Another Voyager 1st-time watch thread

[froot]

I love Twisted myself for a couple reasons:

The awesome tension between Chuckles and Tuvok

and

When Janeway sits up and spouts total gibberish and Doc pushes her back down

The whole episode strikes me as very classic Star Trek.

Poor Neelix My and my hubby love him despite his crazy protectiveness. Not sure why, as he does come across as creepy at times. I think he just reminds us of a puppy or something.

 

[T.D. Possum]

When Janeway sits up and spouts total gibberish and Doc pushes her back down

I forgot about that. Good scene.

 

[Shatnertage]

^ I swear I thought that Janeway said, at that point; "Izz bin dog poop!"

The telling thing about Tuvok was the way his hand stopped just short of Janeway's shoulder. But you got the feeling that just making the gesture was a tremendous effort from him, and meant a lot.

Now I'm on to another fun episode...

"Persistence of Vision"

There is so much to work with here, and I'll probably leave something out, so bear with me.

We start out with Janeway uncharacteristically snappy with her staff. "I like this ship!" I want to say in my best nuScotty voice. But then the talk turns to how long it's been since the captain's had shore leave. The Doctor appears in main engineering, about three apples high, which is completely irrelevant to the rest of the story.

And he suggests she revisit her holonovel. I start begging the screen, "No, no, please don't. Not another holodeck episode" My wife says that at this point, it's pretty obvious they're going down that path, so I should just accept it.

And within twenty seconds the captain is making out with a demented-looking Mr. Rochester type. Roll opening credits.

From there, we get the usual "something strange is going on.' They're on their way to meet some aliens--sounds like "the Botha," but sometimes it sounds like "the Vulcans."

Whoever they are, is it really necessary for their captain to be sitting on the potty when he's in a first contact situation? Seriously, that's exactly what it looks like. I know because my daughter was sitting on her potty stage right of the screen, and when I said, "Look, he's on the potty!" she agreed with me.

The acting in this episode is a little off-kilter, in a good way. There's this moment in sickbay where Kes gets the shivers and starts describing it. She shakes her head and says, "Strange." If we could put audio and video into our sigs (what a nightmare that would be), that would be mine. It would make a great MST-style stinger.

Everyone has single phrases or sentences that are hysterical when you take them out of context. FakeNeelix, for example with, "You're starting to get annoying" (pot-->kettle-->black) and "You're a powerful little thing" are two of my favorites, but there are plenty to go around.

And we get to see everyone's fantasy. There's the dramatic reveal when the captain finally gets off his toilet, doesn't wipe, flush, or wash his hands (call the health department!) and reveals himself to be...Mark.

And Paris hates his dad (this show is so 1990s...very grunge with that). Tuvok's wife shows up. And down in engineering...

Wow. Fuel for generations of T/C (a pairing I've not seen much of, maybe because there hasn't been an inkling of this before). FantasyChakotay leans in and kisses Torres. She resists, but how much? And he persists...(if you don't watch The Office, that's not funny, but it's me riffing on Andy's "fantasy Brad Pitt scenario. Minus the cabana.)

Now I think I know the reason that Beltran is smirking throughout much of this episode.

The resolution was fun. Kes with marshmallow fluff stuck to her faces, turns it into FakeNeelix with marshmallow fluff on his face (what can I say, its getting close to Thanksgiving...I'm thinking about sweet potato casserole). He turns into the baddy of the week, who has a permanent frown. He then gets away.

Like I've said, a few times, this was a really fun episode. Thankfully it got off the holodeck fairly quickly. The irony of FakeMark lambasting Janeway for making out with a hologram is a head-scratcher, and just another reason why this episode works on so many levels.

 

[T.D. Possum]

Ah, yes. Nice to see you enjoying the tripiness of this episode. It is near and dear to my heart. I must watch it with my son soon to see if he agrees with y'all about the alien potty. Which, I must say, I never noticed before.

AND this episode has Carolyn Seymour in it! I loved her in her TNG guest spots. So much fun to see her in period dress and brandishing a knife.

 

[froot]

Whoever they are, is it really necessary for their captain to be sitting on the potty when he's in a first contact situation? Seriously, that's exactly what it looks like. I know because my daughter was sitting on her potty stage right of the screen, and when I said, "Look, he's on the potty!" she agreed with me.

Okay, I'm laughing so hard I have tears. I have a weakness for poop humor. I will never see this scene the same way again. And, yes, it is The Botha.

Agreed on Carolyn Seymour, AMG

You know, this whole potty thing makes Janeway's coffee ice cream suddenly kind of disgusting. I am reminded of Me, Myself, and Irene...

