Voyager Re-Watch: Blood Fever

I have a lot of feelings about Blood Fever. Mostly, my feelings all have to do with this one being hot. Steamy and sexy. I can't help it. Even when I was a kid I loved the sweaty, feisty, sex-crazed nature of this episode. If you're not familiar, here's the deal:

Ensign Vorik (Vulcan dude, remember?) has been kind of into B'Elanna for the last few episodes and now he declares his undying... whatever Vulcans have... for her and tells her she's his mate now what with him having the Pon Farr and all. He grabs her and B'Elanna's all, "Step off!" and then she knocks him out. Later on, she, Chakotay and Tom are all messing around on the Planet Hell Set and she starts acting kinda loopy. And by loopy I mean, "in need of the sexy time" but also, "crankier than usual about everything." Between The Doctor and Tuvok, they put together what's happened.

B'Elanna has psychically contracted Vorik's Pon Farr. She ends up selecting Tom Paris as the most appropriate candidate for sexy time and he, over and over, refuses her advances until, finally, Tuvok is all, "If she doesn't do the deed, she'll die." And now Paris is all, "Ok--if I have to." But then Vorik shows up and challenges Paris to fight for B'Elanna and B'Elanna's all, "I'll take your challenge myself!" Which is good because obviously Paris was going to lose that fight. Anyway, B'Elanna wins and they all go back to Voyager.

I love this one for so many reasons. I love that it's a B'Elanna-sode. I love that she--who always struggles to keep her intense, Klingon emotions in check--is the one who has to undergo the Pon Farr. I love Roxann Dawson's performance. I love how aggressive she is.  We've seen Klingon sexiness before in TNG (remember Worf saying, "this is sex" and everyone kind of grimaces (except me)?) and DS9 but now we get it from a woman--which is lovely and fresh and nicely handled. I love that she pursues Tom instead of Chakotay (who it seems like the writers were shipping in season one) and I love that Tom rebuffs her advances time and again because he knows she isn't herself. I love that they finally get a (beautifully lit) first kiss!

I love that, when Tom finally agrees to mate with B'Elanna, it's aggressive and sexy and fun--until Vorik shows up. And, of course, I love that B'Elanna took him on herself. That, in spite of everything she was going through, she was her own champion.

Notice the Tank Top of Badassery

The idea of being fearful of exploring one's own identity, being at odds with oneself, is something that's been there since the beginning when Leonard Nimoy made Spock's bi-racial/bi-cultural/intellectually a-typical struggle so tangible. Dawson's continued portrayal of B'Elanna's internal struggle throughout Voyager is similarly resonant. She is a Klingon, a human, a scientist, an ex-cadet and ex-rebel, an officer, a woman. She's simultaneously proud and afraid of herself. She's constantly trying to keep from boiling over and letting everything inside of her out and, in Blood Fever, we (and Tom Paris) see that what's inside is actually pretty damn awesome.



Bonus Points:
-This one was directed by Andrew Robinson aka DS9's Garak
-Love The Doctor's confidence in his holo-sex-bot and love that his solution ultimately fails
-THE BORG!!!!! OMG!

TOS: Amok Time

The Pon Farr (aka: how Vulcan babies are made) has become something of a joke--a cliché--even within the Star Trek franchise. We all know (and if you don't know, you ought to educate yourself with this fine documentary) that the Pon Farr makes Vulcan's act very... un-Vulcan-like. They're driven to mate and, if they don't, they'll die.

The first appearance of this legendary Star Trek trope came in the TOS second season premier: "Amok Time." This iconic episode features Spock in the throes of a Pon Farr induced blood fever. He doesn't want to, but he's forced to fight his best friend with some seriously amazing music playing behind them. You've heard this music. Even if you haven't seen this episode, you've heard it. The score became crazy famous and the composer himself didn't even realize how far it had gone until he heard it on an episode of the Simpsons years later.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll talk a lot more about the Pon Farr in posts to come but, for now, I just want to mention my two favorite moments of "Amok Time."

#1- It's commonly known that Christine Chapel has a crush on Spock. As such, she really, really wants to help him out but doesn't understand how. This could all be played to comic effect and we could all have a hearty laugh at how naïve Chapel is and then make much merriment about the subtext. Instead, it's tragic. All she wants to do is help him. Her friend, the man she secretly loves, is going to die. When she visits him in his quarters, all of this shows and it's heartbreaking.

Spock says, "I had a most startling dream. You were trying to tell me something. But, I couldn't hear you."

Christine Chapel begins to cry.

He approaches her, runs his hand along her cheek, and says, "Your face is wet."

And that's pretty much how their entire relationship goes. It's tragic. I love it.

#2- When Spock is finally about to leave the Enterprise for Vulcan he says that, "The male is accompanied by his closest friends." Then, Spock asks Kirk to join him. Kirk agrees. That's all well and good and nice. But, the thing I love about this is when Spock suddenly turns to McCoy and says, "I also request that McCoy accompany me."

This is awesome because McCoy and Spock supposedly loathe at each other. McCoy is too passionate and emotional for Spock; Spock is too logical and stoic for McCoy. McCoy never refrains from insulting Vulcans as a species and Spock constantly regards his own humanity as a weakness. Still, Spock wants McCoy there. Their reluctant friendships is one of the great institutions of Star Trek. They would go on, for many years and many movies, to poke fun at each other but the heart of their relationship, the truth under the sarcasm, is right here in "Amok Time."