Amph "Set a Course For Home." Star Trek: Voyager

"And no way to replace them after they're gone."

 

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VOY 107: Eye of the Needle
-Premise: Voyager discovers a wormhole that leads back to the Alpha Quadrant.

-T2Q Comments: An episode I at least partially remember- at least the concept: discovery of a micro-wormhole allowing the possibility of informing Starfleet of their status.

Once again Picardo's subplot and presence steals the show. Janeway sure takes a very long time getting to the point with this Romulan- if she had gotten to a "Please just let anyone in Starfleet know we're alive" request it may have made it more productive.

Wouldn't a simple solution to the Romulan decision delay be to send over the messages, so that they can be passed on if the Romulans approve the choice? That way it can be done before the probe is destroyed if they choose to do so, and if they don't approve, nothing is lost? It at least avoids the possibility of them approving the decision after it's too late to send the messages over.

The actor playing the Romulan is a familiar one- he was a Night Watch officer on Babylon 5, and the one earth Admiral on Enterprise. Kinda reminds me of Frank Langella.

Torres' transporter revelation is surprisingly impactful, despite knowing it's doomed to fail somehow.

We've gone from "Make it so." to "Let''s give it a try."

I'm curious what the contingency plan is if they were able to beam the whole crew back- set Voyager for self-destruct? Set it on an auto-pilot course? Leave it adrift? I have to admit that I rather like the idea of the Doctor being the lone "person" aboard a ghost ship Voyager, custodian of the ship for it's 70 year journey as it makes every effort to avoid inhabited worlds, Borg space, etc...

Ooh, time travel twist. Space-time's a bitch. Amusing that, once again, we have a thematic parallel with the preceding DS9 episode being about a form of time travel as well.

Interesting dilemma- go back in time 20 years (essentially wait 20 years to see friends and family to avoid timeline alterations) or wait 70+ to get there at normal speeds. or at leats it would have been if Janeway had even bothered to debate the possibility.

Woulda been nice if they had brought this Romulan back for the series finale ...of course they kill him off (though apparently his actions here may have been indirectly referenced by Barclay in Season 7). But the wormhole isn't yet collapsed, surely a final "we can't say why, but please leave the messages in your will/have someone else hold onto them" message wouldn't change the timeline?

The offcier the Doctor is treating for the workout injuries...looks like..a young...John McCain...

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So, good episode- and since it's really the first "attempt to get home" episode of the series, combind with the development of the Doctor, I think I'll rank this as Definitely Essentially- it feels like it's contributing towards an arc at this point, at least.

Trrivia: One of the few exceptions the producers made to their decision not to feature any alpha quadrant characters or species too often on Voyager (aka "No ZATs on Atlantis", I guess ).

This episode was originally going to introduce the recurring idea of Janeway's holonovel, which would have been her playing a character with a husband and children setting out in a covered wagon to the wild west. This was abandoned and changed into a gothic mystery (as Mulgrew refused to work with horses). It was filmed but widely disliked and later reused, with some changes, for Cathexis.

2351 would place it at a date prior to the Romulans' resuming contact with the Federation in TNG S1's The Neutral Zone.



Up next: VOY 108: E

 

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VOY 108: Ex Post Facto
-Premise: Tom Paris is convicted of murder. However, he denies having committed the crime, even though the images extracted from the victim's own memory seem to prove his guilt.

-T2Q Comments: This initial setup, before the "sentencing", reminds me of the one episode from SG-1 Season 9...

Why is there a freaking dog on this planet? And why is this guy using the term "doggie" to describe it? I mean, are they kidding? Did no one, in the long process of writing, hiring/casting and training a dog think that one shouldn't exist here? Or are they just not trying?

If they have Paris aboard- why not just warp out of there? They're never going to come back here again- they're just gunning for home, afterall- there's no prime directive violation here.

"A what? What did he say? A mind what?". Nice touch, if delivered too cheesy.

