My VOY reviews

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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Sat Sep 21, 2013 9:04 pm

3-07 Sacred Ground

Sacred Ground is another episode I don't have any recollection of ever having seen before. And I really didn't miss anything! It was boring and decidedly un-Trekkian. The focus on Janeway didn't help either.

It's supposed to be about faith versus reason, with Janeway obviously in the rational scientific camp, but it fell flat. I could commend Janeway for not screaming in frustration at the incoherent psychobabble from her guides and "spirits", but damn I wish she had. The message of the episode is surprisingly that science isn't everything and that you must have faith (in this case to save Kes), which strikes me as not being in the spirit (pardon the pun) of Trek. But the writers want to have their cake and eat it too, so in the end they have the Doctor give a scientific explanation for her cure.

The thing is that you cannot really force a belief on someone, like those aliens tried to do with Janeway. This is especially true in this case, where time was of the essence. You cannot reasonably tell some unbeliever that if they don't believe, then, in this case, someone is going to die. For one thing, why should you believe in something that is being that cruel? Either you have faith or you don't. You don't acquire it in a few days just because you're pressed for time, especially in a religion that was basically unknown to you the day before.

I have great respect for religious beliefs and I consider myself a Christian, but an episode like Sacred Ground shows no such respect in its simplistic and confused storyline. It's like the writers want to show tolerance to a concept that is unfamiliar to them, thus getting it all wrong. In that, the episode is like Emanations, which dealt with the concept of life after death - another eating and still having the cake episode.

Finally, I think it's odd that almost all species that we encounter in Trek have some religious belief systems, with the notable exception of humanity itself (except Chakotay's Indian beliefs). It's like Earth in the 24th century have "evolved" beyond religion but keep an unarticulated and perhaps unconscious condescending tolerance for those who do believe in something. The same goes for the writers who create episodes like this one.

There's nothing sacred about the grade of 1 I give to Sacred Ground.

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3-08 Future's End, Part I

I thoroughly enjoyed this goofy, fun episode. While time travel gets overused in Trek I can forgive it if it's handled like in this two-parter. The 1996 setting dates the episode, much like the 1986 movie The Voyage Home did, but it's a smart move for the producers as it limits what the have to do.

The plot wisely doesn’t linger too long on the temporal mechanics and paradoxes (they give Janeway a headache). Suffice to say is that the late 20th century computer revolution wouldn't have happened had it not been for a nefarious ex-hippie using the tech from a stranded 29th century timeship. Now this Henry Starling character (Ed Begley, Jr.) must be stopped before he goes forward and unwittingly causes a solar system-wide destruction.

Starling is of course rather obnoxious, not to mention the villain of the story. But he's pretty one-dimensional. Sarah Silverman's Rain Robinson is much better. She's quirky and fun and has great chemistry with Tom Paris. Nowadays I think Silverman is annoying and often vulgar, but back in 1996 she was kinda cute and charming. Oh well…

Like in the aforementioned movie The Voyage Home a lot of the fun stems from seeing our characters walking around and trying to cope in a contemporary setting. Especially seeing Tuvok and Paris is great. They make the most unconvincing secret agents! A brief scene with Kes and Neelix getting hooked on some soap opera was hilarious. But couldn't they have watched Star Trek instead?

Any Trek fan worth his salt would remember that 1996 is a time when the Eugenics Wars is supposed to have happened. But aside from a model of the SS Botany Bay in Rain Robinson's office, there's no mention of it. I think that's wise, since that reference, originally from Space Seed, has been overcome with real events.

We'll see how it concludes in the next part, but I'll give Future's End, Part I a grade of 8- out of 10.

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3-09 Future's End, Part II

Second parts of Trek episodes seldom live up to the expectations of the first part, and so it is with Future's End, Part II, albeit to a lesser degree. It's still quite fun, but feels repetitive at times. I hesitate to think of how they could've filled a four-part story, which was actually considered at one point.

