Voyager 1x15 "Jetrel"

rating: ****

the story: Neelix is confronted by the scientist responsible for a horrific weapon used against his people in a devastating war.

what it's all about: It's really quite alarming how Neelix became the Jar Jar Binks of Voyager, used as a poster child for everything that was wrong with the series.  He was considered too obnoxious, and that was pretty much all anyone who hated him and/or the series had to say.  People who either purposefully reduced his character to the basics anyone would've seen watching scraps here and there, or...I don't really know another way it could've happened.

"Jetrel" is another bold first season episode that flatly contradicts the general perception of Voyager, whether from its early years or throughout its run.  It explains Neelix's backstory in stark terms that are rare in the franchise, so that he's no longer the random passenger taken aboard in the pilot because of circumstances, but actually has a tragic reason for why he was meandering through space to begin with.  Especially, again, when you take into account the effect or even the effect of the effect the Borg had in the Delta Quadrant, the sad tales of aliens to be found throughout Voyager makes perfect sense, and there's really no more important sad tale than Neelix's, so to have a whole episode dedicated to it, right at the start, is startling foresight for a series everyone always claims didn't think anything through...

Anyway, "Jetrel" has echoes of "The Conscience of the King" in it, and is also a touchstone for Enterprise's later "Stratagem," setting during its third season Xindi arc.  The idea itself is hardly unique, but having Neelix once again contradict the impression he usually gives as unfailingly congenial (we first saw this in "Phage," and will again in the harrowing "Mortal Coil") is compelling in terms of character depth.  There's often a reason why people who seem happy all the time are so eager to project that image, which never seems to crack.  It's not even about the clown crying on the inside, but that Neelix has so many reasons to focus on the positive rather than the negative, and "Jetrel" most of all explains that: he's never really convinced by his performance, either.  So he spends all his time defying his impulses, which is why he's such a natural foil for Tuvok, not because they're opposites but because they're so much alike.  It's just, Neelix has found a way to keep his emotions.  He risks more but he's also capable of grand gestures like realizing the scientist whom he should revile deserves compassion.

It's a shame that we didn't see more Talaxians in the series, but it makes sense.  Neelix represents them well.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The familiar trope of the man behind a terrible event being exposed.
• series - Gives a context to Neelix.
• character - Gives Neelix some of his best material.
• essential - It helps explain a lot of fans tend to overlook about Neelix.

notable guest-stars:
James Sloyan

Deep Space Nine 5x12 "The Begotten"

rating: ****

the story: Odo finds himself in possession of an infant Founder.

what it's all about: Every time a character gives birth in a TV show, it's big news, one of the biggest events of the whole series.  And yet, when Kira finally gives birth to O'Brien and Keiko's baby (it's sci-fi, not your traditional surrogate route), the event is completely overshadowed by the summary I just gave above, and this is a very, very good thing.

Tangentially it solves the needless problem of Odo having lost his shapeshifting ability at the end of the previous season as a punishment from his fellow Founders.  Without comment it also reflects a story thread about the Founders, that they sent off hundreds of infants into the galaxy long ago to explore space and find out what the "solids" were like again (Odo himself was one of these infants, and he meets another in the seventh season's "Chimera").

But it's really about Odo finally finding some peace in his life, a sense of closure that finally allows his relationship with Kira to move forward (she herself becomes open to the idea in part because of the aforesaid birth, which presents a void in her life Odo is able to fill, which the end of the episode subtly reflects).

This is achieved by his second reunion with Dr. Mora, the Bajoran scientist we first met in "The Alternate."  Mora was responsible for studying Odo when he, too, was merely a lump of indeterminate matter, which the infant Founder seems to be without having learned anything about its nature on its own.  In fact, Quark is once again the agent of discovery (he was with a Jem'Hadar infant, too, in "The Abandoned"), handing off to Odo what seems to all intents and purposes already a lost cause.  Odo refuses to give up, but he makes very little progress until Mora shows up offering his advice.

Yet Odo remains extremely bitter about his treatment under Mora's care, regardless of the results.  Despite the fact that he retains the general appearance of Mora to this day (notably, the hairstyle), Odo's resentment at being considered a science experiment, with all the implied indignities, has never abated, and their prior reunion certainly did nothing to change his mind.

