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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Kes Returns! . . . Ugh. “Fury.”

The Good: Kes returns!
The Bad: A terrible send-off for the character, Muddied plot, Horrible character direction!
The Basics: “Fury” returns Kes to Star Trek: Voyager one last time, in an utterly disappointing episode.


When Star Trek: Voyager began, my two favorite characters were very easy to define: Kes for her species concept, The Doctor for the execution (dialogue and actual development) of the character concept. So, when Kes was replaced with Seven Of Nine and departed to essentially be a god in “The Gift” (reviewed here!), I was deeply disenchanted. I recall when “Fury” was announced; the sixth season episode from Star Trek: Voyager would return Kes to the show for a single episode and I was psyched.

Unfortunately, “Fury” is a failure of execution and a radical change in the character concept that seems only to serve to nail home completely the idea that the writers of the Star Trek franchise have no real idea to do with a godlike character (Q, Wesley Crusher, Kes). “Fury” has the novelty of returning to Voyager’s beginnings, but it does so as a conceit that ends up ruining any positive legacy Kes might have had (and she did, given that in “The Gift” she got Voyager out of Borg space and ten years closer to home!).

On Tuvok’s birthday, Janeway surprises her Security Chief with a cake, much to his chagrin. Janeway and Tuvok are called to the Bridge where a shuttle bearing Kes comes into view, hailing Voyager. Kes uses her shuttle as a missile and beams aboard Voyager. There, she uses her formidable mental powers to stave off attacks and walk through force fields to get to Engineering. Killing Torres, Kes grabs the warp core and disappears. She materializes on Voyager, 56 days after Voyager was lost in the Delta Quadrant.

There, the Elder Kes alters her form to appear like her younger self, knocks her younger self out and contacts the Vidiians. As Tuvok hallucinates Seven Of Nine and Naomi Wildman and has sudden memories of the Delta Flyer (which does not exist in the past), Kes makes a bargain with the Vidiians to invade Voyager and harvest the crew’s organs. In the ensuing conflict, Janeway learns the truth about Kes and how Kes blames her for abandoning her and leaving her alone after she “ascended.”

“Fury” is a disappointing farewell to Kes and the ruination of a character who actually left the series better than most characters in the Star Trek franchise. Kes was a character who was filled with a sense of wonder and an eagerness that gave her so much potential. “Fury” rewrites Kes as an angry, bitter woman who is just evil. And there is no sufficient answer in the episode as to why.

And while I can certainly understand that people who are guided entirely by emotions do not think rationally, the plotline for “Fury” makes absolutely no sense. Future Kes, angry and bitter, decides to go back in time to abduct her younger self and return her to Ocampa. In the process, she intends to sell the Voyager crew to the Vidiians. Kes picked the moment she was going back to; it is not a random thing at all. So, Kes is “with it” enough to strategize exactly when to return to the past. That being the case, the plot makes no sense because Angry Old Kes makes a ridiculously complicated plan for a very simple goal. If Kes wanted to stop Young Kes from going off with Voyager there is a pretty obvious point for her to go back to: the beginning. In “Caretaker” (reviewed here!), Voyager is at the Ocampa homeworld! If Kes wanted to stop herself from leaving with Voyager, all she had to do was go back to that moment, destroy Voyager, send it back to Earth, or just prevent herself from beaming off the surface with the others. Voyager was in the middle of a firefight and had no investment in Kes at that point, so . . .

That said, the performances and effects in “Fury” are all right. The plot makes no sense (this is one of the muddiest time travel episodes of the franchise), but the actors all get through it with a sense of credibility and realism to it that is enough to sell it. And it looks good, even while it is being bafflingly overcomplicated.

Usually, I loathe spoiling the end of episodes, but I can’t resist with “Fury.” Damn, is the ending to this episode stupid. “I got angry because I became super-powerful and I was alone!” “Go away . . . alone.” Duh? How does that work?! Sadly, it (and “Fury”) doesn’t.

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

2/10

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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How Failures Become Collectibles:A Place Among The Stars, A Star Trek: Voyager Postcard Book Flops!

The Good: Good pictures, Valuable if one has it in mint condition
The Bad: Utterly unworth the price, Ridiculous concept, Obvious image choices
The Basics: A Place Among The Starsa postcard book of twenty-two images of the women of Star Trek: Voyager illustrates theStar Trek franchises turn toward trading on sex appeal as opposed to substance.


As a Star Trek fan and a Star Trek collectibles dealer, a lot of things cross my desk that I have found reason to review over the years. Some of them are great, some of them are terrible, but few are so worthless and disturbing as A Place Among The Stars, which is a Star Trek: Voyager book of postcards. I write "disturbing" because this collection of twenty-two post cards of the Women of Star Trek: Voyager originally sold for less than ten dollars . . . or rather, failed to sell at its cover price. The value plummeted down into the $3 - $4 range as bookstores put them on their clearance racks and now . . . years later, they are highly sought after collectible books. Go figure!

