Armin Shimerman Is Rolling In His Grave: “Acquisition.”

The Good: Good acting
The Bad: No character development, Exceptionally basic plot, HUGE continuity issues, Jolene Blalock’s performance/T’Pol’s character
The Basics: When four Ferengi take over the Enterprise, even favorite recurring guest stars cannot save the episode “Acquisition” from the ire of the fans!


One of the actors in the Star Trek franchise who I respect most is Armin Shimerman. Shimerman appears on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine DVD set to talk about how one of the things he liked most about the job was the chance to do right by the Ferengi. The Ferengi were first embodied by Shimerman and several others as awkward little monkey-like barbarians and as the writers refined their culture, Shimerman regretted the initial way he played the early Ferengi. It’s interesting to hear him talk about his experience; he makes it almost sound like he believes that the Ferengi were a real race who deserved the respect of viewers and, thus his initial performance was almost something racist and his subsequent performances as Quark could redeem that. In addition to appreciating that perspective and respecting the fact that he was the head of the Screen Actor’s Guild, Armin Shimerman is a wonderful actor.

The writers of “Acquisition,” an episode of Enterprise that features the Ferengi, did not have the same respect for the Ferengi that Shimerman did. Come to think of it, they did not do right by the Vulcans in the episode either. Having heard the producers discuss the episode, the justification for “Acquisition” is, rather simply and ridiculously, that the Ferengi never identify themselves as such and thus it’s fine for them to appear in the episode.

Wow, what a bunch of horse shit!

But then, that’s what “Acquisition” is or how it treats the fans.

Enterprise is completely incapacitated, dead in space, when a Ferengi shuttle approaches it. The crew, entirely knocked out, has been gassed and that allows the Ferengi shuttle carrying Krem, Muk, Grish, and Ulis to dock with Enterprise. Once aboard, they begin stealing everything they possibly can. Trip Tucker, however, was in the decontamination chamber when the Ferengi knocked everyone out and he leaves the chamber. Scouting around the ship in his underwear, he quickly determines that the Enterprise has been boarded.

Fortunately for Trip, he is not alone very long: the Ferengi capture Archer and awaken him, demanding to know where, exactly, the ship’s vault is. When he realizes Trip is still awake, he begins to stall. Conscripted to load the Ferengi shuttle, Archer begins to drive a wedge between Krem (the youngest and lowest paid Ferengi) and Ulis (his cousin and the leader of the boarding party). With Trip and the recently-revived T’Pol working together, the three Enterprise officers thwart the Ferengi and their plans to steal everything possible!

“Acquisition” is an enjoyable (gut level) episode that is incredibly simple and has been done to death in the Star Trek franchise. Unfortunately, many of the most enjoyable aspects of the episode are the very ones that rob the episode of even a passing respectability for fans. So, for example, T’Pol lies to the Ferengi about her status on the ship (claiming she is a slave) and she taunts Archer when she has the chance to free him after the crisis has passed. While these are amusing moments, they make no rational sense; Vulcans are not supposed to lie or have much of a sense of humor. In fact, Spock’s inability to even stretch the truth caused him and Captain Kirk innumerable problems, even in trying to outwit lesser beings in “A Piece Of The Action” (reviewed here!). Yet, in “Acquisition” T’Pol lies openly and is ironic as well. And, as is her form, actress Jolene Blalock once again smirks her way through T’Pol, not even managing to keep a straight face when her character is supposed to be unconscious!

Outside the exceptionally standard “diffuse the hostage/hijacking” plot, “Acquisition” is riddled with continuity problems and issues both within the series and within the larger Star Trek franchise. Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine once mentioned that the Ferengi only achieved warp flight by buying the technology from the Romulans. Given the resolution to “Acquisition,” if the humans encountered the Ferengi first, their first encounter with the Romulans ought to leave them believing they are simply up against the Ferengi! Moreover, given how the episode resolves itself, it is utter nonsense to believe that Archer would not ask Krem about his race.

Within the episode, there is a level of preposterousness that can only be explained by the writers and producers saying, “You just can’t think about it too much” to which, I respond, “Have you ever met a Trekker?!” First, Trip brought an artifact back from a lunar colony he had just visited. That artifact is what released the gas responsible for knocking out the crew. Of all the times for Enterprise not to call for help, “Acquisition” is the most ridiculous. When Trip awakens, he says that his decontamination cycle was only supposed to last 20 minutes. So, little over twenty minutes away from a StarFleet colony, the Enterprise doesn’t even send a distress call?! Come to think of it, why Trip didn’t turn the ship around and head it back to that colony . . . and why the crew didn’t take the Ferengi there after they retook the ship so they could stand trial or such makes no sense either. And hey, just because the crew has been incapacitated, why wouldn’t the ship still be moving away from the colony?! And what kind of lame quarantine system can be released by the person in quarantine?!

So, there are a ton of problems with “Acquisition.” Outside Jolene Blalock, one of the problems is not the acting. Three of the Ferengi are played by Trek alums Ethan Philips, Jeffrey Combs, and Clint Howard and the fourth is played by the ever-wonderful Matt Malloy (who is, admittedly, underused in the episode). Scott Bakula is charming and funny as Archer and Connor Trinneer actually rises to the occasion as Trip Tucker. Unfortunately, Bakula and Trinneer have had great banter and the ability to play their characters as friends who can improvise off one another before, so while they give decent performances, they do not advance their characters at all.

But that is “Acquisition;” it’s a lot of flair and fun, but nothing sensible or enduring.

The three biggest gaffes in “Acquisition:”
3. The Ferengi in this episode are more like the evolved, refined Ferengi from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, not the barbarous initial Ferengi from Star Trek: The Next Generation,
2. In “The Jem’Hadar” (reviewed here), Quark mentions that the Ferengi never had slavery. Yet, in “Acquisition,” the Ferengi want to capture the females to sell at a slave market,
1. In “The Last Outpost” (reviewed here!), the U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) has its first encounter with the Ferengi. That encounter happens out near the Farpoint Station, the farthest point the Federation had explored at that point. Given how StarFleet had only had one encounter with an unfamiliar alien ship, which turned out to be Ferengi, before that and they had only heard rumors and second-hand knowledge of the Ferengi before that, it seems utterly unfathomable that a team of four Ferengi could penetrate so deeply into human-explored space two hundred years prior!

