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“Resolutions” is a Janeway-centric episode written by Jeri Taylor, there fore we know the theme is Janeway is Awesome! If you did not have that message loud and clear before watching the episode, you will definitely have it hammered home to you by the end. That does assume you stay until the end, which is a feat. There is a lot of stuff going on here that ranges from the laughably bad to the inexplicably pointless. Basically, it is a typical Taylor script.

But it is atypical Star Trek. “Resolutions” is essentially a Harlequin romance novel wherein janeway plays the prim, proper school marm stuck and the frontier while romanced by the native American savage. Or as savage as Chakotay gets. Frankly, he is the one who wants to play house from the very beginning. I assume Taylor intends for this to mean he is madly in love with Janeway, because who would not have the hots for Janeway the Awesome, but it feels more like Chakotay’s urge to cook, clean, and decorate comes across as a little light in the loafers. Then again, I am noty certain this is the first time Janeway has been a beard, so it may be working out better than I assume.

There is so much about “Resolutions” that does not work. It starts from the beginning teaser. Janeway and Chakotay are bitten by insects while surveying a planet. The bites infect them with a disease that will kill them if they leave, but they will be fine if they stay. Forget the sheer stupidity of the captain and the first officer both beaming down to a planet with unknown perils. Does that set up not sound like a con job Chakotay cooked up to have janeway all to himself? Good grief.

Janeway puts Tuvok in command and orders him to guide the ship back to the Alpha Quadrant. She specifically forbids him from contacting the Vidiians for assistance because of the danger contact would pose. So we know right off the bat the Vidiians must have a cure. This is beginning to sound like a scam cooked up by both Chakotay and Janeway. Tuvok leaves them with shelter, supplies, research equipment--because Janeway is an awesome biologist--and a shuttle just in case. Voyager then departs.

The episode is now split into two stories, but both have the same running theme. Yes, Janeway is Awesome.

The primary story is Janeway and Chakotay’s life on what they dub New Earth. How original, huh? Janeway spends all her time looking for a cure while builds a house, decorates it all pretty-like, cooks the meals and otherwise sees to all her creature comforts. There is not much to say about this stuff until a fourth act shoulder massage suddenly gets her attention. Sadly enough, fans still debate whether they had sex during the commercial break, but thankfully not as many who assumed a lesbian relationship between Janeway and Seven later on.

Since I am not into the whole Barbie Dream house thing, I am going to discuss two other points. The first being, ironically, how pointless the filler of this story is. There are three scenes in which a monkey shows up. Yes, a monkey. The first is when Janeway is bathing in the yard. The monkey is a peeping tom. Hard up for nookie, too, if seeing Janeway naked is a thrill for him. He runs off when she beckons him. Obviously, her reputation precedes her. This scene happens two more times. None of the three go anywhere. The monkey just shows up, and runs off when Janeway speaks to it. I can see no reason for this as far as the narrative is concerned. The only thing I can figure is the writing staff was sitting around smoking pot one day when one of them--probably Brannon Braga, but I would not be surprised by Kenneth Biller--said, ’Hey, let’s rent a monkey for the day!” Thus a stupid idea was born. A storm blows through, too. There is not much point to it, either.

The second point has to do with Chakotay and Robert Beltran. I have mocked Beltran before because he has been vocal in his distaste for VOY, which I have considered arrogant considering what a bland actor he is. But I am a fair guy, so I will admit Chakotay is being treated as an awful character. It is not just his playing house while literally groveling for Janeway’s affection here. He has not been a prominent character since the first third of the second season. At best, he has had a few lines in episodes in which he has gotten less than ten minutes of screen time. At worst, he has been beaten to a pulp by Culluh, tricked by Seska into a fathering a child, lied to by Janeway and took in a plan to root out a traitor, and undermined by Tom as part of that plan. To top it off, the one time Seska shows up on Voyager carrying his baby, he is forbidden to see her by Janeway. I do not blame Beltran. Chakotay in “Resolutions” is the rock bottom result.

Honestly, the other half of the episode is not much better. The episode covers a period of twelve weeks, which amounts to six traveling away from New earth and six heading back with the inevitable cure. The first six weeks is nothing but the crew moping about over the loss of Janeway. Not Chakotay, mind you. Janeway. It is the Starfleet crew that are on the verge of mutiny because Tuvok refuses to disobey orders and contact the Vidiians.

I want to put this in the perspective I have heard from many Trekkies. The crew has know Janeway for about a year, which is not a whole lot of time. The Maquis members do not like her in the first place. Her decision to destroy the Caretaker ruined everyone’s lives. Just last episode, she murdered a crewmember herself because the doctor felt it was unethical to do so. Yet the entire crew has mourned for her over a month now. In contrast, the TNG crew had known Picard for over three years when they were ready to sacrifice him in order to stop the Borg. The only explanation for the desperate attachment is--you guessed it--Janeway is Awesome!

The Vidiians do have a cure. Tuvok contacts them to avoid mutiny. Denara, the doctor’s chickadee, helps them out. The Vidiians attack regardless, so Torres has to devise an escape plan. It is the only action sequence in the episode. The Magic Reset Button is pressed, and we do not hear much more about a Ianeway/Chakotay relationship until Taylor is allowed near a keyboard again. Skip this one, folks. You are not missing anything. The monkey does not even have a big, pink butt.

Rating: * (out of 5)

“Tuvix” offers writer Kenneth Biller a chance to cut loose with his imagination and explore major ethical issues of life, death, and the existence of the soul. Unfortunately, he does not have it in him, so what we actually get is a ridiculously high concept premise that would have been considered laughably outlandish even on TOS, the glossing over of life and death issue based on the whims of others, and Janeway acting like a domineering psychopath. There was likely a good idea buried somewhere in the story pitch, but it quickly disappeared when Biller started typing.

Tuvok and Neelix are done collecting orchid samples on a planet when something goes awry with the transport back to the ship. They and the samples they were carrying are merged into a single being. He is a perfectly healthy being in possession of both Tuvok and Neelix’s memories. The merge was not caused by a transporter accident for once, but the plant samples the two were carrying. They are highly aggressive in forming hybrids. The kess examined, the better, says I.

Calling himself Tuvix, he goes about as many of his duties as he can muster while winning over the crew while the doctor works on a cure. The rest of the crew adjusts well to Tuvix. He is a better cook and more fun to hang out with than Neelix. He is also a better tactician because he follows sharp hunches and is less arrogant than Tuvok. However, Kes and Janeway struggle with the loss of their respective confidants. For his part, tuvix is patient with the latter two, but he is having a good time fitting in better than he ever has before.

The doctor figures out a method of killing off the plant elements bonding Neelix and Tuvok together, so he can separate them without harm. Unfortunately, Tuvix does not want to be separated. He is now a unique person with his own life. Splitting him into his parts will be an execution. He will not allow himself to be killed.

Here you have the set up for a good ethical dilemma. Tuvix is like the child of Tuvok and Neelix. Genetic material from both have combined to create a new person. For all intents and purposes, Tuvok and Neelix are dead and gone. Does Tuvix not have the right to continue living? Reasonable people would not consider it ethical to kill a child even if somehow doing so would bring the parents back to life.

But the episode does not care about ethics. Janeway wants took back. Kes wants Neelix back. That is all that matters. If anyone else other than tuvix or the doctor, who refuses to perform the procedure against Tuvix’s will, they do not speak up. Demonstrably so. When Janeway decides to order Tuvix to undergo the procedure, he desperately begs each one of the bridge crew to intercede on his behalf. Chakotay and tom take quick glances at Janeway as tuvix begs them personally, almost as if they are afraid to defy her will. Tuvix is dragged to sickbay by security with Janeway escorting.

It is hard to describe just how chilling the scene is of them marching down the hall for what is essentially Tuvix’s execution. It is purposefully presented as a march to the electric chair/gas chamber/lethal injection chamber. If this is supposed to be a commentary on the evils of the death penalty, it misses the mark because the only thing on the audience’s mind is what a crazy psycho Janeway is. There is no ethical discussion. She wants her friend back and she will kill to have him return. End of the story. As I said above, the doctor refuses to perform the procedure on ethical grounds, so Janeway does it herself.

I repeat that, because it bears repeating; Janeway murders a member of the crew because the Doctor refuses to do so on ethical grounds.

There is a lot of potential in exploring the ethics of Tuvix’s fate. The problem, like with so many VOY episodes, is no counterargument to killing him is given any weight. Tuvix’s right to exist is not even addressed by the Doctor. His refusal to perform the procedure that would end Tuvix’s life is based solely on lack of consent. Separating Tuvok and Neelix from Tuvix is done because Janeway and Kes want their friends back. If there are any higher issues involved, the episode does not bother with them. Considering “Tuvix” comes so close after the much better "Death Wish" and "Lifesigns," both of which dealth with similar issues, so its flaws are even more glaring.

Rating: ** (out of 5)

Fair warning; ‘The Thaw” is one of my personal favorites. The episode will be rated higher than you might think it deserves, but it is my review and I can do things like that. The script is written by Joe Menosky, the most avant garde of Star Trekk writers, and bears strong resemblance to the cult series The Prisoner. the combination rates high in my book. So does logical handling of the VOY characters, a sadly rare event that must be noted when it does come around.

