Nothing every goes well for Harry Kim seems to be the rule for Voyager and it certainly is for this episode. I mean sure, they do eventually get rescued but not before Harry almost kills Paris with a piece of pipe so that is some mental strain for him to handle going forward. It seemed kinda un-Trek to totally ignore the horribly oppressive society that convicted Paris and Kim, and also to not in any way help the freedom fighters. I am not saying they had to aid them substantially, but they could have at least broken a few out of jail. Any government that acknowledges that you have found the real killers but says that all convictions are final anyway isn't a government you need to spend a lot of time respective the rights of.
We open with Harry falling out of a chute into a filthy prison where inmates fight over him and then start beating him on. He runs into Paris who knocks him down as we cut to commercial. Afterwards we see Paris fight another convict for Harry though but Harry isn't stoked at getting hit by him so hard. Paris gives him some food though but they are both super edgy which Paris explains is a side effect of the neural implants they have in their brains. They come up with a plan to try and escape though and try to stay sane with thoughts of food. On the ship Janeway confronts the people who convicted Paris and Kim but they insist on seizing Voyager and arresting her crew so they get out of there. They find the real killers in about 10 minutes, an older brother and his young radical sister pretty much confess as soon as they get caught.
Things go poorly in jail and Paris gets stabbed. Kim negotiates for some food and cloth to keep him alive for helping another prisoner escape. He manages to make a tool that lets him get into the chute but that just leads him a window to outer space. For some reason he decides this is good news though and tries to convince everyone to help him escape but they are too nuts/he is too nuts to get them to cooperate. On Voyager the offer to return the actual terrorists falls on deaf ears so Janeway takes up the terrorists offer to show her the prison but she refuses to help them in any way. The alarm goes off that a new prisoner is coming down the chute but it is Janeway packing heat instead of a new victim. She mass phasers an entire crowd before they all get away in Neelix's shuttle which is now apparently fast a nimble. Back on the ship Paris is all buddy buddy but Kim is uncomfortable with how much he wanted to kill Paris so recently.
Review: Not a bad episode but felt a little light in the kind of thing that made TNG so good. You know, introspection and characters actually considering the moral dilemmas the find themselves in. Somehow I have a feeling things would have been a lot different if Picard had been in charge, but then again it is pretty much how Kirk would have played it.
5 out of 10
Sunday, July 31, 2016
VOY: Flashback
As a huge fan of both Sulu and George Takei this episode was a real treat. Sure he only appears as a mindmeld memory character, but it is still awesome to see him in action. Takei honestly has a way better captain voice than Shatner at this point and I would love to see him make an appearance as an admiral or something in some future Trek content. The episode itself is a little silly, the idea of a virus that stores itself as a memory and is susceptible to some kind of dangerous sounding radiation that also is used to break a mindmeld is just silly. It is also kinda dumb that Janeway doesn't know about Tuvok's previous service in Starfleet. It isn't like you can keep that sort of thing secret. And really I doubt they would let someone in who previously got through the academy only to resign their commission like it was nothing.
We open with Neelix trying to talk Tuvok into drinking some gross juice he made since apparently the, "Neelix is a bad cook but still in charge of all food," gag isn't done yet. On the bridge they have found a gaseous anomaly that has some sort of magic energy source in it which they plan to gather with the Bussard collectors. Presumably as a reaction to Neelix's food Tuvok becomes ill on the bridge and makes his way to sickbay. While walking there he has a flashback of himself as a boy trying to hold onto a girl who is dangling from a cliff and suddenly he lets go and she falls. He tells the doctor about it but also that he has no other memory of something like that happening to him. They put a monitor on Tuvok and start scanning the gas cloud to see if it is causing the flashback. Tuvok returns to the bridge but is still confused and thinks they are fighting Klingons. He goes back to sickbay and the Doctor figures out that he is having a mental crisis that could be deadly if he doesn't work through it with a mindmeld, a job usually reserved for family but Tuvok picks Janeway.
They begin the mindmeld instead of finding themselves on the cliff with the girl they are on the Excelsior with Captain Sulu fighting Klingons. A man is dying on the bridge and Tuvok is confused about why they aren't on the cliff. He mentions that it was caused by an incident three days earlier and suddenly he is making tea for Sulu which is of course the tea he spills with Praxis was destroyed. Tuvok questions Sulu violating orders and going to help Kirk but is put in his place and they go anyway. To hide from the Klingons they fly through a nebula that looks just like the one that triggered the flashback and suddenly he is having the flashback again. The mindmeld breaks and Tuvok rests while they look into the nebula lead but nothing comes up. They try the mindmeld again and for some reason the flashback seems to be triggered by the man dying on the bridge. While they are melded the Doctor detects that the memory isn't from Tuvok or Janeway and somehow it is a virus that he can kill with thoron radiation. The memory starts to break down and Sulu recognizes Janeway forcing her and Tuvok to flee and steal a uniform from Commander Rand. The Doctor destroys the memory virus thing and Tuvok is back to his normal vulcan self.
Review: Getting to see Sulu and Rand one last time was awesome which is definitely going to help the score of this episode. The premise is pretty silly, but not unreasonable by Trek standards. I still don't get how Tuvok was supposed to have hidden his previous service even if Sulu did delete the record of the mission in the nebula, but whatever.
7 out of 10
We open with Neelix trying to talk Tuvok into drinking some gross juice he made since apparently the, "Neelix is a bad cook but still in charge of all food," gag isn't done yet. On the bridge they have found a gaseous anomaly that has some sort of magic energy source in it which they plan to gather with the Bussard collectors. Presumably as a reaction to Neelix's food Tuvok becomes ill on the bridge and makes his way to sickbay. While walking there he has a flashback of himself as a boy trying to hold onto a girl who is dangling from a cliff and suddenly he lets go and she falls. He tells the doctor about it but also that he has no other memory of something like that happening to him. They put a monitor on Tuvok and start scanning the gas cloud to see if it is causing the flashback. Tuvok returns to the bridge but is still confused and thinks they are fighting Klingons. He goes back to sickbay and the Doctor figures out that he is having a mental crisis that could be deadly if he doesn't work through it with a mindmeld, a job usually reserved for family but Tuvok picks Janeway.
They begin the mindmeld instead of finding themselves on the cliff with the girl they are on the Excelsior with Captain Sulu fighting Klingons. A man is dying on the bridge and Tuvok is confused about why they aren't on the cliff. He mentions that it was caused by an incident three days earlier and suddenly he is making tea for Sulu which is of course the tea he spills with Praxis was destroyed. Tuvok questions Sulu violating orders and going to help Kirk but is put in his place and they go anyway. To hide from the Klingons they fly through a nebula that looks just like the one that triggered the flashback and suddenly he is having the flashback again. The mindmeld breaks and Tuvok rests while they look into the nebula lead but nothing comes up. They try the mindmeld again and for some reason the flashback seems to be triggered by the man dying on the bridge. While they are melded the Doctor detects that the memory isn't from Tuvok or Janeway and somehow it is a virus that he can kill with thoron radiation. The memory starts to break down and Sulu recognizes Janeway forcing her and Tuvok to flee and steal a uniform from Commander Rand. The Doctor destroys the memory virus thing and Tuvok is back to his normal vulcan self.
Review: Getting to see Sulu and Rand one last time was awesome which is definitely going to help the score of this episode. The premise is pretty silly, but not unreasonable by Trek standards. I still don't get how Tuvok was supposed to have hidden his previous service even if Sulu did delete the record of the mission in the nebula, but whatever.
7 out of 10
Friday, July 29, 2016
VOY: Basics, Part II
The second half of two part episodes are often troubled and while this one has a few issues it also works a lot better than many of them. The only problem in this episode is that it turns out pretty much exactly how you would expect. The only surprise for me was I forgot that they killed Suder off, but then again that is the only reasonable thing to do. Actually having him in his quarters for the rest of the series would have been an issue. Also I was so ready to be done with Seska and the fact that we also learn the baby isn't Chakotay's resolves that issue as well. I don't even care that Janeway broke the prime directive with the cave people they encountered. Who cares if you have been marooned on an unstable planet. I mean, sure, Kirk would have criticized her for not being willing to die rather than break the directive, but he also wouldn't have been willing to die himself.
We open right where we left off with the crew of Voyager marooned. Neelix finds some neat bones and sends a crewman into a cave to investigate where he is promptly killed by some sort of monster. We find Paris very much alive and killing Kazon with his shuttle on the way to get help from the Talaxians. Janeway tells everybody to stay out of the tunnels and orders them to start eating grubs if they can't find food soon. On the ship Seska walks into sickbay and activates the Doctor, well, he is already on but pretends to have been activated. She has him examine her baby which is fine, but also she learns not part human so therefore not Chakotay's son. After she leaves the Doctor has the computer report how many crew are on board and learns about Suder. The two meet up in sickbay and start planning, but Suder is very disturbed by the idea of killing.
To skip ahead a bit, the crew spend a long time trying to survive and eventually befriend a clan of local cave people. The Doctor hears from Paris and they come up with a plant to sabotage Voyager. Suder has to hide using a Maquis trick with Seska recognizes along with some sabotage so she goes to the Doctor and learns he has been lying. She destroys his holo-emitter but luckily he left instructions for Suder. Paris shows up with the Talaxians and they manages to hit Voyager while Suder slaughters everyone in engineering before getting shot in the back. But not before he manages to finish his sabotage. In the bridge weapons go down and when they switch to backups the panels all explode knocked them all out. Well, almost all, Seska makes her way to her son and dies with him in her arms. Paris flies the ship back and picks up the crew and they continue on their journey home.
Review: A fairly standard episode which didn't really do anything new but did manage to wrap up several loose ends from the previous seasons. I especially liked seeing Suder wrestle with his inner demons and in the end do the right thing even if it was hard for him
6 out of 10
We open right where we left off with the crew of Voyager marooned. Neelix finds some neat bones and sends a crewman into a cave to investigate where he is promptly killed by some sort of monster. We find Paris very much alive and killing Kazon with his shuttle on the way to get help from the Talaxians. Janeway tells everybody to stay out of the tunnels and orders them to start eating grubs if they can't find food soon. On the ship Seska walks into sickbay and activates the Doctor, well, he is already on but pretends to have been activated. She has him examine her baby which is fine, but also she learns not part human so therefore not Chakotay's son. After she leaves the Doctor has the computer report how many crew are on board and learns about Suder. The two meet up in sickbay and start planning, but Suder is very disturbed by the idea of killing.
To skip ahead a bit, the crew spend a long time trying to survive and eventually befriend a clan of local cave people. The Doctor hears from Paris and they come up with a plant to sabotage Voyager. Suder has to hide using a Maquis trick with Seska recognizes along with some sabotage so she goes to the Doctor and learns he has been lying. She destroys his holo-emitter but luckily he left instructions for Suder. Paris shows up with the Talaxians and they manages to hit Voyager while Suder slaughters everyone in engineering before getting shot in the back. But not before he manages to finish his sabotage. In the bridge weapons go down and when they switch to backups the panels all explode knocked them all out. Well, almost all, Seska makes her way to her son and dies with him in her arms. Paris flies the ship back and picks up the crew and they continue on their journey home.
Review: A fairly standard episode which didn't really do anything new but did manage to wrap up several loose ends from the previous seasons. I especially liked seeing Suder wrestle with his inner demons and in the end do the right thing even if it was hard for him
6 out of 10
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
VOY: Basics, Part I
The idea of stranding the crew of Voyager on a hostile planet without their ship is a cool one. Having the Doctor and Suder be the only ones left behind plus I am pretty sure Paris somewhere on a shuttle is a great set up. Especially the parts setting up that Suder feels betrayed by the captain by not being immediately trusted on the matter of his genetic experiments sets up the idea that maybe he will turn against them, but I am pretty sure he is going to turn out to save the day, possibly sacrificing his own life for his crew mates. But all that seems petty compared to how dumb it is that they totally walk into an obvious trap that they know is a trap and are being told by the dude leading them into it is a trap.
