Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series) Impulse (2003) User Reviews

T'Pol's Tour De Force

[mstomaso · 8/10 · 12 August 2007]

Jolene Blalock finally got the opportunity to show us what she is made of in this action-oriented episode. And she handles her role very admirably.

The episode has a clever opening sequence bound to pull most viewers in immediately. T'Pol is in sick bay screaming and accusing Archer of murder. We then go one day back in time and discover how they got there. The story begins when Enterprise locates The Seleya, one of the Vulcan ships lost in the expanse, and finds that there are life signs aboard despite the very heavy damage the ship has taken on.

The episode is reminiscent of first person shooter video games, and the action does become a bit tedious after a while. But Blalock's 'torn loose' performance is enough to keep it interesting.

A final comment - there is a fairly massive plot hole involving the Vulcans and their medical science, which astute viewers will pick up on immediately. Don't let it bother you.. Enjoy it for what it is - one of the better Enterprise episodes.

Hope you're not epileptic

[sophie-lapointe-phys · 6/10 · 19 March 2020]

Story is ok, but all there is to see are flashes. Barely watchable.

The Night of the Living Vulcans

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 3 February 2008]

The Enterprise receives a distress call from the Vulcan ship Seleya where T'Pol had served before going to Earth, but there are asteroids with random movements in her way. Archer, T'Pol, Reed and Corporal Hawkins get Shuttlepod One to reach Seleya, but they are attacked by the Vulcan survivors that act like zombies and seal the bulkheads, and the rescue team is not able to return to their docked vehicle. When T'Pol feels that she is being also affected in the Seleya, she transmits the data she had obtained to Dr. Phlox for analysis. Dr. Phlox finds that a toxin in the Trellium causes brain damage in the Vulcans and T'Pol has to immediately return to the Enterprise for treatment. However, Shuttlepod Two needs to be repaired after an unsuccessful trial of Trip and Travis of bringing Trellium ore from one asteroid to be refined.

"Impulse" is a tense episode with great performance of Jolene Blalock when her character becomes paranoid and incapable of controlling her emotions. The Vulcan survivors look like zombies, returning to the primitive status of violent race. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Impulso" ("Impulse")

Why this didn't come with a seizure warning is beyond me...

[luckythday · 23 October 2021]

...seriously, no joke, it should have a seizure warning. I'm trying to understand the logic of what they were thinking.

Other than that, the story is alright, but seriously, if you suffer seizures don't watch this.

T'Pol Is Put to the Test

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 23 March 2017]

A Vulcan ship is discovered, disabled in an asteroid field. When Archer, Malcolm, T'Pol and the new guy go on board, they are assaulted by zombie-like Vulcans who have succumbed to the effects of the asteroids. Unfortunately, T'Pol begins to transition to one of the Vulcan undead. Most of the adventure has to do with the crew, wading through 147 of these characters. They seem to be around every corner and also seem to have an organized approach to the "intruders." Trip and Travis harvest a huge amount of the asteroid substance, but there will be a problem using it to avoid the anomaly.

Entertaining even though extremely unoriginal & missed opportunity.

[wwcanoer-tech · 8/10 · 28 November 2021]

It's a good premise. The Vulcan ship finds a strange asteroid field that contains Trellium-D needed to protect their ship from spatial anomalies. Unfortunately, that substance is poisonous to the Vulcans, causing them to no longer be able to control their emotions. They send out a distress call and Enterprise responds, finding the heavily damaged ship adrift in the asteroid field.

Great! This should be interesting!

So, how did we fall into a cliché zombie movie?!

For what it was, the episode was entertaining and moved at a good pace, if you could withstand the strobe lights, but wasn't creative and didn't advance the plot of the season's arc.

The basic theory is that removing the Vulcan's ability to control their emotions, they become very violent. Well, these Vulcans were mostly mindless zombies attacking the newcomers (except when they were smart enough to close doors and release gas). They didn't show any aggression towards each other. And why have facial lesions for a neurological problem?

Far more logical would be to find a ship that has divided itself into two or more factions, fighting for control of the ship while fighting among each other. This could go in a variety of unpredictable directions. One faction could have retained some sanity and is talking to Enterprise while the other sees Enterprise as an invading force to be wiped out that would rather self-destruct the ship than to be overrun by humans.