For those who do not follow my reviews, I am part of the die-hard Star Trek fans who were offended when the franchise sold out to the Baywatch audience. This happened with the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager (reviewed here!) when the character of Kes - one of the most intriguing conceptual characters of both the series and the entire franchise - was replaced with Seven Of Nine. Seven Of Nine was a former Borg drone who wandered the halls of the starship Voyager wearing a skin tight catsuit with her breasts thrust forth like two obvious highbeams. Okay, lousy analogy; Seven carried herself in such a way that her breasts looked like big breasts and the whole point was to try to revive the sinking ratings of the listing program by attracting people who were happy to sit and watch forty-three minutes of Seven Of Nine's breasts.

This becomes problematic - or obvious - in a book like A Place Among The Stars when one looks at how it is broken down. This is a simple book of 5" X 7" postcards connected on the left spine to the binding and perforated for removal of the postcards. The front of each postcard has an image of one of the four primary women of Star Trek: Voyager and the back has a place to write a note to a friend and mail. The back of each card also tells the actress and character name of the person on the front of the postcard.

The thing is, the postcards are broken down in a way that clearly illustrates what Star Trek: Voyager had become: obvious pandering for sex appeal. As a result, Seven Of Nine is the focus of nine of the images, while the Captain of the U.S.S. Voyager, Kathyrn Janeway is honored with only seven postcards. Yes, after Seven's breasts arrived, it was what the show - and especially the merchandising surrounding Star Trek: Voyager - became about. The other postcards feature Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres (on three postcards), Kes (on two postcards) and images of Janeway, Seven and Torres together on the final one.

Conceptually, a Star Trek: Voyager postcard book is not a bad idea. Indeed, a Star Trek: Voyager postcard book focusing on the women of Star Trek: Voyager is not a bad idea either. After all, women in science fiction offer a great mix of role models for young women and sex symbols for men. It just makes good business sense to trade on the women of science fiction and Star Trek: Voyager has some truly great ones to trade on.

The problem comes from the title and the mix of images. A Place Among The Stars clearly puts the emphasis on the idea that women have a place in the future, at least in science fiction visions of the future. It is reprehensible, then, that the thrust of the postcards would not be on the decisive leadership of the Captain of Voyager, but rather on the local sex kitten. Seven Of Nine was not brought in to raise ratings by providing a Borg character and revitalize the science fiction ideas of Star Trek, she was brought in to parade around in a catsuit and if that is a woman's place among the stars, it's time to defund NASA (or StarFleet) altogether.

A Place Among The Stars would have been worthwhile if it has traded on Janeway's position as an authority, a leader of women and men and illustrated that with postcards of her making the tough decisions and leading. The concept would have worked if the half-Klingon Lieutenant Torres had been featured in an image of her performing an engineering miracle that saved the starship. Even an image of Kes being kind and/or nurturing the crew would have been a step in the right direction.

Instead, most of the images in this book of postcards feature publicity stills of Seven Of Nine. Seven Of Nine is posed, usually from the bustline up, in the various late-season publicity shots that traded on her assets (sometimes, um, literally) to try to sell her to the audience and the postcard buying public. This leads us to the other fundamental problem with this postcard book. As a dealer of Star Trek memorabilia, I can say with some authority that none of these images are unique to this book. Every one of the postcards in A Place Among The Stars is featured on a standalone postcard that is legally licensed and easily available at most Star Trek conventions. In fact, most of the shots are the same bland publicity stills released by Paramount Pictures Studios to promote each season of the show and are licensed on 8x10s, magazine covers, trading cards, t-shirts and postcards. The freestanding postcards are usually available for $1.00/ea or 6/$5.00 at conventions and makes the practical value of this book quite low.

In "Books" we tend to look for thorough reviews with insight, but lacking any writing or commentary on the postcards in this book, one is left with twenty-two publicity stills, most of which are easily available elsewhere and most of which illustrate the unfortunate concept that in science fiction, a woman's place among the stars is much the same as it is beside a politician these days: to stand there and look good.

This postcard book culls images from:
Star Trek: Voyager - Season 1
Star Trek: Voyager - Season 2
Star Trek: Voyager - Season 3
Star Trek: Voyager - Season 4
Star Trek: Voyager - Season 5

2/10

For other book reviews, be sure to check out my Book Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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So Long Kes, Hello Breasts! . . . Er, Seven Of Nine. "The Gift"

The Good: Moments of character, Jennifer Lein
The Bad: Jeri Ryan's initial acting
The Basics: Kes is written out in an episode that minimizes her transformation until the very end when her gifts are finally revealed!


As part of a transition between Jeri Taylor's vision of Star Trek: Voyager and Brannon Braga's version of the show, a transition needed to be made on-screen as well as behind-the-scenes. While the stated reason for getting rid of Jennifer Lein's Kes was the ridiculous notion that her make-up would have to be changed every three or four episodes given how the character was aging, it seems awfully coincidental that when Taylor was ousted as an executive producer, the only character removed from the show was the one she created. That meant that when Jeri Taylor was out, so too was Jennifer Lein.

