*
I loved "The Thaw." In my version of the future trajectory of the series, the Clown made many further appearances. He would've been Voyager's Q (except Q had already begun his journey to becoming Voyager's Q), someone who messed with the crew whenever the opportunity presented itself, like the Demon of Fear in Charmed.
Other than that unfulfilled potential, "The Thaw" is a fairly generic episode, akin to any number of experiences Kirk had in the original series, being trapped by a being who thought it could do whatever it wanted with him. Janeway eventually beats him (with one of the better endings to any episode), but it's fun seeing the crew walks into this one (wouldn't be the last time) by visiting an alien world and basically opening Pandora's Box. This is another one where if the show had lasted only a few seasons, it would have been one of Voyager's standout episodes (because then the Clown could always have reappeared and there's no telling that it wouldn't have happened).
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Michael McKean
Memory Alpha summary.
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Friday, June 15, 2012
Voyager 2x22 "Innocence"
*
I've always liked "Innocence." It's a Tuvok episode that like many Tuvok episodes, tries to take him out of his element, but in the process shows us that there are a lot of elements to the character.
If you ever wanted to see a Vulcan's idea of rearing children, this is the episode for you. Stuck on an alien world, Tuvok finds himself caring for a bunch of kids inexplicably left here. They're all scared and they don't understand what's going on, and they've all heard stories about what happens to kids left here. Tuvok attempts to use logic on them. It eventually works. Pretty much.
Of course, there's a great twist to what's actually going on, but that's just icing on the cake. What other character would seem more out of place in this situation, but which one would actually handle it better? After watching "Innocence," I'll bet you'd be hard-pressed for an answer, too. Suffice it to say, he handles it better than Picard did.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
I've always liked "Innocence." It's a Tuvok episode that like many Tuvok episodes, tries to take him out of his element, but in the process shows us that there are a lot of elements to the character.
If you ever wanted to see a Vulcan's idea of rearing children, this is the episode for you. Stuck on an alien world, Tuvok finds himself caring for a bunch of kids inexplicably left here. They're all scared and they don't understand what's going on, and they've all heard stories about what happens to kids left here. Tuvok attempts to use logic on them. It eventually works. Pretty much.
Of course, there's a great twist to what's actually going on, but that's just icing on the cake. What other character would seem more out of place in this situation, but which one would actually handle it better? After watching "Innocence," I'll bet you'd be hard-pressed for an answer, too. Suffice it to say, he handles it better than Picard did.
franchise * series * essential * character
Memory Alpha summary.
Voyager 2x21 "Deadlock"
*
"Deadlock" has that rare distinction of being a fairly generic episode that slips in a fairly huge impact on the series.
It's another of those crisis episodes with spacial paradoxes that leave everyone scrambling to survive. There're plenty of episodes like that. You can watch it to enjoy how it does that. And while you do that, you can see Naomi Wildman born. And then die. And then come back because there's another one on the other ship. Harry Kim does, too, and is replaced by his doppelganger.
Hey, it happened to Miles O'Brien, too.
Otherwise, move along.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Simon Billig
Nancy Hower
Memory Alpha summary.
"Deadlock" has that rare distinction of being a fairly generic episode that slips in a fairly huge impact on the series.
It's another of those crisis episodes with spacial paradoxes that leave everyone scrambling to survive. There're plenty of episodes like that. You can watch it to enjoy how it does that. And while you do that, you can see Naomi Wildman born. And then die. And then come back because there's another one on the other ship. Harry Kim does, too, and is replaced by his doppelganger.
Hey, it happened to Miles O'Brien, too.
Otherwise, move along.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Simon Billig
Nancy Hower
Memory Alpha summary.
Voyager 2x20 "Investigations"
***
The Kazon arc of the season has one of its essential elements play out this episode, in a number of intriguing ways.
For several episodes, we've known that Jonas has been conversing with the Kazon, feeding them information. He's a traitor, and he plays into Seska's hands. But he doesn't get away with it scott free. Tom Paris makes a big show of becoming disgruntled and actually leaves the ship this episode, another minor recurring arc coming to fruition this episode. Anyone watching the series from the beginning might assume that he's finally falling back on the character traits that defined him in "Caretaker."
Then we have Neelix of all people trying to figure out how the Tom Paris he's come to know has reached this point, and in the process uncovering Jonas' treachery. The whole affair is like a status marker. Some fans were still complaining (and still do) that the Maquis as a storytelling device were a lost opportunity, and yet they gave us Seska, Jonas, and Suder, all characters who would never have existed in any other Starfleet crew, doing things no other Starfleet officer would have ever done, and each of them brought their drama into the second season of the series, and forced the rest of the crew to reveal their greatest strengths. Earlier in the season Chakotay benefited from it, and now in "Investigations" Paris and Neelix do.
