Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series) Fusion (2002) User Reviews

V'tosh ka'tur

[Samuel-Shovel · 8/10 · 29 May 2017]

The gang runs across a group of renegade Vulcans who have rejected the standard protocol of suppressing emotions and instead use them to their "advantage". T'Pol experiments with their theories and ways as she tries to find her own path living amongst the humans.

This was a pretty good episode. We learn more of the Vulcans backstory and teachings and this counterculture known as "V'tosh ka'tur". We also get a bit of moralism, the use of mind-melding and the "no means no" rape allegory brings into question the ethics of mental abuse, a change of pace from the typical physical abuse. Archer's protective instinct is a nice touch and allows us to see just how dangerous these "V'tosh ka'tur" Vulcans can be. Are they really as in control as they say they are?

Vulcans Turned Emotional

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 12 March 2017]

A group of Vulcan explorers are in space. They engage the Enterprise to help with repairs on their ship. Their explorations aren't those of the vastness of space. They are looking into themselves, attempting to integrate their ingrained Vulcan being with the emotions that are submerged but a part of their makeup. One of them is really committed to this cause and chooses to approach T'Pol and try to get her to explore these emotions through a mind meld (remember good old Mr. Spock). She is resistant because her control of her emotions is such a significant part of her being. This is about staying within the bounds of one's being. The invasion of her personal space is a truly interesting path and when Archer becomes aware of it, he is livid. This enhances the sense of the crew that is becoming stronger and more diverse.

Archer's reaction at the end of the show makes this one special

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 22 March 2015]

The Enterprise meets up with a Vulcan ship and Archer is NOT thrilled. After all, many of the Vulcans he has met have been jerks--haughty know-it-alls who simply cannot be trusted. So he's surprised and quite happy to learn that these are not like normal Vulcans--these folks embrace emotions and seem much more normal. T'Pol isn't thrilled by the meeting, as she's been raised to embrace logic and eschew emotion just like almost all the others of her species. What's next?

This is a decent enough episode. However, near the end of the show, one of the Vulcans hurts T'Pol and I loved watching Archer's reaction. He was very protective of her and it was actually a bit touching seeing him stand up for her. Well worth seeing.

By the way, the notion of feeling and emoting Vulcans was also explored (very poorly) in the film "Star Trek V"--a film which is probably the most hated of the Trek films.

The beast within

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 24 August 2020]

The Enterprise encounters a group of Vulcans who experience emotions.

I like the concept of this one but it would probably horrify Trek purists in terms of continuity with the franchise and negative portrayal of Vulcans.

The plot is interesting with a good example of Vulcans reverting to a dangerous primal state when emotions are not kept in check. The mind-meld-rape was an inspired idea and the scene was done well, however I think the writers did the T'Pol character a disservice by letting her be so easily preyed on by someone who seemed an obvious predator from the start.

Not sure if I was that fussed on the Archer's reaction to the situation. It was all done a bit too controlled and sensible for me. The writers should have worked it so that the more emotive Trip Tucker confronts the perpetrator and in a fit of protective rage deals out a bit of retribution. This results in a call for Tucker to be charged/reprimanded but Archer backs his man for doing the right thing.

As much as I don't accept this could have happened to a character like T'Pol, I cannot fault Jolene Blalock's performance in this episode, she nailed every scene just right.

Important episode with a strong themes regarding repressed violent nature of people and sexual violence but could have been done better.

HE WENT TOO FAR...

[zitacarno · 10/10 · 28 October 2018]

I happened to catch this episode, and it gave me a good look at a Vulcan splinter group called "V'tosh ka'tur"---Vulcans without logic. And I got the distinct impression that some of them don't even have a modicum of good sense in their heads; it seems that they have no idea of how to handle a rotten apple in their midst, as Tolaris evidently was. He assaulted T'Pol when she resisted and pushed him away, which in any circumstances is a crime---and which, unfortunately, still exists in our time.

No Means No

[doug-697 · 9/10 · 27 April 2008]

This is the T'pol "Date-rape" episode. Enterprise encounters a ship in need of repair inhabited by Vulcans who have separated themselves from the tradition of emotionless logic. Enterprise assists with their repairs and during that time the two crews interact with each other. Initially T'Pol expresses disdain for these non-traditional Vulcans and wants nothing to do with them, but at the insistence of Archer to "keep an open mind" she eventually develops a relationship with one of them. In the privacy of T'Pol's quarters he offers to show her mind-melding which she initially allows, but when it becomes disturbing to her she asks him to stop. He refuses to break the meld and only relents when she fights back physically.

