Another Voyager 1st-time watch thread

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

In universe, there's something that's actually pretty awful. Janeway absolutely fails domestic violence awareness. Torres comes to her and opens up about Paris "practically assaulting" her--and he actually did come close to hitting her--and Janeway basically shrugs it off. Until Torres mentions that Chakotay and Kim have noticed Paris being strange too, and then she's all, "Well, if the men think it's unusual, we'll investigate."

As a positive in universe spin, how about that she KNEW Torres could handle herself and would knock Paris for six if he got out of line. But then when she hears Chak and Kim are all unnerved she's worried.. the poor, weak dudes are upset? She better rush in where poor weak dudes fear to thread.

(I agree with you Shat, just having a play here.)

 

[HoneyBLilly]

Though there was one head-scratching moment early in the ep, when Chakotay said, "We've already got a full complement of shuttles." You've got to be kidding me. They've burned through at least a half-dozen that I can remember.

And Chakotay crashed most of them.

Welcome to Voyager continuity.

It's better to ignore it and just go with it

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

These are biometric gel shuttles. All you need is a little bit of shuttle and it can grow into a whole new shuttle.

 

[HoneyBLilly]

^^^^

That theory works too

 

[exodus]

One pill makes you bigger. One pill makes you small. And the ones the writers of this episode give don't do anything at all...

"Alice"

At first I thought this was going to be a holodeck episode, with different characters playing different...characters from "Alice in Wonderland." You could have angry Tuvok as the Mad Hatter, and for some reason I thought the Doctor would make a great Cheshire Cat. And naturally Janeway as the Queen of Hearts.

But no, instead we got a Turkey Platter episode. Great. And as soon as I find out that he's souping up a space hot rod, I correctly predict that he will name her "Alice." Yuck.

It wasn't an awful episode, but it wasn't a great one by any stretch of the imagination. Abbadon is played by the guy who played Silik on ENT, which is cool.

Some questionable creative choices here, though. The director really should have had the actress playing Alice turn down the crazy in the first part of the episode. She's so OTT we know that it can't end well, so there's just not much suspense.

In universe, there's something that's actually pretty awful. Janeway absolutely fails domestic violence awareness. Torres comes to her and opens up about Paris "practically assaulting" her--and he actually did come close to hitting her--and Janeway basically shrugs it off. Until Torres mentions that Chakotay and Kim have noticed Paris being strange too, and then she's all, "Well, if the men think it's unusual, we'll investigate." It just really shook me that she didn't trust Torres' own judgment there. And the "Oh, that doesn't sound like Tom" line sounds exactly like what someone would say about a domestic abuser. It's just very odd.

In the end of course, Paris is back, and he vows to remain simply friends with the Delta Flyer. Again, not great, but not awful.

Though there was one head-scratching moment early in the ep, when Chakotay said, "We've already got a full complement of shuttles." You've got to be kidding me. They've burned through at least a half-dozen that I can remember.

Too me, I think the ep would have workled better if we never "saw" Alice. I would have just left her as a voice and given the ep. a more "Christine" feel too it.

 

[Shatnertage]

One thing that popped into my head this morning from "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy..."

When Janeway first gets the Doc's official complaint, she manages to combine two of her best gestures--she simultaneously does the dismissive hand-flip with her right while walking with her left hand on her hip. I wish I had a screenshot of that--it just perfectly says, "All this is so beneath me, but I'll have some fun with it anyway."

 

[exodus]

^^Just hearing the title alone and the first image that pops in my mind is the Doc's hand on Janeway's ass.


I wish I was on the set for the taping of that one.
I wanna know how many takes they had to do before everyone stopped laughing, shooting that scene.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

What about the shot of morose Tom in the messhall, mooning over BLT's fascination with the EMH?

 

[Shatnertage]

That's great too, as is the little wave he gives when the Doctor mentions him. And just the rapturous looks everyone has while he's talking about anything.

 

[froot]

I sorta prefer Tom's horrified "I'mma throw up" face when Doc puts his hand on Janeway's derriere.

 

[JanewayRulz!]

I loved Harry Kim's face when he's standing next to Seven as they watch the EMH paint a nude Seven.

And I HOWL whenever Janeway looks them over, then looks at Seven..

JANEWAY: He does the hands very well.
SEVEN: Apparently, he's had a great deal of practice. Look at these.
JANEWAY: I see.

 

[Shatnertage]

How can the series' most annoying character also be my second-favorite for an hour? It's just one of many...

"Riddles"

Neelix is getting under Tuvok's skin, and I can see why. Someone needs to get Neelix a Gameboy or some other way to entertain himself.

But then Tuvok gets attached by a cloaked alien, and then Neelix suddenly isn't so annoying.

This is my favorite Neelix episode so far--it totally blows away "Jetrel," IMHO, because we get to see Neelix actually care for someone else and do really nice things in a way that's not annoying.

The real star is Tim Russ, who convincingly plays a logicless Tuvok. It reminded me a bit of "Flowers for Algernon" and Regarding Henry. Well, more than a little, but Russ really played it perfectly.