We open with Suder showing off his orchids to Tuvok. It seems the mindmeld passed on the vulcan's passion for plants in addition to the calming effects. Suder asks Tuvok if he can contribute to the ship by genetically engineering crops for the aeroponics lab and Tuvok promises to pass his request to the captain. On the bridge they run into a Kazon beacon with a message from Chakotay. It is a video of his newborn son and a narrator who claims Seska has been killed and his son is being taken to be raised as a servant. Chakotay talks about it with Janeway and he is torn, but she offers to help with a rescue which is dumb because it is obviously a trap and they are way out gunned. They come up with a plan to project holographic ships to act as distractions and then run into a Kazon shuttle. There is one badly hurt Kazon on board who claims to have escaped from the Nistrim by bribing his executioner but there is something wrong with his physiology and I immediately knew he was a living bomb but none of them figure it out.
The bomb gives them info on how to get in but also tells them it is a trap but they of course are determined to go in anyway. As they approach they keep getting hit in a seemingly unimportant area of the ship. Eventually the main group shows up including a very much alive Seska, of course it was all a trick as any child could have told you. They overwhelm Voyager but Paris escapes on a shuttle. Bomb guy explodes which allows Suder to hide as the rest of the crew are captured and marooned. We conclude with the Doctor showing up in sickbay and Suder hiding in his bomb wrecked quarters.
Review: A solid cliffhanger of a season finale. I still have problems which how obviously Janeway just walked into a trap and how Chakotay knew he was being manipulated but fell for it anyway, but at least the rest of the episode worked.
6 out of 10
We open with Suder showing off his orchids to Tuvok. It seems the mindmeld passed on the vulcan's passion for plants in addition to the calming effects. Suder asks Tuvok if he can contribute to the ship by genetically engineering crops for the aeroponics lab and Tuvok promises to pass his request to the captain. On the bridge they run into a Kazon beacon with a message from Chakotay. It is a video of his newborn son and a narrator who claims Seska has been killed and his son is being taken to be raised as a servant. Chakotay talks about it with Janeway and he is torn, but she offers to help with a rescue which is dumb because it is obviously a trap and they are way out gunned. They come up with a plan to project holographic ships to act as distractions and then run into a Kazon shuttle. There is one badly hurt Kazon on board who claims to have escaped from the Nistrim by bribing his executioner but there is something wrong with his physiology and I immediately knew he was a living bomb but none of them figure it out.
The bomb gives them info on how to get in but also tells them it is a trap but they of course are determined to go in anyway. As they approach they keep getting hit in a seemingly unimportant area of the ship. Eventually the main group shows up including a very much alive Seska, of course it was all a trick as any child could have told you. They overwhelm Voyager but Paris escapes on a shuttle. Bomb guy explodes which allows Suder to hide as the rest of the crew are captured and marooned. We conclude with the Doctor showing up in sickbay and Suder hiding in his bomb wrecked quarters.
Review: A solid cliffhanger of a season finale. I still have problems which how obviously Janeway just walked into a trap and how Chakotay knew he was being manipulated but fell for it anyway, but at least the rest of the episode worked.
6 out of 10
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
VOY: Resolutions
First of all a little out of sync news, I saw Star Trek: Beyond last night and really liked it. It didn't feel like one of the original series movies as much as it felt like an original series episode with a big budget. I had mixed feelings about 2009 and really disliked ID so it was nice to see a reboot Trek film not be awful. I am pretty sure when they joked about mixing two people in a transporter in the film they were joking about yesterday's Tuvix which was fun. As for today's episode it was ok. I liked that they bothered to explore why Janeway and Chakotay aren't already involved with each other, clearly this is coming from Janeway. Also it shows how Tuvok would handle being captain. He is a stick to his guns kinda guy, but also willing to be flexible when someone he trusts tells him he is wrong.
The episode opens with Janeway and Chakotay waking up in stasis chambers on the surface of an earth like planet. They have some deadly disease that the doctor can't cure, but as long as they stay behind on the planet they should be fine. The Doctor tells them he has no hope of curing them though so Janeway places Tuvok in command and orders him to move on. Well, after dropping off a ton of supplies and a shuttle (how many of these did they start with? They must have lost a half dozen by now). The crew is distraught but Janeway left Tuvok with clear orders not to seak help from the Vidiians and without any other plan Tuvok flies off.
Chakotay sets to work trying to make their lives more comfortable even carving Janeway a bath tub, but she won't give up. She sets insect traps all over and keeps working on the disease. On the ship Kim isn't willing to give up on the Vidiian plan and gets thrown off the bridge when he won't let go of it. That night he meets with a bunch of the crew who agree with him and goes to Tuvok but Tuvok insists that he drop the idea and fall in line. On the planet Janeway makes friends with a monkey and then loses all her traps in a plasma storm or something. She instead starts working with Chakotay on a boat which ends with him massaging her neck. They talk about having a relationship and it seems like they will. But on the ship Kes talks to Tuvok and gets him to try the Vidiian plan.
They contact the woman the Doctor saved and she happily agrees to help. They already have a cure and they arrange a meeting to pick it up. But of course it is a trap and only with careful coordination are they able to escape and even get the cure from the lady doctor. They return to the planet disappointing Chakotay but Janeway is happy to return to the captains seat.
Review: A decent episode that seemed like it had a bit too much filler. The whole set up with Kim trying to rally the crew with a new plan doesn't really go anywhere as eventually Kes just talks Tuvok into the plan they all knew was an option from the beginning. The Chakotay/Janeway thing was interesting but they never really followed up on it from what I remember.
5 out of 10
The episode opens with Janeway and Chakotay waking up in stasis chambers on the surface of an earth like planet. They have some deadly disease that the doctor can't cure, but as long as they stay behind on the planet they should be fine. The Doctor tells them he has no hope of curing them though so Janeway places Tuvok in command and orders him to move on. Well, after dropping off a ton of supplies and a shuttle (how many of these did they start with? They must have lost a half dozen by now). The crew is distraught but Janeway left Tuvok with clear orders not to seak help from the Vidiians and without any other plan Tuvok flies off.
Chakotay sets to work trying to make their lives more comfortable even carving Janeway a bath tub, but she won't give up. She sets insect traps all over and keeps working on the disease. On the ship Kim isn't willing to give up on the Vidiian plan and gets thrown off the bridge when he won't let go of it. That night he meets with a bunch of the crew who agree with him and goes to Tuvok but Tuvok insists that he drop the idea and fall in line. On the planet Janeway makes friends with a monkey and then loses all her traps in a plasma storm or something. She instead starts working with Chakotay on a boat which ends with him massaging her neck. They talk about having a relationship and it seems like they will. But on the ship Kes talks to Tuvok and gets him to try the Vidiian plan.
They contact the woman the Doctor saved and she happily agrees to help. They already have a cure and they arrange a meeting to pick it up. But of course it is a trap and only with careful coordination are they able to escape and even get the cure from the lady doctor. They return to the planet disappointing Chakotay but Janeway is happy to return to the captains seat.
Review: A decent episode that seemed like it had a bit too much filler. The whole set up with Kim trying to rally the crew with a new plan doesn't really go anywhere as eventually Kes just talks Tuvok into the plan they all knew was an option from the beginning. The Chakotay/Janeway thing was interesting but they never really followed up on it from what I remember.
5 out of 10
Monday, July 25, 2016
VOY: Tuvix
For the second episode in a row a creature has begged Janeway to let it live only to have her turn it down. I remember really thinking this was a dumb episode as a kid, but this time I liked it a lot more. I still think it is kinda weak overall, but the ethical dilemmas it created were interesting and it was nice to have have actual Neelix around. I also feel like the writers were acknowledging that Neelix is terrible at just about everything when the only positive trait they could find other than having emotions was that he is outspoken. It doesn't seem like Tuvok stays quiet all that much to start with, but that is it.
The episode opens with Tuvok and Neelix picking orchids and not understanding each other as usual. When they beam back though something goes wrong and they get combined, along with the orchid, into one being. And that being is surprisingly very healthy and after some delay to be checked out medically is cleared to return to duty. The Doctor and Harry can't seem to find a way to separate him though and after some time they leave the system with him as one being now named Tuvix. Tuvix wastes no time trying to get things going with Kes again, but she is too devastated by having lost both Neelix and Tuvok to want his advances. She goes to Janeway who calms her down, but isn't really much help. Eventually they find a cure but Tuvix doesn't want to die. He has settled into his new life and is quite happy. And after much consultation she decides to separate the two and kill Tuvix in the process. The Doctor refuses to take part so Janeway does it herself and we conclude with the two now separate and seemingly fine in sickbay.
Review: It didn't seem like much actually happened in this episode. It was almost all people trying do deal first with the new combined person and then with their feelings about separating him. Not as bad as I remembered, but still not great.
4 out of 10
The episode opens with Tuvok and Neelix picking orchids and not understanding each other as usual. When they beam back though something goes wrong and they get combined, along with the orchid, into one being. And that being is surprisingly very healthy and after some delay to be checked out medically is cleared to return to duty. The Doctor and Harry can't seem to find a way to separate him though and after some time they leave the system with him as one being now named Tuvix. Tuvix wastes no time trying to get things going with Kes again, but she is too devastated by having lost both Neelix and Tuvok to want his advances. She goes to Janeway who calms her down, but isn't really much help. Eventually they find a cure but Tuvix doesn't want to die. He has settled into his new life and is quite happy. And after much consultation she decides to separate the two and kill Tuvix in the process. The Doctor refuses to take part so Janeway does it herself and we conclude with the two now separate and seemingly fine in sickbay.
Review: It didn't seem like much actually happened in this episode. It was almost all people trying do deal first with the new combined person and then with their feelings about separating him. Not as bad as I remembered, but still not great.
4 out of 10
Sunday, July 24, 2016
VOY: The Thaw
I think the best thing I can say about this episode is I really enjoyed the Fallout 3 vault that it inspired. I kept expecting the fear clown to turn out to be the puppet of one of the frozen dudes, the one they kept cutting to ominously lurking and the only one the clown never threatened. But no, it was just a construct created from their collective fear. Also, does anybody actually find clowns scary? I feel like that is a trope that has long outlived being at all interesting. Also, do clowns have to be super annoying? And not at all in a clever way? Also, any episode that makes me mutter, "crusty jugglers," isn't likely to get a very good rating.
The episode opens with Kim practicing his clarinet while being hassled by Paris. Paris is taken aback however when he learns it is to impress a lieutenant he has been unsuccessfully trying to court for some time. They are called to be bridge though by the discovery of a deserted ice planet that Neelix is sure used to be populated. Scans confirm that it used to have a large population before a solar flare it. They get an automated hail from the surface telling them that the population has been frozen but was supposed to have been defrosted years earlier. The beam down to investigate and find three living aliens plugged into some sort of computer with two more empty pods. They can't figure out how to disconnect the people so Kim and Torres get hooked up and sent into the simulation.
They find a world run by an evil clown who exists only to torment them. He threatens to kill one of the other survivors if they try to escape so they don't use their planned escape. But they do point out that if one of them isn't released Janeway will likely shut it down to try and save them. The clown is afraid of not existing so lets Torres go. The Doctor is sent in to negotiate since he can't be trapped but the clown is unwilling to listen. They try shutting it down but he kills a hostage. Eventually he agrees to trade the other hostages for Janeway and she hooks herself up, but as soon as the others are free she admits that she sent in a hologram of herself instead while connecting her actual brain to be scanned. Defeated the clown fades to nothingness.
Review: This would have been an just fine TAS episode, but it had way too much padding to be a full length episode. Lots dancing, acrobatics and dead end plans didn't help it at all.
2 out of 10
The episode opens with Kim practicing his clarinet while being hassled by Paris. Paris is taken aback however when he learns it is to impress a lieutenant he has been unsuccessfully trying to court for some time. They are called to be bridge though by the discovery of a deserted ice planet that Neelix is sure used to be populated. Scans confirm that it used to have a large population before a solar flare it. They get an automated hail from the surface telling them that the population has been frozen but was supposed to have been defrosted years earlier. The beam down to investigate and find three living aliens plugged into some sort of computer with two more empty pods. They can't figure out how to disconnect the people so Kim and Torres get hooked up and sent into the simulation.
