Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About T'Pol

4. It's A Trellium Down For This Storyline

Star Trek Impulse
CBS

The third season of Enterprise saw T'Pol exposed to a compound that was known as Trellium D. It was highly addictive, and damaging. Its first appearance came in Impulse, which is effectively the Zombie Vulcan episode - a genuinely unnerving story about the Vulcan Science Ship Seleya.

T'Pol's addiction to this substance, using it to expand her understanding of emotions, was a controversial one. Brannon Braga later said that he understood this storyline would be a controversial one, as it would show T'Pol knowingly continuing to abuse the substance to further her own understanding of emotions.

As this was a storyline that had notably never been attempted with any of the male Vulcans in the franchise, it left the door open to criticism as to why exactly the writers were going down this route. Though they would later defend the storyline, it remains a highly controversial one to this day.

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"