Another Voyager 1st-time watch thread
- Thread starter Shatnertage
- Start date
Charging back with another episode, I get...
"Cathexis"
Completely missed the tease again, so I pick up the story with a shirtless Chakotay in sickbay. He's not dead...he's worse than dead. His brain is gone!
Oh no! They remade "Spock's Brain" as a drama!
And instead of Tuvok remote-controlling Chakotay's body as they amble around caves, we get the mystery of Chakotay's "bio-neural energy" being missing.
I liked the Doctor trumping Torres' knowledge of the medicine wheel. Smooth operator, that Doc.
Janeway's hair is still different, and it doesn't do anything for me.
And who's that random new balding guy who has a ton of lines? Looks like they're setting something up, or they just wanted to take lines from Garret Wang for some reason. I like how people just pop up a few episodes before they figure into the plot.
And I really liked the music in this one. Very atmospheric.
Which ends up being the problem with the episode, for me. I half loved it, and half was bored by it. Good atmosphere, with everyone getting paranoid, but it was just a little too silly at times. Nice acting by Tim Russ as NotTuvok, though, particularly when he was trying to talk down Janeway.
I'd watch it again.
"Cathexis"
Completely missed the tease again, so I pick up the story with a shirtless Chakotay in sickbay. He's not dead...he's worse than dead. His brain is gone!
Oh no! They remade "Spock's Brain" as a drama!
And instead of Tuvok remote-controlling Chakotay's body as they amble around caves, we get the mystery of Chakotay's "bio-neural energy" being missing.
I liked the Doctor trumping Torres' knowledge of the medicine wheel. Smooth operator, that Doc.
Janeway's hair is still different, and it doesn't do anything for me.
And who's that random new balding guy who has a ton of lines? Looks like they're setting something up, or they just wanted to take lines from Garret Wang for some reason. I like how people just pop up a few episodes before they figure into the plot.
And I really liked the music in this one. Very atmospheric.
Which ends up being the problem with the episode, for me. I half loved it, and half was bored by it. Good atmosphere, with everyone getting paranoid, but it was just a little too silly at times. Nice acting by Tim Russ as NotTuvok, though, particularly when he was trying to talk down Janeway.
I'd watch it again.
The teaser introduces Janeway's Gothic holonovel. Nothing critical to the overall storyline, but Carolyn Seymour plays the housekeeper - you'll remember her from cool guest roles on TNG, including the commander of that Romulan ship in "Face of the Enemy". She was also the friendly scientist in "First Contact" and another Romulan commander in "Contagion". Both she and the holonovel get quite a bit of airtime in a later episode ("Persistence of Vision") but I can't remember if you've seen that one yet.
Anytime I see someone on Star Trek preparing to enter a cave, I get the urge to lecture them through the TV screen. "What are you doing?!? Has ANYTHING good ever happened in a cave on Star Trek? Don't go in there!!"
You hit the nail right on the head! If Spike doesn't unexpectedly switch the episode airing order around again, you'll be seeing this fellow's face again very soon. (His name is Durst, btw.)
Anytime I see someone on Star Trek preparing to enter a cave, I get the urge to lecture them through the TV screen. "What are you doing?!? Has ANYTHING good ever happened in a cave on Star Trek? Don't go in there!!"
You hit the nail right on the head! If Spike doesn't unexpectedly switch the episode airing order around again, you'll be seeing this fellow's face again very soon. (His name is Durst, btw.)
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I had a double-header last night, so I'm sharing my thoughts about...
"Jetrel"
Didn't think much of the holopool half of the tease. Am I the only one who thinks it would be cooler if the holodeck was broken and they had to make do with whatever they could throw together in a cargo bay for recreation? So they scrounge up a dartboard, pool table, and trade for a Talaxian skeeball game, and the crew learns to really appreciate these games?
And my heart leaps with joy when I see that James Sloyan, who played Admiral Jarok, is the guest star. I love "The Defector," mostly because of his work, and because he seemed to make everyone around him just a bit better.
Seems like he'll be working with Neelix, so this should be a challenge. He's not exactly the easiest character to have soul-bearing discussions with.
