Voyager 3x3 "The Chute"

rating: **

the story: Harry and Paris end up in an alien prison.

what it's all about: "The Chute" is certainly not groundbreaking in any way.  It's part of a tradition of episodes where Starfleet personnel end up in, well, an alien prison.  So it's one of those.

But there are still a few things that make it interesting.  One of the least interesting of those is the fact that Neelix's old ship makes an appearance.  Surprisingly, that ship saw very little action in the series, when you'd think, and probably a lot of other producers would've gone that way, that it would've been used heavily, maybe even as a signature ship in the series.  And actually, they end up building a totally different companion ship, the Delta Flyer, later.  So there's that.

There's also Robert Pine guest-starring.  Robert Pine, right?  Woo!  Except, Pine is the father of Chris Pine, the second-ever actor to play Kirk, in the Abrams movies.  So that's pretty cool!  He makes a second appearance in the franchise, too (Enterprise's "Fusion").

Okay, okay.  So what makes this episode really interesting?  Aside from the friendship of Harry and Paris more or less in the spotlight?  (Because the alien prison kind of makes them turn on each other.)  It's the alien prison.  Being in space.  It's a kind of space station alien prison.  It's a reveal they work toward, and it's pretty awesome.  It's one of the most memorable reveals in any episode in the whole franchise. 

So now you know what's interesting about "The Chute."

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Joins the alien prison trope tradition.
• series - Has no specific significance.
• character - Seeing Harry and Paris experience this mess together is a reminder that actual friendships in this franchise rarely get episodes where they're in the spotlight.  (Aside from every episode of the original series, I guess.)
• essential - Not especially.

notable guest-stars:
Robert Pine
James Parks