Having T'Pol changed by the poison is good, but it didn't need to be a surprise. She could be boarding the ship knowing that it's a risk but that she must be there because she knows the ship, must try to communicate with the crew, or perhaps that only she can access the ship's controls because the biometric security will still have her data from when she worked on the ship.

Does there always have to be a B plot? There's a little humor from their attempt to transport and mine the Trellium but it makes absolutely no sense to do that while Archer is going into a dangerous minefield to rescue the Vulcans. The Trellium can wait. All hands would be focused on the rescue! At the very least, they would be on standby in case the first team got into trouble, as they obviously will.

To say "We can't rescue you because we damaged the shuttle pod." is a lazy way to extend the team's time on the Vulcan ship.

Timeline is another problem. When the Xindi ship attacked Earth, we learned of the Vulcan's disastrous experiences with the expanse, but that happened only 8 months ago?! How convenient. I assumed that it was ancient history. How had the Vulcan ship survived this long and how long was it in the asteroid field? Judging the speed at which T'Pol was affected, they could not have been stranded for long. Even Zombies need to eat.

Missing was any attempt to retrieve the Vulcan database and its logs. Given the thoroughness of the Vulcans, those logs would have been invaluable for Enterprise, and later the Vulcans.

How does a massive 10 or 20 deck ship become destroyed on the inside by rocks hitting it on the outside? Of course, we see large sections missing on the outside and collisions of that could have knocked loose some things but the state of the interior felt overdone. Of course, power, life support, gravity plating and most controls work fine because we need those.

This was another missed opportunity for a truly interesting episode. What would happen to a ship of Vulcans who could not control their emotions? Zombies is not an acceptable answer. And, more importantly, isn't an interesting answer.

Star Trek goes full Zombie

[snoozejonc · 6/10 · 8 October 2020]

An Enterprise away team boards a missing Vulcan ship the Seleya.

It's a decent example of a Zombie movie set on board a spaceship. I don't mean shades of Zombie-like qualities like you get with Borg episodes. I mean Enterprise has gone 'full Zombie', with moving, decaying, green skinned, wild eyed, non-communicative hoards chasing the main protagonists.

The setting is quite 'Aliens'-like in it's atmosphere as Archer, T'Pol, Malcolm and Hawkins battle through the decaying Seleya. The action moves at a fast pace and has some suspenseful moments. Particularly when they have to get a cross a thin metal beam suspended across a missing floor section of a corridor on the Seleya.

There are some good showings from all characters, particularly T'Pol who gets to let some real emotion out that works well with the plot. It looks like what happens to her in this one will impact later episodes. Malcolm has some pretty cool action moments when fighting off Zombies, which he badly needs after the way the writers have previously treated his character.

It's a well made episode, but it's just another zombie story and if you've seen 'Night The Living Dead', 'Dawn Of The Dead', 'Dead Alive', '28 Days Later' or 'Shaun Of The Dead', this isn't really going to show you much you haven't seen before.

Night of the Living Dead....Vulcans!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 30 March 2015]

This episode begins with T'Pol in sickbay and she's totally paranoid and out of control. Then, the episode jumps back a day so you can see what led her to this state.

It begins with the ship receiving an automated distress call from a Vulcan ship---a ship T'Pol served on in the past. No living being is answering the Enterprise's call and it's in the middle of a horrific asteroid field. Getting to the stricken ship sure isn't easy--but they finally make it. Unfortunately, it turns out that the ship is filled with Vulcans who are like extras from "Night of the Living Dead". They don't seem to want brains...but they do seem intent on killing the rescue party. Why did this happen and what will happen to T'Pol-- will she become a space zombie?!

This is a rather low-brow but entertaining episode. Sure, it ain't deep but it is rather cool.

those lights!

[seraphin01 · 7/10 · 29 December 2013]

Well it could as well been one of the best star trek episodes, plot is decent, acting also, but those STROBING LIGHTS! Gosh was a catastrophe really, if you're epileptic chances are you'll have a seizure watching this episode, yeah sure the ship is in a bad shape, doesn't mean there has to be sparkles all over the place all the time, it simply ruined that episode for me, especially while watching it at night (which this episode should be watched at).