They find a world run by an evil clown who exists only to torment them. He threatens to kill one of the other survivors if they try to escape so they don't use their planned escape. But they do point out that if one of them isn't released Janeway will likely shut it down to try and save them. The clown is afraid of not existing so lets Torres go. The Doctor is sent in to negotiate since he can't be trapped but the clown is unwilling to listen. They try shutting it down but he kills a hostage. Eventually he agrees to trade the other hostages for Janeway and she hooks herself up, but as soon as the others are free she admits that she sent in a hologram of herself instead while connecting her actual brain to be scanned. Defeated the clown fades to nothingness.
Review: This would have been an just fine TAS episode, but it had way too much padding to be a full length episode. Lots dancing, acrobatics and dead end plans didn't help it at all.
2 out of 10
Saturday, July 23, 2016
VOY: Innocence
As an idea Benjamin Button as an episode of Trek is pretty silly. And that part of it is certainly pretty dumb. If the "kids" in this episode are supposed to be that old why are they so immature? Are we supposed to believe this is a form of senility? If they actually want to leave the moon why are they so disruptive of Tuvok's efforts? I get why actual kids would act that way, but how does it work when you are actually in your 90's and don't want to die. Also it begs the question how are adult babies delivered? It is a cool thought exercise to think about a reverse aging population, but as scifi it is pretty weak.
We open with Tuvok crashed on the surface of a strange world assisting an injured crew member. Tuvok manages to keep the man calm but he dies anyway, but Tuvok still isn't alone. A girl approaches him from the woods and he grabs her before she can run away. He calms her down and she indicates to her friends in the woods, another girl and a boy that it is safe to come out. Back on the ship Chakotay and Janeway are preparing to welcome guests from the local planet, it will be a first contact situation so they are both excited. The tour goes well, but the Drayan's are very isolationist and aren't interested in opening relations further. Their leader rushes off after a call from the surface. On the moon Tuvok tries to keep the children calm, but they are afraid of a monster called the Morrok which they fear will take them away at night.
Later that day they hear the sounds of another ship flying over and the children insist they hide, they are worried their own people are coming to kill them. Back on Voyager they have figured out Tuvok's shuttle is missing and they trace it to the moon he landed up, but when they arrive they find a Drayan ship already in orbit. The Drayans are willing to let them rescue Tuvok but refuse to allow a landing. Tuvok sings to the children that night to get them to sleep, but in the morning two of them are missing. Determined to find out what happened he enters the Morrok cave but finds only empty clothing. He may not believe in the monster, but he is also much more determined to get off the moon before nightfall.
Efforts to beam him out are going poorly so Janeway decides to ignore the Drayan's and fly a shuttle down to save the day. Tuvok manages to get his shuttle to fly as well but is forced to land when the Drayan's open fire. Tuvok, the Drayan leader and Janeway all meet on the surface. Tuvok explains that the girl is terrified of being killed by the Drayan leader explains that they age in reverse and the "girl" is actually 97 years old and is about to turn into pure energy. She actually approves of Tuvok's handling of the "child" though and we end with both sides willing to talk.
Review: A good episode with a weak premise. I liked the scenes with Tuvok trying to work with the children. You can see that he does truly like children, but he also has little experience with non-Vulcan children and finds it taxing. The reverse aging bit drags this one down a bit though.
6 out of 10
We open with Tuvok crashed on the surface of a strange world assisting an injured crew member. Tuvok manages to keep the man calm but he dies anyway, but Tuvok still isn't alone. A girl approaches him from the woods and he grabs her before she can run away. He calms her down and she indicates to her friends in the woods, another girl and a boy that it is safe to come out. Back on the ship Chakotay and Janeway are preparing to welcome guests from the local planet, it will be a first contact situation so they are both excited. The tour goes well, but the Drayan's are very isolationist and aren't interested in opening relations further. Their leader rushes off after a call from the surface. On the moon Tuvok tries to keep the children calm, but they are afraid of a monster called the Morrok which they fear will take them away at night.
Later that day they hear the sounds of another ship flying over and the children insist they hide, they are worried their own people are coming to kill them. Back on Voyager they have figured out Tuvok's shuttle is missing and they trace it to the moon he landed up, but when they arrive they find a Drayan ship already in orbit. The Drayans are willing to let them rescue Tuvok but refuse to allow a landing. Tuvok sings to the children that night to get them to sleep, but in the morning two of them are missing. Determined to find out what happened he enters the Morrok cave but finds only empty clothing. He may not believe in the monster, but he is also much more determined to get off the moon before nightfall.
Efforts to beam him out are going poorly so Janeway decides to ignore the Drayan's and fly a shuttle down to save the day. Tuvok manages to get his shuttle to fly as well but is forced to land when the Drayan's open fire. Tuvok, the Drayan leader and Janeway all meet on the surface. Tuvok explains that the girl is terrified of being killed by the Drayan leader explains that they age in reverse and the "girl" is actually 97 years old and is about to turn into pure energy. She actually approves of Tuvok's handling of the "child" though and we end with both sides willing to talk.
Review: A good episode with a weak premise. I liked the scenes with Tuvok trying to work with the children. You can see that he does truly like children, but he also has little experience with non-Vulcan children and finds it taxing. The reverse aging bit drags this one down a bit though.
6 out of 10
Friday, July 22, 2016
VOY: Deadlock
Almost five days without Trek seems like an eternity these days, but I did get to listen to the Mission Log episodes for the TOS movies so that at least kept my mind in the right place. It is always a bit of a bummer when I see a character I know makes it through the series die early on in an episode because it spoils the fact that he somehow gets saved or replaced or whatever which wouldn't have been true the first time through. I like that it wasn't time travel this time, the time loop of destruction in TNG was cool but we didn't need to do it all over again. I am not sure how I feel about the parallel Voyagers, shouldn't one of them have been from the Mirror Universe or something? Also, does it seem at all reasonable that the Doctor would insist that Ensign Wildman attempt natural delivery for 8 hours before going for the fetal transport? Especially when the baby has spikes coming out of her forehead.
The episode opens with Neelix obnoxious demanding the extremely pregnant Ensign Wildman work on parts of his kitchen equipment that require her to bend over extremely uncomfortably. So much so that she goes in to labor. On the bridge they are all eagerly waiting for the baby to be delivered when they detect a large group of Vidiian ships surrounding several of their planets. To hide from it they fly into a plasma drift. The delivery isn't going well and it gets worse when the babies head spikes damage Wildman's uterus and the Doctor beams the baby out. But just then the lights flicker in sickbay. It seems something is draining energy from the engines and Torres is ordered to delivers a series of proton pulses to get things going, but before she is ready the pulse appears out of nowhere and the ship takes massive damage sending casualties to sickbay while the doctor struggles to keep the baby alive.
Another proton burst tears a hole in the hull and Kim rushes out to try and seal it with a portable shield generator. Efforts aren't going well though and the even worse, in sickbay the baby is dying. The breach in the hull keeps widening and while trying to fix it Kim is blown out into space. While trying to help Kes disappears into nothingness while Torres looks on. She realizes there is a rift of some sort there and throws some debris through and in the process detects breathable atmosphere on the other side. On the bridge a new hull breach opens up and Janeway struggles to save the ship but sees a ghost version of the crew as she evacuates to main engineering. Suddenly we are on the undamaged ship and Janeway 2 as I am going to call her sees a ghost of herself. On this ship the proton bursts are going well and we see Kim looking into what the captain saw. Also we see a healthy baby in sickbay.
Kes made it all the way through though and tells them what happened on the other side. They figure out that this ships proton bursts are damaging the other ship and that they are somehow in the same place but different universes or something. Kes 1 returns to her Voyager and Janeway 2 works with Torres 2 on a way to communicate. They manage to work it out and come out with a technobabble solution, but it doesn't work. Janeway 1 decides the only thing to do is destroy her ship but 2 talks her inton waiting a few minutes. Suddenly the Vidiians show up for Voyager 2 and find it unable to defend itself. They clamp on and drill their way in and start killing main cast members left and right. Janeway 2 realizes the only way to save things is destroy her ship now, but not before sending Kim 2 through the portal along with Baby 2. The blast destroys the Vidiian ship and frees Voyager 1 to move on (after presumably extensive repairs).
Review: I really enjoyed this episode despite the kinda goofy premise. They played it straight, but like O'Brien in DS9, from this point forward we have a Kim from a different timeline/universe/phase of reality.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with Neelix obnoxious demanding the extremely pregnant Ensign Wildman work on parts of his kitchen equipment that require her to bend over extremely uncomfortably. So much so that she goes in to labor. On the bridge they are all eagerly waiting for the baby to be delivered when they detect a large group of Vidiian ships surrounding several of their planets. To hide from it they fly into a plasma drift. The delivery isn't going well and it gets worse when the babies head spikes damage Wildman's uterus and the Doctor beams the baby out. But just then the lights flicker in sickbay. It seems something is draining energy from the engines and Torres is ordered to delivers a series of proton pulses to get things going, but before she is ready the pulse appears out of nowhere and the ship takes massive damage sending casualties to sickbay while the doctor struggles to keep the baby alive.
Another proton burst tears a hole in the hull and Kim rushes out to try and seal it with a portable shield generator. Efforts aren't going well though and the even worse, in sickbay the baby is dying. The breach in the hull keeps widening and while trying to fix it Kim is blown out into space. While trying to help Kes disappears into nothingness while Torres looks on. She realizes there is a rift of some sort there and throws some debris through and in the process detects breathable atmosphere on the other side. On the bridge a new hull breach opens up and Janeway struggles to save the ship but sees a ghost version of the crew as she evacuates to main engineering. Suddenly we are on the undamaged ship and Janeway 2 as I am going to call her sees a ghost of herself. On this ship the proton bursts are going well and we see Kim looking into what the captain saw. Also we see a healthy baby in sickbay.
Kes made it all the way through though and tells them what happened on the other side. They figure out that this ships proton bursts are damaging the other ship and that they are somehow in the same place but different universes or something. Kes 1 returns to her Voyager and Janeway 2 works with Torres 2 on a way to communicate. They manage to work it out and come out with a technobabble solution, but it doesn't work. Janeway 1 decides the only thing to do is destroy her ship but 2 talks her inton waiting a few minutes. Suddenly the Vidiians show up for Voyager 2 and find it unable to defend itself. They clamp on and drill their way in and start killing main cast members left and right. Janeway 2 realizes the only way to save things is destroy her ship now, but not before sending Kim 2 through the portal along with Baby 2. The blast destroys the Vidiian ship and frees Voyager 1 to move on (after presumably extensive repairs).
Review: I really enjoyed this episode despite the kinda goofy premise. They played it straight, but like O'Brien in DS9, from this point forward we have a Kim from a different timeline/universe/phase of reality.
7 out of 10
Sunday, July 17, 2016
VOY: Investigations
Even when Neelix is actually helpful to the crew it seems like he can only do so in the most annoying ways possible. Also I was pleased to see that Paris' freak out over the past few weeks was a ploy rather than him just randomly deciding to be a pain in Chakotay's ass. I am still not convinced that the gambling plot was part of it, it seemed like he just wanted to have a little fun, but maybe it was at least supposed to be the reason he decided to do it so openly. It was nice to see that Tuvok is good enough at his job to have been aware of the transmissions from the ship, but a bit of a bummer that it was Neelix who found out who it actually was and who had to fight Jonas mano a mano.
The episode opens with Neelix's latest endeavor, a daily video program filled with entertainment for the crew. Kim points out that nobody wants to watch a bunch of crusty jugglers so Neelix goes to the Doctor for a segment and then ignores him the rest of the episode. Neelix gets a call from a Talaxian convoy letting him know that someone on Voyager wants to leave the ship. It isn't a shock when he realizes the person who wants to leave is Paris. Neelix tries to talk him out of it but Paris is committed to leaving and departs quickly and without ceremony. At briefing the next day Torres is pulled away to engineering by an overheating in the warp plasma. Jonas is the one who calls her and he is injured in the process despite (or possibly to cover) his involvement in the sabotage. They also get a call from the same Talaxian telling them the convoy was attacked but the only thing taken was Paris which makes Neelix realize they have a spy on board.
