The Season 3 Episode Displaced

[Ro_Laren]

For those of you that don’t remember, in the Season 3 episode Displaced, Voyager’s crew disappears from Voyager one-by-one only to be replaced by a member of a race called the Nyrians (a race that looks human except for their funny outfits). The Nyrians act innocent and confused as to why they were appearing on the USS Voyager. But, when the Voyager crew appeared on a Nyrian bioship their suspicions are confirmed: the Nyrians are in fact trying to take commandeer the USS Voyager.

Eventually Janeway, Tuvok, B’Elanna, and Tom find a way to roam around the ship and are “found out” by the Nyrians. Tom and B’Elanna end up trying to hide in a “prison cell,” which is an icy environment called Argala. They figured that the Nyrians would have a hard time in this environment since they like things to be even warmer (and darker) than humans. Tom & B’Elanna manage to evade the Nyrian security force that is going after them until two security guards finally catch up. One falls over because the cold finally gets to him and the other gets shot by B’Elanna’s makeshift phaser. My question is this: if the environment was so cold and they knew their Nyrian jailers were obviously bad, why didn’t Tom & B’Elanna take not only the properly functioning phasers from the Nyrians, but their clothing too? There was no excuse to not take their phasers. But, I guess they could have used Federation morals to not take their clothing: maybe they didn’t want to do anything else to help lead to their demise. But, I think they would have been fully justified in the very least in taking their jailer’s hats (most of your body heat escapes from your head). Did this bother anyone else when they watched this episode?

The other thing that I thought was silly was that while the Nyrians were trying to delete the Doctor’s program they didn’t notice that his program was suddenly gone (Chakotay downloaded the Doc’s program into his mobile emitter). I'm guessing that Chakotay must have made it look like the Doctor's program was destroyed when he transferred him to the mobile emitter???

 

[Drone]

I'll think on that, but I can't get over my main beef with the episode. Kes has one line in their comfy new digs and then it seems "almost" intentional that she is not even fully seen again in the background with all of the anonymous filler crew, by virtue of subsequent shot blocking!!!

And her with all those beautiful new tresses and in her catsuited glory!!

 

[Ro_Laren]

^ I wonder if Jennifer Lien already knew that she'd soon be leaving Voyager.

 

[Drone]

Well, I 've read different takes from a number of people, including allegedly cast members, as to when she knew that she was on the outs. Some seem to play up on the emotional anguish element, as in Lien being blindsided with no foreknowledge, when presented with the new season's initial script.

Putting aside the dueling versions and just looking at the path of episodes that she appeared in as Season 3 wound down is instructive, if not definitively so. Earlier on, Warlord suggested that Kes could be more engagingly presented, at least for those who had heretofore considered her a bland character, by forcing her to directly confront darker aspects of her personality. This could be construed as possibly having augured a new direction for how the character might have been written for down the road.

Darkling though, while offering a maturing Kes, both physically and psychologically, seems a clear foreshadowing of a limited further tenure for the character. With Kes voicing the awareness of different needs that most likely would only have been fully met by leaving Voyager, the conclusion of the episode felt to me as if a door had been opened that sooner, rather than later, she would be permanently stepping through.

Was Before and After really pegging her to be an integral part of an important storyline for Season 4? Or perhaps it was just a bright sugary confection, wrapped in an alluring time travelling package, that served the function of unfurling a tantalizing possible future for Kes, but only as a sort of valedictory exercise which impact was as neatly made moot by its events being consigned to the dustbin that is an ALTERNATE time line? The latter might seem to be the operative interpretation as, significant retconning aside, there were no consequences carried ahead including the counsel Kes would have obviously provided about the Krenim.

If one factors in the near total non-presence over the last 3 episodes before Scorpion, I think a pretty convincing, if perhaps circumstantial, case could be made that the die was cast prior to Kes being annointed with the enhanced abilities that was used to quickly facilitate her exit stage left.

On the other hand....Kim was put in a position to much more expeditiously be given the push, being on his deathbed before Borg magic saved his bacon. Was this just a repetition of a Harry death trope that had been aroung for awhile or perhaps a means to simply show a test of the developing super weapon, albeit on a small scale? OR, as often suggested, did Wang really experience his own cliffhanger heading into the hiatus, to be rescued by matters far removed from considerations of acting ability, character development, etc..

 

[2takesfrakes]

DISPLACED was a very badly written episode, all around. Even the dialogue betwixt Paris and Torres at the conclusion was very awkwardly worded. I really could not stand how easy it was for the Voyager crew to escape their pen and run about loose to spoil the Nyrians' plans, when the latex-headed prisoners were unable to do the same, having been there so long. It also made no sense to imprison anyone, at all, just keep their patterns in the transporter and even delete those. I don't even know what the writers were getting at with this episode.

The subplot with Paris and Torres was the only aspect of this story with any potential and it's so downplayed, like they were still on the fence about it. As if seeing what reaction it got, first, or if it held interest by shoehorning it in every 3rd episode, or so. Tom and B'Elanna make sense in that they're both young and good-looking, but only in that sense. There's no chemistry between the actors, no illusion of passion. I don't know ... playing like your'e hot for this babe shouldn't be such a hard sell, but it always looks like acting.

Personally, I blame it on that hateful rubber head they forced on her. I would find it VERY distracting and yes, it would probably affect my performance, too. In any event, the idea that these two might get it on this episode was about the only thing sustaining my interest in it. And, as pointed out, they had opportunities to efficiently dispatch the Nyrians, but because the writing's so bad, that couldn't happen.