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Enterprise - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the premiere season here!
Thanks!]

For other works with Clint Howard, please visit my reviews of:
Frost/Nixon
Fun With Dick And Jane
How The Grinch Stole Christmas
“Past Tense, Part 2” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
“The Corbomite Manuever” - Star Trek

3.5/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Voyager’s Crew Begins To Disembark In “Homestead!”

The Good: Interesting character moment, Decent-enough acting
The Bad: Light on plot developments
The Basics: Neelix is thrilled to encounter Talaxians who have established a colony in an asteroid belt, causing him a personal quandary in “Homestead.”


I recall being on the road in the early 2000s on the convention circuit as a dealer and I did a slew of conventions with Robert Picardo and Ethan Philips. Sometimes, at the smaller shows, I was the only dealer outside the convention promoter in the room! So, I got to hear Robert Picardo and Ethan Philips speak at length frequently about their experiences on Star Trek: Voyager. I recall Ethan Philips saying very vociferously that he was never getting into the Neelix make-up ever again. I told a friend of mine that and he shrugged it off and suggested that Philips was probably just angling for a raise should they ever request he appear in one of the Star Trek films. Seeing “Homestead,” though, it is hard to see how Neelix would be integrated into any such future film.

“Homestead” continues the trend begun in “Imperfection” (reviewed here!), which saw the departure of the Borg children. This time, though, Voyager sees a more significant crewmember disembarking the ship for good and it is a bittersweet departure, but not a tragic one.

While celebrating First Contact Day on Voyager (a holiday Neelix and Naomi Wildman have invented), Chakotay detects lifesigns on a nearby asteroid. The lifesigns are Talaxian and finding Talaxians so far from home surprises them all. Neelix eagerly joins Tuvok and Paris on the Delta Flyer to go investigate the asteroid, but the small ship is shot down by mining charges from another race. Inside the asteroid, Neelix is rescued by the Talaxian colonists, but is segregated from the other two. While Janeway communicates with the race that is mining the asteroid field, Neelix meets with the young son of one of the Talaxians, Brax.


Brax reminds Neelix of himself at a young age and he tries to keep the boy from getting into trouble with his mother, Dexa, whom he is attracted to. Neelix quickly becomes embroiled in the conflict between the Talaxian colonists and the miners and he helps them take a stand against the miners, who are evicting the Talaxians from their asteroid colony. In standing with the Talaxians, Neelix begins to feel a kinship for his people that tugs at him to stay with the Talaxian colony.

Neelix is a character who had an interesting amount of potential at the outset of Star Trek: Voyager, but the writers lost focus with for a large part of the series. In the third season, Neelix lost his initial ship function in “Fair Trade” (reviewed here!) and he became an “Ambassador” for Voyager, which was a role he erratically served in. More often than not, he was simply a babysitter for Naomi Wildman and the ship’s cook. Even so, there were several episodes of the series which used Neelix to present a deeper theme and really stretched Ethan Philips as an actor. Those anomalous episodes presented a very human side of Neelix, but did not so much utilize the character in a way that illustrated his function on the ship.

“Homestead” explores Neelix as a Talaxian and gives the characters on Voyager a chance to show their appreciation for the role he has played up until now and it redirects the character in a way that is surprisingly satisfying. The character conflict in “Homestead” is primarily an internal conflict for a character who is far from home and who gets the chance to be among his people. There is a romantic subplot which is developed as well as one can in a single forty-three minute episode.

Ethan Philips and guest star Julianne Christie (Dexa) have decent on-screen chemistry and their relationship in the episode is presented as plausible enough. Christie is able to emote quite a bit beneath her make-up and that sells the brief relationship her character and Philips’s have. But the real moment of chemistry and acting prowess comes in a brief scene between Tuvok and Neelix. In that scene, Tim Russ presents Tuvok in a way that clearly illustrates his character cares about Neelix. Knowing how little Russ and Philips actually enjoyed each other on-set, that Russ could portray a soft spot for Neelix, the moment that is essentially their “good-bye” is very satisfying for fans of the series.

“Homestead” is a good episode for the fans, but it is not an episode where much happens at all. Instead, it is a chance for the fans to have an emotionally satisfying sense of closure for one of the more likable, but unnecessary characters for the final arc of the show. Very little happens in “Homestead,” save Neelix rising to become the soldier he never was on Tellax the write-off of the character is good, but not extraordinary, and it is virtually meaningless to anyone who is not already invested in the character of Neelix and his journey on Star Trek: Voyager.

[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!
Thanks!]

For other works with Rob LaBelle, please visit my reviews of:
Hot Tub Time Machine
Watchmen
“Mr. Monk And The Candidate” - Monk
“False Profits” - Star Trek: Voyager
“Faces” - Star Trek: Voyager

6.5/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Top Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: Voyager!

| | | The Basics: Star Trek: Voyager may never have had a perfect episode, but these are the ten episodes that were the best the show produced!


As my reviews of Star Trek: Voyager come to an end, I am happy to compile the Best and Worst lists that my readers have, historically, enjoyed. Already, I have compiled the Worst Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: Voyager (that’s here!) and I was somewhat surprised that there were more second season episodes in that list than there were episodes from the fourth season and beyond (which is generally where I feel Star Trek: Voyager and the Star Trek franchise went off course). It is now time for the flipside, the ten best episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.

It is worth noting that Star Trek: Voyager, in my rating system, never had a perfect episode. These episodes were the highest rated using my objective rating system and it is also worth noting that many fan favorite episodes do not appear on this list for a very simple reason: I am not impressed by special effects. Special effects account for only one point out of ten in my rating system, so the primarily special effects-driven episodes that are very popular with many of the fans may not score as high with me because so many of those episodes lack the distinctive or interesting plots, the genuine character development, or remarkable acting one might hope for. Many episodes of Star Trek: Voyager - even some that I emotionally enjoy – did not score that high because the enjoyable aspect was the dazzle and effect aspect, as opposed to anything genuinely, qualitatively good.

I also wanted to note that “Phage” (reviewed here!) and “Faces” (reviewed here!) were near-misses to make this list. For all of my issues with Star Trek: Voyager and the way the series completely undermined the menace of the Borg and the Q, they created a truly frightening and wonderful villain with the Vidiians. The Vidiians were scary and interesting and consistently well-executed. It is a shame that they can never again be Star Trek villains (or at least, not with the same menace, punch, and desperation). For what it is worth, emotionally, I was somewhat surprised that “Distant Origin” (reviewed here!) also got muscled out of the Top 10!

