Enterprise 1x17 "Fusion"

rating: ****

the story: "Vulcans without logic" visit the ship, bringing with them an ancient, abandoned custom: the mind meld.

what it's all about: "Fusion," as my brief summary above suggests, features one more significant deviation Enterprise chose to feature from classic depictions of Vulcans.  In fact, it may be considered the most important of them.  Vulcans who don't mind meld?  Whoa!

That the series depicted Vulcans in a less than flattering light was always a bone of contention among fans.  They also didn't like the thought that Vulcans and mind melds were not somehow intrinsically synonymous, that this too would be added to the things Enterprise sought to establish about the familiar Star Trek mythos.  "Fusion" posits that mind melds had been abandoned, ending up practiced only by fringe members of society.  T'Pol actively shuns the ship's visitors because of it, initially, until Archer insists.  Then her experience ends up with a metaphorical rape.  Aside from Shinzon and Troi in Star Trek Nemesis, this is a topic that's never really been explored in the franchise, and that alone makes the episode noteworthy.

That the whole incident is followed up next season with "Stigma" also makes it a part of the show's informal serialization, besides the fact that it of course begins to reconcile the differences between the classic depiction of Vulcans and how they appear in Enterprise; these are things that further develop in the fourth season. 

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Exploring the famous Vulcan mind meld, and how it wasn't always practiced openly.
• series - Crucial development in the overall Enterprise arc.
• character - T'Pol reaches a critical moment in that arc.
• essential - A massive chipping away at the mythology surrounding the Vulcans, and therefore making them more believable.

notable guest-stars:
Robert Pine
Vaughn Armstrong (Forrest)

Voyager 3x3 "The Chute"

rating: **

the story: Harry and Paris end up in an alien prison.

what it's all about: "The Chute" is certainly not groundbreaking in any way.  It's part of a tradition of episodes where Starfleet personnel end up in, well, an alien prison.  So it's one of those.

But there are still a few things that make it interesting.  One of the least interesting of those is the fact that Neelix's old ship makes an appearance.  Surprisingly, that ship saw very little action in the series, when you'd think, and probably a lot of other producers would've gone that way, that it would've been used heavily, maybe even as a signature ship in the series.  And actually, they end up building a totally different companion ship, the Delta Flyer, later.  So there's that.

There's also Robert Pine guest-starring.  Robert Pine, right?  Woo!  Except, Pine is the father of Chris Pine, the second-ever actor to play Kirk, in the Abrams movies.  So that's pretty cool!  He makes a second appearance in the franchise, too (Enterprise's "Fusion").

Okay, okay.  So what makes this episode really interesting?  Aside from the friendship of Harry and Paris more or less in the spotlight?  (Because the alien prison kind of makes them turn on each other.)  It's the alien prison.  Being in space.  It's a kind of space station alien prison.  It's a reveal they work toward, and it's pretty awesome.  It's one of the most memorable reveals in any episode in the whole franchise. 

So now you know what's interesting about "The Chute."

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Joins the alien prison trope tradition.
• series - Has no specific significance.
• character - Seeing Harry and Paris experience this mess together is a reminder that actual friendships in this franchise rarely get episodes where they're in the spotlight.  (Aside from every episode of the original series, I guess.)
• essential - Not especially.

notable guest-stars:
Robert Pine
James Parks