Paris struggled hard to prove he wasn't just the callow outcast he first appeared to be, just as Neelix tried and continued to try well after this that his outsider status had unexpected benefits. Neelix was never going to be a character who exposed the human condition like Spock or Data, because he was, for the most part, extremely happy to be himself. But every now and again, he saw something just differently enough to question things that needed to be questioned, and caught the crew in their complacency. That's how he figured out what was really going on. That's why he made such a good match for Tuvok. Because they really weren't so different.
"Investigations" is one of the most important episodes of the season, and yet it's long stood as one of the most forgotten. Hopefully that's something that can change, too.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Martha Hackett
Simon Billig
Memory Alpha summary.
The Kazon arc of the season has one of its essential elements play out this episode, in a number of intriguing ways.
For several episodes, we've known that Jonas has been conversing with the Kazon, feeding them information. He's a traitor, and he plays into Seska's hands. But he doesn't get away with it scott free. Tom Paris makes a big show of becoming disgruntled and actually leaves the ship this episode, another minor recurring arc coming to fruition this episode. Anyone watching the series from the beginning might assume that he's finally falling back on the character traits that defined him in "Caretaker."
Then we have Neelix of all people trying to figure out how the Tom Paris he's come to know has reached this point, and in the process uncovering Jonas' treachery. The whole affair is like a status marker. Some fans were still complaining (and still do) that the Maquis as a storytelling device were a lost opportunity, and yet they gave us Seska, Jonas, and Suder, all characters who would never have existed in any other Starfleet crew, doing things no other Starfleet officer would have ever done, and each of them brought their drama into the second season of the series, and forced the rest of the crew to reveal their greatest strengths. Earlier in the season Chakotay benefited from it, and now in "Investigations" Paris and Neelix do.
Paris struggled hard to prove he wasn't just the callow outcast he first appeared to be, just as Neelix tried and continued to try well after this that his outsider status had unexpected benefits. Neelix was never going to be a character who exposed the human condition like Spock or Data, because he was, for the most part, extremely happy to be himself. But every now and again, he saw something just differently enough to question things that needed to be questioned, and caught the crew in their complacency. That's how he figured out what was really going on. That's why he made such a good match for Tuvok. Because they really weren't so different.
"Investigations" is one of the most important episodes of the season, and yet it's long stood as one of the most forgotten. Hopefully that's something that can change, too.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Martha Hackett
Simon Billig
Memory Alpha summary.
Voyager 2x19 "Lifesigns"
***
The last Vidiian episode closes the Phage-ridden species on a hopeful note, and if that's not enough to celebrate, then how about a pretty significant development for The Doctor?
The Vidiians were alien menaces who preyed on our crew for body parts and potential cures, and they were always fun, always providing series highlights, but they were also fairly one-dimensional, perhaps understandably so, because according to their timeline, they'd been suffering the Phage plague for an incredibly long time. "Lifesigns" is an indication that they aren't all that bad, so chances are they used to be pretty good, actually. We meet a Vidiian who longs to be seen for something other than her disease, and thanks to the Holodeck, we actually do see what a Vidiian would look like without all the degeneration.
The Doctor, meanwhile, gains her as a love interest, and it forces him to be something other than acerbic for the first time, and it's a huge breakthrough. It's because she sees him for something other than a program, much as he sees her for something other than her scarred appearance. Sure, Kes has always been supportive, but there was always a distance, like a quasi-academic relationship exists between them. Kes is a project for Tuvok, and The Doctor is a project for Kes. (There's a lot to say about Kes, but this is not really an appropriate moment.)
Later, of course, the Vidiians are revealed to have been cured by the Think Tank, so it's anyone guess where their story goes from there, or what might have been possible if Voyager had been able to stick around any one region of space for more than a few seasons. The fact that the writers seemed to push it with some regions gave us a lot more than some fans sometimes appreciate. This is definitely one of those moments.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Martha Hackett
Memory Alpha summary.
The last Vidiian episode closes the Phage-ridden species on a hopeful note, and if that's not enough to celebrate, then how about a pretty significant development for The Doctor?
The Vidiians were alien menaces who preyed on our crew for body parts and potential cures, and they were always fun, always providing series highlights, but they were also fairly one-dimensional, perhaps understandably so, because according to their timeline, they'd been suffering the Phage plague for an incredibly long time. "Lifesigns" is an indication that they aren't all that bad, so chances are they used to be pretty good, actually. We meet a Vidiian who longs to be seen for something other than her disease, and thanks to the Holodeck, we actually do see what a Vidiian would look like without all the degeneration.