Janeway's shuttle threat plan is a nice moment of semi-badassery for her. So at least the dog's role has a function in the plot, but still- why a dog? why CALL IT a dog? Throw a costume on the little bugger, call it a pog, a rog, an umberchan, anything but a dog.

Maybe it's just those non-Delta Quadrant-appropriate details that are irking me so, but I'll give it some credit- it's one of the few trial episodes in the franchise that isn't outright horrible- though that could just be because it's more of an investigation than a trial.

It's not a bad episode, and there are some good elements at play here at times (the noir angle of the story, for instance), but I don't believe I'd want to rewatch this one again. Maybe I'd be more forgiving if it were an Alpha Quadrant story, but it's not.

"OK Episode, But Not Necessarily Essential"

Trivia: Directed by LeVar Burton- the first TNG cast member to direct an episode of Voyager. While most were pleased with the general concepts of punishment via reliving the victims' murder, there was a divide on opinion of the resulting show- Michael Piller (who wrote the episode) felt it was one of his favorites, Jeri Taylor thought it was one of the weakest citing the earth-like elements and the marring of Paris's characer.

Apparently Piller was very much into Pulp Fiction at the time, feeling that "everything should be like Pulp Fiction", and that this was his Pulp Fiction.

Roxann Dawson had a lot of trouble delivering her one line of technobabble on the show- thinking she could handle one line, she didn't prepare for the line until that morning, something that she did not attempt again after her embarassment here.




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VOY 109: Emanations
-Premise: Investigating mineral deposits on an asteroid, Harry Kim is trapped on an alien planet.

-T2Q Comments: "What's this?" gee, I dunno, kinda looks like a spiderweb, Einstein.

The cavern full of web-cocooned bodies is a creepy visual. Ok, I can get agreeing with Chakotay not to disturb the bodies and respect the dead, but agreeing to visual observations instead of passive scans makes no sense- they're passive scans. Seems like they're just trying to setup a scenario to plausibly address any "why didn't their tricorders pick something up?" complaints- even if they don't actually do that here, it's still the foreshadowed impression.

Initially, these native aliens seemed like they were going to grate and be your typical stock characters, but this is starting to evolve into an interesting exploration (or, at least, a realistic conversation) into questions about death.

Small oddity that this chick would understand the nature of a spirit enough to debunk the suggestion that it's not a part of their beliefs- in other words can something be a foreign concept if one is familiar enough with it to see it as not applicable? (Kim is their first a

 

Feel free to butt-in with comments whenever you like

I track three things with the franchise beyond the principle Essential/Good/Not Good classifications: Alternate Universe, Time Travel & (for DS9 only) Babylon 5 similarities (the reasons for the B5 one are explained at the outset of my DS9 reviews).

I'm usually a sucker for AU & time travel stories, so with the former I'm just tracking them to see how many have popped up over the years (especially with the Mirror Universe being a through-line of several Trek shows), with the latter having the goal of seeing how all the time time travel trips look when arranged in chronological order by arrival date.

 

Out of curiosity, what's still confusing?

I'm just tracking a list of the different AUs used in Trek, as well as all of the instances of Time Travel.

Everytime I come across an episode that either has an AU or an instance of time travel, I add it to the list.

 

There's two different lists- the AU one isn't dated, it just lists the episodes in episode order, and notes what AUs appear in that episode. So, all the TOS ones, then all the TNG ones, etc, etc.

The time travel one is dated, though, and is arranged chronologically by the arrival date (so, for example, The Voyage Home's entry is set for 1986, not the 23rd century, Time's Arrow is the 19th century, not the 24th, etc).

 

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VOY 110: Prime Factors
-Premise: The crew of Voyager discover a planet that has the technology to send them more than halfway along their journey home. However, the planet's inhabitants are more than reluctant to share this technology with Voyager's crew, as doing so would violate one of the society's own prime directives.

-T2Q Comments: Though I understand it's probably Federation policy- should they really be concerning themselves with distress calls out here? Ok, at least it was relatively close by and...wow, gotta love that shirt. Again, a total human-looking species in the Delta quadrant, and shouldn't they be kinda annoyed at them using a distress signal like that?