As for the rest like I said it's pretty decent, some more mysterious anomalies, the revealing of the event we saw on the Vulcan video before they lost contact with the high council, worth watching obviously

So yeah my vote 7, should have been more if it wasn't for that episode breaker realization

When Vulcan Zombies Attack!

[Samuel-Shovel · 7/10 · 10 January 2018]

In Impulse, the Enterprise recieves an automated SOS from the missing Vulcan ship Seleya. The crew arrives and finds the ship in an asteroid field rich in Trellium ore. Though the Vulcan crew are alive, they are not behaving normally and are unapproachable and violent. As their disease begins to affect T'Pol, its up to Archer and Reed to get her back to the Enterprise in time to save her.

I'm a sucker for a good zombie flick so I had a fun time with this one. Is it dumb? Sure, but it was also a good ride. The action does get a bit stale at points during this one but it gets the job done. T'Pol continues to be the most interesting character to date. Blalock's acting in this one runs circles around the rest of the cast. It's interesting how the two non-human characters on the show are the most relatable and interesting.

Conclusion: A bit silly but still very enjoyable. I loved the sets and the pyrotechnics!

EPILEPSY WARNING!!!!!!!

[michaelegan-31730 · 1/10 · 22 July 2021]

DO NOT WATCH THIS EPISODE IF YOU SUFFER FROM EPILEPSY!!!! Severe flashing of lights in a strobe manner for an unreasonably extended period.

Here we got captain Archer S.Kennedy

[Sermell_Sino · 7/10 · 7 November 2018]

Just watched this one. I cannot help but to admit that the episode was quite impressive, almost intimidating. However, at first sight I felt like I was watching a live-action version of Resident Evil 4 lol. Does anybody share this sentiment? The Vulcan zombies are mad but seem still not QUITE there. I mean, they still have at least some of their consciousness and intelligence. This feature cannot be more in line with RE's Majinis and Ganados. And their appearance, that scrambled-yet-still-recognizable look also resembles a typical RE enemy unit of the 2000s. I always enjoyed the scenes where T'Pol's logical side and emotional side come to clash. T'Pol has already gained a lot of role development in that respect, but this is the very first time where she completely loses that facade and reveals the "paranoia, homicidal rage" facet of pre-Sarek Vulcans. This is not easily played, because shows involving strong emotions often make the worst awkward scenes, but Jolene Blalock played it well. The mental deterioration of T'Pol are seen to have clear steps, and when she blasts off, her craze looked genuine. The whole bridge crew(excluding poor Linda Park who hardly even get a technobabble line this time) performed quite well. In addition, Captain Archer shows his fully human side for the first time since the break of the Xindi crisis. However this episode has notable potholes. The medical and technological capacities of Seleya should be beyond the level of a single, obscure distress call when disaster impends. The fact that all Vulcan zombies uses primitive arms instead of guns(actually nothing but bent pipes) is visually impressive but unconvincing. Most importantly, while the ship apparently still retains most of its basic functions, it blew up without reason right after our hero crew escapes, it seems too good a coincidence: "too good to be real". My vote is seven.

Solid episode

[ghanima_atrieadies · 7/10 · 31 January 2021]

Overall, very good. Vulcans gone mad. Not really going to go into much detail but I do want to take a moment and recognize Hawkins. The MACOs don't get a fair shake in this. I blame the writers but finally a MACO that's not a red shirt and actually has some character.

This Episode Needs Warnings.

[wendyschardein · 1/10 · 6 April 2022]

Couldn't tell if the episode was good or not because I spent the entire time hiding my eyes. Anyone with epilepsy or migraines should just read the synopsis.

It's the Brannon Braga & Rick Burman STROBE LIGHT SHOW!!.

[davidhiggins-89756 · 1/10 · 10 August 2021]

Yea, great for those with Photo-sensitivity and even those with some forms of Epilepsy, but NO, stuff them eh! Brann & Rick. In this 'Impulse' episode we get 20 mins or so of STROBE effects on the Vulcan ship, TOTALLY ruining the episode for many people, many Star Trek fans KICKED in the teeth YET again. No regard for them. Well it isn't good enough.