The most fun was seeing the Doctor on and about, not just outside the confines of Sickbay, but walking around in Los Angeles in 1996. This thanks to the mobile holo-emitter Starling has made using 29th century tech. And he gets to keep it too, making him, well, mobile for the rest of Voyager's run. Not too soon in my book, because up until now it has limited his participation in Voyager's adventures. They conveniently disregard that this is in effect a violation of the Temporal Prime Directive, but I can live with that.

What brings this episode down a notch are the unnecessary scenes with Chakotay and Torres getting captured by some caricatured anti-government rednecks. It serves no purpose to the rest of the plot. Perhaps it was what was left of a storyline that got axed when the producers decided that there wasn't going to be a third or fourth part.

Even if Starling has future tech available I'm surprised that he actually managed to outsmart Voyager on numerous occasions. He's still just a 20th century human after all. But I must admit that it did create some needed plot tensions.

In the end his timeship gets torpedoed and timecop Braxton reappears, now seemingly from another timeline, which raises the question about what happened to the hobo version of him down on Earth, not to mention all of Starling's actions. Was that also nullified when his timeship was destroyed? Wisely they decided not to answer these questions, since temporal mechanics gives me a headache too. And I suppose it's preferable to having a Bill Gates instead of a Henry Starling starting the computer revolution.

Of course Braxton guides Voyager back to the future, and the Delta quadrant, but I wonder why Janeway missed that she could've tried the slingshot-around-the-sun maneuver that Kirk has done a few times before.

Anyhow, I'll give Future's End, Part II one lesser grade than I gave part one, a 7- out of 10.

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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Sun Sep 22, 2013 5:58 pm

3-10 Warlord

Warlord isn't a great Kes episode. It is however a great Jennifer Lien episode, as she plays an alien warlord, Tieran, possessing Kes's body. Kes is a rather bland and uninteresting character but her Lien shows that she can act with fire. Kes is cute and before this episode I never thought she could be sexy (even if cute often is sexy in my book), but Kes/Tieran is sexy, strutting around in a tight leather outfit with that raspy voice of hers. Hm, sorry, I got a little distracted here…

The plot is otherwise rather silly, a variation of the alien possession™ story we see all the time on Trek. It's not remarkable and it breaks no new ground. They even have a lesbian almost-kiss between possessed Kes and the warlord's wife, but don't dare go all the way.

I kept thinking how such an inept and crazy character like Tieran could have survived for as long as he had. It's not even very difficult for Voyager to overthrow him at the end - it just takes a few minutes.

Warlord is apparently also when Kes and Neelix breaks up (long overdue I think), but I didn't really get that from the episode, especially since Kes was probably possessed at the time. But I understand that they remained broken up even afterwards, even if was never openly acknowledged.

The scenes from the holodeck featuring a Talaxian resort had nothing to do with the rest of the story, but I enjoyed it for no other reason than seeing B'Elanna Torres in a bathing suit. Leather catsuit and swimwear, so sue me, I'm shallow sometimes!

Nevertheless I did enjoy Warlord and I'll give it a generous grade of 5- on my 10-graded scale.

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3-11 The Q and the Grey

It was bound to happen that Voyager would get another visit from Q. Janeway should have done what Sisko did on Deep Space Nine and punched him in the face. Look how well that turned out for Sisko. Q never bothered to come back and pester him. Instead lovesick Q now comes back and wants to have a baby with Janeway!

This episode cannot decide if it wants to be humorous or serious. We have the silly Q gags at first, with Q wooing the non-wooable Captain, topping it of with the appearance of the female Q. Then things suddenly turns deadly as we're brought into a civil war within the Q continuum, conveniently represented as a re-enactment of the American Civil War (hence the title).

For omnipotent beings the Q continuum sure acts much like any other species in the universe, killing and waging war on each other. I've never been much of a fan of the concept but it's a pity that they had to de-mystify the Q in such a manner. It's hard to take them seriously now, or even respect them (the original Q never elicited much respect).

