Tag: television

My Voyager Rewatch: S1E03

It’s been over a year since I thought I’d get this rewatch going again, and nearly a year since I’ve had any significant presence on the interwebs whatsoever. Hopefully it will take this time. Live posts of upcoming episodes on BlueSky (@kolacinski.bsky.social), starting with S1, E6.

My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S4E03 “Parallax”

We get right into the story; many things happen just in the teaser. Integrating the Maquis into the Starfleet crew is a story that needs to be told. Done right, it should take quite a while. This time we’re focused on B’Elanna.

Neelix explains black holes to Kes. He says that an event horizon is a "very powerful energy field."
Event horizons aren’t “very powerful energy fields.”

The “senior officers” include the greenest ensign and the recent parolee. That alone should have taken longer to sort out. Is that what they’re going for by having Neelix and Kes crash the party? It seems sloppy. And Kes’ “good idea” about the hydroponics bay is too obvious.

The B story has potential. Neelix “explains” an event horizon. Somebody needs to buy him a damn dictionary. But the tension surrounding the issue is well-formed. A throwaway line explains why the Doctor seems to have emotions. It doesn’t explain why he’s so caustic, though.

There are many interesting things to explore about the Doctor. Can he grow into the position? Even he doesn’t know, as he literally starts to shrink. Kim’s dismissiveness and Kes asking his name put a fine point on it. A lot is going on in this episode… perhaps too much.

The Doctor, literally shrinking, stands on a chair to compensate.
At least they didn’t skimp on the special effects.

The episode gets better when the B’Elanna & singularity plot lines merge; the focus helps. B’Elanna proves herself and shows some growth along the way. It’s nice that Carey acts like a mensch after being passed over for Chief Engineer, even as Janeway mentions other concerns.

An ultimately decent episode with better-than-expected performances from some of the cast. It’s weakened by trying to address everything. Are they trying to shortcut the drama of merging the crews? The Doctor’s dilemma is one casualty; it’s mainly played for laughs.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

#StarTrek #StarTrekVoyager #StarTrekVoyagerRewatch

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My Voyager Rewatch: S1E01

My #StarTrekVoyager rewatch S1E01 “Caretaker Part 1”

It’s the thirtieth anniversary of Voyager this week and that seems like as good of a reason as any to get back to this project. Also, the election is over and it’s good for my mental health to occupy my brain with some things that are neither politics nor work.

If you don’t recall how this works, here’s my introductory post. The other posts are here. I’m going to try BlueSky for the initial watches even though their iPad app is frustrating. Those will be back soon.

Incidentally, if you want to watch “Caretaker” as a two-part story it’s available that way on PlutoTV.

With Season 4 complete, we go back to Season 1. We’ll be alternating seasons until the end of the series. I have clear memories of the premiere. I was psyched for a new ship-board Trek series, watched the episode twice (taped on VHS… my god!), and dug for more info. If this were today rather than 30 years ago, I would have been clamoring for a podcast to extend the adventure.

On to the episode. Good lord! The opening text is way too Star Wars for me. But that’s followed by a strong opening that reminds me of “Balance of Terror,” an engaging space battle that does not depend on SFX. The drama is inside the ship. The intros for Paris and Janeway are good but clunky. Too bad McNeill isn’t “Nick Locarno” here.

Morn!

Voyager's original pilot and first officer.
Voyager’s original pilot and first officer.

Quark is in excellent form for his cameo. It gives Tom and Harry a “meet cute.” It’s striking how many of the characters we meet are merely plot fodder. Pilot, doctor, first officer, and security guy. Makes me wonder how things might have played out differently. Bam! We’re in the Delta Quadrant! It’s funny, the survivors barely seem to have encountered a strong wind.

We meet the Doctor in sickbay. I don’t care if it makes no sense for a hologram to show emotions, Picardo is hilarious!

Moving to the array is abrupt. A cute (holographic) girl greets Harry, leaving him fazed & typifying his character.

The farm setting doesn’t work even though it’s not supposed to. It’s better once the villagers are brandishing pitchforks. Abrupt transitions to the crew on examination tables and then to awakening on Voyager neatly create a sense of disorientation. Hey! Security Guy lives!

Our first look at the caretaker.
Our first look at the caretaker.

Things move fast. Harry and B’Elanna are missing, so the two ships team up. It’s nice that it doesn’t go smoothly. Tim Russ is a bit too low-key for Tuvok so far.

Ugh. Melancholy banjo music.

“Minor Bipedal species.” Lol. The caretaker guy is excellent at being cryptic.

Torres tries to beat the hell out of a door, and we’ve typified another character. And there’s a nice scene establishing Janeway and Tuvok’s dynamic. Vulcans don’t worry, but they miss each other? How’s that again? We end on Janeway promising to get the crew home. This is an excellent start.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

#StarTrek

Images used under the fair use doctrine.