"Maximize effeciency"? you know what would also increase efficiency? Not stopping for a vacation after only a couple months journey.

For a location that we just saw dawn light hit seconds earlier, those suns are hella high in the sky.

Return Home Possibility #3. heh, ok, it's kinda worth the camp so far just to have Starfleet officers smacked down by someone else's equivalent of the Prime Directive.

Why are they jumping to the conclusion of "we'll have to bargain for the tech"? Why not ask "oh, if you can't give us the tech, for fear of us misusing it, can at least YOU use your tech to send us on our way?". ok, granted, she did, but they certainly beat around the bush.

Everything Sesca is saying makes perfect sense, but she delivers it kinda slimy to make it seem worse than it is. Cool moment with Tuvok revealing hes onboard with the plan already.

ok, they don't have to test it that very minute- they could either, A) search for another planet with that type of core to use as an amplifier or B) if thy decide to use it and can find no other options, they can jump back to this planet and use it later. So, that kinda harms the situation by making them look stupid.

Still, this one actually came together pretty well- at first it looked awful, but the dilemma presented was an interesting examination of Federation principles, and the end scene with Janeway, Tuvok and Torres is top-notch.

Good Episode, But Not Necessarily Essential.

Trivia: Tim Russ provided input that resulted in about 30% of the script being rewritten in regards to Tuvok's actions and Janeway's reaction to it. The Sikarian ship was a recreation of a ship featured in the Starfleet Academy and Klingon Academy PC games. The Sikarians themselves were originally going to be the 3rd recurring antagonistic race in the series (after the Kazon and Vidians), but the producers were unsatisfied with them (from their Roddenberry hedonistic-looking society, to believing it was a mistake to cast a french actor as an alien villain) and abandoned that notion.


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VOY 111: State of Flux
-Premise: An unknown Voyager crew member secretly sends information to the Kazon.

-T2Q Comments: A pity the return of the Water Klingons doesn't fill the viewer with the sense of forboding or dread it supposedly does to the characters.

Woah- Sesca/Chakotay? Didn't remember that. Neelix continues to be annoying in his schtick.

One thing the show continues to have going in it's favor is the previously mentioned sense of these crew members actually having learned from the crazy crap that we've seen on the shows before it- and they USUALLY will react in a competent manner and at least address something that's obvious as soon as it is obvious (such as Sesca's suspect nature in this scenario)...I just fear it's not something they'll be able to sustain the longer the show progresses.

Torres doesn't exaggerate her estimates, huh? Scotty would be pissed!

Sesca-

 

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VOY 113: Cathexis
-Premise: When Voyager attempts to investigate the force that made Chakotay brain-dead, an unknown entity keeps turning them back.

-T2Q Comments: Did we really need the whole "Sometimes it's good to get away from all that Captaining" stuff to setup her participation in a holonovel? The holo lady here is played by B5's "scorched earth" Senator from their Endgame.

I've noticed Kes's powers seem to include Permanent Sexy Voice.

I think that's now two consecutive commercial breaks that have ended on a push-in close-up on Janeway looking worried/baffled.

The whole conversation in sickbay reads as a stereotypical Trek scene, but at least their reaction to it is quick enough and the notion of transferred command to the Doctor is different.

The guy with Kim here is the same actor who most recently played the detective on Caprica.

Oh, another glowy energy being that can pass through bulkheads- two in a row, Voyager!

BTW, this almost comes across as a retread of TNG's Power Play, with a dash of that electrical being from TNG Season 1 (where they killed Picard and essentially replaced him with the copy of Picard who stayed with us for the rest of the series...).

...wait, how could the alien get out through the shields if the shields are keeping his friends out?

So Chakotay does some of his most interesting stuff here while brain dead... poor SOB, that's just not a good omen for your character's development.

There's stuff here in this episode that's kinda interesting, but other aspects are somewhat ridiculous and just accentuate the rest that is sorta neutrally bland.