The Civil War setting made little sense, at least from the point that mere human mortals were suddenly able to interact and threaten the immortal Q beings. How exactly was that possible? And the method of getting Voyager into the continuum seems to have been made up on the fly, with some technobabble from Ms. Q.

But I must admit that I liked Ms. Q (played by the always reliable Suzie Plakson). I especially chuckled when she sparred with Torres and uttered the line: "I've always liked Klingon females. You've got such... spunk." Plakson should know since she's most well-known for having played one before, the Klingon female K'Ehleyr on The Next Generation, a deliberate in-joke I'm sure. And speaking of chuckling, this is where Q calls Chakotay Chuckles, a nickname that then stuck among fans. So that's what I'll call him from now on.

I know that Janeway told Q that she wouldn't ask him for the favour of getting them home, but really, since they helped to bring an end to the Q civil war, why wouldn't the Q be a little grateful and help them out? Because it's only season three, that's why, which only shows the pitfalls of having introduced Q on Voyager. I'm certain some other contrived reason for that to not happen will present itself when the inevitable return of Q happens. He and Ms. Q now have a baby, after all, and Janeway is the godmother.

This last part contradicts the episode True Q from The Next Generation, where two Qs did have offspring, despite what Q said here about that not having happened before. Although that happened the conventional way, not using glowing fingers, so it might not apply.

I'll give The Q and the Grey a grade of 3+ out of 10.

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3-12 Macrocosm

Macrocosm really doesn't stand up to close scrutiny, but often it was fun - mindless, brain dead fun, but still fun. It's a testament that Trek shouldn't take itself so seriously at times. Now and again there's a need for some shot-'em-up action.

It was rather amusing to watch Janeway running around with a big gun in a sweaty tank top - and high heels no less - like Ripley or Sarah Connor. Call me weird, but that's the most attractive I've ever seen her. Not what you'd expect of her.

Too bad the action is bogged down in the middle when we have the Doctor explaining, in lengthy flashback scenes, what has happened. It rather kills the atmosphere and tension that had been building up until that point.

The concept of macroviruses is of course completely ludicrous. How do they get the nourishments needed to grow so fast, and then there's the obvious scaling problem which would render them inert, much less able to fly around. And I don't give much trust in the transporter's bio-filters and containment fields considering the ease at which the viruses got out.

A sidenote on the shipper front: Paris and Torres seemed to enjoy their quarrel a little too much.

Anyway, I'll give Macrocosm a generous 4+ out of 10.

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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby CoffeeCat » Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:14 am

Emanations, Sacred Ground, and Mortal Coil are all of the same camp. I was really thankful when they finally came out with Barge of the Dead after all that BS.
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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby CX » Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:45 am

The Q and the Grey ruined the Q - no if, ands, or buts about it. :-X
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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:11 pm

3-13 Fair Trade

Colour me surprised, but this was actually a good Neelix episode. The quirky, annoying and perpetually cheerful character has depths! Who'd have thunk? This is the first good use of him since Jetrel, ironically in a story where he finds he is no longer of any use to Voyager, since they'll be heading into the Nekrit Expanse, an area Neelix knows nothing about.

It was bound to happen that they'd finally travel so far that Neelix hadn't been there before. So in order to remain useful he gets involved deeper and deeper in a shady deal when all he wanted was just a map. We learn of his questionable past as a smuggler and petty criminal. And for once he exhibits character traits that aren't annoying and that makes him act in unpredictable manners. Ethan Phillips really did a splendid job here.

I'm not really surprised that Neelix thought that be might be booted off the ship when he couldn't serve as a guide any longer. Janeway gives a good speech/dressing down to him at the end about them all being a family that sticks together, but when has he really experienced that. Also, her behaviour throughout the show has been consistent in its inconsistence, so how was he to know? It was actually touching to see him being so glad at scrubbing the ship's exhaust manifolds. Given what he had been involved in that was light punishment indeed. But the severity he thought about his predicament was really underlined by him pleading to the criminal alien to just kill him.

