A Semi-Hater Revisits Voyager

[Tachyon]

Good one GodBen!

I fully agree with your review, by the way. You said it all.

[neogothboy74]

I don't know. Cat's in the Cradle might actually be the best Trek ever made. How I overlooked it all these years is a wonder!

[Robotech Master]

Cats are truly the scourge of the galaxy.

[TheGodBen]

Robotech Master wrote:

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Cats are truly the scourge of the galaxy.

Agreed. I really hated that scene where the giant cats kept on hailing Voyager with an annoying scratching sound because they wanted to be let in, and Janeway had to shout at them to stop.

But, like all cats, they found a way in anyhow and started chasing Neelix through deck 7. Actually, that bit was fun.

[apenpaap]

hehe, good one. I actually needed to search memory alpha to remember the date.

[TheGodBen]

apenpaap wrote:

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hehe, good one. I actually needed to search memory alpha to remember the date.

Well I got fooled by Jammer's review of the BSG finale today, I felt I had to pull my own humorous stunt. Back to the reviews.


Deadlock (**½)

I think this episode sums up what we were saying about Braga a page or two back; he has great ideas but struggles in the execution sometimes. This episode seems to be predicated on the idea of Voyager getting blown all to hell, and when that is all that is happening in the first two acts it makes fantastic television. Harry gets blown out into space through a breach in the hull, the Wildman baby dies just minutes after birth, the bridge is evacuated due to the massive damage Voyager is sustaining... this is Voyager as you have never seen it before.

But then comes the realisation that there is a duplicate Voyager where everything is okay. This is a good idea, but it struggles to make any sense, and the third and fourth acts are filled with technobabble limitations to the problem. My solution would be that one Voyager should turn to port while the other turns to starboard, that should separate them, but I don't remember this most logical course of action even being discussed, it is all "deflector array" this and "anti-matter reserves" that.

Then you have the final act where the Vidiians attack, which is exciting but destroys everything the first two acts had going for them by having Harry take the baby and bring it back to the damaged Voyager. Another problem I have is that the Vidiians are just used as evil villains and that goes against the thing that makes them so interesting; the plight of their illness. It really could have been anybody boarding the ship.

At the end of this episode Voyager is in pieces and their energy reserves are nearly empty, and I'm almost certain that this isn't going to have an impact on the next episode when it really should. I have a choice; I can either deduct a star from this episode for showing such extreme damage or I can deduct it from the next episode which isn't going to follow up on it. I have chosen to deduct it from the next episode because I'm not going to penalise this episode for taking risks and doing something exhilarating, this episode should be rewarded for that.

That being said, I'm still taking away half a star because the warp engine was working in this episode even though there was no resolution about that last week.

Harry deaths: 2

[StarryEyed]

I despised this episode. It was a chaotic mess.

[Praetor]

kimc wrote:

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Hmm, while I wouldn't call this a stellar episode only one star is a bit low, imo. I rather like the angle of the understimated Neelix figuring out what was going on. As for "Janeway not trusting Chakotay" I saw it more as a matter of Tuvok not trusting him and Janeway listening to the advise of her closest friend and confidant. You can tell that Chakotay knows this by the looks he gives Tuvok.

This all ties in with one of the more underdeveloped but great potential dynamics on the show and that is the dynamic between Chakotay and Tuvok and their roles as Janeway's advisors. You can see this dynamic shift a bit as "Basics" comes around. I won't go into details here but look for it if you think of it.

I'll agree with your points here regarding the character dynamics, and regarding Neelix being 'underestimated' and therefore it being interesting for him to solve the crime - but there needed to be a more plausible reason why the all-seeing Tuvok wouldn't have picked up on any of it for this to work. And of course, there are the other logical problems with the way the episode plays out that still bother me.

GodBen wrote:

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Well I got fooled by Jammer's review of the BSG finale today, I felt I had to pull my own humorous stunt. Back to the reviews.

You certainly confused the hell out of me for a moment. I hate April Fools' Day. (And I like cats. )

Deadlock (**½)

I think this episode sums up what we were saying about Braga a page or two back; he has great ideas but struggles in the execution sometimes. This episode seems to be predicated on the idea of Voyager getting blown all to hell, and when that is all that is happening in the first two acts it makes fantastic television. Harry gets blown out into space through a breach in the hull, the Wildman baby dies just minutes after birth, the bridge is evacuated due to the massive damage Voyager is sustaining... this is Voyager as you have never seen it before.

I agree. I may get blasted for saying it, but I honestly think if this and the Vidiian plot was what actually happened in the episode, I would have enjoyed it more. I agree regarding your assertions about the rest of the episode, though. While the idea of a duplicate Voyager is interesting, it's not handled very plausibly or logically for my money. I think I'd have done something more like 'Parallels' if charged with the same basic premise, but even that feels so underwhelming. And I also agree that the Vidiians were a bit misused, but I enjoyed seeing them nonetheless.

At the end of this episode Voyager is in pieces and their energy reserves are nearly empty, and I'm almost certain that this isn't going to have an impact on the next episode when it really should. I have a choice; I can either deduct a star from this episode for showing such extreme damage or I can deduct it from the next episode which isn't going to follow up on it. I have chosen to deduct it from the next episode because I'm not going to penalise this episode for taking risks and doing something exhilarating, this episode should be rewarded for that.

That being said, I'm still taking away half a star because the warp engine was working in this episode even though there was no resolution about that last week.

Well done on both counts. The warp drive issue should have been addressed this week, and the low power reserves should be addressed next week (even though they won't.)

Harry deaths: 2

"We'll see you soon, Harry."

[kimc]

GodBen wrote:

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Deadlock (**½)

Aw, cmon! The "Welcome to the bridge" - KABOOM scene alone had to be worth three stars.

[Praetor]

It was a good scene.

[TheGodBen]

kimc wrote:

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Aw, cmon! The "Welcome to the bridge" - KABOOM scene alone had to be worth three stars.

That did indeed nudge it up to three stars, it is an awesome scene, but I had to take half a star off because of the lack of resolution to the warp core problem from the last episode. I make up arbitrary rules which I uses to unfairly judge the innocent, and I refuse to break my rules even though I easily could; there is a reason I put God before my name.

[Robotech Master]

So is this the last time we see the Vidiians?

[Daikirai]

GodBen wrote:

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That did indeed nudge it up to three stars, it is an awesome scene, but I had to take half a star off because of the lack of resolution to the warp core problem from the last episode. I make up arbitrary rules which I uses to unfairly judge the innocent, and I refuse to break my rules even though I easily could; there is a reason I put God before my name.

Is it because it's "dog" misspelled?

[DWF]

Well done on both counts. The warp drive issue should have been addressed this week, and the low power reserves should be addressed next week (even though they won't.)

I really can't understand this complaint at all, DS9 lost an upper pylon in To The Death it was fixed and nobody mentioned it was even detached from the station afterward.

[tomalak301]

Robotech Master wrote:

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So is this the last time we see the Vidiians?

I know we see them again in Fury, but I wish we'd have gotten more on the Vidiians than the Kazon, even though I liked somewhat the Kazon story.