Voyager 5x19 "The Fight"

rating: **

the story: Chakotay makes unusual first contact with an alien species with hallucinations of a boxing match.

what it's all about: This is one of those purely interesting episodic adventures (it actually feels a little like Voyager attempting to explain how the Prophets in Deep Space Nine might have first encountered a corporeal being, an alternate to how Sisko does it in "Emissary") that if you didn't thinking of it as merely "the boxing episode," you could enjoy on that level alone.

Of course, it's also "the boxing episode."  It's the title and everything!  So that's probably going to be the primary way to identify it one way or another.  And fine, since the franchise has a long history of aliens confronting Starfleet officers in some manner of combat, whether Kirk and the Gorn in "Arena" or Picard and "Darmok." 

The dude doing the boxing is Chakotay, who for the first time since I think the second season is engaged in a vision quest, which in the early seasons was a defining trait of the character as well as series as a whole.  This may not be one of his most sophisticated spotlight episodes, but it's clearly a memorable one all the same.  There's also another subplot about his complicated lineage, this time a grandfather who had a cognitive disorder. 

Also highly notable is the presence of Starfleet Academy groundskeeper Boothby in his final appearance, like his previous Voyager, fifth season appearance, it's not really Boothby, but it's still a nice reminder that the character had a ton of potential for what had for years been his one and only appearance (Next Generation's "The First Duty").  Like Barclay later, he was a character Voyager saw untapped potential in, and both the series and the character were the richer for it.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Casual fans will probably take notice on a number of levels.
• series - Nothing here screams that it was absolutely necessary to be told with these particular characters.
• character - Although of course Chakotay has a nice turn that hearkens back to his early days.
• essential - Let's not make too big a deal about it.

notable guest-stars:
Ray Walston (Boothby)

Voyager 5x4 "In the Flesh"

rating: ****

the story: Species 8472 prepares for a confrontation with the Federation by creating a simulation of Starfleet Academy.

what it's all about: Species 8472, in a lot of ways, became the version of the Borg that successfully accomplished a splashy entrance and a definitive exit.  Debuting in "Scorpion," these were a dangerous new foe that first announced themselves as such by putting the Borg on the defensive.  They were also the franchise's first all-CGI aliens, and as such were notable on that score alone.  "In the Flesh" cleverly depicts them disguised as humans so that the communication barrier could be crossed.  And in a lot of ways, it's kind of a one-episode version of Enterprise's later Xindi arc, which encompassed a whole season.

They're also much like the paranoid Founders in Deep Space Nine; Species 8472 considered infiltration as a tactic against their potential enemies, just as certain that the only intention of a rival power would be hostile.  And yet, in the greatest diplomatic coup of the series (with Chakotay providing the legwork), peace is achieved through negotiation, which is itself another wonderful callback to "Scorpion," and symbolic of Star Trek's highest ideals.  A lot of fans drawn to the franchise in the '90s completely missed the point and assumed it was just another sci-fi platform, which at that time was beginning to blossom anew, most of it with a much bleaker outlook, an excuse for Star Wars action scenes.  While there's definitely room for that, Star Trek has always been about the cerebral, human aspects of the genre.

But the neatest thing about the episode is really the presence of Boothby, the kindly groundskeeper first seen in Next Generation's "The First Duty," who was described as a friend to all cadets.  Even though it's not really Boothby, it's another great callback, and helps drive home how significant he really was, not just for Picard but as a presence in general, a hidden source of inspiration for all emerging Starfleet officers.  In "The Fight," later in the season, we'd get a chance to see him one more time.

All in all, this was some of the most clever storytelling of the whole series.

criteria analysis:

• franchise - Lives up to Star Trek's ideals.
• series - A definitive conclusion for Species 8472 that looks beyond the obvious.
• character - Fleshes out the appeal of the Starfleet Academy groundskeeper Boothby.
• essential - A truly unexpected but entirely perfect concept.

notable guest-stars:
Ray Walston (Boothby)
Tucker Smallwood

The Next Generation 5x19 "The First Duty"

rating: ****

the story: Wesley becomes embroiled in a quagmire at Starfleet Academy.

similar to: "Homefront"/"Paradise Lost" (Deep Space Nine)

my thoughts: This is the best Wesley Crusher episode.  It has nothing to do with the Traveler, nothing to do with potential love interests, nothing to do with his mother, Picard, or even Wesley saving the day.  And it couldn't have been done with anyone else.

Since "Ensign Ro" early in the season, the series had made a concerted effort to present a more nuanced look at life in Starfleet.  The idea of visiting Starfleet Academy had been kicking around for a long time.  At one point Star Trek VI was supposed to be a reboot, with Kirk at the Academy (hello Star Trek 2009!), and that was about as recent in franchise history as was possible at that point.  I'm sure no one thought that when we finally saw Wesley at the Academy, after his early seasons hyping just how brilliant an officer he was destined to become, that he would be in any kind of trouble, let alone moral trouble.

I mean, Wesley was about as emblematic of Next Generation's early years as you could get, young and idealistic, one of the closest to the Roddenberry ideal any of these characters ever got.  I mean, he was Gene Roddenberry, for all intents and purposes.

His situation is a little complicated.  He's joined an elite squad of cadets.  He's not even its leader, but clearly he's one of the most important members.  The leader is the one who causes the problem.  Well, eventually, because the whole squad had to agree to screw up in the first place.  So "The First Duty" becomes a study of hubris, of, more or less, the kind of conceit that allowed Roddenberry to envision his perfect future in the first place, eventually settling on a hothead maverick in James Kirk to represent it, Kirk the contradiction at its center.  Next Generation went out of its way to present itself as different from Kirk as possible.  His surrogate, Riker, was the first officer, not the captain, drawn from Kirk's rival in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Decker, the man who totally disagrees with Kirk's mindset and resents him at every turn. 

Got all that?  "The First Duty" is a kind of mission statement, then, five seasons in, two seasons after the series found its voice, and deep into the season where it was confident enough to express exactly what it thought.  Kind of like how Wesley needs to find the confidence to do the right thing.  Usually Star Trek is all about doing the right thing without considering the consequences at all, flying in the face of the vaunted Prime Directive, the rule that the franchise is always the exception to.  Because life can be tough.  But being able to face that fact is usually a problem for the other guy.  Except this time.

"The First Duty" was clearly a watershed moment for the franchise.  We meet the gardener Boothby for the first time.  He shows up in two Voyager episodes ("In the Flesh" and "The Fight").  Actually, "The First Duty" is a kind of origin for Voyager in general, in that Robert Duncan McNeill, who later plays rogue officer Tom Paris, appears as the similar Nick Locarno here.  Fans tends to complain that Voyager squandered its potential by becoming a clone of Next Generation instead of following its own premise.  The producers never made any bones about setting Voyager on a ship instead of a station like Deep Space Nine because it wanted the franchise to get back to its exploring roots.  The premise wasn't a ship being lost in space.  It was about second chances.  Like what Tom Paris embodied.  Voyager was a second chance for a generation of Star Trek creators, who got to lead with their own voices.

Anyway, there's also the Bajoran cadet Sito Jaxa, who shows up again in the episode "Lower Decks," following her own thread from "The First Duty."  Out of everything else worth taking away from the episode, her journey is worth following, too.

It's an episode that's worth thinking about in even more ways than I've already presented.  It's compelling.  It's a classic.

criteria analysis: franchise - series - character - essential (all criteria met)

notable guest-stars:
Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher)
Robert Duncan McNeill
Ray Walston (Boothby)
Shannon Fill (Sito Jaxa)