Neelix's old friend and business partner Wixiban (James Nardini) was a good character and one can easily understand why Neelix went along with the smuggling operation. Wix isn't a bad person, just very unlucky, and in the end he went along with Neelix's plan to reveal themselves to the authorities and spring a trap for the real bad guys. But it was equally fitting that he just took off when he had the chance, and didn't wait for Neelix to wake up in Sickbay.

One might be surprised that there wasn't a scene where Neelix talked to Kes about all this, but apparently there was a scene shot between them that got cut for time. There it was established that they had indeed grown apart and broken up (see Warlord). That would have been nice to see.

This is also the first of a few appearances of the young Vulcan Ensign Vorik (Alexander Enberg), in all likelihood so we'd be familiar with him when Blood Fever comes around.

Fair Trade receives the fair grade of 6+ out of 10 from me.

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3-14 Alter Ego

Scantily clad females aren't enough to make me like the new resort holo-program. I actually prefer Sandrine's. It was beyond silly to watch Tuvok, Paris and Torres fighting with Hawaiian characters. It's hard enough taking lu'aus seriously as it is.

Anyway, Alter Ego is one of those numerous holodeck malfunction™ episodes even if the twist here is that an external character has invaded it, and the ship's computer systems. She manifests herself as a holo-character that attracts first Kim and then Tuvok (in a Vulcan way of course). What makes or breaks a story like this is whether there is any chemistry, and I'm sorry to say that this Marayna person has none with either Kim or Tuvok. Oddly enough, she works much better with Tuvok towards the end, while wearing heavy alien makeup.

The only really interesting thing about this episode is the glimpses into what Vulcan attraction can mean, in this case the platonic kind. But Tuvok is a special hard case version of a Vulcan. Someone like Spock and Sarek (not to mention T'Pol and Soval) acts differently when it comes to emotions and, dare I say it, love.

Paris/Torres watch: a small flirtation scene about Hawaiian shirts was added because filming ran a few minutes short. And Vorik apparently thought Torres had asked him out. Ouch, Tom! Another setup for Blood Fever.

I cannot give Alter Ego anything more than a grade of 3+ out of 10.

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3-15 Coda

Janeway and Chakotay crash in a shuttle (the fifth Voyager shuttle lost, I believe) and as they're trying to revive the Captain an alien presence in her mind tries to trick her to come into his matrix, whatever that is. He fails. That's it! Nothing else really happens in Coda. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. No timeloop (which a great part of the episode was spent on). No Phage-infected Janeway. No dead Janeway watching her crew lament her passing. Nothing. It was all in her mind.

I really hate these pointless mindscrews, these type of reset button™ stories, since they never happened anyway and we're just taken along for a meaningless ride that is a foregone conclusion from the start. Of course Janeway can't be a ghost meeting her dead father. It goes against everything that we know about Trek. I don't care how moving her memorial service was because ultimately it was all fake. It's just how Janeway (and the alien) might have thought that her crew would react at her death.

So, sorry but I cannot give Coda more than one measly grade of 1 out of 10.

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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Asso » Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:27 pm

Well, KTR, by reading your reviews on VOY, it occurs to me to say that I am really very happy to have seen, yes and no, a half episode, in all. :?
Well yes. I continue to write. And on Fanfiction.Net, for those who want, it is possible to cast a glance at my latest efforts. We arrived to
The Ears of the Elves, chapter Forty-four


And here is the beginning of the whole story.
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But, I must say, you could also find something else on Fanfiction.net written by me. If you want.

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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:19 pm

CoffeeCat wrote:Emanations, Sacred Ground, and Mortal Coil are all of the same camp. I was really thankful when they finally came out with Barge of the Dead after all that BS.

Yeah, Star Trek has never really done religion right, and that's because they never got religion.

CX wrote:The Q and the Grey ruined the Q - no if, ands, or buts about it. :-X

Well, one could argue that the Q were ruined from the start. Despite how good an actor John de Lancie is, I grew increasingly tired of the Q as far back as on TNG.