Average Episode.

Trivia: Janeway's holonovel was originally filmed for an earlier episode and was transplanted here.

BTW- I know I quote and image link the hell out of their site, but a big Frack You to Memory Alpha, who has way too many spoilers in their episode guides- every now and then it wasn't so bad, but, counting the next 2 episodes, I think that makes at least 4 in a row have given away character fates in upcoming episodes/seasons (or, in this case, the very next episode). Seriously, there's absolutely no reason for having that info in that episode's entry! You put it in the guide for the episode where that character dies and say "he first appeared in the previous episode". Arg.



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VOY 114: Faces
-Premise: The Vidiians capture B'Elanna Torres and split her into two people, one fully Klingon, and one fully human.

-T2Q Comments: "Deactivate the Genitron". Genitron? Really? You're gonna go with "Genitron"? Ok.

"Breadcrumbs. Got it."

Vidians return. Though I get what it's trying to convey, Torres' full-Klingon slow speaking doesn't come across well in execution as it might have seemed in concept.

I briefly dwell on Starfleet flashlights- TNG had those square "badge" lights which would seem easy to drop/lose your grip on, here they have these wrist/forearm-mounted ones- i wonder if they are actually an improvement over the standard flashlight (hands are free is a plus, but you might lose more delicate angles for close-inspection, also slower to turn off or dim since your finger isn't right by the switch).

Human Torres now...I dunno, it's always risky to take your alien actor out of his/her makeup- especially as the same character whose already near-human. Can kinda break the illusion. You'd never see Dorn play a human Worf, for example.

I like Durst, be nice if he sticks around for a -oh crap! (just kidding- I knew about this thanks to Mmeory Alpha!) Well, that explains why the same actor played both parts, .

What I said earlier about actors going out of makeup can sometimes go for actors goi

 

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VOY 115: Jetrel
-Premise: The scientist who developed a weapon that killed 300,000 of Neelix's people in a war fifteen years ago boards Voyager, claiming that Neelix is terminally ill.

-T2Q Comments: Hmm, at least there's something of interest here with the backstory to Neelix's people- that's not something I remember coming across before. If the Talaxians were conquered 15 years ago, it's not so surprising that Neelix would be willing to drop everything and be willing to get out of dodge with Voyager...

So the Talaxian situation seems to be a Hiroshima/atom bomb type scenario. Actor playing Jetrel is familiar.

"I surrender, heh." That's about as dark as Neelix's humor has, or probably ever will, get. Kes's people only live 8 or 9 years- did they bring up this shortened lifespan detail before in the pilot? I don't think so. Always gotta raise an eyebrow at character information that coincides with the expected run of the series (though this was obviously altered midway).

Just a thought- imagine if Jetrel had become part of the crew? His history, combined with the conflict with Neelix would have been a most excellent addition to the series- not everyday Starfleet mixes with a supposed mass-murderer aboardship (Dukat is the closest thing, but he's intended to be a villain).

Neelix's nightmare doesn't really come across well to me- though Kes/Talaxia's burned makeup is decently shocking (and would fit in with the previously cited efforts to accentuate horror elements in the series) and by the end it's not so bad- it's just that it feels like filler.

"Don't worry- we do this all the time", and we only end up with accidental energy creatures sometimes.

As a quick aside, the crew seem to be pretty easy about sharing knowledge of transporter tech with a man/species that doesn't seem to have developed it yet- prime directive anyone?

Feels like this one coulda used 1 more scene to close it up properly. But, a Stargate ending is still an ending I suppose.

Anyways, I'm surprised they were able to make a Neelix-centric episode not only not annoying but pretty decent-to-good overall. Ssince this one seems to be a pretty important episode for establishing Neelix as a character, I'm gonna put this one as Potentially Essential- though if his backstory plays a larger role down the road I may upgrade it.

