"Fusion"... so much feelings...

According to the rules of the forum I need to start a new topic if the old topic is no longer raised. Perhaps I'll start a topic about the episode "Fusion", especially I've not found one at all... but the episode is so cute, and there's the Vulcans. How do you like this series?

I liked everything and everyone, I can say that these Vulcans are one of the best invited guests of the serial. When I first see it, I was unreal surprised by the words of captain Tavin "nice to meet you." Kov is a charming, if unusual Vulcan... the only fat one, if I'm not mistaken. But most of all I liked Tolaris - gloomy, dangerous guy, I do not argue, but beckons, bad boy. How he was sniffing around T'Pol, uh!

I'm curious about one thing... Often I find the opinion that Tolaris raped T'Pol. Is that so? She herself agreed to, she was need be ready to different development events. And what's so terrible? She would have let him continue to read her memory... she wasn't hiding anything... In general, I'm at a crossroads in this regard. For me, T'Pol could have enjoyed it, she even had an erotic dream with Tolaris. That's what I think...

On the other hand, I didn't like the way Archer and Phlox were pushing T'Pol toward a group of Vulcans she didn't like for public reasons. Especially Archer... he resented that T'Pol shunning Vulcans who were so cute and smiled and ate chicken. I like this captain, but he often judges without having an idea...

Very liked Trip and Kov's friendship. The "do Vulcans dance?" scene is so much charming. It was a good thing Kov finally got in touch with his father and they talked. Ahhh... the scene in the mess hall... talking about Vulcan sex is five out of five. It was strange that Trip should ask himself that question. Clearly, Vulcans have sex, just like everyone else.

 

Well, T'Pol said no. By any definition, that is date rape.

Quite enjoyable "date rape" episode IMO. I'm a little surprised the link to that hadn't been made as much as one would think.

Loved the discussion between Kov & Trip throughout this episode. Seems this one is quite capable of keeping his emotions under control without suppressing them completely.

I also thought the visual dream stuff made this one difficult to watch, but I understand why they (T'Pol) chose jazz. Jazz is all about feelings.

T'Pol's experience with Tavin was the equivalent of date rape. She initially agreed and when it was going to far she expressed herself and he didn't stop.

Love Archer coming to T'Pol's defense. He simply wanted to see Tavin lose his temper (control)... and he succeeded.

I really enjoyed John Harrington Bland as Kov as well.

 

Oh, and welcome aboard Merlyn Emerald!!

 

Thank you very much, Yanks!

Tolaris, his name was Tolaris. Don't blame poor Vulcan captain, he was good.

 

When it Comes to T'Pol agreeing to the mind meld her curiosity got her into trouble. Tolaris manipulated her into not to meditate and the dream she had about the Fusion Jazz club unervered her . The fact T'Pol told Archer what Vulcans were like without emotional control they can be dangerous. . Kov I really liked his character and the fact Trip got him to contact his father and they resolved some problems they had.Tolaris is a dangerous character.I didn't like how Archer pushed T'Pol to work with Tolaris when she knew there was something about him she didn't trust the way he behaved towards her was manipulative and creepy.It was interesting to see T'Pol's story arc going forward from this episode.It has major repercussions for her

 

I'm sure if T'Pol had expressed any reservations about Tolaris, Archer would not have encouraged her to go work on their ship.

 

Her reservations weren't about Tolaris, they were about a meld. It didn't matter who the mold was with.

 

I’m always curious how a ship full of renegade Vulcans handled their pon farr needs, especially if they were trying to speed up the cycle. Did they make regular stops at Risa? Did they expect a handful of female crew mates to tend to their needs? Were their wives along or had they been divorced because of their shameful behavior? Tolaris, seemingly unbonded, seems to be courting T’Pol and vice versa and both are probably in need of a mate. I even wondered if his aggression was a sign he was nearing pon farr, spurred by his attraction to T’Pol. T’Pol thinks her own opportunity for marriage has been lost and is clearly attracted to Tolaris. This looks to be how unbonded Vulcan adults go about finding a mate. Tolaris forces her to stay in the mind meld and won’t take no for an answer, but I suspect he wasn’t in complete control of himself at that point.

 

The Mind Meld is am aggressive mating ritual?

Interesting. I believe Sudor compared a mind meld to rape and violation, and a violent act, and Tuvok reluctantly agreed.

 

I mostly like this episode. I think it succeeds where TNG episodes like Man of the People and Violations completely fail. In those TNG episodes, Troi was telepathically attacked, and the context and consequences of that were never properly explored. It felt to me like they used the Troi character as a device to write edgy plot lines, and I think she deserved better than that, considering what she was put through.

With Fusion, the issues are a bit better framed. The emotional problems of Vulcans in the ENT era is an overarching plotline, and the events of Fusion stem organically from that. It is revealed at the end of the episode that T'Pol has to constantly meditate because of the extreme emotions Vulcans suffer under, and Tolaris was clearly an example of those emotions. In future episodes, the issues of Pa'nar Syndrome, Trellium D addiction, and the recovery of the Kir'shara add further context to a plotline that depicts the Vulcans losing, then finding their way again. They relearn how to deal with emotions in a way that's healthy for them.

I like TNG a bit more than Enterprise, but as far as these sorts of sensitive plotlines are concerned, I think Enterprise had the edge.

 

Once she said no and he continued with the meld, it was clearly a violation. But the connection between them started with sexual attraction between two unbonded Vulcans, at least one of whom would probably die if he finds himself without a mate or an acceptable substitute when he goes into pon farr.

 

/Thread

Pretty much this. And while the Pa'Nar was the result of a studio mandated campaign regarding AIDS, B&B could have gone with a Forehead Alien of the Week plot and called it a day. They instead decided to follow up on this story. I can say a lot about Berman and Braga--and I've written what probably accounts for novels on that in my early days!--but I'm glad they made this decision instead.

 

Did anyone else get the sense that the Vulcan who violated T'Pol got off easy?

 

Part of me feels like Archer should have done something more in the end -

And I wish they'd made it more clear that T'Pol didn't want this to come out in the public and wanted to keep it private, or that we saw some sort of disciplinary measure in the episode...

Any thoughts on Stigma?

 

I haven't really read this thread yet, but I just saw this episode for the first time. during the entire show, I kept thinking about Sybok and the visions he would inflict on people to heal their pain. His shunned status and embrace of logic. Has anyone else thought about the narrative connection between this group of Vulcans and the reasons Sybok was outcast?