What might be most surprising about this list of the Top Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: Voyager is how many of the episodes were first and second season episodes. I attribute this to the fact that, for those looking for a series with substance, Star Trek: Voyager was a great example of the law of diminishing returns. The show had so much potential and it mortgaged it with each passing season. Even so, there were some pleasant surprises for me as I considered the series as a whole. So, without much fanfare, here are the best ten episodes of Star Trek: Voyager!

10. “Human Error” (reviewed here!) – The last great surprise episode of the series, “Human Error” is bound to be a surprise to those who read my many reviews because it is a Seven Of Nine episode. Not only is “Human Error” an unabashed Seven Of Nine episode, it is derivative of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Hollow Pursuits.” And yet, when Seven Of Nine creates a second life inside the holodeck, the writers smartly steer away from the novelty of the holodeck-altered characters and keep the episode focused on Seven Of Nine’s character struggle. The result is a silent quest for deeper emotions from a woman who is struggling with what it might mean to be human again and the episode works amazingly well. It comes at a time when Seven Of Nine can reasonably expected to be coming out of her shell and overcoming her Borg programming and it works incredibly well for that! This is, arguably, Jeri Ryan’s best performance of Seven Of Nine as well,

9. “Equinox” (reviewed here!) – It might have an utterly preposterous premise – that the Caretaker abducted a second StarFleet vessel (it is never made explicit what genetically-different crewmembers the Equinox might have had compared to Voyager and that is problematic) that has been taking a different route home through the Delta Quadrant – but once one accepts that, “Equinox” becomes a very dark exploration of what Voyager could have been. Battered, demoralized, and operating on a skeleton crew, Captain Ransom’s U.S.S. Equinox has not stuck to Federation morals and the results are monstrous. This was the best season finale Star Trek: Voyager produced and the only one that made me truly hunger for the season that followed it,

8. “Ashes To Ashes” (reviewed here!) – Not at all a “token Kim” episode, “Ashes To Ashes” is legitimately wonderful. An alien race that reproduces by genetically reprogramming corpses recovered a Voyager crewmember and she starts recalling her initial identity and catches up to Voyager. This intriguing premise leads to Harry Kim having one of his more successful romantic relationships and one of the few that the viewer can really emotionally invest in. However, being that it is Kim . . . Still a wonderful character episode,

7. “Projections” (reviewed here!) – A very typical Brannon Braga plot finds the Doctor having an identity crisis when he is told that he is actually a flesh and blood human being who is having a mental breakdown on the Jupiter Station. It might not be a deep character study, but Robert Picardo’s performance makes it easy to invest in the “what is real and what is not?” episode,

6. “Lifesigns” (reviewed here!) – The only (primarily) Vidiian episode to make the list, “Lifesigns” is not an action or horror episode, instead, it is a quiet character study that gives the Doctor his first romantic encounter . . . with a brilliant Vidiian doctor who is suffering from advanced stages of the Phage and whom the Doctor must make a holographic body for. One of the few episodes that wrestles with the consequences of prior episodes, “Lifesigns” gives B’Elanna Torres a great secondary character conflict when her genetic material might help the Doctor and Dr. Pel, but her past experiences with the Vidiians leaves her unwilling to donate her tissue. Brilliant and fun,

5. “Mortal Coil” (reviewed here!) – Neelix has a crisis of faith after dying and goes to the brink of utter desolation. Enough said,

4. “Jetrel” (reviewed here!) – The first powerhouse performance by Ethan Philips, “Jetrel” fills in the backstory of Neelix and sets up the most-alluded to single event (outside Voyager’s abduction by the Caretaker) in the series. In this episode, we learn that Neelix’s home world was attacked and the planet’s moon was utterly devastated by a terrible weapon. The episode has a compelling build-up to the revelation of Neelix’s part in the war for his planet and it is balanced by the story of a scientist motivated by his own powerful sense of guilt trying desperately to make up for his wrongs. This is one of James Sloyan’s best supporting performances and a knock-‘em-out-of-the-park performance by Ethan Philips,

3. “Heroes And Demons” (reviewed here!) – The first episode to give the Doctor an away mission of his own, “Heroes And Demons” has the EMH in Beowulf and the episode is funny, clever, and filled with menace. Not simply a holodeck adventure story, the episode realistically explores the psychological consequences for what is essentially an agoraphobic being thrown out into a very big world. On screen, Robert Picardo and Marjorie Monahan (Freya) have great chemistry that makes the romantic and tragic aspects of the episode work wonderfully,

2. “Caretaker” (reviewed here!) – The best of the Star Trek franchise pilots, it is telling that the show started high that its pilot made it to #2! The characters are introduced in interesting and compelling ways, the performances are not as clunky as on the other pilot episodes and the production crews were refined enough to shoot a pilot that did not look like a pilot. “Caretaker” has a Maquis vessel disappearing in a dangerous area of space and Captain Kathryn Janeway conscripting an arrogant pilot with a troubled past to help find it. But, the simple recovery mission starts an epic journey when both ships are abducted by a powerful alien 70,000 light years from the Badlands. “Caretaker” is well-plotted and makes one enthusiastic to start the journey of Voyager, which is exactly what a first episode ought to do,


and finally . . .

. . . against all odds or bets . . .

1. “Resolutions” (reviewed here!) – What many people might have seen as a throwaway bottle episode became its finest episode. When the Doctor is unable to treat Chakotay and Janeway of (of all things!) an insect bite, the two senior officers make the difficult decision to stay behind and Voyager, under the command of Tuvok heads for home. “Resolutions” is a tight character episode, exploring both Janeway’s desperate search for a cure on the planet, contrasted with Chakotay’s easy acceptance of life outside a command structure and Tuvok’s rocky command as Harry Kim makes constant appeals for the new captain to negotiate with the Vidiians for a cure for Janeway. The acting is top-notch, the characters are exceptionally explored and the plot is surprisingly engaging. If only it didn’t waste so much time with the damn monkey . . . this is the must-see episode of the series, but best appreciated by those invested in the characters.