Trivia: Jetrel is based on Robert Oppenheimer. The Hiroshima comparison was intentional, with research done into Oppenheimer as well as the post-bomb effects on the population. This episode was also an intentional effort to re-create the dynamic of DS9's "Duet". The actor playimg Jetrel also played scientist Mora Pol on DS9, as well as the Romulan defector in TNG's The Defector. The Enterprise episode Daedalus may have been inspired by this episode.



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VOY 116: Learning Curve (SEASON FINALE)
-Premise: Tuvok conducts a training session for Maquis personnel.

-T2Q Comments: Holonovel returns. Noting the increased significance the loss o

 

Ok, so it looks like the proper chronological order essentially takes the 4 Season 1 episodes that were pushed back into Season 2 and places them before the episodes produced in Season 2, reordering them appropriately (so the episode that was meant to be the Season 1 finale is shown last out of the 4, instead of first of th 4 as the Season 2 premiere).

So:

203: Projections
204: Elogium
(DS9's The Adversary)
206: Twisted
201: The 37's
(Season 2 then really begins)
202: Initiations
206: Non Sequitur
(DS9 Season 4 begins, followed by (I think) the rest of Season 2 in order)

 

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VOY 203 ("117"): Projections
-Premise: The Doctor is informed that he is actually Lewis Zimmerman, the creator of the EMH, he is trapped on a holographic Voyager on Jupiter Station, and his whole Voyager experience was on a holodeck.

-T2Q Comments: Barclay's appearance spoiled by credits. Having watched Endgame before, I know Barclay becomes involved with Voyager down the road, but I had no idea he was utilized (albeit in a different capacity) as early as Voyager's (technically) first season.

Why does the Doctor react in fear to the knocking at the door? He can make himself insubstatial as a hologram if he were to be attacked.

"Well...it's bigger than I thought."

"Shut down all holographic systems throughout the ship." I swear the Dcotor goes crosseyed here.

As of now Voyager has been stranded for 6 months.

"Computer: Delete Paris."

So Barclay basically points out that what the Doctor tried to do would never have worked- could have mentioned that earlier instead of wasting everyone's time.

Interesting to note that Barclay was involved in the Doctor's programming- which means Barclay had stopped serving aboard the Enterprise-D at least months before it crashed (as opposed to being relocated due to the crash).

The fake-out ending feels slightly cheap but does get a little freaky at least. I liked the episode, but the trouble with these sorts of episodes is you never quite know 100% if the ending was real or if it's still just a hologram (amusing, as Dwight was also involved with an SG-1 episode that had a similar ending).

Good Episode, But Not Necessarily Essential (given Barclay's holographic nature here, his later appearances do not reference these events)

Trivia: Directed by Frakes- this episode was one of a few episodes Paramount reviewed when considering Frakes' ability to handle directing First Contact.

They originally planned to have La Forge be the TNG character involved, before settling on Barclay. Of all the Season 1-produced episodes, this was Braga's favorite and considers this episode a cross between TNG's The Measure of a Man and Frame of Mind.


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VOY 204 ("118"): Elogium
-Premise: Voyager encounters a swarm of spaceborne aliens, while Kes and Neelix must decide whether to have a child.

-T2Q Comments: Seen in this order, the "Neelix gets jealous easily" thing is setup by the previous episode. The recycled shot of her grabbing the bugs amuses me- I wonder if they simply needed a cut-away for the editing, or if she didn't want to do more than one take of it.

Pon Far Kes. Mention of Breen.

"It appears we have lost our sex appeal, Captain."

Pregnant crewmember's husband is on DS9...that'd have been an interesting crossover connection to make if they had touched upon him on an episode of DS9.

I like that the idea that Voyager may have to become a generational ship is brought up- though their reluctance to raise a kid on a starship seems an odd contradiction to TNG where kids and families were commonplace. Now, granted, an Intrepid-class isn't a Galaxy-class when it comes to "hotel in space" accommodations, but it's not that far off given the smaller crew aboard.

Also, the general discussion of questions regarding parenthood is handled well. However, I think the mating alien swarm issue detracts from the rest of the episode- it just wasn't needed.