Kes's departure from the series came in "The Gift," an episode that worked to make Seven Of Nine a more permanent member of the Voyager crew and lessen her full-Borg status. In other words, the point of the episode was to get rid of a character of substance and replace it with sex appeal. "The Gift" follows "Scorpion, Part II" (reviewed here!) and it almost immediately begins to do away with the idea that Borg space was so small that two episodes would find Voyager through it. As Voyager finds the Borg threat still very real, Seven Of Nine is made into less of a Borg and Kes is written out.

When Janeway cuts Seven Of Nine off from the Borg Collective, the alienated Borg begins to reject her Borg implants. As Annika Hansen's human DNA begins to reassert itself, her immune system begins to combat her Borg implants. After Kes exhibits extraordinary telekinetic powers, Janeway starts making the medical decisions for Seven Of Nine. In trying to remove the implants, Seven Of Nine comes close to dying and Kes starts to using her newfound abilities to disconnect Seven's failing technology.

As Seven Of Nine reluctantly aids Voyager in restoring the ship to optimal efficiency, Kes explores her new powers. Taking advantage of an opportunity to try to contact the Borg, Seven Of Nine reveals her duplicitous and obsessed nature and she is easily thwarted by Kes. Squaring off with Janeway, Seven Of Nine resists becoming human as Kes moves beyond being a simple Ocampa.

"The Gift" is an episode that is basically a series of excuses for Star Trek: Voyager. Kes was getting written out, so the entire Kes plot makes for a sensible exeunt for the character. Kes, though she makes a cameo in one future episode, is written out, essentially, as a god and that is very cool. The Star Trek franchise does not usually know what to do with superpowerful characters - like Wesley Crusher witlessly appearing in Star Trek: Nemesis after being granted godlike abilities in "Journey's End" (reviewed here!). The Kes half of the episode is interesting and worthwhile. In addition to including important scenes between Kes and the Doctor and Kes and Tuvok, "The Gift" devotes a few moments to a final real Kes and Neelix scene and that is refreshing.

The other half of the episode is less-than wonderful. First, the Borg technology continues to disrupt Voyager. Why this is occurring is not at all satisfactorily explained. The technology should be fine in Voyager and it would have been much more interesting on one level to leave Voyager enhanced. Given that the first thing Chakotay mentions being worked on is the removal of Borg armor on the hull, it seems like a cheap excuse to restore Voyager to its original configuration.

Second, the big purpose of the Seven Of Nine plot is to reduce her make-up. Seven Of Nine rejecting her Borg implants allows the character to shed her physical armor and walk around the rest of the series in a skintight catsuit with her breasts hoisted up. The make-up in "The Gift" actually is more noticeable in its changes on a high-definition television. I never noticed how subtle the changes in the make-up were before seeing the episode in HD and the make-up is a big part of the point of the episode.

Still, though, the character of Seven Of Nine makes little real sense. After a lifetime of being essentially a braindead drone, Seven Of Nine exhibits duplicity and cunning that are not at all characteristic of the Borg. Chakotay is quick to reveal that Annika Hansen was assimilated at a very young age and has only known life as a Borg. Given that, Seven Of Nine might reasonably want to return to the Borg, but the creative methods she employs do not "read" as right.

To try to salvage some of the ridiculous nature of the character, writer Joe Menosky creates an interesting philosophical difference between Janeway and Seven Of Nine. The result of their difference in opinion is that Janeway essentially takes Seven Of Nine in as her charge. While Kes is explicitly written out, "The Gift" is also the final nail in the coffin for Harry Kim's character. Watching the early seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, Janeway has an almost parental role in Harry Kim's life. That niche is now filled by Seven Of Nine and Harry Kim goes quietly as a result.

The special effects in "The Gift" are decent and the episode employs minimal effects. The make-up is better than in the prior episode and Kes's visions are very well-rendered. Director Anson Williams has a few visible issues on the basic lighting front (in the first act, there is a shot of Tuvok that looks like it was lit with the same lack of sophistication as most of "Encounter At Farpoint" was!).

Ultimately, "The Gift" is a "necessary evil" episode and given my love of Kes, it is impossible for me to entirely write the episode off. Kes gets a good exit and there are moments when Seven Of Nine is not horrible, making the episode worth watching, at the very least.

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

6/10

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

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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The Star Trek: Voyager Shakeup Begins With "Scorpion, Part II!"

The Good: Decent plot, Fair acting.
The Bad: Make-up special effects, Very light on character development, Borg are uncharacteristically pliable.
The Basics: Retooling Star Trek: Voyager, in "Scorpion, Part II," the ship makes an alliance with the Borg that may be disastrous.