Voyager approaches a planet that has suffered a geological distaerr within the last twenty years. Neelix informs janeway the inhabitants were big time traders in the not so distant past. Scanning for life signs, Harry discovers five life pods connected to a computer system which is keeping the occupants alive. With no mention of the Prime directive at all, Janeway has the whole setup beamed onboard.

The system was programmed to awaken the occupants once the environmental damage had cleared from the surface. They should have awakened four years ago, but not only are they still in there, but two have died from heart attacks. As the computer is maintaining a virtual environment for them, Janeway opts to send Harry and Torres in to get a grasp on the situation.

What a situation. The three surviving people are trapped in a surreal Mardis Gras from hell run by The Clown, a personification of the fear the occupants felt as they spent two decades in suspended animation. The clown is played to the hilt by Michael McKeon, who has played smarmy characters all over television, but to tie him into these reviews, he was MiB Morris Fletcher in several episodes of The X-Files. A little bit of The Clown goes a long way--think Chris Tucker in any role he has ever played-- but he is an amusing psychopath. There is a lot of Cesar Romero’s Joker in him.

The Clown reveals he can hold people hostage by strapping them into a guillotine and chopping their heads off. Even though they are virtual recreations, the fear is enough to induce heart attacks. The Clown lets Torres go in order to inform the outside world of his powers, but he takes a shine to Harry. A shine meaning he enjoys tormenting him.

Since everyone’s brain is on the system, The Clown knows everyone’s most intimate thoughts, and he uses that knowledge for just the right torture. Considering the symbolism, The Clown seems particularly interested in tweaking Harry’s sexuality. I have not been one to draw hints that he and Tom are subtly attracted to each other. I have not even pointed out the last couple times Harry and Tom have been seen together off duty, Harry is playing a long, wooden flute for him. Other fans want to read into that, be my guest. I think it is a stretch. But what is not a stretch is that in “The Thaw,” Harry is taken over to the guillotine, which is run by a fat man in a BDSM Pulp Fiction gimp outfit. The executioner places a block of wood in the guillotine and chops it in half in order to demonstrate the blade. The The Clown mocks Harry brutally for how much he considers Janeway a maternal figure. All this because The Clown can read Harry’s mind. Draw whatever conclusions you wish about harry inner emotional struggle from the tailor made ordeal.

The Doctor comes to the rescue in yet another creative way to broaden his role. I always applaud such things. The Clown cannot read his mind since he does not have one. That is a plot point that will come up in the resolution. I only point this out because VOY rarely has decent foreshadowing, and when it does, it is usually an unfathomable technobabble plan that deflates the drama because of how meaningless it is.

A technological solution to rescuing the hostages that is easy to grasp is not the only unusual plus for “The Thaw.” Th story is devoid of any moral dilemma. No one is suggesting The Clown or any of the other creations are sentient beings with a right to exist. It is all about how do our heroes kill him before he can kill the hostages? I have heard fans complain about this in the past. “The Thaw” is a slam bang action episode in which the characters avoid any introspection over their actions. My response is that it is about time we had one of those. Even highly enlightened 24th century humans do not need to stick their thumbs up their butts and kvetch over the morality of what they are about to do. Just kill the bad guy, already! He is torturing innocent people!

The effort to destroy the program right out from under the hostages fails. The Clown executes one as punishment. Janeway offer an ultimatum in response--take her as the sole hostage, or she will destroy everything. It will severely damage the hostage’s brains, but it will kill The Clown, too. He accepts the terms under pressure. Since it takes a few minutes before he can read a new occupant’s mind, the Clown does not realize it is not the real Janeway who shows up in his virtual world, but a holographic version. He does not realize he has been tricked until the hostages are free and he no longer has any thoughts with which to maintain his existence.

Which leads us to the best ending of any VOY episode. Such lofty status merits an actual view:Yeesh, that is cold. note the the hologram tells The clown it responds in situations exactly as Janeway would. Sometimes you have to love that woman, no?

There really is nothing special about this episode. The plot is quite absurd. McKeon is not exactly Emmy bait in his performance. You might even consider the episode dumb and obnoxious. But it is still a personal favorite of mine. I always have a morbid curiosity from what Menosky can come up with in a script. I like the homage to The Prisoner. I like the Doctor as a away team member. I like Janeway as appropriately tough, rather than a bipolar nut like usual. I like the un-Star Trek “So, how do we kill it?” theme. “The Thaw” is, by definition, an anomaly. But it is a welcome one. You may lanbaste me for the high star rating should you feel the need.

Rating: **** (out of 5)

There are two things about VOY that can fill me with dread. One is Lisa Klink’s name as the scripter. The other is children as the focus of the story. Said combination exists with ’Innocence,’ but if that is not bad enough, the added element of Tuvok forced to care for rowdy children is added for potential comedy gold. Take a wild guess how well it works.

Tuvok and an ensign crash land a shuttle on a moon with atmospheric whatsis that make it difficult to fly. Tuvok drags the ensign out of the shuttle, then informs him he has several broken vertebrae. You would think a logical vulcan would not move someone with a spinal column injury, particularly when there is no obvious danger in leaving the ensign in his original spot, but there is your first indication “Innocence” is incredibly dumb.

The ensign dies upon being moved--good job, Tuvok--and the commotion attracts the attention of three children. They claim they have been stranded here when their shuttle crashed because of atmospheric whatsis, too. Tuvok vows to watch over the children until he can either repair his shuttle or Voyager comes to the rescue. Easier said than done, because the kids are misbehaving brats Tuvok can barely handle. Things get worse when the kids change their story and claim they have been stranded on the moon so a monster can kill them. Tuvok does not believe, but then two disappear only to have their clothing discovered in a nearby cave.

I am condensing Tuvok’s interaction with the kids, but it is three acts of pure sitcom fodder. The kids alternately cling to took in fear and roughhouse with each other in lighter moments, all to his chagrin. The fish out of water bit is supposed to be funny, but it comes across as forced in consideration of what we know about Vulcans in general and Tuvok in specific. Vulcans possess strong emotions that even the most mature adults find difficult to control. The children must be far less capable of keeping a handle on their passions. Since took has four children, he ought to have quadruple the experience in dealing with obnoxious kids, yet he is not that good at it. All for the sake of humor, of course. I do not buy it, however.

Meanwhile, Janeway is attempting diplomatic relations with the leadership of the kids’ home planet. Things are not going well. They were once a highly technological race, but faced a religious reform some time ago. The people are in the midst of a Dark Ages-like period. This being a Klink script, however, means they still have warp drive, and advanced weapons. But they turn their noses up at Voyager’s similar technology The contradiction is never explained. Either it is a commentary on the hypocrisy of fundamentalist religion, or Klink is not all that bright. Whichever you choose to believe is arguably the correct choice.

While touring Voyager, the grand poobah discovers Tuvok has crashed on the moon and discovered the kids. She is incensed he is interfering with some sacred ritual, but never explains exactly what he is interfering with until the end of the fifth act when the audience is finally allowed in on everything. These people age in reverse. When the time comes to die of old age, the kids are sent to the moon to pass on. Instead of anyone just letting the Voyager crew no about this, there are shuttle chases and phaser fire before everyone meets face to face to resolve the matter. All it takes is for the people to explain the ritual for Janeway, took, et al to back off and let nature take its course. If the poobahs are willing to explain what is going on at the very end, why did they not just explain it all to begin with and avoid physical conflict? We would not have had a show then, I guess.

If the “bad guys” have to act stupidly in order to have a conflict, it is a clear indication the story idea is not a good one. I am not amused by any of Tuvok’s struggles with the unrule children in the first place. When the resolution involves opposing characters being contrary for the sake of false drama, I cannot even take the serious part of the story seriously. ’Innocence” is a complete dud. It is illogical, the comedy falls flat, and the drama is has no reason to exist beyond characters acting dumbly. Skip this one at all costs.

Rating: * (out of 5)

Ack…two Janeways! As if one is not bad enough. It is mutual love at first sight. There are actually not only two Janeways, but two of everything thanks to some wacky new scientific theory. If there is a wacky new scientific theory around, it must be a script written by Brannon Braga. A mixed bag, but ultimately entertaining script by Braga, featuring the typical VOY trappings.

The episode begins with a very pregnant Wildman in the commissary. Neelix, being the jerk he is, requests she see to a couple of repairs in his kitchen. This being television, she begins having contractions as she struggles to check out various control panels for the inconsiderate little toad. Seven hours later, she delivers her baby, whom she names Naomi. Simultaneously, the bridge crew detects a well armed Vidiian ship ahead. Having no desire to suffer organ harvesting today, they duck Voyager into a plasma cloud to avoid detection. Here is where the phone begins. Braga slept through every science class he ever attended.

Entering the plasma cloud somehow splits Voyager into two ships, each occupying the same space. Whether they are duplicates or split like an amoeba is never clarified. How two solid objects can occupy the same space at the same time is likewise not clarified. The only thing we are clear on, and the crew figures this out way too clearly, all things considered, is the plasma cloud could duplicate matter, but not antimatter, so the two ships are drawing off the same power source. To compensate, in a time before they knew about each other’s existence, one ship uses some proton whatsis to compensate for the power drain, but the solution severely damages the other ship.