We see Paris on the Kazon ship and he refuses to work with them. As soon as he is alone he breaks into their computer system and figures out who the spy on Voyager is. Meanwhile Neelix works with some engineer who isn't Jonas (who gets super nervous in the background) and traces the illicit transmissions back to Paris' quarters and rather than going to the captain releases the news immediately via his new show. He gets called into the captains ready room along with Tuvok and told that Paris isn't the guilty party, he was tricking everybody the last few weeks so it would look logical for him to leave Voyager and appear to switch sides. On the Kazon ship Paris manages to escape in a shuttle but they are right on his tale. Neelix is back in engineering investigating when he finds himself alone with Jonas. Jonas seals them both in and starts working on disabling the weapons systems. The two fight and Jonas ends up vaporized by warp plasma. Janeway manages to rescue Paris at the last second and Neelix gets the weapons online just in time to save the ship from the Kazon. The episode concludes with Neelix doing an interview with Paris about what happened.
Review: A Neelix-centric episode is probably never going to be my favorite, but this is about as good as I have seen from him so far. He still manages to be annoying but he also manages to save the ship and we wrap the Jonas sabotage sub-plot and the Paris insubordination plot quickly which is definitely good.
4 out of 10
The episode opens with Neelix's latest endeavor, a daily video program filled with entertainment for the crew. Kim points out that nobody wants to watch a bunch of crusty jugglers so Neelix goes to the Doctor for a segment and then ignores him the rest of the episode. Neelix gets a call from a Talaxian convoy letting him know that someone on Voyager wants to leave the ship. It isn't a shock when he realizes the person who wants to leave is Paris. Neelix tries to talk him out of it but Paris is committed to leaving and departs quickly and without ceremony. At briefing the next day Torres is pulled away to engineering by an overheating in the warp plasma. Jonas is the one who calls her and he is injured in the process despite (or possibly to cover) his involvement in the sabotage. They also get a call from the same Talaxian telling them the convoy was attacked but the only thing taken was Paris which makes Neelix realize they have a spy on board.
We see Paris on the Kazon ship and he refuses to work with them. As soon as he is alone he breaks into their computer system and figures out who the spy on Voyager is. Meanwhile Neelix works with some engineer who isn't Jonas (who gets super nervous in the background) and traces the illicit transmissions back to Paris' quarters and rather than going to the captain releases the news immediately via his new show. He gets called into the captains ready room along with Tuvok and told that Paris isn't the guilty party, he was tricking everybody the last few weeks so it would look logical for him to leave Voyager and appear to switch sides. On the Kazon ship Paris manages to escape in a shuttle but they are right on his tale. Neelix is back in engineering investigating when he finds himself alone with Jonas. Jonas seals them both in and starts working on disabling the weapons systems. The two fight and Jonas ends up vaporized by warp plasma. Janeway manages to rescue Paris at the last second and Neelix gets the weapons online just in time to save the ship from the Kazon. The episode concludes with Neelix doing an interview with Paris about what happened.
Review: A Neelix-centric episode is probably never going to be my favorite, but this is about as good as I have seen from him so far. He still manages to be annoying but he also manages to save the ship and we wrap the Jonas sabotage sub-plot and the Paris insubordination plot quickly which is definitely good.
4 out of 10
Saturday, July 16, 2016
VOY: Lifesigns
Not sure if it was intentional but today's episode is also about suicide but in this case it is about why one should choose to keep living. It also moves the Doctor's character forward into the world of romance. It also seems like it exists as a vehicle to move the various subplots that have been building over the season forward. I don't really recall now the Chakotay/Paris feud resolves, but I know that it does eventually. It also at this point seems pretty forced and fairly out of nowhere, but I think I have had that complaint in all the previous episodes where it has appeared. Also the plot about the crewman on Voyager talking to the Kazon moves from information sharing to being about sabotage.
We open with Paris arriving late for his duty shift on the bridge and Chakotay being annoyed, but they are interrupted by the arrival of a small ship. The ship has only one occupant, a Vidiian female who seems to be unconscious with weak life signs. The Doctor finds her to be in very bad shape, but she has a neural implant that lets him project her consciousness into a holographic body unscarred by the phage. Chakotay and Janeway discuss the situation and agree to return her to her people. Chakotay also brings up Paris and the captain tells him personnel matters are up to him and she will support him on whatever he needs to do. In sickbay the Vidiian wakes up in her holographic body and introduces herself as Doctor Danara Pel. She is super stoked to not be in her falling apart body and not bothered to be a hologram for now.
The Doctor and Pel convince Torres to donate a tissue sample from her brain to help heal Pel and after the procedure the Doctor takes Pel to Chez Sandrine, Paris' holodeck bar/brothel. The two enjoy each others company and she gives him the name Shmullus after her uncle. Chakotay sits down in the mess hall with Paris who and the two start fighting about their differences and Paris walks out. We also see Jonas, the traitor, talking to the Kazon and eventually Seska who both ask him to prepare a plan to sabotage the warp coils on Voyager. Back in sickbay the Doctor his having a hard time concentrating and Kes notices. She tells him he should tell Pel how he feels, but he isn't so sure. He thinks about it though and mid-procedure tells Pel he loves her and asks what she thinks and she rejects him on the spot.
The Doctor visits Paris in his holodeck den and asks for romantic advice. Following Paris' tips he arranges a date on holographic Mars in an earth car and it goes great. The two kiss watching the sunset together. But back on the bridge we see Paris arriving late for work again to find that Chakotay has replaced him at con. Paris shoves Chakotay and is taken to the brig by Tuvok. Back in sickbay the Doctor is alarmed that Pel's real body is in bad shape and that the wrong drug has been administered. It seems Pel would rather live just a few more days as a hologram than return to her broken body, but he convinces her to go on living and we end in the holodeck with the two dancing together.
Review: The B and C stories kinda stepped on the A story a bit more than would be ideal, but overall not a bad episode. I always like to see Trek dealing with real issues of morality and ethics and this is definitely one of those.
6 out of 10
We open with Paris arriving late for his duty shift on the bridge and Chakotay being annoyed, but they are interrupted by the arrival of a small ship. The ship has only one occupant, a Vidiian female who seems to be unconscious with weak life signs. The Doctor finds her to be in very bad shape, but she has a neural implant that lets him project her consciousness into a holographic body unscarred by the phage. Chakotay and Janeway discuss the situation and agree to return her to her people. Chakotay also brings up Paris and the captain tells him personnel matters are up to him and she will support him on whatever he needs to do. In sickbay the Vidiian wakes up in her holographic body and introduces herself as Doctor Danara Pel. She is super stoked to not be in her falling apart body and not bothered to be a hologram for now.
The Doctor and Pel convince Torres to donate a tissue sample from her brain to help heal Pel and after the procedure the Doctor takes Pel to Chez Sandrine, Paris' holodeck bar/brothel. The two enjoy each others company and she gives him the name Shmullus after her uncle. Chakotay sits down in the mess hall with Paris who and the two start fighting about their differences and Paris walks out. We also see Jonas, the traitor, talking to the Kazon and eventually Seska who both ask him to prepare a plan to sabotage the warp coils on Voyager. Back in sickbay the Doctor his having a hard time concentrating and Kes notices. She tells him he should tell Pel how he feels, but he isn't so sure. He thinks about it though and mid-procedure tells Pel he loves her and asks what she thinks and she rejects him on the spot.
The Doctor visits Paris in his holodeck den and asks for romantic advice. Following Paris' tips he arranges a date on holographic Mars in an earth car and it goes great. The two kiss watching the sunset together. But back on the bridge we see Paris arriving late for work again to find that Chakotay has replaced him at con. Paris shoves Chakotay and is taken to the brig by Tuvok. Back in sickbay the Doctor is alarmed that Pel's real body is in bad shape and that the wrong drug has been administered. It seems Pel would rather live just a few more days as a hologram than return to her broken body, but he convinces her to go on living and we end in the holodeck with the two dancing together.
Review: The B and C stories kinda stepped on the A story a bit more than would be ideal, but overall not a bad episode. I always like to see Trek dealing with real issues of morality and ethics and this is definitely one of those.
6 out of 10
Friday, July 15, 2016
VOY: Death Wish
This is a super complicated episode with lots of Q antics since it has two Q and I am operating on very little sleep (the same reason I missed my episode yesterday) so I may summarize more than usual. But that isn't in this case because I didn't enjoy the episode. It is a bit strange since the episode is super fun with Riker making an appearance to flirt hard with Janeway and Isaac Newton dropping by to talk about how the suicidal Q (from here forward referred to as Quinn just to avoid confusion) hit on the head with an apple. Also some hippy who saved Woodstock which seems like a bit of a lesser contribution than teaching humans how gravity works, but whatever.
The episode opens with Torres trying to beam a chunk of a comet on board but instead she accidentally beams Quinn on board. He tells her he is Q and flashes through her confinement field no problem. He shows up on the bridge to talk to Janeway before taking her with him to the mess hall. He tells her he has been confined for 300 years and really only wants to die, but when he tries instead all the male members of the ships crew disappear. Quinn doesn't seem to know what to do but the classic Q appears. He blames Quinn for Voyager being in the Delta quadrant, but that is clearly not Quinn's fault. Janeway admits that she is responsible for releasing Quinn and Q jokes about her being a woman and then brings all the men back. The two Q chase each other all over the space time continuum before Quinn finally gives in and asks Janeway for asylum. Q agrees to let her arbitrate the matter and agrees to let him kill himself if he wins but also that he will go back to confinement if he loses.
Quinn asks Tuvok to represent him and even though Tuvok disagrees with him, he agrees. The hearing begins with Q calling himself as a expert witness on the Q continuum and argues that letting them kill themselves would be a huge interruption with unknown side effects. Tuvok points out that the Q have capital punishment and Q just says that is different without much defense. Q then calls three witnesses, Isaac Newton who Quinn hit on the head with an apple, Riker who's grandfather was saved by Quinn, and some hippy he helped get to Woodstock in time to plug in a cord or something and meet his future wife. Quinn gets to state his case and has them brought to the comet core he has been held in for so long. Q tries to bribe Janeway with an offer to bring them home, but of course she refuses and never brings it up again, which is dumb. Why is it ok to get the caretaker to send them home but not Q? They all take a visit to the Q continuum and it is just some boring town in the desert. Janeway eventually delivers her verdict, she rules in favor of Quinn and Q makes him human. A short time later he kills himself with hemlock he ironically got from Q.
Review: An interesting look at what it means to be immortal and if one should have the right to not be immortal any more. Fairly not annoying for a Q episode but it did really bother me that Janeway didn't try to make some sort of deal to get home.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with Torres trying to beam a chunk of a comet on board but instead she accidentally beams Quinn on board. He tells her he is Q and flashes through her confinement field no problem. He shows up on the bridge to talk to Janeway before taking her with him to the mess hall. He tells her he has been confined for 300 years and really only wants to die, but when he tries instead all the male members of the ships crew disappear. Quinn doesn't seem to know what to do but the classic Q appears. He blames Quinn for Voyager being in the Delta quadrant, but that is clearly not Quinn's fault. Janeway admits that she is responsible for releasing Quinn and Q jokes about her being a woman and then brings all the men back. The two Q chase each other all over the space time continuum before Quinn finally gives in and asks Janeway for asylum. Q agrees to let her arbitrate the matter and agrees to let him kill himself if he wins but also that he will go back to confinement if he loses.