For other “Best Of” lists, please check out my lists of:
The Top Ten Episodes Of Star Trek
The Best Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation
The Top Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The Top Ten Episodes Of Frasier

For other television reviews, please visit my Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Worst Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: Voyager!

| | | The Basics: What started out with so much potential quickly sank in the saga of Star Trek: Voyager: here are the episodes that can be safely avoided.


As I near completion of my reviews of Star Trek: Voyager, I find myself wistfully looking back at the series. And, as my readers have come to expect, I am now happily able to reveal my list of the Worst 10 Episodes of the series! I was actually surprised, when compiling this list, to discover that while Star Trek: Voyager had more consistently low-rated episodes (all of these episodes have a lower rating than the series rating for Star Trek: The Animated Adventures!), Star Trek: The Next Generation actually had more episodes that hit the lowest possible ratings (and are fairly painful to watch).

It is worth noting that the usually-despised episode “Threshold” (reviewed here!) does not make the list. For all the problems most people had with the special effects, I think it’s a great performance by Robert Duncan McNeill, the concept is good, and the episode actually tries to make a plot-based technology problem into a character episode that explores Paris’s feelings of inadequacy. And it lives up on that front.

So, without fanfare, here are the bottom ten episodes of Star Trek: Voyager!

10. “The Fight” (reviewed here!) – I can’t think of an episode in the Star Trek franchise that, when it was finished, I sat and said to myself, “What the hell was it I just watched?!” like “The Fight.” Chakotay has to train for a fight as a method of communication with an alien race and the idea seems needlessly complicated and ill-executed. Sure, it’s an excuse for Ray Walston to show back up one final time as Boothby, but it pretty much undermines his legacy when the DVD bonus features for the episode have actors talking about how far gone he was when working on the episode (and the episode that preceded it with him). “The Fight” is just a mess and I would not be surprised if Robert Beltran left it off his filmography whenever he had the chance,

9. “Resistance” (reviewed here!) – Honestly, the last time I watched the episode, I liked it a bit better than I ever had before, but this episode is a sad excuse to have Janeway use her feminine wiles (even momentarily) to accomplish a goal. The plotting is obvious and for all of Joel Gray’s wonderful performance abilities, the episode is gutted by obvious direction that telegraphs the ultimate demise of his character. And, oh yeah, because their plight is treated like something of an afterthought, Tuvok is so completely un-Vulcan in the episode and the experience never seems to have any ramifications on either Tuvok or Torres! And I write all that having enjoyed the bulk of books written by the episode’s writer, Michael Jan Friedman,

8. “Repression” (reviewed here!) – It speaks poorly of an episode when, a month after watching it and writing about it, it was so unmemorable that I had to go back and read my own review to even remember what the episode was. “Repression” is terrible, is what it is! Voyager, apparently, has no anti-viral software and a message gets through that reprograms the most obvious person possible, to start incapacitating former Maquis members . . . because of something that once happened long ago and blah de blah blah blah. I couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm for writing about it the first time, I’m not wasting more time on it here,

7. “Innocence” (reviewed here!) – The real idiocy of “Innocence,” an episode that tries to make Tuvok dealing with three (apparent) children into an awkward situation for him is that Tuvok is the first Star Trek franchise character who begins the series with adult children. So, of all the characters in the entire Star Trek pantheon, the one best equipped to deal with children effectively and in an unruffled manner is Tuvok. But then, the kids aren’t kids and the “reversal” is something so unclever, it could have been an episode of the Star Trek: Animated Series,

6. “Learning Curve” (reviewed here!) - Star Trek: Voyager apparently did not particularly want a second season, because they left four decent episodes in the can and ended the first season with an episode that had Tuvok, a former Academy instructor, struggling with basic education principles when teaching members of the Maquis how to serve aboard Voyager. And the villain is . . . cheese. Seriously, not “cheesy,” the villain in “Learning Curve” is cheese. That would be fine; I can suspend my disbelief to believe that Voyager and its experimental bio-neural gel packs could get an infection. I fail to believe, though, that Voyager is so poorly designed that the air vent from Neelix’s kitchen would lead to open circuitry where the cheese could ever be exposed to a bio-neural gel pack,

5. “Fair Haven” (reviewed here!) – Filled with terrible Irish stereotypes and the most underwhelming sense of menace for any Holodeck episode in the Star Trek franchise, what really sinks “Fair Haven” is the casting. Janeway (and Kate Mulgrew) had more sexual chemistry with the guy from her governess holonovel in the second season than she did with Michael the bartender (Fintan McKeown),

4. “Nemesis” (reviewed here!) – Apparently, nothing good comes from naming something “Nemesis” in the Star Trek franchise. When Chakotay is brainwashed to be a soldier for an alien race, the only thing more annoying than the pretense that he might get killed on the planet is how the word “nemesis” is used almost every other line. The episode is a great example of how a good theme can be presented in an absolutely terrible way. And the make-up in the episode is just painfully lazy. The villains are clearly redressed Naussicans. Or Predators,

3. “Prototype” (reviewed here!) - Star Trek: Voyager went through something of a lull in its second season. When it came back from its hiatus, it was with an episode where Torres is abducted by robots. Things did not look good for the series. “Prototype” is one of those episodes that might have worked if it was ever put in context. B’Elanna Torres might be the most-abducted character on Voyager. “Prototype” was at least her fourth time she was abducted (she had been abducted and tortured in the prior episode, “Resistance!”) and she never developed a complex about leaving the ship. How Torres ever ended up trusting anyone or wanting to leave Engineering is a mystery to me. “Prototype” hinges on a false sense of emotional attachment that Torres has for a robot she helps repair and because that bond is not plausibly sold, the episode falls apart,

2. “Twisted” (reviewed here!) – Arguably the worst-conceived spatial anomaly-of-the-week episode, Voyager enters a distortion ring where everything gets stretched and skewed. The best part of the episode is the end; not that the episode ends, but rather that the solution to the problem is surprisingly original for the franchise. Beyond that, “Twisted” makes no sense unless the ship and crew are made of gummy candy. Metal snaps, plastic cracks and tears, nothing in the episode satisfactorily explains why Voyager does not hit the anomaly and get torn apart, as opposed to ridiculously warped around,

And . . .

. . . the worst of the bunch is . . .