It is confusing, but it is “our” Voyager that suffers the damage. The bulk of the first act is an homage to The Poseidon Adventure in which the ship is nearly destroyed, a number of crewmembers are injured as parts of the ship catch fire, and Hard Luck Harry and newborn Naomi are killed. You are playing hardball when you will kill an infant for the sake of drama.

The ships discover each other when our Kes falls through a rift between the two and winds up on the other ship. The other ship is perfectly fine, with both Harry and Naomi still alive. If the whole concept of the two ships existing at the same place and time has not completely spun your head, the massive and meaningless technobabble solution spouted in earnest by the characters should make it explode. Kudos to the cast for making it all sound reasonable.

Thankfully, the resolution does not come down to pseudoscience. The plasma cloud turns out to not hide Voyager well, so the Vidiians attack the other, non-damaged ship. The boarding raid and subsequent harvesting of organs from main characters, not just extras, is quite exciting. For all VOY’s flaws, it does action well. There is a genuinely disturbing feel to watching crewmembers shot down then having their organs stolen while sprawling in the hallway. The scenes accentuate the desperate situations both crews face.

The other Janeway decides to kill two birds with one stone. There needs to be only one Voyager and she cannot let her entire crew be pillaged for organs, so she solves the problems the Janeway Way--she blows up the ship. But not before sending over Harry and newborn Naomi. It is only fair, since she already killed them on the other Voyager. The deed is done with action movie flair--Janeway welcomes the Vidiian boarding pary to the bridge, and they notice the self-destruct countdown too late to do anything to save themselves.

Admittedly, the conclusion makes for a pat ending. There is too much convenience. All the Vidiians are killed and their ship is also destroyed, but our Voyager remains intact. It just so happens only Harry and Naomi are dead on our Voyager, so the status quo is maintained when they swap ships. The ending also glosses over issues. Early on, Tuvok offers a status report which bleakly sounds as though the ship is permanently dead in the water. However, the crew is well on their way to repairing it with no lasting consequences by the final scene. Just what are Harry and Naomi, by the way? Copies? Split beings identical to their dead counterparts? It is not directly addressed. Our Wildman, who was naturally distraught over Naomi’s death, readily accepts the surviving child as her real daughter, so that is what we are supposed to do as well. All right. I will go along with it.

The concept is hard to swallow. The technobabble makes zero sense, as well. But if you excuse those points and focus on the action, “Deadlock” is a good episode with some fine character moments. Neelix is stil a jerk no matter the ship, but harry gets to be an action hero for once when he fights his way to sickbay to rescue Naomi from the Vidiians. The Doctor, too, does his part to heroically keep Naomi safe. I can also appreciate the undamaged Voyager is the one to sacrifice itself to save the other. I would have expected the 9apparently hopelessly0 damaged ship, with its dead Harry and naomi, to sacrifice itself instead. The status quo winds up maintained anyway, sans logic, but at least there is a twist of some sort to get us there.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

“Investigations’ is a Neelix-centric episode written by Jeri Taylor, but fret not, for it is still a Janeway is Awesome episode. It is just a more subtle Janeway is Awesome episode because the incredibly implausible plot is a plan devised entirely by her. Somehow, fate steps in and makes even the turns for the worst come out in her favor. Janeway is so awesome, the universe bends to her will. Forget Chuck Norris Facts. It is all about Janeway, baby.

The two running subplots of Jonas from engineering feeding information to the Kazon and finally agreeing to sabotage the ship and Tom’s sudden antisocial behavior collide when it is revealed Tom’s part is a ruse developed by Janeway to expose Jonas. It should come as no surprise Neelix takes his new self-appointed duty as a journalist far too seriously and nearly screws everything up, but also winds up a hero in the end.

Before getting into anything else, I have to explain The Plan. Perhaps it is because they had a band of salamanders together, but Janeway decides to hatch a plan with tom after suspicions are raised someone might be tipping off the Kazon to the ship’s locations. Because she suspects it is likely a Maquis opts to not let Chakotay in on the plan. She also allows tom to yank Chakotay’s chain just to add insult to injury when all is finally revealed. Tom is going to ultimately leave the ship and join the crew of a Talaxian freighter. Here is here the plan gets loony. Janeway just happens to know the Kazon will want tom for his expertise. They will shanghai him, giving him the opportunity to discover the traitor while held captive, and then escape safely back to Voyager. not only does the plan work--Janeway is Awesome!--the biggest chance of its failure is when neelix jumps to the wrong conclusion about planted evidence that points to Tom as the traitor.

I am going to reluctantly give Janeway partial credit here. Jonas is bound to report Tom is off the ship with bad blood towards the crew, and that would make him a desirable kidnapping target. She does not seem to care some Talaxians might be killed in the kidnapping attempt, but that is Janeway. But the rest of the plan’s success depends on a combination of Kazon stupidity and tom’s genius, both of which come in abundance at just the right time. Tom is held in a room with a computer console he quickly learns to use even though he cannot read the Kazon language. He finds out Jonas is the traitor by intercepting his latest transmission. Then Tom escapes by fisticuffs and phaser fire until he makes it to a shuttle and leaves. Yes, he knows how to fly a Kazon shuttle. They are less complicated then the computers, one assumes. The hilarious part is all the action beyond tom’s escape from his cell is done with us viewing the outside of the ship and hearing only the sounds of battle until the shuttle launches. They should have used some sound effects from Tom & Jerry from when they used to beat each other with frying pans and broom and such. That is the only thing that could have made it better.

There is really no need to describe the Neelix as journalist bit. Think back to how many sitcoms you have seen where one of the kid characters gets a job with the school newspaper and while looking for a big scoop, causes real world problems, but gets to play hero in the end. I avoid sitcoms like the plague, but I can recall episodes of Happy Days, Silver Spoons, The Simpsons Home Improvement , and Family Guy right off the top of my head, so the drill must be obvious to you. What may not be so obvious is the climactic fistfight between Neelix and Jonas in which the latter is killed. Without Neelix’s help, the ship would have been dead in the water against the Kazon, so even his interference in the plan did not stop the exposure of Jonas.

None of this is interesting viewing. I am not a neelix fan, and the obvious effort here to make him a more action oriented character fell flat because of what a bumbling annoyance he was right up until discovering jonas is the traitor. The conclusion makes him equal heroes with tom, but big deal. Tom’s belligerent behavior over the last few episodes makes since now, but what was the value of the mystery of roooting out a traitor when we knew it was Jonas from the beginning? We knew who he was, what intelligence he was sending to Seska, and that he was planning to sabotage the ship for a Kazon ambush. The only thing we did not know was how. I do not know about you, but I was not on the edge of my seat waiting to see which warp photon quantum thingamabob he was going to break to get the job done.

Not that said thingamabob completely got the job down. Jonas also sabotaged the warp core first, yet that did not raise suspicions the traitor was in engineering. You think that would compel security to narrow their search a wee bit. Then again, no one on this show is particularly bright. For heaven’s sake, chakotay has had the wool pulled over his eyes by Tuvok, Seska, and now Janeway and Tom. Get fooled four times, you win the Golden Sombrero. I will bet he still cries when an older relative does the “I got your nose” trick on him.

“Investigations” is not a good episode, but it is still one you need to see in order to believe a script like it could ever be filmed. The stars have to align perfectly for everything to work, but, darn it, they do. Even when all looks lost, Neelix is miraculously there as the only salvation, so he gets his redemption for being such a pain in the butt every moment up until that point. But that is what happens when Janeway is in charge, because--say it with me, folks--Janeway is Awesome!

Rating; ** (out of 5)

Episodes centered on the doctor are always a pleasure, particularly in these early seasons when he is confined to sickbay and the holodeck, so some creativity has to be utilized to bring him into focus. “Lifesigns” does it beautifully well. It is a story about romance, but unlike most Star Trek romance in which love is synonymous with sex--thank you, legions of fourteen year old virgins fans, for that--it is a sweet, often awkward journey for two people who have no clue what to do with their feelings, but understand they are genuine and good.

Voyager answers a distress call from a small Vidiian ship. The lone occupant is a woman near death. The doctor comes up with a techno babble way to download her mind into the computer, then re-create a copy of her healthy body as a hologram while he works on her real body. It is best not to dwell on the plausibility of all this, but thanfully, there is a lot of other fine stuff to distract you from it.

The woman’s name is Denara. She is a doctor who has suffered from the Phage since she was nine years old. She is absolutely ecstatic to be a beautiful, healthy woman, even if she is not inhabiting a real body. She has spent virtually all her life ostracized because of her deformities, so the doctor spending time with her in sickbay and on the holodeck is the first experience she has had of fun, adult companionship. The Doctor, too, is experiencing a new sensation. He is falling in love with her.

Both are painfully clueless, and it shows. Various crewmembers make friendly overtures to Denara which she blanches away from because being asked to dance or even shaking hands is more intimate than anything she have ever than anything she has ever done. The Doctor wants to help her adjust, but his programming just is not designed for it. Denara sends clear signals she would like to dance with him, but he has to demur in an embarrassed manner.