It's an interesting and at times disturbing show. Clearly written to espouse the views that "no means no" even when the rape is mental instead of physical. Next season this story line will be followed up on as it turns out T'Pol was infected during the attack.

The only part of the episode I didn't like was Archer almost demanding T'Pol interact with these Vulcans. It seemed very arrogant and disrespectful of him.

WHEN THEY GO TOO FAR...

[zitacarno · 10/10 · 22 October 2018]

This was a very interesting and provocative episode, exploring as it did the differences among Vulcans. It's one thing when there's a splinter group that, while it does not reject the teachings of Surak it disagrees as to how they should be interpreted---as this group, known as "V'tosh ka'tur" (Vulcans without logic) was. But when someone pushes it too far---there's trouble, as Tolaris found out when he tried to mind-meld with subcommander T'Pol who was of the traditional persuasion. She resisted and pushed him away, and he got absolutely furious and beat up on her, which resulted in her ending up in sickbay, in bad shape. She recovered but was glad to see this group leave after completing the needed repairs to their ship. Now I ask you---how far is too far? You'd think that Vulcans, even splinter groups, would have more sense than that. ---

Very toxic

[entryword · 1/10 · 13 February 2021]

I can't believe nothing happened to the male volcan. He clearly violate T'pol 's mind with mind fusion.

Without Repressing Emotions

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 26 November 2007]

While traveling to explore the Arachnid Nebula, the Enterprise surprisingly is saluted by the civilian Vulkan Starship Vahklas that asks for support. They are V'tosh ka'tur, Vulkans considered without logic because they give a different interpretation to Surak teachings and do not repress their emotions, trying to balance them with logic. The explorers have been for eight years in space and Captain Archer offers to help them. Archer assigns T'Pol to work in the exploration of Arachnid in Vahklas, and the Vulkan Tolaris tries to convert T'Pol to his principles, proposing a dangerous mind melt to share her inner emotions with him. Meanwhile Trip becomes close to the engineer Kov, whose father is terminal and wishes to contact his son.

"Fusion" discloses an interesting branch of Vulkans, the V'tosh ka'tur. The concept of merging of minds is a great and traumatic experience to T'Pol. However, based on the reaction of Tolaris, T'Pol seems to be partially right when she says that their principles are a reckless path to prime nature. But the resented Kov accepts the explanation of Trip that regret is one of the saddest emotions and follows his advice, contacting his father. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Fusão" ("Fusion")

An uncomfortable exploration of emotion.

[thevacinstaller · 8/10 · 5 March 2023]

Well, this episode is extremely uncomfortable to watch but that doesn't make it a bad episode. This was an exploration of the dark side of emotion ---- in this paticular case the desire to dominate and potential side effects of lust. Star Trek has explored emotional vulcans before but certainly to not this level of intimacy or depravity. The Vulcan manipulates T'pol to get her into a mind meld and then attempts to dominate her into submission. I was very uncomfortable because clearly this a form of rape. I did enjoy seeing Archer dress down the Vulcan --- even if he was gentler then I wanted him to be.

There is clearly a reason why the Vulcan's supress emotion and this episodes explores that impactful detail. I feel like there should have been a scene with the Vulcan Captain ---- how does he respond to this situation?!

A memorable episode.

exploring the meaning of emotion

[symbolt · 9/10 · 26 May 2008]

Although emotions are everywhere, in all of us, they are at the same time nowhere to be found, since everything you can put a finger on and call an emotion will be different for any other person experiencing the same state. And yet, the names of emotions seem to be self-explanatory and self-evident. Star Trek stories are never realistic, in the sense that they unroll in a world of big ideas, delivered theatrically and without the bounds of present reality. Star Trek can ask big questions and although the answers are not always thorough, I have found that of all the popular television, Star Trek is the only show where these "big questions" are centered upon so much at all.

