Welcome back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. Today we continue our special Halloween look at scary Trek with a look at an episode of Voyager. If last time was a classic horror movie, what would an old fashioned campfire story on Star Trek look like? Let’s discuss :
Voyager has several contenders, like Twisted which was just lame and
The Thaw which I already discussed. Darkling was another one but I
hardly remember it, it’s sort of a Jekyl and Hyde story involving the
Doctor. I decided this episode was better to discuss. This episode, much
like the one last time, was another homage of horror tropes. This time
an old fashioned ghost story. But since it’s Voyager, it’s not quite as
good.
Plot Synopsis:
During a ship wide shut down, Neelix’s job is keep the Borg children occupied. So he does by telling them a story about the ghost that haunts deck 12.
Months earlier after a trip through a nebula the ship began acting strangely. Even worst when members of the crew began getting injured in bizarre ways. Turns out an electromagnetic lifeform took possession of the ship and shut down all life support systems. It looks to control the ship, while trying to communicate with Janeway.
The life from wants to be returned to the nebula where it lived, which Janeway helps it do. Problem is, when they arrive the nebula is gone. The entity is pissed and forces the ship to be evacuated and wants to punish Janeway, but she talks the entity into sparing her by insisting she can find a new hone for the creature. With his story done, Neelix lets the kids believe it was made up even though we see it was in face true.
Guest Stars:
The Borg kids in this episode are a long story if you’re not familiar
with Voyager, but they stuck around for a little while. Icheb was
played by Manu Intiraymi who is still very much around.
Episode Pro’s:
They do a great job with the mock campfire, even duplicating a scary flashlight face. The opening does a decent job setting the atmosphere and creating suspense as we wonder what the heck is going on as the ship shuts down main power.
There’s a point when the kids openly challenge Neelix’s story, specifically the techno babble he gets wrong, and it feels very much like a nod to the nitpickers out there who question tiny details in episodes.
Lots of nice little touches in this one include the computer acting crazy, the turbo lift plummeting (which we never really see since Neelix tells us about it), Seven of Nine getting trapped in the cargo bay and nearly getting killed, Paris and Tuvok being attacked, and life support failing.. My favorite thing is the way the alien communicates with Janeway through the computers. It’s the typical computer responses, but since we know it’s the alien controlling it the responses take on a new meaning.
Neelix shines in this episode since child rearing is something he’s actually good at and can do well.
Episode Con’s:
In the end there really isn’t much suspense since the whole thing is a story told by Neelix. We know everyone gets out ok. And how did Neelix know about the stuff that happened when he wasn’t around? Like the scene between Janeway and Chakotay? On the other hand since Neelix is telling the story it’s easy to write off what we are told in the episode as being inaccurate, like Janeway abandoning ship which seems hard to believe or that stupid flashback to Neelix’s birthday dinner.
The episode tries to hard being scary in some spots, even throwing an Edgar Allen Poe reference in at one point. We get it! The big problem is that despite the “ghost story” angle the episode throws at us it never really feels like a ghost story. We know it’s really an alien life form right away and it feels like several other episodes where a life form took over the ship. DS9 managed real scares which Voyager just never seems to hit, instead playing it a bit safer.
This episode has another thing in common with “Empok Nor”. They were both the final episode before the big season finale the next week. And they both feel like it, being quiet standalone bottle shows.
Naomi Wildman doesn’t appear in the episode. Why?
Fast Forward Moment:
When Neelix begins his story we get a scene between him and Tuvok which serves no purpose, especially if you saw “The Void”.
Final Thoughts:I can’t really say it’s scary, but the mood is good and the episode succeeds for the most part capturing the feel of an old fashioned ghost story. Next time, can Enterprise be scary? You know, besides the usual way that show was scary.
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