In a nice touch, Kes counsels Denara to be more comfortable with people who honestly like her, while Tom coaches the Doctor and takings things both smoothly and slowly. For a while here, VOY will strongly hint Kes and Tom ought to be an item. In a weird way, their respective scenes with denara and the Doctor encourage the thought. Denara and the Doctor do get together for stargazing. The Doctor hands her flowers, candy, and a teddy bear in such quick succession, she does not have time to really appreciate each gift, but, thanks to Kes, happily accepts. Having never been young and foolishly in love, neither knows how to go about things, but they wind up kissing.

The drama hits in the fourth act when we learn Denara has been secretly poisoning her actual body. She would rather live only a few days in her current state until her brain patterns degrade than possibly go on for decades in her diseased body. There are hints of Quinn in her rationale, as she argues that living only prolongs her suffering. Her problem is that she has experienced the good life and does not want to go back to a point in which people will be repulsed by her--particularly the Doctor. He assures denara he likes her for her. As proof, the two finally dance together before the final credits. He having created a dancing program and she back in her ravaged body. It is a touching ending.

It is a toughing episode altogether. Having heart is one thing VOY is not famous for, but every now and then, it hit’s the mark. The episode was written by Kenneth Biller, too. It is rare he has a good story in him as well.

The episode also continues with the subplot of Tom feuding with Chakotay in order to expose the traitor. At this point, it is still not clear without the big picture in mind how the two stories are related, which is not good storytelling. These incidents need to be obviously leading somewhere rather than feeling like filler for episodes that ran too short. My only gripe here, though, so we are doing better than usual.

Denara’s story helps make the Vidiians more complex. They have gone from an evil leper colony to a sinister force experimenting on helpless captives to now more sympathetic. We learn for the first time that not every vidiian has the Phage. I remember watching the episode in its first airing and wondering if the phage was going to become an AIDS allegory. Upon this viewing, I wonder why a supposedly advanced society like the Vidiians have never heard of quarantining a contagion or, you know, washing their hands regularly? Time passes, and the priorities of your thinking change.

What has not changed is my considering "Lifesigns” a personal favorite. It is well written--Kenneth Biller??!!--and sweet. The show should have done more character oriented episodes like it as opposed to so many techno babble plots. I note also that Denara ultimately made the opposite choice to Quinn when both were faced with the same decision, so the usual motif of there only being one correct option is bypassed in favor of characterization. Bravo.

The doctor and Denara stargaze with "Mt Prayer" by The Platters playing on the radio. It is an old favorite of mine:Rating: **** (out of 5)

Let me preface this review with a caveat I have certainly mentioned before: I do not like Q. He is popular among fans and John de Lancie is a fine actor, but the character has never done anything plausible in my mind. By that, I mean what can you possibly do with an omnipotent character in the midst of humans he ought to think of as less than insects? The answer is not the level of involvement he has participated in thus far. So anytime Q shows up, I automatically feel that the writer has to dumb down the character from what he would logically be in order to have a story. Any such episode has a knock against it from the get go. “Death Wish” is not any different , but it does redeem itself better than most.

Voyager inadvertently releases a suicidal Q. He will eventually call himself Quinn, so I will, too, in order to avoid confusion with the Q we all know and…well, you all seem to love him. I have already expressed my thoughts on him. Q shows up before Quinn can off himself. The two have Seinfeldian slap fight with their powers. The ship is -perilously caught in the middle, but the mood is not so tense the show cannot take time to advertise the keepsake Voyager Christmas tree ornament on sale for the 1996 holidays. Deciding the battle could go on forever, Quinn asks for asylum. Janeway grants him a hearing on the matter. Granting Quinn’s request is nothing but her overblown ego talking. She has not been in control of the situation since Quinn showed up. She cannot protect him from the Q Continuum.

The episode does begin a steady rise at this point, though not without a dip or two along the way. Quinn asks Tuvok to represent him at the hearing, because vulcans are allowed to euthanize themselves rather than face debilitating illnesses. In my mind, the revelation leaves a gaping plot hole--why did Sarek not kill himself rather than wait out the violent senility that eventually did him in? But I am going to be hit with so many other plotholes during the rest of the episode that it is impossible to dwell on any of them individually. Perhaps that is the point of having so many. Q represents the Continuum.

What we are presented is a debate over the quality of life and whether it is ethical to end ones life mean one can no longer find meaning in it. Q argues both that Quinn is an omnipotent being living in a highly developed civilization. What more could he possibly want? Apparently plenty more, and that is obvious to Q. a couple times, he attempts to bribe Janeway with a trip back to the Alpha Quadrant if she rules in the continuum’s favor. At others, he offers up alternate plans other than imprisonment which will still keep Quinn alive against his will. The suicide of a Q would obviously be a big deal.

Quinn takes Janeway to the Continuum in order to show her what life is like. She sees it as a dusty road which only goes around in a circle. Beside the road is an old house with q scattered about, silently and joylessly engaged in reading or playing games. The road is the universe. It has been well traveled by Quinn and every other Q. there is nothing new to experience. There is nothing even to say to one another. Yet this goes on into infinity. Quinn desperately wants to end his part in it.

I recognize some similarities between the Continuum and the skeptical description of heaven. Why would eternal life in heaven be paradise? Would it not get boring after a while with no new discoveries to be made or challenges to overcome? Yet I do not see “Death Wish” as a specific critique of the Christian belief in the afterlife. If it is, the writers are leaving out the idea that our finite, sinful selves cannot fully grasp spiritual things, so we do not have enough pieces of the puzzle to see what a picture of what heaven is. As proof of the writers’ misunderstanding, I submit they are not fdoing a very good job of presenting Q as a omnipotent being, either. If they do not understand what omnipotence would really be like, they certainly cannot grasp heaven.

Janeway rules in favor of Quinn under the rationale he deserves self-determination apart from the state’s will. Store that one away in the back of you mind, because this is the only time she is going to feel that way. She will eventually force her will on plenty of crewmembers, but particularly Seven when she shows up. She also urges quinn not to kill himself, which is another oddity. She is going to kill a crewmember herself in a few more episodes. Flipping that mental coin to decide her moral principles on any given day, she is.

Q honors the ruling by taking away Quinn’s powers. He also secretly provides Quinn with a suicide method no one can stop from working. We will learn the consequences of Quinn’s suicide later. Unfortunately.

“Death Wish” offers up many engaging arguments regarding the right to choose how one lives and dies. Does anyone have the right to keep a person alive if his life no longer holds any meaning for him? How low can the quality of life descend before ending it is a better idea? How about if his continued existence if for the greater good of all? In a round about way, the episode decides anyone of sound mind can off themselves if they want if for no other reason than boredom. That is essentially how Janeway ruled, even though she is rationalizing her decision as only granting asylum.
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If that is all the is, I would grant it four stars. Five is out of reach because it is q-centric. But there are two many laugh lines and inconsistencies breaking up the tension in detrimental ways. Q cannot help but clown around even during the hearing. For a man concerned over life and death matters, he is not taking the trial very seriously. His witnesses are just dumb. In order to show Quinn has had a positive impact, he calls up Isaac Newton, the soundman from Woodstock, and William Riker. Quinn made the apple fall on Newton’s head. He got the sound guy to Woodstock on time for the concert to go on. He saved one of Riker’s ancestors. so Jonathan Frakes’ appearance is really a pointless ratings stunt. As for inconsistencies, how does Quinn know Q was once expelled from the Continuum? He has been locked away from 300 years. Why would Quinn’s death matter when other Q have been executed over the years? The biggest? Why does Janeway not ask Q to send them home anyway?

“Death Wish” is a good episode which raises some interesting questions, then remembers it is a VOY episode and stumbles through most of them. It is definitely worth watching, but possess numerous flaws regarding character behavior and continuity errors which could have been prevented with minimal logic and attention paid to the established lore.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

“Dreadnought” features an interesting premise and the opportunity for some good character moments, particularly for Torres, but winds up very pedestrian. The reason for that is most certainly the script’s origin. Gary Holland is credited with writing it. Holland was a marketing vice-president with paramount at the time and a Trekkie. He sold the idea. Whether he actually penned a first draft is anyone’s guess, but it was heavily rewritten by an unaccredited Lisa Klink. Klink is one of the worst writers in the history of Star Trek. Kenneth Biller told Star Trek Magazine he sweat bullets over the execution of “Dreadnought,” probably because he needed to keep Holland happy.

Should he have worried? Well, maybe. There are a couple of plot retreads and some missed character moments. Voyager discovers a Cardassian doomsday missile that was also transported to the delta Quadrant. The missile was originally intended to attack a Maquis base, but when it did not explode, Torres reprogrammed it to attack a Cardassian outpost instead. Now it is headed for a planet upon which it will kill two million people. So what we have is yet another aspect from the Alpha Quadrant appearing in the Delta. The second season is riddled with such things. Torres is again responsible for altering a machine that will cause mass destruction just like Automated Unit 3947. That accounts for the no new ground bit. As for characterizations, the climax involves Janeway beginning the auto destruct in order to destroy the missile. She orders the crew to evacuate, but took refuses. Naturally, Torres saves the day at the last minute while on the missile itself, but the inevitably of the ship being destroyed does not resonate when considering the crew’s goodbyes to one another.

