Talk:Blood Fever (episode)

Possible summary
I've been working on a possible summary for "Blood Fever", but I don't know if it's too long or not. Somebody help please? --Kitch 20:14, 5 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I wouldn't worry about length or any other issues very much... be bold and add the summary to the page. It doesn't need to be in a final form at all.  Even if it's just a draft form you or others can come along and edit it later; that's the whole point of a wiki.  It's hard to do that if the text is hiding on the talk page. :)  I don't think length is an issue for any of our episode summaries.  If you check some of the featured articles concerning episodes, some can be rather long.  -- SmokeDetector47( TALK ) 02:42, 6 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Okay... I will take that as if it were Janeway saying, "Do it." ("Make it so" is out of place for a Voyager episode. ^_^) --Kitch 22:48, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Holographic Romulan?!?
I just noticed an edit go by that changed the following passage to say "Romulan" rather than "Vulcan": The Doctor takes Vorik to a holodeck, where he suggests he use a holographic Romulan female to deal with his "urges". What the heck? When I watched the episode it seemed quite obvious that it was a Vulcan. The hologram didn't have the characteristic Romulan forehead ridge (yes, I know some Romulans don't have it, but that doesn't seem likely in this case), and was named "T'Pera" according to the transcript; that sounds definitely like a Vulcan name to me. Where'd the idea that it was a Romulan come from? -Mdettweiler 23:24, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

Ah, I see the edit has been undone. Never mind. :-) -Mdettweiler 23:25, 6 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeah, highly unlikely... &mdash; Morder (talk) 23:27, 6 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Her skin is a more Romulan hue, her ears are less hooked and more elliptical, like Romulans, and she sports the Romulan sideburns. As for the ridges, her hair covers most of her forehead. Her name does seem Vulcan, and it seems that The Doctor would not make such biological errors, but there they are? I do not believe either one of them ever says that she is representative of either species.
 * Unless it was stated that she was something else, we should assume she's Vulcan, since she was created to be a Vulcan's companion.--31dot 00:29, 7 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Differently colored Vulcans exist as well, doesn't mean they're romulans. The simplest explanation is that she is Vulcan, assuming otherwise goes against the fact that Vorik is also Vulcan and that the doctor would be stupid enough to program a romulan instead of a vulcan to assist Vorik with his Pon-farr... &mdash; Morder (talk) 00:30, 7 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Even though he did pick a half-klingon initially? I Love Doctors 00:32, 7 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Probably because he was interested in Torres...we can't assume she isn't Vulcan based on skin color - especially when the primary evidence points directly to Vulcan &mdash; Morder (talk) 00:36, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Also, it was never stated at all that the Doctor made a half-Klingon hologram; he only made a reference to "hmm, now I need to get to work on the half-Klingon version of the program for Torres". Of course, Torres's pon farr was resolved without needing it anyway, so that was somewhat of a moot point and presumably never got developed. As for Vulcan vs. Romulan: remember how the Doctor said that the pon farr was mostly a psychological thing for Vulcans? That's probably what a lot of the "telepathic mating bond" thing was also about. Romulans have never demonstrated nearly the same mental abilities as Vulcans (either due to lack of emotional control, or simply having lost the abilities over time), and that would add even more evidence to the idea that a Romulan would just not work nearly as well for Vorik. And as Morder said...why would the Doctor bother to do a Romulan when he can just as easily (heck, probably easier since they had less data available on Romulans) do a Vulcan? -Mdettweiler 03:33, 7 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Where is it established that Romulan ears take different shapes? Where is it established that Romulans have different skin tones? Where is it established that certain hairstyles may only be worn by members of certain races? I only remember an occasional forehead difference being widespread among Romulans, but not completely present. -- Captain MKB 03:54, 7 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Though obviously hairstyles are not, in actuality, species-specific, when was the last time you saw a Talaxian without the Talaxian neckbeard things? A Ferengi with them? It has been my observation that, ever since TNG, Romulans have had more elliptical ears, and Vulcans more hooked ears. Same goes for the darker Romulan skin tone. As for the telepathic bond, how could he form a telepathic bond with a hologram??
 * When was the last time you saw a cardassian with a beard. That's right, the first episode that aired them. But you never saw it before. When was the last time you saw a black vulcan in TOS? That's right, you didn't. Just because aliens happen to carry a common trait does not mean that they're exclusive to that species. There is plenty more evidence against your idea - especially this: the doctor would not create a romulan mate for vorik. End of discussion. &mdash; Morder (talk) 04:15, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Wow, look at the pictures that disprove everything you're talking about. Light skinned, curvy eared Romulans, Dark skinned, elliptical eared Vulcans. Your "observations" are fundamentally flawed, and have no place here. Sorry. Turns out Romulans and Vulcans come in all colors and ear shapes. -- Captain MKB 04:38, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, this has been a enlightening debate. I think it's safe to say at this point that the hologram was a Vulcan, based on points made by both sides. And remember, we're all here "to write an encyclopedia". - Archduk3 talk 05:10, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Removed

 * Tom is said to be an experienced rock climber, yet the entire team makes an extremely amateur mistake by only using one hold, which backfires. It could be argued they rely on the advanced technology of the grips.