But, it pretty much works. I would have liked if the parallels to our own bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't quite so sledgehammer obvious (I'm pretty sure the "brighter than a thousand suns" was taken verbatim from an account of the atomic weapons program, and I think they used it on TNG, too), but Neelix's secret takes the episode away from simple moralizing "atomic weapons are bad!" to a real exploration of the character. He gets some surprisingly good character moments in.
Sloyan really comes through, too.
If you would have told me I'd like a Neelix episode a while back, I would have said you were nuts. But I liked this one.
"Jetrel"
Didn't think much of the holopool half of the tease. Am I the only one who thinks it would be cooler if the holodeck was broken and they had to make do with whatever they could throw together in a cargo bay for recreation? So they scrounge up a dartboard, pool table, and trade for a Talaxian skeeball game, and the crew learns to really appreciate these games?
And my heart leaps with joy when I see that James Sloyan, who played Admiral Jarok, is the guest star. I love "The Defector," mostly because of his work, and because he seemed to make everyone around him just a bit better.
Seems like he'll be working with Neelix, so this should be a challenge. He's not exactly the easiest character to have soul-bearing discussions with.
But, it pretty much works. I would have liked if the parallels to our own bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't quite so sledgehammer obvious (I'm pretty sure the "brighter than a thousand suns" was taken verbatim from an account of the atomic weapons program, and I think they used it on TNG, too), but Neelix's secret takes the episode away from simple moralizing "atomic weapons are bad!" to a real exploration of the character. He gets some surprisingly good character moments in.
Sloyan really comes through, too.
If you would have told me I'd like a Neelix episode a while back, I would have said you were nuts. But I liked this one.
"Jetrel" seems to be used as proof by some that Neelix -- and Ethan Philips especially -- can really shine when given something of actual value.
^Even though I don't usually like dream sequences in Trek, the one in "Jetrel" was pretty spooky.
Just finished watching...
"Learning Curve"
Starts on the holodeck with Janeway in governess gear. I hope that this is just for the tease.
I turn to my wife and say, "If this show was still on the air, I'd mail them a hundred dollar bill, and tell them that there's another hundred on the way if they stop making holodeck episodes."
And then the kids (who reminded me of the evil twins from The Devil Wears Prada, which is good) disappear, and thankfully we leave the holodeck. Close call there.
It turns out the episode is mostly Tuvok playing Lou Gossett Jr from An Officer and a Gentleman, with some guy named Dolby as Richard Gere.
When Janeway asks Tuvok what Dolby did wrong, I can't suppress the urge to shout, "He blinded me with science!"
So Tuvok has to mold this ragtag band of misfits into a Starfleet crew? Not a promising start. Loved Chakotay's "Maquis way" punch.
I actually ended up liking this episode a lot, mostly because of the Tuvok as drill sergeant stuff. The bioneural gel pack B plot wasn't much, but at least I found out where the line, "Get this cheese to sickbay" comes from. Funny.
Would have liked it more if Tuvok had channeled Gossett and gone all, "What's the matter, Dolby? You can't hear me? You want it in SURROUND SOUND?"
Like the Kobayashi Maru reference, though.
I liked this one.
Just finished watching...
"Learning Curve"
Starts on the holodeck with Janeway in governess gear. I hope that this is just for the tease.
I turn to my wife and say, "If this show was still on the air, I'd mail them a hundred dollar bill, and tell them that there's another hundred on the way if they stop making holodeck episodes."
And then the kids (who reminded me of the evil twins from The Devil Wears Prada, which is good) disappear, and thankfully we leave the holodeck. Close call there.
It turns out the episode is mostly Tuvok playing Lou Gossett Jr from An Officer and a Gentleman, with some guy named Dolby as Richard Gere.
When Janeway asks Tuvok what Dolby did wrong, I can't suppress the urge to shout, "He blinded me with science!"
So Tuvok has to mold this ragtag band of misfits into a Starfleet crew? Not a promising start. Loved Chakotay's "Maquis way" punch.
I actually ended up liking this episode a lot, mostly because of the Tuvok as drill sergeant stuff. The bioneural gel pack B plot wasn't much, but at least I found out where the line, "Get this cheese to sickbay" comes from. Funny.