This is a season of remarkable change, however, perhaps most symbolic in "Begotten" itself.  A war was about to be shown in Star Trek for the first time ever, and this necessitated bold storytelling in order to justify, with all the safety nets frequency imposed in the franchise removed.  For the first time, there would be acknowledgment that even something a character thought was an immutable wrong had in fact been a good thing.  This is the very antithesis of Gene Roddenberry's original vision, and yet it shines boldly on the core of that vision, which is the search for humanity at all costs, the shattering of all illusions.

Anyway, this one always struck me as one of the defining moments of the series, even before I had properly experienced Odo and Mora's previous encounter in "Alternate."  It's hard not to be choked up when the infant Founder mimics Odo's face, or when the poor little dude dies.  It's a true cathartic moment.  You'd never think a face thickly covered in prosthetics could be so expressive, and yet this is one of Rene Auberjonois's best such feats.  For that matter, although James Sloyan (Mora) appears a number of times in the franchise with a variety of faces, this is his best performance.

Shakaar makes one final appearance, but unlike Bareil before him Kira finds it relatively easy to say goodbye, and that's another indication that everything is about to change...

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Come for the birth, stay for the miracle.
• series - One time everyone loves changelings in this thing!
• character - One of Odo's defining moments.
• essential - As I mentioned above, this is a true catharsis.

notable guest-stars:
James Sloyan (Mora)
Rosalind Chao (Keiko)
Duncan Regehr (Shakaar)

Deep Space Nine 2x12 "The Alternate"

rating: **

the story: Odo is reunited with the Bajoran scientist who first assimilated him into the world of "solids," and who is now claiming he's found Odo's secret origin.

what it's all about: "The Alternate" has an odd predicament; on the one hand, it's not as good as the second Dr. Mora episode, "The Begotten," and it ends up having too many similarities to the first season episode "Vortex," which also teased Gamma Quadrant origins.  Later, of course, we learn that Odo's people are the Founders, who created the Dominion, and as such he really does come from the Gamma Quadrant, but with two episodes teasing it but being otherwise unnecessary to the rest of the series, it's the second episode that gets the short shrift in terms of originality.

Thank goodness it at least introduces Dr. Mora, with whom Odo has plenty of unresolved issues, not the least being barely-concealed resentment and rage, where Dr. Mora still thinks of him as the pile of goo he spent months analyzing without ever once realizing it was sentient...

As an exploration of backstory, "Alternate" still exists in a relative vacuum (other than "Begotten").  While flashbacks, thanks to Lost, became a common element of TV storytelling later, usually this was something told, not showed.  Sure, the random element of the past would resurface, but never quite as relevant as Dr. Mora, who literally helped shape the individual Odo was to become. 

It's just a shame that the first story the producers came up for him was a virtual duplicate of "Vortex" in terms of misdirection and lack of payoff, which clearly was because the rest of Odo's origins hadn't yet been figured out.  There are people (fans of Lost, actually), who think this kind of serialized storytelling is irresponsible, but that's only when, such as with "Alternate," things hadn't just not been figured out, but it's extremely obvious after the fact.  Again, once showing a possible Gamma Quadrant origin is fine, and if anyone had bothered, later, to explicitly state the story links, it would have continued to be fine, but that just didn't happen, and then "Alternate" did it again, and eventually filled out the story with needless monster-of-the-week material, the same kind of episodic foot-dragging that filled too much of the first few seasons. 

Still, as foundation material, like the rest of the second season, "Alternate" does feature some relevant stuff, so I can't complain too much.  Frequent franchise guest actor James Sloyan arguably has his best role as Dr. Mora, besides.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - The episodic appeal of the episode actually detracts from its impact, so I'm not giving points for its standard Star Trek nature.
• series - If this had been linked (heh) to later Odo developments, it would be more relevant.
• character - Still, excellent Odo material with the introduction of Dr. Mora.
• essential - Again, "Excellent Odo material."

notable guest-stars:
James Sloyan (Dr. Mora)

The Next Generation 7x21 "Firstborn"

rating: ***

the story: Worf and Alexander have a final reckoning (in this series, anyway).

what it's all about: Of the episodes that tried to follow the final season mandate of looking for character resolutions ("Descent, Part 2," "Attached," "Journey's End," and the later "Preemptive Strike"), "Firstborn" may be the most bold.  In a far less significant way, it's kind of Next Generation's version of Deep Space Nine's brilliant masterpiece "The Visitor."