Asso wrote:Well, KTR, by reading your reviews on VOY, it occurs to me to say that I am really very happy to have seen, yes and no, a half episode, in all. :?

:lol:
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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Tue Sep 24, 2013 9:57 pm

3-16 Blood Fever

For an episode dealing with the Vulcan mating cycle, the pon farr, this episode isn't cantered on a Vulcan but on half-human, half-Klingon B'Elanna Torres. And yet it works. Sure there's Vorik, the catalyst (literally) for her blood fever, but it's her plight we're concerned with. Not that Vorik isn't interesting, but he's not a main character. This is also the reason why we got to see him for a couple of episodes before, so he would have some time to develop and let us be familiar with him.

Anyway, I think they succeeded in doing a follow up on the original series Amok Time with Blood Fever. It was bound (pardon the pun) to happen sooner or later, the surprise here being that it didn't deal with the resident Vulcan, Tuvok. Having the blood fever induced in Torres was a good choice, and I'm not saying that just because I loved the sight of a hot and sweaty B'Elanna in a tank top. Being half-human suppressing her more violent half-Klingon side is somewhat akin to a Vulcan suppressing his emotions.

And it was of course also a way to progress the Paris/Torres relationship that had been toyed with before (notably in The Swarm). It turns out they both are interested in one another, and that's just not the blood fever talking. I loved their turbolift scene at the end when he admitted to her that wouldn't mind seeing her Klingon side again, and she said that he should be careful what he wished for. Their relationship will continue to develop, even if it's not always treated as good as it could have been by the writers, and it's my second favourite 'ship on Trek (after Trip/T'Pol on Enterprise). There is undeniable chemistry between those two.

I also liked the ending cliffhanger when Chakotay showed Janeway the Borg corpse on the planet. The cave-dwelling aliens had told them about a destructive force that had wiped out most of the inhabitants and it makes sense that it would have been the Borg. After all, Voyager is in the Delta quadrant and it was inevitable that they'd enter Borg space at one point. After the somewhat disappointing new aliens, like the Kazons, having a more known and credible threat is a good thing.

My only real complaint about this episode is with the ease that the blood fever was dealt with. Just have Vorik and Torres ducking it out in a ritual fight, which proved to be a speedy letdown. I think something more violent was called for, especially since the Vulcan kal-if-fee usually means a fight to the death.

Summing up, I'll give a satisfied grade of 8+ to Blood Fever.

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3-17 Unity

Finally, Voyager meets the Borg in Unity. When Voyager sees the Borg cube floating in space the tension really racks up. Now there is a serious and credible threat to their very survival. And this scene comes after Chakotay has encountered some strange aliens on a planet and you just know that there's a connection.

The clever part of this episode is that instead of running into full-fledged Borgs again, these are ex-Borgs having had their mutual link severed. Now they want to re-establish that link between themselves. Without the unity they're just a number of different species infighting. But the will to make a "Cooperative" as something of a Borg Light is ominous to say the least. Janeway wisely and flatly refuses to assist them in that endeavour, but as if to prove how dangerous the Cooperative may become, they hijack Chakotay's mind and makes him do their bidding.

Even if the Cooperative says they aren't bent on assimilation and conquest like the regular Borg, why should they be trusted? Once they get a taste of the awesome power that comes with such a collective link, what's going to stop them? This is probably how the Borg came into existence in the first place. At the same time, these people don't come off as inherently bad. In fact they're rather sympathetic, especially the woman Chakotay got somewhat intimate with, and the Romulan.

Unity gives new insights into what makes the Borg tick and the allure it can have on people. While I can understand why those people felt that they missed the part of being together, personally I'm much too private and introverted as a person to ever finding the concept of a shared mind appealing. I shudder at the thought of never being able to be alone, ever! That is the scariest part of the Borg, the relentless eradication of individuality.

Torres gave a nice, and probably deliberate, foreshadowing of Species 8472 when she said that the cube might have been taken out of commission by someone even more powerful the Borg.