1.“Spirit Folk” (reviewed here!)! Star Trek Voyager revisits the pathetic setting of “Fair Haven.” And, if that episode’s romantic subplot was poorly executed, its follow-up is even worse. Why? Michael’s faith hinges on the virtually gutted relationship he has with Janeway. But long, long before it gets to that point, “Spirit Folk” is an ugly mess of an episode with a double-helping of the Irish stereotyping that made “Fair Haven” so bad in the first place. The doctor is hypnotized, another hologram takes the mobile emitter, and the Holodeck safeties fail yet again. This episode features the bulk of the actors looking bored or walking around in a daze, like they realized while making the episode that they were involved with creating something preposterous.

For other “Worst Of” lists, please check out my lists of:
The Worst Ten Episodes Of Star Trek
The Worst Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation
The Worst Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Awkward Condition Of Having Your Character Return . . . Only To Be Killed! “Friendship One”

The Good: Decent concept
The Bad: Weak, unoriginal, plot, No real character development, No extraordinary acting.
The Basics: “Friendship One” serves largely to remind viewers of the existence of Joe Carey by putting him in an awkward hostage situation that lacks emotional resonance for the viewers and the crew.


It always surprises me when shows in the Star Trek franchise remake lesser episodes. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (reviewed here!) is essentially “The Changeling” (reviewed here!) remade on a larger scale. In a similar vein, “Friendship One” is basically “Thine Own Self” (reviewed here!) from Star Trek: The Next Generation blended with “The Quickening” (reviewed here!) from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Actually, while “Friendship One” is largely “Thine Own Self” in Star Trek: Voyager, it is mostly just an excuse to remind viewers that Joe Carey, Janeway’s original choice for Chief Engineer, managed to survive on Voyager until this point.

Unfortunately, the excuse to bring Josh Clark as Carey back is thinly veiled and “Friendship One” is a surprisingly unmemorable episode of Star Trek: Voyager, despite feeling very much like Star Trek. Despite its early dark moments, “Friendship One” has a very classic feel to it; there is an almost formulaic sense of optimism to it.

The reason “Friendship One” lacks punch – outside its ironic title that seems less clever with each viewing and how obviously it rewrites the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode – is that Joe Carey has been quietly below decks for the past several seasons. As a result of him disappearing from the narrative for so long, “Friendship One” strains to create character traits (married with a child, building a ship in a bottle, etc.) for the engineer in order to make him seem relevant and like he has been an active member of the crew all along. However, he has been absent . . . and hardly missed.

Shortly after Zephram Cochrane made his historic warp flight, Earth launched the Friendship One probe into deep space. StarFleet Command, now that Voyager is in regular contact with them, has determined that the probe ought to be in the area of space near where Voyager currently is and the ship is tasked with finding and recovering the probe. Harry Kim helps locate the probe on a nearby planet and Chakotay, Neelix, Joe Carey, Kim, and Paris take the Delta Flyer to what appears to be an abandoned planet in nuclear winter. They discover that the planet is not devoid of life and when part of the Away Team is kidnapped, Chakotay and Kim return to Voyager with an ailing inhabitant of the planet.

From Otrin, Voyager’s crew learns that Friendship One was recovered by the planet’s inhabitants, who learned about the antimatter technology the probe possessed to make warheads which devastated their planet. With generations suffering from radiation burns, the planet’s population has been almost entirely wiped out. While Janeway wants to be sympathetic, it is hard when Verin is holding three of her crew . . . and proves his resolve by killing Joe Carey. With time running out for the hostages, Janeway struggles to keep them safe while the Doctor, Otrin, and Seven Of Nine try to undo the damage to the planet and restore the faith of the people on the planet.

Thrown in, there is a subplot involving a pregnant woman whom Paris is able to empathize with and leads him to the rather obvious position of questioning Janeway. “Friendship One” is not bad, but it is Star Trek strictly by the numbers; Joe Carey is basically just a “red shirt” (though “gold shirt” never caught on as a saying for the Next Generation era of security guard, possibly because they were not killed each episode).

There is no real character advancement in “Friendship One.” Neelix, as he frequently does, advocates on behalf of the Voyager crew, Janeway looks exasperated when trying to be a diplomat, and Seven Of Nine and the Doctor go a long way to saving the day. One of the few chances to make a mark is missed by Harry Kim when Paris makes a crack about how the eager young ensign might be trying to curry favor with StarFleet by doing his job exceptionally well on this first assignment from home and Kim does not point out (again) how he has not been promoted.

“Friendship One” is very much a plot and theme-based episode and it serves its purpose, but it is hardly distinctive or memorable while it does.

[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!
Thanks!]

4/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Exit Q, Inconsequentially, With “Q2”

The Good: Most of the acting, Moments of humor
The Bad: Very predictable plot, No lasting character development or plot progression.
The Basics: Janeway asks for nothing in exchange for taking care of the younger Q in “Q2.”


I respect shows that, as they know they are nearing an end, attempt to patch up loose ends, especially if they are a spin-off already and know that the next spin-off will not allow for the opportunity to revisit the dangling plot threads. Q, who was hardly a recurring character on Star Trek: Voyager with “Death Wish” (reviewed here!) and “The Q And The Grey” (reviewed here!), returned as the series was winding down in “Q2.” The producers of the Star Trek franchise knew that the next series was going to be a prequel at this point, so “Q2” wrote the Q-Continuum out and it is an unfortunate exit for the once-omnipotent species.

“Q2” sees the brief return of Q and the prolonged return of Q’s son, Q. It is, essentially, a recasting of “Deja Q” (reviewed here!). The younger Q is put in the same position that Q was put in in that episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. While it is initially humorous, it is yet another degradation in the original concept of the Q, though its familiar aspects do remind the viewer of how good the Star Trek franchise had been.

After Icheb delivers a long report on early StarFleet history, the young Q appears on Voyager, followed by Q. Q (the elder) quickly abandons the young teenager Q on Voyager. There, Q throws a party in Engineering, removes Neelix’s vocal chords, and provokes the Borg to chase Voyager and almost destroy it and its crew. Rescued at the last minute by the elder Q, Janeway tries to convince Q to pay attention to his son and discipline the boy. After only ten minutes of attempting to give his son order, Q surrenders.

After punishing the young Q by keeping him as an amoeba, Q restores his son and tells him he has one week to shape up or face eternity as a single-celled organism. His powers removed, the young Q is given tasks on the ship to accomplish, including a diplomatic simulation, cooking in the mess hall and learning consequences with Icheb and Seven Of Nine. Icheb does his best to befriend Q and in the process, the young Q learns compassion.