The longer Alexander was in the series, the more problematic he became.  You can see a conscious de-emphasis of the character the longer he's around, even in episodes where he should have been a natural presence ("Rascals").  Fans tend to remember Wesley Crusher as the annoying youth of the series, but it really was Alexander all along, and it's because he was horrendously one-note, and no offense to Brian Bonsall, but he was played by a child actor far too young to bring anything meaningfully dramatic to the series.  It always fell to Worf to redeem their scenes, but an exasperated Worf only goes so far (and is by far the least interesting version of the character).

"Firstborn" finds a clever solution to this dilemma: Instead of focusing on Kid Alexander, his future self is brought into the picture.  Frequent guest-star James Sloyan becomes one of the most interesting Klingon actors of the series in one appearance, proving beyond a doubt that Alexander could have been interesting, had anyone bothered to try, which is what "Firstborn" is all about.  Too often the series didn't really try to flesh out his perspective.  Well, this episode is all about it.

What's also interesting is the intersections with Deep Space Nine going on.  For one, there's an appearance by Quark.  For another, one last series appearance by the Duras Sisters, who had last appeared in that series' "Past Prologue" (they would finally meet their fate in Star Trek Generations, a fact that's usually overlooked in franchise lore).  It's oddly appropriate, because Deep Space Nine would later have one of its rare major creative missteps by undoing all the good work "Firstborn" accomplished with Alexander.

This is the last Klingon episode of the series, and it's a good one, an intimate one, and handily sums up everything you need to know, in case the rest of it had somehow eluded your attention.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Crossover appeal?  Check!
• series - Since I don't want to call it a classic, a mark must be taken from somewhere, and it's between these first two categories.  It's a toss-up, so I'll take one away here, because that overall series Klingon arc doesn't need this to feel complete.
• character - It's the best Alexander episode.
• essential - It's a better Worf episode, and by Alexander episode standards, that says a lot!

notable guest-stars:

• Brian Bonsall (Alexander)
• Armin Shimerman (Quark)
• James Sloyan
• Gwynyth Walsh (B'Etor)
• Barbara March (Lursa)

The Next Generation 3x10 "The Defector"

****

This is the best Romulan episode of The Next Generation.  Where the earlier third season effort "The Enemy" seemed to go out of its way to avoid real comparisons to the classic original series episode "Balance of Terror," "The Defector" tells its own story, which is very much of a common Next Generation theme, and emerges as a new classic.

There are many episodes that successfully mine some of the same territory, whether "Chain of Command, Part II" from Next Generation or "Duet" and "Defiant" from Deep Space Nine, but none diminish the impact of "The Defector."  The title character, naturally, is a Romulan, who stumbles onto some plans and rushes to Starfleet in order to prevent a costly war.  At first he pretends to be a minor figure, believing that he'll have a better chance at being believed, but the truth is eventually revealed, his bad reputation known, and his credibility once again tossed around by Picard and his crew.  The whole episode is about these characters mulling over the situation, an even more pure version of the stalemate from "Balance of Terror," this time set entirely aboard the Enterprise.  There's no place to hide.  This is Next Generation diplomacy at its finest.

James Sloyan makes the first of many Star Trek guest appearances as the Romulan in question, which is just one of many further elements to relish about the episode.  There's also one of the series' classic teasers to kick things off, Data performing Shakespeare's Henry V on the Holodeck (with Patrick Stewart nearly unrecognizable in support, allowing him to flex his considerable acting muscles), and a return from Andreas Katsulas's character from "The Enemy" (thereby completing the redemption of that episode).

When you think of the dramatic rise in quality of the series in its third season, "The Defector" is at least as responsible as any other episode that may spring to mind, and yet I think it can be easy to overlook. It's a Romulan episode, and Romulans aren't new in Star Trek, certainly by this point in the franchise.  Sometimes it can be easy to assume that you need fresh aliens to remain relevant, but "The Defector" is also a reminder that established continuity can provide for relevant and engaging material, which is a concept DS9 ran with for seven seasons.  Could this story have been told with aliens we'd never seen before?  Sure, but it probably wouldn't have been as memorable.

franchise * series * essential * character

Notable guest-stars:
James Sloyan
Andreas Katsulas

Memory Alpha summary.