The Doctor, meanwhile, gains her as a love interest, and it forces him to be something other than acerbic for the first time, and it's a huge breakthrough. It's because she sees him for something other than a program, much as he sees her for something other than her scarred appearance. Sure, Kes has always been supportive, but there was always a distance, like a quasi-academic relationship exists between them. Kes is a project for Tuvok, and The Doctor is a project for Kes. (There's a lot to say about Kes, but this is not really an appropriate moment.)
Later, of course, the Vidiians are revealed to have been cured by the Think Tank, so it's anyone guess where their story goes from there, or what might have been possible if Voyager had been able to stick around any one region of space for more than a few seasons. The fact that the writers seemed to push it with some regions gave us a lot more than some fans sometimes appreciate. This is definitely one of those moments.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Martha Hackett
Memory Alpha summary.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Voyager 2x18 "Death Wish"
****
Arguably among the best Q episodes of any series, "Death Wish" is also one of the episodes where even Voyager skeptics begrudgingly admit to being exceptional.
Q, of course, is most famous for his Next Generation appearances, including in the first and last episodes, and a wonderfully complicated relationship with Picard. "Death Wish" might simply have been another "Q-less," the episode of Deep Space Nine that tried to explain just how different Sisko really was from Picard. Instead, it's much more than that. In fact, it's the first of three appearances for Q in the series, something that would've been unthinkable had "Death Wish" not succeeded as wildly as it did.
It made a new context of the character. Q is the same Q he always was, but he's thrust into an entirely new context. He'd been existential before, but only for himself. "Death Wish" forces him to confront the nature of the entire Q Continuum's existence. Because Janeway doesn't hesitate in helping him on that journey, he takes a certain liking to her. Unlike Picard, for whom he was trying to do exactly the same with humanity, the tables have been turned. His shenanigans can't save him now. "Death Wish" is the only time where a Q episode is completely serious. That's got to say something.
Sure, it's about suicide, and that's what most people pay attention to, but it also helps show exactly what it really intended to, which is the particular character of Voyager. Q in Next Generation was pretty cosmic. Q in Deep Space Nine was meddlesome. Q in Voyager was introspective. That ought to tell you something right there.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
John De Lancie
Jonathan Frakes
Memory Alpha summary.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
John De Lancie
Jonathan Frakes
Memory Alpha summary.
Voyager 2x17 "Dreadnought"
**
"Dreadnought" is remarkably similar to "Prototype" as a vehicle for B'Elanna Torres, but succeeds where its predecessor failed by making the story relevant enough to the character where its fairly generic plot actually fails her.
Episodes like this were easy to do with B'Elanna, because she is fantastic no matter what (to put it bluntly), and putting her in peril was one solid way to bring out the best of her. Oh, and the particular peril is a Cardassian weapon she modified that has also landed in the Delta Quadrant, and she must now disarm.
The fact that it ties into her past, which for the Maquis members of the crew can sometimes be a little vague (who seriously wouldn't have preferred to see Chakotay in his prime rather than his contentment?), adds that extra element that makes it more a success than a relative failure. Sure, most of that past is glossed over in favor of the increasing peril B'Elanna faces trying to deprogram the weapon (the Deep Space Nine episode "Civil Defenses" is the version of this episode done absolutely right, by the way), but it has just enough significance for a shot at redemption.
"Dreadnought" is not an episode that I would recommend to skeptics, but it's easily one that existing fans can revisit at their leisure, to see whether it truly fails or succeeds. It's one of those episodes.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Nancy Hower
Memory Alpha summary.
"Dreadnought" is remarkably similar to "Prototype" as a vehicle for B'Elanna Torres, but succeeds where its predecessor failed by making the story relevant enough to the character where its fairly generic plot actually fails her.
Episodes like this were easy to do with B'Elanna, because she is fantastic no matter what (to put it bluntly), and putting her in peril was one solid way to bring out the best of her. Oh, and the particular peril is a Cardassian weapon she modified that has also landed in the Delta Quadrant, and she must now disarm.
The fact that it ties into her past, which for the Maquis members of the crew can sometimes be a little vague (who seriously wouldn't have preferred to see Chakotay in his prime rather than his contentment?), adds that extra element that makes it more a success than a relative failure. Sure, most of that past is glossed over in favor of the increasing peril B'Elanna faces trying to deprogram the weapon (the Deep Space Nine episode "Civil Defenses" is the version of this episode done absolutely right, by the way), but it has just enough significance for a shot at redemption.
