Admittedly I haven’t seen this episode, however…

Isn’t “bioessentialist” a little absurd in the context actual different species? Much less individuals who have just actually had their bodies abruptly rewritten into an entirely different species - and all the hormonal and neurological impacts that would imply?

I get wanting to reject bioessentialism in the context of real-world ethnic groups. But we’re also talking about species who - from the start - have been represented as having fundamentally non-human views on the universe… and then we’re surprised those bubble to the fore when people are unexpectedly dealing with a massive hormonal cocktail dumped straight into them?

Vulcans are naturally a violent emotional race, biologically. That’s why, societally, they have adopted strict logical regimens and control. Otherwise they go wild and crazy. Pon Farr is a time when their emotional controls are essentially broken and their biological natures surface.

If it were just a biological thing, the opposite effect would have likely happened. Unless their entire psyche and history was re-written at the same time.