Would have liked it more if Tuvok had channeled Gossett and gone all, "What's the matter, Dolby? You can't hear me? You want it in SURROUND SOUND?"
Like the Kobayashi Maru reference, though.
I liked this one.
Ha!
And I never hated Neelix, apart from his too-lingering obsession over Kes early on. It just wasn't... filmed right most of the time, and it comes across as uglier than I think the writers intended.
That made me laugh so hard I snorted like a pig.
Yeah, I can see what you mean. Like a... stalker or something.
spookytage, watching VOY (or any show) with you must be absolutely hilarious. Your commentary is gold.
^Froot, did you make a pig snort, too? It's OK to admit it. You're among friends here. 
Yeah, I can see what you mean. Like a... stalker or something.
spookytage, watching VOY (or any show) with you must be absolutely hilarious. Your commentary is gold.
Thanks, I appreciate that.
I really like getting to share stuff in here and hear what everyone thinks of it. It's really fun getting to watch the show this way.
What will probably be the last "review" for a few days, since we're taking a road trip...
"Faces"
First of all, I now get AMG's line about me seeing Durst's face again soon. Second, that was the creepiest thing I've ever seen on a Trek show. Positively disturbing on every level. They stole his face?
By the time I got into this episode, I figured that it was a different take on "The Enemy Within." And in its own way it's better than the original. Blasphemy, I know, but at the very least it doesn't end with Spock leering at Rand while he talks about the intruder's "interesting qualities."
Obviously, from a scientific standpoint, the idea of splitting a half-human/half-Klingon woman into two complete people, one human, one Klingon, is garbage. But the very notion of a half-human/half-Klingon is garbage from the start, so this is acceptable garbage, at least from my viewpoint.
It works really well. I'm amazed at how different Roxann Dawson looks without the Klingon stuff on her forehead. And how much of her Klingon voice is her acting more Klingon, as opposed to her having to talk differently because of the teeth? Either way, I like it.
This was just a really, really solid episode, which felt like we were really pushing into new territory. I could not imagine them doing this one on TNG--at least I don't think we'd see aliens stealing faces.
My wife brought up a really good point at the end, though: "Didn't Janeway say that the next time the Vidiians messed with her people, there would be consequences?"
There definitely should have been. They kidnapped three of her crew, and murdered one. It doesn't matter that they're motivated by a desire for self-preservation--she should have (metaphorically) nuked the complex. The forcefield was down, right?
"Faces"
First of all, I now get AMG's line about me seeing Durst's face again soon. Second, that was the creepiest thing I've ever seen on a Trek show. Positively disturbing on every level. They stole his face?
By the time I got into this episode, I figured that it was a different take on "The Enemy Within." And in its own way it's better than the original. Blasphemy, I know, but at the very least it doesn't end with Spock leering at Rand while he talks about the intruder's "interesting qualities."
Obviously, from a scientific standpoint, the idea of splitting a half-human/half-Klingon woman into two complete people, one human, one Klingon, is garbage. But the very notion of a half-human/half-Klingon is garbage from the start, so this is acceptable garbage, at least from my viewpoint.
It works really well. I'm amazed at how different Roxann Dawson looks without the Klingon stuff on her forehead. And how much of her Klingon voice is her acting more Klingon, as opposed to her having to talk differently because of the teeth? Either way, I like it.
This was just a really, really solid episode, which felt like we were really pushing into new territory. I could not imagine them doing this one on TNG--at least I don't think we'd see aliens stealing faces.
My wife brought up a really good point at the end, though: "Didn't Janeway say that the next time the Vidiians messed with her people, there would be consequences?"
There definitely should have been. They kidnapped three of her crew, and murdered one. It doesn't matter that they're motivated by a desire for self-preservation--she should have (metaphorically) nuked the complex. The forcefield was down, right?
I could not agree with you more! It's just . . . you're right - "disturbing" probably is the best word for it.
I heard somewhere - probably on the DVD extras - that Dawson's own mother had to ask who played the full Klingon Torres. That's quite a compliment for an actress!
Yes! She should have blasted them back to the Vidiian Stone Age. (Metaphorically, of course, as you said.
). Sigh. But as you know already, she did make up for this oversight in "Deadlock".Have a safe trip!
