Twisted The episode opens with Kes’ 2nd Birthday celebration in the holodeck. Why Paris’ Pool Gigelo/Women of the Night Hall? I like holodeck scenes and this one is funny, especially for this episode, but I would like to see a different one too. Why not something special from Kes’ home world? We could learn additional background information on her and get to see something new! I think Paris is trying to move in on Kes. He gave her a beautiful gift and Neelix was livid!! The Doctor is splendid in the holodeck. He looks good in a beret! I love it when the woman in the Pool Hall kisses him and tells Kim that he was playing Doctor! The ship has encountered a spatial distortion ahead and when they go and try to check it out, they find that they cannot get to where they want to go in the ship. Everything is mixed up. Everyone goes off to find where they are needed on the ship, but they keep getting led back to deck six and the holodeck. The doctor tries to explain that they may be hallucinating if they are under the influence of certain rays, but he cannot tell because he does not have his medical equipment. Wouldn’t he be able to tell that something is wrong because he cannot move where he wants? Can’t the holodeck replicate those same tools? Neelix and Chakotay run into Tuvok and Neelix disappears. Damn, then the Captain gives Kim a nice heartwarming compliment about how he has exceeded her expectations, etc. Janeway must have had pretty low expectations. Then Kim proceeds to explain the obvious about what is wrong with the ship. The ship is going to crush the deck everyone is on in less than an hour. They have to mess around with some techno-babble stuff and try and stop the distortion. Tuvok points out that they have tried ever logical answer and have not been able to fix it so he suggest that they do the illogical and stop trying to stop it; let it happen and hope for the best. I’m not sure if that is really impressive logic from Tuvok or highly illogical. The distortion goes into the holodeck and just moves around for a second. Then it pulls out and the Captain wakes up from her injuries. They are on the bridge and find out that the computers have twice the information on now. Neelix then walks in and there is a cute moment between him and Kes. Favorite part: I kind of liked this episode because in a weird way it reminds me of the fun house in Chicago on Navy Pier. The Pool Hustler, “Would you mind moving your foot Johnny Boy, you are blocking my shot”. Least favorite part: There were some lines in this episode that were just bad; a lot of stating the obvious or repetition.
Twisted only got good right at the end because the main characters really thought they were going to die. That scene with Kim and Janeway was embarrassing; unfortunately whenever I see that scene I think of this at 4:00 of this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzFwgwE870g&list=PL89599CEA472CF8C9&index=45&feature=plpp_video Damn you GeneralGrin! I will never see Star Trek in the same way again!
You may have noticed, but Star Trek is so chock of full of sexuality and innuendo I'm surprised its PG rated!
Parturition The teaser was excellent. We get to see more sexual tension between Kes and Paris. Then Paris professes his love for Kes to Harry Kim. Paris actually sounds like a decent fellow without the cocky arrogance that I love him for! Next we see Janeway talking to the Doctor. I love it that the Doctor has been eavesdropping! He looks so guilty when Janeway calls him out! When did Janeway’s hair become shoulder-length?? What’s with the puffed bangs? A food fight!! What a waste of food, but great humor!! Like every good sexually-charged episode the two men fighting for the women’s love are forced together. They have to explore a planet’s possible food sources together. The Doctor points out the medical symptoms of Paris’ affection for Kes to Kes. He calls out Paris’ blushing, increased breathes, etc. While on the mission Neelix and Paris have troubles in the shuttle craft. After they crash landed Paris showed genuine concern again! He asked if Neelix had broken bones and made him apply the medical stuff that will help their skin. Has love knocked out his swaggering superiority? I hope not; his outlandish arrogance makes me happy! We also get to see Kes angry for once; not that she stayed angry long… Neelix and Paris have a constant pissing match. One rudely infers something about the other, then the other, etc, etc. Back on the ship the bridge crew is trying to find a way to get Neelix and Paris back on board. In the cave Neelix and Paris momentarily stop arguing because they find an egg that hatches with a baby “bird” in it. The “bird creature” is so cute. It kind of looks like an owl mixed with a hawk and cross-bred with a dragon! Paris and Neelix get it together and start acting like crew members in an attempt to save the creatures life. It turns out the air vapor is filled with nutrients which the creature needs to survive and it is also what the ship was picking up as a possible food source. They almost lose the bird, but in the end they save the bird and become friends after the bonding experience. Neelix asks Paris to forgive him for not giving him a chance and Paris admits that he likes Kes, but assures Neelix that he will not act on it. Paris gives Neelix this speech about how he wants to continue to improve as a person, especially since they are stranded across the universe. They come to an understanding and then they are saved by the ship. Oh, and they save the “bird”. When they get back to the ship, Neelix and Paris leave the episode with Kes talking like they have always been best friends. Favorite part: Uhhhh….The bird creature was kind of cute. Least favorite part: When Neelix and Paris get in the food fight, I would have liked to have seen some punches thrown. Also, this was too scripted. It was the standard two men fight for a woman they love, bond over some trauma, and are all great friends in the end...OR… Neelix taking the phaser in a jealous rage, and vaporizing him in the shuttle wreckage and beginning a homicidal rampage to eliminate every male member of the crew through repeated crashes of Voyager’s in-exhaustible supply shuttle crafts… well that’s just good television.
