time fans, but for the purposes of this chronological run through, and for the Humans in-universe, it's all new. Gagh, skull stew and targs; honour; attitudes toward death, etc.

Three times now the crew have aided the Klingons, and every time the Klingons have responded with belligerence. The Klingons are a difficult race to deal with. A success is often not a success; the more often you manage to resolve things without a fight the more they'll resent you, the more they'll come to see you as a meddler, as dishonourable and incomprehensible. They're a culture where the wrong move or the wrong emphasis can and will lead to blood, where too aggressive and too meek are equally easy and equally provocative, where even other Klingons find it hard to walk the line, so what chance do aliens have? Trip is right: best to stay out of their way. The show is using the Klingons quite well, overall. Sparingly enough, slowly building up a string of awkward encounters that will result in Humans becoming quietly infamous in the Empire. This is all going to blow up in Archer's face.

"They attacked us! TO BATTLE!"

"No, they saved our lives! TO BATTLE!"

"You are a coward and unworthy! TO BATTLE!"

"You, on the other hand, are a great and honourable warrior! TO BATTLE!"

This, naturally, will be the undoing of Human-Klingon relations. The Humans have come out here looking for peace. The Klingons come looking for war. Archer is the equivalent of a Shroomie to the Klingons - he keeps dropping randomly out of warp right on top of them, spewing peace at them and then dancing off into the night.

Continuity

This is the first mention of photon torpedoes. Reed hasn't even heard of them. Whether Vulcans have them or not is an interesting question - it's possible they're classified?

It's been pointed out many a time, but after T'Pol's assertion that Klingons don't use escape pods, we'll see Klingon escape pods in use in season four. They featured on Deep Space Nine, too, but that's two centuries from now and so not a problem either way. Perhaps the Klingons like to claim they have no escape pods while pragmatically packing a few? It's the sort of thing they'd say to save face: We don't retreat, ever! We have no escape pods! Then again, a small Raptor-class raiding ship is designed to strike hard and fast, so possibly it's a good place to earn honour if you otherwise have little chance of getting any? If so, it might make sense that these ships wouldn't have escape pods - the possibility of retreat would be at odds with the fundamentals of its crew's mission and purpose. The Bird-of-Prey seen in later seasons, though, as a larger vessel likely aligned with a particular House, might be judged less in need of this sort of symbolic extremism? There are less opportunities to lose honour by retreating, because your mission parameter is broader? Or else your standing and routine duties bring you honour enough; you have more claim to a larger share of honour and glory due to family background? Basically, you can put pods in and not lose any real status.

Why the Klingons are using bird-shaped ships is a little unclear. We all know that originally, and logically, the Bird-of-Prey was a Romulan ship before the villains of Star Trek III were changed, but we could still assume that the Klingons were inspired by their Romulan allies, just as the Romulans used Klingon hulls for a while. Now, we have a home-grown Klingon avian design lineage a century beforehand, and since the ship is Raptor-class it's even more obvious a motif. I guess if multiple worlds have raptors, multiple peoples will use the symbolism of the raptor in their warships. Why green though? Are they taking cues from the Romulans already? Feeling inadequate against that other, far more mysterious empire they've brushed up against in the past? Oh well, since the Orions are doing it too - using green bird-like ships, that is - maybe the Orions spread the tale of the Great Bird of the Galaxy from one end of the quadrant to the other and the Klingons get it from them.

Xarantine are identified in the novels as the toad-like yellow-skinned aliens encountered on Rigel X in "Broken Bow". Their shtick appears to be hospitality and middle-management of same. The Federation will wind up using their star system a lot, mostly because the Star Charts places it conveniently near the Klingon border and so Excelsior, Enterprise, etc., seem to end up docking there a great deal after a Klingon-related adventure. If they're a hospitable people it makes sense that they'd open up their docks and shipyards to friendly visitors, and if the Klingons are an ongoing menace as early as the 2150s I could easily see them aligning with the Federation during the 23rd Century "cold war", to protect themselves from a Klingon Empire that's arming for Total Conquest.

Next Time: "Shadows of P'Jem".

 

[Stevil2001]

Klingons don't have "escape" pods, they have "momentarily withdraw to enable a glorious counterattack" pods.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Klingons don't have "escape" pods, they have "momentarily withdraw to enable a glorious counterattack" pods.

Good point!

****

"Shadows of P'Jem"

"We have rebel Coridanites and blundering Humans. This is a highly volatile situation".

"Indeed, Commander. And yet I believe there is some essential quality absent this set-up, something that keeps the level of volatility as yet below critical".