 

[T.D. Possum]

You know, this whole potty thing makes Janeway's coffee ice cream suddenly kind of disgusting. I am reminded of Me, Myself, and Irene...

I haven't seen that Me Myself thing, but NOTHING can make me feel disgust when I'm watching Janeway eat that ice cream. Aaaahhhhh!

 

[kimc]

The awesome tension between Chuckles and Tuvok

Something that should have been explored more imo.

 

[Shatnertage]

After a VOY Thanksgiving break, we watched our newly-received DVD of Season 2, disc 4 (I think). The first episode up was...

"Tattoo"

Both I and my wife like Chakotay. As I said to her, he's like the Butter Pecan of Starfleet officers. He doesn't have the POW! of your New York Superfudge Chunk, but a more mellow, restrained sensibility that's nevertheless quite refreshing in its own way.

[A thread for another time--if each VOY character could be an ice cream flavor, which would they be?]

So I was happy to see a Chakotay episode. And we get some good backstory about the character, with flashbacks to his youth that, mercifully, aren't the result of a holodeck malfunction, alien virus, or memory engram gone berserk. I wish that had done this more often, on the lines of Lost. It would be great to actually see Chakotay kicking ass as a Maquis instead of hearing about it, then seeing how being with Janeway changed him. I could actually see his character as being a lot like Said in Lost.

There's a good performance from Beltran, some nice testiness from Tuvok, and a great B-story featuring the Doctor. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this episode.

Of course, there's some real groan-inducing stuff, starting with the whole "noble savage" riff of "they lived in harmony with the land, etc, etc." And the requisite bad-mouthing of Europeans as being greedy, murderous folk. Very sophisticated stuff for a 14 year-old, maybe but ugh.

Then, of course, we've got forehead people giving some kind of genetic gift to, I presume, Siberians, who eventually become Native Americans. Utter twaddle that completely diminishes the accomplishments of our ancestors, no matter what race we call ourselves today. When Trek got into pseudo-science, they did it in way that would make Uri Geller tell them to stop and think this out.

So from a big picture point of view, it was utter nonsense, but as a smaller story that lets us learn a little bit about Chakotay's past, it's good. Some of the best work I've seen from Robert Beltran, too. The way he tells the forehead alien that he and his father weren't on good terms when is father died was, I thought, understated but very moving. I'd have liked to see more of that side of the character.

Yeah, it's easy to bash it for the forehead alien stuff, but I really like the character stuff. And, for those who like that sort of thing, we finally got what all of Trek fandom was waiting for: a Robert Beltran nude scene. And no, that's not what I meant by wanting to see more of that side of Chakotay, but I can't speak for others.

 

[ThomQ]

I just finished watching for the first time, enjoyed it a lot.. Specially liked the EMH, a nice twist on the Data-like charachter..

 

[Shatnertage]

I rewatched "Cold Fire" and "Maneuvers" this week, and have moved on to...

"Resistance"

I was sure this would be a Borg episode. So much so that when the Mokra storm troopers started laying the smack down, I thought, "Wow, the Borg have really changed."

I still don't understand why the first shot was of Neelix showing Janeway a pez dispenser.

All in all, this was a good episode, though it dragged at times. It's the usual JailbreakTrek fare, but with some great moments. I don't like seeing anyone get tortured, but there was some great acting from Tim Russ after he got beaten green by the Mokra. Powerful stuff.

The highlight of the episode for me was the costuming. It was a great idea to get them out of their uniforms. Tuvok looked like he was going snowboarding with his vest and flannel-ish shirt. But Janeway really stole the show. The pantsuit was incredible, as was the dress she wore in the opening scenes. And the final dress/scarf combo was pretty neat, too. It's amazing what an impact different clothes and hairstyling makes.

Were the Doctor and Kes not in this one? I don't remember seeing either of them.

 

[T.D. Possum]

But Janeway really stole the show. The pantsuit was incredible, as was the dress she wore in the opening scenes. And the final dress/scarf combo was pretty neat, too. It's amazing what an impact different clothes and hairstyling makes.

Sure you're not just trying to avoid the wrath of the white tuxedo crowd?

All kidding aside, I agree with you on the costumes.

This is the only episode of Trek that ever made me cry - not just get teary eyed, but really cry. That scene at the end, when the guy is dying and Janeway's pretending to be his daughter . . . *bawl*!!

 

[froot]

This is the only episode of Trek that ever made me cry - not just get teary eyed, but really cry. That scene at the end, when the guy is dying and Janeway's pretending to be his daughter . . . *bawl*!!

This episode makes me cry as well - along with TNG's The Inner Light and VOY's Real Life.