As a Kes episode, it's not bad- her plotline could have been downright awful, but, again, is handled well (except, of course, that if Kes mates through her hands and carries on his back, then that would suggest she's not compatible with humans in a way that Paris would like or that Neelix should be jealous of...).

Potentially Essential.

Trivia: The writing of this script assignment led to Ken Biller being brought onto the fulltime writing staff.

Amusingly, given the focus on procreation/parethood/mating, one el

 

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VOY 202: Initiations
-Premise: Chakotay becomes caught up in a young Kazon's rite of passage.

-T2Q Comments: Kazon return. Kid Kazon sounds like he is Nog's actor (yep!). Just a thought- but you know what would have been a great idea for them to do? Instead of just recycling the same intro each year, instead, they should have updated it each season so that perhaps the planets/formations Voyager passes by at the start of the current sequence are dropped, the latter ones are brought forward, and new ones are added to the end, to suggest a progression of Voyager's journey. They wouldn't really even need to redo many of the ship shots, just insert it into new backgrounds, for the most part- and some of those could be worlds they already rendered for the previous season, so the cost would be minimal.

Seems like this shuttlecraft is much more capable than previous types. Chakotay sure does take his time trying to raise Voyager- you'd think he'd have sent them a "have been engaged by Kazon" status at least.

God they are such Klingon-lite-wannabes, sheesh...the big ship design has potential, though- if only those who commanded them were a valid threat.

The creepy light with this angle is effective...has a certain Mola Ram vibe...if they had taken that angle with the Water Klingons, they might have been interesting- a death cult military? That'd be creepy (and perhaps have beaten the Reavers to the punch to a degree), though it might draw comparisons to the Shadows a bit.

Filmed on that rock mountain Trek always uses-Vaquez Rocks National Area Park.

"You can count on me to keep those nefarious Kazon at bay!" ugh.

Shuttlecraft #1 destroyed.

The cave scene is actually quite good- for both Chakotay and the Kazon Kid (oh, man, there has to be a spin-off one day titled "Chakotay and the Kazon Kid"!).

Kazon hair/coral/bones...I suspect there isn't one person on this planet that has any idea just what the hell is going on up there- if you cleaned, trimmed, groomed and styled a Kazon's head, I can guarantee what is underneath doesn't make one lick of sense.

Nice to see Neelix used well for once. Be kind of interesting if Kazon Nog was a recurring cast member...to have him be such on two shows simultaneously could have been interesting (and manageable, given his spaced appearances).

Dammit, these Kazon look ridiculous- I swear one is a ********* over-sized Oompa Loompa.

Unsure how i feel about the resolution, but that has more to do with the Kazon than anything else. Also, it's too obvious that it's Nog playing the Kazon Kid (even though he plays the part differently most of the time). Good Chakotay material though- he's used well here.

Good Episode, But Not Necessarily Essential.

Trivia: Michael Piller returned as Executive Producer around this time and made an effort to motivate the writing of the second season. In particular he realized the Kazon were coming across as "warmed-over Klingons" instead of the allegory to in-fighting LA street gangs that they were intended to be. As a result of Piller's directions, Biller began researching street gangs more and formulated a document on the history and customs of the Kazon to help the writers be on the same page if they were to dedicate almost a whole season to the Kazon (T2Q: crap!). Taylor said the document was "thoughtful and very well worked out" and that the Kazon "looked quite interesting in that paper" ...of course, on paper you don't see their hair and oompa loompa pants).

The director found the episode problematic as he was hoping the writers would play up the Maquis angle more than the Indian angle in Chakotay's character and felt their choice to go with the latter never paid off. A new model of tricorder and phaser first appear in this episode, but how Voyager got them is never explained. Chakotay's medicine bundle is lost in this episode. He used what must be a second, or replicated, bundle at the end.

The producers ultimately agreed

 

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VOY 207: Parturition
-Premise: A trip to "Planet Hell" proves therapeutic for Tom Paris and Neelix.