*Andorian theme music plays*

"...Ah".

"T'Fiddlesticks".

**

Some meaty politics here. After "Silent Enemy" and "Dear Doctor" saw Archer mellowing on the Vulcans, demonstrating that they actually have a very good point regarding their stance relative to Earth, this episode draws attention to their failings. The "Vulcan Hegemony" appears unstable, increasingly so. Here we get more evidence than ever before that Vulcan is the leading power in its region of space, and that many of the planets and civilizations in the area are essentially neutered protectorates of the High Command. Coridan defers to Vulcan on matters of policy domestic as well as foreign, and Vulcan keeps the current leadership in power in exchange for mining rights and open access to the system. The Coridanite leaders downplay the ongoing rebellions from splinter factions angry at the corruption and economic inequities in their society, and these rebels have a "relationship" with Andor, which provides covert support in order to weaken Vulcan's hold on one of the sector's key planets. On top of that, Vulcan's relationship with another of its puppet states, Earth, has been damaged by Archer's supposed recklessness, and the Vulcans are feeling the need to make their displeasure known. Wow, that's a lot of meat there. This episode has fleshed out the universe significantly. It's also the first episode that really, truly depends entirely on an earlier episode for its plot - even "Cold Front", I'd argue, isn't that dependent on "Broken Bow". This, though, is the first true sequel episode.

Vulcan suppression is imposed not only on their emotions but on the other races and societies in their sphere of influence. A challenge to Vulcan supremacy is met with a militaristic and arrogant response. The Vulcans have truly forgotten what they taught the Trill a century back - they've stagnated, and we'll later see that just as The Other T'Pau told Dax, this is going to lead them toward potential destruction. The increasingly militarized and politically petty Vulcan, which is quick to quash resistance and punish non-compliance both among other Vulcans and aliens, is heading down the path toward the Raptor's Wings.

Although we don't know about them yet, do we?

Soval mentions that joint fleet operations with Earth have been cancelled in light of the Humans having cost the Vulcans their retreat at P'Jem. This primarily refers to T'Pol's assignment, of course, but presumably other temporary postings (such as the time Archer spent on a Maymora-class ship, as mentioned in "Breaking the Ice") were part of this program.

First Appearances of Things That Will Be Important

Coridan. Sadly, it's a planet that could have been a major player in the era to come (and will be in at least one alternate timeline - the one with no starfaring Vulcans, interestingly enough) but will instead go downhill from this point on. We'll return to Coridan and its unstable politics later. In particular, the rumour about warp seven starships and the magnificence of the Coridanite shipyards will become a major plot point in The Good That Men Do.

Sopek, the Vulcan captain, will also become important during the Romulan War. We'll be seeing him again.

The Tau Ceti system is mentioned, as the place where an accord between Vulcan and Andoria was signed. We learn no more about the Trek 'verse version of Tau Ceti here, but we'll later learn that the system has a native civilization - Kaferians - and (as yet) minor Human colonies.

Next Time: "Shuttlepod One".

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Shuttlepod One"

I can't help but wonder how someone would describe the experience of being trapped in a small room with me during what we thought were our last hours. How would that unfold? Amusing to consider, and also very sobering. This is a bottle show, so there's not that much to discuss this time, but it's a very good bottle show, and it cements the Trip/Reed friendship in an engaging way.

I also have to comment on the reversal of the usual Vulcan-Human dynamic. This time it's Archer dismissing T'Pol's theories as a myth that her species supposedly buys into all too readily. "The Earth Science Directorate has concluded that these microsingularities are impossible". Amusing enough, though you'd think the Humans would accept that their scientific knowledge isn't as advanced as that of the Vulcans.

The Tesnians will be identified as the bulbous-forehead people at the Coalition of Planets talks, and will crop up as a friendly part of the local interstellar community in Rise of the Federation.

First Appearances: This is the first mention of the 602 club, which we'll learn more about.

****

"Fusion"

We're introduced to a Vulcan alternative culture, or at least a counter-culture, which is not only interesting in its own right but sheds some light on the mainstream Vulcans. It's quite clever in its way, how Kov's apparent fixation on gratification is played for laughs - do you mate all the time with whoever you want? Do you eat constantly? - and then Tolaris shows the same fixation in disturbing ways, leading to his mental violation of T'Pol. Kov, meanwhile, remains sympathetic throughout, and the question of whether it's inherently dangerous for Vulcans to explore their passions is unanswered. Perhaps Tolaris is just a bad egg, a person given to selfish pursuit of his urges through his own individual weakness? Maybe he is the problem and it's not the fact that he chose to explore emotion, it's instead that he's simply that sort of person. Or is this arrogance, to assume that contrary to all Vulcan wisdom (which Tolaris dismissed as baseless propaganda) you can be different? Is that how it gets you? "I will be in control". Did Tolaris head down a slippery slope toward the dark side and "forever will it dominate your destiny" or was he just attracted to this lifestyle because he already had the attitude he displays here, and this was an outlet for his behaviours? We don't know. We didn't meet the old Tolaris.

