Let’s discuss this episode which is so memorable I had to look it up when I saw the title on my list to remember which one it was…
Plot Synopsis:
It’s an ordinary day on Voyager when an alien appears on the ship, claiming he has no idea how he got there. Turns out Kes is also missing. As more aliens appear and crewmen vanish, including Kim and Tuvok, Janeway realizes they are being replaced.
After Janeway disappears Torres comes close to finding the answer when she is suddenly sent where the others are. Turns out the aliens steal space vessels from other people, replacing the crew slowly as a way to cause confusion. Chakotay is the only man left when he tries disabling the ship, before he is taken.
The crew are held in an area suited to their life forms. There are dozens other on the ship they are on. When Tuvok and Janeway manage to break out they find the machine that does the transporting. While Paris and Torres do their best to outwit the aliens, Janeway finds a way to send two of the aliens to an inhospitable environment where she forces them to give up Voyager and let them go.
Guest Stars:
I was looking over my previous Underrated Trek articles and found many of the earlier one’s had this category. At some point along the way I forgot it to add it..oops. This episode guest stars Kenneth Tigar who is a great character actor that has been in a million things since the 80’s and 90’s. In this episode he starts out so innocent and nice only to become sinister and nasty very smoothly.
What I Liked:
Yeah the ship being taken over has been done but never quite this way. Plus the episode doesn’t dwell on it like others. The mystery is good especially how innocent it seems in the start (as Tuvok points out). And I like how competent the officers are, especially in that last scene where Chakotay tries to fight the aliens off as much as he can. In fact it’s one of his better episodes. One of the strengths of this show was that the background crew were given personalities and identities, and weren’t just there to, well, be there. In this case the crewman standing in for Tuvok after he had vanished, she’s really cool.
The episode takes different routes and they’re all engaging. First it’s a mystery which is well done. Then it becomes an action episode as the crew fight to stay on board. Then it becomes a survival episode as the crew must work together to escape their prison. Finally we see the escape. All of these elements come together very well.
This is one of my favorite episodes because of Janeway. I like how she suspects something is wrong even early on. Then when the alien announces they are stuck in their prison, she doesn’t stand much for that. She even pours on a little charm with a neighbor alien to get info. But the best part is the scene where the crew take over the alien ship and trap two of them in arctic environment. She basically bargains for their lives over her crew’s, and she is wonderful in the scene.
What I Hated:
Little things really, like when Torres is taken and sees Janeway she begins to explain the situation. Not realizing that others are already aware, obviously. She didn’t think they’d have figured it out? I never understood why she didn’t see that coming it kinds of makes her look foolish. I guess you could say she just didn’t stop think first.
And I guess you could argue we never really learn about these aliens beyond their motives. We know they do kidnap people and replace them to steal technology, but why? And you gotta love how they expect that the crew will be happy with their confinement. What is it with aliens in Trek not getting that people don’t like being confined against their will? The aliens also have no security as the crew wander around the vessel for several minutes before they become aware. The aliens are either cokey or stupid.
Finally, all of the characters get in on
some action and participate in some way. Even the Doctor gets something
useful to do (which was rare in these days). Except Kes. Aside from a
few lines of dialogue she has nothing to do. It’s no wonder she would
vanish from the show soon after. If Seven had been there they wouldn’t
have needed the sort of lame plot device that made the Doctor able to
scan the area for a portal out of there.
Fast Forward Moment:
This is a common problem with Voyager actually, where the main plot ends and we get a final scene..but that final scene doesn’t have anything to do with the plot. What does it have to with? Tom and B’Elanna. This is the start of their romance, well around this time anyway, so we have to waste time with the two them flirting and stuff. It’s not so bad in the teaser but when we get this pointless tag that could have been used to show the crew returned to the ship or something, it’s just boring. Instead the main plot is wrapped up in a captain’s log. The Tom and B’Elanna wasn’t just the tag either it keeps popping up randomly in the episode as if the creators wanted to remind us it was still a thing.
Final Thoughts:Good episode, low on action but high on suspense and character moments.
No comments:
Post a Comment