6 Ups & 4 Downs From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3.3 — Shuttle To Kenfori

6. UP — My Mind To Your Face

"The last time I heard the words my mind to your mind, I had a headache for two weeks," Captain Janeway would note to Commander Chakotay in the 24th century. More than a century or so earlier in Shuttle to Kenfori, the one giving the mind meld would wind up with a sore head in what was an unexpectedly comical, yet all the while terrifying, scene.

More Nurse Gamble is already an UP. Then Spock enters the room to perform what is, in essence, a previously unseen form of mind meld as meditation on Captain Batel. "One breath between us" was a nice touch! Things go wrong rapidly. The Gorn tissue inside Batel asserts itself. Both begin to scream.

The direction and editing of the scene are impeccable. A series of close-ups on Spock and Batel are interspersed with a split-screen effect featuring the Gorn. Through Spock's eyes, we also see like the lizard species for a moment. Poor Gamble is sent flying.

The comedic comes when Nurse Chapel is forced to slap Spock across the face to break the meld. The half-Vulcan takes it in his stride, merely noting, "I seem to have temporarily lost control". Ya think?