Plus, they could have rescued the slave laborers, including my favorite, the Talaxian Geddy Lee-looking guy.
Back in town, and watching VOY some more. And my reward is...
"The 37's"
So they find a car floating in space, and Paris just happens to be an expert on antique internal combustion engines. I could buy that. And there's a bunch of humans cryogenically frozen down on the planet. I guess I could buy that, but I'm not happy about it. When Janeway wipes away the condensation and reveals Amelia Earhart as one of the popsicles, I realize this episode is completely silly.
I could forgive the grammatical error in the title if it was a good episode, but it was just kind of there, with no real dramatic tension. They find the survivors, then the descendants of the survivors, and them go on there way. I didn't think for a moment that any of the VOY crew would stay behind on the planet--not after they set it up so carefully that Janeway would be devastated if anyone left.
And the episode didn't really explain anything. Why did the Brioni go 70,000 light years away to get their slave laborers, when you've got plenty of folks around the Delta Quadrant? It makes absolutely no sense. And why did they freeze some of the 37s and make others of them do slave labor? Again, I've got no idea why. The only thing that redeems the Brioni (aside from the fact that we didn't see them, and were therefore spared another forehead alien sighting) is that I imagine them using all of that slave labor to churn out exquisitely tasteful evening wear for discriminating inhabitants of the Delta Quadrant.
I thought that maybe it was Jeffery Combs playing Evansville, the leader of the 437s--he certainly was shouting in a delightfully hammy way that reminded me of Shran. But I don't think it was him.
In general, this just doesn't seem to be a good idea, and it's not executed well at all.
"The 37's"
So they find a car floating in space, and Paris just happens to be an expert on antique internal combustion engines. I could buy that. And there's a bunch of humans cryogenically frozen down on the planet. I guess I could buy that, but I'm not happy about it. When Janeway wipes away the condensation and reveals Amelia Earhart as one of the popsicles, I realize this episode is completely silly.
I could forgive the grammatical error in the title if it was a good episode, but it was just kind of there, with no real dramatic tension. They find the survivors, then the descendants of the survivors, and them go on there way. I didn't think for a moment that any of the VOY crew would stay behind on the planet--not after they set it up so carefully that Janeway would be devastated if anyone left.
And the episode didn't really explain anything. Why did the Brioni go 70,000 light years away to get their slave laborers, when you've got plenty of folks around the Delta Quadrant? It makes absolutely no sense. And why did they freeze some of the 37s and make others of them do slave labor? Again, I've got no idea why. The only thing that redeems the Brioni (aside from the fact that we didn't see them, and were therefore spared another forehead alien sighting) is that I imagine them using all of that slave labor to churn out exquisitely tasteful evening wear for discriminating inhabitants of the Delta Quadrant.
I thought that maybe it was Jeffery Combs playing Evansville, the leader of the 437s--he certainly was shouting in a delightfully hammy way that reminded me of Shran. But I don't think it was him.
In general, this just doesn't seem to be a good idea, and it's not executed well at all.
THIS A THOUSAND TIMES THIS
The title of this episode has always driven me absolutely nuts. I always want to write "The '37s," but that isn't really its proper name.
I actually just watched this episode with the hubby a couple nights ago, and he didn't like it for pretty much the same reasons you did - his eyes were rolling practically out of his head when the truck popped up on the viewscreen.
He noted that space debris would have ripped that poor truck apart. And he thought the contrived way they got Janeway to meet Earhart was lame on a massive scale, same as you did.
I personally like this episode - despite its title - since my grandmother was one of a group of women pilots who followed in Earhart's steps. Since this episode has some personal resonance, I've always been able to overlook its silliness. Plus, as the hubby says, I'm a "damn fanboy."
EDIT: Oh! And it's too bad you didn't see this one on DVD. This is the only VOY episode on the DVDs that features a "Pop-up Video" option. Some of "pop-ups" are funny because they're so obvious. There are honestly two "pop-ups" which read something like: "Look at the daylight outside the windows." "Voyager is mostly in space, so there are usually stars in the windows."
EDIT 2: Isn't the guy who is the leader of the humans on that planet the voice of Brain in "Pinky and the Brain?" It sounds like him.
EDIT 3: Welcome back!
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