Many people debate where the Star Trek franchise went wrong. After all, once it was a powerful, original franchise that was lauded around the world for its peaceful, inventive vision of the future. By Star Trek: Enterprise, it had mortgaged so much of its past and potential in favor of appealing to the action-adventure science fiction crowd and the Baywatch audience. The use of bodysuits to accent breasts and butts of female characters may have begun in the third season of Star Trek: Voyager, but in the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager, the show committed to that type of vision with the introduction of Seven Of Nine.

Seven Of Nine first appears in "Scorpion, Part II." Following up where season three ended with the Voyager entering Borg territory in "Scorpion, Part I" (reviewed here!). The introduction of Species 8472 in "Scorpion, Part I" put the Borg in play in a situation that necessitated an alliance between the Borg and Voyager. With the threat growing following the alien species wiping out an entire planet, the Borg agree to Janeway's dangerous plan. But the main purpose of "Scorpion, Part II" is to write in Seven Of Nine and continue the phase-out of Kes. I, for one, think that the show made a bad trade.

With the decimation of the nearby planet, the Borg ship with Janeway aboard and Voyager escape the swarm of alien ships. As the Doctor tests the nanoprobes on Harry Kim, Kes begins to suffer from telepathic incursions from the aliens. Tuvok joins Janeway on the Borg cube and resisting their efforts to implant communications devices in the two humans, Janeway and Tuvok are introduced to a single drone who will speak for the collective: Seven Of Nine. The alliance continues to be maintained, but when the Borg require a prototype of the weapon to be built, the Cube is destroyed with the Captain, Tuvok and a handful of Borg escaping its destruction.

Janeway is seriously wounded in the escape and with Chakotay in command of Voyager, tensions rise when the Borg want to make a trip backwards. Chakotay resists the idea of going back and plans to leave the Borg on an alien planet. When the war against the alien species takes a further turn for the worse, the Borg seize control of Voyager and take the ship into fluidic space, the realm of the alien species. Balancing the mission's cost with the idea of the Delta Quadrant being overwhelmed by the aliens, Chakotay and Voyager take the war to the alien species!

While the plot dictates the necessity of the alliance, the very idea that the Borg would be so forward-thinking is somewhat uncharacteristic. In Peter David's brilliant Star Trek: The Next Generation novel Vendetta (reviewed here!), David characterized the Borg appropriately as the omnipresent "now." They assimilate, overwhelm, then move on. They do not truly understand the future and that perspective is a clever one. That the Borg are so altered is somewhat troubling.

Similarly bogus is the way Seven Of Nine threatens Janeway and, later, Chakotay. The sense of extortion is uncharacteristic of the Borg and that illustrates an odd lack of understanding of the initial character design. The Borg have assimilated thousands of races; they are not ripe for character growth. So, when Seven Of Nine starts extorting and threatening the crew, the idea of menace seems odd.

As far as Seven Of Nine goes, her character design continues the "Star Trek: The Next Generation Greatest Hits" concept. Just as B'Elanna is a rewrite of K'Ehleyr and The Emergency Medical Hologram is a continuation on the concept of the holographic Moriarty, Seven Of Nine is a reworking of Hugh Borg from "I, Borg" (reviewed here!). In "Scorpion, Part II," the viewer gets the concept of the character before the main character struggle. Instead, we see her as full Borg. That character might have worked better had Seven Of Nine not seemed so initially emotional even as a Borg.

"Scorpion, Part II" is almost entirely devoid of character development. While the EMH has some cute moments of pride over his medical work with Kim and Janeway, the main character moment comes with Janeway and Chakotay. The two continue the bickering they began in "Part I." Chakotay advocates killing the alliance and when they fight, Janeway's dialogue is annoyingly expository. Pointing out the two battles (internal and external) seems remarkably banal.

While Kate Mulgrew pulls off her role well, Jeri Ryan's entrance into the series is surprisingly emotional. Her dialogue is presented in the least-cold fashion of any Borg. She adds far too much subtext to her deliveries which is utterly unlike the Borg.

Kes's subplot is disposed of ridiculously fast and makes very little sense (i.e. how Kes is not pretty much incapacitated the moment the ship enters fluidic space given that in the Delta Quadrant she is tormented seems a real flaw), but Jennifer Lein makes fine use of her time on screen.

The special effects in "Scorpion, Part II" are good, except the CG-enhanced ones for the infection on Harry Kim's face. That effect is, sadly, laughably bad. Either way, the episode does not come down to effects to either save or kill the episode. This is a plot-heavy second part that makes little sense in the overall context of the Star Trek franchise. While behind-the-scenes the idea to not make Star Trek: Voyager heavily serialized may have been the undoing of the franchise, on-screen the turning point for the franchise may well be "Scorpion, Part II." Sure, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would continue to endure in creative and amazing ways, but for the show that would succeed it and help define the franchise, the on-screen turn that shakes it up in a way that stops the show from really working is "Scorpion, Part II."

