My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S4E26 “Hope and Fear”

It’s the final episode of season four. Curiously, it isn’t a two-part bridge into season five. That’s unusual. But let’s go! The teaser pits Janeway and Seven in a game on the holodeck and they discuss intuition. A strong start that ends on an ominous note.

They’re still deciphering that message from “Hunters,” so this is a sequel to a weak episode.

But hey! That’s Ray Wise under the dopey bald cap. “Arturis” as he’s called has an unrealistic knack for languages and the message is decrypted via dues ex alien. Will it be interesting?

“You’re much more attractive than the average drone.” Ugh! Still, we get the message… mostly. It contains coordinates that are only 10 light-years away. It’s suspicious that Arturis decoded the message so easily and that the location in a months-old message is close to their current location.

Nevertheless, they race toward the plot complication, which appears to be a Starfleet vessel. Too good to be true. Do we trust Arturis? That doesn’t look like a Starfleet design. “I’m surprised you’re not more encouraged by this discovery,” he says. He’s up to something.

Credit to the writers, Janeway at least isn’t buying it. Will they do the Dumb Thing? Probably.

The Dauntless NX01-A. I remember the name. It’s a trap.

Using intertwined log entries is new and effective. It’s a nice device but the conflict between Seven and Janeway only works if Seven believes the ship would get them back to Earth. She doesn’t.

The shoe finally drops. Janeway’s war crimes have come home to roost. Helping the Borg defeat Species 8472 got Arturis’s race borgified and he wants revenge, kidnapping Janeway and Seven to get them assimilated. Another strong scene with Seven and Janeway and Seven gets a hilarious line. Obviously, it doesn’t work.

A middling episode, but it satisfyingly brings the season full circle, bookending the war crimes, Janeway’s relationship with Seven, and other reflections like Seven rejecting a return to the collective. Some things DO have consequences. That’s a nice change of pace.

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My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S4E25 “One”

Awesome! I’ve been looking forward to this one. No pun intended. The Doctor teaching Seven social skills is a dubious proposition at best; this part’s all a bit clumsy.

You know, I vaguely remember this one from 24 years ago. The crew is allergic to a nebula and must cross it in stasis.

“Sub nucleonic radiation” is devastating to organic tissue, but Seven will be okay… because she’s not organic? Still, the Borg drone who had trouble adjusting to brief solitude being utterly isolated is a good setup. The Doctor being in command is also dubious. Or maybe it’s comedy?

The deck full of “coffins” is aptly eerie. Foreshadowing? Cut to Seven on Day 10. Tom sleepwalks. Found unconscious, he should be dead. Tensions are rising, so the EMH prescribes a trip to the holodeck. It’s interesting how Seven uses the trip to the holodeck but the Doctor wants compliance, not creativity.

The plot complication is a welcome distraction. It turns out to be a false alarm. An interesting consequence of the organic matter integrated into the computer systems. Still, it should have been easily foreseen. The Doctor has been knocked offline outside of the sick bay before.

We don’t need to change the rules to manufacture drama. Still, the tension gets ramped up nicely as Seven is increasingly isolated. A chance encounter brings a pilot with sexual-predator vibes onto the ship. Is he a hallucination? Seven is definitely hallucinating now and the ambiance is positively Hitchcockian.

This part is outstanding especially as it culminates with the Doctor going offline. In retrospect, the slow build here worked exceptionally well and the climax is intense. It’s also nice that the episode had consequences; Seven has grown and we don’t merely revert to the status quo. A solid episode and most of my qualms I can dismiss as early hallucinations or forgive for being necessary to set the plot in motion. The pay-off at the end, for example, made the awkward bit in the teaser worthwhile.

This episode will be fun to ponder and revisit. What was real and what wasn’t? I’m not entirely sure.

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My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S4E24 “Demon”

It’s nice to see Vorik! And is Roxanne Dawson pregnant? Memory Alpha says “yes.” That explains the uniform and the camera angles.

Voyager needs a gas station. Sounds like a barn burner! Paris: “even at 1/4 impulse we’ll be out of gas within a week.” Traveling at sub-light speeds is stupid! It would take years to travel between solar systems.

On the one hand, it’s not a recycled TNG plot. On the other, it’s already pretty dumb. Griefing Neelix is fun, but he can’t bring a book to temporary quarters? Why? Does Neelix move his lips when he reads? Or insist on reading passages out loud? And let’s shut down the good scanners while we look for fuel. Dumb. At least Seven tells them that’s stupid.