One of the ways Star Trek does this is by having an alien race to stand for a metaphor or a symbol of one single human trait, flaw or a characteristic. The Volcans embody the rational part of us. Very often, this is portrayed as a flaw, the Volcans being arrogant and silly with their over-reliance on logic. This episode is special in that it portrays the Volcans' reliance on the suppression of all emotion and on logic as a vulnerability or disability. It also shows an interesting aspect of emotional exchanges in real human societies, that is, that emotions can be used in barter. If a person is drawn to a particular state, but depends on others to allow her to experience it, that person is susceptible to being used by people who see that they can use her need for a particular emotion to control her. This way, the emotion (be it fear, anger, lust, or security) becomes a sort of substance, like a drug, and the person who is drawn to it and must take it from others can be seen as an addict. This episode portrays this dynamic very well, along with the shame that a person who normally relies on her reason and composure to guide her in life feels when they own up to their addiction and / or find themselves incapable of resisting the need for a fix any more.

Unfortunately, this episode is not perfect, in my opinion, and this is mostly due to how Enrique Murciano plays his Volcan character Tolaris. I simply can't see how his portrayal can be read as a coherent character. My reaction to the character can be caused by an emotional response, however - I find the character disturbing. However, in general, almost every line he speaks has the same intonation pattern. He also somehow has a smile on his face most of the time. Something in this character just didn't totally "click" for me, especially that he was one of the leads. These emotional Volcans had great potential, and I feel that the episode did not explore the potential of those characters deep enough. Anyhow, this episode is certainly worth watching, one of the top episodes of the series, in my opinion. All the regulars do a great job, as usual, with Scott Bacula once again proving he is perfect as this kind of captain. Of course, Jolene Blalock's T'Pol is impeccable, as always. Really recommend this.

A Senior Trekker writes..................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 22 April 2022]

I was surprised to find that the T'Pol as "victim" trope occurred so early in the series, having thought it was confined more to later episodes when the writers were clearly running out of ideas for the character. Obviously, I can't discuss that too much here because IMDB asks us not to reveal the story lines of subsequent episodes but suffice it to say, this "mind rape" is the least of what she will have to endure.

The envelope for this story is a visit to the Enterprise by a group of outcast Vulcans from the V'tosh Ka'tur, a cult of individuals who seek to explore their emotions through extended wanderings and the search for new sensation. One of the characters, Kov, strikes up a friendship with Trip and the two learn more about each other's cultures: Trip explains that Humans do not eat six meals a day or engage in sexual activity all the time and Tavin tells him that his companions are hoping to increase the frequency of their amorous encounters to more than once every seven years*. Trip also helps Kov (most engagingly portrayed by John Harrington Bland) to come to terms with a family estrangement. While repairs to the Vulcan ship are underway, Archer takes the opportunity to explore a beautiful nebula that he has wanted to see since he first saw a picture in his childhood astronomy book.

All of this backstory seems to have been the set up for the creepy Tolaris to have the opportunity to pressure T'Pol into consenting to the forbidden "Mind Meld"** procedure which he deceitfully tells her will give her the ability to gain more control of her emotions. This is the cue for some spooky dream sequences and a lot of close-ups of Jolene Blalock looking intrigued/distressed/repelled and whatever else her totally immobile face is supposed to convey. These close-ups cannot help but focus attention on the painful quantity of lip-filler that the actress seems to have felt under pressure to subject herself to. It's horrible. Even as recently as twenty years ago any other woman pointing out the sexism of this phenomenon would have been accused of jealousy. Female Trekkers will all remember what happened when Kate Mulgrew took exception to Jeri Ryan's outrageously exploitative outfit for her appearances in Voyager.

The character of Tolaris is made all the more sinister by an excellent performance by Enrique Murciano, a busy television actor who we only think we have seen regularly on Star Trek because of his striking resemblance to Alexander Enburgh (Vorik in Voyager). Many of his scenes are pretty hard to watch because of their obvious similarity to the type of aggressive won't-take-no-for-an-answer build up to a sexual assault. I'm not sure why this was necessary or where it sat within the Star Trek principles of the day but my own view is that Messrs Berman & Brannon weren't getting enough supervision and had begun to believe that they could do whatever they liked by this stage.

Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5

(* the highly improbable Vulcan mating cycle established in the Original Series)

(** a Vulcan telepathy technique which apparently loses most of its stigma by Captain Kirk's era)