I will concede there are some compelling Torres moments, but they are handled too shallowly to really be engaging. She initially feels guilty over the missile’s discovery because it brings back memories of Chakotay’s disappointment she reprogrammed it to attack an outpost. Later, she is concerned about defending its new target to the point the former is unfairly glossed over. Torres not only reprogrammed the missile’s flight path, but changed the computer voice to her own. She hates Cardassians so much, she made herself a part of a weapon of mass destruction, and no it is going to wipe out a population of stereotypical artsy fartsy pacifists.

Could we not have examined her psyche more/ The bulk of the story is centered on her holding a conversion with the missile while trying everything to deactivate it. She is essentially attempted to reason with her old, Maquis self . Her old self full of so much anger, she wanted the last thing thousands of Cardassians heard before their deaths was her voice. She has different priorities now, but there is no argument made to convince the missile to stand down. It is instead patented VOY techno babble.

The Torres/missile conversation comes across as a low rent version of the following scene from Darkstar accept Torres’ argument does not work: if you are going to steal from a movie, choose a better one than Darkstar.

There are a couple minor bits to mention. The doctor still has not chosen a name. wildmon is still pregnant after ten months. Jonas is still attempting to contact Seska. Tom is still pushing Chakotay’s buttons in an effort to root out the traitor even though the audience already knows its Jonas. None of this adds to the episode, but nothing really detracts, either. “Dreadnought” is a run of the mill technology problem that could have been much more issues introduced had been expounded upon.

Rating; *** (out of 5)

When a Star Trek series features a Vulcan as a main character, it is inevitable the character will experience emotions at some point. A viewer can only hope the episode in which it happens presents it in a compelling way. We have seen a drunken Spock nearly coming on to Kirk and a high Spock cavorting with a pretty girl. We have also seen Sarek’s descent into senility done in a highly charged, sympathetic manner. So the story can go both ways. Overall, I find “Meld” to be more of the latter, though the episode is tainted by some preachy Federation philosophy.

A crewman is found bludgeoned to death in engineering. But rather than become a murder mystery, ’Meld” becomes a character exploration for Tuvok. The killer, suder, is discovered almost immediately through DNA tests. The conflict of the episode arises when took cannot bring himself to accept suder’s motivation for murder was because his victim looked at him wrong.

I do think Tuvok’s problem is manufactured drama. Surely a Vulcan who routinely expresses irritation at the illogic of human actions due to emotions would not be surprised someone was murdered for a flimsy reason. I am going to excuse that, however, because took comes across as an incredibly decent, somewhat naïve guy when it comes to dealing with people. Looking at it from that perspective, he grows as a character because he learns by the end there is not always a logical reason for someone’s actions. Sometimes, “I felt like it’ is a legitimate answer. One assumes that is a necessary lesson for a successful security officer to learn.

Tuvok decades to meld with Suder in order to discover his true motivation. Shortly after doing so, he begins experiencing violent impulses which result in, among other things, a unintentionally hilarious holodeck program in which he strangles Neelix for annoying him. One wonders if he had just created that program, or if it is a regular indulgence for anyone who needs to blow off steam. So far, Harry is the only character who has not expressed an open animosity for Neelix. Would it not be fun to know there is a program they all use when they feel like murdering him?

Took finds it increasingly difficult to control himself. In sickbay, the doctor explains the meld went all screwy because Suder is a Betazoid and bipolar, oddly enough in that order. Chemical imbalances play second fiddle to ethnicity. The doctor treats Tuvok behind a force field with neural doodads attached to his forehead. Tim Russ gets a chance to ham it up for half the fourth act as he blasts Janeway for her, as he sees it, limp wrist refusal to execute Suder for the crime he readily confessed to committing. More on his argument in a moment.

The treatment appears to work. He passes out from the treatment, only to wake up alone in sickbay. He escapes the force field by improvising a way to short circuit it with the neural doodads.. You would think someone would have considered the possibility of that happening. He decides to satisfy his urge to kill by executing Suder himself, but the treatment suddenly kicks in before he can successful do the deed. He apologizes to Janeway for his actions and readily accepts her stipulation that he no longer meld without her permission. The prohibition seems awfully pretentious of her, but all right. Not really out of character, is it?

I mentioned Tuvok’s deranged argument above about Janeway’s position on the death penalty. It is a shame Tuvok had to be mentally ill at the time, because he has a point. Janeway’s solution of what to do with Suder is to confine him to quarters for the next 70 years. She even specifically rules out keeping him in the brig all that time as inappropriate, but without offering any explanation as to why it is. Her only argument is that executing Suder would make them no better than he is.

There is a load of hypocrisy in her statement considering her actions in past episodes and will come up again in the future installments. There is no need to rehash the past, and I will examine Janeway’s future infractions as they come. You will not have to wait long. Heck, next Thursday will involve Tuvok on the receiving end of her extreme justice. Please excuse her specifically for now and look at the 24th century view of crime and punishment.

I am a supporter of the death penalty. The social contract demands paying a higher price for more devastating crimes. I do not think Janeway is enlightened at all by claiming it is more fair to allow Suder the comforts of his surroundings, replicator rations and all, rather than punish him. The isolation is not going to punish a guy with antisocial tendencies. Even if you do support life imprisonment over the death penalty--I have no problem with offenders sentenced to that when appropriate--but Janeway, the arbiter of 24th century perfect human morality, says that is too cruel, as well. There is no balance in this sense of justice. Suder’s victim is dead and gone while he sits in his jammies all day reading books and eating ice cream. He feels no remorse for his actions, so he is essentially retiring to a life of leisure.

I understand VOY has a philosophy that the crew is going to maintain Federation principles even out here in the wild frontier, but it is difficult to appreciate the dedication when the principles are so dumb. On any other show, Suder would have been shot or spaced. On VOY, he lives in the lap of luxury until the inevitable chance to redeem himself, as if one really can be fully redeemed for murder under the social contract, presents itself. He will be redeemed, of course, but the Federation is always right. All that to say that when demented Tuok tells janeway she is a soft idiot, I was thinking it, too.

“Meld” does have a few problems. Aside from the implausible idea Tuvok does not accept Suder committed murder out of illogical impulse, one wonders why he has less control over suder’s violent urges than does Suder himself. I would think that famous vulcan mental discipline could keep them in check. Another problem is the B-story in which tom runs a gambling ring that is busted up by Chakotay. We will learn soon enough it is part of a ruse to smoke out the traitor, but it comes across as a pointless distraction from the much better A-story. If there is a big technical flaw in televised Star Trek, it is the need to have two stories rolling in each episode. They often wind up being uneven. Therefore they can drag an episode down when it would otherwise be great. I consider DS9 the biggest offender in this regard, but VOY has frequent cases, too.

I do have to note that these enlightened Federation members, all of whom are provided for under a socialist regime, resort to gambling anyway in order to at least give the appearance of having a little bit more than the next guy. Human nature, folks. You cannot ignore it when planning a government and/or economic system.

There are two high points to make up for the lows. One is Brad Dourif, who plays Suder. Since portraying a serial killer who taunts scully in The X-Files’ “Beyond the Sea,” dourif has made a career out of playing essentially the same character under different names. I can see why he is successful with it. It is at times both unassuming and scary in “Meld.” He plays a fantastic psycho. He even desperately looks the part. The other is Tim Russ, who looks like he is having a good time cutting loose from his otherwise reserved character. The two aspects make ’Meld” enjoyable, but not a classic.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Why, dear Lord, do I have to sit through such awful Star Trek episodes? Is it all part of redemptive suffering, or was the poll between VOY and Babylon 5 rigged by demonic forces as I have frequently speculated since the results came in? did Brannon Braga sell his soul to Satan/ that is the only possible way he could have ever gotten a job as a writer.

“Threshold” is the worst episode in Star Trek history. Worse than Spock’s brain being stolen. Worse than space hippies. Worse than crusher sleeping with the same alien that boned her grandmother to her grave. Worse than Quark gender bending. Worse than anything ENT barfed on screen, though “A Night in Sickbay” does come close. Braga himself has disavowed the script and claimed it is not part of the canon. No one from the trek office has argued against the disownment. I have no problem understanding why.

Tom, Torres, and Harry have spent months working on developing a new engine which can exceed warp ten. In past in TOS, warp ten has theoretically been time travel. In TNG, it meant an impossibly fast speed only the Traveler could help the Enterprise achieve. But in VOY, warp ten means you become one with the universe, capable of being in all places at once. Kind of like a grateful Dead concert, but without hearing “Hell in a Bucket.” They have a problem in that the rear of the shuttle is flying slower than the front, so it would rip apart in flight. Neelix, of all people, hears them discussing the problem, and comes up with the proper technobabble solution.

Despite a brief hint even a short trip at warp ten could be devastating to the human body, tom opts to give it a go. Janeway, who has not been part of a good killing in weeks, is all for it. The shuttle’s test is successful. It disappears, then returns with tom babbling on about how he saw everything, everything, I tell you. It begins to look like the crew may have not only found a way home, but innovated space travel forever.

Except that tom falls ill. Not just ill, but he begins changing into something else. Slowly, but surely throughout the third and fourth acts, tom begins changing into a giant amphibian. Traveling really fast will do that to you. The doctor theorizes tom’s oneness with the universe either sped up or rversed evolution for him. The term “devolved,” is used, but that is a word I have always hated. Evolution is change, whether progressive or regressive. Nothing can devolve. It can only evolve. But do not worry about that. The real problem is that humans have never been amphibious humanoids, and we are not going to evolve into ambphibians in the future, no matter how fanciful a theory of evolution to which you subscribe.

