Episode Report Card Keckler: F | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Holier ThanThou
By Keckler | Season 1 | Episode 14 | Aired on 01.29.2002
Klingon ship. Reed wearily makes repairs and drops his tool behind a pipe. Poor thing looks licked to a custard. He staggers to his feet, squinting, and lurches forward, using a metal duct for support. There's a sizzling sound, and Reed yelps. Mmm, burning flesh -- it's what's for dinner! Hoshi rushes to his side and asks if he's okay. "Yes, I seem to be getting a little light-headed. It must be the heat," Reed groans, shaking his hand. T'Pol scans him and tells him he's dehydrated and needs water. Hoshi says she saw a galley in the schematics, and grabs a weapon. "You shouldn't go alone," T'Pol tells her, and follows. "Watch yourselves," Reed wheezes, examining his hand again.
Klingon galley. Hoshi makes a grab for her nose as she and T'Pol look around at the mounds of Klingon food. Hoshi picks up a bowl of gagh, and T'Pol tells her what it is: "It's a Klingon delicacy. But only when they're alive." "They look like worms," Hoshi says, examining them. "They are worms," T'Pol tells her. Hoshi looks nauseated and puts the bowl down. Hoshi stirs a ladle around in a big pot of something, but lifts out a animal skull and starts to gag. What did she expect to find, what with the bowl of worms, the hanging targ carcasses (I think Worf may have been a little put off to see his childhood pet treated in such a way), and whatever else? They investigate a noise, which seems to be emanating from behind a large door. CGI targs snarl and bark at them from their harnesses. T'Pol explains, "Targs. Klingons prefer their food freshly slaughtered," as she shuts the door. Hoshi sits down, clearly in the beginning phases of hyperventilation. Somebody know where we can find a paper bag? T'Pol asks, not unkindly, if she's all right. "I promised myself I wouldn't do this," Hoshi says. "You're in a dangerous situation in an alien environment. Your anxiety is understandable," T'Pol says. Hoshi looks up and says, "Don't you mean for a human?" T'Pol tells her she can't deny her nature. "This may sound strange," Hoshi says, "but I envy you sometimes." T'Pol looks steadily at her. "I know," Hoshi avers, "another pesky human emotion but there are times I wish I could just ignore my feelings -- bury them the way Vulcans do." Instead of running for the smelling salts, T'Pol holds out her hand. "Take my hand," she says quietly. "Excuse me?" Hoshi says, confused. T'Pol kneels and says, "My hand." I know you have a lot to learn about humans, T'Pol, but trust me, now is not the time to propose marriage. Hoshi places her hand in the Vulcan's.
T'Pol turns Hoshi's hand over, palm up, and tells her to close her eyes. Are they going to levitate like Willow and Tara did? Hoshi closes her eyes, and T'Pol says, "Think of yourself on a turbulent ocean. You have the power to control the waves." Think of yourself on a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Hoshi sits for a bit before saying, "Whatever you're trying to do, it's not working." Hey, what about Reed dying of thirst on the deck above? He's probably talking to the girl with kaleidoscope eyes by now. I think I'm cracking too many jokes during this scene -- I can't help it, I'm giddy. "Focus," T'Pol instructs her, "The waves are subsiding, the water is growing still. You're in control." Hoshi visibly relaxes and opens her eyes. "That was...amazing," she says in wonder. "When we return to the ship, I'll teach you how to do it on your own," T'Pol says, her face shinier with sweat than Hoshi's is. She closes up Hoshi's hand with both of hers. "Thanks," Hoshi says, sincerely. Now, that would be neat idea if they took it further: a human trying to emulate Vulcan ways? I don't recall anyone doing that before. The ship convulses. T'Pol demands a report from Reed. "The hull's pressure's approaching critical. This ship's about to be crushed," Reed shouts amidst minor explosions and sparkage. That was an interesting scene -- one which Linda Park and Blalock pulled off pretty well, in fact.