We can't help but remember that Kov did show the same near-obsession with gratification, albeit expressed differently. He didn't act like Tolaris, but would he? T'Pol insists that all attempts to explore emotion rather than repress it end in disaster, that to choose the way of the V'tosh ka'tur is to "walk a reckless path". Does Tolaris prove her right? Or does that both unfairly taint the other V'tosh ka'tur and detract from the severity of Tolaris' behaviour? That is, by diluting and spreading the responsibility so that

a) all of the Vulcans in this counterculture share in it when, after all, there's no evidence that anyone else does things like this, and

b) obscuring his responsibility by suggesting that it's not him to blame as such, but his lifestyle.

This of course is complicated further by the fact that discarding the usual Vulcan obsession with discipline is the whole point of that lifestyle (they might claim this isn't an entirely accurate description, but nonetheless...). Because of this, identifying that choice - the choice not to repress - as the vital one, the point of moral responsibility, and ignoring any individual nuances or decision making after that point is all too easy. Mainstream Vulcan culture seems to have the sense that beyond the wall of control they build in their minds is danger, and that an individual's moral responsibility is to keep that wall intact - that's where the decision is made, and if the wall is allowed to go down, your crime is far less whatever you did after that and more that you rejected control and opened yourself up to the risk of doing it. Vulcans accept easily the idea that they are violent, dangerous beings. Are they right? Do Vulcans have a responsibility to others around them to keep themselves repressed, or is Tolaris just Tolaris and not "an unrepressed Vulcan", so to speak? We don't know.

Archer, in the end, can't really decide either. His uneasy comment to T'Pol - now he thinks he understands why she meditates - is as close as he can come to closure on this, I think. We don't see how the other V'tosh ka'tur react to Tolaris' actions or what happens when he goes back, which I'm sure is deliberate given this note of awkwardness the episode ends on. Did they shrug it off? Did they downplay his behaviour? We don't know.

There's a definite sense that while both Humans and Vulcans would find Tolaris' behaviour unacceptable, they would point to different decisions in identifying at what point he was responsible for his behaviour. The Vulcans think choosing to be V'tosh ka'tur was the point that he became dangerous, that this was his step beyond the boundaries of ethical responsibility. That doesn't sit right with the Humans, and our sympathies are with the other V'tosh ka'tur, perhaps we assume Tolaris was a morally weak individual, but then again Vulcans know how they work better than Humans do, right?...

We don't know.

Continuity

As well as the physiological/social repercussions of Tolaris' assault (being essentially mind-raped gave T'Pol mind-AIDS, and I know that sounds rather sigh-inducing but I seem to recall thinking "Stigma" was quite a good episode, so we'll get to that when we get to it), this episode also introduces the thread of T'Pol, and Vulcan in general, potentially reinterpreting the teachings of Surak. The mainstream understanding of Surak is distorted, but not how Tolaris claims. The addictive power of emotion will also return with the Trellium plotline in season three.

First Appearances of Things That Are Important

The Vulcan Mind Meld

Pon Farr, while not named, is referenced here, with the seven-year mating cycle explained for the first time.

Continuity

Forrest references how the High Command let Archer keep T'Pol on board after "Shadows of P'Jem".

Next Time: "Rogue Planet". Archer kisses a slug who sings poetry.

 

[Stevil2001]

Oh, speaking of Archer's difficulties with the Klingons, I find it interesting to view ENT's Klingon episodes through the prism of Picard's comments: "We never know what we will face when we open the door on a new world, how we will be greeted, what exactly the dangers will be. Centuries ago, a disastrous contact with the Klingon Empire led to decades of war. It was decided then we would do surveillance before making contact. It was a controversial decision. I believe it prevented more problems than it created."

It's interesting to imagine that the 24th century has essentially condemned the way Earth handled all this. (Assuming, though, that this isn't referring to, say, the Vulcan first contact with the Klingons.) Presumably this reevaluation happens in the 2220s, when things finally degenerate into open hostilities per ST VI.