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

4.5/10

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

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Star Trek Sells Out To The Baywatch Audience With Star Trek: Voyager Season Four

The Good: The Doctor, Most of the acting
The Bad: Replacement of Kes with Seven, Terrible stories, Ridiculous villains, Selling out
The Basics: As Star Trek: Voyager hits its midpoint, the show changes direction focusing on a new character with supposed sex appeal over stories with substance.


When the U.S.S. Voyager was last seen, at the end of season three of Star Trek: Voyager Captain Kathryn Janeway was attempting to save the galaxy by allying herself with the villainous Borg to save the Delta Quadrant from invaders from fluidic space known only by a Borg designation. Harry Kim lay near death and Kes' mental powers were expanding exponentially, allowing her to look inside the mind of the invading villains. As dodgy a premise as that might be, it was enough to make the average viewer tune in for another go round. And as executive producer and co-creator of Star Trek: Voyager Jeri Taylor departs and is replaced by one-trick-pony Brannon Braga, the show takes a turn toward the utterly nonsensical.

Defeating the invaders with relative ease, Voyager is betrayed by the Borg, who have sent advisors, who they more or less defeat. This leaves them with a rogue Borg who soon becomes more or less independent. Kes takes a turn for godhood, throws Voyager ten years closer to home (theoretically outside Borg space) and Voyager limps through Hirogen territory while the viewer wonders why.

From day three of Star Trek: Voyager, I was bothered by how the show was doing episodic television for what is an ideal serialized arc. With the addition of Seven of Nine to the cast of characters, the show takes on slightly more serialized stories, a la Data's quest for humanity on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The fundamental problem with Star Trek: Voyager now becomes that: 1. It is no longer the story of the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager (this is the first season of "The Seven of Nine Show") and 2. The overall storyline no longer makes sense.

The first problem is one of the most significant ones that Star Trek: Voyager faces as it reaches and passes its midpoint. Out of the twenty-six episodes in the fourth season, Seven of Nine eight of them could reasonably be called Seven of Nine episodes. The character that has the next best exposure is The Doctor who has three episodes that are distinctly his, but because he is frequently paired with Seven of Nine, he reaps a great deal of airtime, especially in the Seven of Nine episodes. Janeway has only a single episode that is distinctly hers and her role in many of the ensemble cast episodes (episodes that are actually about events more than any one character) is largely just support (though she does get the final bang in "Year Of Hell, Part II"). The show does more ensemble work, with a full seven episodes being more devoted to circumstances the U.S.S. Voyager finds itself in as opposed to actual character-driven episodes or situations. When Star Trek: Voyager turns toward the cheap gimmicks of plot-driven ideas as opposed to character conflicts, the show takes a dive in terms of purpose and quality.

And that leads us to the second big problem with the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager. As the show evolves into the Seven of Nine Show (with the Doctor acting as Ed McMahon to Seven's Johnny), the plot-driven stories become more and more absurd and the aliens become flat-out ridiculous. First, the concept of "Borg Space" is somewhat chilling and pointless. Borg space would be an assimilated wasteland with nothing but Borg. Perhaps the producers realized this and that's why they had the ship tossed much closer to home.

But then we get the concept of the Borg Transwarp Conduit. This ridiculous notion utterly and irrevocably weakens the concept of the Borg. The Borg are the soulless villains who simply wander the universe assimilating civilizations and technology to make their Collective more powerful. They don't (traditionally) negotiate, surrender or have much in the way of weakness as their hive mind allows them to adapt extraordinarily quickly. Transwarp conduits are - in Star Trek: Voyager lore - tunnels through space that allow travel at extraordinarily fast speeds with point to point precision, kind of like wormholes. If the Borg had these, why don't they simply swarm everywhere they want to assimilate? Since Star Trek First Contact (reviewed here!), they have virtually instantaneous assimilation time. Now they have virtually instantaneous transportation. Five Borg ships ought to be able to take transwarp conduits, swarm a planet, assimilate its people and move on within a day. Given the implied number of Borg ships in an area ten years wide at normal warp speeds, the Borg ought to have conquered the Delta Quadrant within a week and the entire galaxy in under a year.

And for those nitpickers who wish to argue that the transwarp conduits came from Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Descent," reviewed here!), one only has to note that the ship using them was not Borg and given that it came from Lore, the implication - unresolved on the show - was that Lore stole it, meaning that it was not actually a Borg ship. The aliens that the U.S.S. Voyager encounters after passing through Borg space, like the Krennim and the Klingon-wannabes Hirogen are particularly easy targets, which begs the question, why haven't the Borg simply assimilated them?

Of course, that's using reason to something that is supposed to be entertainment. The reason, however, so many people who become enamored with the Star Trek franchise do so is because they like the rules of the universe that are established. In the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager so many of those rules are tossed out the window. If it doesn't work, make a last second reversal at the end of the episode. Some of the closest to impressive episodes make utterly no sense in their resolutions, most notably "Year Of Hell," which sees the U.S.S. Voyager destroyed without a satisfactory explanation of how it resets the timeline.