But I do have to wonder how someone from the battle of Wolf 369 (Next Generation's The Best of Both Worlds, Part II) could have been assimilated and transported to the Delta quadrant. That Borg cube just destroyed Starfleet vessels while en route to Earth, and was then destroyed in orbit.

Also, given how many shuttles that have been lost, I have to question the wisdom of stating that another one had been effectively destroyed (by being taken apart). That's the sixth one!

Unity also receives a grade of 8+ out of 10.

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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Wed Sep 25, 2013 11:56 pm

3-18 Darkling

The Doctor is probably my favourite character and Robert Picardo is probably one of the best actors on Voyager. However, that can't help an episode like Darkling. The concept of him getting an evil alter ego is interesting, the deliverance of his "Dr. Hyde" persona is just so over the top that it sometimes border on the ridiculous. He's supposed to be really scary but you cannot help chuckling a little bit.

A more nuanced performance, or writing, would have helped. The idea of the Doctor incorporating personality traits from famous historical figures such as Lord Byron, Gandhi and T'Pau and getting their dark sides as well, is interesting. Too bad it's wasted on some kind of jealous reaction to Kes's intent to leave with some space adventurer. I suppose that was also a foreshadowing of Kes leaving the show later.

But because Picardo is Picardo and it was a little fun seeing Evil Doc I'll give Darkling a generous grade of 3+ on my 10-graded scale.

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3-19 Rise

For some reason this episode is rather disliked by fans. While I didn't find it extra-ordinary I thought it was average and entertaining. It's no way near as bad as its reputation. And it should get props for the high concept use of a space elevator, even though I think much more could have been made of it. It's like the wasted potential of the Dyson sphere in The Next Generation episode Relics (that is more remembered for the appearance of Scotty).

The direction is somewhat sloppy and some guest performances could have been better, but I was never bored watching Rise. It had some tension building, a suspense and mystery to be resolved both on board the elevator and with the bombarding asteroids in space. And for once the interactions between Tuvok and Neelix aren't just played for laughs. This time there is a serious conflict underneath.

But really, another shuttle crash™…? Come on, this is getting beyond silly now. Unless they salvaged the downed shuttle afterwards, this is the seventh one Voyager has lost!

Rise rises to an average grade of 5 out of 10.

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3-20 Favourite Son

Dear God, this was an excruciatingly bad and embarrassing episode. I can find no redeeming qualities with it. It's not even a so-bad-it's-funny episode. It just plain sucks!

Did anyone really believe for a second that Harry Kim was actually an alien, who for some reason had been implanted in his mother some 70,000 light-years away? That made no sense but still Janeway, the Doctor and everyone else bought that story, at least at first. And the method of procreation for this planet of mostly women makes no sense. Kidnapping random males and tinkering with their DNA, whereafter you suck out their life like some vampires?

Sorry, I just can't waste any more time thinking about this rubbish. Favourite Son gets a zero grade.

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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby CoffeeCat » Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:49 am

LOL. Looks like Voyager is pretty bi-polar at this point, KTR. I think Darkling would have been a good idea if Seven of Nine were around instead of Kes and, like you said, was handled properly. That's exactly what always irritated me about Voyager. They had some interesting plot ideas, but they're almost always badly executed.
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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:15 pm

CoffeeCat wrote:LOL. Looks like Voyager is pretty bi-polar at this point, KTR.

Honestly, I think a lot of all Star Trek is bi-polar. I remember during my previous reviews that all the shows were never consistent. They varied widely, from excellent one week to utter drivel the next.
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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Sun Sep 29, 2013 10:07 pm

And once again I'll halt my reviewing for a week or so because I'm going to visit my parents and won't have time to either watch or review VOY.
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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Distracted » Tue Oct 01, 2013 12:31 am

Enjoy your visit!
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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby Kevin Thomas Riley » Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:57 pm

Continuing my reviewing...