"Dreadnought" is not an episode that I would recommend to skeptics, but it's easily one that existing fans can revisit at their leisure, to see whether it truly fails or succeeds. It's one of those episodes.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Nancy Hower
Memory Alpha summary.
Voyager 2x16 "Meld"
****
"Meld" is the definitive Tuvok episode, and it's a rival of "Amok Time" as a definitive Vulcan episode. In fact, it's Tuvok's "Amok Time.
"Amok Time," as any Star Trek fan ought to know, is the original series episode where Spock is suffering from the Vulcan blood fever, pon farr, and begins acting irrationally until he's allowed to go home and mate. Except it doesn't prove that easy. He's got a challenger to his intended bride, and has to fight for it. And it's not even that easy! He ends up having to fight Kirk, and actually "kill" him.
"Meld" is like that, but thoroughly Tuvok instead of thoroughly Spock. "Amok Time" happened because Spock served in Starfleet. "Meld" happens because Tuvok is lost in the Delta Quadrant. Tuvok was Voyager's tactical officer, but also served as the local sheriff, and as such when a murderer is discovered among the crew, it falls to him to discover the culprit. Like an episode of Law & Order: SVU, this does not actually solve the problem, because Lon Suder cannot control himself. So Tuvok offers to control Suder for him. He does this by melding with him and taking on his murderous impulses, like Picard agreeing to assume Sarek's emotions, and it doesn't quite work out as planned.
Tuvok has Vulcan control, but not enough. "Meld" is about the limits of self-restraint, of responsibility, and accountability. It's about Suder as much as it about Tuvok, but mostly, it's Tuvok's finest hour. It's another episode that challenges the perceptions of those who claimed it was unnecessary and fruitless to pursue Voyager as conceived, perhaps one of the best examples as to how the series lived up to its potential, in many and unexpected ways.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Brad Dourif
Simon Billig
Memory Alpha summary.
"Meld" is the definitive Tuvok episode, and it's a rival of "Amok Time" as a definitive Vulcan episode. In fact, it's Tuvok's "Amok Time.
"Amok Time," as any Star Trek fan ought to know, is the original series episode where Spock is suffering from the Vulcan blood fever, pon farr, and begins acting irrationally until he's allowed to go home and mate. Except it doesn't prove that easy. He's got a challenger to his intended bride, and has to fight for it. And it's not even that easy! He ends up having to fight Kirk, and actually "kill" him.
"Meld" is like that, but thoroughly Tuvok instead of thoroughly Spock. "Amok Time" happened because Spock served in Starfleet. "Meld" happens because Tuvok is lost in the Delta Quadrant. Tuvok was Voyager's tactical officer, but also served as the local sheriff, and as such when a murderer is discovered among the crew, it falls to him to discover the culprit. Like an episode of Law & Order: SVU, this does not actually solve the problem, because Lon Suder cannot control himself. So Tuvok offers to control Suder for him. He does this by melding with him and taking on his murderous impulses, like Picard agreeing to assume Sarek's emotions, and it doesn't quite work out as planned.
Tuvok has Vulcan control, but not enough. "Meld" is about the limits of self-restraint, of responsibility, and accountability. It's about Suder as much as it about Tuvok, but mostly, it's Tuvok's finest hour. It's another episode that challenges the perceptions of those who claimed it was unnecessary and fruitless to pursue Voyager as conceived, perhaps one of the best examples as to how the series lived up to its potential, in many and unexpected ways.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Brad Dourif
Simon Billig
Memory Alpha summary.
Voyager 2x15 "Threshold"
****
"Threshold" is that episode that proves that even Star Trek fans can be bigots.
There's no other way to put it. It's the one where Paris and Janeway cross the warp barrier and eventually turn into lizards. Apparently this was horribly offensive, especially because most sci-fi (including, famously, the final episode of Babylon 5) likes to believe that the only way to go is a being of unlimited ability. Q suggested that this was the fate of humanity in "All Good Things," and the franchise littered the stars with beings of exactly that description. Of course, it also went out of its way many times to explain that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" (as Riker explains when he gets himself a taste of it).
So who's to say where evolution really leads? Isn't it a little bit vain to say that we know?
It's hubris and ego, then, that've defined the reaction to "Threshold" for almost twenty years, and it's about time to turn that around. This is a great episode. For one thing, it's far more about Tom Paris than evolution and lizards. It's about him worrying about his legacy, one of the few characters at any moment in the series to express concern that what he does halfway across the universe can still somehow matter to people he may never see again. He's trying to get everyone home, sure, but he's also trying to make history. He's desperate. In any other Star Trek series, this would have been the actions of the guest star. In Voyager, it was a main character.