The best episode is a quiet, character driven story that is buggered by an annoying Seven of Nine b-plot. "Day Of Honor" finds Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres stranded in space alone with pilot Tom Paris. As the two float around waiting for death, they talk, actually talk!, and the result is a pretty wonderful piece of work. Unfortunately, it's almost the high point of the season and it's the third episode in. The only episode that is arguably better, "Mortal Coil," involves Neelix's resurrection at the hands of Seven of Nine and the simple resolution to the episode robs it of some of its impact.

The show ought to be about characters, but failing that, here's where the principles are this season:

Captain Kathryn Janeway - Muscled out of significant airtime, Janeway holds onto Voyager against the Borg, a time-travelling menace, and hunters who recreate Nazi Germany throughout the ship. Her sole episode involves spending time on the holodeck with Leonardo da Vinci,

Chakotay - After the first officer uses his Borg Reserve status (way to throw back to a prior episode!), he becomes part of an alien war, then sits quietly until very late in the season when he has a one-episode love show,

The Doctor - Having lost Kes, he takes in Seven of Nine. As a result, he supports Seven on her witless quest to be more human but has moments on his own where he attempts to thwart a homicidal hologram, figure out who is tormenting Voyager's crew, save Neelix's life, journey to the Alpha Quadrant, and ends up in the distant future trying to make sense of the voyage of the U.S.S. Voyager,

Tuvok - He investigates evil, yet again, when Torres is implicated in a murder. He shows up occasionally otherwise, but is relegated to support this season,

B'Elanna Torres - After professing her love for Tom Paris, Torres finds herself at odds with Seven of Nine, accused of murder on an alien planet, wrestling more with her Klingon half and ultimately shocked when news from the Alpha Quadrant comes Voyager's way,

Tom Paris - No longer even remotely rogue, Paris flies by the book this season and opens up to Torres, runs around the holodeck, and occasionally flirts with Seven of Nine,

Seven of Nine - Rescued from the Borg, Seven of Nine coincidentally discovers her parents' lost ship, begins a witless quest to be more human, seems caught up on assimilation and is stacked like a woman from Baywatch and stuck in a catsuit for the bulk of the season,

Harry Kim - Is he even in this season?! Without even a lone Kim episode, he is relegated completely to support of scenes this season. Which begs the question, why was he saved in the premiere? (Seriously, he briefly has a few scenes as Seven’s would-be guide),

and Kes - Departing after the first two episodes of the season as a quasi-god, Kes is missed.

What is missed this season are moments of character to back up the acting. Seven of Nine is clearly brought on for sex appeal and Jeri Ryan fills that adequately. It's not Star Trek, though and the sellout is insulting to the fans. The other actors, notably Kate Mulgrew and Roxanne Dawson, do their best to work around it, but they're not given much to do to make that work.

The actor that pulls the show is Robert Picardo. While Jeri Ryan is given technobabble and set to parading around her breasts, Picardo does the heavy lifting with exploring his character in greater depth. The Doctor, ironically, becomes the human foil to Seven and Picardo does an excellent job of playing the role both awkward and brilliant. He continues to infuse his brilliance in the show and it almost makes the season bearable.

Almost, but not enough. Ultimately, this season is dragged down by plot-driven stories and the attempt to market the show to an audience that craves sex appeal over substance. That's not traditionally the Star Trek audience and it's insulting to most of us that the show tries to keep us with that.

For more of the content of this season, be sure to check out my episode reviews of each of the season’s episodes. The fourth season is comprised of:
Scorpion, Part 2
The Gift
Day Of Honor
Nemesis
Revulsion
The Raven
Scientific Method
Year Of Hell
Year Of Hell, Part 2
Random Thoughts
Concerning Flight
Mortal Coil
Waking Moments
Message In A Bottle
Hunters
Prey
Retrospect
The Killing Game, Part 1
The Killing Game, Part 2
Vis A Vis
The Omega Directive
Unforgettable
Living Witness
Demon
One
Hope And Fear

5/10

For other Star Trek reviews, be sure to check out my Star Trek Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2006 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Finale Before The Retooling, “Scorpion” (Part I) Puts All The Pieces On The Board!

The Good: Plot, Moments of character, Most of the special effects, Kate Mulgrew’s performance
The Bad: No other superlative performances.
The Basics: When Voyager finally reaches Borg territory, they discover a passage, occupied by a creature even more vicious than the Borg!


In the bonus features to the third season of Star Trek: Voyager, Jeri Taylor discusses how most of the cliffhanger season finales are written without a clear ending in mind. In the example, she was discussing “Basics, Part 2” (reviewed here!) and I suspect that if she had been asked about “Scorpion,” she would have admitted either that she was about to be replaced or that in Brannon Braga’s script, she somehow missed how all the pieces were put on the board for her and her creation (Kes) to be eliminated in the next season. And yet, “Scorpion, Part 1” is the final episode of Star Trek: Voyager before the appearance and rapid dominance of Seven Of Nine.

