Звездный путь: Вояджер Blood Fever (1995–2001) watch online HD

Andrew Robinson played one of my favorite characters on "Star Trek: Deep Space 9", Garak. Interestingly, Robinson directed this episode of "Star Trek: Voyager"--and he also directed one other as well as a "Deep Space 9" show as well. There certainly is precedent for this, as LeVar Burton and Jonathan Frakes (both from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" both directed quite of few episodes of the various Trek series.

When the show begins, Vorik* is entering the Pon Farr--the Vulcan mating season. Like Spock in the classic episode of "Star Trek", this is a highly illogical and violent period. In Vorik's clumsy attempt to begin the mating ritual with an uninterested B'Elanna, however, it sets of a HUGE problem that only becomes apparent later- -it creates the same Pon Farr rage within her! To make things much worse, this becomes obvious on an away team mission and she is one frisky and out of control woman! Her crazed state soon results in not only creating enemies with a new race they encounter but she and Paris become stuck in a cave after a cave-in and there's no telling what is next! However, I was very happy about the closing scene where a really, really interesting enemy's presence in the Delta Quadrant is introduced!

This is a pretty exciting episode of the series--well directed and full of enough action and mayhem to keep the viewer's interest.

*I have no idea why Vorik was introduced on the show but it seemed very awkward. While he'd never been a presence on the ship before, only a few episodes back (in the midst of season 3) he suddenly becomes a somewhat regular member of the cast. I wish they'd introduced him better and more realistically instead of acting as if he was ALWAYS there!

I watched the first episode in which we encountered the problem of "pon farr"---the Vulcan time of mating---and I found it absorbing, the way this problem was explored, and particularly the way in which Captain Kirk got Spock to talk about it and what it was doing to him. If you recall, Kirk, after telling Spock "I haven't heard a word you said", took action, with the help of navigator Sulu, to get the beleaguered Vulcan home in time to cope with his situation. This second excursion into pon farr---and its accompanying phenomenon of "blood fever", or "plak-tow" in Vulcan, was more violent---and somehow less satisfying in how it was dealt with: the one exception being that B'Elanna Torres was able to choose herself as the defender, and it was fun to see her, with her Klingon half galvanized into action, fighting it out with Vorik, with the end result being that both fell exhausted at the end, thus breaking the grip of the pon farr. I can't help feeling sorry for the poor Vulcans who every seven years have to go through this.

Strong direction (from Dirty Harry's own Andrew Robinson!) and good storytelling really produces a gem in this Vulcan-themed episode of Voyager. So a Vulcan officer is suffering the seven-year Pon Farr, requesting B'Elanna to be his mate, but she has no interest whatsoever. Because the Voyager is far from the Planet Vulcan, Ensign Vorik (Alexander Enberg) is undergoing the "blood fever", needing to find a way to undermine "chemical imbalance" in his biology which could kill him if he doesn't find a mate, battle someone for a mate, or meditate his way through the ordeal (which isn't easy on a starship instead of his homeworld). The Doctor attempts to appeal to Vorik to allow assistance in the fight against the blood fever, but this is a personal journey that resists the help of those not Vulcan. Vorik, not completely in control as normal, applies a telepathic link by cuffing his hands to Torres' neck, passing off the effects of Pon Farr to her. Beaming down with Tom and Neelix to a planet rich with an energy source certain to boost the warp core on the Voyager, Torres' Klingon mating desires inflame, encouraging her to act out of character, far more aggressive, animalistic, and "hands-on". When she bites Tom on the face (!), he communicates this to Janeway, learning from Tuvok that the blood fever is plaguing her as well. When Chakotay and Tuvok beam to the planet, they encounter an underground race whose civilization was obliterated in a fierce attack, leaving them paranoid, afraid, and far more alert towards any other invaders that might threaten them. But because the Federation is peaceful and wants to help the Sakarian race conceal themselves properly so no other visitors bother them, they in turn agree to provide the Voyager with the gallacite needed for advanced warp function.

The episode develops the ongoing sexual tension between Paris and Torres by having them address buried interest/feelings that might actually exist but not act on due to the blood fever influence, introduces another Vulcan to the Voyager audience, recalls Original Star Trek with a throwback to the Vulcan mating rituals and Kali Fee (although there is a fight, it isn't to the death), gives the Doctor a challenge he nearly succeeds in a holodeck program recreating Vulcan and a mate for Vorik (and inspires a research project into studying mating rituals for other races), and prepares the Voyager and its audience for an upcoming foe, the Borg. It is a busy, very active episode, but a lot of fun with almost the entire cast involved in one way or another. Torres telling Paris be careful what he asks for (more of her Klingon side) is certainly a setup for future episodes (Paris proves quite noble when he resists his urges to make love to Torres, while she pretends to brush off their time alone on the planet as "not her but the fever"). The Doctor's resistance from Tuvok and Vorik shows us that Vulcans consider their privacy of the utmost importance, not to be shared with those "who wouldn't understand". Losing their logic with the rush of intense emotion is embarrassing and frustrating to them. Seeing Vulcans vulnerable and unhinged provides insight into their "bad biology" where logic and control, key to their way of life and behavior daily, leave them; one moment has Paris sympathizing with Tuvok's biological "imperfection" every seven years, remarking he can't imagine what they must be like. To handle all these alternating subplots and keep the episode clear, concise, and held together is damned impressive work from Robinson.