“Q2” is really just “Deja Q” recast, which makes fans of the franchise severely underwhelmed by the episode. The episode has its moments, though the humor of Q bellowing not to provoke the Borg and Q begging Janeway never quite rise to the level of humor of Worf suggesting Q die or Guinan stabbing Q in the hand with a fork. When the episode is not trying to be funny, it unfortunately fails to be original.

The main function of Q, senior, in the episode is to provide a sense of originality for the character and a stark contrast to the (mostly) human characters in the Star Trek franchise. Q, rather smartly, is surprisingly indifferent to being a parent and has no real fraternal drive. For a race that has never had children, this is a surprisingly insightful character trait and it makes sense for the always arrogant Q.

Unfortunately, Q – the younger – not only learns the same lesson Q learned in “Deja Q,” he does it in almost the same way. Q, apparently, have a penchant for running away.

Keegan de Lancie plays the younger Q and perhaps his most interesting moments of performance come when he is playing opposite his father, John de Lancie. At the outset of the episode, the de Lancie’s perfectly embody what is expected of the Q and it sets a high bar for the episode. Unfortunately, Keegan de Lancie continues to play the younger Q as an annoying, arrogant teenager with no flair or hint of the power his character had at the beginning of the episode. Manu Intiraymi plays Icheb as fairly stiff through much of the episode. The performance regresses Icheb and it is an unfortunate portrayal of the character. It is ironic because on his own and in one of the first scenes where Keegan de Lancie and Intiraymi play off one another, they have decent banter and on-screen chemistry. That fades, though, as the episode goes on.

“Q2” further undermines the character of Captain Janeway, though. When the Chakuzan Captain tells Janeway that she will bear the consequences of Q’s actions, she looks horrified instead . . . well, willing to take responsibility. That is unfortunate. The lack of originality of “Q2” is all that remains unfortunate for the episode.

[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!
Thanks!]

For the other episodes in the Q Saga, check out my reviews of:
“Encounter At Farpoint”
“Hide And Q”
“Q-Who?”
“QPid”
“True Q”
“Q-Less”
“Tapestry”
“All Good Things . . .”

4/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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“The Void” Sticks Voyager In A Spatial Bermuda Triangle!

The Good: Good philosophy, Moments of character
The Bad: Entirely derivative plot, Very predictable
The Basics: Taking a cue from the Star Trek Animated Series, Star Trek: Voyager presents a Bermuda Triangle style anomaly that the ship gets trapped in.


You know your Star Trek spinoff is truly doomed when you begin stealing episodes from Star Trek: The Animated Series. Star Trek: Voyager went to exactly that place with “The Void” and it seems somewhat fitting that I am reviewing it now. Guest actor Robin Sachs, who played General Valen in “The Void,” died early last week. Fortunately, Sachs has a number of other roles to his credit and this was by no means his final work.

“The Void,” as alluded to earlier, might be more enjoyable to those who are Star Trek neophytes. But for those who are fans of the franchise, it bears far too many troubling similarities to the animated Star Trek episode “The Timetrap” (reviewed here!). At least “The Void” does not explicitly mention the Bermuda Triangle, which is essentially what the anomaly in both episodes is.

Some of Voyager’s senior staff is enjoying a meal prepared by Seven Of Nine in the mess hall when the ship is pulled off course by a graviton surge that strands them in a starless place. They immediately come under attack and most of the ship’s deuterium (fuel) is stolen. After repelling two attacks, Voyager meets General Valen, who offers help for Voyager in exchange for photon torpedoes. Valen has been in the void with his crew for five years. After a disastrous attempt to leave the Void, Voyager is left in a much worse position.

After retaking some of what belongs to them from General Valen and rescuing an alien with no verbal abilities, Janeway begins assembling a Federation of her own within the Void. When Neelix vouches for her, she actually begins to make headway with the aliens she meets. By working together, Janeway works to get Voyager out of the Void with their principles intact.

After a slew of episodes where I’ve had a legitimate gripe about how anti-philosophical Captain Janeway is, “The Void” gives the character a chance to take a principled stand and it has her stick by them. Kate Mulgrew is able to very convincingly present the argument for not becoming killers and thieves while Voyager is stuck in the void, which makes the viewer wonder why Janeway has not been willing to have ethical arguments aboard her ship before.

“The Void” is also clever in how it establishes the potential age of the Void by including a Vadwaar ship. The Vadwaar from “Dragon’s Teeth” (reviewed here!) had been asleep for thousands of years, so a Vadwaar ship (even altered) in the rift means it has existed for at least that long. That cleverness is eliminated for die-hard fans by the distracting costume re-use for Garon’s species. The costumes are the very recognizable Hunters outfits from “Captive Pursuit” (reviewed here!) and die-hard fans are likely to gripe about how Gamma Quadrant costumes got into a Delta Quadrant anomaly, but for money, the problem is more that it is unimaginative and because the costumes were so distinct, they seem out of place here.

“The Void” has no real character development. Instead, it simply reasserts the character Janeway should have had (and, to be fair, she did have when she took the ethical stand in “Caretaker” that led to Voyager becoming stranded in the Delta Quadrant) all along. It also negates one of the earliest character traits of B’Elanna Torres, who once stated that she never inflates her work estimates (that the time quoted is the amount of time it will take her). In “The Void” she is given a minute to do two minutes worth of work and she makes it work.

The resolution to “The Void” is a pretty predictable “working together we can accomplish great things” plot, but it works. The wrap-up between Janeway and Chakotay might be the first on-screen hint for viewers of the impending Star Trek: Enterprise. “The Void” could have been much worse, but as it stands, it is just a very formulaic “everybody is trapped in the same situation” story that never rises to anything more than what the viewer expects of it.

[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!
Thanks!]

For other works with Scott Lawrence, please visit my reviews of:
The Social Network
Avatar
Cloverfield

5/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Belief And Babies Are The Subject Of Klingon “Prophecy.”

The Good: Moments of character development, Decent effects
The Bad: No real outstanding performances, Banal plot
The Basics: Star Trek: Voyager once again belabors a Klingon connection by introducing a “Prophecy” for Torres and Paris’s unborn daughter.