I will offer up one bit of kudos here. It will be enough to keep ’Threshold’ from becoming the first no stars rated episode I have ever reviewed. Robert Duncan MacNiell plays the heck out of Tom at several different levels as he changes. he goes from a human terrified he is dying to a crazed, paranoid mutant to a completely alien being and finally, to an uncommunicative monster. He poutrs his soul out about what a disappointment he is to his father and how he considers the crew his only real family. (poor guy. Talk about a dysfunctional family.) at one point as the amphibian ceature, he loses his tongue and has to talk ’without” it while not making the situation laughable. He manages to pull that off. Finally, he comes across as a completely non-human critter without saying a word. It is too bad the premise is so dumb, because MacNiell nails his character every step of the way.

The doctor comes up with a plan a irradiating Amphibian Tom with the war core in order to kill off the mutated cello. I believe that qualifies as uberchemotherapy. Amphibian tom escapes, however, and engages in an offscreen firefight. Why offscreen/ Your guess is as good as mine. It must have been too awe inspiring for words, like that human city we were not allowed to see in the season premiere. Janeway heads to engineering personally to stop tom, because if anyone is going to shoot a crewmember, it is going to be her, darn it. Instead, she winds up kidnapped by Amphibian Tom. He takes her on the shuttle to warp ten and they are gone….

Well, not really. Although they could have ended up anywhere in the universe, they are three days travel time from their starting point. But three days time has been enough for Tom and Janeway to become small animals, do the mommy/daddy dance, and have a litter of children. I really cannot add anything more to that. It…it simply boggles the mind. How many illicit drugs does a writer have to do in order to come up with such an idea/?

The two are rescued and eventually returned to normal by way of that uberchemotherapy method. The idea of using warp ten is completely dropped, but there is not logical reason to do so. It still worked. Even if the crew were all turned into amphibians, there is an easy, painless way to reverse the process, and everyone might get laid in the process. It is win-win as far as I am concerned, but the issue is dropped completely from Treklore hereafter.

Like the episode, in fact. Skip this one for the sake of your own sanity. Yes, MacNiell is good in it, but that does not make up for the sheer stupidity of every single aspect of “Threshold” other than his acting. This travesty proves Braga has no shame.

Rating: * (out of 5)

“Alliances” is a Janeway-centric episode written by Jeri Taylor. Therefore, we know its theme is Janeway is awesome. Indeed, according to the script, she is. Feminist icon, defender of Federation principles, and one lucky old bitty since circumstances prove her correct even though her foresight could not have predicted it. In spite of Janeway’s apotheosis, the episode is quite good, as it establishes a new desperately on the run feeling to the show.

Voyager is coming under more frequent attacks lately by the Kazon. The latest attack proves fatal for a Maquis crewmember. His friends are becoming more inclined to give the Kazon the replica torts and transporter technology they want, but Janeway stands her ground. She will destroy the ship before allowing the Kazon any technology. Chakotay is more sympathetic to his Maquis cohorts. Perhaps an alliance with some Kazon sects is a good idea. While Janeway does not like the idea, she gives into Chakotay’s wishes and seeks an audience with various sects.

The attempt to negotiate with two sects fails before they opt to contact Seska and Culluh, whose name I have previously been misspelling Culloq. Hey, it sounded like that. Sue me. The possibility of an alliance is going great until Culluh insists on an exchange of crewmembers. Janeway will not budge on that and Seska insists he is an idiot right there at the bargaining table. Culluh asks to talk to a man instead, claiming he cannot be dictated terms by a woman. This is the first troublesome scene in the episode. Seska is pulling his strings at the same time his chauvinism demands he not negotiate with Janeway. Why make the only recurring villain thus far out to be an obvious moron just to celebrate girl power is an extremely bad idea.

Fortunately, Neelix has created some friends in the Trabe, an alien race that once subjugated the kazon, but have fallen on hard times in the decades since. The Kazon have chased them off every planet they have attempted to settle. Deciding an alliance with the Trabe is better than none, Janeway goes for it. To her surprise, the trabe leader proposes peace talks with all the Kazon sects.

It is all a ruse, however. The Trabe use the peace conference as an attempt to kill off the Kazon leadership. It fails, but the kazon blame Voyager for the assassination attempt. Now the crew is in more danger than ever, as they are the declared enemies of every Kazon sect. in the end, janeway gets to lecture the main staff on how she was right all along to maintain her Federation principles. None of this would have happened if she had. Of course, had the peace conference been genuine, a new federation might have been formed in the Delta Quadrant. We will skip that possibility since Janeway is awesome and never wrong , even when she makes polar opposite decisions in the same set of circumstances.

There are some odd bits in “Alliances.” I have already discussed Culluh’s gelding for the sake of feminism, which knocks out the main villain. Not that he was all that menacing in the first place. It is also revealed torres’ assistant in engineering is a traitor informing the Kazon of the ship’s location, which is how they can consistently attack. Why reveal his identity to the audience right off the bat when a future plot point is going to be the crew attempting to uncover the traitor? The mystery is gone even before suspicion of a traitor arises. How can Seska, pregnant with Chakotay’s kid, show up without that becoming a plot point? It is for the sake of convenience. Culluh does not know the kid is not his yet, and he is not supposed to know until the revelation can serve the storyline. It is very hard to swallow the situation is completely ignored.

I still have to point out Janeway’s inconsistency, too. Here she says she will destroy the ship before giving the Kazon any technology because she fears affecting the balance of power, yet she is convinced to change her mind. But two episodes ago, she gave aid to a rebel group opposing a fascist government in exchange for an energy source. In yesterday’s episode, she refused to prevent a genocide in the name of preserving the balance of power. It just so happens her decision is the correct one evety time, but at no point does she exhibit a consistent rationale. It is like the universe moves in order to make Janeway correct no matter what. It is unnerving. There is no growth or learning curve for the character. She just knows what to do even if it is hypocritical from what she chose to do in the previous episode. Dude, Janeway is awesome!

“Alliances” is a decent episode in spite of some big flaws. At least some effort is made for the Kazon to become formidable villains. They still do not resonate, but at least VOY is attempting to work with what they have on hand. The episode ends on a feeling of intense peril for the first time. That is a welcome change.

Tomorrow; the worst episode in the history of Star Trek. You have been warned.

Rating: *** (out of 5).

“Prototype” is a personal favorite, but for the same reason many of its critics dislike it. The premise of a race of beings created as expendable soldiers who eventually rebel against their creators has similarities to the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica and the Daleks of Doctor Who. Those are two of my favorites villains in science fiction, so I do not hold the lack of originality against “Prototype.” Your mileage may vary.

Voyager finds a damaged robot floating in space. Torres becomes obsessed with the idea of getting it working again. Janeway overrules Tuvok’s security concerns and allows her to repair the robot. Upon Torres’ success, the robot explains that Torres innovation to him can help propagate more like him. Otherwise, since their creators are extinct, they will die out.

Torrs is eager to help, but Janeway nixes the idea because of the Prime Directive. Brace yourself for more 24th century humanist compassion. Janeway’s rationale is that the Federation cannot interfere in the natural progression of a people. These robots are dying out, and that is what they are supposed to do according to her. Torres counters with the argument that if they could easily reverse the sterilization of a species, they would be monsters if they did not offer the help. Janeway disagrees because there is no way to predict how the people not going extinct like they are apparently supposed to would affect the future.

It is the same rationale Janeway offered Tom back in “Time and Again.” Yes, allowing a people to die off may be eliminating a potential cancer cure, but it is worth it if another Hitler is never born. Janeway’s interpretation of the Prime Directive is unspeakably horrible because it lacks any hint of humanity, yet in Star Trek philosophy, is still presented as enlightened. How can the Federation justify a definite genocide to prevent a possible future problem and still think of itself as a perfectly moral organization?

The amusing part is that Janeway turns out to have drawn the correct conclusion, but by accident. The robot kidnaps Torres and forces her to build a working prototype he can copy repeatedly in order to recreate his people. Another ship of robots attack them, and it is revealed they are continuing to fight a war their builders declared a truce over decades ago. Once the robots were threatened with deactivation, they turned on their creators and wiped them out. So Torres is helping prolong a perpetual war. Janeway had no way of knowing that, but as far as the episode is concerned, she was right all along. The message to take away from this is genocide is good because these people might fight a war at some point.

“Prototype” has a unique feel among Star Trek episodes. It is an effort to make the Delta Quadrant dynamics different from the other series set in the 24th century, so I have to give some kudos for that. I am obviously not keen on how Janeway’s brutal interpretation of the Prime directive wound up being the correct one, nor do I like how Torres is presented yet again as an idiot. But there is a lot of slam bang action in the episode as a distracvting factor that makes it entertaining. I use the word distracting deliberately. The episode is freeelance written by Nicholas Corea, a former Marine with a long history of writing for action and science fiction series of the ’70’s-’90’s. I suspect Janeway’s arguments were added by staff writers in order to make the script more Trek-like. I would like to see Corea’s first draft and compare. I will bet it is better than what wound up being filmed.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Welcome to VOY’s version of the combo breaker. Savor the moment. Not only will I rarely praise an episode of the series in general, but the enjoyment of a script written by Lisa Klink is a one of a kind experience. “Resistance” is the best episode of VOY thus far. It features everything the series was supposed to be; a desperate situation in which the crew has to violate its Federation principles in order to survive. They act like literal people rather than archetypal representatives of some idealistic notion no reasonable person could ever maintain in reality. This is what being lost far from the comforts of the federation is all about.