The gas station is on a Demon-class planet. Very unpleasant. At least the Demon isn’t literal.

Hey! Directed by Potsie Webber again!

Harry wants to know why he shouldn’t take the initiative. Because you’re an ensign. He and Tom are still not funny. Using EV Suits in an environment too toxic for the ship is dumb. Splitting up is dumb. Drastic temperature changes on Harry’s suit having no obvious effects is dumb. I’ll stop. But wait! The computer says the suit has a problem, saving the FX budget! It’s too dangerous to orbit the planet, so now we land. Ugh!

The B story, Neelix sleeping in sickbay, is even worse but is mercifully short. Also, the visuals of the shuttle do not match the conditions on the planet. Tom and Harry can now breathe without suits and are oddly out of character. I bet the ship will be poisonous to them now.

Yup. The blatantly predictable thing happens. The concept of bio-forming vs. terraforming is interesting at least. But that’s not what happened. The planet 3-D printed a new Harry and Tom. The originals should be dead but inexplicably they’re not. Still dumb. The planet wants to 3-D print everybody.

None of the characters have figured that out yet. Janeway says “sentience” when she means “sapience.” We casually, off-screen, copy everyone, sidestepping the Tuvix-sized ethical issues. I must never have seen this one when it first ran 24 years ago because I’d still be irritated.

But I don’t blame Potsie.

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My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S4E11 “Concerning Flight”

They really like starting things off in the holodeck. Still, John Rhys-Davies as Leonardo Da Vinci is excellent and his being mocked because his flying machine didn’t work is amusing. Janeway’s pep talk about perseverance is less so.

The main plot appears to be about aliens shoplifting Voyager’s tech. They track it down and discover Leonardo has escaped the holodeck. His interactions with the 24th century are charming. After navigating the black market for a while, James T. Kirk gets name-dropped. Nice!

I enjoyed watching Leonardo’s philosophical conversations with Janeway but now I’m wondering how exactly it works that this holodeck character is out and acting fully sapient when that took the Doctor years. It’s one of those things it’s best not to question too deeply. And yet if we can casually whip up self-aware beings for holodeck games, isn’t that slavery? With Minuet it required an upgrade. When it happened with Moriarty it was portrayed as a fluke. If it happens as a matter of course there are ethical questions to ponder and address. Is that coming in Picard Season Three?

Leonardo’s clever thought to enter the warehouse isn’t really so clever. But as he starts to process new knowledge he’s buzzing with curiosity and bursting with questions. He basically gets “because I said so” from Janeway. This would be the perfect place to invoke Clarke’s Third Law. A missed opportunity.

Leonardo is undeniably self-aware and continues the rapid-fire questioning. He gets “your mind is too small” from Janeway. That doesn’t fit what we see. They flee and use Leonardo’s too-conveniently-located hang glider to escape. The moment they take flight is surprisingly moving, and the wrap-up is a nice character moment for the holographic artist. It’s a delightful episode if you can ignore the dumb premise and it begs for a sequel. What could Leonardo accomplish if he could run wild in the 24th century? How about the ethical questions? I bet Trek will mash the reset button way too hard.

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My #startrekvoyager rewatch S4E10 “Random Thoughts”

Paris and Neelix are talking about dating. That is NOT how I want to start my morning. And telling Neelix to be himself is, at best, dubious advice. Telepaths. We’re clearly heading toward some kind of Minority Report nonsense.

B’Elanna is arrested for “aggravated violent thought.” So far it’s all a little stiff and heavy-handed. It seems violent thoughts can spur others to violence. B’Elanna is arrested and will be forced to undergo dangerous memory alteration. Janeway tries to intervene.

Violence spreads and Neelix’s friend is killed. B’Elanna’s violent thought is to blame which shouldn’t be happening. In his own investigation, Tuvok uncovers a black market in violent, dark thought. It gets gross and salacious and what might have been interesting degenerates into a simplistic metaphor for illicit behavior that almost ends up being pro-thought-police. I suspect that the writer was trying to be anti-violence but you could read the ending as an anti-free expression or a message that behavior outside the norm should be punished.

There’s a Potential essay here about why there are right-wing Trek fans. The final 3 minutes redeem things a little. Tuvok and B’Elanna have an exchange that’s reminiscent of classic Spock/McCoy Banter and earn a good laugh. Tuvok says, “Burdened as you are by your primitive Klingon psyche, it is a wonder that you were able to keep your violent thoughts under control as much as you do.” Then a conversation with Janeway and 7 explains why Voyager isn’t trying very hard to get home. Still, ending on a high note or two is not enough to save the episode. Bleh.