NOT content with ruining the many Voyager/BORG episodes with a green tinted STROBE effect for large portions of an episode, RUINING that, (Piller & Burman in those offensive instances!), we have here Braga & Burman giving us CHEAP visual effects, with a tint of blue STROBING this time. 'Yea, we'll have lots of STROBE lighting all the way through', someone said.

All in aid to JAZZ it all up was it, to make it more 'exiting'. Wasn't the script exiting enough almost on its own?. Well erstwhile Producers & Script writers Jonathan Fernandez & Terry Matalas you failed!, cause for me I had to FFx4 it for large portions of this garbage scuttle Impulse episode.

Of cause this episode also brings up the sheer daftness of Trip Tucker deciding to go on an asteroid CRUNCHING perilous trip in shuttle pod 2, putting that craft in physical danger of being crushed at the pivotal moment when Shuttlepod 1 was virtually stranded being used by the Captain & co.

If anything happened to Shuttlepod 1, (as it did), how would it be retrieved with Shuttlepod 2 damaged, smashed to pieces & the Enterprise ship unable to get any further?. More daft & reckless thinking then eh Trip on your trip.

And what sort of trip were Brannon Braga & Rick Burman on as well?. Enterprise had just had a refit, no room in the Shuttlepod bay for 1 more Shuttlepod was there?. NO need at all in Starfleet's ongoing conflict/war against the Xindi to have 4 Attack shuttle crafts on Enterprise then!.

Fully armed, bursting with firepower like mini (DS9) USS Defiant's so that Enterprise if attacking or when attacked can have a swarm of attacking crafts with extra multi directional fighting force to win an encounter. Didn't the Star Trek Producers/Scriptwiters think of that.

What Starfleet would have ACTUALLY done, making the show FAR MORE realistic, giving it an edge, so it sat better in the Star Trek fans minds as solid, well crafted sci-fi that credibility wise would be hard to beat.

But NO, not for BB & RB our intrepid hero's, just have the limited thinking SAME 2 upturned bathtub shuttlepods. Quite laughable. 1 gets permanently damaged then what?. What do they do out there in space almost on their own?. POOR SCRIPT WRITING!!!!!.

No spare shuttlepod to retrieve the other & its occupants, stranded, should Enterprise be unable to assist. So yet MORE evidence of poor overall series script-writing, it just would not have happened, totally unrealistic, Rick & Brann would sooner stick with CHEAP overly done STROBE visual effects instead of fine tuning the series script.

As we could see in this episode 'impulse', (that I found not impulsive but REPULSIVE), totally RUINING this episode, all to try & jazz something up, doing that rather than give us plausible well thought out scripts for the series.

There was to be fair though a complex, developing & intriguing plot running through large parts of the Enterprise series, BUT massive plot holes/unrealistic situations within it all as well. Needing extra contemplating & working out by the Producers & script writers to get it 'just right'.

As mentioned in my review of the utter disaster of an Enterprise episode, S03E03 'Extinction', Brannon Braga & Rick Burman did not get it right in many instances. Here noted above is at least TWO MORE instances. Maybe why those 2 ended up getting Enterprise canned!!. They didn't listen to what Han Solo said and did get too Cocky.

Nasty nasty STROBE effects for the majority of an episode FLASHING on & off in a burst of discomfort every 3 or 4 secs, GIVE IT A REST with these strobe effects why don't you.

For a short ten secs segment maybe, then cut it out, NOT all the way through an episode in the STROBE LIGHTING location/set scenes. (Vulcan ship, in this instance. Borg vessels in others etc.).

So for that BB & RB and for the daft unrealistic notion of having a refit and JUST keeping 2 overturned bathtub shuttlepods, not even tooled up with extra firepower, let alone the more realistic notion as I have mentioned above, just a 1 star review.

AND for sure Brannon Braga & Rick Burman for this particular episode, for the continued visual ABUSE & disregard of some the Star Trek viewers, yes, you did SOMETHING VERY WRONG!, you don't deserve even 1 stars!.

More of an impulse speed fraction of a 1 Star/warp 1 speed for this 'Impulse' episode. Take your pick, maybe 1/2 impulse speed/half a Star then to be real generous.

Considering all the hard work put in by those 'other' than the Producers & Impulse episode Script writers Jonathan Fernandez & Terry Matalas just 1/2 a Star then. Just WHO is going to own up to the STROBE lighting?.