I think, following this point, I can count on one hand, two at most, the episodes of Star Trek: Voyager worth watching. In fact, pressed to come up with names, the only two that leap instantly to mind are “Mortal Coil” and “Author Author.” That’s pretty sad both considering that “Scorpion” is the first of two parts and that at this point, the series is not even to the halfway point. Regardless, the idea that the writers didn’t know where the second part was going is ridiculous; it would not have been named “Scorpion” if they had no idea about that.

When two Borg ships are destroyed almost instantaneously, Voyager has no idea for some time. Instead, Janeway is in the Holodeck negotiating with Leonardo Da Vinci for table space in his studio when she is called down to Engineering. There, she is shown footage from a long-range probe Voyager sent out and encountered the Borg! With thousands of Borg-infested solar systems evident in Voyager’s path, the crew is thrilled to discover that there is a barren path through Borg space that they are calling the “Northwest Passage.” As Voyager moves to exploit the Northwest Passage, they are shocked to be passed by by an armada of fifteen Borg ships.

Disturbed by visions of dead Borg, Kes comes to believe that Voyager is headed into a situation where they will encounter something even more horrible. When Voyager encounters a destroyed Borg ship and discover a bio-ship attached to it, her visions appear prophetic. The Away Team that Chakotay leads discovers the malevolent species that is raining death upon the Borg and Kim is wounded by it. Facing the choice of turning back and giving up the journey home, Janeway turns to the Doctor’s medical expertise to create a unique bartering position with the Borg!

“Scorpion” heavily references other Star Trek franchise episodes that deal with the Borg, though none more integrally than “Unity” (reviewed here!), when Voyager encountered an ex-Borg colony earlier in the season. None of the other Borg-related episodes are so indispensible to “Scorpion” that a newbie wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate “Scorpion.”

“Scorpion” is very much about ending Star Trek: Voyager as it has been. The series until now has subtly built a romantic undertone between Janeway and Chakotay. That was only increased when the budding Torres/Chakotay relationship was scudded in favor of the Torres/Paris relationship. While the peak of the chemistry between Chakotay and Janeway was arguably the penultimate episode of the second season, “Resolutions” (reviewed here!), it persisted through “Scorpion.” Over the course of “Scorpion,” when Chakotay disagrees with Janeway’s course of action (and telling her the story of the scorpion), Janeway ultimately rejects Chakotay in that way. Their relationship never recovers from that and it leaves Chakotay free to form the least-organic relationship of the series.

Kes’s premonitions also put an important piece on the board that sets up her departure almost instantaneously in the fourth season. Kes’s reaction to Species 8472 (the biological entities that the Borg are unable to assimilate in “Scorpion”) give her powers a boost in such a way that she is becoming closer to godlike and it is becoming far less satisfying to keep writing her powers off as specific to a proximate species or event. “Scorpion” hardly utilizes Kes, but her few moments in the episode present her as growing significantly in power and psychic aptitude.

The special effects in “Scorpion” are a real mixed bag. The space-based special effects are impressive and most of the make-up is wonderful as well. But, the inside of the biomass/ship is utterly unimpressive and the computer generated alien is not nearly as impressive as it ought to be. Despite what director David Livingston says in the bonus features to Season Three, there is enough of the creature shown to truly disappoint the viewer with the creature’s lack of sophistication. It is not lit well and it moves like a CG creature. Conversely, the computer generated effects of the alien infection is gross and impressive.

On the acting front, “Scorpion” is hardly a wealth of great performances. Poor Garrett Wang is given little to do for most of the episode but lay in Sickbay and look comatose. Robert Picardo has a moment after delivering quite a bit of jargon about the genetics of the alien species where he emotes wonderfully about Kim’s plight. Robert Beltran is originally sympathetic as Chakotay, but when Chakotay turns on Janeway – even in his quiet, understated way – he reverts to delivering his lines stiffly and unconvincingly (which might be why Janeway does not listen to him and run right to bed).

On the other hand, Kate Mulgrew is excellent as Janeway in “Scorpion.” Playing opposite John Rhys-Davies, who is guest starring in the role of Leonardo Da Vinci, and all of the main cast, Mulgrew is intense and empathetic. Much of her performance is quiet and sad as she considers Voyager’s impending fate and when Janeway frames the conflict as one where the most prudent course of action is surrendering and trying to colonize a planet in the Delta Quadrant, Mulgrew is appropriately contemplative. Janeway’s bold plan is actually compelling in “Scorpion” and Mulgrew sells it well.

“Scorpion” neglects another option, though, and that weakens it. Janeway sees three options: go back, use the Northwest Passage, and negotiate with the Borg. Given how the Borg, invested in their conflict with the enemy, have ignored Voyager, flying through Borg space while the Borg focus on their war seems a legitimate option. That that concept is never addressed is disappointing.