Quinn asks Tuvok to represent him and even though Tuvok disagrees with him, he agrees. The hearing begins with Q calling himself as a expert witness on the Q continuum and argues that letting them kill themselves would be a huge interruption with unknown side effects. Tuvok points out that the Q have capital punishment and Q just says that is different without much defense. Q then calls three witnesses, Isaac Newton who Quinn hit on the head with an apple, Riker who's grandfather was saved by Quinn, and some hippy he helped get to Woodstock in time to plug in a cord or something and meet his future wife. Quinn gets to state his case and has them brought to the comet core he has been held in for so long. Q tries to bribe Janeway with an offer to bring them home, but of course she refuses and never brings it up again, which is dumb. Why is it ok to get the caretaker to send them home but not Q? They all take a visit to the Q continuum and it is just some boring town in the desert. Janeway eventually delivers her verdict, she rules in favor of Quinn and Q makes him human. A short time later he kills himself with hemlock he ironically got from Q.
Review: An interesting look at what it means to be immortal and if one should have the right to not be immortal any more. Fairly not annoying for a Q episode but it did really bother me that Janeway didn't try to make some sort of deal to get home.
7 out of 10
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
VOY: Dreadnaught
I admit I am not really sure where they are going with the whole plot about Paris being an outcast or whatever. Although to be honest it seems like it is mostly a Paris/Chakotay fight. I did enjoy seeing Torres having to question some of her past decisions, they are often hesitant to have much bad in the past of the former Maquis characters, but honestly there were terrorists/freedom fighters and people like that break eggs to make omelets. Also the unstoppable super weapon was right out of TOS only I feel like they would have cut it closer than one minute until the ship is destroyed before blowing it up.
The episode opens with the ongoing saga of Ensign Wildman being pregnant and she discusses the difficulty in naming the child with Kes and the Doctor. She is called to her station as they detect debris from a destroyed ship. The ship was extremely tough and probably unmanned, but the weapons signature is Cardassian, and Torres knows why. Apparently she broke onto a Cardassian super weapon and reprogrammed it to destroy a Cardassian weapons depot but it disappeared in the same part of the badlands that Voyager and Chakotay's ship did so presumably it ended up here. It is a very powerful weapon not only capable of doing great damage to a planet but also capable of defending itself from just about any opponent. It is now aimed at a populated planet that resembles its target. Torres beams over though and gets it to shut down after convincing it that it is in fact in the Delta quadrant.
After she beams back though it turns back on and heads towards its target. They hail the missile and get a message it Torres' voice that it believes she has been compromised and will now not take orders from her. Janeway contacts the planet being targeted and they of course think it is all Voyagers fault and plan to send out forces to defend themselves, but they clearly aren't up to the task. Torres finally gets back on the missile but it shuts down life support. She is able to get a Cardassian backup program to run, but that only buys a little time. The probe destroys most of the local ships before they retreat. Janeway tells the leader of the world that she is going to destroy Voyager to stop the missile and begins evacuating everyone but Tuvok and herself. At the very last minute Torres gets into the missiles core and manually blasts a hole with a phaser. She is beamed out just in time and Janeway stops the autodestruct with one minute to spare.
Review: A tense episode that works pretty well. As I mentioned above the Paris stuff seems a little too much like the set up to a different episode, but it doesn't badly interfere with this one.
7 out of 10
The episode opens with the ongoing saga of Ensign Wildman being pregnant and she discusses the difficulty in naming the child with Kes and the Doctor. She is called to her station as they detect debris from a destroyed ship. The ship was extremely tough and probably unmanned, but the weapons signature is Cardassian, and Torres knows why. Apparently she broke onto a Cardassian super weapon and reprogrammed it to destroy a Cardassian weapons depot but it disappeared in the same part of the badlands that Voyager and Chakotay's ship did so presumably it ended up here. It is a very powerful weapon not only capable of doing great damage to a planet but also capable of defending itself from just about any opponent. It is now aimed at a populated planet that resembles its target. Torres beams over though and gets it to shut down after convincing it that it is in fact in the Delta quadrant.
After she beams back though it turns back on and heads towards its target. They hail the missile and get a message it Torres' voice that it believes she has been compromised and will now not take orders from her. Janeway contacts the planet being targeted and they of course think it is all Voyagers fault and plan to send out forces to defend themselves, but they clearly aren't up to the task. Torres finally gets back on the missile but it shuts down life support. She is able to get a Cardassian backup program to run, but that only buys a little time. The probe destroys most of the local ships before they retreat. Janeway tells the leader of the world that she is going to destroy Voyager to stop the missile and begins evacuating everyone but Tuvok and herself. At the very last minute Torres gets into the missiles core and manually blasts a hole with a phaser. She is beamed out just in time and Janeway stops the autodestruct with one minute to spare.
Review: A tense episode that works pretty well. As I mentioned above the Paris stuff seems a little too much like the set up to a different episode, but it doesn't badly interfere with this one.
7 out of 10
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
VOY: Meld
This episode ends with Janeway ordering Tuvok to not mildmeld again without her permission, and honestly that seems like a good rule for all Vulcans in Starfleet. Doubly so since this episode proves that it can cause them to lose control of their violent tendencies and try to start killing. I do like the idea of a Betazoid without the ability to sense others emotions and his own lack of them plus that seems like it might be what makes him a psychopath. I don't know enough about psychopathy to know if serving in the Maquis would really let someone live fairly normally, but it is true that Chakotay calls him out as maybe a bit over the line as soon as the topic comes up. We begin with the B story, Paris is setting up a betting pool on some random particle density and of course skimming off some replicator rations off the top. I think we are supposed to see how immoral this is, but honestly it seemed like a good time to me. Why not let the crew have some fun to pass the time. Tuvok meanwhile is being pestered by Neelix who is pleased to have learned about a Vulcan holiday and won't rest until Tuvok smiles for him. In engineering a broken EPS conduit leads to the discovery of a dead body. The body is badly burned and if not for the damage would have been vaporized. Also, the Doctor points out a wound at the base of the skull indicating the man was struck from behind, in other words, murder.
Suspicion immediately falls on crewman Suder, a former Maquis who his colleagues noticed had a bit too much glee in killing Cardassians. Tuvok questions him but he denies everything. However the Doctor discovers some of Suder's DNA in the wound and he confesses. He even gives up the murder weapon, but will give no motive. This continues to bother Tuvok and he comes back several times seeking answers. Eventually he decides the only way to find out what he needs is to mindmeld with Suder. Afterwards he claims to be fine, but in a discussion with Janeway he pushes really hard to execute Suder claiming it is what he wants. Janeway instead opts to confine him to quarters for the rest of the trip which openly upsets Tuvok.
Next we see Tuvok in the mess hall only when Neelix comes over to bother him Tuvok grabs him and crushes his neck against the wall. And then ends the holodeck simulation. He then visits Suder who seems to have had the opposite reaction, he is much calmer than normal. Tuvok freaks out and confines himself to his quarters under a lockout he cannot release. Chakotay shows up on the holodeck as Paris is about to announce the days winner and declares the game over and puts Paris on report. Janeway visits Tuvok who can barely resist attacking her. She convinces him to let the Doctor treat him and he is sedated. The Doctor finds that if he suppresses the Vulcan emotion suppression system in the brain Tuvok should snap back afterwards and return to normal. Tuvok freaks out and tries to talk them into letting down the forcefield so he can kill Suder but they don't listen. That night though he breaks out but instead of killing Suder he mindmelds again and collapses. Suder call for help and soon Tuvok returns to normal and Suder spends the trip in his quarters.
Review: More of a thriller than a mystery, but a good episode never the less. I always enjoy seeing them probe into the Vulcan mind and see what lies beneath the calm surface.
6 out of 10
Suspicion immediately falls on crewman Suder, a former Maquis who his colleagues noticed had a bit too much glee in killing Cardassians. Tuvok questions him but he denies everything. However the Doctor discovers some of Suder's DNA in the wound and he confesses. He even gives up the murder weapon, but will give no motive. This continues to bother Tuvok and he comes back several times seeking answers. Eventually he decides the only way to find out what he needs is to mindmeld with Suder. Afterwards he claims to be fine, but in a discussion with Janeway he pushes really hard to execute Suder claiming it is what he wants. Janeway instead opts to confine him to quarters for the rest of the trip which openly upsets Tuvok.
Next we see Tuvok in the mess hall only when Neelix comes over to bother him Tuvok grabs him and crushes his neck against the wall. And then ends the holodeck simulation. He then visits Suder who seems to have had the opposite reaction, he is much calmer than normal. Tuvok freaks out and confines himself to his quarters under a lockout he cannot release. Chakotay shows up on the holodeck as Paris is about to announce the days winner and declares the game over and puts Paris on report. Janeway visits Tuvok who can barely resist attacking her. She convinces him to let the Doctor treat him and he is sedated. The Doctor finds that if he suppresses the Vulcan emotion suppression system in the brain Tuvok should snap back afterwards and return to normal. Tuvok freaks out and tries to talk them into letting down the forcefield so he can kill Suder but they don't listen. That night though he breaks out but instead of killing Suder he mindmelds again and collapses. Suder call for help and soon Tuvok returns to normal and Suder spends the trip in his quarters.
Review: More of a thriller than a mystery, but a good episode never the less. I always enjoy seeing them probe into the Vulcan mind and see what lies beneath the calm surface.
6 out of 10
Monday, July 11, 2016
VOY: Threshold
This is the episode from when I first was watching where I became kinda certain this show was actually terrible. I hope I am wrong and that it gets better from here, but the idea of travelling so fast you are at every point in the universe at once and then returning back to exactly where you started is dumb. The idea of this turning you into a horny space lizard who knows the only way to make it is to kidnap the captain and turn her into another horny space lizard so the two of you can get it on is extra wow. To keep going a little it is suggested that Paris is turning into what humans are evolving into. Really??? We are evolving into space lizards without limbs capable of manipulating our environment? And it isn't like we need to wait millions of years to find out, they left behind their brood of baby lizards to maybe take over the galaxy someday.
The episode opens with Paris flying a shuttlecraft towards the transwarp barrier. He hopes to hit warp 10 with some sweet new dilithium they discovered, but as he gets close something goes wrong and the shuttle explodes. Luckily he is on the holodeck. Paris, Torres and Kim all head to the mess hall where they manage to figure out the solution. Janeway suddenly doesn't want Paris to go since there is a 2% chance he could die, but seriously, he is a good enough pilot that probably buys more than 2% chance of additional success and he talks his way on. The plan works and he disappears into subspace only to appear several minutes later unconscious in the shuttle. The logs show he succeeded and there is a dumb gag where the Doctor figures out he isn't unconscious, just sleeping despite everyone talking loudly around him.
Everything seems to be fine and Tom is pumped to be a hero. They start planning the next attempt when he collapses after drinking some of Neelix's coffee. It seems he is wildly mutating to the point where he can't breath our air anymore. The doctor puts him in a special atmosphere but he dies. But then for no apparent reason he comes back to life. And now he is a total jerk with two hearts and a swelling head. The Doctor comes up with a plan to expose him to radiation from the engine core and turn him back to normal but he escapes, kidnaps the captain, and steals a shuttle flying off at warp 10. They eventually catch up and find the shuttle on a planet and the captain and Paris are space lizards. And they have made a new race of baby space lizards. They get taken back to the ship and the Doctor saves them in no time turning them back to normal. Really the only part I really liked was Paris apologizing and the captain saying not so fast, in many species the female initiates mating.
Review: This episode is honestly pretty dumb. It fails to understand the following sciences: physics, astrophysics, genetics, biology, and ethics. I get that it was trying to be a strange TOS style ep, but it would have been a bad TOS ep as well.
2 out of 10
The episode opens with Paris flying a shuttlecraft towards the transwarp barrier. He hopes to hit warp 10 with some sweet new dilithium they discovered, but as he gets close something goes wrong and the shuttle explodes. Luckily he is on the holodeck. Paris, Torres and Kim all head to the mess hall where they manage to figure out the solution. Janeway suddenly doesn't want Paris to go since there is a 2% chance he could die, but seriously, he is a good enough pilot that probably buys more than 2% chance of additional success and he talks his way on. The plan works and he disappears into subspace only to appear several minutes later unconscious in the shuttle. The logs show he succeeded and there is a dumb gag where the Doctor figures out he isn't unconscious, just sleeping despite everyone talking loudly around him.