When the Star Trek: Voyager episode ”Prophecy” begins, it is easy to feel that the viewer is in for something preposterous. The fact that a Klingon ship has appeared in the Delta Quadrant is not at all unsurprising, however, the moment it is revealed to be an antique D-7 Class Cruiser, viewers might well feel their stomach tightening. After all, haven’t we seen this before? Sure we have, in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Emissary” (reviewed here!). The element of ridiculousness, though comes in the idea that Klingon ships could hold together, under cloak, without their suspended animation units failing for the hundred years it would need to reach this point in the Delta Quadrant. It does stretch at the bounds of suspension of disbelief. Fortunately, this particular D-7 does not invest in the use of suspended animation devices; this is a multi-generational Klingon ship.

But the more important elements that prey upon the mind of the loyal fans of Star Trek: Voyager has to be how the character arc of B’Elanna Torres is severely sped up to try to make this episode seem plausible. After all, only a few episodes ago, in “Lineage” (reviewed here!), Torres was so distraught over having a quarter-Klingon child that she tried to have the Doctor perform horribly unethical genetic manipulation on the fetus. How she comes through “Prophecy” with any feeling of sanity or Klingon pride is virtually impossible to believe.

Voyager is soaring through space when it is attacked by a decloaking D-7 Klingon warship. Easily crippling the ship, Janeway gets the Klingon captain, Kohlar, to talk and when he beams over, he is astonished to meet B’Elanna Torres and pleased to discover that she is pregnant. Returning to his ship, Kohlar initiates the self-destruct, necessitating a rescue from Voyager’s crew. Kohlar reveals that he destroyed his ship and had his people beamed to Voyager because of his belief that the fetus Torres is carrying is a Klingon child of destiny and the subject of the journey his great grandfather began almost a hundred years prior.

Torres is reluctant to accept this interpretation and troubled when many of the visiting Klingons stage a hunger strike to get her to visit them. When Neelix moves in with Tuvok and Harry Kim finds himself the subject of a Klingon woman’s desires, the situation on Voyager becomes more tense and confused. As Kohlar works to keep his crew in line, a debate rages among his followers as to whether or not the “mongrel” child Torres is carrying can be the chosen one. In the process, Torres begins to have a spiritual awakening.

Unfortunately, when Tom is challenged by one of the Klingons to a fight to the death, “Prophecy” begins to feel a bit like “Looking For Par’Mach In All The Wrong Places” (reviewed here!), without knowing it is supposed to be a comedy. Indeed, writers Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong seem to have a wonderful sense of irony, especially in the critical themes of “Prophecy.” Strong and Sussman create a character who seems to be a man of faith, but is clearly willing to use his faith as a tool. The moment he proposes to Torres that she find ways to make her personal narrative conform to the established prophecy, Kohlar seems like a desperate fanatic or a religious leader very tired of leading his flock. It’s an interesting twist, but hardly one that makes “Prophecy” seem incredible.

Moreover, Kohlar’s second, Morak, challenges Torres and Paris in a way that is inconsistent with how Worf – who has the most time spent delivering exposition on Klingon culture – characterizes Klingons. Morak is stubbornly sexist and that is a trait Worf insists Klingons are not (though several episodes do imply the opposite).

While the medical aspect of “Prophecy” is a surprise, most of the episode is painfully predictable, especially the treachery of the Klingons. More than that, there is nothing surprising on the acting front. There are fun moments of Neelix getting down with a Klingon woman, but this is actually an obvious extension of Neelix’s role in “The Killing Game, Part 2” (reviewed here!). In fact, Philips performs the role virtually identical to his performance in that episode, robbing the moments of comic relief he is supposed to provide in the episode of its necessary surprise.

What is truly underwhelming is B’Elanna Torres’s arc in “Prophecy.” She has a very stunted religious awakening in “Prophecy” and it is not enough to sell the viewer on any lasting change in the character. In fact, coming on the heels of her own doubts about having a partially-Klingon child, it is somewhat surprising that the events of “Prophecy” do not push her to identify less with her Klingon culture. After all, if Kohlar is essentially a cult leader, his desire to use Torres’s baby to guide his people seems like it would stunt the progress Torres has made in identifying with her Klingon culture.

As it is, “Prophecy” is one of the less memorable episodes of the final season of Star Trek: Voyager and it is a lot of set-up for no real pay-off.

[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!
Thanks!]

4/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Prisoner Rights In The Delta Quadrant Are Explored In “Repentance.”

The Good: Excellent social message/philosophical exploration
The Bad: Surprisingly boring, No real character development, No acting challenges.
The Basics: When Voyager picks up some convicts, they uncover problematic treatment for criminals in an alien society.


The Star Trek franchise is well-known for smart, socially-oriented “message” episodes. For much of Star Trek: Voyager, that aspect of the franchise was terribly neglected. As the show wound down, though, the series seemed to do more episodes that had social messages, perhaps because they were tired of doing predictable spatial anomaly episodes that teased whether or not the crew would get home. Earlier in the seventh season, there was “Critical Care” (reviewed here!), then there was “Repentance.”

“Repentance” tackles the issues of criminal care and prisoners rights. It is a complicated topic and “Repentance” does a decent job of exploring many of the complicated aspects of the problems with law and criminal justice. What happens when a violent criminal has a medical condition? How does race affect prosecutions and sentencing? What can be done about a criminal justice system that has unequal treatment for people who have money vs. the poor? All of those questions are raised in “Repentance.” They are good questions and “Repentance” is smart for asking them, but it does not have a lot of satisfactory answers, even if the topic is a thinly veiled exploration for our criminal justice system, not that of an alien race.

Voyager rescues a small prison shuttle which has two wounded prisoners. When the Doctor tries to heal them, he is held hostage. Janeway and Chakotay are upset by how the aliens treat the prisoners and how they are being returned to their home planet for execution. When they are brutalized in the impromptu brig on the cargo bay, Janeway intervenes.

Neelix soon begins to empathize with some of the prisoners and the Doctor begins working with the violent criminal, Iko. Even Seven Of Nine soon begins to bond with Iko and comes to believe that something is wrong with the prisoners and the way they are being treated. Neelix soon realizes there is a vast social schism and the prisoners are on the losing end of the Nigean legal system. After using Borg nanoprobes on Iko, the medical condition that made him a murderer is cured and Janeway finds herself in a new ethical dilemma.