Voyager has run out of some material needed to power its warp engine. If they do not resupply within a few hours, the engines will go offline and can never be restarted. The crew has no choice but to play ball with a group of resistance fighters battling a fascist government run by the Mokla. The exchange for the material is successfully made, but mokla security forces attack the away team during their getaway. Took and Torres are captured. An unconscious Janeway is dragged away by Caylen, an insane old man who believes she is his long lost daughter.

This is all the set up for an episode far more personal than most. Janeway is desperate enough to rescue took and Torres that she indulges the old man’s fantasy. She soon realizes he has created the idea that his daughter has returned so the two can rescue his wife from Mokla custody. I am not certain if it was intended to be clear from the beginning his wife had long since been killed by the Mokla, but I recall suspecting that when “Resistance” first aired fifteen years ago. The idea that everyone, janeway included, knows that makes her actions to appease the old man more poignant. He has had to create this illusion in order to keep going. Even though he is more a liability than anything else, Janeway insists he be part of the rescue mission.

While Janeway and Caylen are the heart of the episode, Tuvok and Torres get some good character moments, too. They are imprisoned in the same cell taking turns at torture sessions. What is interesting is how supporting one another between interrogations bridges the gap between their respective Starfleet and Maquis loyalties. Took attempts to hold Torres’ impulsive need to lash out in check, while she expresses sympathy for the indignities Tuvok suffers as he screams in pain under torture. This is how to emotionally connect the crew, not by saying Starfleet and Maquis have to do routine ship duties together and that is good enough to bond them.

The rescue is a guns blazing affair that ends with Caylen being killed. Janeway allows him to believe they have successfully rescued his wife so he can die happy even though it is revealed she died under torture twelve years prior. Janeway continuing the illusion she is Caylen’s daughter right until the end is very touching. It is a rare Janeway moment. More often than not, she makes decisions negatively effecting those around her out of some higher principle which may or may not be arguably worthwhile.

“Resistance” has some flaws. It makes no sense for a Talaxian, Klingon, and a Vulcan to be wandering around undisguised on a planet covered in secret police. The ship being put in danger by planetary defenses is a contrived and unnecessary element. I am far more interested in what the characters stranded on the planet were up to than wasting time with the ship dodging missiles. The only problem is see planetside is Janeway plays a prostitute in order to distract the prison guards. How much of a credibility stretch is that? In spite of those flaws, “Resistance” earns the first four stars a VOY episode has gotten. If te ship in peril subplot had been dropped, it might have even gotten five. This episode is what VOY should be, but all too rarely is.

Rating; **** (out of 5)

“Tattoo” is a highly divisive episode among fans. Your feelings about it probably hinge on your view of the role of political correctness in history and anthropology. I am about as politically incorrect as one can get and still function in polite society--easy to do, considering polite society is as much a myth as any white washed view of history--so you have a pretty good idea of what side I go down on here before I say a word about the episode.

An away team discovers an ancient symbol during a planetary survey for supplies. Chakotay recognizes the symbol from a trip he took with his father to Central America as a teenager in order to find his roots. During that trip, he and his father encountered a tribe separated from the modern world which lived the same way as his ancestors. Voyager investigates further to find a race a aliens who contacted Chakotay’s people in ancient times to bless them for their connection with nature. The experience is one of self-discovery for Chakotay.

But not much for us. We learn young Chakotay did not care much about the history or spirituality of his people, much to his father’s chagrin. The two were on poor terms. Things only get worse when, in the middle of the expedition, Chakotay announces he is joining Starfleet. He quit after his father died fighting the Cardassians and joined the Maquis. He never felt his father was pleased with him until now. While that is more character development than we usually get from Star Trek, it lacks a lot of heart as far as I am concerned.

The problem is--and judging by the manner in which Robert Beltran can barely get through his lines, he knows it, too--is the story hinges on a white progressive’s view point of Native American culture. The aliens, who are all white, are referred to as ’sky spirits” by Chakotay’s ancestors. They were blessed by the sky spirits because of their respect for all life. Presumably, that means the Native Americans were vegetarians who were never warlike and shed a single tear after no one picked up their litter after Woodstock. They were the noble savages killed off by conquest and disease from the white devil.

The aliens display the typical yankee go home attitude as the ship is put in danger during the fourth act to present the only bit of drama in the episode. Unless you count a bird nearly plucking out Neelix’s eye on the away mission. I think that is funny more than anything else. The ship is saved once Chakotay convinces the aliens humans have learned to respect the earth just like his ancestors allegedly did. So we will all become much more morally pure when we embrace the mythical behavior progressives tell us the noble savages engaged in centuries ago. Or something like that.

‘Tattoo” was written by Michael Piller, and I expect far better from the man who made TNG fly after Maurice Hurley had spent two years making it Tos Ii without the charm. What we get is a preachy misrepresentation of ancient culture in order to guilt modern society for…I do not know. Racism, environmental damage, eating meat, or fighting wars. Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe all of that, since Chakotay’s ancestors are the epitome of perfection with regards to all of them. Well, maybe not the war part. Both Chakotay and his father fought the Cardassians. The aliens do not seem bothered by the revelation. Maybe not racism, either, since these are white aliens patting the ancient tribe on the heads for being such good little politically correct stereotypes.

So, no, I am not thrilled with “Tattoo.” But if it alleviates your white guilt for taking native American land or whatever related evil is keeping you up at night, Then have at it. I can see why it would be right up your ally. The message ’Tattoo” is trying to impart is so overwhelming, there was no room for any drama, so had to throw in the ship in peril bit for a few minutes to justify calling this an episode rather than a cultural sensitivity lecture. The only saving grace is the comic relief gag of the doctor programming a bout of the flu for himself as a demonstration of how to deal with illness on the job. He fails at it, of course.

There is one interesting note for readers of the Eye. Chakotay’s father is played by Henry Darrow. Darrow was not only the first actual Hispanic to play Zorro, but he guest starred in The Wild Wild West episode "The Night of the Tottering Torture” While they are many connections between the series I have reviewed thus far, Darrow is the only one to connect The Wild Wild West with VOY.

Rating: ** (out of 5)

“Cold Fire” offers Kes a chance to play Luke Skywalker learning the ways of the force when the crew encounters a colony of Ocampa protected by another Caretaker. It is a poorly kept secret the discovery of a second Caretaker is in response to VOY’s lackluster ratings. It is meant to be an easy out for the ship to return to the Alpha Quadrant should the series not survive. But VOY limps along another five years, so Caretaker II never makes another appearance.

I have mixed emotions about “Cold Fire.” It is an entertaining episode overall. It explores Kes’ powers in greater detail. It introduces a good Villain in Tanis, a megalomaniacal Ocampa. The episode explores the negative impact Voyager has had on the Delta Quadrant in stark contrast to previous claims history cannot be rewritten because theie impact on the quadrant is now a necessary part of it development. But in spite of these good points, the episode does so many dumb things there is a counter balance to every high point.

When the episode begins, Tuvok is working with Kes to hone her mental abilities. He teaches her to reach out to the minds of the crew and read their thoughts, which she does. Geez, what a great invasion of privacy the security officer is encouraging Kes to do. Neither demonstrates any qualms about secretly invading people’s minds, either. Good to know how far took is willing to go in order to maintain safety.

Later in sickbay, the remains of the Caretaker, which they kept for some weird reason, begin to light up and shake. According to some Torres t is an indication another Caretaker is nearby. It leads them to a new array which serves as a home for a colony of Ocampa. These Ocampa are lead by Tanis, a fourteen year old Ocampa with extraordinary mental abilities and an extreme Ocampa supremacist attitude he relays to Kes every chance he gets. Naïve Kes takes shows no apprehension about it until she has to physically confront him in the climax.

Tanis is played wonderfully by Gary Graham, the actor who will go on to play Soval in ENT. Quite a few readers may be more interested in his regular contributions to the conservative website Big Hollywood.. Graham has played villainous characters before, but not quite like Tanis. He is over the top, but not hammy. He is exactly what you would expect from a villain who is tapping into a source of near unlimited power which makes him feel far above other ’minor” life forms.

Tanis is reluctant to cooperate with Voyager. Janeway’s reputation precedes her. Tanis tells her she is feared across the quadrant because of the Caretaker’s death, the continuing war with the Kazon, and their taking resources from planets without any permission or approval. The thing is, he is right. They have not only done all these things, but are secretly preparing a weapon to stun Caretaker II if it tries to overpower them like before. The issue is glossed over, however, because Tanis and Caretaker II are angry over the one thing the crew did not do--murdered Caretaker. He died of old age. So rather than explore the crew’s actions in fighting the Kazon or taking resources in the name of survival, the conflict in “Cold Fire” puts the crew squarely in the right because they are victims of a false accusation. It is a cop out.