Everything seems to be fine and Tom is pumped to be a hero. They start planning the next attempt when he collapses after drinking some of Neelix's coffee. It seems he is wildly mutating to the point where he can't breath our air anymore. The doctor puts him in a special atmosphere but he dies. But then for no apparent reason he comes back to life. And now he is a total jerk with two hearts and a swelling head. The Doctor comes up with a plan to expose him to radiation from the engine core and turn him back to normal but he escapes, kidnaps the captain, and steals a shuttle flying off at warp 10. They eventually catch up and find the shuttle on a planet and the captain and Paris are space lizards. And they have made a new race of baby space lizards. They get taken back to the ship and the Doctor saves them in no time turning them back to normal. Really the only part I really liked was Paris apologizing and the captain saying not so fast, in many species the female initiates mating.
Review: This episode is honestly pretty dumb. It fails to understand the following sciences: physics, astrophysics, genetics, biology, and ethics. I get that it was trying to be a strange TOS style ep, but it would have been a bad TOS ep as well.
2 out of 10
Sunday, July 10, 2016
VOY: Alliances
After yesterday's awesome episode about how awesome the prime directive is this one with the same theme felt a little ham-handed. The idea that terrible war criminals might continue to be terrible after having been oppressed for a while and then offered power again is so obvious as to make Janeway look kinda dumb for thinking it would work. Also the Kazon continue to look like idiots for first not being willing to negotiate with Janeway and then being willing to negotiate when it is obviously a trap. Also, in the original series photon torpedoes are the equivalent of nukes with huge blast radii. In this episode Janeway fires on the assassin ship with at least three, possibly four torpedoes when the ship is only feet from the unshielded building containing those she is trying to protect. Also, why did she fire at all? Torpedoes are a super limited resource and there is no way the Kazon are going to see her feeble rescue attempt as anything other than another assassination attempt.
The episode opens with Voyager fighting two Kazon ships. It destroys one and forces the other to retreat but takes serious damage along the way. They lose a crew member in engineering and people start asking Janeway about why she is still fighting the Kazon instead of making a deal with them for free passage. She says "prime directive blah blah blah" but that isn't enough. She talks to Tuvok about it and even he seems to think some sort of alliance is a good idea so she reaches out to Seska and Culluh. They agree to meet but Culluh doesn't like negotiating with women so keeps making unreasonable demands he knows she won't accept and ruins the deal. Neelix goes to another group of Kazon but gets arrested and thrown into a holding area with a bunch of Trabe. Seeing that the deal with Seska is off crewman Jonas decides to take matters into his own hands and contacts her for secret negotiations.
Neelix helps the Trabe escape and they return to voyager in what appears to be a fleet of Kazon ships, but it turns out the Trabe used to oppress the Kazon until they rose up and seized the weapons of their oppressors and became the galactic brigands we now know so well. Janeway decides she should obviously just ally with them instead of the Kazon and the Trabe leader does one better, he suggests that they should call a peace conference with all the Kazon leaders and settle things once and for all. Neelix gets word it is a trap of some sort so they keep the transporter locked at all times. For some reason all the Kazon leaders show up but are clearly uninterested in negotiating. A Trabe ship flies in and opens fire on the conference. Janeway and company beam out safely and she returns the Trabe leader to his ship with a harsh rebuke.
Review: The whole "allying with the Kazon" thing would have seemed more reasonable if it had been brought up in any recent episodes. As is it seemed to kinda come out of nowhere.
4 out of 10
The episode opens with Voyager fighting two Kazon ships. It destroys one and forces the other to retreat but takes serious damage along the way. They lose a crew member in engineering and people start asking Janeway about why she is still fighting the Kazon instead of making a deal with them for free passage. She says "prime directive blah blah blah" but that isn't enough. She talks to Tuvok about it and even he seems to think some sort of alliance is a good idea so she reaches out to Seska and Culluh. They agree to meet but Culluh doesn't like negotiating with women so keeps making unreasonable demands he knows she won't accept and ruins the deal. Neelix goes to another group of Kazon but gets arrested and thrown into a holding area with a bunch of Trabe. Seeing that the deal with Seska is off crewman Jonas decides to take matters into his own hands and contacts her for secret negotiations.
Neelix helps the Trabe escape and they return to voyager in what appears to be a fleet of Kazon ships, but it turns out the Trabe used to oppress the Kazon until they rose up and seized the weapons of their oppressors and became the galactic brigands we now know so well. Janeway decides she should obviously just ally with them instead of the Kazon and the Trabe leader does one better, he suggests that they should call a peace conference with all the Kazon leaders and settle things once and for all. Neelix gets word it is a trap of some sort so they keep the transporter locked at all times. For some reason all the Kazon leaders show up but are clearly uninterested in negotiating. A Trabe ship flies in and opens fire on the conference. Janeway and company beam out safely and she returns the Trabe leader to his ship with a harsh rebuke.
Review: The whole "allying with the Kazon" thing would have seemed more reasonable if it had been brought up in any recent episodes. As is it seemed to kinda come out of nowhere.
4 out of 10
Saturday, July 9, 2016
VOY: Prototype
This is my favorite episode over VOY so far, I hope there are others at this level. It had a story that would have been perfectly comfortable as a really good TOS episode. First of all it is real scifi of the type that you generally only get from short stories, the kind of thing you get from Theodore Sturgeon or Harlan Ellison. It also involves a crazy over powered race that we only ever see in this one episode. And finally it involves the prime directive, but in this case the PD turns out to be the correct choice which is really nice to see. So often it seems like a silly rule that keeps them from doing genuine good in the universe, but stopping this robot war from destroying all life in the galaxy is clearly the right move.
The episode opens with a view of Voyager from the outside and then we hear a beam in progress and the viewpoint shifts to engineering looking up at Torres. She seems to be working on repairing a power system and Tuvok expresses concern that it may be a security risk. Finally we see a display showing a metallic human figure on a table. Back to our normal perspective Torres and Kim are trying to get the power system on the mechanoman working, but they don't have the right kind of plasma. Kim heads to bed and Torres goes for coffee, but Neelix eventually cuts her off so she goes to sickbay to talk with the Doctor about it. He suggests a modified transfusion with plasma from the warp core and something he says sparks Torres' interest. The plan works and the robot asks her name before introduces itself as Automated Unit 3947.
3947 is impressed with Torres ability to repair the power module. It seems they lack that ability and their race is dying. The builders died off and now the Automated Units will as well unless they find a way to make new power units. She offers to help, but Janeway refuses to let her citing the prime directive. 3947 doesn't seem to like this, but they find the ship he came from and return him. But just before he beams over he knocks up Torres and then the transporter chief before beaming over to his ship with Torres. She is obviously unhappy about being kidnapped and refuses to help. Janeway meanwhile is also pissed and opens fire, but the robot ship is way more powerful and almost destroys Voyager before Torres agrees to help if they stop. She tells Janeway who is obviously pissed, but they don't have much choice.
Torres and 3947 work together on the new power unit while Voyager works on repairs and a plan to send Paris in with a shuttle to beam her out. She eventually solves the technical problems and the prototype awakes and asks for programming. But just then another robot ship arrives and opens fire. They are from a different race of builders and Torres asks why they can't work out peace with them. That is when she learns both races of Automated Units killed their builders when they made peace since peace isn't winning. She is horrified to realize this and that she just gave one side the ability to "win" by being able to reproduce. She stabs her creation in the heart/power unit and gets blasted by 3947. Just then Paris is able to fly in with the distraction of the other ship and rescues her.
Review: I really good episode of Trek regardless of series. I am hopeful that I had completely forgotten it, maybe there are other gems waiting for me in the run of VOY. Oh, and someday they all turn into newts or something.
9 out of 10
The episode opens with a view of Voyager from the outside and then we hear a beam in progress and the viewpoint shifts to engineering looking up at Torres. She seems to be working on repairing a power system and Tuvok expresses concern that it may be a security risk. Finally we see a display showing a metallic human figure on a table. Back to our normal perspective Torres and Kim are trying to get the power system on the mechanoman working, but they don't have the right kind of plasma. Kim heads to bed and Torres goes for coffee, but Neelix eventually cuts her off so she goes to sickbay to talk with the Doctor about it. He suggests a modified transfusion with plasma from the warp core and something he says sparks Torres' interest. The plan works and the robot asks her name before introduces itself as Automated Unit 3947.
3947 is impressed with Torres ability to repair the power module. It seems they lack that ability and their race is dying. The builders died off and now the Automated Units will as well unless they find a way to make new power units. She offers to help, but Janeway refuses to let her citing the prime directive. 3947 doesn't seem to like this, but they find the ship he came from and return him. But just before he beams over he knocks up Torres and then the transporter chief before beaming over to his ship with Torres. She is obviously unhappy about being kidnapped and refuses to help. Janeway meanwhile is also pissed and opens fire, but the robot ship is way more powerful and almost destroys Voyager before Torres agrees to help if they stop. She tells Janeway who is obviously pissed, but they don't have much choice.
Torres and 3947 work together on the new power unit while Voyager works on repairs and a plan to send Paris in with a shuttle to beam her out. She eventually solves the technical problems and the prototype awakes and asks for programming. But just then another robot ship arrives and opens fire. They are from a different race of builders and Torres asks why they can't work out peace with them. That is when she learns both races of Automated Units killed their builders when they made peace since peace isn't winning. She is horrified to realize this and that she just gave one side the ability to "win" by being able to reproduce. She stabs her creation in the heart/power unit and gets blasted by 3947. Just then Paris is able to fly in with the distraction of the other ship and rescues her.
Review: I really good episode of Trek regardless of series. I am hopeful that I had completely forgotten it, maybe there are other gems waiting for me in the run of VOY. Oh, and someday they all turn into newts or something.
9 out of 10
Friday, July 8, 2016
VOY: Resistance
This is a really odd episode for one big reason, the central story is being driven by a crazy guy who has decided Janeway is his daughter who was actually killed years earlier. in some ways in worked from the perspective of him being a broken man, but it also seemed like a very convenient way to get someone on the planet to be willing to help the captain without her having to prove her trustworthiness or anything like that. It is also totally unclear how they got to this planet in the first place. Voyager is in terrible shape and as soon as they come out from behind the moon they are detected.
We open on the surface of an unknown planet with the crew undercover trying to get a vial of yellow stuff. Guards show up and only Neelix is able to escape. Torres and Tuvok are captured and the captain is shot, but rescued by some guy. Back on the ship things are looking bad, the yellow stuff is needed to get the engines running properly but Neelix's return helps that greatly. They bring the ship out of hiding and are contacted by the local government. It seems their presence isn't wanted here, but they are given time to negotiate. The locals are extra pissed when they find out that they have already sent a team down who have been taken into custody by the locals. On the planet Torres and Tuvok are being held in a cell and take turns being taken out for interrogation.
Janeway meanwhile has been taken in by a local man who believes his wife is being held in jail and that she is his daughter. He helps her recover and then with a plan to break into the jail. They contact a local resistance and manage to get a plan going to break her into the jail while turning off the forcefield around the place. As they break in the locals decide they are sick of Voyager orbiting and open fire. They manage to hide behind a storm, but it won't save them for long. Janeway succeeds at breaking into the jail and rescuing Torres and Tuvok, but insists in looking for the man who helped her's wife. They run into the head of the prison who tells them the woman and her daughter have both been dead for years. The guy who helped her shows up and stabs the warden to death and the rest of them escape.
Review: This episode had a decent core, but felt like it was about 30 minutes long and they just figured out some stuff to stretch it into a full length ep. Not bad, but kinda disappointing.
5 out of 10
We open on the surface of an unknown planet with the crew undercover trying to get a vial of yellow stuff. Guards show up and only Neelix is able to escape. Torres and Tuvok are captured and the captain is shot, but rescued by some guy. Back on the ship things are looking bad, the yellow stuff is needed to get the engines running properly but Neelix's return helps that greatly. They bring the ship out of hiding and are contacted by the local government. It seems their presence isn't wanted here, but they are given time to negotiate. The locals are extra pissed when they find out that they have already sent a team down who have been taken into custody by the locals. On the planet Torres and Tuvok are being held in a cell and take turns being taken out for interrogation.