“Repentance” is smart in that it is sufficiently complicated to be satisfying, even if it is occasionally obvious. Iko might be rehabilitated, but the prisoner Joleg tries to make a jail break at his first possible opportunity. “Repentance” is an issue episode and thus has almost no real character development. In fact, what is perhaps most disturbing about it is that it reinforces how Janeway is characterized as uncerebral and lacking in deeper philosophical thoughts. It is Seven Of Nine who has to talk Janeway, yet again, into re-evaluating her initial stance and considering that the Prime Directive may not apply to the current situation.

Even so, this is not a particularly compelling Seven Of Nine episode; it mirrors the structure of virtually every early Seven Of Nine episode where she resisted doing things the way Janeway wanted her to. Of the main crew, there are no stellar performances in “Repentance” and its pacing is slow and pedantic.

On the other hand, the guest cast is fine. F.J. Rio, who plays Joleg, has a completely different part from his genial character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. While Tim De Zarn plays his usual hardass, slightly creepy character in the role of Warden Yedig, Jeff Kober breaks out as Iko. Genre fans might easily expect Kober to play a serial killer (he played the warlock who seduces Willow to the dark side on Buffy The Vampire Slayer). Here he starts with his familiar and cold role and evolves Iko into a character viewers want to see survive and can actually empathize with.

Unfortunately, it is not enough to save the episode. “Repentance” is not focused enough to be a truly compelling character study and does not change any of the main crew in a way that makes the episode anything more than what it is. In fact, it is a huge missed opportunity for closing off the Maquis arc by foreshadowing how Janeway might defend half her crew should they make it home. As a result, it ends up as just an issue episode that we’ve pretty much seen before.

[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!
Thanks!]

For other works with Tim De Zarn, please check out my reviews of:
The Artist
Cabin In The Woods
Spider-Man
“Initiations” - Star Trek: Voyager
Pay It Forward
Fight Club
“Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night” – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
“Starship Mine” - Star Trek: The Next Generation

4.5/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Star Trek: Voyager Remembers What Franchise It Is A Part Of For “Critical Care!”

The Good: Great social message, Decent acting
The Bad: Painfully obvious set redressing, No real character development, Very predictable plot progression.
The Basics: “Critical Care” find the Doctor reluctantly treating patients on a planet where medical treatment is based on the patient’s benefit to society.


By the time the seventh season of Star Trek: Voyager came around, the show had gone through a number of phases, but the predominate one was a phase where, desperate to regain the audience that had waned and to get new people watching, the producers had sold out for the lowest common denominator. In other words, unfortunately, Star Trek: Voyager became a series that traded more on sex appeal and special effects than it did on substance. There was about one episode per season after the fourth season began (and the show brought Seven Of Nine on for the gawk factor) that focused on a pressing social or historical issue and sometimes, like the sixth season’s “Memorial” (reviewed here!), it was a simple retread of an earlier Star Trek: Voyager social episode’s theme. For the seventh season of Star Trek: Voyager, the first social commentary episode was “Critical Care.”

“Critical Care” is the health care episode of Star Trek: Voyager and it is a rousing commentary on the social problems of our day, much the way Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Past Tense, Part 2” (reviewed here!) was a treatise on homelessness and unemployment in the United States. “Critical Care” subtly pokes at privatized health care and less subtly argues that basic health care is an essential human right. Unfortunately, in order to pull off the social message, the crew of Voyager is once more made to look utterly incompetent. Had this episode preceded “Live Fast And Prosper” (reviewed here!), the crew might have seemed less doltish, but it is a problematic conceit now. At least to get to the social message, Voyager did not have to encounter a random spatial anomaly.

The Doctor finds himself activated by an alien on a floating medical ward on a planet he has never heard of. Stuffed in an overcrowded facility with patients who are suffering around him, the Emergency Medical Hologram stops worrying about his own escape and begins treating suffering patients. The understaffed medical facility is managed by Chellick and the computer Allocator. The Allocator assigns each patient a TC (Technical Coefficient) to determine which level they are treated (or die) on. The Doctor is rather abruptly reassigned from Red Level to Blue Level, from the working class of society to the patients who are the richest. Appalled, the Doctor discovers that patients the Allocator and Dr. Dysek determine are of more use to society are being given medicine as vanity treatment when, on the lower levels, the same medicine is desperately needed to save the lives of patients.

Meanwhile Voyager begins to hunt down the Doctor, via a scam artist who visited Voyager days before and made off with the actual holo-emitter and the EMH. As Voyager tries to find the alien, Gar, who stole the emitter, they encounter other aliens who have been ripped off and dead ends, like a device emitting a false warp signature. As Voyager nears the planet where the Doctor is conscripted, the Doctor has a severe ethical quandary about continuing to assist the people in the facility in which he is trapped!

“Critical Care” is an episode focused heavily on The Doctor, but the standout of the episode is Tuvok. Wow, how did Tuvok get so damn stupid?! The Doctor and his program are abducted and Tuvok is none the wiser until the moment Paris and Kim go to Sickbay with injuries and discover that the Doctor has limited capabilities compared to his usual personality. Tuvok recommends a course of action and when it leads the ship to a dead end, he instantly has an alternative way to track down Gar. It begs the question that if Tuvok had a logical way to track Gar, why did he not suggest it initially, as opposed to waiting for the red herring to be exposed?!

But, most of the episode is focused on the Doctor and “Critical Care” is very obviously about promoting a social message and reinforcing the idea that there is an inherent value to all life, as opposed to categorizing the value of each life based on one’s job. The Doctor’s sense of rebellion is a nice offshoot of his prior developments and foreshadows well his future character arc as an architect for holographic rights.

Robert Picardo does his usual masterful performance as The Doctor. He plays off a wide array of guest actors – his old friend Larry Drake, the always intriguing Gregory Itzin, etc. – exceptionally well and he makes the plight of the both the Doctor and his patients seem palpable. He has great facial expressions and emotionally distraught deliveries that make the Doctor seem exceptionally human.

“Critical Care” is good, but it is obvious and it hits its mark very fast, leaving the rest of the episode to be resolved through plot contrivances that are more filler than focused.

[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!
Thanks!]

For other works with Gregory Itzin, be sure to check out my reviews of:
The Ides Of March
The Change-Up
Adaptation.
Original Sin
Evolution
“Who Mourns For Morn?” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
“Dax” - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

6.5/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

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