Ultimately, “Scorpion” is a set-up for a retooling of the series in the fourth season, but it is a pretty compelling finale in its own right!

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

7.5/10

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

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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The Doctor’s Lessons With Family Are Not Quite Enough To Carry “Real Life.”

The Good: Great idea, Interesting character moments, Decent acting
The Bad: Somewhat ridiculous notions (like 1950s values still being an ideal in the 24th Century)
The Basics: The Doctor makes his own holographic family and suffers the consequences of alterations that make them more headstrong and realistic.


The Doctor was long my favorite character on Star Trek: Voyager and as the character evolved, the experiments the writers and producers did with him had varying levels of success. Some of the ideas actually worked well, like the Doctor getting his mobile holo-emitter in “Future’s End, Part II” (reviewed here!). Others were good ideas that were too simplistic to carry an entire episode and as result, they fell a bit flat. “Real Life” is one of the latter type episodes.

“Real Life” finds the Doctor experimenting with family life and after he creates a ridiculously ideal one, he gets a far more realistic one created for him. It’s a very simple idea and to flesh out the full forty-three minutes of the episode, “Real Life” includes a full subplot involving a scientific phenomenon of the week – subspace eddies – and a smartly relevant character arc that continues to move B’Elanna Torres and Tom Paris closer romantically. While any of the three elements work on their own, none of them is truly strong enough to carry their own episode and the result is that while “Real Life” has a pretty necessary idea for the Doctor’s character arc, it has a pretty jumbled execution that does not quite work.

Shortly after the Doctor begins a simulation to create a family, the U.S.S. Voyager travels into peaceful territory where they discover a benevolent scientific outpost wiped out. As Voyager investigates, the Doctor has Torres and Kes visit his family program. Over a single dinner, Torres gets increasingly upset with how the Doctor (going by Kenneth for his simulation) has created a wife and two children who are entirely idealistic. Frustrated with how they do not embody anything realistic to her, Torres gets the Doctor’s permission to alter the program.

The result is the Doctor walks in a chaotic family where his rebellious son, Jeffrey blares music, his wife is speaking at the Bolian embassy and not staying home to cook dinner, and his whiny daughter Belle wants his attention to find her mallet for music practice.

“Real Life” is, in no way, a terrible episode, but it is one that fails to find and keep a solid focus. While the Doctor is affected by his faux-life in the Holodeck, Tom Paris gets lost exploring the astral eddy. As Paris tries to find his way out and Voyager tries to find a way to use the energy from the astral eddy to gain additional power and be able to use the replicators more.

Within the holodeck program, “Real Life” looks unfortunately goofy, ironically not in the 1950’s-esque family design. The Klingons in “Real Life” who are influencing Kenneth’s son Jeffrey look far more like Kazon than Klingons. Yes, it is a matter of hair design, but the Klingons look somewhat ridiculous.

“Real Life” takes a turn for the appropriately tragic in the holodeck simulation, which makes for a reasonable reason why the Doctor would shut the program down by the end of the episode. Unfortunately, the writers of “Real Life” fall into one of the traps that too many of the Star Trek writers do, which is applying 20th Century medical standards to the 24th Century. When Kenneth tells his wife that the brain is still a largely mysterious organ, it is utterly ridiculous given that in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (reviewed here!) the brain is, in fact, not a mystery.

The episode may be one of the neglected tragedies of Star Trek: Voyager and whenever I consider the episode, it is hard not to think that Torres is a bit of a jerk. Torres is right to point out to the Doctor that the program is an unfortunate ideal that is not giving him the actual experiences he wants to have. But the parameters she puts into the program seem designed to end in tragedy and that is simply not fair and it’s certainly not nice to her friend.

On the character front, though, the effect the Doctor’s family has on him is a profound one and as Paris points out to him, the realism of the experience can give the Doctor a real sense of perspective. This allows Robert Picardo to show off his acting chops in a way that uses the actor in a way that goes well beyond his usual comedic brilliance. Playing opposite him, Robert Duncan McNeill actually delivers one of the best monologues of his career on Star Trek: Voyager when he has to talk to the Doctor about what it means to have a family. This leads from one great speech to one of Picardo’s most powerful dramatic performances as he has to deliver a series of tough and impassioned lines to a guest actress and he sells the viewer on the full weight and history of the characters in a way that is a real tear-jerker.

While the episode ends powerfully and makes for an experience that ultimately gets a fairly strong “recommend” from me, objectively, “Real Life” is a tougher sell in that its many elements become cluttered and do not add up to a solid storyline that engrosses the viewer for the full duration of the episode. Jeri Taylor seems to have done the best she could with the ambitious idea, but it just wasn’t enough for a full episode and the elements that supplement it are hardly as satisfying as one might want.

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

5.5/10

Check out how this episode stacks up against others by visiting my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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