What? No comment on Janeway's hair in this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_AB7483OGw&feature=player_detailpage#t=15s [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_AB7483OGw[/yt]
OR... Paris, in a jealous rage, taking out a phaser and vaporizing Neelix in the shuttle wreckage. I'm certain a few VOY fans will think fondly of this possibility...
I made a comment at the end of the first paragraph: "When did Janeway’s hair become shoulder-length?? What’s with the puffed bangs?" I was shocked not to see the Janeway bun.
Persistence of Vision What in the world happened to Janeway’s hair? Last episode it was shorter, just shoulder length, and now it is back into the Janeway bun….Woops. Janeway is frustrated and she brushes off Neelix and yells at Harry Kim for messing up the Doctor’s hologram; he is only a couple of inches tall. The Doctor then orders her to take some time away in the holodeck for mental health. He then proceeds to yell at B’Elanna and Kim to make him bigger! The ship is preparing to go through Bothan space and Neelix is concerned because it can be dangerous. The kids in Janeway’s holonovel are actually good actors; the little boy especially. Right after the holonovel’s Lord Burleigh professes his love for Janeway’s character Chakotay calls her away to meet with the Bothans. The Bothan’s are a little sharp over the com. Neelix insists that Janeway eat because she has skipped several of her last few meals. As Neelix is showing her the dining options she notices cucumber sandwiches and a tea cup that came from her holonovel. Then the little girl in her holonovel runs into her in the ship and tells her that her father does not love her. The crew is going to attempt to run tests to see if they can figure out why Janeway’s novel is appearing outside of the holosuite. Lord Burleigh asks why Janeway is dressed so differently (in her uniform). Why don’t holocharacters notice in any of the other episodes/holo-scenes? After the simulation, Janeway talks to Neelix and realizes that she hallucinated the cucumber sandwiches and flower tea cup at lunch. While being examined by the Doctor Kes has a weird feeling and then the daughter shows up from the holonovel. Kes too sees the little girl, but the Doctor does not. The little girl vaporizes and goes through Janeway. Janeway goes back to her quarters and eats coffee ice cream!! For being a stressed out woman with hallucinations, Janeway looks pretty good. She does not have circles under her eyes or a single hair out of place. Her uniform is perfectly pressed and she appears to be in perfect physical condition. Again, costume and make-up could have really showed this better. Mess up Janeway’s hair and her uniform, darken her eyes, and make her look more ragged. Why do the character’s always appear so fresh and (as one of my co-workers put it) plastic? Her acting is fine; her physical appearance simply does not match the characters mental and physical status. Janeway has another hallucination that the maid in her holonovel attacks her and tells her to leave. Kes again sees the woman’s attacks, but the scene pans out to Tuvok and the Doctor trying to help Janeway in sickbay. Kes tells Janeway that her telepathic abilities are making her feel like there is an alien invader on the ship, or that everyone was being affected. As the Bothan are attacking, Janeway goes back to the bridge and the crew realizes that the Bothan are making themselves appear to each member of the crew as someone that crew member loved. The energy field from the ship is making people think that they are seeing someone they once knew. Tuvok is briefly stumped when his “wife” shows up on the screen; he even shows a little bit of emotion; it is somewhat endearing. B’Elanna has a heated affair with Chakotay; Paris gets humiliated by his father. It’s interesting that early on we see her reacting physically to the hallucinations, but everyone just freezes as they get the full attack. (This can probably be explained by the proximity to the Bothan ship, which must be somewhere nearby, despite the three attack vessels being hallucinations also…) We see more power out of Kes. I think she is an under-estimated character. She seems to be developing her telepathic powers and her character seems stronger. She is a little more upfront and outspoken. She is also able to see through the ruses of the alien-enforced hallucinations. It was interesting to watch her fight the fake Neelix in the last scene. Good juxtaposition of their characters’ usual interaction. Favorite part: Kes’ character development. Least favorite part: The makeup/costumes in this episode. People should have messed up clothes and not perfect hair and makeup after what they had went through.