-T2Q Comments: Simulation through wormholes and against Dominion ships. "Planet Hell", ha- horray for in-jokes (Planet Hell is the nickname to Paramount Stage 16 for the generic and often reused cave set that dates back to TNG when it was used for planetside locations).

"I'm a doctor, not a voyeur"

Jealous Neelix plot gets annoying.

"You should consider it a high complement. Throughout history, men have fought over the love of a woman. Why, I can quote you autopsy reports from duels as far back as 1538.";

"You don't have to try to impress me with your technobabble." ah, two production in-jokes.

Damn, three shuttles down (how many can actually fit in Voyager?). The shot of Voyager over the planet as the other ship arrives is actually kinda striking- one of the few very good angles of the ship.

I'm the baby, gotta love me!

Not a fan of the "that's just an expression" Neelix food schtick.

When watched in the right order, the resolution to Neelix's jealousy is handled more subtly in the previous episodes to an acceptable degree, which makes most of this episode reundnant and annoying. Average episode.

Trivia: Second of three Voyager episodes directed by Frakes. Robert Duncan McNeill cited this as his favorite episode, as of mid-way through the 3rd season. This is the only appearance of Dominion craft on Voyager. This is the first time wet food was spilled on the costumes.



Up next: VOY 208: Persistence of Vision.

 

[image=http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20051202160944/memoryalpha/en/images/2/26/Little_Doctor.jpg] [image=http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070206124905/memoryalpha/en/images/6/64/KesHallucination.jpg] [image=http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20050106004129/memoryalpha/en/images/b/b3/Bothan.jpg]
DS9 208: Persistence of Vision
-Premise: Voyager crew members experience disturbing and violent hallucinations.

-T2Q Comments: "A small oversight". Holonovel returns. Isn't it curious that anyone who participates in a holonovel is never a bad actor? or like some joe shmo reading a passage from a book? The 12 minute mark has the "aha" I-lnow-the-episode moment.

People can never get more than a spoonful of whatever they order before the expected interruption occurs, ever notice that?

"a ship design we've never seen before" is one of the most overused studio models, so, I guess they were being ironic?

the moment we come to the "no, this cannot be" with Tuvok really kinda kills the scene for me- he just heard other people describing other people on the visual. So he'd have no reason to think it real or at least stand there in wonderment.

However... ok, they do redeem that somewhat with the mezmorizing eleemnt to events that spreads from that point on, it's just the introduction that's a bit clunky.

"I suggest you don't look at the viewscreen."
"heh. It's not even tempting."

Fake-Neelix's reaction, while not outright bad, kinda breaks the scene a bit as it comes across as the budget-limited tactic it is (combined with the difficulty of conveying a concept that doens't lend itself well to a visual medium).

"He looks so harmless. It's hard to believe he almost destroyed us." Let's not be subtle about anything, shall we?

Well, I'm not sure what to think about this episode. It manages to go beyond my initial "aha" theory and do some notable things with the characters, in a way that overcomes an initially iffy introduction. Whats weird is that I'm not sure who the episode is about..it's mostly Janeway, but then it kinda becomes a Kes episode, and sorta ends as a B'Elanna episode.

I'll go with Good Episode, But Not Necessarily Essential as the Torres/Chakotay stuff is never followed up on, and the Botha never appear again, despite being a potentially good enemy race (not to mention very powerful).

Trivia: This was an episode Jeri Taylor was eager to do but had originally met resistance from the studio over the "softness" of the episode (wanting more aliens and fights), so it was not made until the 2nd season. The installation of the holographic emitters was partially due to the production team being fed up with the Doctor being confined to sickbay. A final wrap-up installment of the gopthic holonovel was concieved but never produced. The color of the warp core in this episode has changed from pinkish-blue to white-ish blue, which is what it will remain as for the rest of the series.


Up next: VOY 209: Tattoo.

 

Yeah, just glimpsing ahead it seems they do the 4-episodes-delayed-to-the-next season thing again between Season 2 and 3 as well, but it was more planned-for rather than the random network decision for 1/2.