3-21 Before and After

For a time-travelling reset button™ episode, Before and After isn't that bad, even if most of the events depicted in it won't happen, or rather will happen but in some kind of alternate future. This is what might have happened had Kes remained on the ship. I don't think the writers at this point knew that her character would leave come next season, and the cleverly wrote it so that they kept their options open.

Even the Krenim and "the year of hell" storyline could have been ditched had they so wished. As it happens, they kept that part, albeit without Kes. It's obvious that they did plan to tell that story in season four and decided to set things up in this episode.

Having Kes jumping back in time was a fairly novel idea that allowed us to see how she formed a family, with Tom Paris no less. I liked the nod that he didn't do so until after B'Elanna had died, which is a strong indicator that by now the writers had decided to develop the Paris/Torres relationship in the proper timeline. I also chuckled at the fact that Harry Kim married Tom's and Kes's daughter. And the Doctor (now named Van Gogh) apparently got conscious enough about his appearance to add some more hair on his head. Speaking of hair, Kes had an unusual (or maybe not for an Ocampan) hair growth since she's suddenly sporting a long thick mane from now on.

I'll give Before and After a grade of 5- out of 10.

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3-22 Real Life

This episode featuring the Doctor's holo-family was surprisingly engaging. It went from light comedy when his Stepford family, at the behest from Torres, turns more like a real family, with domestic squabbles and a clueless Doc trying to make it work, to tragedy when his holo-daughter dies. And Robert Picardo plays all genres seriously and makes the story work. In the end Paris convinces him to return to his holo-daughters deathbed, even though the option of not turning the program back on is there. After all, you haven't really experienced life unless you get both the bad and the good. Pretty poignant I'd say.

The b-story with Tom Paris flying into some space tornado was unrelated and didn't mean much. I wish they would have made his little spatial anomaly adventure connected to the fluidic space of Species 8472 we'll see later.

And I found the mess hall scene when Tom hit on B'Elanna to be rather cute. She didn't seem to mind. Who knew she read Klingon romance stories! By know I expect there are fan fiction dealing with Klingon romance.

Real Life receives a grade of 6+ on my 10-graded scale.

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3-23 Distant Origin

Distant Origin is the first truly outstanding episode of Voyager. It takes what superficially is a very silly premise - evolved dinosaurs (specifically a type of hadrosaur) from Earth have settled in the Delta quadrant - and makes an engaging and poignant story about science versus doctrine. The Voth scientist Gegen takes the role of a Galileo Galilei confronting established beliefs about the origins of his people.

For almost the entire first third of the episode we don't even see Voyager, it's all told from the Voth scientist perspective as they track down the human ship, cleverly using clues from previous episodes, like the skeleton of poor crewman Hogan from Basics, Part II to the trading station at the border of the Nekrit Expanse from Fair Trade. And then we see the cloaked scientists as they roam Voyager watching and observing, amongst other things, the courtship between Tom and B'Elanna and Janeway giving orders (leading them to conclude that this is a matriarchy).

But the best scenes are when Voyager is captured by the giant Voth city ship and Gegen stands trial with Chakotay. Gegen gives a passionate yet naïve plea for science and truth, but the ruling Minister will hear none of it. It's not that she seems particularly convinced about their doctrine, but that she's more worried about the societal implications of the distant origin theory, and of course the legitimacy of her own ruling class. Still, as Chakotay says, the Voth are a remarkable people that have overcome old doctrine before (like discovering transwarp technology) and can do so again and still benefit as a civilization. Also, to discard the distant origin theory is to deny both their heritage and the bravery and sacrifice the Voth forbearers endured when they escaped calamitous Earth as the dinosaurs became extinct.

So I will award Distant Origin with the first ever grade of 9- given to an episode of Voyager. Well done!

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She's got an awfully nice bum!
-Malcolm Reed on T'Pol, in Shuttlepod One

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CoffeeCat
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Re: My VOY reviews

Postby CoffeeCat » Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:14 am

LOL. The highest grade goes to a CHAKOTAY episode. Of all things! I like your avatar, KTR. I kinda want to dig into my P/T stash because of you :)
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