What Could Have Been A Throwaway Episode Of Star Trek: Voyager Becomes A Decent Character Study Of Torres With “Lineage”

The Good: Good character work, Decent acting
The Bad: Casting issue, Reverts character
The Basics: Torres becomes upset about her impending child in “Lineage” when she realizes the Klingon traits in her daughter will be dominant.


One of the concept characters who was unfortunately neglected for much of Star Trek: Voyager was B’Elanna Torres. Torres was based on the sexy, feisty half-Klingon K’Ehleyr from Star Trek: The Next Generation. K’Ehleyr was exceptionally popular, but lasted only two episodes. Torres had great character potential and for the first few seasons was the resident sex symbol on Star Trek: Voyager. When Seven Of Nine was brought on in the fourth season, Torres was essentially buried, with most of her character being sublimated only to service the evolution of Tom Paris.

Fortunately, as the series wound down, Torres was given her chance to shine in “Lineage.” “Lineage” allowed Torres to explore who she was as well as wrestle with . . . actually, “Lineage” is yet another episode of Star Trek: Voyager that would have been great if it had appeared in an earlier season. Tom Paris has always supported Torres exploring her Klingon culture and Torres herself has made peace with her Klingon heritage in “Barge Of The Dead” (reviewed here!). So, in “Lineage,” where Torres suddenly has the same issues with her childhood that she originally did, it seems more forced than a natural character evolution.

An unusually perky Torres arrives in Engineering, where she stumbles. Icheb scans her and realizes that Torres is pregnant. Word spreads through the ship quickly and soon Paris and Torres are overwhelmed and excited about their impending parenthood. When The Doctor calls Torres and Paris down to Sickbay, they learn they will have a daughter and that she has a minor spinal issue that can be easily fixed with genetic manipulation. After seeing what their daughter will look like, Torres begins to have flashbacks to her troubled youth.

As a result, Torres appeals to the Doctor to have her child genetically altered. Torres wants their daughter to have all of her Klingon traits and physiology eliminated. When The Doctor is unwilling to go through with the procedure and Tom objects, Torres appeals to Janeway, who rejects the idea as well.

“Lineage” undermines the fundamental character aspect of B’Elanna Torres through casting. Torres is half-Klingon, half-Human and her human roots are Hispanic in origin. While John Torres is played by actor Juan Garcia, he is either one of the least Latino-looking/sounding actors working or director Peter Lauritson uses lighting to “whitewash” the actor. This is disappointing and unfortunate.

On the flip side, Jessica Gaona, who plays the young B’Elanna, is very talented and gives good emotional depth to her performance in the episode. Robert Duncan McNeill and Roxann Dawson perform their parts well and while Dawson telegraphs some of her character’s issues, the two have great on-screen chemistry.

On the continuity front, the manipulation of the Doctor is horrifying, but given the events of episodes like “Equinox, Part 2” (reviewed here!), it seems utterly ridiculous that the Doctor would not have extensive security protocols installed by this point. Torres behaves monstrously and while her motivation is compelling, it is hard to see how Torres and the Doctor are ever in the same room together again! That said, the writing for the episode is clever and compelling and this is one of the richer character-driven episodes of the series!

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Voyager - The Complete Seventh Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the final season here!
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7/10

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© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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