"Meld"

[Rom's Sehlat]

I am aware plenty of people have posted about episodes before, so when you want me to stop blathering on about each episode I care to rant about, PM me. Until then, I will keep discussing good/bad episodes.

In this one, Tuvok mind-melds with a unusual Betazoid who can't read others' emotions. This Betazoid murdered a shipmate for no reason at all! When Tuvok melds with him, Tuvok starts acting funny. He has enough sense to delete his security clearance before locking himself in his room and tearing the place apart.

So, yay Tuvok: he's aware when he is about to go beserk
And yay, Tim Russ: he gets a break from the prim-and-proper Tuvok, and he does a great job at it! He gets to play crazy Tuvok!

(And is it that easy to disable a Vulcan's telepathic abilities. "Oh, I'm sorry, Tuvok, but you can't reach me. I've turned off your telepathic abilities!")

 

[F. King Daniel]

Good episode. Brad Dourif was fantastic as the psycopathic betazoid. He was even better in "Basics", struggling to better himself... I wish they kept him around.

 

[RyuRoots]

I love Meld. It was fascinating watching Tuvok grapple with this concept, culminating in the mind-meld because he needed to understand. Unstable!Tuvok was played absolutely brilliantly, and it also gave us Tuvok strangling Neelix, so that's a plus.

My one big beef with it is that Suder's punishment was "GO TO YOUR ROOM, MISTER." It seems even more glaring when Tom gets put in the brig in 30 Days.

 

[Shatnertage]

I liked this one, too. Suder's punishment did seem a bit lenient. Basically he just got to chill out in his room, which, since he was anti-social anyway, wasn't such a burden.

 

[JB2005]

I think it would have been interesting if Janeway had ordered him marooned, left on a planet similar to how she and Chakotay were in "Resolutions"

 

[froot]

^ Poor bastard. But yeah, that might have worked. Find some planet with lots and lots of leola root and drop him off...

I think he got confined to quarters because the brig's meant to be a temporary thing. Paris only had to bum around there for a month. Suder would've needed to be in there for the whole trip. And then they'd have nowhere to put prisoners since I think they only have that one cell(?)

 

[JB2005]

^ There's a line in YoH that's something like "Both the Brigs have been destroyed"

and in the one with the guy who's going to be executed they convert one of the cargo bays into a prison...

 

[AuntKate]

I thought Tim Russ did a fantastic job at the "insane" Tuvok--just as he did a wonderful job at the "simple" Tuvok in "Riddles."

 

[JB2005]

Yeah Tim Russ is pretty versatile, you can't fault him for that!