A quick check of the IMDb database shows that this series may well have been the last great mass-audience production from traditional TV. Shortly thereafter, we had computers, 500 cable channels, the iPod, streaming media, Netflix -- you know the drill. What is especially remarkable is how weak the series started -- one reviewer called it an "inter-stellar day care centre," a reference to the attempt at political correctness in the early episodes -- and how well it finished. Some of the individual time travel episodes are as good as, or better, than theatre features. This episode is testament to the talent of Roxanne Dixon, whose contribution to the series was not always appreciated by reviewers. (Though she did direct some episodes). Here she has to move back and forth between her usual character and one possessed by a "chemical balance." She is fantastic. The episode also sets the stage for the coming romance between her character and Tom. Great

While preparing for an away mission B'Elanna is somewhat taken aback when Vulcan Ensign Vorik declares his desire for her to become his mate, she is even more surprised when he grabs her. It turns out that Vorik is undergoing the 'Parn Far', an event that happens to Vulcans every seven years and causes them to seek a mate... and lose emotional control. While B'Elanna, Tom and Neelix are on the away mission looking for ore it is clear that something is wrong with B'Elanna; she is being even more aggressive than usual. It turns out that when Vorik grabbed her he made a telepathic link and now she too us undergoing the Parn Far. She must return to the ship to be treated but it appears the mines weren't as abandoned as had been thought and the owners have the away team surrounded before they can leave. A fight ensues and Tom and B'Elanna are trapped behind a cave in. Here he must resist her advances while trying to find a way out.

This was a fairly enjoyable episode, it was fun watching Tom resist B'Elanna's advances and the Doctor's solution to Vorik's problem seemed obvious at first but it led to a nice surprising ending. I'd noticed that Vorik had been appearing more lately, now it is clear why; the writers didn't want a crewmember we'd never seen before taking a major role. The costumes the away team wore for they away mission looked unfortunately like pyjamas; they certainly weren't flattering tor the male cast members. Roxann Dawson but in a good performance as B'Elanna and Alexander Enberg was equally good as Vorik; it was great seeing the two of them fight. The final scene where they found signs of an old enemy promises interesting episodes to come.

Genuinely-creepy Ensign Vorik gets the hot 'n nasties, as Vulcan pon farr strikes and he chooses B'Elanna to be his mate.

Not only does actor Alexander Enberg already look like a child molester, his romantic advances toward Torres are downright nauseating. He doesn't seem like a Vulcan so much as a strange Jewish man whose Mother gets him his jobs. But it seems Vorik has already infected B'Elanna with the raging hormones because she starts going crazy on an away mission and begging Tom to sex her in the rough and dirty Klingon-style. I like Voyager because it's a family show.

The episode gets extremely weird and difficult to watch as B'Elanna begs and pleads for sex... this is not only bizarre for Trek, it's bizarre for anything other than hardcore pornography. Up on the ship, Doc satisfies Vorik's epic erection by generating a Vulcan holodeck prostitute for him to screw. I know... if you thought that sentence was hard to read just imagine writing it.

The Doc's plan seems to work- Vorik is cured- until we learn in one of the sloppiest jump cuts and story gaps in history that Vorik has singlehandedly sabotaged the ship's communications AND transporters AND has beamed down to the surface STILL crazy with the urges AND ready to fight to the death over B'Elanna. How any of that happened off-screen is beyond me.

Torres faces off with Vorik and somehow the ensuing battle cures them both of their blood fever. (?) Way too far with the pon farr, fellows... take a lesson from Spock and just hijack the damn ship.

GRADE: D

The whole premise of this episode gets tiresome really fast. The young Vulcan who just popped on the scene a few episodes ago, goes into a Vulcan mating cycle and because Torres is the chosen one, he puts a kind of spell on her. She slips ito her Klingon side and is crazy for sex. As the crew looks for one of those miracle ores, several are trapped in some caverns and Paris and Torres are together (really together) and this leads to great discomfort. I just found the whole thing sort of endless and didn't get into the "will they, won't they" thing. My "will" was "will this ever end?"