Tattoo We get to see Chakotay as a kid…I pictured something different; perhaps not as cocky and uncaring. While on an away mission on a moon Chakotay finds a Rubber Tree People carving in the ground similar to one he found as a child. I am pretty sure that Ensign Wildman’s sciatic nerve pain could have been fixed by the Doctor. He was kind of an ass to her. Kes explains to the Doctor that his behavior was not proper, and that she wished he could just once feel pain or sickness so he could have empathy. Chakotay leads an away team down to the moon to further explore the markings that he found. Meanwhile, back on the ship the Doctor programmed himself to have the flu in order to understand his patients. Back on the planet Tuvok and Neelix have a nice moment when they talk about breeding orchids; Tuvok almost sounds prideful. Then after a brief flashback by Chakotay, pertaining to when he wanted to leave his tribe, Neelix is attacked by a bird that resembles a hawk and Chakotay finds a tribal building similar to that of his flashback. While in sickbay Neelix is concerned about the Doctor who is quite sick at this point and rather moody. While on the planet Chakotay feels that there are people around them and commands that Tuvok and B’Elanna disarm themselves in order to show that they are not going to hurt them. Then he has a flashback to when he met descendants of the Rubber Tree People with his father. His flashback ends when a storm appears. At one point Chakotay looks up and sees a tree falling and rather than diving out of the way or running further he looks up, screams, and puts his hands over his hand as he gets hit by the tree…really? The Doctor calls Janeway freaking out when his flu lasted longer than he programmed it. Kes made it last longer because there is a difference knowing when you are going to get better and not knowing when you would get better. Why do they have to land the Voyager on the planet? Couldn’t they just send down one of their endless-supplies of shuttle crafts? Would it really be worth risking the ship to save Chakotay? Also, the last time they landed the ship they went to immediate blue alert, not this time though…. On the planet Chakotay meets the other people and they have the same tattoo as he does. These people explain the culturally history of his people. The scene of how they show half of Chakotay’s face and then half of the other person’s face was rather touching. Back on the ship, which is riveting toward the planet because of the simulated storm, no one is messed up, nor a hair out of place. Again, I call bull crap. As Chakotay is saying goodbye to his ancestors we learn more about why he joined the Maquis. He joined to honor his father and protect his home. I am happy that we were able to have an episode about Chakotay and actually learn a little about his family and cultural background. Favorite part: The Doctor had some great lines: “She [Kes] is far more devious than I ever expected!” Also, when Harry Kim comes in complaining that he isn’t feeling very good, the doctor replies: “Neither do I, but you don’t hear ME complaining about it!” (Finally someone told Kim to stop complaining and man up!!!) Also, the touching scene where Chakotay’s father is given a tattoo by his descendants of the Rubber Tree people. Now we know why Chakotay has his tattoo. Least favorite part: Chakotay’s gets hit by the tree scene. No bumps, bruises, any limping, his hair is still perfect, and his girly scream before getting hit by the tree was a disappointment.
Nothing like turning on Voyager and finding out that you--as an indigenous American--are not completely human. You're descended from space aliens who needed to help you out genetically. Horrible, horrible, horrible episode.
I agree with you teya; there were a lot of plot holes in Tattoo. There were a few parts of the episode I liked though. I did like the side story about the Doctor with the flu, and it was kind of cool to find out what Chakotay's Tattoo meant.
It's not just plot holes. It's offensive to turn on Star Trek of all things, that oh-so-tolerant series based on the premise that all men are equals in our enlightened future, only to find out that of all the people on the planet, you and your family (me and my family) have been singled out to be "not human." The bitter irony is that that was the very reason colonizers & the US Govt used as the basis for genocide. Indians weren't human. And the really pathetic thing is that Jeri Taylor (she of the quick trip to Maya.net for "research") probably meant it as a compliment. Talking about fracking clueless. It's just the beginning of the endless assaults on indigenous American heritage...
Hmmmmm...I need to rewatch this one? I don't remember it establishing Chakotay's Fore-Fathers as Non-Humans, I thought it only established them as guided by the Aliens?