It's a defining episode for Paris, and that's something that's been obscured by fans reacting against something they can't possibly understand, and besides, it's science fiction. If a little errant speculation isn't possible, then what's the point? Seldom does Star Trek even bother to do this sort of thing. If anything, "Threshold" should be a milestone, not a cautionary tale. In fact, that's exactly what it was supposed to be, but for Paris, not the series. Funny how things can sometimes turn out.
Far from one of the worst episodes ever, it's one of the best. And it's high time people know that.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Memory Alpha summary.
"Threshold" is that episode that proves that even Star Trek fans can be bigots.
There's no other way to put it. It's the one where Paris and Janeway cross the warp barrier and eventually turn into lizards. Apparently this was horribly offensive, especially because most sci-fi (including, famously, the final episode of Babylon 5) likes to believe that the only way to go is a being of unlimited ability. Q suggested that this was the fate of humanity in "All Good Things," and the franchise littered the stars with beings of exactly that description. Of course, it also went out of its way many times to explain that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" (as Riker explains when he gets himself a taste of it).
So who's to say where evolution really leads? Isn't it a little bit vain to say that we know?
It's hubris and ego, then, that've defined the reaction to "Threshold" for almost twenty years, and it's about time to turn that around. This is a great episode. For one thing, it's far more about Tom Paris than evolution and lizards. It's about him worrying about his legacy, one of the few characters at any moment in the series to express concern that what he does halfway across the universe can still somehow matter to people he may never see again. He's trying to get everyone home, sure, but he's also trying to make history. He's desperate. In any other Star Trek series, this would have been the actions of the guest star. In Voyager, it was a main character.
It's a defining episode for Paris, and that's something that's been obscured by fans reacting against something they can't possibly understand, and besides, it's science fiction. If a little errant speculation isn't possible, then what's the point? Seldom does Star Trek even bother to do this sort of thing. If anything, "Threshold" should be a milestone, not a cautionary tale. In fact, that's exactly what it was supposed to be, but for Paris, not the series. Funny how things can sometimes turn out.
Far from one of the worst episodes ever, it's one of the best. And it's high time people know that.
franchise * series * essential * character
notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Memory Alpha summary.
Voyager 2x14 "Alliances"
**
"Alliances" is basically the secret origin of the Kazon. It's the episode where we discover how they became an intergalactic band of rival gangs, opportunistic thugs trying to survive by any means necessary, up to and excluding working together, even though this is an episode where Janeway tries to work with leaders from most of the sects, along with representatives of the Trabe.
Who're the Trabe? They're some persecuted aliens secretly manipulating Janeway in order to gain vengeance on the Kazon, even though they used to subjugate them and deserved the hard uprising that put them in that predicament in the first place. Suffice it to say, but if there had been a lot more Trabe in Kazon episodes, fans probably would've liked them better. But, as this is the only episode to feature them, it's an easy one to overlook.
The whole thing's really relevant because the season is about to plunge more heavily into its Kazon arc. "Maneuvers" was a good preview, but it doesn't really explain what's to come, other than that it'll involve Seska. "Alliances" is the beginning of the end of the Kazon in the series, and starts it off with a bang.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Martha Hackett
Anthony De Longis
Simon Billig
Memory Alpha summary.
"Alliances" is basically the secret origin of the Kazon. It's the episode where we discover how they became an intergalactic band of rival gangs, opportunistic thugs trying to survive by any means necessary, up to and excluding working together, even though this is an episode where Janeway tries to work with leaders from most of the sects, along with representatives of the Trabe.
Who're the Trabe? They're some persecuted aliens secretly manipulating Janeway in order to gain vengeance on the Kazon, even though they used to subjugate them and deserved the hard uprising that put them in that predicament in the first place. Suffice it to say, but if there had been a lot more Trabe in Kazon episodes, fans probably would've liked them better. But, as this is the only episode to feature them, it's an easy one to overlook.
The whole thing's really relevant because the season is about to plunge more heavily into its Kazon arc. "Maneuvers" was a good preview, but it doesn't really explain what's to come, other than that it'll involve Seska. "Alliances" is the beginning of the end of the Kazon in the series, and starts it off with a bang.
franchise * series * essential * character
Notable guest-stars:
Raphael Sbarge
Martha Hackett
Anthony De Longis
Simon Billig
Memory Alpha summary.
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