The alien inspector guy provided a bit of a red herring--I thought he'd turn out to really be behind it or something like that, but instead he was just really eager to do his job. I thought they could have involved him a little more centrally to the story, though.

My one quibble is with Tuvok's attachment to Neelix. For the sake of the story, he's got to imprint on Neelix (or vice versa, I guess), but in terms of his own history wouldn't he grab onto Janeway, who he's known longer than anyone and who he clearly has deep (platonic) feelings for? It bugged me just a little, but within the logic of the story as presented, Neelix was the only one who made sense, since he provided the best foil for Tuvok's logic.

The scene where Neelix talks Tuvok into the operation is masterful--they both just nailed it. One of my favorite in VOY. It's amazing how much better the show is when it's about the characters.

This is another episode that I really liked. So far this season, "Alice" is the only real dud.

 

[lurok]

^loving your reviews Brings back so many memories. I always liked the Tuvok/Neelix odd couple schtick, even if thematically a bit obvious. But hey, it works and it's fun

 

[Shatnertage]

Thanks for the kind words--I appreciate it.

And the two of them really made it work. Theoretically, this could have been a really bad episode, but the performances make it credible--and quite good.

 

[exodus]

it totally blows away "Jetrel," IMHO, because we get to see Neelix actually care for someone else and do really nice things in a way that's not annoying.

The real star is Tim Russ, who convincingly plays a logicless Tuvok. It reminded me a bit of "Flowers for Algernon" and Regarding Henry. Well, more than a little, but Russ really played it perfectly.

Are you sure you aren't Prof. X.?
This captures my thoughts exactly.

I think this ep. combined with "Once Upon a Time" show great character growth for Neelix.

 

[HoneyBLilly]

Love love love love love this episode.

Tim Russ was unbelievable in it.

And as for why he attached to Neelix, well if he had attached to Janeway it could have been a totally different episode

 

[J.Ashmore]

And as for why he attached to Neelix, well if he had attached to Janeway it could have been a totally different episode

I wouldn't mind seeing that episode!

 

[Markira]

Must add to the "Riddles" love. It was fantastic. I've always had a soft spot for Neelix (despite how annoying he can be/is), and I really appreciated how caring and innocent and admiring of Tuvok he was. Tim Russ put in a terrific performance; I loved seeing him smile and have a range of emotions. Really makes you appreciate how well he portrays a Vulcan. I wish at the end, when he'd undergone the procedure to return him to himself, that he'd still be at least cordial to Neelix. One thing I don't get about Vulcans is how condescending and rude they can be. No matter what Neelix treats Tuvok well, and Tuvok treats him like poo.

 

[Shatnertage]

I am channeling Chakotay recounting a Greek myth, so I must have watched...

"Dragon's Teeth"

I've seen this one before, so I knew what to expect. It's not a bad episode at all; Seven seemingly gets away with opening a Pandora's box; if she's so far out of Voyager's chain of command, why do they let her on away missions?

It's standard "we're helping an oppressed people" Trek, but then it turns out the people are oppressed for a reason--because they're pretty vicious themselves.

Nice Janeway moment when she has the showdown with Gaul.

Other than that, not too much to say. Despite Janeway's final words, I think this was the last we saw of the Vaadwur.

So we're getting into a patch of Season 6 episode's I've seen, but luckily that doesn't include what I've heard is widely regarded as one of the finest hours of Star Trek--"Fair Haven." And there's several others. But I have a feeling that, having watched 5 years of the show in order, I'll have a much better perspective on these episodes this time around.

 

[froot]

I am channeling Chakotay recounting a Greek myth, so I must have watched...

"Dragon's Teeth"

I've seen this one before, so I knew what to expect. It's not a bad episode at all; Seven seemingly gets away with opening a Pandora's box; if she's so far out of Voyager's chain of command, why do they let her on away missions?

It's standard "we're helping an oppressed people" Trek, but then it turns out the people are oppressed for a reason--because they're pretty vicious themselves.

Nice Janeway moment when she has the showdown with Gaul.

Other than that, not too much to say. Despite Janeway's final words, I think this was the last we saw of the Vaadwur.

So we're getting into a patch of Season 6 episode's I've seen, but luckily that doesn't include what I've heard is widely regarded as one of the finest hours of Star Trek--"Fair Haven." And there's several others. But I have a feeling that, having watched 5 years of the show in order, I'll have a much better perspective on these episodes this time around.

"Fair Haven" isn't awful... particularly compared to its sequel, which I have watched twice. At most. I try to forget it's in canon. But, uh, YMMV.

I like "Dragon's Teeth" for the battles, the cool-looking aliens, those space corridors, and the fact that it's an absolute treasure chest for making videos. Oh, and the ep title. Too bad they never revisited 'em, although I believe they were originally planning to.

And for those keeping tally, this is the second time Seven's started a war. Janeway is really too soft on that lady.