The bonding of Kes and Tanis has its own issues. There is an amusing undertone of Kes as Luke Skywalker and Tanis as Obi Wan Kennobi in the beginning, but slowly morphing into Darth Vader as he helps her tap into the more sinister possibilities of using her powers. I am even willing to concede her naïve tolerance of Tanis’ contempt for humans is a result of her thrill of utilizing powers she has never before experienced. But there isa big flaw in the teaching progression. Why does Tanis teach her the telekinetic ability to move a tea cup and the ability to summon fire in the same lesson? Arguably, it is to tempt her with more, but she nearly cooks Tuvok’s head with it. Still, no one gets any negative vibes from Tanis. What does it take to get through to these people?

Caretaker II shows up in the form of Ben Savage’s little sister from Boy Meets World. We quickly degenerate from Star Wars to Carrie as she tortures the crew in revenge for allegedly murdering the other Caretaker. Janeway is able to use the weapon they have been developing to stop her, so even the fact they were secretly planning to violently subdue the Caretaker Ii if necessary turns out to be the right thing to do. Presumably, so id fighting the Kazon and stealing resources by default. See, Tanis? You could not be more wrong. Caretaker Ii and Tanis flee never to be seen again after being defeated by Janeway and Kes respectively. The Magic Reset Button is pressed, too, as Kes can no longer use telekinesis or summon fire.

In spite of its flaws, “Cold Fire” is one of the best episodes thus far. If for no other reason, it is because of the potential empowering of Kes and the prospect of Tanis as a more interesting recurring villain than Seska. Alas, the former is wasted and the latter never materializes. This is a serious problem with VOY. Every opportunity to make the show more interesting is dropped immediately in favor of technobabble and the absolute assurance federation philosophy is morally infallible. As a result, “Cold Fire” is about as good as it gets when the regular writing team attempts to further the series arc.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

Since there are many nitpicking Trekkies out there, a technical note is in order regarding episode sequence from here on out. There are two different episode lists floating about the internet. One is the original broadcast order. The other is the revised order for syndication and DVD. The latter is considered an improvement because it allegedly clarifies some continuity issues and puts more distance between episodes in which special effects shots were reused for budgetary reasons. Some episode titles have been changed for aesthetics or to better reflect content. I am going by the DVD order rather than original broadcast, so if things do not jibe with what you remember, nothing is wrong. I am going by the revised material.

“Maneuvers” features the return of the Kazon. Before you groan at the prospect, bear in mind they are now being manipulated by Seska through the leaderr of a relatively weak sect, Culloq, whom she has by the penis. Seska is plotting to unite the Kazon sects herself by stealing Federation technology and using it to create alliance. Culloq is being duped into helping her by thinking it is all his idea. He falls for this hook, line, and sinker because of that whole being dragged around by the penis thing.

There is much more slam bang action in “Maneuvers” than VOY has had thus far. It is the beginning of a noticeable trend to make the show less talky, which I welcome, but it will still be loaded down with preachy progressive ideology and inane techno babble, which I do not. One takes his blessings where he gets him, folks, lest they stop coming altogether.

Seska arranges for Voyager to follow a beacon signal using a code Harry identifies as one used from a star date after they were stranded in the Delta Quadrant. How he could know this is never clarified. This is a Kenneth Biller script, so just accept it. He is doing the best he can. You do not have to be Adm. Ackbar to know this is a trap. The Kazon make a daring raid on the ship and steal transporter technology before making a clean getaway.

It should not surprise you no one suspects Seska’s involvement until she contacts Voyager in order to taunt Chakotay. For the remainder of the episode, “Maneuvers” is largely a personal drama between the two. Chakotay secretly flees the ship in order to follow a warp drive trail Seska deliberately left behind. Her plan, as far as Culloq is concerned, is to capture him in order to get the command codes for Voyager. But she has a more personal vendetta running.

Credit where credit is due, “Maneuvers” covertly addresses the tensions between the Maquis and Starfleet crewmembers, something that has been ignored for quite a while. I say covertly because no one ever says that is the motivation for anyone’s actions. Chakotay goes AWOL because it does not think Seska is a Starfleet problem. She is a traitor to him personally. Janeway does not want to risk the ship in a rescue attempt, but is convinced to do so when Torres says his loss will destroy morale. What she actually means is the Maquis will rebel if she abandons their leader. Even the rescue operation is said to be a violation of Starfleet safety protocols. Yet there is very little overt acknowledgement the Starfleet way is being completely abandoned in favor of the Maquis way. Perhaps that is because the Maquis way works where Starfleet methods have failed. Did the ghost of Gene Roddenberry rattle his chains while biller was typing away?

In the end, Chakotay destroys the stolen transporter technology and gets rescued. Culloq’s attempt to create and alliance with other Kazon sects fails when Seska turns her attention from his penis to Chakotay’s. she extracts some of his DNA during interrogation and impregnates herself with it. Only in VOY science does that sort of thing work. She then taunts Chakotay with the news in front of the Voyager bridge crew. That is one cold woman.

“Maneuvers” has some serious plot holes. Chakotay ought to know Seska wants to captire him for the command codes. Either he is dumb for falling for it, or Janeway is dumb for not changing the command codes to make them useless after Chakotay went AWOL, or Seska is dumb for not anticipating the command codes would be changed. Take your pick. The final rescue attempt involves taken the heads of the Kazon sects hostage, but the terms of their release do not involve handing over Seska. That seems like an obvious demand to make, but future storylines require her to be free, so there you go. The whole DNA impregnation thing does not sound terribly plausible, either. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining effort that is indicative of a less talky future for the series. Kudos for that.

Rating: *** (out of 5)

“Persistence of Vision” is the first VOY script which Jeri Taylor writes without collaboration. Therefore, its theme is Janeway is Awesome. Get used to that. Taylor lives vicariously through Janeway on a regular basis from the now until the end of the fifth season. Her fascination with Janeway is not a detriment here, however. “Persistence of Vision” is one of the best episodes VOY has had in a while. The crew finally encounters an unusual alien menace who creates a surreal and frightening experience for them.

If I have any serious criticism for “Persistence of Vision,” it is that it shifts gears in the final two acts. While the first three acts are completely focused on Janeway, the fourth, the fourth spreads out to the rest of the main cast and the fifth has Kes, all alone, saving the day. I cannot criticize the gear shifting too harshly, however. It offers a better insight into the characters than we have seen before. We also get the first real hints Kes possesses far more powers than previously believed.

Voyager is about to enter Bothe space. The Bothe are a xenophobic race that do not care for strange ships passing through. Janeway is under a load of stress balancing diplomacy with defensive measures to ensure they make it by the Bothe. The doctor orders her to spend some time with her holonovel to relax. This is the governess one in which she falls in which a widower falls in love with her. There is a disturbing undertone the children she is taking care of do not believe their mother is dead. That does not stop Janeway from putting the moves on their daddy. If women’s sexual fantasies really are akin to romance novels, then Janeway is essentially engaged in an adult film. If Chakotay took part in a holodeck program more in line with male sexual fantasies, reaction would be far different. Just saying.

Janeway begins seeing characters from the holonovel outside the holodeck. Over three acts, it appears she is going insane. Well, more insane than usual. She is not really the picture of mental stability at any point. By the fourth act, the entire crew is being affected. They see family members, for better or for worse, beckoning them. All accept for Torres, who imagines a romp in bed with Chakotay. Keep this scenario in mind. Towards the end of the season, Janeway will flirt with it, too, in another episode written by Taylor. Something tells me she has had a kidnapped by Native American braves and never rescued by cowboys fantasy at some point in her life. Maybe several points.

Once the crew give in to the visions, they are stuck in a catatonic state. Kes is the only one who has the power to resist, and she is the one who exposes the Bothe alien intruder who has been causing the hallucinations by overpowering him with her mind. She has no clue how she was able to do so. While Kes is the hero, Janeway steals her thunder. She was the first one to be attacked by the alien, but was the last one to go all catatonic. That means she resisted for hours while everyone else succumbed within minutes. Janeway is Awesome!

She is also inconsistent or willing to learn from her mistakes, depending on how generous you want to be. She decides to throw the Bothe in the brig with the specific rationale she will not allow him to attack other travelers again. Back in “Phage,” she refused to hold the Vidiians who stole Neelix’s lungs in the brig because she did not want to haul them along on the 75 year journey even though she knows they will steal the organs of any other travelers they encounter. Maybe she learned from the second encounter with the Vidiians not to play around, or she is just angry the Bothe messed with her personally this time, but now she has no qualms about dragging prisoners along for three-quarters of a century. Take your pick which you believe. I am inclined towards the latter.

I like “Persistence of Vision.’ While it is hard to describe why, it feels like an episode that could only occur on VOY. Perhaps because the situations feels peculiar enough to only have happened in the new and strange Delta Quadrant. Or maybe it is the bothe’s attitude. When Janeway asks his motivation, he says he did it because he could. Not to study them or for some survival or political ends. He did it for the old school daffy Duck reason--he just wanted to screw with them. Some fans consider that a lame excuse, but I think it is a refreshing change from the norm. As is "Persistence of Vision.”

Rating: *** (out of 5)