Fusion

DVD, Enterprise S1 (Fusion)

This was one of the very few episodes I'd never seen, although I knew details of it. I have to say I've never appreciated what 'Enterprise' did with the Vulcans, in making them more emotional, because it loses their uniqueness, their power and their cool factor. People argue that it's better they're that way because then humans can relate to them better, but the whole point has always been that they are very alien and different. While Roddenberry didn't have access to elaborate prosthetics, Spock was still the most interesting character of the original series because of the depths they went to in creating an alien race. So you can imagine how I feel about Vulcans that have rejected this.

On the other hand I'd freely admit that emotional Vulcans are excellent to watch (eg: Tuvok whenever he's stripped of control). But this is because the rest of the time they are so rigid. When that rigidity is lost the anomaly is less special. There were a lot of firsts for the series though, such as the mindmeld, mention of Shi-Kahr, Surak, seven year mating cycle, and Vulcan strength. It was the same with Season Three's 'Impulse' though - an idea that could have been dramatic, but ended less than it should have been due to the erosion here of the species seen in later series'. There was enough to like (the B-story with Trip), but it wasn't a strong episode.

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