As for Jennifer Lien's very brief appearance, despite every expectation of seeing her confined with the others, the effect is pronounced. It would've helped, too, if the direction wasn't so "let's get it 'in the can' as quick as possible." If they were committed to telling this shitty-assed story this way, then there should've been something to offset it like pleasing cinematography, at least. We get nothing!

 

[Lynx]

^ I wonder if Jennifer Lien already knew that she'd soon be leaving Voyager.

No, she didn't.

It also contradicts the fact that she had a lot of screen time in "Scorpion#1" and the episodes before "Displaced", episodes such as "Before And After", "Darkling", "The Swarm", "Coda", "Warlord" and so on.

What we saw in season 3 were actually hints that she were about to become a more important character. "Displaced" was just an episode where she didn't have so much to do.

As for the episode itself, I don't find it that bad. I actually gave it a 3 out of 5 in my Episode Guide at the Kes website.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I don't think it was due to Federation morals they didn't take their clothes and phasers, I think it was just a writing oversight.

But that's far from the worst problem with this episode. The worst problem is that nobody considered the possibility that the Nyrians were doing it intentionally. They didn't confine them behind a forcefield or anything, they gave them full access to the ship. They could have easily set up some kind of program that automatically transported anyone newly appearing on the ship behind a forcefield and they didn't.

Also, even if Voyager really was naive enough not to consider that this was an intentional act, you'd think if the Nyrians steal many ships like this, they'd come across mostly people who immediately see it as an attack the moment the first person gets replaced.

 

[Drone]

Well, Janeway was somewhat uneasy about the scenario from the beginning and while her suspicions didn't lead to the implementation of any safeguards that prevented the rest of the transfers from occurring, I don't think that one can make the contention that the command staff was totally suckered into the Nyrian's game.

One does have to say that they did a good job of selling their incredulity at what was happening to them and projecting a non-threatening demeanor. Also, thinking about it, the fact that they had to request environmental modifications may have cast them in a sympathetic light from the crew's standpoint and further argued against them being considered responsible for the phenomenon.

 

[Athena28]

Why were they trying to delete the doctor's program?

 

[Lynx]

I'll think on that, but I can't get over my main beef with the episode. Kes has one line in their comfy new digs and then it seems "almost" intentional that she is not even fully seen again in the background with all of the anonymous filler crew, by virtue of subsequent shot blocking!!!

And her with all those beautiful new tresses and in her catsuited glory!!

I never liked that catsuit and she looked better with short hair.

 

[Athena28]

I never liked that catsuit and she looked better with short hair.

She couldn’t deal with the prosthetic ears any longer so the short hair was out.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Love it when you open a topic not realizing it's four years old, decide what to comment on it, then as you scroll realize you made the exact same comment four years ago.

They were trying to delete the doctor's program because they knew enough about him to know he'd fight them. They didn't care that he suddenly disappeared because they don't care if he's deleted, just that he's gone. Transferred and deleted are equally good to them.

 

[Lynx]

She couldn’t deal with the prosthetic ears any longer so the short hair was out.

I know.
But she still looked better in the short haircut!

 

[Refuge]

I know.
But she still looked better in the short haircut!

I liked the pixie look too.

 

[Lynx]

Love it when you open a topic not realizing it's four years old, decide what to comment on it, then as you scroll realize you made the exact same comment four years ago.

They were trying to delete the doctor's program because they knew enough about him to know he'd fight them. They didn't care that he suddenly disappeared because they don't care if he's deleted, just that he's gone. Transferred and deleted are equally good to them.

It has happened to me from time to time.

I find a "new topic", post a comment on page 37, then realize that I've posted a similar comment on page 3 some years ago.

 

[Sophie74656]

Well I know this is an old topic but i enjoy this episode. It has some interesting moments. Like how for once they adress not being able to understand an alien control pannel. The scene with the Doctor being "muted" was cute as well.

As far as Lien....sometimes people just aren't in an episode. Happens on all shows. It is very unlikely that she was surprised with her departure. For one in Scorpion part 2 she was credited as a guest actor. This involves a different contract and pay rate. She also was not in any of the promotional material for season 4....that was probably a big clue lol

 

[F. King Daniel]

I liked the concept, the swapping and it being a long con to take over Voyager. I also liked that the habitat they ended up on reminded me of amazing 70's Amish-in-space series The Starlost.

As with many Voyager episodes, I thought it was solved too quickly and neatly. A lot of episodes would have benefited from being split across 2 or more parts.

 

[at Quark's]

Liked the episode. Taking over voyager one by one (and the Nyrians first acting like they are as much lost as Voyager's crew) was a refreshing concept.

It's a bit silly though that Our Crew would be the first to mount a meaningful resistance once they realise what's going on (or at least, that the others who resisted never tried to liberate the other crews that had been captured). But I suppose that's one of Star Trek's more general failings. The universe simply needs us humans to create such a nice federation so that nasty things like these don't happen anymore

 

[Tracy Trek]

The scene with the Doctor being "muted" was cute as well.

Probably not the first time someone wanted to do that.

 

[Sophie74656]

Liked the episode. Taking over voyager one by one (and the Nyrians first acting like they are as much lost as Voyager's crew) was a refreshing concept.

It's a bit silly though that Our Crew would be the first to mount a meaningful resistance once they realise what's going on (or at least, that the others who resisted never tried to liberate the other crews that had been captured). But I suppose that's one of Star Trek's more general failings. The universe simply needs us humans to create such a nice federation so that nasty things like these don't happen anymore

It may have been the first time someone in there had the knowledge and means to escape, and also the desire. Their neighbor who showed them the portal had no desire to leave