Janeway meanwhile has been taken in by a local man who believes his wife is being held in jail and that she is his daughter. He helps her recover and then with a plan to break into the jail. They contact a local resistance and manage to get a plan going to break her into the jail while turning off the forcefield around the place. As they break in the locals decide they are sick of Voyager orbiting and open fire. They manage to hide behind a storm, but it won't save them for long. Janeway succeeds at breaking into the jail and rescuing Torres and Tuvok, but insists in looking for the man who helped her's wife. They run into the head of the prison who tells them the woman and her daughter have both been dead for years. The guy who helped her shows up and stabs the warden to death and the rest of them escape.
Review: This episode had a decent core, but felt like it was about 30 minutes long and they just figured out some stuff to stretch it into a full length ep. Not bad, but kinda disappointing.
5 out of 10
Thursday, July 7, 2016
VOY: Maneuvers
You know, if they just kept flying at high warp instead of stopping at every nebula and anomaly along the way maybe Voyager would have been able to leave Seska and the Kazon-Nistrim long behind. But no, they just keep showing up to cause trouble. Now to be fair it is clear the writers wanted to establish consistent opposition character, but in a show where they are moving all the time it just doesn't make much sense. It also seems like they are trying to keep the Chakotay/Torres relationship simmering on the back burner. I don't recall of they become a thing eventually, but I will keep an eye on them.
The episode opens with Chakotay and Torres returning to the bridge from a hoverball game to news that they have detected a hail that appears to be coming from a Federation source. It seems to be coming from a beacon and is of course a trap. The Kazon show up and use a weapon that punches a hole in the shields just large enough to let a small Kazon vessel to blast through and burrow into Voyagers hull. Three Kazon spring out and manage to evade Tuvok and make it to the transporter room where they steal a transporter core and beam off the ship. Chakotay hits them with a tractor beam to stop their escape and they are hailed by the Kazon leader Culluh. He refuses to give them back the stolen part and we see why, he is being assisted by now transitioning back to Cardassian Seska. She taunts Chakotay and then uses a trick to disable the tractor beam and escape.
They start working on a plan to either retrieve or at least destroy the transporter core while Culluh tries to press his advantage and convince the leaders of another Kazon faction to join him. It fails and when Voyager catches up they find the bodies of the other leader and his guard floating in space with the signature of a transporter still in them. The next day Chakotay is gone, it seems he has stolen a shuttle and gone after Seska. Chakotay manages to get close enough to beam himself onto the Kazon ship but his shuttle is captured. He destroys the transporter core and activates a beacon instructing Voyager to not come looking for him. Seska tries to interrogate Chakotay into giving her the command codes but it doesn't work. Culluh pushes until Chakotay passes out, but it still doesn't work.
Janeway ignores Chakotay and comes after him any way. Unfortunately the Kazon ship is still more than they can handle easily and things start going poorly. On the Kazon ship Culluh has some other Kazon leaders there and has told them he has Voyagers command codes so they better join him, but he is lying and it becomes super obvious when his ship is suddenly under attack. Janeway comes up with a plan to stop the fighting and has Culluh and the other Kazon in the room beamed aboard and their weapons neutralized. She trades them for Chakotay and the shuttle. In the finals scene we see Janeway scolding Chakotay for going off on his own like that, but since she doesn't want to demote him there isn't much she can do.
Review: A fairly average episode which would have been better without having the damn Kazon around still. Also it seems like Janeway should have done something about Chakotay stealing the shuttle, but whatever.
5 out of 10
The episode opens with Chakotay and Torres returning to the bridge from a hoverball game to news that they have detected a hail that appears to be coming from a Federation source. It seems to be coming from a beacon and is of course a trap. The Kazon show up and use a weapon that punches a hole in the shields just large enough to let a small Kazon vessel to blast through and burrow into Voyagers hull. Three Kazon spring out and manage to evade Tuvok and make it to the transporter room where they steal a transporter core and beam off the ship. Chakotay hits them with a tractor beam to stop their escape and they are hailed by the Kazon leader Culluh. He refuses to give them back the stolen part and we see why, he is being assisted by now transitioning back to Cardassian Seska. She taunts Chakotay and then uses a trick to disable the tractor beam and escape.
They start working on a plan to either retrieve or at least destroy the transporter core while Culluh tries to press his advantage and convince the leaders of another Kazon faction to join him. It fails and when Voyager catches up they find the bodies of the other leader and his guard floating in space with the signature of a transporter still in them. The next day Chakotay is gone, it seems he has stolen a shuttle and gone after Seska. Chakotay manages to get close enough to beam himself onto the Kazon ship but his shuttle is captured. He destroys the transporter core and activates a beacon instructing Voyager to not come looking for him. Seska tries to interrogate Chakotay into giving her the command codes but it doesn't work. Culluh pushes until Chakotay passes out, but it still doesn't work.
Janeway ignores Chakotay and comes after him any way. Unfortunately the Kazon ship is still more than they can handle easily and things start going poorly. On the Kazon ship Culluh has some other Kazon leaders there and has told them he has Voyagers command codes so they better join him, but he is lying and it becomes super obvious when his ship is suddenly under attack. Janeway comes up with a plan to stop the fighting and has Culluh and the other Kazon in the room beamed aboard and their weapons neutralized. She trades them for Chakotay and the shuttle. In the finals scene we see Janeway scolding Chakotay for going off on his own like that, but since she doesn't want to demote him there isn't much she can do.
Review: A fairly average episode which would have been better without having the damn Kazon around still. Also it seems like Janeway should have done something about Chakotay stealing the shuttle, but whatever.
5 out of 10
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
VOY: Cold Fire
I had completely forgotten that the Caretaker from the pilot was supposed to have had a mate somewhere out there who could get them home in theory. Apparently it was mentioned there as a way of giving themselves an out if needed, but it never got used. They are also buidling up Kes' powers more and more. If I recall correctly when she finally leaves the show it is by becoming a being of pure energy and sending the ship hundreds or thousands of light years closer to home.
The episode opens with Kes training with Tuvok and then being late to her shift working for the Doctor as a result. While they are working the remains of the caretaker start vibrating and when Torres is called in she realizes it is reacting to another being of its kind which reminds them that the caretaker spoke of his mate who left many years earlier. Tuvok being the cautious one starts working on a toxin to use on this second caretaker if necessary while the ship follows its energy to another array. The station opens fire as it is scanned revealing thousands of Ocampa on board. One of them hails Voyager and initially refuses to talk but is convinced otherwise when Kes is brought to the bridge.
The Ocampan man named Tanis is convinced to come on board and after a brief meeting with Janeway gets to be alone with Kes. He tells her the other caretaker, named Suspiria, has extended their lives and trained their mental powers. He demonstrates by making all the plants in the hydroponics bay bloom at once. Alone we see Tanis talking to Suspiria and promises to deliver Voyager to her. Tanis offers to take Kes back to the station with him to live there but she needs time to thing about it. Tanis also contacts Suspiria for them. He starts training Kes' powers and she is able to move objects with her mind and even boil tea. She tries showing her new powers to Tuvok but loses control and burns him badly. He recovers though and insists that the two keep training together.
Tanis keeps trying to train Kes in the dangerous side of her powers and gets her to destroy her plants which really upsets her. There is some sort of energy field in engineering which they realize is Suspiria. Janeway tries talking to her but Suspiria doesn't want to talk, she wants to kill Janeway and destroy Voyager for killing her mate. At the same time Tanis lashes out and hurts Neelix which prompts Kes to attack him mentally which distracts Suspiria long enough for Janeway to use Tuvok's toxin on her. Suspiria is trapped but Janeway lets her and Tanis go to show that they mean no harm (never mind the toxin bit). Kes' powers seem to decrease after Tanis leaves, but Tuvok promises to keep working with her.
Review: A fairly bland episode without anything particularly wrong with it. I guess partially I am getting sick of them travelling vast distances only to keep running into the same races again. Also despite saying it was smaller it was clearly the same effect shot of the caretaker array from the pilot so that didn't seem all that awesome.
4 out of 10
The episode opens with Kes training with Tuvok and then being late to her shift working for the Doctor as a result. While they are working the remains of the caretaker start vibrating and when Torres is called in she realizes it is reacting to another being of its kind which reminds them that the caretaker spoke of his mate who left many years earlier. Tuvok being the cautious one starts working on a toxin to use on this second caretaker if necessary while the ship follows its energy to another array. The station opens fire as it is scanned revealing thousands of Ocampa on board. One of them hails Voyager and initially refuses to talk but is convinced otherwise when Kes is brought to the bridge.
The Ocampan man named Tanis is convinced to come on board and after a brief meeting with Janeway gets to be alone with Kes. He tells her the other caretaker, named Suspiria, has extended their lives and trained their mental powers. He demonstrates by making all the plants in the hydroponics bay bloom at once. Alone we see Tanis talking to Suspiria and promises to deliver Voyager to her. Tanis offers to take Kes back to the station with him to live there but she needs time to thing about it. Tanis also contacts Suspiria for them. He starts training Kes' powers and she is able to move objects with her mind and even boil tea. She tries showing her new powers to Tuvok but loses control and burns him badly. He recovers though and insists that the two keep training together.
Tanis keeps trying to train Kes in the dangerous side of her powers and gets her to destroy her plants which really upsets her. There is some sort of energy field in engineering which they realize is Suspiria. Janeway tries talking to her but Suspiria doesn't want to talk, she wants to kill Janeway and destroy Voyager for killing her mate. At the same time Tanis lashes out and hurts Neelix which prompts Kes to attack him mentally which distracts Suspiria long enough for Janeway to use Tuvok's toxin on her. Suspiria is trapped but Janeway lets her and Tanis go to show that they mean no harm (never mind the toxin bit). Kes' powers seem to decrease after Tanis leaves, but Tuvok promises to keep working with her.
Review: A fairly bland episode without anything particularly wrong with it. I guess partially I am getting sick of them travelling vast distances only to keep running into the same races again. Also despite saying it was smaller it was clearly the same effect shot of the caretaker array from the pilot so that didn't seem all that awesome.
4 out of 10
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
VOY: Tattoo
Star Trek has always loved the idea of alien species travelling the universe seeding planets with either genetics or knowledge and this is one about the latter. Presumably when they gave Chakotay his tattoo they planned to come back and explain it and this is where that happens. I am not actually sure if they are implying that some of the sky spirit people stayed behind on earth since the people in the jungle he ran into as a youth seemed to have non-human head ridges that made me think they were aliens, but maybe they were supposed to be the unpolluted inheritors? They were supposed to have been changed in some way by the sky people so maybe that is the deal with the ridges.
The episode with Chakotay scouting for mineral deposits when he sees a symbol that sends him into a memory of the same symbol when he and his father visited their relatives who lived primitive lives in the jungle. At the time he resented his father for bringing him to such an uncomfortable place. Back on the ship the doctor is being his usually uncaring self and it is getting to Kes. She tells him because he has never experienced disease or illness he has no empathy. Chakotay discusses what he found with the captain and tells her his people believed in sky spirits who made them who they were. When a warp trail is discovered leaving the moon they follow it. Where it leads them is an M-Class planet that both has no life signs but also has the energy signature of a place with technology. Whenever they try to beam down a lightning storm forms at the location stopping the transport so Chakotay flies down in a shuttle with Torres, Tuvok and Neelix.
On the surface Chakotay finds an orchid he recognizes and the sound of a red tailed hawk brings him into memory again. On the same trip with his father they heard a hawk calling and his father could understand the bird, but he couldn't. The same hawk attacks Neelix and he is beamed back to the ship where a now ill Doctor treats him. The Doctor has made himself ill to prove a point to Kes and is even more irritable than normal as a result. The away team meanwhile discovers a series of structures and Chakotay makes them all lay down their weapons. Tuvok objects but does it anyway. As soon as they do a storm picks up and they rushed back towards the shuttle but Chakotay gets knocked up by a tree and Tuvok beams up with Torres.
