Synopsis: Ensign Vorik experiences Pon-farr and manages to telepathically initiate the same in Lt. Torres.
This episode can be seen as an illustration of what happens when a complex brings bits of material from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious into the awareness of the Logos-driven rational conscious ego.
In “Blood Fever” Ensign Vorik begins to go through the Vulcan rite of Pon-farr, which The Doctor explains has only three possible outcomes, mating, combat, or intense meditation. However before coming to see The Doctor, Vorik expresses his interest in mating with Lt. B’Elanna Torres, and somehow telepathically initiates a mating bond with her in spite of her refusal to do so. As it turns out, the only way for them to get through the process is to fight each other, and thus purging themselves of the blood fever that has taken them over.
The concept of the Pon-farr was first seen by viewers in the episode “Amok Time” from Star Trek: The Original Series, and since then we have become acquainted with this biological drive that erupts in Vulcan males every seven years. In “Amok Time” Mr. Spock himself identified it as the price to be paid for living a logical, or Logos-driven life the rest of the time. And indeed, the ferocity in which the Pon-farr arises in a Vulcan can be analogized to what happens when a long suppressed bit of material from the unconscious can no longer be ignored. It must be dealt with before life can go on. This is one of the many aspects of Vulcan culture that lead me to identify it with the tenets of our own Western society, and will be something that I explore in my upcoming dissertation.
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