Thirded on the costumes (it's a tough call between the prostitute outfit and the white tux,) although I thought Tuvok's snowboarding jacket was kinda cute. But, then again, I'd probably find Tuvok cute even if he was wearing a dress made of potato sacks.

Shatnertage, your avatar is a work of art. I don't know why such an image exists, but I am sure glad it does.

 

[Shatnertage]

It wasn't too hard making the avatar. I found a stained glass Kirk, then a stained glass menorah. A little photoshop and I had the avatar I was looking for.

Yeah, this was a pretty good episode.

 

[T.D. Possum]

This episode makes me cry as well - along with TNG's The Inner Light and VOY's Real Life.

The only reason I didn't cry at "Real Life" is because I have never watched the last couple of scenes. And don't plan to! There would be far too much boohooing if I did.

Shatnertage, your avatar is a work of art. I don't know why such an image exists, but I am sure glad it does.

Yes, yes! That is fabulous! And I'm so pleased to learn that someone has stained glass ST pictures on the internet . . . I'm off to browse now . . . I don't know why I need them, but I do.

 

[HoneyBLilly]

Resistance was one of my favorite episodes back when it aired. OK, it still is.

Janeway was awesome. And this definitely showcased as to why she is my favorite captain. She was determined for the crew and she didn't stop until she got them. And all of the parts between her and Caylem were beautiful. Especially the part at the end when she pretends to be his daughter as he dies. I bawled like a baby back in, was it '96, and I probably still will.

And Kate's acting was brilliant. I think this wasn't just when I fell in love with Janeway, but I fell in love with Kate as well. And Joel Grey is an amazing actor that definitely moved the episode forward.

But I think the B'Elanna and Tuvok story was wonderful. Mostly when Tuvok is explaining that, why yes, Vulcan's are beings that do indeed feel pain.

Definitely one of the best from the second season. Probably my first in my top ten. Followed by Manuevers.

I actually haven't watched this before I had my son, now I kind of want to . . . *Goes off to look for the second season*

 

[Shatnertage]

^ What Tuvok didn't say was more powerful than what he did say in that scene.

It was the polar opposite of ENT: "United" (I think), where Shran tortures Soval. It's one of my favorite scenes, if only because they just ham it up so deliciously. Makes it a hoot to watch, but completely ruins any seriousness with the scene.

Tuvok, on the other hand, conveys not only that he's been hurt, but that he's ashamed to have been hurt. He can't even cry on Torres' shoulder because he's got to stay in control. Very well done.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

I like the Tuvok/B'Elanna relationship which probably began with this ep, and continued in (?) Random Thoughts and the season 5's counseling sessions.

 

[Shatnertage]

Courtesy of Netflix and a little free time, I'm back. It was well worth the wait, because I got...

"Lifesigns"

Off the bat, I didn't have a lot of expectations about this episode, even though the title sounds like a Rush album from about 1982.

Hmm. It's a Vidiian episode. They were one of the more unusual alien race Voyager faced off against (sorry, I couldn't resist). And this references Faces, which shows that, in the first two seasons at least, they paid attention to these kinds of things.

It's a Doctor-heavy episode, and it's a good one. There's even a B-story. The Tom Paris bad boy build-up continues, and he even knocks Chakotay to the floor of the bridge. I dimly remember that this had some payoff.

The main story, though, is where the real action is, and it's a great one. It's easily on my VOY shortlist, and probably on my Trek shortlist of great episodes. It's not all about forehead aliens and anomalies: there's some real substance to this story, about illness and stigma. This is about as powerful material as I've seen in Trek.

Usually, Trek doesn't handle romance well--I'm thinking of Harry Kim and the life-sucking brides of [whatever planet that was] or Riker and the straight-curious alien from that episode where he and Worf went ninja. It just kind of comes out of nowhere. Here, though, the affection between the Doctor (or Schmullus) and Denara grows naturally, even over the course of 40 minutes of screen-time.

The '57 Chevy on Mars has to be one of the most surreal scenes in all of Trek: two holograms on a date in a holographic cars on holographic Mars.

Easily one of the best episodes I've seen, and I'm looking forward to more.

 

[HoneyBLilly]

Lifesigns demonstrates why Kenneth Biller was my favorite of the writer's.

Definitelya good episode, especially an early on Doctor episode.

 

[Shatnertage]

Nothing new to report--I re-watched Investigations last night and am now waiting for the next DVD.

The Neelix TV thing is still incredibly annoying. Chakotay really got played for a fool, too. I like how Tuvok didn't quite suppress his pleasure at "having" to keep Chakotay in the dark. And of course Seska (or, as my wife calls her, "Shasta") is always good.