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My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S4E22 “Unforgettable”

It’s a little funny when Tom ribs Harry about being uncomfortable about working with Seven but enough of that already. There has to be another dimension to Harry’s personality.

Directed by Andrew Robinson. That’s Cool!

We get right into the action in the teaser when a mystery woman on a cloaked ship knows Chakotay by name.

“Try to stabilize the hull” is a terrifying phrase.

They find and rescue the woman, Kellin. Chakotay doesn’t know her and her affect is peculiar. She keeps claiming that it’s complicated. But it’s more convoluted than complicated. Her people are the Silence from Doctor Who in slow motion. Other races forget them after a few hours so they’re secretive. She was on the ship for two weeks to capture another who wanted to leave their society. Now she wants to escape. I’m dubious.

We get lots of coquettish and suspicious behavior from Kellin and Neelix’s platitudes are annoyingly simplistic. Kellin has been claiming she and Chakotay had been in love. He’s been suspicious and then does a sharp 180-degree turn, asking her to stay on the ship. They had better explain this.

They don’t. When the heel turn doesn’t come we’re suddenly dealing with a better episode. When Kellin’s recent memories get erased she and Chakotay replay old interactions with the roles reversed. It’s nice and then bittersweet when she ultimately returns to her people.

Kudos for the nice premise for defying expectations. Sadly, emotional changes were abrupt, the “romance” never felt authentic, and the non-linear chunks were perfunctory. Ultimately I wish the execution were better. The highlight was Tuvok telling jokes worthy of Spock.

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My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S4E09 “Year of Hell, Part 2”

Here we go. Hiding out in a nebula. Quintessential Star Trek since 1982. But I’m pretty sure the science here is nuts. The gas in a nebula can’t possibly be very dense. Janeway refusing treatment is also nuts.

Red isn’t an idiot though. Paris is “intransigent.” Serving delicacies that have been deleted from time is too ostentatious, but offering to fix Voyager’s timeline is a decent strategy. And now Red explains the obvious for us. He’s palpably smart though and I like that.

There are parallels developing between Janeway’s single-mindedness and Red’s. I’m sure Chakotay is planning something; meanwhile, his discussions with Red about temporal mechanics are fascinating.

There’s a line between brave and self-destructive. Janeway’s crossed it. In a great scene the Doctor, correctly, calls Janeway on her recklessness & Janeway, perfectly, goes all Andrew Jackson on his ass.

There’s probably a freshman comp paper to be written about that watch within the episode’s context. Janeway finding it is a hopeful moment.

There are lots of great little character moments as things unfold with good and even above-average performances from the cast. We learn about Red’s white whale. There were explicit comparisons to Nemo and Bligh. Why not Ahab? Too on point?

The climax is satisfying even if it hinges on being a “Hail Mary.” Happy endings all around are a nice change of pace. Another good episode. Part 2 is maybe even a little stronger than part 1. Few two-parters hold up this well.

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My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S4E08, “Year of Hell, Part 1”

Ninety seconds in and it’s already dark. Red from That 70s Show is playing with time to achieve a “Target Event.” Now he’s set to wipe an entire species from existence. At least they didn’t waste any time getting to the plot.

Now Seven and Kim have upgraded their Mapquest and the Doctor takes the opportunity to be pompous. The plot intrudes, As they enter Zahl space they encounter a Krenim who’s a Jackass. We meet a swarmy but nice Zahl wearing a leisure suit. He’s erased by a temporal wave, and the Krenim become more powerful and bigger jackasses. Things get worse for Voyager.

This is the plot. Lather, rinse, repeat. Red has gone completely Ahab and things get terrible for Voyager fast. In a painfully obvious bit of foreshadowing Janeway’s lucky teacup breaks. Ugh.

Yeah, yeah, the crew is clever and resilient. There’s a nice moment of levity with Paris that I won’t spoil. I’m wondering why the computer can’t manifest multiple EMHs. Voyager’s new shielding protected it from a temporal wave that would have fixed the ship. C’est la vie.

It takes them a long time to figure that out. I know, that’s for the audience. But Red sees them as a problem now. Watching the hull peel off is compelling and dramatic. Turns out the better bit of foreshadowing in the tea cup scene was Chakotay’s plan. The crew has to abandon the ship leaving only the senior staff.

To be continued. I can see why this 2-part story is so well-regarded. It’s well-plotted & keeps the extraneous nonsense to a minimum. It also ramps up the tension in a smooth believable way. Very effective. I hope part 2 is as good.

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