When Chakotay wakes up he remembers being with his father again and meeting his relatives who lived in the jungle. His father received the tattoo he wears from them. While he searches the jungle Janeway decides to land the ship to find him but as they attempt it a huge storm shows up and threatens to crash the ship. Chakotay finds shelter in a cave where he runs into the sky spirits. They are aliens with the same tattoo that he wears and luckily they have a working universal translator. Their leader explains to Chakotay that his people traveled to Earth many times and taught his people, but the last time they visited they found none of his people left. Chakotay explains that the people of Earth have finally learned to live with nature and the storm around Voyager disappears at the last minute. Chakotay tells the sky spirit about leaving his father on bad terms but that this has helped him make peace. On the ship the Doctor is freaking out that his inless isn't going away but eventually Kes admits to having modified the program on purpose to make it last longer.
Review: A good background episode with a kinda cliched alien visitation story. Chakotay is one of the stronger characters though so he manages to make this a good episode despite its limitations.
6 out of 10
The episode with Chakotay scouting for mineral deposits when he sees a symbol that sends him into a memory of the same symbol when he and his father visited their relatives who lived primitive lives in the jungle. At the time he resented his father for bringing him to such an uncomfortable place. Back on the ship the doctor is being his usually uncaring self and it is getting to Kes. She tells him because he has never experienced disease or illness he has no empathy. Chakotay discusses what he found with the captain and tells her his people believed in sky spirits who made them who they were. When a warp trail is discovered leaving the moon they follow it. Where it leads them is an M-Class planet that both has no life signs but also has the energy signature of a place with technology. Whenever they try to beam down a lightning storm forms at the location stopping the transport so Chakotay flies down in a shuttle with Torres, Tuvok and Neelix.
On the surface Chakotay finds an orchid he recognizes and the sound of a red tailed hawk brings him into memory again. On the same trip with his father they heard a hawk calling and his father could understand the bird, but he couldn't. The same hawk attacks Neelix and he is beamed back to the ship where a now ill Doctor treats him. The Doctor has made himself ill to prove a point to Kes and is even more irritable than normal as a result. The away team meanwhile discovers a series of structures and Chakotay makes them all lay down their weapons. Tuvok objects but does it anyway. As soon as they do a storm picks up and they rushed back towards the shuttle but Chakotay gets knocked up by a tree and Tuvok beams up with Torres.
When Chakotay wakes up he remembers being with his father again and meeting his relatives who lived in the jungle. His father received the tattoo he wears from them. While he searches the jungle Janeway decides to land the ship to find him but as they attempt it a huge storm shows up and threatens to crash the ship. Chakotay finds shelter in a cave where he runs into the sky spirits. They are aliens with the same tattoo that he wears and luckily they have a working universal translator. Their leader explains to Chakotay that his people traveled to Earth many times and taught his people, but the last time they visited they found none of his people left. Chakotay explains that the people of Earth have finally learned to live with nature and the storm around Voyager disappears at the last minute. Chakotay tells the sky spirit about leaving his father on bad terms but that this has helped him make peace. On the ship the Doctor is freaking out that his inless isn't going away but eventually Kes admits to having modified the program on purpose to make it last longer.
Review: A good background episode with a kinda cliched alien visitation story. Chakotay is one of the stronger characters though so he manages to make this a good episode despite its limitations.
6 out of 10
VOY: Persistence of Vision
So far VOY has resisted the urge to have a holodeck gone wrong episode, but boy do they love teasing it. In this episode they even up the ante by installing holo-emitters all over the ship so now when things go wrong the will go wrong everywhere! Also the alien in this episode was creepy and threatening enough that I hope isn't the last we see of them. Much more interesting than the knock off Klingons known as the Kazon.
We open with Janeway running all over stressing out about just about everything. Neelix wants to talk to her about the Bothan's who territory they are approaching. Tuvok needs a half hour and Torres wants to show off the new holo-emitters in engineering, but when she makes the Doctor appear he is only a few inches tall. He is still in charge enough to order Janeway to go relax on the holodeck for medical reasons. She goes to her novel and finds the gentleman she is working for is in love with her, but before she can get very far she is called to the bridge. The are being approached by a Bothan vessel and she learns from Neelix that ships keep disappearing at the borders without explanation. The Bothan is lit in a way where you can't see his face and agrees to negotiate with them further.
Janeway goes to the mess hall but is startled when the cucumber sandwhiches from her holonovel are being offered for lunch. Neelix then serves her tea in an exquisite flower covered tea cup also from the novel. Janeway starts hearing voices from her novel and even sees the young daughter who insists her mother isn't dead. Janeway goes to Torres to see if the new holo-emitters are at fault, but it seems they aren't. Thing keep getting stranger when Janeway sees the daughter in sickbay and Kes can see her too, but then Kes somehow forces the girls spirit back into Janeway. Later Janeway is attacked by a knife wielding servant from the novel and removes herself from command.
Chakotay is confronted by the Bothan ship and Tuvok notices two other ships are cloaked nearby. They are attacked and Janeway rushes to the bridge but they are suddenly confronted by the Bothan, but he isn't the Bothan, he is Janeway's husband, Paris's father, and Tuvok's wife. Janeway sees that all the crew are falling under its sway and contacts Torres who starts working on a solution. Eventually Kes and the doctor are the only ones left and Kes has to go to engineering and finish Torres' plan. But she is confronted by Paris and then Neelix who both try to stop her. She fights back and is attacked with what feels like buring acid, but she forces that onto her attacker as well. After she fires the warp burst thing Torres came up with the alien is revealed and the crew return to normal. But when Janeway shows up and threatens the creature it tells her fine, but I am not actually here and disappears.
Review: I thought this was a good episode. Lots of excitement and good stuff from much of the cast. I remember kinda hating Kes's undefined powers the first time, but they seem fine on this watching. Kinda like how Spock's powers only came up when the plot demanded it, not when it would actually make sense.
7 out of 10
We open with Janeway running all over stressing out about just about everything. Neelix wants to talk to her about the Bothan's who territory they are approaching. Tuvok needs a half hour and Torres wants to show off the new holo-emitters in engineering, but when she makes the Doctor appear he is only a few inches tall. He is still in charge enough to order Janeway to go relax on the holodeck for medical reasons. She goes to her novel and finds the gentleman she is working for is in love with her, but before she can get very far she is called to the bridge. The are being approached by a Bothan vessel and she learns from Neelix that ships keep disappearing at the borders without explanation. The Bothan is lit in a way where you can't see his face and agrees to negotiate with them further.
Janeway goes to the mess hall but is startled when the cucumber sandwhiches from her holonovel are being offered for lunch. Neelix then serves her tea in an exquisite flower covered tea cup also from the novel. Janeway starts hearing voices from her novel and even sees the young daughter who insists her mother isn't dead. Janeway goes to Torres to see if the new holo-emitters are at fault, but it seems they aren't. Thing keep getting stranger when Janeway sees the daughter in sickbay and Kes can see her too, but then Kes somehow forces the girls spirit back into Janeway. Later Janeway is attacked by a knife wielding servant from the novel and removes herself from command.
Chakotay is confronted by the Bothan ship and Tuvok notices two other ships are cloaked nearby. They are attacked and Janeway rushes to the bridge but they are suddenly confronted by the Bothan, but he isn't the Bothan, he is Janeway's husband, Paris's father, and Tuvok's wife. Janeway sees that all the crew are falling under its sway and contacts Torres who starts working on a solution. Eventually Kes and the doctor are the only ones left and Kes has to go to engineering and finish Torres' plan. But she is confronted by Paris and then Neelix who both try to stop her. She fights back and is attacked with what feels like buring acid, but she forces that onto her attacker as well. After she fires the warp burst thing Torres came up with the alien is revealed and the crew return to normal. But when Janeway shows up and threatens the creature it tells her fine, but I am not actually here and disappears.
Review: I thought this was a good episode. Lots of excitement and good stuff from much of the cast. I remember kinda hating Kes's undefined powers the first time, but they seem fine on this watching. Kinda like how Spock's powers only came up when the plot demanded it, not when it would actually make sense.
7 out of 10
Monday, July 4, 2016
VOY: Parturition
This episode seems to exist to get rid of the second most annoying Neelix plot thread so far, his rivalry with Paris over who can court Kes. First of all, she just turned two, so this whole thing is creepy to start with, and second of all it kinda seemed to just show up out of the blue this season. Suddenly Neelix's crisis every single episode is that he is jealous again, oh no!!! The plot about finding the reptile alien baby is kinda silly, but it works in a very TOS kind of way. Although as Kirk stated, humans naturally are disgusted by reptiles or something like that, so why is Paris so into this creature?
We open with Kes training to pilot a shuttle with Paris on the holodeck. Things get rough and she ends up in his arms. Paris shows up at Kim's quarters while he is practicing clarinet and tells him he is in love with Kes. Next the two are back to back in the mess hall with Neelix staring Paris down. Kes leaves and Neelix throws a plate of food at Paris. Paris throws a plate at Neelix and the two wrestle to the ground, only to be summoned immediately to the captains ready room. She needs Paris to fly Neelix to a planet they found to look for food and she doesn't want any guff from either of them.
The two fly down together but of course crash. They snipe at each other the whole time and on the surface there is a gas that makes their skin itch. There are no plants to speak of and they find a cave and seal themselves in. After some more fighting they hear a sound and when they investigate they find three large eggs, and one hatches before their eyes. Inside is a reptile baby about the size of a human baby. At the same time Voyager is attacked by an unknown alien ship while trying to mount a rescue. The ship seems more interested in blocking their way to the planet rather than aggressively attacking.
Paris and Neelix struggle to keep the reptile baby alive and finally realize the gas that is making their skin crawl is what the baby needs for nutrition so they take it outside and start compressing the stuff into a hypo spray. They repeat the myth over and over again about a mother bird not coming back for a baby that has been touched. Totally not true BTW. Eventually the alien ship flies in and sends an adult reptile down to collect the child. Neelix and Paris wait to be sure the baby is accepted before beaming up to Voyager. Oh, and somewhere along the way the talk about Kes and agree Neelix can date her and Paris will be her friend. No, she doesn't get a say silly.
Review: A Neelix heavy episode is never going to be my favorite, but this one manages to not be totally awful. The crap about baby birds really irritated me though so I am going to rate this one below average.
4 out of 10
We open with Kes training to pilot a shuttle with Paris on the holodeck. Things get rough and she ends up in his arms. Paris shows up at Kim's quarters while he is practicing clarinet and tells him he is in love with Kes. Next the two are back to back in the mess hall with Neelix staring Paris down. Kes leaves and Neelix throws a plate of food at Paris. Paris throws a plate at Neelix and the two wrestle to the ground, only to be summoned immediately to the captains ready room. She needs Paris to fly Neelix to a planet they found to look for food and she doesn't want any guff from either of them.
The two fly down together but of course crash. They snipe at each other the whole time and on the surface there is a gas that makes their skin itch. There are no plants to speak of and they find a cave and seal themselves in. After some more fighting they hear a sound and when they investigate they find three large eggs, and one hatches before their eyes. Inside is a reptile baby about the size of a human baby. At the same time Voyager is attacked by an unknown alien ship while trying to mount a rescue. The ship seems more interested in blocking their way to the planet rather than aggressively attacking.
Paris and Neelix struggle to keep the reptile baby alive and finally realize the gas that is making their skin crawl is what the baby needs for nutrition so they take it outside and start compressing the stuff into a hypo spray. They repeat the myth over and over again about a mother bird not coming back for a baby that has been touched. Totally not true BTW. Eventually the alien ship flies in and sends an adult reptile down to collect the child. Neelix and Paris wait to be sure the baby is accepted before beaming up to Voyager. Oh, and somewhere along the way the talk about Kes and agree Neelix can date her and Paris will be her friend. No, she doesn't get a say silly.
Review: A Neelix heavy episode is never going to be my favorite, but this one manages to not be totally awful. The crap about baby birds really irritated me though so I am going to rate this one below average.
4 out of 10
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