Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Meld

**** (4 stars out of 5)
Odo's not the only one who can smash up his room! Spock's not the only Vulcan who can smash! Troi's not the only Betazoid!

Of course, Troi's never been like this guy! Although, I'm starting to see it might be easier to be a lady Betazoid than a dude-a-zoid. These guys have problems with capital P's! I don't mean pronounciation, which rhymes with decapitation which stands for MURDER!

Maquis Crewman Lon Suder kills Starfleet co-worker Darwin for absolutely no reason. Other than he was named for that irritating dolphin on seaQuest DSV.

We learn that Mr. Tuvok is fastidious to the point of mania. It's the most open and shut murder EVER: full confession, DNA evidence, old Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. Method: staved in skull. Opportunity: Suder and Darwin alone for hours in engineering.  Motive: well, Mr. Tuvok simply CAN'T leave the form blank just because Suder is a rage-fueled nutbar who was bound to snap sooner or later and never bothered coming up with a motive.

So, of course, Tuvok does the only "logical" thing: a dangerously untested mind meld with a madman to find his answer. It turns out Suder is homicidally angry. And now so is Tuvok. BRILLIANT deductive reasoning, Holmes!

His emotional barriers crumbling, Tuvok shows his own rage and a strong personal belief in capital punishment which is not supported by the Federation. He moves to carry out said punishment against Suder unilaterally. Justice be done... or is it simply vengeance?

"Meld" offers Tim Russ being awesome, and Brad Dourif not being Charles "Chucky" Lee Ray but certainly shining as madly as ever. I've seen him as many different types of nut, and always a remarkable, riveting performance. My admiration for Mr. Dourif is nearly boundless. Can one have a crush on a crazy?

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