Star Trek: 10 Episodes That Are UNWATCHABLE Now
2. Four And A Half Vulcans
Strange New World’s third season leaned on the comedic for several of its episodes. While Wedding Bell Blues offered genuine laughs in the shape of Rhys Darby’s ‘Wedding Planner’, the later offering, Four And A Half Vulcans, was a wide swing and a miss for the prequel series. A standard MacGuffin results in Pike, La’an, Chapel, and Uhura transform into Vulcans. Hilarity was meant to ensue. Instead, Star Trek once again sank into racial stereotypes, unfunny jokes at Spock’s expense, and an uncomfortable allusion to taking away someone’s consent.
The ‘Vulcans’ of the piece are said to have skipped the decades of mental training required to control their emotions (because science) and immediately set about highlighting their racial superiority to the half-human Spock. He is referred to as ‘half-a-Vulcan’, rather than simply ‘Vulcan.’ Logic is used to hand wave away his abuse, with an air of ‘don’t worry about it,’ rather than any real tackling of the impact of this segregation.
The episode that aired just before this one, What Is Starfleet? (Though not without its own issues) revealed that, as a child, Spock had engaged in self-harm to cut the human part out of himself. One week later, it is played for laughs, abandoning any attempt at taking this stark topic seriously. The episode seems more concerned with making surface level jokes than truly engaging with what it’s saying. Genetic directives play a large role, with La’an becoming more Romulan than Vulcan because of her augmented DNA.
The episode’s sole saving grace is Patton Oswalt’s Doug, and a post credits scene that show Spock attempting to teach him some human jokes. Otherwise, it’s a dismal affair across the board.