"Alliances": Tuvok's wisdom

[Ragitsu]

Good evening.

As of late, I have been considering Tuvok's counsel to Janeway when the latter was considering forming a Voyager-Kazon alliance.

TUVOK: You are perceptive, Captain. I believe Commander Chakotay's suggestion does have merit.
JANEWAY: Help me understand that.
TUVOK: When I was a young man, a great visionary named Spock recommended an alliance between the Federation and the Klingon empire. This produced a major dispute. The Klingons, after all, were outlaws, employing violence and brutality in order to build their empire. I myself spoke out against such a coalition. But the alliance was forged and it brought a stability to the quadrant that had not been there for two hundred years. Spock's suggestion, so controversial at first, proved to be the cornerstone of peace.
JANEWAY: There are some differences here. By allying ourselves to one faction, we'd be giving that faction more power than the others. That would clearly affect the internal politics of all the Kazon.
TUVOK: I understand your concern, but remember, it would only be a temporary arrangement since we are on our way out of this quadrant. In the meantime, it might bring stability to the region and security for us.
JANEWAY: Once we're gone they'll probably go back to their in-fighting.
TUVOK: Perhaps. But even temporary stability can bring an appreciation for peace.

It is both worrying that we - collectively, as a species - still haven't quite licked our combative nature, but also reassuring that the methods of demonstrating the value of harmony remain just as applicable as ever.

 

[AntonyF]

This is when Star Trek writers could write.

Was it the same episode where he said this corker:

This flower is a rare hybrid. As far as I know, it exists nowhere else in the galaxy. I created it by grafting a cutting from a South American orchid onto a Vulcan favinit plant. I doubted the graft would take; and indeed, the plant was sickly at first. However, after a few weeks, both plants adapted to their new condition, and, in fact, became stronger than either had been alone.

 

[AntonyF]

Written by Jeri Taylor, that answers why.

 

[Ragitsu]

Written by Jeri Taylor, that answers why.

Off the top of your head, which (excellent) episodes can be attributed to that writer?

 

[AntonyF]

I can't remember offhand. Also it's not always straightforward picking her contribution because as exec producer and co-creator she often would have written bits even if she wasn't credited.

So even if there's an episode without her name explicitly in the first couple of seasons if Janeway spoke eloquently or talked about her background it was probably Jeri writing. Janeway was her pet project. Actually "Coda" was her episode, for that reason.

Also if you've never read it the book Mosaic is great for that reason, it's a deep dive into Janeway's past written by Jeri.

 

[1001001]

She "officially" wrote a few episodes of Voyager (Day of Honor and One are two of my favorites) but she was the show runner for the first 4 seasons. So I agree that she probably had a lot of influence over those seasons.

 

[Michael]

Off the top of my head I would say “Eye of the Needle”, which is one of my favorite episodes of television of all time and a superb script co-written by Jeri Taylor. But yes, Taylor’s positive influence on the quality of Voyager transcends individual scripts and episodes, as she co-created the show and ran it for the first four years.