Removed as a nitpick.--31dot 08:05, April 24, 2010 (UTC)

lady vullcan
there is what appears to be a lady vulcan (or romulan?) i guess in the background in episode 704 repression during the maquis meeting in the mess hall. sounds like a continuity error... or someone with realy weird eyebrows. 69.122.197.110 03:25, July 15, 2010 (UTC)

Just saw her again with chakotey and a bolian fellow!.... its weirding me out69.122.197.110 03:27, July 15, 2010 (UTC)

Unnamed USS Voyager personnel 69.122.197.110
 * Are you saying that it should be mentioned here? It could possibly be if done in a non-nitpick way.--31dot 08:52, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * Why would it be a continuity error at all? We've seen before that there have been Vulcans in the Maquis, most notably Sakonna in . -Mdettweiler 21:50, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * There wasn't suppose to be any female Vulcans on Voyager, according to the plot. - 21:56, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * Obviously, the only logical conclusion must be that the unnamed Vulcan from "Repression" is not biologically female. I think we've found the first transgender Vulcan! >:-| —Josiah Rowe 22:16, July 16, 2010 (UTC)
 * But as I recall (and which seems to be confirmed by the transcript, for all the good that does), it was not specifically said that there were no female Vulcans on Voyager, just implied from Vorik's choice of B'Elanna for his prospective mate rather than a female Vulcan from the crew. For all we know, the female Vulcan seen in "Repression" had already paired off with someone else. -Mdettweiler 03:51, July 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * The anon could also be thinking of Tuvok's Pon Farr (that was in, I think) but I think that is a similar situation- they didn't exactly say there were no female Vulcans(if I recall right). --31dot 09:45, July 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * Confirmed--they didn't even touch on the existence of other female Vulcans on board in "Body and Soul", since that was out of the question for Tuvok from the beginning anyway. -Mdettweiler 14:30, July 17, 2010 (UTC)
 * I guess there could have been a female Vulcan then, if they never actually said there wasn't. - 16:16, July 17, 2010 (UTC)

Effects and affects
In this edit, the estimable Defiant changed "pon farr and its effect" to "pon farr and its affect", which alters the meaning of Robinson's quote. If he said "effect", he's talking about something that was caused by Vorik's pon farr (presumably B'Elanna entering the plak-tow-like state); if he said "affect", he's talking about the observable emotional state which comes with pon farr. Either one is plausible, so we should probably go with whatever the source (Star Trek Monthly) uses. —Josiah Rowe 10:49, September 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * Just to clarify on this: it was a typo on my part, so I corrected it from "effect" to "affect". Sorry for the lateness of this reply, but I can't possibly monitor everything! That's why, as it says on my user page, if you have any comments that especially involve myself, please address it on my user talk page. Thank you! :-) --Defiant 16:55, December 4, 2010 (UTC)

Rating in 'Delta Quadrant'
At the bottom of the page, it states that the epsiode was given a rating of 0 out of 10 by the Delta Quadrant. I've never read this book, but I remember liking the episode, and I think it's generally been pretty well received - does anyone want to take a look and if necessary correct this?
 * I have not read the book either, but I can definitely see why someone might give this episode that rating. To be unkind, it is an episode about a Vulcan in a state of pon farr deliberately infecting another crew member with a disorder that a) makes her want to have sex (presumably so she will have sex with him), and b) is likely to kill her if she doesn't. "Vulcans = rapists" isn't going to be well received by everybody, especially if it's treated as "Vulcans will be Vulcans" by their superiors.
 * Yeah, the rating is correct. The book essentially posits that a story about Tuvok going into pon farr would have been more interesting than this Vorik-related episode, assuming that such a plot would involve an exploration of the choice between death or being unfaithful. The book does liken Vorik to a rapist and criticizes the way his actions are dealt with. Furthermore, the installment is described as, "The most offensive episode ever [....] simply rubbish. It's misogynistic, continuity-breaking and badly written." These criticisms are despite the fact that the book also compliments Andrew Robinson's direction and Roxann Dawson's acting in the episode as well as "the camera work and sound effects in the caves." --Defiant 08:50, February 20, 2011 (UTC)

Removed note

 * The Internet critic SF Debris observed that for a series that promotes strong female characters, this episode was arguably misogynistic, for a climax where Vorik fights to knock B'Elanna unconscious to basically rape her, while her male crewmates (Chakotay, Paris and Tuvok) just stand aside and watch.

I removed this, as (correct me if I'm wrong, but AFAIK) MA has decided to exclude Internet criticism. --Defiant 22:28, August 24, 2011 (UTC)


 * Per MA:NOT we don't normally have outside analysis at all, unless "Conclusions, synthesis, analysis or associations which have been mentioned in canon or sourced from a credible real-world authority are acceptable Background content, with citations." I'm not sure how credible this is, though.--31dot 00:19, August 25, 2011 (UTC)

Good point, 31dot. :) --Defiant 00:29, August 25, 2011 (UTC)